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Arts & Culture

A GROWING PASSION: Big Trees: Giants Among Us

Host Nan Sterman and Cal Poly Professor Matt Ritter. Cal Poly Professor Matt Ritter is the state’s leading expert on trees and manages the California Big Tree Registry.
Courtesy of AGP Productions, LLC
Host Nan Sterman and Cal Poly Professor Matt Ritter. Cal Poly Professor Matt Ritter is the state’s leading expert on trees and manages the California Big Tree Registry.

Airs Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS TV + Monday, Dec. 9 at 8:30 p.m. on KPBS 2

Trees are the oldest and some of the largest living organisms on earth. While redwoods and sequoias get the most attention for their enormous sizes, there are many more "big trees." On this episode, we search out some of the champion trees listed on the California Big Tree Registry.

From San Luis Obispo where the Registry is housed, all the way to Los Angeles where, with the help of a big tree hunter, we climb a giant floss silk tree to measure and crown it as a new champion.

We visit San Simeon where William Randolph Hearst honored enormous ancient native oaks by building his castle around them, never cutting down a single tree.

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And we see native and exotic champion trees, and learn why it's important to recognize and sustain these giants among us.

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A GROWING PASSION is on Facebook, and you can follow @GrowingPassion on Twitter. Share photos and follow the series on Instagram.

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All episodes of A GROWING PASSION are available for streaming on demand.

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About The Series:

A GROWING PASSION is a lifestyle program that explores San Diego County’s agriculture and horticulture activities as an expression of this growing earth-friendly movement.

From backyard food production to major horticultural growers, from low water landscapes to sustainable practices around the home and in the garden, we tell stories about the natural and man-made landscapes that shape the social, cultural, environmental and economic interests of our community.

We celebrate how San Diego grows. The series is hosted by Nan Sterman.