Tag Archives: Planting

GT113 Do you suffer from Allergies?

Posted on by Ann & Chris

It’s allergy awareness week in  England .

Allergy Awareness

A subject that has become more and more important to my family over the past few years.

My grandson Callum was born with severe allergies , which appear at the slightest opportunity, so much so that my daughter Nathalie has developed a huge number of allergy free recipes, started a company to help others with young children with allergies, has been featured in the newspapers, magazines and on television.

You can read more here – The Intolerant Gourmand

This prompted Ann and I to start some research to see how many children and adults are affected.

We were really surprised at how many people suffer severe allergic reactions, how this has exploded across the whole of the USA, partly it seems due to the demise of the Elm trees. You can hear more about this from Tom Ogren in our latest interview.

Nathalie  had explained  Callum, was a baby boy with severe eczema & food allergies,makes for an interesting journey of discovery!

Callum

We found only one food pantry offering  exclusively gluten free and allergy free food in the USA.

in OVERLAND PARK, Kan. – It’s opening next month in Overland Park, Kan.

The ReNewed Health Food Pantry, it’s located at 87th and Antioch, will be holding its grand opening on May 13th.

In England rules for premises selling food changed back in December 2014, This has resulted in all premises selling food, whether freshly made or packaged, to provide details of any of the top 14 allergens used. It is still early days, and there has been some resistance, but there are signs that eating out with allergies is improving.

The medical profession in England is also beginning to realise the prevalence of allergies and how many more people are now presenting with serious allergic reactions in hospital – 20,000 attendances last year alone, with over 12,500 of those being an emergency situation!

Here in the USA , Ann and I were fortunate to interview Tom Ogren about his fascinating , very informative book  about Allergies in the garden, this is a must read for avid gardeners everywhere.

Allergy-Fighting Garden, cover

You can hear our interview with Tom  at www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends

We would love to hear your thoughts and comments,

 

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GT112 School Garden Projects have many positives, you can hear many of them here.

Posted on by Ann & Chris

Children-eating-salad

Is this really salad ? it tastes so good like this !

Ann & I were fortunate to talk to three amazing ladies from Tennessee a little while ago. They wanted to start a school garden at their school, here is their story, the school garden is now in its third year.

Raised beds

Some of the main points we heard were:-

It's essential to have teacher as well as parent support.

Take time to plan carefully

Initially growing from seed is harder , due to the school calendar. 

Choose plants that will fit into this schedule.

The children want to take ownership of their plants !

Educating children in the different choices of produce increases the varieties they will eat.

Children really take pride in taking home to their family the produce they have grown.

In a blind radish test, the children could tell which were home grown as opposed to store bought and much preferred home grown !

strawberry picking

Ann & I would love to hear from you.  info@grotrends.com

If you would like us to put you in touch with these wonderful ladies,or if you would like more information on starting your own school garden just send us an email to Growing Trends and we will be in touch. If you would like us to interview you, send us a picture of your garden along with contact details, we will be adding a section to our web site www.grotrends.com specially on School garden projects.

Thank you Penny, Peggy and Emily, this was a fascinating interview.

Ann & Chris

 

 

 

 

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GT 110 Norma Burnson – Sustainable Food for the Globe

Posted on by Ann & Chris

Ann and Chris interview this remarkable lady, Norma is on a mission.

Norma's mission is "Sustainable Food for the Globe, One Square Foot at a Time," and that is also the title of Norma Burnson's book, available on Amazon.com. At Burnson & Associates, we are passing along the baton of youth leadership development and involving our U.S. Veterans in our projects and workforce.

sustainable food for the globe

Be inspired to help Norma, but first listen to our interview.

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GT104:Introducing Energime University

Posted on by Ann & Chris

World Wide WEsponsibility

World Wide WEsponsibility

Bill Sosinsky, Founder, Co-Owner, and CEO of The Energime Family of Companies including Energime Sustainable Technologies, Energime Power, Energime Energy Efficiency and is the Chairman of the Board for The Energime Foundation. Bill is also the Founder and Director of Energime University.

What Energime University is planning to Accomplish

Energime University will have three main goals. The first is to train students in the skills required to run this new sustainable infrastructure. We will need tens of millions of specially trained workers to populate the industries and factories that will produce these new technologies, and direct the advanced agriculture, farming, waste and water management protocols that will be the key to this turnaround. Courses and curricula will be specific to developing this skilled workforce so they can support regional efforts throughout the world. The plan is to empower individuals to participate in the ongoing projects and jobs being created through our global partnerships in these key areas.

The second goal is to offer a basic curriculum to the general population that clearly defines how each individual, household, business, and local government can adapt affordable changes that support this effort. We are living in a new world with new challenges. If we are to get this right it is essential for our population to change the way they relate to our resources. New technologies and advanced protocols will help by increasing output, productivity, and efficiency. It is still necessary to address the consumption part of the equation. If we do not educate our consumer based population to manage their consumption on a more sustainable basis, all attempts at increasing our output will eventually fail.

Finally, we must educate our business, governmental, and social leaders. They need to understand and implement the proper protocols and methodologies required to allow this process to go forward in a manner that is economically feasible and ultimately adaptable. Without that understanding we will not have the money to finance this global effort. This is essential if we are to re-establish a sustainable balance between consumption and resource management. It is that lack of understanding that has been key to our failures thus far.

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GT103:Patti talks about her Bees & Bee keeping

Posted on by Ann & Chris

Honey beePatti is one of those rare ladies, an expert bee keeper and a fascinating speaker. Listen to her explain the intricate lifestyle of the honey bee, it's truly fascinating and very educational.

We visited Patti at her lovely country home one Saturday morning.

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GT103:Weston Red Barn Farm

Posted on by Ann & Chris

Red Barn Farm

We called in to the farm early one morning, just as the sun was rising, to talk to Steve before his busy day had got into full swing.

A trip to the Weston Red Barn Farm is like visiting a turn of the century working farm.

In the spirit of preserving the American dream of farming, the Red Barn Farm offers visitors the opportunity to experience a real working farmstead. We feature traditional farm animals and crops. In addition to the working farm, we offer school tours, a country store featuring our fresh produce, facilities for weddings and bonfire/hayride events and a fall festival where families can come pick pumpkins and apples, take a hayride and enjoy the country.

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GT101:Kelly’s Garden

Posted on by Ann & Chris

Kelly was an inspiration, sitting in her beautiful garden was almost spellbinding.

Take a listen and tell us what you think ?

"Finding happiness in a garden – how it's done at the Kelly Gallery"

kelly_Gallery_garden_rev

 

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GT100:Iconic Gardens of Kansas City – a must visit when in town

Posted on by Ann & Chris

Ann & Chris sit down with Duane Hoover horticulturist at the Kauffman Memorial Gardens Kauffman memorial garden 2 and then Jan Schall , Sanders Sosland Curator of Modern & Contemporary Art at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

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Hello world!

Posted on by Ann & Chris

Growing Trends is about people, people who are passionate about their environment, their gardens & landscapes and the experts who help them.

Ann & Chris

Ann & Chris bring together interesting  topics  on the environment, gardening and landscaping  then discuss them with fascinating people from around the world

February's & March's programs

We are concentrating on sustainability, with our second interview with Bill Sosinsky, then a fascinating series of interviews with Rich Sapienza discussing , solar power,  fracking , food production, simple solutions to growing environmental issues.

We will also include some interviews with authors of some really interesting books – you can see who on our Book Review pages on www.grotrends.com

We welcome comments and suggestions… just drop us a line at info@grotrends.com