Journey to Dreamtime

The professor takes Sophie, Dylan and their two pets Monty and Naomi on a wild adventure

The professor takes Sophie, Dylan and their two pets Monty and Naomi on a wild adventure

I’ve been writing this blog for a few years now, in addition with my wonderful co-host Ann we have been interviewing the fascinating people we find for our podcast www.growingtrends.org

Last year I was asked if we might develop a learning aid for children based on how we grow food, develop sustainable approaches to agriculture and cope with modern city life. I agreed because I felt we do need to help this planet of ours every so often.

After much thinking coupled with the odd glass of wine – I’m fairly partial to a nice burgundy. This along with late night chats with friends and my lovely wife the small light bulb ( well it has to be an LED these days) began to flicker.

“Why not make the learning an adventure story?”

Journey to Dreamtime was born, currently available as an eBook it will soon be available as a paperback, you can see more here…www.journeytodreamtime.com

 

Now available in a paperback, you can order either on Amazon or from BookLocker

Please do let me know what you think…. book two is going to be based in America.

Thank you.

Grandy’s Long walk – The Bibbulmun Track, Western Australia

Grandy's long walk 1

 

Ann and I had the pleasure of interviewing Linda Stanley  after she had completed this 1000km walk.

Linda undertook this walk on her own, it took the best part of 8 weeks to complete and more than three months to prepare for.

Linda isn’t your average walker by any means,  she suffered some serious injuries  breaking her back in an accident. Being a somewhat determined lady she set about challenging herself  to literally get back on her feet again.

We interviewed Linda in her new home, a beautiful chestnut farm in Nannup, Western Australia just after the launch of  the children’s book she wrote about her journey.

‘Grandy’s Long Walk’ is written for young children, superbly illustrated about her walk.

Linda wrote the book out of a concern that children today spending less and less time with nature and more and more time in front of the small screen. She hopes to encourage more children to get outside and discover the same senses of wonder and joy of nature that she had experienced on her long walk in the forest.

You can listen to her telling us all about this amazing journey below.

We were so curious about this really long walk that during our research we found some youtube videos of other people who travel from all over the world to walk this track.

Darren is one such person, he created  a video and kindly gave us permission to include it in this article. His video is just a part of the walk, you can view it here Bibbulmun track video   Darren is raising money for Diabetes  you can see his web site here   Darren’s website

There is also a specialist web site filled with information for those who want to plan their own walk..The BIbbulman Track

 

A recent visit to China ( part two) to explore the many environmental issues.

energime

 

Ann & Chris continue their interview with Bill Sosinsky , CEO of Energime University. Bill has recently returned from a trip to China. He talks to us about how the Chinese are adapting, planning and coping with the enormous growth the country has seen over the past few years.

 

china

Growing trends new look and our first interview from a visit to China

Growing trends logo

Hello everyone, we hope you like our new logo ?

We have some great interviews planned for the next few months.

Our first is with Bill Sosinsky , CEO of Energime University. Bill has recently returned from a trip to China. He talks to us about how the Chinese are adapting, planning and coping with the enormous growth the country has seen over the past few years.

Cities of 5 – 10 million people built in under 10 years !

This type of growth brings staggering infrastructure issues or as Bill says ” This is a big deal !”

The interview is one of those must listen to events…  we all have seen or heard of the Great Wall of China, a quite amazing feat of building, as seen here.

Great_Wall

I wonder how many of us can comprehend the current building program?

100 million homes in the next 5- 10 years…!

That’s almost one third of the total housing in the USA

Kin_Ming_Estate

Truly a monumental task of ingenuity, engineering and collaboration, Ann and I were just amazed  talking to Bill about the growing issues they are trying to solve.

We will have two parts to this fascinating interview you can listen to the first part here….

We would love to hear from you with ideas or suggestions on programs, either fill in the form below or just send us an email to info@grotrends.com

Ann & Chris

Garden Centers are changing..

Ann is in Paris, France talking to Valerie Langendorff, President of a Women’s Garden Executive Club.
Adjusted rose 1
Valerie looks at Garden Centers from the ladies perspective in France, her ladies group have identified a number of interesting trends..

Women make 70% of the purchase decisions.

Currently 90% of Garden Centers are managed by men.

They have developed an annual awards program judged by women.

Ladies nights are arranged in the Garden Center

They have an award for the most women friendly Garden Center.

They have discovered that women like innovation more than men..

You can listen to this fascinating interview here or on iTunes

If I were to open a garden center today ……

Garden Centers have evolved over the years, there are Independent Garden Centers often in a local neighborhood, there are larger groups with multiple locations.

Many of the big box ‘Do it Yourself stores’ have larger and larger ‘Garden Center’ sections.

The question recently has been where are they all heading.

So Ann asked Sid & John – “If I were to open a Garden Center today what would be your recommendations?”

Sid Raisch

CEO of Horticultural Advantage (www.AdvantageDevelopmentSystem.com) , providing business expertise and extensive leadership training to small to medium horticultural businesses, primarily retail garden centers and selected wholesale suppliers.

John Stanley.

International retail guru is what people call me. Specialising in helping retail businesses to grow their bottom line and expand their market base. I work in 26 countries with retailers of all sizes. My expertise ranges from conference speaking to hands on management consultancy. My specialist retail areas are in perishable retailing – anything that will not last long without loving care on the shelf

Garden Center

Sid and John discuss future trends for gardens, garden centers, and our urban environment.

This fascinating , very informative interview is going to have you thinking.

Send us your thoughts to Growing Trends

 

 

 

The Chelsea Physic Garden – Linking people to plants & nature

It’s not often you find a garden that was founded in 1673. Which is when the Apothecaries’ Garden was formed. Ann was on a trip to Europe recently and dropped in on the beautiful Chelsea Physic Garden. Situated on the side of the River Thames in London. The gardens original purpose was to train apprentices in identifying plants. With the gardens location close to the river creating a warmer microclimate. This significantly increased the many non-native plants that could be grown.

   

In 1700 the garden had started an international botanic garden seed exchange system, which continues to this day.

chelsea physic garden

The gardens cover some four acres and are leased on what is known as a peppercorn ( very low) rent in perpetuity.

They are with out doubt one of London’s secret ‘gems’ and thoroughly worth a visit.

chelsea physic garden

The gardens mission  ” Linking people with plants and nature”

The interview starts with Ann talking for around 8 minutes to a group of school children on a field trip, the gardens have over 100 such visits a year.  Ann then talks to Michael a very knowledgeable and extremely helpful member of staff. We kept all the typical inner city sounds on the recording – the enthusiasm of the children is very heartening.

Integrated pest management is the preferred method of bug control…

They have a project called “Shelf Life’ it is just an incredible way to show children where their food comes from

You can also listen to Ann’s interview on iTunes at Growing Trends

We would love to hear your comments and suggestions for a show… just send us an email to Growing Trends

How we look at Food Tourism today

Ann and I interviewed John Stanley of John Stanley Associates  recently about his new book, he jointly wrote with his wife Linda,

 Food Tourism – A Practical Marketing Guide.

Food tourism

The fastest growth in tourism today is the culinary sector.

Listen to John as he explains the overall direction of food tourism, including how he sees future development.

A few snip bits:

Do you grow soil?

25% of the food we buy comes from 2% of the farmland around our cities, which is being swallowed up by development.

Farmers used to make 38 cents on every dollar now its down to an average of just 6 cents

Eating local seasonal food saves you around 25%, and is actually healthier for you!

You can hear this really informative interview here (click below) or on iTunes at Growing Trends

Heaven is a Garden

A few years ago I read a paper about how grasses ‘moved’ to music, then I read about the effects of harmonious sounds on plant growth.

Just using white summer bedding is very effective in such a large garden

Why do I mention this ? Well a few weeks ago we were talking about Tesla and his discoveries, which led us to talking about vibrations, sound waves, force fields etc., then a strange thing happened.

Ann and I interviewed a wonderful lady landscape architect Jan Johnsen, about her new book “Heaven is a Garden” we talked a little about how at a very young age she discovered during a science fair competition – which against all the odds she won – the effects early morning birds singing have on plants. The sound waves, which are similar to a violin stimulate a plant to open its stomata taking in carbon-dioxide to help it grow quicker.

Fushia

Jan has written a new book called Heaven is a Garden, it’s a really fascinating and informative read.  Jan has ‘connected’ the dots so as to speak, between the natural world and our emotions. How the Four Winds are important when laying out a space,the careful use of curves, and my favorite Golden Rectangles and the Divine Proportion. – Phi is the mathematical proportion ( 1 : 1.618) we see in every natural form. Using this proportion ensures a sense of harmony in any outdoor space that contains it. I’ve always tried to use these proportions in my designs.

Jan then talks about Trees – natures rechargers as she puts it… The Celts  shunnache,  the Hindu tree devas, and Greek dryads are really references to light energy? The Chinese call this energy chi…the Japanese consider the health giving properties of trees the basis of a medical therapy called ‘ Forest bathing’, it helps reduce stress.

Jan then discusses the magnetic attraction in a Zen garden – rocks in these gardens reflect a deep understanding of the geomagnetic properties of stone and its impact on a place.

Finally the benefits of color in a garden.

Be inspired by Jan Johnsen's Book
You can listen to our truly fascinating interview with Jan Johnsen  or if you prefer on iTunes at Growing Trends
We would love to hear from you, with your comments or  ideas for shows write to us at info@grotrends.com
Ann and Chris

Are you growing herbs & veggies at home?

There has been quite a revival or is it renaissance  in growing herbs and vegetables at home recently ?

The beauty of growing at home is that the gardener knows where this food has come from, what he has used to grow it.

Square Foot Gardening

The produce tends to be fresh, packed full of nutrients, tastes delicious. More and more people are joining in this healthy pursuit.

There are a number of experts in the field of 'How to Grow ' today we are interviewing  the Square Foot Garden Guru – Mel Bartholomew

Square Foot Gardening

It's been a few years since Mel introduced us to his space saving vegetable and herb growing system.

Today it seems even more appropriate as a way to "Garden in Less Space with Less Work using less Water".

We hope you enjoy this first interview with Mel, do let us know what you think and please send us your ideas, suggestions, comments and requests to info@grotrends.com.

You can find out more about Mel's books Here

Ann & Chris

Growing Trends

You can also listen to the interview  on iTunes at Growing Trends.