Gardeners and horticulturists world over rely on their computers nearly as much as their trowels and peat moss. They know that by logging on to the Gardening Forum and posting questions, they have instant access to the accumulated wisdom of thousands of experienced and enthusiastic gardeners world-wide.
The Gardening Forum is run by the National Gardening Association, located in Burlington, Vermont. Founded more than twenty years ago, the NGA is the largest nonprofit gardening organization in the U.S. Its mission is to use gardening to help build and reinforce links among people, communities and the environment. It is also the largest single supporter of children's gardening projects.
The NGA's publication, National Gardening Magazine, is a gold-mine of practical articles on flower, vegetable and fruit gardening for a quarter of a million subscribers nationwide. Articles from National Gardening Magazine appear in the Forum Library 2. The NGA also publishes books and media aimed at home gardeners. The NGA works with Gallup Company to annually track lawn and garden habits across North America. The results of this work are published in the NGA's National Gardening Survey.
Its Youth Garden Grants Program provides seeds, tools and information to garden projects and neighborhoods across the country. More than 20,000 children have benefited from this program. Additional educational programming comes in the form of the GrowLab project. This indoor gardening program helps kindergartners through middle-schoolers learn science and other subjects using the GrowLab garden and curriculum as a teaching tool. Some 15,000 teachers across the U.S. receive the highly acclaimed "Growing Ideas" newsletter which highlights successful gardening efforts in the classroom.
Garden Guides in this Segment
Several staff members from the NGA participated in the content of this segment. Howard Maculsay is the Gardening Forum Manager. Howard is a life-long gardener who lives in Claremont, California. Charlie Nardozzi, who provided input on garden preparation in this segment, is the horticulturist for the NGA. In addition to hosting the syndicated radio gardening show "In the Garden," Charlie supervises the NGA's test gardener's program, working with the NGA's national network of home gardeners. Home gardeners test new varieties of vegetables and flowers, products and gardening techniques. Charlie also travels, visiting people and looking for stories. Alison Mixter, who discusses buying healthy plants in this segment, is the Assistant Editor of the National Gardening Association Magazine and is the Gardening Forum Coordinator.
