UCCE MG OC News
Article

KUCI Brings Gardening Expertise Through the Air Waves

A lifelong interest in gardening led Bill Brooks to become a Master Gardener. Upon his semi-retirement, after 40 years of teaching science and sixth-graders, he became a member of the Master Gardener class of 2019. Today, Bill serves as co-lead for the 2025 training class, is a member of the speaker’s bureau…and one of the hosts of the “In the Garden” radio show on KUCI.

The show runs on 88.9 FM, Thursdays from 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. and is heard all over the central part of the county. Many of liseners also tune in via their device at https://kuci.org/wp/listen/. There is even a regular listener from as far away as Sweden.

“I started my training with KUCI to be FCC certified, a requirement to be on the air,” Bill said. “Since I am a UCI employee, it’s easier for me to be on the air at KUCI because the university administration wants students and a limited number of employees to be on KUCI.”

In fact, Orange County is one of only four Master Gardener radio programs in the nation, produced and hosted by Master Gardeners in the United States. It is also the only one west of the Mississippi. (Other programs do record short informational segments or public service announcements for local stations.)

The radio team meets quarterly to plan upcoming shows, share ideas and decide on topics, and determine who will host. Ideally, guests are often Master Gardeners although that’s not required. For instance, in a recent show on fire safe landscaping, the team interviewed several people from the Orange County Fire Authority.

“We keep the shows focused on landscape in the Orange County climate zone although we do interview experts across the nation,” Bill said. “For instance, I interview the National Garden Bureau every January to learn about the All American Selection winning plants for the calendar year. And I’ve interviewed Tom Michaels (brother-in-law of Master Gardener Victoria Michaels) on truffles he raises in Tennessee.”

His two favorite guests are Teena Spindler and Katrina Kirby who, every month, record “This Month in the Garden,” offering in-formation on gardening in Orange County.

His favorite show was focused on the Ackerman Native Plant Nursery on Catalina Island. “I traveled to the nursery to record the show and the Santa Catalina Island Conservancy gave me a tour of the backside of the island. They showed me a lot endemic plants found only on Catalina and I was able to take one home from the nursery,” he recalled.

Over the years, Bill has noticed more interest in vegetable gar-dens with many gardeners being in the “if I can’t eat it, I don’t grow it camp.” The other camp admires the beauty of flowers and landscaping.

“Just like in our classes, we have gardeners in both camps,” he said. “I don’t feel one is better than the other. But if you look at retail nurseries, only about ten percent of the space is devoted to vegetables. So our shows tend to align with that.”

An archive of previous shows can be found on the Master Gardener homepage. On the homepage, go to “Gardening Projects” and under the tab, click on “Radio Shows and Podcasts.” Master Gardeners who listen to a podcast can record an hour of continuing education. Bill and others are currently looking at a podcast platform to make the shows easier to find.

In the meantime, don’t forget to tune in on Thursdays!