SG506 Shane Smith of Greenhouse Garden and the Cheyenne Botanic Garden
In this episode of Still Growing…(SG), I had the thrill of interviewing Shane Smith, a pioneer in the field of greenhouse gardening and the founding director of the Cheyenne Wyoming Botanic Garden.
Shane has worked tirelessly through his 36 year gardening career to nurture his passion for greenhouses and bringing horticulture to the city of Cheyenne. He has been recognized for his lifetime contribution to gardening, volunteerism, education and stewardship.
When I worked for big retail companies in Human Resources, we would always discuss the shadow of the leader – the impact a great store manager could have on store performance, systems, and customer satisfaction. Shane casts the kind of leadership shadow that inspired his community to pass a $16 million levy to expand and renovate the Cheyenne Botanical Garden. Shane has left his mark on gardening and is creating a legacy of love for his community, it’s environment and people.
My in-depth interview with Shane regarding greenhouse gardening will be featured over two episodes of Still Growing. Part 1 will be covered in this episode and Part 2 will be featured next week.
If you’ve ever remotely considered getting into greenhouse gardening, you’ll want to listen to this interview.
SG506 Shane Smith of Greenhouse Garden and the Cheyenne Botanic Garden
In this episode, you’ll find out about:
- The unique climate and weather conditions faced by gardeners in Cheyenne, WY (6:19)
- Shane’s proudest accomplishment to date (7:57)
- The therapeutic value of horticulture (13:14)
- What Shane considers the most life-giving aspect of his career (14:14)
- The Paul Smith Children’s Garden (15:20)
- Shane’s upbringing and earliest gardening influences (18:54)
- Shane, “I swore to myself I’d never work in a greenhouse again”. (20:15)
- Shane’s favorite sources for gardening news and information (22:22)
- How Shane started his career in greenhouses and specifically home solar greenhouses and his mentors (25:11)
- The greenhouses that influenced Shane in the early part of his career (31:18)
- The innovations that are transforming the way greenhouses are designed today (36:42)
- The ability for greenhouses to withstand severe weather (39:10)
- Greenhouses as the new “Woman Cave” for crafting, lounging, entertaining (42:27)
- Shane “Greenhouse effect always gets a bad connotation but they’re just stealing the word greenhouse. A real greenhouse (is somewhere) people love to hang out.” (44:00)
- Shane’s book ‘The Frost Free Greenhouse” (44:55)
- Shane’s books “The Bountiful Solar Greenhouse” and “Greenhouse Gardener’s Companion” (47:36)
- The key elements that make a greenhouse user-friendly (49:37)
- The benefits of greenhouses (50:47)
- The ways greenhouse gardening differs from standard gardening (52:11)
- The four things to grow in your greenhouse (53:54)
Items mentioned in this podcast include:
Right Click to Download the MP3
Shane’s Popular Book “Greenhouse Gardener’s Companion”
Shane’s first book, “The Bountiful Solar Greenhouse”
Still growing...
Jennifer Ebeling
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