The 13-part series "Cultivating Life" celebrates Americans' reconnection to the natural world - from organic produce to saving endangered animals. Host Sean Conway offers simple solutions for 'renovating' one's life with easy-to-do projects and timely ideas for outdoor living, cooking, gardening and entertaining. Conway and a variety of guest experts demystify old agrarian traditions and reinterpret them to fit modern lifestyles. An episode on grasses includes segments on bamboo furnishings for the home, cooking with lemongrass, collecting vintage lawnmowers and a visit to one of America's last surviving prairies. "Cultivating Life" also reveals inspiring stories of those who have changed the world in subtle - and often surprising - ways: gardeners who hunt and preserve heirloom flowers and vegetables, contractors who are protecting 200-year-old barns, and chefs who specialize in using locally grown produce.
Fall
first aired:
October 12, 2008
(#326)
From picking the right pot for the right plant to harvesting cranberries ...
Salt
first aired:
October 10, 2008
(#325)
From salt-tolerant plants and some surprising household uses for salt ...
Apple
first aired:
October 8, 2008
(#324)
From harvesting heirloom apples and planting a Belgian fence of these ...
Pine
first aired:
September 6, 2008
(#323)
From lesser-known pines suited to any garden and the art of creating perfect ...
Rain
first aired:
October 5, 2008
(#322)
From water-loving rain lilies and easy-to-make rain chains to a Texas ...
Weeds
first aired:
October 3, 2008
(#321)
From a North Carolina gardener who has built a business around kudzu and ...
Cactus
first aired:
October 1, 2008
(#320)
From hardy cactus growing in Connecticut and the art of potting cacti ...
Salad
first aired:
September 29, 2008
(#319)
From a tabletop garden that will keep the salad coming all season long ...
Dry
first aired:
September 28, 2008
(#318)
From an easy-to-build flowering clothesline, an air-plant mobile and a ...
Orchid
first aired:
September 26, 2008
(#317)
The elusive orchid reveals its secrets as we discover simple techniques ...
Lily
first aired:
September 24, 2008
(#316)
From growing lilies in your garden and gilding a lily pad table for the ...
Pepper
first aired:
September 22, 2008
(#315)
From growing peppers well even where summers are cool to cooking with ...
Cat
first aired:
September 21, 2008
(#314)
From drought-tolerant catmints for any garden and a beautiful California ...
Porch
first aired:
September 19, 2008
(#313)
From building a simple porch swing and learning easy repairs for old wicker ...
Summer
first aired:
September 17, 2008
(#312)
"Cultivating Life" takes on summer with a variety of garden and outdoor ...
Terracotta
first aired:
September 15, 2008
(#311)
From cooking on clay and repairing a favorite old cachepot to learning ...
Tree
first aired:
September 6, 2008
(#310)
From flowering trees for your garden and ground covers that hold up against ...
Spring
first aired:
September 12, 2008
(#309)
From a visit to a rock garden filled with spring flowers and a seasonal ...
Onion
first aired:
September 10, 2008
(#308)
From beautiful flowering alliums for your garden and growing and curing ...
Rose
first aired:
September 8, 2008
(#307)
From roses selected for their scent to building the perfect trellis for ...
Rock
first aired:
September 7, 2008
(#306)
From easy-to-make stone covered planters to building your own rock garden ...
Mushroom
first aired:
September 5, 2008
(#305)
From growing your own shiitakes and portabellas to using recycled mushroom ...
Bean
first aired:
September 3, 2008
(#304)
Whether building the perfect bean trellis or cooking with fresh beans ...
Herbs
first aired:
September 1, 2008
(#303)
From culinary herbs that add color to your border and building the perfect ...
Berry
first aired:
August 31, 2008
(#302)
From easy-to-grow edible berries for gardens and containers to fruiting ...
Moss
first aired:
August 29, 2008
(#301)
"Cultivating Life" elevates moss off of the woodland floor. From Japanese ...
Bulbs
first aired:
September 30, 2007
(#226)
From creating strands of copper-topped lights and selecting the right ...
Harvest
first aired:
September 29, 2007
(#225)
From harvesting cranberries on the Cape to a Northern California program ...
Terrace
first aired:
September 23, 2007
(#224)
"Cultivating Life" steps out the back door and onto the terrace with colorful ...
Pumpkin
first aired:
September 22, 2007
(#223)
From growing a pumpkin patch and drilling pumpkins as Halloween luminarias ...
Maple
first aired:
September 16, 2007
(#222)
From growing colorful Japanese maples in containers and transforming maple ...
Charleston
first aired:
September 15, 2007
(#221)
From local plant hunters searching down heirloom crinums and roses and ...
Sun
first aired:
September 9, 2007
(#220)
From plants that can bake in the sun and cooking with sunchokes to the ...
Rice
first aired:
September 8, 2007
(#219)
From growing a tabletop rice paddy and visiting old South Carolina rice ...
Shade
first aired:
September 2, 2007
(#218)
From a shady Italianate garden in a surprising locale and an easy-to-make ...
Oak
first aired:
July 24, 2007
(#217)
From visiting a southern garden designed around an allee of live oaks ...
Chanticleer
first aired:
July 23, 2007
(#216)
"Cultivating Life" visits one of Philadelphia - and America's - most beautiful ...
Glass
first aired:
July 22, 2007
(#215)
From planting Wardian cases for indoors and building a cold frame for ...
Fruit
first aired:
July 21, 2007
(#214)
Enjoy the fruits of our labor - from cultivating easy-to-grow rare fruits ...
Fish
first aired:
July 20, 2007
(#213)
From cooking the catch of the day with renowned chef and fisherman David ...
Fire
first aired:
July 19, 2007
(#212)
From building a firepit, planting a flame-colored flower border, and firing ...
Citrus
first aired:
July 18, 2007
(#211)
From advice on growing your own lemons and limes wherever you live and ...
Dog
first aired:
July 17, 2007
(#210)
From training your dog to behave in the garden and leave the birds alone ...
Iron
first aired:
July 16, 2007
(#209)
From Southern shade-loving plants as indestructible as cast iron and simple ...
Corn
first aired:
July 15, 2007
(#208)
From the innerworkings of a centuries-old grist mill and our favorite ...
Bamboo
first aired:
July 14, 2007
(#207)
Bamboo takes its place in the garden as a plant (with advice on selecting ...
Milk
first aired:
July 13, 2007
(#206)
From butterfly-attracting milkweeds for your garden and making your own ...
Butterfly
first aired:
July 12, 2007
(#205)
From selecting plants to attract these truly fine-feathered friends to ...
Netherlands
first aired:
July 11, 2007
(#204)
From the home garden of renowned landscape designer Piet Oudulf and a ...
Kitchen
first aired:
July 10, 2007
(#203)
The kitchen moves outdoors. From building an outdoor kitchen to growing ...
Seed
first aired:
July 9, 2007
(#202)
From making your own mustard and creating a raised bed to grow on seedlings ...
Fern
first aired:
July 8, 2007
(#201)
Fronds we're fond of. From the Victorian rage for displaying ferns and ...
Flower
first aired:
March 29, 2007
(#113)
From growing edible flowers to artful ways of training flowering vines, ...
Tomato
first aired:
March 27, 2007
(#112)
Discover colorful heirloom tomatoes that leave you seeing more than just ...
Metal
first aired:
March 22, 2007
(#111)
Discover the art of cooking on a cast-iron hibachi and how to use metallic ...
Stone
first aired:
March 20, 2007
(#110)
Visit the Rockefeller Stone Barns where they are battling to preserve ...
Vegetable
first aired:
March 15, 2007
(#109)
From Dan Hinkley's beautiful potager on Washington's Bainbridge Island ...
Wood
first aired:
March 13, 2007
(#108)
Discover the art of using wood to imbue roasted meat with great flavor ...
Conifers
first aired:
March 8, 2007
(#107)
From miniature evergreen forests for your back patio to one of the most ...
Chicken & Egg
first aired:
March 6, 2007
(#106)
Which comes first, the chicken or the egg? From the trend of creating ...
Grass
first aired:
March 1, 2007
(#105)
Grass grows up! From maintaining a border of ornamental grasses to simple ...
Farm
first aired:
February 27, 2007
(#104)
Celebrate how Americans are returning to the land. From the Community ...
Birds and Bees
first aired:
February 22, 2007
(#103)
From building a shrub border to attract wildlife and harvesting and grilling ...
Fences & Hedges
first aired:
February 20, 2007
(#102)
From easy-to-build fences and gates to elaborate pleached hedges made ...
Water
first aired:
February 15, 2007
(#101)
Jump into the water and learn how to build a simple backyard water feature ...
