Jerry Baker, "America's Master Gardener"

**"Susan Harris" h*@erols.com**

Hi.  I just joined and have enjoyed catching up by reading your archives - lots of interesting stuff.
I've been in discussions with lots of folks recently about Jerry Baker, whose gardening how-to videos sell like crazy and also run on PBS during their fund-raising months.  Problem is, he's universally recognized as a quack - well, by everybody except people who make money off his looney, environmentally hazardous concoctions.  Example:  He tells us to spray our gardens every two weeks with a mixture containing antiseptic mouthwash, to make our gardens "clean" and every three weeks with a mixture containing chewing tobacco juice, which obviously contains nicotine, probably more toxic than anything on the shelves of Home Depot.  In some markets environmental and possibly master gardener groups have gotten him removed from the PBS programming but I'm frankly amazed at his staying power in most markets, including the D.C. market. 
My garden club and another environmental group in the D.C. area will be writing our local PBS affiliates to request they stop showing this harmful advice but before we do, does anybody know anything else about the situation?  Here's an excellent article about him from a 1999 USA Today article, but I'm curious why my deep Google search revealed nothing else like it, just pro-Jerry marketing stuff.  http://www.coopext.colostate.edu/4DMG/Whats/jbaker.htm
Thanks for any info.  Susan
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