We Dig Plants

This week on We Dig Plants Carmen and Alice get nutty and speak to Duke Lane, president of the Georgia Pecan Commission. Learn about the healthful properties of the pecan (antioxidants!) Learn how a slave named Antoine over a hundred years ago grafted the genetic strain of pecan that is now grown by every industrial operation in the world, and learn why China is becoming a major player in the pecan market. This episode was sponsored by Acme Smoked Fish.

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This week on We Dig Plants Carmen and Alice talk about the dark side of plants and the brave and/or evil gardeners with hearts cold or souls dark enough to use them. In this episode they cover plants that can kill or injure, plants used for dark magic or love potions, and plants that induce dreams, visions, or terrifying hallucinations. Tune in to learn about plants that were used to make (accidentally) deadly rosary beads, plants with beautiful toxic berries, and even a plant whose roots will kill your dog! AhhH!! This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: purveyors of grass-fed beef from the California coast.

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This week on We Dig Plants Alice and Carmen talk about Chestnuts: the botany and beauty of peasant food. They talk to Sandra L. Anagnostakis, an expert on chestnut blight disease since 1968 and a world-renowned plant pathologist. Together they discuss disease-resistant hybrids and their pros and cons, why you need two trees to get fruit, how China became the biggest producer of chestnuts, and why the chestnut is the only nut to offer Vitamin C. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: purveyors of fine grass-fed beef from the California coast.

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This week on We Dig Plants Alice and Carmen tackle the drama of the tulip bulb. Take a look back as far as Greek mythology for a glance at the role tulips have played in the human experience (including reputed healing powers). Find out why you have to plan ahead to plant them, and learn why they can be such a cash crop in Holland and yet so simultaneously unreliable. This episode was sponsored by Acme Smoked Fish: a mainstay in the NYC culinary market for over 55 years.

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This week on We Dig Plants Carmen hosts the monthly fruit episode on apples. Steven Hoying of Cornell University calls in to explain how apple growers have kept their trees disease and pest free, why apple trees are genetically promiscuous, and why those bright red apples from the cafeteria taste so absurd. Tune in for an episode on orchards, hard cider, and apple pie from The Big Apple. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: purveyors of fine grass-fed beef from the California coast.

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This week on We Dig Plants Alice and Carmen speak to a mail-order “plantsman” and a fauna seeking adventurer on the level of Indiana Jones: Tony Avent of Plant Delights. Tony recounts some plant seeking adventures including being at the business end of a shotgun and hurtling through canyons at breakneck speed. Tony also shares some important practical info, such as gardens DON’T need ANY inorganic anything (“let nature work for you!”, and even the most untamed looking garden is the result of constant work. This episode was sponsored by Hearst Ranch: purveyors of fine grass-fed beef from the California coast.

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This week on We Dig Plants Alice and Carmen discuss “The Three Sisters”: corn, beans, and squash. These crops actually produce the highest yield when planted and grown together, and have been planted as such by Native Americans who passed knowledge of the sisters on to early American settlers. This trio also provides a very complete nutritional picture, with the corn providing carbs, the beans protein, and the squash fats an vitamins. Learn about the rich history of these sister veggies with tales of beans-as-currency, and peer at their potential hybridized future. This episode was sponsored by Whole Foods Market.

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This week on We Dig Plants Alice and Carmen talk West Coast plants after a journey Carmen made to Venice Beach and The Getty Museum. Who better to tackle the subject on-air than The Getty’s Central Garden coordinator Jim Duggan, calling live from the warm sultry climate that allows just about anything to grow year round? The gals ask about his process for creating the Getty’s remarkable gardens–planting plans that rival any museum on either coast. Tune in to hear how he made it all happen, and the few plants he longs to plant that we temperate climate folk can. This episode was sponsored by Roberta’s Bushwick Block Party.

Photo: The Central Garden at The Getty Center

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to be aired

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This week on We Dig Plants join Carmen and Alice as they speak to Scott Apell, horticultural taxonomist, about some of the stranger and more exotic vegetables available this summer. Learn about snow peas with extra serrated wings, why eggplants are never guys, and the best way to make gooseberry pie! This episode was sponsored by White Oak Pastures.

Photos: Unusual Veggies!

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