Produced by
Patti Moreno
Contributor to:
Who is the Garden Girl?
Patti Moreno, born in New York City, is an independent film producer and television personality best known for her work as Garden Girl on Garden Girl TV. Living and working in Boston, Massachusetts, Patti publishes the hit website and e-newsletter Urban Sustainable Living, and is in the process of writing a book based on these concepts. Her goal is to pioneer the idea of gardening in small or urban environments, and to inspire and educate people everywhere to grow their own organic food and live sustainably. She is also the co-host of Growing a Greener World, author for Fine Gardening, and gardening expert for HGTV.
After the birth of her daughter in 1996, Moreno was 70 pounds overweight and used gardening as a way to get back in shape. Having just moved into a new home in Roxbury, Massachusetts, Moreno developed gardening methods for an urban environment instead of maintaining a lawn, incorporating the ideas of container gardening, vertical gardening, and Square Foot Gardening to get the most results from the least space. Moreno refined her technique and called it "urban sustainable living". This concept covers all aspects of urban farming, from planting and maintaining crops to raising small livestock.
She combined her film background with her gardening skills to lay the groundwork for the website Garden Girl TV, on which she posts short, how-to videos on urban gardening methods. Her videos touch not only on gardening, but also on cooking, water gardens, aquaculture, crafts and livestock.
In 2007, Moreno filmed the first season of Garden Girl TV. She has since made over 200 videos, and released two feature-length gardening DVDs - Square Foot Gardening (2010) and Urban Sustainable Living (2008). Patti is currently shooting the first season of a new TV series Gardening By Cuisine (2012), producing videos for HGTV.com and HGTVpro.com, and is writing a book on urban sustainable living to accompany the series.
Who is Patti Moreno?
In 2007, I needed to introduce myself because no one including me could imagine I would be where I am today. This video is a bit of nostalgia that shows two important things: time flies and nothing is impossible. This video is just a reminder that Garden Girl is a wife, daughter, mother, gardener and most ironically, a girl from New York City. I was raised in Queens, The Bronx, the lower east side and even some time in Brooklyn. I came to Boston for college and that's where I live today.
Read more...At Home with Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl
This IS reality TV! I can't believe I'm even showing you this! There is a warning about no make-up so be prepared for what you are about to see – very different than the Garden Girl that you know and love.
This is just a quick clip of what it’s like when Garden Girl has to be a mom and a wife and make a dinner for her hungry family. You’ll see me out in my garden unable to resist a quick snack of freshly picked grapes and a pear. You will also see how I plan my menu based on what’s growing around me. You will see me pick tomatoes and herbs for my sauce for that night’s dinner.
Read more...My First Farm Stand
Do you remember all those little seedlings that I started inside? Today you will see them all grown up and outside! Since I had such an abundance of seedlings, I decided to share the wealth and invite my neighbors in to see what is possible in the middle of the city! My daughter and I made a sign says “Organic Farm Stand" and waited for them to come. And they did. I've met so many of my neighbors thru my farm stand. It was great to know that I played a small part in helping my neighbors heat healthy organic vegetables from plants that I started from seed.
I guess the best part of this video is my neighbor who calls an urban garden “surreal.” He is as excited as I am to be able to grow my own food for the health and well-being of my family and to be able to take control of my own health.
Read more...What is Urban Sustainable Living?
It dawned on me, that since we met, you have been hearing me use the term "urban sustainable living." I say it all the time because I really believe in it. Perhaps you don't yet know what it means. Let me explain. Urban Sustainable Living is simply a holistic approach to living "sustainably" in our fast-paced, often wasteful urban and suburban lifestyles. USL incorporates permaculture design principles to manage natural processes that can directly benefit our families and our larger community.
Read more...My Woolly Mammoth Fiber is in!
What you are about to witness is slightly embarrassing. It shows that I am-- as one of you has called me-- a Fiber nerd. This video simply shows my unrestrained glee when I open a box of my own pygora fiber back from the mini mill.
For those of you, who don’t spin or are beginners, let me explain.
As you know I work with angora fiber which is the fur from my angora rabbits. I also have a pygora goat and I work with that hair as well. I have mentioned that pygora fiber has guard hairs which need to be removed. You may have imagined me with tweezers removing the small hairs from my pygora fiber but actually it’s a bit more complicated than that.
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