Back to Basics! — Start your Gardening Year off Greenly Cary Goodwin (Spokesperson Life is a Garden, Head Garden Girl at Colourful Group) The beginning of a New Year generally heralds new resolutions. If you haven't made one yet, let it be this - I am going to get Grounded! From starting from scratch and getting your soil right, to bringing this year's colours into your space, Cary Goodwin gives us all of Life is a Garden's hints and tips to get you on the right gardening track to ensure success in your backyard - or courtyard! Never scrimp on the basics, never be afraid to ask questions, and continue the joy you may have found during lockdown, by staying home and pimping your porch.

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

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If Trees Could Talk... — And 100 of them you should get to know! Megan Emmett Parker (author and senior producer in the environmental world) With a Masters in environmental management, a conservation degree and a decade working as a senior producer on 50/50 on tv, Megan Parker has a solid grounding on all topics environmental. Her book, Game Ranger in your Backpack, has been selling out and reprinted yearly since release ten years ago. And her book on trees, originally titled If Trees Could Talk, now published by Struik under the title 100 Bushveld Trees, is the go-to guide for those wanting to know more about our wonderful country, her biomes and the ‘beings’ that inhabit it.

Game Ranger in Your Pocket on Amazon https://amzn.to/3m73ezP

100 Bushveld Trees https://amzn.to/2LmQl8b

Megan on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/megan-parker-39027510/

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

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A Blooming Good Christmas — Christmas in a Garden with Life is a Garden Cary Goodwin (Life is a Garden | Spokesperson and Colourful Group | Head Girl) The summer holidays are a time to kick back and relax - and after the dreadful year many have had - thank you 2020! - with many people (still) staying home, it’s the perfect time to enjoy the fruits of your backyard labour. Cary Goodwin tells us what indigenous trees are great stand-ins as a Christmas tree, let’s us in on the secret world of bugs, gives hints and tips on what to be doing in the garden, and beware - here be Dragons!

Life is a Garden Website https://lifeisagarden.co.za

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

Connect with Melanie on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/melstreasures.co.za/

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Give a present that Pops for Christmas! — Regreening Africa the Greenpop way Misha Teasdale (Co-founder and Director at Greenpop Planet deforestation and carbon emissions have become watchwords in the global environment and economy. Our new ‘climate-reality’. With this in mind, in 2010 Misha Teasdale set about creating a community that reconnects humans with nature through tree planting and other environmental and social mass action Greenpop is an award-winning registered non-profit organisation headquartered in Cape Town, which works towards restoring ecosystems and empowers environmental stewards through reforestation, urban greening, sustainable development, and environmental art projects across Sub-Saharan Africa. If you’d like to add to the Green Explosion, then Listen Here!

Visit Greenpop's website https://greenpop.org/

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

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Summer’s Buzzing! — Get out into your Garden Cary Goodwin (Spokesperson Life is a Garden, Head girl at Colourful Splendour Group and Peebles Plants) Life is a Garden (the PR part of the South African Nurseryman’s Association) grants the public all the gardening know how necessary to create your own little piece of Eden in your backyard, through their website and ongoing events - live and virtual - as well as supplying useful information to all publications in South Africa. This month, Cary Goodwin let’s us know what’s on the agenda and what we should be doing through the month of November. On the menu - beetroot, Inca lilies, roses, indoor plants and much much more!

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

Connect with Melanie on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/melstreasures.co.za/

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Dig your Dirt — EcoBuz - Friendly by Nature. The Greenest Way to Grow Donvae Hooker and Cathy Church (EcoBuz) Environmentally aware gardeners are always looking for the best way to look after their plants while looking after their soil and surroundings. Donvae Hooker and Cathy Church explain how through some great scientific developments, safe, effective, chemical-free pest control solutions are now available to South African homes and gardens thanks to EcoBuz, a company that is dedicated to completing the vision and ‘dream’ of offering safe and sustainable gardening solutions into the hands of all South Africans.

Visit their website https://ecobuz.co.za

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

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Flower Power — Garden Day SA - Growing Memories Gundula Deutschlander (Master Gardener, Garden Day Ambassador) Garden Day SA on Sunday 11th October, is the perfect day to invite friends and family to celebrate your garden and green spaces with you. Master Gardener Gundula Deutschlander, one of the Garden Day ambassadors, gives us the lowdown on why gardening is good for you, and what is happening around this Glorious Green event. Conscious that we are still social distancing and that some people can’t even in fact go outside, this year the organisers are hosting the first ever Virtual Garden Day Gathering. The line-up includes a host of events, such as garden-inspired gourmet with Karen Dudley, a flower crown-off with comedian Schalk Bezuidenhout and a QandA session with garden guru Tanya Visser amongst others. This will all take place via Zoom and Facebook Live. In the lead up to Garden Day, they will also be hosting a number of virtual events flower crown making workshops and how to prepare for your Garden Day celebration.

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

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Win Win Win! — Be a Green Winner Wena Michaela Rowley (VegePod SA) Now that spring is sprung, the rains have come and we’re all itching to get our fingers into the soil, what better way to celebrate being Green than with the opportunity to win a healthy hamper of Green Goodies! This Spring promotion is happening from the 7 - 16 October 2020, and includes some great stuff from not only Vegepod, but from Jane’s Delicious Garden, 6 Degrees East and others. Vegepod’s Michaela Rowley tells us how you can enter, and more about how to grow your own if you’re strapped for space.

Visit our website https://vegepod.co.za

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

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Teach a Man to Grow Fish — Scaling Up The Wonderful Cycle of Life Justin Hess (Ichthys Aquaponics | MD) It used to be hydroponics was just a nod, nod, wink, wink, word for pot growing. Now it is accepted by consumers as a preferred method of growing high-quality food. Taking it one step further in Johannesburg, Ichthys Aquaponics have cast their line into the water and under the leadership of keen fisherman and g grower Justin Hess, set up a fish/farm which not only supplies great fresh produce, but also help those on a quest for sustainable food security to set up their own system at home. And why are we loving it? Well, because we can grow food right where it’s going to be eaten. They have also joined forces with Eastgate Mall in creating a rooftop farm, utilising waste space for growing - the first to be set up on top of a shopping mall. The Aquaponics Farm District aims to create a hub to educate local communities on alternative farming methods, showcasing how aquaponics is the future of sustainable farming. Hear why more and more people are turning to this method of Urban Farming...

Aquaponics website https://aquaponics.africa/

Eastgate Mall https://eastgatemall.co.za/

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-hess-609a342/

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

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Spring has Rounded the Corner — Time for Some Summer Fun! Cary Goodwin (Spokesperson Life is a Garden and headgirl at Colourful Group) Lockdown gave us time to prepare for spring in the garden - and now it’s upon us, it’s time to get geared up for Summer. It’s a busy month out there. What with It being Arbor Month! Trees are very much on our minds, and Cary a Goodwin of Life is a Garden tells us what we should be looking at planting, regardless of the space you have available. With Heritage Day in the offing, we also have a look at heritage plants in our country. And take yo on a seedling safari. And don’t forget - Garden Day on 11 October. You have time to grow some lovely green presents for friends and family and plan your flower coronet...

Visit Life is a Garden website https://lifeisagarden.co.za

Music : https://JohnBartmann.com

Connect with Melanie on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/melstreasures.co.za/

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Summer Treasure Hunt! — Blooming Marvellous Bulbs Charles Barnhoorn (Hadeco Bulbs | CEO) Rudyard Kipling May have said - Gardens are not made by singing 'Oh, how beautiful,' and sitting in the shade - but sometimes gardens are made by things hiding in the shade. Over the years, people eagerly await the heralds of spring, the beautiful array of winter bulbs that show their lovely heads the moment the ground temperature has warmed. For those who miss the spring boat, there’s no reason not to have a beautiful Summer garden, considering the wealth of floral treasures now available. Charles Barnhoorn, leading expert and grower, gives us and update on what’s new and exciting in their range, how to make sure you get the best from your edibles, and how to create a blooming marvellous space, whatever size it is.

Visit https://hadeco.co.za

Connect with Melanie on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/melstreasures.co.za/

When you're ready to #BeHeard, contact the podcast specialists at SolidGold.co.za