I have a new canning and preserving post over
at Growing A Greener World today.
Strawberries & Cream Low-Sugar Jam
No, there is no "cream" in this recipe. I use a delicious vanilla bean to create that creamy flavor. And by making it low-sugar, the flavors of the berries really shine!
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You know how I am the Canning Expert (and Associate Producer) for the Growing A Greener World public television series? Well, we just launched a new Canning and Preserving Blog over on our website! Each week, I will posting on how to preserve the harvest and capture local flavors in a jar.
Come on over and see!
I already have post on:
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Lights! Camera! Cue the songbirds! Cue the Squash! Aaaaand ACTION!
Yes, it is true. Two months ago, we filmed for FIVE straight days in my backyard for our Public Television series Growing A Greener World. As the Associate Producer of the show, it was my job to coordinate the 5 day shoot, including finding the guests, pre-interview them, acquiring permits, permissions and lining up all the locations.
But what made this particular shoot a bit more stressful was the fact that my garden was being featured (on 3 of the episodes we were filming). So I had to do my AP job while also getting myself AND the garden ready for filming.
Whew! I still get tired thinking about it.
The filming itself went well. The crew was supposed to arrive Monday afternoon and stop by to get an overview of my garden. Imagine my surprise when I opened the door at 11 AM only to find our Director and Lighting Director on my front porch with all of their equipment!
Apparently Joe Lamp’l (our Ex. Producer) had emailed them in mid-flight and told them to start shooting when they arrived! Funny thing about that…HE FORGOT TO TELL ME! It was a miracle I was even home!
So, I was a bit thrown off as I was running out the door to get food and wine (a very important element in a 5 day shoot). But I let the guys in to start filming 24 hours early. Oh MY!
Lucky for me, I have some very talented and reliable friends who not only picked up my kids from school, but also got the crew some much needed coffee while I escaped to run errands.
Meanwhile, I started texting Joe on the airplane (his flight was not set to land until 2:30 PM) and most of those texts and emails began with the words “I am going to kill you…and it will be a slow, painful death“. When Joe landed, he texted me that he was afraid to get off the plane. (As well he should be!)
But in the end, it was wonderful to have the guys here a day early as that gave them almost an entire day to film B-roll of my garden that we can use in many of our episodes.
The episode about me and my garden is called “Living Homegrown Fresh” (sound familiar?) and will be airing THIS weekend on Public Television. It is all about growing your own food, eating locally, and how I do urban homesteading in the middle of the city.
I was listening to the play back of what we just shot.
The team doing the “close” in front of my garden writer shed.
(Yes, this is where I write for the show)
Our host/producer Joe Lamp’l filming in my front yard.
We filmed at a farmer’s market to discuss eating LOCAL!
You need to check your local listings to see when it is airing in your neck of the woods. OR WATCH IT ON THE SHOW’S WEBSITE! We will be airing the episode (in its entirety and in high definition) on the Growing A Greener World website starting this Sunday morning, August 22.
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A few months back, we filmed a bee episode for Growing a Greener World. I got to spend the day with an incredible bee keeper, Corky Luster of the Ballard Bee Company. I learned a lot from him during the filming. It made me even more determined to have my own bees one day.
Corky rents out his hives! He will place a hive in your backyard, maintain it for you and you get all the pollination from the bees and a jar of honey at the end of the season (made from your own backyard plants). How cool is that??
As part of the episode story, we followed Corky as he visited some of his hives. The first stop? My very good friend Robin Haglund’s garden. She is a popular garden coach and owner of Garden Mentors. She helps gardeners create and maintain their dream landscapes. She is so talented.
Here she is with Joe Lamp’l (The host and producer of GGW) She wanted a little extra help in the pollination department for her own backyard, so she had Corky install a few hives.
Wow. Those bees really were working hard.
And check out Robin’s cool greenhouse!
Here we are in Robin’s backyard filming Corky and Joe tasting the honey. YUM!
And during the shoot I got to see the rooftop garden at Bastille Restaurant in Seattle.
It’s made of raised beds with shade-cloth lids and the restaurant can grow vegetables there winter or summer!
It is a great operation and will be featured on the bee episode because Corky placed bee hives up there to help with pollination. The restaurant is then going to cook with the honey from their own hives.
The raised-bed garden was designed by Colin McCrate of Seattle Urban Farm Company.
(Photo: Left to right – Director Carl Pennington, Joe Lamp’l and Colin McCrate.)
McCrate, who has tons of farming experience, noticed that people wanted to have a garden in urban areas but didn’t necessarily want to tend it themselves. So he stepped into the breach and became a garden designer who will come to your house, design a garden, and then maintain it throughout the year so you can have delicious food without hassle. He can even start you up with a chicken house! Costs can very depending on the size of the garden and the amount of upkeep, but at the end of it you’re eating from your own garden and your children are seeing where their food comes from, so it’s definitely worth it.
The bee episode already aired on Public Television, so we now have it up on our show website. Go HERE to watch the show in high definition.
After watching I bet you will want bees of your own too…
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Theresa Loe is the award- winning Co-Executive Producer & Canning Expert on Growing A Greener World TV. She blogs here about Living Homegrown®, local and fresh-from-the-garden. MORE >>
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