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January 12, 2010

Nature's hummingbird special

Hummingbird

Photo credit: AP/San Antonio Express-News, Joe Barrera

If you missed the Nature episode, Hummingbirds: Magic in the Air on Sunday night, you can now view it on-line.

The episode of the PBS show drew rave reviews for its portrayal of this tiny but tough bird, with a metabolism that keeps it constantly on the edge of survival. Hummingbirds are called the most elite athletes of the animal world.

Most of us think hummingbirds live on nectar, but the truth is, they fill their calorie requirements with insects, and it is their speed and agility in the air that makes them tremendous hunters.

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Posted by Susan Reimer at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Gardening on television

January 5, 2010

Michael Pollan meets Jon Stewart

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c

Michael Pollan

www.thedailyshow.com

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America's food conscience, Michael Pollan, appeared on Jon Stewart's The Daily Show this week to promote his new book, Food Rules.

It was a lively, but respectful, exchange, during which Pollan compared the food companies to cigarette makers - huge firms that create artificial demand for substances they know to be unhealthy. Phillip Morris actually makes both food and cigarettes, he noted.

"The difference," he said, "is that you don't have to smoke."

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Posted by Susan Reimer at 12:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Gardening on television

October 28, 2009

The Botany of Desire

The Botany of Desire And we thought we were in charge in the garden.

PBS's luminous production of Michael Pollan's best-selling book, "The Botany of Desire" premiers Wednesday at 8 p.m. on a public television station near you, and it is worth every single minute of its two hours.

With Pollan's narration and vivid film and photos, the program seeks to illustrate Pollan's theory that four plants - the tulip, the apple, the marijuana plant and the potato - manipulated mankind into worldwide propagation by appealing to man's need for beauty, sweetness, control and our search for our own consciousness.

"They have been shaping us," says Pollan on camera. "They have been using us for their own success."

Tulips have such power that their bulbs have been the equivalent of currency.

Marijuana so satisfied our need to look inside ourselves that man has risked his live and his freedom to propagate it.

The apple so satisfies our need for sweetness that we have made it the universal fruit.

And the potato, satisfying our need to feed ourselves, has emerged from the jungles of South America to be a diet staple for humans.

"These plants are the great winners in the dance of domestication," says Pollan.

This lush program will be rebroadcast throughout the weekend. Check local listings.

Or better yet, buy a copy of the DVD and a portion of the sales will benefit PBS.

Rembrandt tulip photo courtesy of PBS

Posted by Susan Reimer at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Gardening on television

March 25, 2009

Martha Stewart and Jon Traunfeld

Our own Jon Traunfeld, from the University of Maryland Extension Service, will be on The Martha Stewart Show Friday (March 27) at 11 a.m. on WBAL Channel 11.

His topic? Salads tables – a kind of elevated garden for different varieties of greens. Jon Traunfeld

If you miss the episode with Jon, you can watch it online.

Jon will be blogging on vegetable gardening because, he said, the economy is making it a huge topic. Homeowners want to grow their own for health reasons, too, and, if they need help getting started, Jon can provide it.

“Creating your own small food garden in 2009 could be an answer to many of life’s big issues,” he writes in his first post.

His blog is Grow it Eat it, and it will be up and running April 1. You might want to check out the Grow It Eat It Web site, too.

Photo credit: University of Maryland College of Agriculture.

Posted by Susan Reimer at 10:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Gardening on television