KPBS Midday Edition

'A Growing Passion' Host Nan Sterman Talks About Season 8 Of Her Popular Show

By Alison St John / Reporter, John Carroll / General Assignment Reporter & Anchor

Published September 24, 2020 at 8:05 AM PDT

This story was published more than 4 years ago.

Join A GROWING PASSION host and garden expert, Nan Sterman (pictured), as she explores farms, vineyards, gardens, native habitats and more throughout California and the West.

"A Growing Passion" host Nan Sterman joined Midday Edition to give us a sneak peek into season 8 of the popular show. We'll hear her suggestions about what to plant going into the fall and winter, and the challenges COVID-19 has presented in producing this season of the show.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought all sorts of unwelcome changes to our lives. But perhaps one positive thing to come out of it is an explosion of interest in gardening.

So says Nan Sterman, the host of "A Growing Passion" on KPBS television.

Sterman said an emphasis of the show this season will be on growing plants that need very little water, like dragonfruit.

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"A Growing Passion" is also taking viewers on a journey that's all about olives. They've been an important part of the region's horticulture for centuries. Sterman will show us one San Diego olive operation that's producing award-winning oil and she'll explain why growing olives is a great idea for amateur gardeners!

And if you're thinking about planting a new garden, Sterman will reveal a San Diego treasure; a public botanical garden that gives amateur gardeners all sorts of ideas for what they can grow on their own plot of land.

Season 8 of "A Growing Passion" premieres at 8:30 p.m. Thursday on KPBS television.

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KPBS Midday Edition Gardening

Alison St John

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Alison St John currently serves as a general assignment reporter and occasionally co-hosts KPBS Midday Edition. She fell in love with KPBS Radio when she arrived in San Diego in 1985 and first heard NPR. She has been a voice on KPBS Radio since 1989, and has served as a news reporter for radio, TV and the web, as well as anchoring, hosting, producing and editing. Alison has reported on stories about North County and was based in the KPBS' North County Bureau. Alison covered the metro beat during the critical period of the San Diego City pension crisis, and the education beat while Alan Bersin was the controversial Superintendent of San Diego City School District. She covered health when the industry was converting to managed care and told welfare reform stories in the late 1990s when Clinton was “ending welfare as we know it.” She has covered land use issues extensively, looking at the challenges of meeting a growing population while preserving community character, and developing a better transportation system to meet environmental concerns. She has done many stories on the military in San Diego, and the series she edited on the challenges veterans face returning from active duty to civilian life won “Best of Show” from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists. She occasionally hosts the KPBS Roundtable and KPBS Midday Edition. Alison has won awards from the San Diego Press Club, the Society of Professional Journalists, the Associated Press TV and Radio Association, and the California Golden Mike Awards. Alison was born in Tanzania, brought up in Scotland, and earned her degree in psychology and sociology from Durham University in England. Her postgraduate diploma is in student counseling. She worked in England, Nigeria, Switzerland, Belgium, India, and Japan before moving to the United States in 1981. She now lives in Oceanside and enjoys how her community is growing and changing.

John Carroll

John Carroll is a general assignment reporter and anchor at KPBS. He loves coming up with story ideas that are not being covered elsewhere, but he’s also ready to cover the breaking news of the day.

See stories by John Carroll

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