don't forget:

the weedwhacker
the lawn mower
the teen working on his junk car

truly, i enjoy hearing my rooster crow every morning than to be gardening and listening to any of the above!

it has nothing to do with noise levels or smells, it's just what society (mainstream) deems worthy of recognition and tolerance. since they have to keep up with the joneses, a lawn mower is music to their ears.

kristine

Does anyone know anyone who works at a company that could sponser this show? Anybody?

Thanks for the kind words Aaron, your the best!
Kristine, I can't keep a rooster...but I'd prefer him to the noises I have any day!
TopCat: I'm thinking, any companies come to mind?

Thanks all,

Patti

Like to sponsor you, or able to
Green Clean would love to!
However another year and some real income would be good first!

But in the mean time,
I have a friend that works for Dewalt, and will send info along.

Cheers

www.GreenCleanUSA.org

Thanks for the spirit Green Clean! We'll see where this goes. I talked on the phone to NH public television. Those people were cool, the coolest so far.

Thanks,

Patti

Patti -- As for tool companies, first think about each and every item you would use in your show. Then ask yourself, who is best known for that tool. I am sure we all have preferences, I kinda listed mine earlier. Dewalt for rechargeable and electric, Senco for air nailers, Troybuilt tillers, Craftsman hand tools, Rigid pipe wrenches, Millwalkie sazall, etc.

I think Dewalt is a prefect example of 'color branding.' You can spot and identify that bright yellow color from a distance. Same with John Deere green.

When you marked that boad to cut, it could have been a 'bright yellow' square and the conscious/subconcious message would have been there.

No I do not work for or are affiliated with Dewalt, I don't even own any of their tools, wish I could afford them. If I did work for them, I would cheerlead for you.

And consider the other 'props' as in hat, T-shirt, pop, water bottle and such. Granted it is a little more on the cheesey side but you gotta wear something and taking a break with one of the helpers is always allowed. Scooping feed from a big Purena (sp) bag is not that blatant but just might be free feed and a dinner out once a week (check not feed).

Same with the farm truck, although starting off you should not expect a new Honda Ridgeline. But, remember Hawaii 5-0; does Hawaii only have Fords? Guess I'm dating myself here.

Do you have a small yard/garden tractor that you use to pull a cart to haul brush, feed, rocks? If it were JD green there is another message to the viewers, a nice tractor for you and maybe more dinners out, whatever. (No don't have one of these here either.)

I'm not saying you have to be a whore to commercial/marketing, but you said you need funds and you are going to be using tools. You don't think PBS Norm paid for all the great stuff in his beautiful shop do you?

Same goes for the contractors. Will you be doing any projects that require materials? Another potential source for things and maybe even labor. Contractors love to have their shiny trucks and signs on TV. Most folks have heard of Tyvek, Pink insulation, Weyhauser (sp) lumber. With the building industry circling the drain, the local/regional supplies might welcome a little more exposure. OTOH they may be cutting back on expenses. Heck, I would settle for a deep discount on materials to start.

And if you were to get in someone's door, let's just say Dewalt, and they are kinda receptive but balking at the total dollar amont of tools, remind them that they will write it off, and if that doesn't get them, offer to take 'refurbs' tools that were sent back and refurbished or were 'seconds' off the line. If that scratch or dent shows on camera, well you do want a tool to look used.

Gonna get going, this post is getting long enough. Later.

Hey Patti,

Let me say that I am impressed with both the content and the presentation. I've sent the link to everybody I know, whether I think they will be interested or not! This is far superior to other do-it-yourself shows I've seen and it's something everybody should be aware of. I applaud you and your crew for a job well done! I can only hope that there are more shows to come and that your endeavors are fruitful!

Best of Luck,

Drizzle

This is an awesome little demo. I, too, was quite bummed to find out that nobody has picked this up yet.
Found the link off of a blog on Myspace.
Looking forward to more; Hell, the Gates foundation should just give you a blank check for this project.
I would actually go back to turning my televison ON and watching it if I knew this was on the air.
Good TV=
Smart Host- check
Good Delivery-Check
Good Content-Check
Lighthearted-Check
Beautiful Host-Check

Yeah, I don't really see how this will NOT get picked up somewhere,. Avoid the narrow focus on one specific backing souce. There are other markets & backers besides WGBH. Is there any merit to checking with the foundations that back PBS directly? Or something like the Oxygen Network (I'm not all that familiar with it; I barely watch actual TV & don't have cable.)

I look forward to more, and hopefully, soon!

Just a quick thanks. It is turning out to be a very busy week. I have found a contact at Martha Stewart, so I'm trying to get them to check it out. I'll respond shortly with more details!

Thanks,

Patti

Working with Martha would make a good fit (IMO).

Heck, call up Oprah, she has the money to do it.

Hello Patti,
I found out about your video through http://community.livejournal.com/urban_sustain/
and I’m forwarding it to yahoo groups I participate in. So that’s one for the squirrel guy to get his rabbit head! Maybe, I’ll get one too, if I can think of more places to promote you.

There has been a lot of speculation about your target audience and mainstream acceptance of your message.
Rotala, said it well, “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.”

I’m your target audience. I want to live more responsibly on the planet. I don’t have the financial resources to homestead, buy solar panels, or convert all my household appliances to energy star (as recommending when mainstreamers go green.) The changes I can make in my life are more about giving up something (sacrifice) than going out to get something (consumption.) Since this lifestyle can’t be sold, it’s stigmatized. I have the fortitude to take it, but many people who want to change their lifestyle wont cross that threshold. Right now, we need a role model. We need someone out in the mainstream media who redefines how we live as “responsible” instead of backwards, weird, hippie, or greenie.
When I started moving my life in this direction, it was only the poor people who were doing it. Since I was intentionally becoming one of the poor, I took advantage of what was common around me. The immigrant families and a few retired seniors were the only ones with gardens or chickens in their back yard. I was very happy to see Rotala mention City Chickens. That site told me where to look for the answers to my legal questions. I want to add this site
http://www.foodnotlawns.com/lawns_to_gardens.html
because it took my garden from the backyard to the front. When I did that, it inspired several of my neighbors. I started giving away my extra veggies door-to-door last summer and this was also copied. Role modeling works, despite language barriers and cultural differences.

Right now, it seems that the term “sustainable” has negative connotations. Where “being green” is gaining some ground. I don’t think that it would be hard to demonstrate that these lifestyle choices are “responsible” choices. I think it’s important to show the audience that it is attainable and acceptable. I think your show could change the perception that inhibits more people from adopting this lifestyle. We need to see ordinary people who live ordinary lives but do so in a more responsible way.

I can’t wait for the stereotype to shift. One day soon people will call me “Garden Girl,” instead of just shouting “hippie” when they drive by.

Charu

Well, I was spinning fiber from my bunny Heather(I'm putting photos of me shaving the rabbit on the web tommorow), doing my best to make Annicat's hat. I keep the lap top next to me so it dings when a message is made. I wasn't gonna look at it (I have so much fiber!) but then I said what the heck.

Charu: Jeez, I feel like I owe you money! Did I bribe this person? I really hope you left a comment on the google site. Well I am so happy that you liked it, I decided to forward this to my Mother with the subject "HAH! I told you!". Well thank you, please help my shameless self promotion, send it to everyone you know.

TopCat: You are the best. Meow. Purrr. I have so much to do, I think I'm going to concentrate on broadcast first, start shooting in March, make some webisodes. I figure if I can show traffic on that I can first begin a relationship with them(sponsertypes) having them advertise on the sites. Eitherway it is a bunch of work. I admit I have said Martha Stewert save me a couple of times, but I'm moving forward no matter what so we'll see what happens.

Sean: Thank you for chiming in! Post me somewhere! I am finding that there are some significant gate keepers out there in TV land. I have been pretty well jerked around by my local PBS, but I don't take it personally. Some folks who saw the Promo got it to some people that produce for the Hallmark Channell, so that shows that it is getting out there. Who knows maybe Bill Gates will bump into it! I heard he plays poker at Foxwoods at the five dollar tables, so you never know.

Drizzle: Thank you as well!

LeadEagle: Any Luck with your friend at DeWalt? That would be so cool, huh TopCat!

Allright back to HandSpinning, I have hats to make!

Thank You,

Patti

: ) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a fantastic idea for the show and a great pilot/sample! i have a feeling in the next few years it will be a hit because i'm HOPING people will wake up to that fact. as a matter of fact my goal is sustainable living anyway so you know i'll be a regular viewer

Thanks for the good words Chuck. It is so cold today it feels like the ice age began sometime last night. Any idea's on how much oil and gas would be saved if everybody made 5% of their own food. Reading some of the Hubbarts I think it might be a giant ammount. I read in National Geographic that one cow requires 5 barrells of oil to raise.

I'd like to make a reasonable estimate so that I can add it to my marketing materials.

Any thoughts?

Patti

My cattle will not take 5 barrels to raise. They are completely grass / hay fed. And although it still takes energy to cut and store the hay, it will not be nearly that much. It is the feedlot methods of modern agriculture that require all of those energy inputs. Cattle, among other ruminents, can take land that is marginal for other uses and through pasture farming, can produce protein, manure and hides etc.

Here is something I read this morning about raising cattle, something I know nothing about.

The Return of the Dust Bowl
By Chris Mayer

"Meat is incredibly expensive to produce, because raising the necessary livestock requires large amounts of grain. According to The Silk Road to Riches, the average cow consumes 2.5-3% of its body weight in grains every day. "A typical 1,200-pound beef steer could consume about 35 pounds of feed per day," the authors write, "or more than 13,000 pounds annually. That's enough grain to feed more than 10 average-sized adults for an entire year." It's also very water intensive. It takes about 6,600 gallons of water to produce just 8 ounces of beef. As you can imagine, this puts meat beyond the pale of many poor countries."

That's a lot of water.

Looking forward to some webisodes.

Keep thinking tools.