Erin Presley on Making Gardens Relatable to All (#31)
For July's episode of The Plantastic Podcast, Erin Presley speaks about the importance of making gardens relatable for everyone. She is a horticulturist at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison, Wisconsin where she manages the herb garden, native woodland areas, pond garden, and gravel garden. She highlights unique projects, including creating culturally relevant gardens with Ho Chunk Nation and Hmong communities and hosting events like making milkweed soup and a special cucumber drink. Erin also discusses innovative gardening techniques like hugelkultur, gravel gardens, and incorporating woody debris into the garden and how these practices contribute to sustainable planting. Our conversation covers Erin's dedication to fostering a love for nature and plants and emphasizes building a supportive horticultural community and the value of community engagement in public gardens. Enjoy the show!
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Show Notes
ERIN PRESLEY BIO
A lifelong Wisconsin girl, Erin Presley grew up in the rural center of the state and has a bachelor’s degree in Horticulture from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She has worked as a boots-on-the-ground gardener for more than two decades, both in the private sector and as a horticulturist at Olbrich Botanical Gardens in Madison since 2014. Her interests include native woodland plantings, sedges, low-maintenance and drought-tolerant gardening styles, recycling woody debris, and all things related to herbs, vegetables, and cooking. In addition to teaching at Olbrich Botanical Gardens, Erin loves talking plants and collaborating with herb societies, master gardeners, and local community organizations. Never shy when it comes to sharing the joy of gardening, she has appeared on the nationally syndicated podcast Cultivating Place and Wisconsin Public Radio’s Garden Talk and is a contributor publications such as Fine Gardening and Edible Madison. Learn more about Erin by visiting her Instagram @presleyspreferredplants, listening to her interview on Cultivating Place, interviews on Garden Talk with Larry Meiller, the PBS presentation with Rita Peters, and visit Olbrich Botanical Gardens
THE PLANTASTIC PODCAST
The Plantastic Podcast is a monthly podcast created by Dr. Jared Barnes. He's been gardening since he was five years old and now is an award-winning professor of horticulture at Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, TX. To say hi and find the show notes, visit theplantasticpodcast.com.
You can learn more about how Dr. Jared cultivates plants, minds, and life at meristemhorticulture.com. He also shares thoughts and cutting-edge plant research each week in his newsletter plant•ed, and you can sign up at meristemhorticulture.com/subscribe. Until next time, #keepgrowing!