Episode 107 - Nan Sterman is a California native, garden expert, garden designer, author, botanist, and award-winning communicator.
Nan Sterman is a California native, garden expert, garden designer, author, botanist, and award-winning communicator. Nan has long been dedicated to the transformation of planted landscapes from overly thirsty and resource-intensive to climate appropriate and sustainable.
In addition to designing gardens, Nan works hard to connect plants to people and the planet. Some examples of that work include:
· Her award-winning public TV show, A Growing Passion which Nan hosts, produces, and writes. Forty-eight episodes air on KPBS TV in San Diego, on CREATE TV, and are available online at www.AGrowingPassion.com.
· Nan’s most recent book, Hot Color, Dry Garden, is a guide for creating color-filled, waterwise gardens. She’s written hundreds of articles for newspapers and magazines, too.
· In 2014, Nan founded the San Diego Gardener Facebook group, where more than 16,000 people discuss plants and gardening in Southern California.
· At the beginning of the COVID quarantine, Nan co-founded Grab & Grow Gardens to support food-insecure communities during the COVID-19 crisis and beyond. To date, Grab & Grow Gardens has supplied more than 26,000 starter vegetable gardens for families and seniors in need across the region.
· Nan leads tours to garden adventures around the world, including Europe, South Africa, Costa Rica, and the US.
· In 2022, Nan kicked off the online Garden School, targeted at passionate home gardeners. In addition to a monthly garden membership, Nan teaches online and in-person seed-starting workshops every spring.
Nan’s approach to gardening dates back to the 1970s when she was involved in the first wave of the sustainability movement. She trained at the Integral Urban House in Berkeley, California, earned a botany degree from Duke University, a master’s in biology from UC Santa Barbara, and a master’s in instructional design from San Diego State University.
Prior to delving into the gardening world, Nan created curricula, training programs, and educational materials for Fortune 500 companies, zoos, aquaria, and not-for-profit organizations. Her ability to take complex information and create effective educational programs is one of her greatest strengths, and a major source of her successes.