Len's Bio
Len Giddix, a New Britain , CT native, started gardening before he was in first grade. He remembers the neighbors commenting on his early abilities: "Such a remarkable child"; "A joy to behold"; "So smart for his age".
Of course, where it went wrong after that is anyone's guess.
Struggling to keep a balance between gardening, fishing, dating and academics, Len finally graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas High, in New Britain , St. Anselm College (B.A. Biology) in Manchester , NH and Penn State University (M.S., Plant Pathology) in State College , PA. As a result, Len considers himself to be "highly over-educated".
"So much money. So much time. Then, he doesn't even wear a tie to work". That's what Len remembers his parents lamenting as he strolled off to his first REAL job as a Mushroom Grower Trainee at Franklin Mushroom Farms in N. Franklin, CT in 1978.
Sixteen years later, after, "becoming somewhat frustrated at still being considered a trainee", Len somehow gained employment with Prides Corner Farms in Lebanon . CT as their first Customer Service Representative Trainee. After almost ten years at Prides, Len is now the Customer Service Manager Trainee. "I'm a Trainee for life", is Len's motto now. "If you think you know it all, guess again. Everyone you meet, everything you do has something to teach you. I find it hard to say 'no' to a new opportunity."
Making mistakes is important in Len's learning process. "There's got to be a point in life where, if you make enough mistakes, and learn from them, you'll eventually make less mistakes. Does that make sense?" Making more to make less does not make sense, but that never stopped Len....as you well know if you listen to Garden Talk. Learn from Len's mistakes each week on Garden Talk.
Lisa's Bio
Lisa is a first generation American and the only daughter in a family with 3 brothers. Growing up in a neighborhood full of boys, other that her best girlfriend who was as much a tomboy as she was, she was destined to never have clean fingernails. Her childhood days were spent out in the fields and the woods just hanging out. She knew where the lady slippers bloomed, the blackberries, blueberries and wild strawberries grew, horse chestnuts made great projectiles (wear a winter coat when you throw a chestnut at your brother). We knew where the leaches lived in the brook and that the clay bank was great to squish through on a hot summer day. Growing up in a simple time, with a great family and best friend was a privilege. She grew to enjoy and respect nature, fascinated by all things growing.
As a little girl her first memory of the garden is standing in the garden with her old Italian grandmother eating a tomato still warm from the sun. Her grandmother didn't do anything fancy but had an abundance of food to share from her garden along with mushrooms from the woods. Simple pleasures are the gift of gardening.
She started her family young with a great guy, three kids of their own and a great nephew. Life was full raising a family and a gaggle of dogs, cats, a hamster and a crow. Through those times she had her gardens, a place to get in touch with the earth and escape (most kids will leave you alone and find anything better to do than weed, though they were happy to sample the raspberry jam). Vegetable, berries, landscaping and flowerbeds offered beauty, refuge and food. In actuality Lisa is a frustrated farmer. Wanted to be a farmer from a young age but..she married a printer..some dreams are worth sacrificing.
Anyway, she gets her gardening fix in the backyard or standing in line on a hot summer night waiting to get into the restaurant, gotta wonder if they mind a weed or two pulled?
So she's been gardening since she can remember. She is a Connecticut Accredited Nursery Professional but learned the most from her years at a small organically managed nursery making mistakes, observations and trying to help customers with their gardening dilemmas. Every day in the early years at the nursery someone would ask a question that she did not have the answer to.an opportunity to learn something new. Little by little the answers came to make sense. Not much of a formal education just a student at the School of Life with a concentration in the garden. Now she works at Prides Corner Farms, a wholesale grower in Lebanon, CT, selling plants to retail garden centers during the week and on Saturday afternoons talks with folks and gets the opportunity to share some gardening wisdom and laughs.
"Mikey C., our producer. Girls! He's single!"
The story, no, the saga of Garden Talk with Len and Lisa is one of simply being in the right place at the right time.
In 1999, Paul Tukey, Editor-in-Chief of People, Places and Plants Magazine and Mark Sellew, President of Prides Corner Farms invited Len to become the CT Associate Editor for the magazine. Accepting their offer, Len's first mission was to announce to every TV and Radio Station, Magazine and Newspaper in CT that he had become Associate Editor of PPP. He also offered to be available for garden spots or columns if the need arose.
At the same time WTIC-AM was rethinking their Saturday programming schedule. One of the subjects they had targeted was gardening, because of its popularity. Len was contacted by the WTIC program directors to discuss the possibility of hosting a weekly gardening show. He remembers their words like it was yesterday, "all you have to be is entertaining and informative".
"Entertaining and informative! At the same time?" Len needed help!
Len and Lisa had been friends for a while. Lisa's unique knowledge of plants and organic gardening was just what Len lacked. (Well, he lacks a lot more than that, but we won't go into that right now)
"Hey Lisa, how would you like to do a gardening show with me on TIC."
"Sure", she said. Thinking it was just one show.
The rest is gardening history.
Len and Lisa would like to thank WTIC-AM, Jenneen Lee, Steve Salhany, and producer-extraordinaire, Mikey C. for making Garden Talk blossom.
tool shed
