My first episode was with a very rural gardener, so I thought I would flip the script for the second episode and talk to someone who gardens under very different circumstances. My interview with Ramon Gonzalez begins with a mutual praise for growing bulbs and even delves into his love of some of the same Aroids that I discussed with Margaret Roach. However, from there we moved into some of the serious issues that face urban gardeners including gardening on streets where there is the constant threat of gun violence and what is means to share your garden with the community.
Episode #2: Ramon Gonzalez aka Mr. Brown Thumb | Urban Gardening
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About My Guest
Ramon Gonzalez lives and gardens on the West side of Chicago. You may know him online as Mr. Brown Thumb, the alias he has been blogging under for nearly a decade. Ramon’s approach to gardening is very much about DIY, recycling, and making do with what you have. He’s not afraid to tackle hard subjects such as race and class in the gardening world, yet he also has a dry and sometimes snarky and smartly pointed sense of humour that I appreciate.
You can learn more about Ramon’s work on his blog or connect with him via his various social media accounts.
Ramon Gonzalez aka Mr. Brown Thumb sharing tomato seedlings on a street corner in his neighbourhood in Chicago.
Voodoo Lily (Dracunculus vulgaris) blooming in Mr. Brown Thumb’s garden.
Photos courtesy of Ramon Gonzalez.
Thanks for letting me be part of your podcast. I really liked the one you did with Margaret because it was so informative and I got some insight into a garden/gardener I’ve only seen online. I hope listeners of this episode of your podcast feel the same way I did listening to the first one.
Thanks for being a willing participant!
Ooh, I’m looking forward to this! It’ll be tomorrow’s listen at work. :)
I feel for you both on the urban gardening issues with theft and damage.
I’m a municipal gardener (Mainly grass cutting to be honest) but last year I spent a season park-keeping in a town centre park. It was a nightmare for me.
Every day I would work 8 hours trying to keep a nice place for people to sit and enjoy their time and every day I would find plants dug up and taken, plants that had been damaged by neglect or stupidity and, possibly the worst, plants pulled up and thrown around the grassy areas.
It was such a hard time for me and put such a negative slant on people. In the end I just hated coming to work knowing that I would find something that would upset me.
The precious few wonderful moments were when people would come up to me and ask what this or that plant was and, like your guest, ask for seeds when they were available or in the autumn when we were splitting the plants we would give them out.
Thanks for the great podcast!
Listening to the podcast right now and my first thought is that you are too quiet. It sounds like you’re sitting far away from the mic. For some reason, your enthusiasm doesn’t come through–it sounds subdued.
The technology around this is all new to me and it’s been a trial to learn something so foreign to me with few available resources. I am sitting with my mouth practically eating the mic. I am sorry it falls short for you. I hope I can improve with time and you’ll give it a chance despite my shortcomings as a sound technician.
Great interview! I really enjoyed learning about Ramon’s approach to street violence in his community. His remedy of sharing tomato plants is brilliant! It reminds me of Ron Finley in an L.A. ‘hood: http://on.ted.com/g0E67
I’ve been contemplating these ideas lately. I hope you don’t mind if I indulge and share another Ted Talk from an urban gardener in London on the subject: http://on.ted.com/a0Buv
I’m in the Midwest USA, and I’ve been following you since I began my gardening journey almost 5 years ago. I am looking forward to listening to more interviews on your podcast!
By the way, my sound quality was great! No problems here.
Cheers!
Thanks for the links. I have seen the one with Ron Finley. My next guest was inspired by his talk!
Hi
I loved this podcast. Mr Brown Thumb was a fascinating guest. I thought he was super cool. I liked his ideas about sharing in the urban place.
I garden in Bel Air Md, 40 minutes from Baltimore, Md. I can understand what Ramon is saying. Sharing plants is always a gardener’s gift. I like to share plants at plant swaps. My garden space is my personal Eden and it is in a suburban area. Enjoyed the podcast of giving back.
Hi Gayla – I have to admit drive by shootings and gardening was a little heavy for my morning commute. I enjoyed parts about giving back, Ramons work! the tomato plant story etc.. I wonder if the story could have been presented in a different way? When I think about great radio story tellers – Ira Glass, This American Life immediately comes to mind. If that is not someone you are familar with, it maybe someone to check out. I personally am not a story teller, but the ones I admire have the ability to present “everyday and/or somewhat heavy content” in a way that engages even the most unlikely listenser. I love what you are doing – keep going!
Ira Glass is an exceptionally talented radio host with what… 20+ years experience. Were I as capable and skilled as he is in my first 2 attempts…
I thought the “heavy” content (I mean, really, it was not that graphic at all) was interesting and necessary in order to get a taste of Ramon’s gardening context. As a beginning gardener who also lives in a city that struggles with violence, Baltimore, MD, I appreciate hearing the stories of the difficult and even dangerous sides of urban gardening and farming. And This American Life is great, but it’s a storytelling podcast, not an interview podcast. They have a full-time staff of ~20 people. Anyway, I loved this podcast and I thought the contrast between Margaret and Ramon was a really interesting way to start things off. Can’t wait to hear more.
Very cool podcast. Loved the conversation about community gardens, and how gardening can influence the people around us and the cities we live in.
I also get a kick hearing about East coast gardening and how cold your winter was. Living in San Diego does have its perks.
Great to hear you again, Ramon. And to get more insght into your background and garden world. I love the turnaround story. Lots of lessons in gardening, huh?
I listened from St Davids, on the the Caribbean island of Grenada. Thank you, thank you for the podcast. I enjoyed and loved ALL ASPECTS of it. A Special Thank You to Mr. Brown Thumb. Keep up the good works. Sometimes when you think it is too much. make a cup of Tarragon/Passion fruit leaf tea, enjoy it while curled up in bed to get ready for the next day. I have been a reader of your blog while living in South Carolina and learned a lot.
I am collecting my orange cosmos seeds to hand out to anyone I meet.
Yes about the cosmos seeds! I’ll never forget seeing them in the Caribbean. They grow so beautifully in that climate.
I really enjoyed this podcast, partly because I have followed both of you for so long that I remember via blog posts/twitter the stories that were told. (Plus I think I’m one of the few people to have actually met Ramon, the man-the myth-the legend.
It was great to get a better understanding of some of the challenges you face(d) in Urban Gardens, but most importantly how gardening has changed your view on people and caring for your communities.
I can say I’m now a loyal YGG podcast listener. (For what it’s worth, I thought the audio sounded great.)
Thanks to you both!
I really enjoyed this podcast. I found the sound to be great as well. My community is all about the “urban” gardening, but sheltered in our own little world with fences and only the stray cat or the pesky squirrel that finds its way into the back yard it is suburbia gardening. Thank you for reminding us of the distinction and to hear the trials and tribulations of your guest, Mr. Brown. After 2 podcasts, I’m hooked!
Great view outside of many folk’s perspectives. When I gardened in a more urban environment (residential house closely next to house) I had the trauma of planting pumpkins in the strip between houses where nothing had been grown before and then coming out to find the first big guy cleanly sliced away. It was an ordinary pumpkin but at that stage looked like a kabocha ready to pick (green mottled with orange) Clearly someone had been watching and waiting. I put up a sign that said “you stole my young son’s special pumpkin!” No thefts after that but sad.
Loved this podcast. Using gardening to help change the face of a community is a brave undertaking, but one that is so needed!
I listened to this podcast in the car today and really enjoyed it. So interesting to hear about Ramon’s gardening experiences. I really was touched by his story about his Mom and the tulips, and how he has come to share his garden with so many. Thanks Gayla, and thanks to Ramon for sharing as well.