The Backward Farmer

This is part 6 of a series on container gardening produced by the University of Nebraska Extension. It is part of their Backward Backyard Farmer project. 

Backyard Farmer is Nebraska's premier gardening program. As a production of the University of Nebraska Extension, we've been helping gardeners in the midwest grow fruits and vegetables, landscape, and solve horticultural problems for over 50 years. 

Watch this video and move the slider to about the 1:29 minute mark. Don’t worry you won’t miss anything worthwhile. 

This is what the backward farmer says while he’s standing by an EarthBox with a trellis attached. Note that he never once mentions that it’s an EarthBox or sub-irrigation planter. In fact, sub-irrigation (or self-watering) is never mentioned in all six parts of this waste-of-money series. Such brilliant narrative. 

A lot of fun! 

It’s also kind of fun to grow something in a pot that’s a vegetable. Again, you don’t normally think of vegetables in a pot. But it can be a lot of fun…as long as you have good support. Now, this trellis system works really well. As the plants grow up  you can always tie them to the trellis and make sure they stay firm and anchored. Also make sure the volume of soil is adequate for it’s needs. 

Knowing that the EarthBox company has donated many, many sub-irrigated grow boxes to educational institutions, they probably didn’t even pay for this planter. 

At the same time, the video includes a commercial for a private enterprise business operating under the name Proven Winners. What is this publicly funded organization doing pitching a privately owned brand name? It may not be illegal but to me it’s higly unethical.  

This is particularly true in light of the egregious use of the EarthBox with no mention of one of the finest container gardening products we have in America. 

Comments

[Brad]

To whoever wrote this article: I've been the producer of the Backyard Farmer television program here in Nebraska for the past 14 seasons. This past Thursday we just started our 56th season. I've also had the privilege to work with the gentleman in the video for those 14 years I've been a producer. You will never meet a more humble, genuine, knowledgable and friendly guy.

Normally John and I head out to a garden center or other locations and do our video segments which are unscripted, but heavily planned out during the year. In this particular series (which was 4 segments, not the 6 you counted) John was trying to give people ideas on how to have success in container gardening. The University of Nebraska Extension does not produce commercials for the purpose of selling products. We have a strict policy of unbiased information to help people with their lawns and gardens. John wasn't producing a commercial for Proven Winners or All American selections, he merely mentioned it to help people have a better chance at success. We also didn't know about the Earth Box, and even if we did, we wouldn't have produced a commercial promoting it just like we didn't produce a commercial promoting Proven Winners or All American selections. John was trying to show people that their containers could be trellised nothing more, nothing less. We didn't pay for it because we were at a garden center who was selling it, John picked it out because he wanted to mention trellising for containers. After we finished taping, John put it back where he got it.

I encourage you to watch our entire program and I think you'll be satisfied to know that Phd's are on our panel answering a variety of gardening questions including entomology, turf, plant pathology and horticulture from thousands of people in the midwest - and they've been doing it for 56 years. Our program is podcasted on iTunes. Take a look at it and tell me what you think. We're on every Thursday here in Nebraska and the program is uploaded every Friday.