[private][private]On Wednesday, June 16th, we’re interviewing Annette Pelliccio, The Happy Gardener who is a third generation garden business owner with a focus for educating home gardeners and communities on healthy alternatives to conventional garden and lawn care practices.  She has developed a line of organic plant foods, soil conditioners and lawn care designed for easy and economical organic gardening.  The Happy Gardener’s focus is on helping families, communities, school systems, golf courses, farmers…etc convert to healthier garden and lawn care techniques for the betterment of the wildlife & environment. They also sponsor the Plant a Row for the Hungry nationwide campaign to help communities grow extra produce for their local food banks and service facilities. She can be reached at www.thehappygardener.info

Dial in live at 347-205-9038 or via streaming radio at 9am PST at www.blogtalkradio.com/passionsandpossibilties.

Annette’s Passioneer Q&A

SO: What’s the biggest reason for launching this project? As an at-home mom and avid home gardener, I wanted to use the healthiest fertilizers, weed control/pest control on the veggies, herbs & fruits I grow for my family. The increased health problem with fresh produce covered with harmful pesticides is outrageous and I knew there had to be healthy, organic options.

SO: Your biggest challenge so far with this project and how are you addressing it? Farmers, growers & landscapers throughout the US are set in their ways. They believe that chemicals work and are cost efficient while organics do not give the same results and are expensive. I address this issue by going out to their test plots/farms/vineyards and SHOW them how our organic products perform just as good, if not better than the chemicals. I SHOW them how they are easier to apply and end up being less expensive than the harmful products.

SO: What do you see as the keys to your succeeding? As more and more media cover our products and the benefits of converting to organics, families & communities will continue to demand healthier growing practices. The US is becoming more educated on the food/produce industry which will be the best for my business growth.

SO: What one word/quality is best describing your journey at this point? AMAZING

SO: What is a big lesson that you’ve learned in making this leap into your project? Being a health conscious consumer I have always been educated and looked for information regarding what I’m putting on my garden and in my family’s mouths. I had no idea how many people have NO IDEA what is going on in the food industry. And I had NO IDEA how key people in the food industry do not care about what they are putting in our gardens and in our family’s mouths.

SO: What does your support system look like; how did you create it? My support system looks like families throughout the US who want to learn ways to grow their own organics for their families. They look like farmers who care what they doing to the soil structure and what they are growing for the families in their community. They look like passionate, future-driven landscapers who want to provide healthy, beautiful gardens for their clients.

SO: What wisdom do you have for someone who’s scared/discouraged about leaping into their own project? If you don’t do it, who will?

SO: Who else would acknowledge in sharing the story about your project? Any one of my thousands of distributors/consumers.[/private][/private]