After a corporate layoff unexpectedly changed his career path, Roshan Patel traded digital marketing for community gardening—and found a new sense of purpose in the process.

In this episode, Roshan shares how volunteering at Mack Park Farm in Salem, Massachusetts, grew into a passion for urban agriculture, food security, and community engagement. He also talks about using social media to make gardening more approachable and why getting your hands dirty can change much more than what's growing in the garden.

Enjoyed this episode? Subscribe to I Dig Your Story, leave a review, and share this episode with someone who loves plants, gardens, and the people behind them. Keep digging!

In this episode of I Dig Your Story, host Ellen Wells talks with Matt Lebon, a.k.a. The Foodscaper, about the idea of foodscaping—creating landscapes that combine beauty, food production, ecological diversity, and water management.

Matt shares the winding path that took him from business school and the Peace Corps to organic farming, permaculture, and eventually designing food-producing landscapes for homeowners. He and Ellen talk about food forests, edible front yards, rain gardens, resilient plants, and how you can rethink the landscape you already have.

Whether you're interested in growing more of your own food or simply want to make your landscape more useful, this conversation will give you plenty to think about.

In this episode:

Find Matt:

Resources mentioned:

YouTube Resources: The Foodscaper - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8X1D7AD9xc2i4tZye61FNQ

Jennifer Rust spent years building a successful corporate career in sales and management consulting. But after stepping away from corporate life—and into what she jokingly calls her "post-corporate therapy" of pulling weeds in her own yard—she discovered that the business she was searching for had been growing alongside her passion for plants all along.

Today, Jennifer is the founder of Jennifer Rust Botanicals and Studio JRB, where she creates everything from seasonal container gardens to biophilic designs for luxury hotels and commercial spaces. In this conversation, she shares how corporate experience became an unexpected advantage, why community was essential to launching her business, and how evidence-based biophilic design improves both human well-being and business performance.

Along the way, Jennifer offers practical container gardening advice and encourages anyone with a dream that it's never too late to build a thriving business around what you truly love.

Whether you're a gardener, entrepreneur, designer, or someone considering your own second act (or even third!), Jennifer's story is a reminder that sometimes the path forward begins by listening to the passion that's been there all along.

Jennifer Rust Botanicals: https://jenniferrustbotanicals.com/

Studio JRB: https://studiojrb.com/

Follow Jennifer on Instagram:

More:

The Psychology Today article on biophilia mentioned in Shovel Ready - https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/biophilia

Keep listening—because everyone has a story worth digging into.

What if public gardens are much more than beautiful places to visit?

Jessica Turner-Skoff firmly believes—and convinces her listeners—that public gardens are where beauty, science, conservation, and human connection come together.

As Associate Director of Science Communications at Longwood Gardens, Jessica helps translate groundbreaking plant research into stories that inspire visitors, volunteers, and gardeners alike. But her own story begins on a hobby farm in rural Ohio, where farm chores, medicinal plants, and a lifelong sense of wonder shaped the path that eventually led her to one of the world's great gardens.

In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Jessica shares how her childhood fascination with nature evolved into a career that blends biology, communication, conservation, and storytelling. Along the way, we explore American ginseng, the hidden science happening inside public gardens, and why every one of us already has a relationship with plants—even if we don't realize it.

Whether you're a gardener, plant professional, science communicator, or simply someone who enjoys spending time outdoors, Jessica's perspective may forever change the way you experience a garden.

In this episode we discuss:

• Why every person has a relationship with plants

Jessica also shares one of the simplest challenges you'll gladly participate in:

Take 30 seconds to think about all the ways plants make your life better.

You may never look at the world quite the same way again.

Connect with Jessica:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicabturnerskoff/

• GrowerTalks article regarding Christmas poinsettias at Longwood: https://www.growertalks.com/Article/?srch=1&articleID=27630

Landscape designer, plantsman, author, and ecological steward Kelly D. Norris believes gardens aren't static works of art but are living communities. In this episode of I Dig Your Story, Kelly shares the remarkable path that led him from running a mail-order iris nursery as a teenager on his family's Iowa farm to becoming one of the country's leading voices in ecological landscape design.

Kelly explains why he prefers the word stewardship over maintenance, why curiosity has shaped every chapter of his career, and why the best compliment someone can give his work is to say it doesn't look designed at all.

Whether you're tending a backyard garden, managing a public landscape, or simply wondering how to create more meaningful connections with the natural world, this conversation will leave you looking at plants—and your own landscape—a little differently.

Learn more about Kelly and his work at:

https://kellydnorris.com

Fifth Tuesdays #2:

In this quarterly bonus I Dig Your Story sub-pod we call Fifth Tuesdays, host Ellen Wells is answering your questions!

In this episode, Ellen answers:

Ellen also shares the latest IDYS news:

Questions? [email protected]

Did you know there’s an IDYS Instagram page? Check it out at www.instagram.com/idigyourstory

What happens when an eight-year-old sticks a broken branch in the ground and discovers it can grow roots? Mind blown!

For Joe Lamp'l, that moment sparked a lifelong fascination with plants that eventually led him from a corporate career in finance to becoming one of the most recognizable voices in gardening media.

Known to millions as joe gardener, Joe joins Ellen Wells on I Dig Your Story to share the story behind his career. As they talk, he reveals how a childhood obsession with plant propagation evolved into television hosting, podcasting, online education, and environmental advocacy – with only a brief diversion in a suit-and-tie job.

Joe and host Ellen Wells discuss:

Their conversation goes beyond gardening to explore the nurturing of curiosity, persistence and entrepreneurial drive, and the power of following a passion.

Connect with Joe:

Web: www.joegardener.com

In Part 2 of my conversation with horticulture industry veteran Marvin Miller, we go beyond the fascinating intersections of horticulture, data, and business and discuss some of Marvin’s personal passions of travel and photography.

Contribute to Marvin's Tour De Farms Bike MS Ride at:

https://events.nationalmssociety.org/participants/Marvin-Miller-2025-2

What happens when a kid becomes fascinated by a tiny tomato growing in the garden—and then never stops being fascinated by nature?

In Part 1 of this special two-part conversation, Ellen Wells sits down with horticulture industry veteran Marvin Miller of Ball Horticultural Company to explore the roots of a career that would eventually influence everything from supermarket flower departments to consumer buying habits.

Marvin shares stories of growing up in Baltimore, learning from family gardeners and neighborhood mentors, reclaiming a property known as Harmony Acres, and discovering that horticulture could become more than a hobby. He also explains how his interest in both plants and economics led to groundbreaking consumer research that helped make mixed bouquets a supermarket floral staple.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• Why Marvin calls himself an "extreme gardener"

Jennifer Brennan has spent her career helping gardeners succeed—and proving that horticulture can be both educational and fun.

In this episode of I Dig Your Story, host Ellen Wells talks with horticultural consultant Jennifer Brennan about her journey from a college greenhouse job and a dorm room overflowing with plants to becoming one of the most trusted gardening educators in the Chicago area. Along the way, Jennifer shares how she helped introduce Hello Kitty to the United States, why she returned to horticulture after a detour into sales, and how she built a career translating plant science into practical advice for everyday gardeners.

Jennifer also discusses the biggest mistakes gardeners make, the challenge of combating misinformation on social media, and why listening skills are just as important as plant knowledge.

In this episode:

Connect with Jennifer Brennan: