Episode 498: Nancy Lawson on Humane Gardening

This week, Mariann speaks with Nancy Lawson about some really wonderful ways to put humane gardening into practice. This interview is a must-listen for anyone with an experienced green thumb or looking to start their own garden. They discuss how gardening has been portrayed similarly to factory farming; the importance of planting native plants; how to identify the plants and animals living around your home; and the advantages and disadvantages of bird-feeders.

Nancy Lawson is the author of The Humane Gardener: Nurturing a Backyard Habitat for Wildlife, a columnist for All Animals magazine, and the creator of the award-winning website, HumaneGardener.com. A frequent speaker on garden ecology, she founded Humane Gardener to pioneer and promote animal-friendly landscaping methods. Lawson’s book and wildlife habitat have been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and Oprah Magazine. Certified as a Chesapeake Bay Landscape Professional, she previously led the creative teams behind the magazines of The Humane Society of the United States. She volunteers as a master gardener and master naturalist in central Maryland.

In the intro to this episode Mariann has an encounter at the gym with someone who wanted to eat meat at an animal sanctuary,  Jasmin is infuriated by the awful dairy farm episode of Queer Eye, and Mariann gets into a conversation about the Beyond Burger and GMOs.



As always, the award-winning weekly Our Hen House podcast is hosted by Mariann Sullivan and Jasmin Singer.

This week’s episode is brought to you in part through a generous donation from BetterHelp. Use the promo code “henhouse” for a listener discount on BetterHelp’s services.



This episode is brought to you in part through the generosity of A Well-Fed World. A Well-Fed World provides the means for change by empowering individuals, social justice organizations, and political decision makers to embrace the benefits of plant-based foods and farming. Learn more at awfw.org.

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The Our Hen House theme song is written and sung by the incredible Michael Harren, who is also OHH’s Director of Communications! Don’t forget to tune into Our Hen House’s other two podcasts: The Teaching Jasmin How to Cook Vegan Podcast, and The Animal Law Podcast.