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CapitalPress.com
January 23, 2015
People & Places
Producer finds symbiosis with nurseries
Jeff Gustin’s
‘Garden Time’ show
resonates with
plant producers
By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI
Media producer Jeff Gus-
tin heard opportunity knock-
ing when a television station
canceled his gardening show
a decade ago.
Gustin turned down a job
offer with the company’s
news team and decided to
launch a venture making cor-
porate videos.
However, it didn’t take
long before he returned to
filming various plants, soil
amendments and backyard
tools.
“Within a month, I got cli-
ents saying, ‘You need a gar-
dening show,’” Gustin said.
While local network affili-
ates have generally phased out
home and garden programs in
favor of news, nurseries and
other companies still want a
way to reach the public, he
said.
Advertisers who previ-
ously worked with Gustin
convinced him to create the
weekly “Garden Time” pro-
gram, which will begin airing
its 10th season this spring.
Instead of working as an
employee, Gustin now writes,
films and edits the show and
then pays local TV stations in
Oregon to broadcast it.
The show has a symbiot-
ic relationship with nurseries
because its viewers tend to be
dedicated gardeners, said Jack
Bigej, owner of the Al’s Gar-
den Center chain of nurseries.
“Because they are hitting
our exact audience, we use
them all the time,” Bigej said.
Nurseries face a difficult
advertising landscape in tele-
vision — primetime slots are
dominated by large national
companies that drive up pric-
Mateusz Perkowski/Capital Press
Jeff Gustin, creator of the “Garden Time” television show, connects dedicated gardeners with nurseries
and other companies in Oregon.
Western Innovator
Jeff Gustin
Occupation: President of the Gustin
Creative Group, which produces the
“Garden Time” television show
Hometown: Lake Oswego, Ore.
Age: 54
Family: Wife, Therese, and two grown daughters
Education: Bachelor’s degree in broadcast media from Oregon
State University in 1983
es, he said.
It’s also likely that viewers
will simply skip past such ads
with their digital recording de-
vices, Bigej said.
“Garden Time” doesn’t ap-
pear to have that problem, as
viewers seem to pay attention
to the ads and then ask for spe-
cific products or plant cultivars
featured on the show, he said.
“We get pretty good results
out of it,” Bigej said.
Gustin said he has grown
to prefer gardening over the
subjects that typically interest
local news programmers.
“It was much better than
working news, where you’re
covering accidents and house
fires,” he said. “You get
burned out after a while.”
The arrangement is also
agreeable for TV stations,
which have been dealing
with tighter budgets in recent
years, Gustin said.
“They don’t have to put
any manpower to it, they just
sell a lump of time,” he said.
Though “Garden Time”
is technically paid program-
ming, Gustin avoids the type
of sales pitch that prompts
viewers to change channels
when they encounter “info-
mercials” about kitchen gad-
gets or exercise equipment.
Rather than push viewers
to spend money, Gustin focus-
es on content that gardeners
find educational.
Companies can promote
whatever they want during
their ads, but Gustin said he
doesn’t want the show to
sound like a commercial.
“In the back of my head, I
can hear the clicking of peo-
ple shutting down their TVs,”
he said.
This content-driven strat-
egy keeps viewers engaged
and eager to take advantage
of the show’s advice, said Bri-
an Bauman, general manager
of Bauman Farms, a nursery
and diversified farm operation
near Gervais, Ore.
The farm routinely has peo-
ple call or stop in asking about
topics or products discussed on
“Garden Time” as soon as the
morning show ends.
“It’s community-based,”
Bauman said. “It’s all about
things that are local and plac-
es that people can identify
with.”
For this reason, Gustin
has resisted airing the show
in markets outside Oregon.
“Garden Time” is meant to
provide viewers with conve-
nient shopping locations and
guidance that’s appropriate to
the local climate.
The show also relies on re-
tired Oregon State University
extension agents to give peo-
ple “research-based gardening
tips” that are more effective
than unsubstantiated backyard
folklore.
“There are a lot of myths
about gardening and we try
to use OSU to dispel them,”
Gustin said.
At the same time, he
doesn’t want the show to be
overly academic.
Each show consists of nu-
merous short segments that
keep viewers’ attention spans
from wandering.
When a certain subject
requires a more detailed ex-
planation, Gustin will break
it down into components that
air over several weeks. For
example, proper planting
procedures for certain shrubs
or trees may be featured sep-
arately from a segment on
pruning techniques.
Gustin also directs viewers
to companies and experts who
can answer more complex
questions.
“There have been books
written on soil, so you can’t
cover everything that has
been written on soil,” he said.
The show tries to find a
balance in its advice, in light
of the differing sensibilities
among gardeners regarding
pesticides and fertilizers.
Some insist on organic
products or methods while
others are fine with conven-
tional chemicals.
“We try to give them a
range of solutions,” Gustin
said. “We don’t try to tell the
gardener what to do, but we
try to give them enough infor-
mation to make an informed
decision.”
Timber payments shrink after expiration of subsidy
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By JEFF BARNARD
Associated Press
GRANTS PASS, Ore.
(AP) — The Obama admin-
istration is telling governors
in 41 states how much money
they are losing after Congress
ended subsidies paid the past
20 years to counties that con-
tain national forest land.
Agriculture Secretary Tom
Vilsack said Thursday that the
U.S. Forest Service is sending
more than $50 million to 746
timber counties in February,
with Oregon and other West-
ern states the biggest recipi-
ents. That compares to about
$300 million paid out last fis-
cal year under the Secure Ru-
ral Schools subsidy program.
Forest Service Chief Tom
Tidwell sent letters to gover-
nors detailing how their pay-
ments would be cut.
Since 1908, the Forest
Service has paid a quarter of
its logging revenues to coun-
ties to be used for roads and
schools. That law was enacted
to win support for the newly
Capital Press
AP Photo/Jeff Barnard
This March 18, 2011, file photo shows dense forest on a steep slope on U.S. Bureau of Land Manage-
ment land outside Ruch, Ore.The U.S. Forest Service has told governors that timber payments to rural
counties will shrink dramatically this year.
created national forest system.
When logging was cut by
90 percent on federal forests
in the Northwest to protect
the spotted owl and salmon,
Congress started approving
the subsidies.
As logging cutbacks
spread around the country
to protect fish, wildlife and
clean water, Sen. Ron Wyden,
D-Ore., sponsored the Secure
Rural Schools bill, which ex-
panded the subsidies.
They include payments to
counties in western Oregon
with U.S. Bureau of Land
Management
timberlands,
which are at a higher rate, and
used largely for sheriff’s pa-
trols and jails.
The president’s budget in-
cluded a five-year renewal of
the program, but it died in the
last days of Congress.
Wyden could not get it at-
tached to a must-pass appro-
priation in the Senate. The
House attached a one-year
extension to a bill ramping up
logging on national forests, but
that bill had no traction in the
Senate and a veto threat from
the White House.
The subsidy issue is expect-
ed to come up again this year.
Timber states in the West
are seeing the biggest drop.
Forest Service payments
to Oregon counties drop from
$67.9 million to $5.9 million;
California, from $35.6 mil-
lion to $8.7 million; Idaho,
from $28.3 million to $2 mil-
lion; Washington, from $21.5
million to $2.1 million; and
Montana, from $21.3 million
to $2 million.
Expiration of Secure Ru-
ral Schools also dries up
money for search and res-
cue operations and conser-
vation projects on national
forests. In Oregon, some
cash-strapped counties got
permission to use road funds
for law enforcement.
Rep.
Greg
Walden,
R-Ore., has said he has a
commitment from House
speaker John Boehner to
try to renew Secure Rural
Schools for one year some-
time in the first quarter of
this year. But Republicans
also are expected to try again
to boost logging on national
forests.
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Calendar
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JANUARY
NATIONAL
Jan. 28-31 — American Sheep
Industry Association annual meet-
ing, Nugget Resort and Casino,
Sparks, Nev., www.sheepusa.org/
About_Events_Convention
REGIONAL
Jan. 26-29 — Washington-Ore-
gon Potato Conference, Three Riv-
ers Convention Center and Toyota
Center, Kennewick, Wash., www.
potatoconference.com
OREGON
Jan. 26 — Agricultural Safety and
Pesticide Accreditation Workshop,
sponsored by the Central Oregon Safe-
ty and Health Association, Deschutes
Farm Bureau and Helena Chemical
Co., 1-5 p.m. Bend, $45 ($20 for Farm
Bureau members), www.cosha.org
Jan. 26-27 — Mid-Oregon Con-
struction Safety Summit, The River-
house, Bend, www.cosha.org
Jan. 27 — Oregon Blueberry
Conference, 8:30 a.m.-8 p.m., Jant-
zen Beach Red Lion Hotel, Portland,
oregonblueberry.com/conference
www.facebook.com/capitalpress
Jan. 27-29 — Northwest Agricul-
tural Show, Portland Expo Center,
http://www.nwagshow.com/
Jan. 29 — Cattlemen’s Work-
shop, 9 a.m.-4:15 p.m., Blue Moun-
tain Conference Center, 404 12th
St., La Grande, 541-562-5129
WASHINGTON
Jan. 26-29 — Washington-Ore-
gon Potato Conference, Three Riv-
ers Convention Center and Toyota
Center, Kennewick, Wash., www.
potatoconference.com
IDAHO
Jan. 21-23 — Idaho Horticulture
Expo, Boise Centre on the Grove,
inlagrow.org
Jan. 30 — Organic conference
on the use of cover crops to enhance
soil fertility, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m.,
Herrett Center, College of Southern
Idaho, Twin Falls, sponsored by
Northwest Center for Alternatives to
Pesticides, University of Idaho and
Oregon State University, preregistra-
tion required by Jan. 26, www.pesti-
cide.org or 503-312-1415
FEBRUARY
NATIONAL
Feb. 1-3 — American Sugarbeet
Growers Association annual conven-
tion, Long Beach, Calif., www.ameri-
cansugarbeet.org
Feb. 19-20 — Family Farm Alli-
ance annual meeting, Monte Carlo
Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, 707-
998-9487 or ffameeting@aol.com
OREGON
Feb. 3 — Focus on Weed Man-
agement pesticide applicator’s short
course, 7:45 a.m.-5:30 p.m., $80,
Building 19, Lane Community Col-
lege, Eugene, 541-463-6103
Feb. 7 — Oregon Pork Produc-
ers Annual Meeting and Educational
Workshops, 8 a.m.-4 p.m., Oregon
State University, Corvallis, 541-737-
1906, matthew.kennedy@oregon-
state.edu
Feb. 19-21 — Oregon Logging
Conference, Lane County Fair-
grounds and Convention Center,
Eugene, 541-686-9191, www.ore-
gonloggingconference.com
Feb. 24-25 — Oregon Dairy
Farmers Annual Convention, Salem
Conference Center, www.dairyfarm-
ersor.com/101-convention-general
CALIFORNIA
Feb. 5-7 — Sierra Cascade
Logging Conference, Shasta District
Fairgrounds, Anderson, sierracas-
cadeexpo.com/
Feb. 6 — Tehama Walnut Day,
8 a.m.-noon, Elks Lodge, Red Bluff,
530-822-7515, http://cesutter.ucanr.
edu/
Feb. 6 — Glenn-Butte Walnut
Day, 1-5 p.m., Silver Dollar Fair-
grounds, Chico, 530-822-7515,
http://cesutter.ucanr.edu/
Feb. 10-12 — World Ag Expo,
International Agri-Center, Tulare,
http://www.worldagexpo.com/
Feb. 25 — Sutter-Yuba-Colu-
sa-Yolo-Solano-Sacramento Wal-
nut Day, Veterans Hall, Yuba City,
530-822-7515,
http://cesutter.
ucanr.edu
WASHINGTON
Feb. 3-5 — Spokane Ag Expo and
Pacific Northwest Farm Forum, Spokane
Convention Center, http://www.agshow.
org/ag-expo-home.html
MARCH
OREGON
March 16-17 — Oregon State
University Blueberry School, LaSells
Stewart Center and CH2M Hill Alum-
ni Center, OSU campus, Corvallis,
http://osublueberryschool.org/
March 20-22 — Northwest
Horse Fair & Expo, Linn County
Fair and Expo Center, Albany, www.
equinepromotions.net
CALIFORNIA
March 3 — Walnut (7-year-olds)
No Pruning-Pruning Comparison
Field Meeting, morning, Nickels Soil
Lab, Arbuckle, 530-822-7515, http://
cesutter.ucanr.edu
March 3 — Walnut (2-year-olds)
No Pruning-Pruning Comparison
Field Meeting, afternoon, Nickels
Soil Lab, Arbuckle, 530-822-7515,
http://cesutter.ucanr.edu
March 17-18 — Fruit Ripening
& Retail Handling Workshop, Uni-
versity of California-Davis, http://
postharvest.ucdavis.edu/Education/
fruitripening/
March 22-24 — California Fresh
Fruit Association Annual Meeting,
The Grand Del Mar , San Diego,
www.CAFreshFruit.com
MAY
CALIFORNIA
May 1-2 — Forest Landowners of
California annual meeting, Holiday Inn,
Auburn, www.forestlandowners.org/
JUNE
CALIFORNIA
June 15-26 — Postharvest
Technology Short Course, University
of California-Davis, http://posthar-
vest.ucdavis.edu/Education/PTS-
hortCourse/
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Index
California .............................. 10
Idaho ...................................... 9
Markets ............................... 15
Opinion .................................. 6
Oregon .................................11
Washington ........................... 8
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