Gardening on the Radio
by Donald Ray Burger
Attorney at Law

Houston is blessed because we can get numerous gardening shows on the radio on Saturday and Sunday mornings--some even from San Antonio! Below is my list of radio programs on gardening. As you can imagine, these shows have very different approaches to gardening. Whether you lean toward organics or toward better living through chemicals, the Houston air waves have something for you. Obviously, I don't endorse everything these gardening hosts recommend. Still, all these radio gardeners have many years of gardening experience, and all are worth a listen. Time well spent-especially if you listen on a portable radio in the --you guessed it--garden!

Saturday mornings from 6 am to 9 am:
Bob Webster: 550 AM, KTSA radio (out of San Antonio):
Bob Webster is very knowledgeable about gardening. He leans toward organic gardening, but is not opposed to using garden chemicals in dire necessity. As a bonus, he usually talks to Howard Garrett each Saturday morning just after the 8 o'clock news. KTSA is hard to pick up in Houston early on Saturday, but is much clearer on Sundays. I recommend the GE Super III radio as the best buy in AM radio. It runs on batteries or 110 and can pick up distant stations better than most. Best Products usually carries it. You can also order it from www.ccrane.com. C Crane also sells the CCRadio Plus, the best am radio made. It is a little expensive at $159.95, but if you love am radio, this is the radio to get. It pulls in San Antonio for me almost as if I was within their city limits.

Saturday mornings from 6 am to 10 am:
Randy Lemmon: Gardenline: 740 AM, KTRH. Randy Lemmon has a Masters degree in Agriculture from Texas A&M and has been on the radio in Houston since 1995. Over the years he has come to embrace an IPM approach to gardening, with less emphasis on chemicals and more emphasis on organics. As should be the case with IPM, he is mainly about what works, but he definitely give organics their due. His 1997 book, Golfer's Guide to Gardening, give hints of his unique approach to horticulture. Randy's knowledge is well anchored in both science and experience, and tempered with an awareness that gardening is not all there is to life. Randy's 2011 book is 1001 Gardenline Questions. It features answers to many of the commonest questions from callers to his radio program. You will enjoy listening to his show.

Saturday mornings from 6 am to 8 am:
Shawn Kelly and Blinda Ann Kelly: Your Livable Garden: 700 AM, KSEV radio. This is a great garden talk show. It is hosted by Shawn Kelly and Blinda Ann James of Mirror Lake Landscape, Pools and Waterfalls. They are very knowledgeable about gardening in Houston. This show has a chemistry about it that makes it fun to listen to even if you don't garden. Shawn isn't exactly an organic gardener, but he is very sensible and his initial reaction is not to reach for the insecticide at the first sign of a bug. Furthermore, his advice seems well grounded in actual experience with gardening in Houston, not just book knowledge. This is clearly the most pleasant hour and a half of gardening on Houston radio. Call 281 558 5738, or click here for program information.

Sunday mornings: 8 am to 11 am:
Bob Webster: 550 AM, KTSA radio. For some reason, the Sunday broadcast of Bob Webster comes in much clearer than the Saturday broadcast. Of course, you can hear the Sunday show through the computer also. See above. This show is always worthwhile. And San Antonio is a similar enough to Houston's climate to make this show useful. To top it off, almost every Sunday after the 10 am news Bob interviews Malcolm Beck of Garden-Ville fame. Mr. Beck is the dean of composting in Texas and very knowledgeable about organic gardening. Don't miss this program.

Sunday mornings from 6 am to 10 am:
Randy Lemmon: Gardenline: 740 AM, KTRH. Randy has shows on both Saturday and Sunday mornings. Randy Lemmon has a Masters degree in Agriculture from Texas A&M and has been on the radio in Houston since 1995. Over the years he has come to embrace an IPM approach to gardening, with less emphasis on chemicals and more emphasis on organics. As should be the case with IPM, he is mainly about what works, but he definitely give organics their due. His 1997 book, Golfer's Guide to Gardening, give hints of his unique approach to horticulture. Randy's knowledge is well anchored in both science and experience, and tempered with an awareness that gardening is not all there is to life. Randy's 2011 book is 1001 Gardenline Questions. It features answers to many of the commonest questions from callers to his radio program. You will enjoy listening to his show.

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