I’ve always been one of those people who want to share cool stuff I’ve found, and there’s a ton of it that swirls thru my head all the time.
How Eric cuts down a tree is one of the most watched GardenFork shows.
A few years back I thought, there must be a way to build a website so I can share with people stuff that I get excited about.
I ran across the video blog Crash Test Kitchen, and the lightbulb went off in my head. I can do this.
So I put the video camera in my friend Bill’s hand, and told him we were going to make a cooking show. We made puttanesca, and it was a blast. GardenFork was born.
GardenFork is this eclectic mix of DIY, Cooking, Gardening, Home Improvement, and whatever cool stuff I think might be fun to share with people.
I got an email recently that sums it up:
“I have never been interested in gardening, cooking, or home repair. But when a friend showed me your show for the first time, I was won over by your humor and trial-and-error way of making a DIY show. Now, I wait excitedly for the next video show or audio podcast. It is the most entertaining thing I watch, either on iTunes, or general television. You present a wealth of knowledge and I love finding out new things I didn’t know before.”
How cool is that? ‘Down to earth’ and ‘eclectic’ sum up most of the iTunes Reviews and emails I get from viewers.
Eric and Henry on a job in New York City
“How did you learn all this stuff, did you take a class?”
I get this question all the time. No, no class; just learned by doing. Making lots of mistakes on the way.
My grandfather was a building superintendent in the South Bronx. My family has always been a DIY family, we never hired someone to fix something, we did it ourselves. It didn’t always work perfectly, but we didn’t have the money to hire repair people. In grade school my father’s job was transferred to Wisconsin, where I learned about hunting, fishing, camping, and tree felling.
My family has a love for home cooked food, both my parents cook, and I started cooking at an early age.
Eric and the Ford Fiesta Ford gave us to use on the show
GardenFork is one of the top food shows on iTunes
I produce and host GardenFork.TV and GardenFork Radio, and Real World Green.
GardenFork.TV is the original web video show about cooking, DIY, gardening, Home Improvement and other fun stuff. Each week we make a video and post it on our site, our iTunes page, and our YouTube channel.
Gardenfork Radio is a weekly audio podcast available on our site and on iTunes. I started GardenFork Radio to talk about all the neat stuff that doesn’t make it into a GardenFork video show.
Real World Green is a web video show about how we as individuals can reduce our impact on the earth in practical, down-to-earth ways. I started Real World Green as an answer to all the touchy-feely green content out there that turns off the average guy who lives in the Midwest. Practical is the key word here, and I think if you don’t lecture people, but show them how they can be greener and more than likely save money, they will listen. A viewer sums it up:
“I continually consume information about global warming, greenhouse gases and all the other buzzword-compliant environmental topics but hardly any of them tell me what I can do now – today – to really make a difference without my having to do my own research. Real World Green does that”
Ford Escape Hyrbrid we've driven, provided by Ford Motor
Eric guest hosting Martha Stewart Radio on Siruis XM
I’m all about the learn by doing method of life, I don’t know how to do a lot of stuff, but I try anyway. Many times I make a GardenFork video about it while I stumble through something.
During the week I work as a contractor in New York City, and on the weekend, we shoot GardenFork at our little house up in Northwest Connecticut, which I’m renovating on the 10 year plan.
A brownstone interior we painted
There you go. A brief rundown of what this is all about. Contact me with any questions. eric@gardenfork.tv
Thanks, eric.
Tony Williams
February 8, 2012
Hey Eric,
I discovered your site last winter and was looking forward to spring to undertake some gardening and remodeling. I have a “part time ” job that is supposed to take 6-8 hours a week but they received a contract that required me to visit businesses all over the state. Although its a small state, Arkansas, a 3 hour drive is still a 3 hour drive. The whole time I was thinking of all the things I could be doing in my yard and garden. This job took all spring and summer and turned into more than a full time job. In January they renewed the contract. I watched your pizza oven show and decided right there that this is MY SPRING AND SUMMER and I’m not going to work for somebody else. Im going to make pizza ovens and play with my 2 labs Sugar and Jesse. I took them to the river maybe 3 times all last summer. Im going to start a business where I can work from my house and do the things I want to do. I built a solar powered kiln to dry lumber that I plan to resell from sawmills. I would like to send you a picture of it, but Im not sure how. I have a woodshop that I never get to work in, that I am now making more workable (cleaning). The last few years I have planted a garden and watched it either burn up or grow up with weeds. Not this year.
Of course, I can do this because I have a very supporting wife that has a very good job. I have 2 daughters 18 and 15. One is going to college this summer ( shes a national merit scholar and is going on a full scholarship which is another reason I was working) and the other is going to miss her so I need to be around to give her attention, love and support.They are very close. My parents are still alive and live close to me and I need to do more with my Dad.
Eric thank you for your inspiration and lighting a fire under me to see things in a different light. I have sent you a donation in the past and thank you for the nice card with the Labs picture. Now its time for me to say to YOU:
Make it a Great Day!!
Tony
Christine Zeller
March 25, 2012
Hi Eric and Lynn,
I just found your youtube videos and I don’t know if I just sat here all night and watched them all or not but it is 4:15 am and the night is passing me by. I love your method of teaching as you guys make it fun. I have always been a bit intimidated by gardening but with the growing prices of produce and the fact that you really don’t know where it came from, I have wanted to try some gardening this year. My husband is the one with the Agriculture Degree, and he is laughing at me under his breath, I am just a nurse! I can fix your Owwies but know what to do outside of my four walls is a bit intimidating. A few years ago I hurt my back on the job lifting a patient which has become a chronic thing I will just have to live with for the rest of my life. I cannot really get down low to the ground, or once I am there well its pretty hard to get back up! Anyway, I was thinking about container gardening with vegetables. I thought this would be perfect because they can be raised on my deck and I won’t have to bend down to work in them. We have a special needs son who just turned 13 and I think it would be neat to get him outside with me with his hands in the dirt. I am pretty much a city slicker married to the country boy! I am pretty picky like we had chickens and my husband butchered them one weekend off the end of his flat bed pick up right outside our garage. When I saw what he was doing, well I can’t eat them chickens! Our freezer is full of them! I grew up buying my meat in a store with the label on it! I didn’t have to watch how it got from the cute animal in the fields to a piece of meat under the plastic wrap! Makes sense to me! Anyway, I have been watching video’s on youtube on gardening and I found yours quite entertaining and I actually learned alot from them. I love you and your wifes sense of humor and I have to say you made me laugh! I wanted to ask how your carrots turned out?? I didn’t see a follow up youtube video on that one? I watched your potatoe video’s and I wanted to tell you I watched one last week where the guys took a empty barrel and put a base of soil in the bottom about 4 inches thick and laid their seedling potatoes in there and lightly covered them with soil and said to watch for growth and when it peaks above the dirt then keep adding more dirt to cover the growth and the concept was to get a barrel full of potatoes when it is ready to harvest. They said they just dump the barrel out and dig through it to collect all the potatoes and then reuse the soil somewhere else in the garden. I thought about trying that maybe? Then I went to a Garden Show and listened to a couple of featured local gardeners on Container gardening. They said they now sell Container seeds for cucumbers and if you do carrots in a container to buy the seeds for the shorter carrots. Oh and by the way, I saw that “midwest” remark in your introduction above! I am from Central Kansas! No offense taken! Love your DIY video’s! If you have any other tips for this midwesterner/Central USA’r I would love to hear them! Thank you in advance!- Chris
Steven Spahr
April 5, 2012
I just discovered you. I am really enjoying Garden Fork.TV. I am interested in buildind a portable wood fire brick oven. I bought the book Bread, Earth & Fire. Great suggestion. My question is how will this oven handle wind? I live in Granada Hills, CA. It gets quite windy here. I am afraid of wind spitting embers all over the place. Don’t want to burn the place down. Any suggestions? Love the Labs. Best, Steven
Doris Meusburger
April 11, 2012
Hello
I just discovered your homepage and fantastic videos with amazing ideas for gardeners.
At the moment I would like to make a new chicken house for my chickens in order to increase the number of them. If I will be successful, I might send you a picture of it.
Why don´t you have chickens? As I could see in the videos you would have space enough for that. Maybe you could send us some interesting ideas for animal housings. I also have 3 ducks.
Your new fan Doris
Cynthia
April 20, 2012
Hi, Eric. I am a regular podcast listener. (I train for and run marathons and that gives me a lot of time with my headphones!)
I was wondering if you could address carpet-cleaning: is it worth it to hire professional carpet cleaners, or does renting a steam-cleaner at the supermarket and doing it yourself provide the same results?
Thanks,
Cynthia
Tara
April 21, 2012
Hey there! Found you through Twitter. Great site and listening to your last podcast right now. But what is Mike’s story? We only see about you on here. LOL How do you guys know each other? Is your wife the voice we hear on your videos? I’m a new fan for sure!
Beth Baker
April 28, 2012
Just wanted to let you know that you guys are also on the Roku (streaming cable thru internet) and I have been through every episode on there. Just curious if you have a good recipe or would be willing to try something with radishes…maybe radish relish? This is the first year I have planted radish in my garden and suddenly I have an abundance of them…any ideas on preserving them would be highly appreciated.
VeliaSuarez
May 3, 2012
Hi Eric, I just discover your show on iTunes two weeks ago and barely viewed three of your videos last night. I absolutely enjoy your DIY videos. You inspire me to invest in my own unique creatively.