Replay of 8: Pattiann Bennet | St. Michael’s Episcopal Church | Eureka, MT
Originally published Feb 11, 2015
Pattiann Bennett brings us decades of gardening experience from the East Coast to the Rocky Mountains. Learn about growing perennial flowers, Sailor Sauerkraut’s probiotic benefits, and the best Kale Chip Recipe anywhere.
Tell me about your first gardening experience?
Playing in her mothers garden as an 8yr old in Maine.
What does organic gardening/earth friendly mean to you?
My husband Bruce and I don’t use chemicals. We always have compost pile going. When we first moved here we were looking for ways to make a living in Montana so we ordered red wigglers worms from Texas to sell as bait that now nourish the soil, use cow n horse manure, and mulch with hay or straw.
Who or what inspired u to start using organic techniques?
Parents never used chemical fertizliers but used compost from kitchen and dad would get manure. First adult garden in Florida where soil was very different.
Story of Stuff link.
How did you learn how to garden organically?
Always been sort of organic people. Bruce’s grandfather was always a great gardener.
Tell us about something that grew well this year.
Cabbages and Kale (See Kale Chip recipe below)
Is there something you would do different next year?
Two gardens – vegetable gardens
Tell me about something that didn’t work so well this season.
Mason’s Sunflower Jungle
Grandson Mason’s Sunflower Jungle provided beautiful sunflowers but too much shade for many plants.
Do you have any secrets for preserving food-making it last?
Eating or harvesting vegetables or fruit on time? 
Need to harvest when ready and get processed.
Do you have any special techniques for cooking weird or unusual foods?
A favorite recipe you like to cook?
Cream of Kale soup made with Cream of Broccoli recipe
A favorite tool that you like to use? If you had to move and could only take one tool with you what would it be.
Shovel – small headed shovel.
A favorite reading material-book, mag, blog/website etc you can
Rodale’s How to Grow Vegetables and Fruits by the Organic Method by JI Rodale
The New Self-Sufficient Gardener by John Seymour
Small Space, Big Harvest Dwayne Newcomb
If you have any comments, questions, guests you’d like to see, or topics you’d like us to cover please send us any feedback positive or negative. We’re here to serve our audience and we can only improve with your help!!! Thanks for visiting Mike’s Green Garden changing the world one garden at a time.
The Organic Gardener Podcast is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com
audible.com
If you like what you heard on the Organic Gardener Podcast we’d love it if you’d give us review and hopefully a 5 star rating on iTunes so other gardeners can find us and listen to. Just click on the link here.
About the author, Jackie Marie
I'm an artist and educator. I live at the "Organic Oasis" with my husband Mike where we practice earth friendly techniques in our garden nestled in the mountains of Montana.