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Re: I.D.

I've never formally introduced myself, just waded into some of the 
discussions and lurked on plenty of others since last fall. But in a late 
effort to have better relationships with authority figures (read Lon) here 
goes:
I'm Nellie Neal, though I was known as Nel Newman when I first joined GWAA 8 
years ago. Born in Louisiana, I've lived in coastal states all my life - 
California for awhile and now Mississippi. My grandfather taught me to 
garden. He was a retired railroad man and I was a toddler who needed 
watching, so we planted seeds and pulled weeds in his garden. I'm still at 
it, now on one urban acre where today I can see red tulips, a literal host 
of daffodils, and broccoli waiting to be picked.
I protested the Vietnam War and studied life quite seriously, but managed to 
get a degree in English anyway, and went on to graduate school in 
Horticulture. In this age of specialization, I pride myself on being a 
generalist in the best sense of that word. I grow a little bit of everything 
from azaleas to zucchini, compost the leaves from 9 huge old oak trees, and 
try to communicate a bit about all their joys to my readers and listeners. I 
write for newspapers, newsletters, magazines, and websites, including my 
own, and in the last decade have contributed to several books (Ortho's All 
About Greenhouses) and published a primer about gardening in the south. 
Right now I should be working on a book for Betty Mackey, but I'm answering 
this email instead.
I have had my own weekly radio show about gardening for 7 years, and also 
sit in for the beloved Felder Rushing when he is away. It's the most fun I 
ever got paid to do.
Come on east, Linda - we all look great in our old age because of the 
humidity.
Nellie Neal
gardenmama.com


>From: Linda Schaffner <linschaf@msn.com>
>Reply-To: Gardenwriters@topica.com
>To: Gardenwriters@topica.com
>Subject: [GWL]: I.D.
>Date: Fri, 22 Feb 2002 19:59:42 -0800
>
>This is in response to Lon's request for us newcomers to identify and talk 
>about ourselves.
>
>My name is Linda Schaffner and I have been monitoring the GWL discussions 
>for a while without saying much--probably because you all seem scarily 
>knowledgeable.  I haven't gotten over the feeling that I am a pseudo 
>expert.  I write a monthly column for a green industry trade publication 
>now, Southwest Trees & Turf.  Readers have begun to e-mail me with 
>horticulture questions which I still research like crazy before I answer, 
>even if I know the answer.
>
>We moved to the Las Vegas area about 14 years ago.  It is hot, hot, hot 
>here and dry, dry, dry.  I'd never been all that interested in vegetation 
>before, but it suddenly seemed imperative to make a cool green space in the 
>dust bowl surrounding our new house.  What I learned doing that made me 
>want to know more, so I became a Nevada master gardener, and I began to 
>write horticultural articles for the master gardener newsletter, Mastering 
>the Mojave.  The director of the UNLV Arboretum, Landscape and Grounds and 
>I started collaborating on articles and I also collaborated on an article 
>for a local magazine, Home and Hearth.  In the meantime, my yards won the 
>Southern Nevada Water Authority Landscaping Award in 2000 as well as the 
>Nevada Landscape Association Award.  Then my yard and I were written up in 
>the Las Vegas daily paper a couple of times and I was on T.V. about 5, 
>maybe 6 times last year.  The National Wildlife Federation featured my yard 
>on their web front page and also used it to launch a new web site.
>
>I sometimes conduct tours for our local Desert Demonstration Gardens and 
>also the Xeric Garden at the university.  I've also been speaker for the 
>past three years for the Desert Demonstration Gardens' "Evening in a Native 
>Wash."  I've recently become a member of the Southern Nevada Arborist's 
>Group (SNAG), which means I'm a big tree fan, not an arborist.  And I've 
>been nominated for Nevada's Shade Tree Council.  So far, I've only written 
>when I've been invited to, but I am really getting into this!
>
>However, now that I've met all these wonderful horticulture people here and 
>learned a thing or two about gardening in the worst dirt and possibly the 
>harshest climate in America, we are moving...to Alabama (where you will 
>have a forest in a year or two if you don't bush hog the pasture).  To my 
>hometown.  Actually, to a suburb of a small town.  What do I do now?  Be a 
>desert-adapted plant guru there?  Do I go on with garden writing under my 
>100-year-old trees?  Sounds like a puzzle fit for a lawn chair and a glass 
>of lemonade, doesn't it?
>
>
>------------------------------------------------------------
>Laughter is the best medicine! Come get your dose!
>The BEST in CLEAN LAUGHS! Lose the winter blues...
>    -->>       http://www.AikensLaughs.com
>
>GWL has searchable archives at:
>http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters/
>If you have photos for GWL, send them to gwlphotos@hort.net and they will 
>show up at  http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos/
>**************************************************
>




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------------------------------------------------------------
Laughter is the best medicine! Come get your dose!
The BEST in CLEAN LAUGHS! Lose the winter blues...
   -->>       http://www.AikensLaughs.com

GWL has searchable archives at: 
http://www.hort.net/lists/gardenwriters/
If you have photos for GWL, send them to gwlphotos@hort.net and they will show up at  http://www.hort.net/lists/gwlphotos/ 
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