The KFBK Garden Show

Fred doesn't know it but he solved my longtime problem with pepper seedlings. In the world of gardening radio shows there are far more that have passed than are on the air presently. The most famous of which is "You Bet Your Garden" hosted by infamous falsetto Mike McGrath. But ther eare still other lesser known programs, often local, rarely syndicated. Then there is the KFBK Garden Show.

Hosted by Fred Hoffman, the "KFBK Garden Show" airs on 1530 KFBK-AM in Sacramento, CA.  It's on Sunday mornings from 8:30 AM to 10:00 AM.  Fred also hosts "Get Growing" on 650 KSTE-AM across the street from 10:00 AM to Noon. That's a lot of gardening. Both stations are owned by clear channel which is how such clever scheduling can be allowed to happen.

Farmer Fred hass been a UCCE Certified Master Gardener since 1982. He also authors a weekly garden column for the Lodi News-Sentinel. Some sources date the start of his radio career to 1982. I suspected that was a confusion with his certification date. However, he gives the same date on his blog and his biography in a gardeners symposium pdf in 2007, clearly states that he had 30 years of experience in radio. That would start his radio career in 1977... which may have been fudging it a tad. I've not been able to find any referential data before 2004 but he was still on KSTE and KFBK even then.  His local renown is real, when he had triple bypass surgery in April of 2012 all the papers committed a blurb. He quickly returned to radio and is still on air today.