Landscaper's Challenge Winning Garden
Recently, a Twitter acquaintance started a conversation discussing working for free. Although I donate my time and energy to causes I believe in, and I maintain this blog without any significant compensation, I don’t do much professional work for free. I simply can’t afford to work for nothing.
However, a few years ago I was invited to participate in HGTV’s Landscaper’s Challenge. It was an unpaid work experience that demanded a lot of time and energy on a tight timeline, and it came with no guarantees. In the long run, my significant time investment has become very rewarding. The show continues to run once or twice a year. And, in return I continue to receive compliments for the design. (Oops! Did I just give away who won?) Plus, the experience itself certainly makes for fun cocktail party chit-chat. And, maybe best of all, old friends come out of the woodwork each time the show runs.
If you haven’t seen the show yet, set your DVR now. The next re-run is scheduled for Friday, October 16, 2009 at 8am e/p. Find more info on the show, the re-run schedule and more here.
(2008 Re-run Reminder Post)
One of my oldest friends just sent me a text message to let me know that she’s watching me on TV — again. Several years ago I was invited to participate in HGTV’s Landscaper’s Challenge, and my design was selected (watch it online here). Friends and family still thrill to seeing me on TV. And, it does generate a bit of work now and again for me. But, it represents work I did years ago. Today, well, I’m off to the farmer’s market to give some of my regular suppliers apple butter I made yesterday and pick up some green beans and lettuce and berries. Then, I’m renovating my garden beds with nitrogen-fixing cover crops that are germinating in the kitchen window and moving my potato pots out of the rain and into the greenhouse before they get soggy and rot out.
So, which is more enjoyable for me? Well, as fun as doing a TV show is, really my thrill is every garden and gardener in my future. My painter mom always tells me that her favorite painting is the next one. I guess I’m sort of the same that way — the unknown, the opportunity to create, the chance to teach and the learning, that’s my true love.
