Eddie Albert was the type of person who enjoyed green acres both on and off the set. When he wasn't acting on Green Acres, he was trying to spread greener acres across the nation. 

Albert played the role of city slicker turned farmer, Oliver Wendell Douglas, for a total of 170 episodes. When he wasn't starring in either Green Acres or Petticoat Junction he lived in Pacific Palisades, where he would grow all sorts of green in his backyard.

Albert was a dedicated amateur farmer, which just happens to be similar to the character he played in Green Acres.

"I have a ball scrapping around in my vegetable garden," Albert said in a 1965 interview with The Morning Call. "And I make my own salads from my crops. My corn plot is three by ten feet, and last summer we had three meals of fresh corn."

Albert's agricultural hobby took up a large portion of his huge residential spot. His garden included: Tulips, strawberries, tomatoes, peach and lemon trees, pansies, trumpet vines, roses, hibiscus and much more.

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Green AcresClassic TV1960s1970s

In 1966, Eddie Albert explained how he stayed young during his time on Green Acres

Albert said he would do systematic planting coupled with somewhat expensive tender loving care. The result? The freshest beans, corn, beets, cabbage, carrots and more.

"Gardening," Albert began, "smoothes out the knots in the neck. It's a haven. Take a look at the front page of any newspaper. Nothing but tragedy and disaster. They don't exist in a garden."

The actor's main focus (besides Green Acres) was in conservation. Albert wanted to protect not only the planet, but all the animals, people and plants in it. 

Albert even started his own production company, Eddie Albert Productions, for the sole purpose of making films and visual aids for theaters, TV, schools and military groups on conservation and pollution.

According to a 1970 interview with The Terre Haute Tribune, Albert said he had spoken with groups such as the Environment Defense Fund, the National Cancer Institute, the National League of Women Voters and a few others.

"We cannot act too swiftly to preserve our natural environment," Albert said.

Surprisingly, along with his anti-pollution work, Albert was a TV pitchman for a detergent washday product (Biz) which he admitted was a pollutant. Albert thought working with the manufacturers to reduce the pollution elements is more constructive than fighting the company.

"I own several farms which I visit regularly and I'm training people to run and organize them," Albert said. "They're learning modern agricultural techniques and, at the same time, providing more organic foods which are free of DDT and other poisons."

Albert expanded his love for nature and conservation by helping preserve forms of wildlife and land. He even gave speeches on his own time and at his own expense in order to change the environment as quickly as possible.

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