Again, determining your target audience will help you define and promote the show. The "advertising guy" seems to have a heavy mainstream bias, though probably that's because he's worked for mainstream clients who wanted the greatest possible market share. There's nothing wrong with getting many informed opinions, simply take them in context.

If you take too much of the green talk out, the show will be watered down and would just be another gardening show (albeit with animals). OTOH, too much green talk narrows your prospective audience (though even Bush has said "America is addicted to oil"). A fair balance can be acheived, depending on who your target audience is.

Your detailed segments will get into the details of what each garden feature takes to build/maintain, so I'm not too worried about the 'easy' aspect of the promo.

The gardening aspects shouldn't be an issue with any neighbors, unless one lives next to a landscape extremist who thinks yards can only be works of Versailles art, not sources of food as well. The only issues with animals in tight urban spaces might be noise (chickens) or smell, if cages aren't kept clean. On your 'lost tapes', the number of rabbit hutches might take some curious fence-sitters aback, so a gentle and slow introduction of small numbers of pens might help maintain interest and momentum.

I stand by my earlier suggestion about including urban, suburban, and exurban; often the difference will be scale, aside from livestock variety.

I think you would make a superb show host; how does he think those other people become famous anyway?

And hosting for "This Old House" would give you the inside networking and name recognition from which to more easily launch your show. Such a stepping stone may delay your show's debut, but in the end, could make it ultimately more likely to happen.

Great rabbits! What are they?

As for sponsors and the like, here are some ramblings, meaning they are off-the-top-of-my-head sooooo:

- Team up with Mother Earth News (you both are quite similiar IMO)

- Tool sponsors (Dewalt elect drill, Milwalkee sawzall, Senco nail gun, Craftsman shovels & rakes, Troybuilt tiller, John Deere anything, etc). I believe you had a Milwalkee drill in your video, only based on I remember seeing red. The manufacturers are clever in 'branding' a color. John Deere Green. Don't 'give' anyone a free plug. Make them pay, or actually allow them to provide you with some neat tools and money for the privilge of being seen in your series.

- Anyone else who will pay to have their name/product out there (Coke cans in the background, Nestle's green tea bottles, Perrier water bottles, Rebok sneaks, shameless promotional hats and T-shirts, drive to the hardware store in a Ford/GMC/Toyota truck, Rolex watch). Anything that has brand recognition from a distance.

- Feed companies and seed companies (Johnny's has a great tomato selection by the way and no I am not affiliated with them).

- More PR, get in the newspaper, have the local TV station do a piece on-site.

Enough rambling for now.

Just came back from walking around our farm to check on the trees and here are my latest thoughts:

1. Register the name "This Olde Farm"

2. Once you have the name registered/trademarked, let us here know and we will all write to PBS

3. Do one of your first farm-makeovers at our place! (shameless)

Seriously, go for the gusto. As a farmer, I/we watch This Old House. If it was a choice between T. O. House v. T.O. Farm, I'd have the farm show on.

Talk to MA Farm Bureau's promotion and education department. Ohio FB sponsors a show here. Started about a year or so ago. They spend LOTS of money. So you would be stuck in the Saturday morning time slot for a bit, then move on and up. Ag is Ohio's largest industry.

Go for the major gusto, talk to American Farm Bureau Federation. I have been to their HQ in DC several times and there is the jackpot at the end of the rainbow.

I have made a TV show sample that I think could be important for the furture and our planet and help people wean their consumption of oil. I need feedback before I try and take it to networks.

Your show looks great. Hope you make it. ARe you wanting feedback on content or concept?

I am on the board of a local public access tv station. Sure wish we had a show like yours to run here! Course, we couldn't pay anything, alas.

Pam in Fort Collins, CO

YaY! Glad you found us from my links, Luna. Thanks for swinging by.

music too jazzy? i thought the music was perfect. when i heard it i had wondered where you found it.

the loan situation would frighten me too. i hate the thought of debt. i refuse to do that for my own business even though i could acheive my dream much faster.

Hey folks, busy day. I have been having way too much fun. I posted the email because I personally found it funny. I had just got back from this Old house where they had told me I'm a great (Their words, not mine) "How To" host and personality, to this guy who says, maybe you should get someone else! What is the point of shameless self promotion then? I also thought it was interesting that his beliefs about what it is, were so simular to my Mothers.

My Mom, when I first talked about it my urban farmette, said the smell will be bad, the neighbors will complain yada yada yada. Frankly, having figured that out to eliminate smells and nusiances, thats what makes my system possibly unique. I posted something on this earlier, I just think it's funny how peoples beliefs are so strongly structured without really looking at what is going on. The only livestock I have raised that makes a smell were the Turkeys, and my neighbors had one of my birds for their holiday supper.

The video(The Lost Tapes) I through up on google, is slow stuff. I threw it up there, becuase I think it is important to show how slowing down can be fun for young and old. You can hear the city in the backgrounds while I play with the family. I believe in slow food, and thats what bring country back into the city is all about. I also show me jumping in the pond, I guess because it was a great moment we still laugh about today, and that's what I mean when I say all of these projects are actually fun. I'm going to put some photos of me shaving a rabbit up on the website soon (Yes Anni, you can see your hat as it comes off the bunny!), speaking of that who's next for a hat after Anni, Miranda and Michael? (Remember you have to post me like crazy, it takes me a while to make one of these one of a kind beauties.)

I'm still having problems trying to get into to WGBH. (This Old House is actually owned by Time/Warner, and they are independent of WGBH). Hopefully I will hear something on Monday. If they're not interested I will try NH public television next.

LunaFarm: The music is stock music that anyone can licence for their shows. I personally dug the Latin Jazz. Can't please everyone you know. Debt doesn't scare me so bad, it is a stressor, but I believe in myself and my message so why not? You only live once right?

Anni:Check out the website, I'm gonna try and get the phot of the bunny up with your hat comming off it's back. Super warm day yesterday so I spent it in the garden. Kids loved watching me shear her!

Pam: Thank you, it means alot. Feel free to download my show sample and air it on your channel. I'm not chargeing for my content, and it might help with my shameless self promotion(Just post my website address please). Your support means alot, email my link to all your cable people, inspire them to make content for your public access that helps their neighbors and builds community.

TopCat: Meow. I actually like your idea. I think I will email it to my contact at this Old house and see what they say. Remember, I'm crazy, I think if Rachael Ray can do four shows, why not me? I'll come to the farm. When I get my website together more I will show my stuff to the government farm people, (I'm just afraid they will want me to be a poster child for animal registration, which I wouldn't be able to do.)

The rabbits are German Giant Angora's, thanks for asking. They are very big for rabbits, kind of like mini sheep. Super cool beasts. Mother earth news hasn't been super responsive, I would love to write for them, but I haven't been able to get into the door. Hound'em for me. The tool idea is brilliant! If women bought or encouraged their men to buy them, it would be a boon for the right manufacturer. Question on the feed company, I'm near blueseal, but they are notoriously cheap and don't care about marketing.

Skyemoor: First of all you are dead on again. I'm not trying to make some prime time television show. It's weekend, day time or evening programing. I was glad he gave his opinion anyway, because it reminds me to keep my eyes on those who's beliefs cause them to diss without actually seeing or smelling for themselves.

In terms of the green, that is the whole point. Sell them green without them thinking they have to change who they are. Change scares the hell of out people. In the lost tapes, the area shown durring the bunny walk is the "Demonstration Farmette", it is in a area of 20x60 and it was packed with cages because it was durring the fall gleaning, when the bunnies and chicks go and clean out all the twigs and leaves left over after the harvest. I have different size demonstration areas through out my property and my livestock are usually spread out more throught the property, so when we shoot it for real, we will see less livestock cages.

I agree working for this Old House would just be another component to my shameless self promotion and good practice for me. And if they did give a me a gig, I could pay my loan payments with that money!

LeadEagle: Compost and Vermiculture. Why not build a couple of four by four beds and collect a bunch of composting materials and some red wiggler worms and start prepping for spring. If you place a chicken wire tube in a raised bed you can fill huge amounts of organic debri in there and have some decent stuff by june or july! I'm gonna do a show on this worm casting factory I'm describing. Go around the neighborhood and collect peoples leaves and stuff and pile it in. Work that compost! I would just work on making good rich soil, so the later spring harvest is more pleintiful.

I figure the best bet is to get a sponsering station signed up before I contact corporate sponsers, but maybe not.

Jeff: Thank you for the kind words. I first found out about the Lister engine from Utterpower. The thing most people forget(according to my research) is that the Diesel engine was build to work on Vegetable oil! Rudolph Diesel specifically made an engine that wouldn't require gasoline, the oil companies invented Diesel fuel to keep the market share! Almost a hundred years ago a combustion engine was built that doesn't need oil based products. I'm shopping for a car that I can convert for the show, I also live really close to a fried chicken joint, you can see where I'm going with this. Maybe I can get those guys to sponser a project with a Lister engine?

rdsaltpower: Thanks for the Lister support! Around here people thought I was crazy, so HAH!

Kristine: Check out the Lost Tapes on Google. And thank you for your support, keep posting and emailing for me.

Sorry for the super long post. I just had a lot to say. Gimme more thoughts on the lost tapes, should I put up my blooper reel? Or does that ruin the image of being (close to) perfect or make me human and more real?

Thanks,

Patti

"My other recomendation for your show is to try to recruit a known star to be hostess of the show (you know a known face helps) Have you thought of any one?"

Who else has a show like this? No one. I don't want to watch a show hosted by someone who doesn't know what he's doing and was only hired because he's famous for doing something else. That's the problem with TV folk... they are more than willing to sacrifice quality for an easy buck.

As for city people complaining about smell and nuisance... what do they know about it? They've probably never even visited a farm in their life, let alone lived or worked on one. How can they have an opinion about something they have no real knowledge of?

Farm animals are far less of a nuisance than those a-holes who used to rattle my windows with their billion decibel car stereos. Christ, if you're going to bump your tunes so damn loud, do the rest of us a favor and sound proof your car.

The Car Stereo
The Dog Crap
The abandoned barking dog
Cats in Heat
Garbage smell

Oh CityBoy, you're so right. Have you seen the site or the new video?

Yeah, I was thinking what if we got Jennifer Lopez? That would make a great show.

Patti

I saw the video of you being afraid to dunk your head under the pond. LOL!! You know, the faster you do it the easier it is. And I did see the pic with citygirlgonecountry. Hey, now that I think about it, maybe that could be a title for your show. LOL

The Mythbusters were not "known faces" when Discovery took a chance and gave them a TV show. Lord knows that Jamie doesn't even have a TV personality. He's too stiff. But they know their gadgets and gizmos, and that's why their show is a success.

I can't imagine J-Lo as a Mythbuster and I can't imagine J-Lo as The Garden Girl.

Hi Patti, I just want to say like everyone else here that your show sample is outstanding. I see you as the 21st century Martha Stewart. You've got two important factors going for you: presentation and content.

Presentation -- You're upbeat but not a blindly optimistic Barbie doll like a lot of TV hostesses. That's because you've worked to gain your own knowledge. You are intelligent and speak well. I imagine you get along well with a lot of personality types and that you'd be a good interviewer too. You're attractive and I think your Puerto Rican heritage lends credibility to your endeavor & increases the potential reach of your message.

Some people will respond to your sexiness as a cheap stunt for attention; that's unavoidable and I think you should prepare for it. Misogynistic jerks like Mr. Blister are just trying to be hurtful. I think most people are going to realize that's just who you are, it's no put-on act, and it will be no problem for them. And there will be plenty of people who don't even notice.

Content -- You've put in years of experimentation to develop a unique gardening system that works well. That's really central to what your show has to offer. It's a lifestyle you believe is better, more healthy, more fun, and more environmentally responsible. Your pride and pleasure in what you've built comes through the screen. That would be enough to make me want to see every episode.

Your mother and the advertising guy represent a certain point of view, call it mainstream, call it generic America, whatever. A lot of people buy into it -- the idea that working with the soil and with animals are wierd, substandard activities. To that mindset, only poor people and mixed-up hippies do the kinds of things you're doing. Obviously you are far beyond that attitude, because you've spent 10 years developing your own system. That takes a special determination and your TV show will move many other people to start on their own unique paths.

You don't even need the possiblity of Peak Oil and global warming to find pleasure and satisfaction in urban permaculture. And there will be a sizable audience for your show even if those frightening scenarios do not come to pass.

But I think they are going to happen, one way or another, and the impact on our culture could be mild or strong. Either way, the interest in your TV show is bound to increase. You might have a niche audience now, but a useful, upbeat how-to show like yours will grow and grow in popularity.

I really hope you will make your shows available on DVD. That's a whole business in itself, but the costs aren't too high and the exposure is great. You can fit 4 half-hour shows on a recordable DVD, eight half-hour shows on a pressed DVD. People will pay for that if the information is really useful.

If there's just one piece of advice I can offer for the content of your show, it's MORE PEOPLE! Lots of one-on-one time with you explaining and showing your garden is great, but let's also see the people who help you, people who learn from you, and other people doing similar gardens. The relationships you've developed with your neighbors are important -- everyone has to deal with neighbors and their potential complaints about noise, smells and unsanitary conditions.

Dealing with the law is an important issue that I hope you'll cover sometime. A lot of people are working on this, for instance City Chickens at http://home.centurytel.net/thecitychick ... nlaws.html

Check out Darryl Hannah's "Love Life" show -- a similar orientation as yours, and Ms. Hannah is almost as good-looking as you!
http://www.dhlovelife.com/v2/show/archive/index1.html

The essential difference is that Ms. Hannah is acting as an investigator and an interviewer, finding out what other people are up to in lots of different fields. That's interesting, but the show doesn't have a clear focus ("green lifestyle" can mean almost anything), and it doesn't directly give people the how-to knowledge to start urban permaculture on their own. Ms. Hannah has not (as far as I know) developed her own gardening system, while you are an expert on a focused topic. That's makes a big difference.

One other piece of advice is to be more clear about what your needs are to get this project going. Are you looking for loans, technical help, networking, what? Please be specific and I think there will be quite a few people who see great potential and will want to assist.

Very nice AND interesting! I'm hoping you will get on PBS or a "non-cable" channel (we don't have cable or dish)!
I'm pulling for ya! Good Luck and God's Speed!
How do you leave a comment on the video site?

Can someone do me a favor and put a new comment up on the google site for me? My buddy just left a post that bothers me.

Thanks again,

Patti

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid ... 4236943883

Scrounger: I love the baby goats and the building you "Scrounged". Good stuff, stay in touch.

I'll be back with more response and stuff soon.

FilmShack said:

Possibly get a/some tool company(ies) on-line first. Let them provide you with tools so you have everything you need for a great show. Offer them 'first rights' at a follow-on contract when your show gets picked up. Only thing they are out is a bucks (manf costs) and they will write if off as advertisement anyway.

It may help when you go to market to stations or producers that you have alreaady gathered some support/sponsors.

Don't sweat the negative comments... believe me when I tell you that the reaction to negative comments will far outweigh the comments themselves, in marketing message.