Behind The Scenes of New Garden Show

As you know, I am the Associate Producer of the new garden show, "Growing A Greener World" that will air nationally on PBS this spring. (You can read my previous post about the show here.) We did some filming this week and it was FUN, FUN, FUN.

Here is the BEHIND THE SCENES scoop! You guys are getting it FIRST!

The main mission of GGW is to tell the story of how people, places and companies are using gardening and eco-friendly practices to promote environmental stewardship and how viewers can apply these same principles in their own little corner of the world. Great stuff!

Joe Lamp'l, the Producer and host of the series, and I have been working hard to create a wonderful lineup of episodes for you. We have some wonderful gardens, incredible gardeners and intriguing projects to show and we can't wait to get started telling these compelling stories to all of you! I will be posting about some of the upcoming episodes later.

We also recently hired Chef Nathan Lyon for the show and had our first shoot with Nathan this week. What a find!

How did we find Nathan? I posted in an entertainment bulletin looking for a professional chef with TV savvy. Each applicant had to send me their resume, head-shot and video reel. I received hundreds of entries. Yes…HUNDREDS! My job, was to screen all the applicants and send Joe the ones with potential. We had an incredible talent pool to choose from. We had top chefs from around the country trying out for this position. It was a tough choice from the beginning. I sent Joe the best of the best and then together, we narrowed it down to just FOUR. After interviewing all four finalist, we still loved them all. They were all so incredibly talented and each brought unique skills to the table.

But in the end, Nathan Lyon got the job. He is all about eating local, fresh food and he has an incredible background that combines culinary arts with health and local farming. He has his own cooking show on Fit TV and Discovery Health called "Lyon in the Kitchen" and he also cooks on the TLC show "Home Made Simple". Nathan packs tons of great information and take away tips into his cooking segments. He is high energy with a down-to-earth personality. You guys are going to love him.

Nathan's job on GGW is to take the food from the gardens we visit and show viewers how to cook it up into something wonderful! Isn't that just what we as gardeners want? We grow it, but can run out of ideas on how to use it. Well, I can tell you after watching Nathan on the first shoot…he is our answer. He "gets" gardening and he "gets" what we are looking for in recipes: simple, quick AND delicious.

This week's filming took place in North Carolina, but I was able to participate (via Skype) from here in Los Angeles. How cool is that?

That is me (in the middle) between Joe Lamp'l and Nathan Lyon.

As it turned out, I had the best seat in the house as Joe placed my computer screen directly across from the set, next to the main camera. (Poor Joe had to set over on the sidelines to watch. Ha!) I sat all day from the comfort of my chair at home and yet, I was part of the action every step of the way. It was actually good that I was home because I am fighting a cold. But, the guys took care of me! They even sat a bowl of the butternut squash soup Nathan made in front of the computer for me. Now that was nice. Ahhhhh.

I will post about future shoots as they happen. We will be taping around the country and will be doing some segments in my own garden as well.

And for those of you interested in canning and preserving, fear not! As the resident certified Master Food Preserver, I will be featured on some segments to teach all about preserving your harvest. Great stuff!

You guys are getting the "behind the scenes" information before any of the shows air. Stay tuned…

Photo Credits: All GGW Photos by Jordan Crossingham