Recognizing One's Voice: Impact and Reflection
00:00:17
Alexis
All right, so I'm not gonna lie, every time I hear that intro, I'm like, is that what I sound like? Like not in a bad way, but I'm like, is that my voice? Is that what I sound like?
00:00:26
atack2010
your moderately caffeinated voice.
00:00:26
Josh
I feel the same way. I always think it's my voice. And then I'm like, oh, that way.
00:00:29
Alexis
Oh, that makes sense. That tracks. Yeah. Oh no, wait, that I think might be Alexis. I'm not positive.
Introduction: Midsummer and Solstice Themes
00:00:35
Alexis
Um, anyways, welcome everybody to another episode. We're talking about midsummer, the solstice, the changing of the days.
00:00:47
Alexis
We're talking about it.
00:00:47
Josh
The longest day of your life.
May's Hectic Month: Farming Challenges
00:00:51
Alexis
That was, uh, may was just, just may in general, the longest day of my life.
00:00:55
atack2010
Is it gonna be May?
00:00:59
Alexis
Yeah, pretty much the entire thing. But you know, that is that is farming for most of us. May is like wild time, so it's go time, but also oh god time, but also oh no. um
00:01:11
Brett
may is the May is the longest month of my life. is That speaks to me on a very deep level. i
00:01:19
atack2010
I mean, it could be all of the best of times and the worst of times kind of dichotomy.
00:01:22
atack2010
I don't know. I don't know.
00:01:23
Brett
Yeah, I mean, may May for me was not that, but it the concept, the sentiment.
00:01:31
Brett
has has cultural significance in my life, much like the Midsummer period has across human traditions in different places. And we find ourselves there
Midsummer's Cultural Significance
00:01:43
Alexis
Hello. meet soma I to call it Midsummer.
00:01:47
Alexis
That just sounds so much more like good and folksy and yeah.
00:01:53
atack2010
Yeah. I like ah European traditions of midsummer festivals.
00:01:58
atack2010
and It seems like when we're in June, I don't consider, I mean, because I'm looking forward to July here in Kentucky, at least in zone six and seven, where we're at.
00:02:07
atack2010
Well, I'm just saying as far as, s as as far as summer,
00:02:08
Josh
I know, this guy, man, this guy.
00:02:10
Alexis
July, you are pale as pale can be.
00:02:10
Brett
You're looking forward to.
00:02:13
Alexis
How do you like July?
00:02:15
Josh
He likes seeing the big numbers on his electricity bill.
00:02:16
atack2010
Well, I do, I do.
00:02:19
atack2010
i like I like the hard hitting. Now, growing up, we never had AC, so May was one of my absolute, for April and May, because of the moderate temperatures.
00:02:28
atack2010
Never had, you know, environmental controls. We talked about that on a previous podcast.
00:02:32
atack2010
We did not have those. We had window fans, but I loved the cooler, the months, but yeah June was warming up and July was somewhat miserable and August could be as well. So yes, temperature wise,
00:02:45
Alexis
But here you are, loving July.
00:02:46
Brett
But now you look forward to July.
00:02:48
atack2010
No, I don't look forward. I look forward to summer and the long days. I guess I look forward to time after the typical, the typical work day, whatever that is, whatever, you know, if yes, it's yes.
00:02:56
Josh
Yeah, like when they start still out, when you get off work, you can do things outside.
Summer Preferences: Heat and Activities
00:03:01
atack2010
it a More playtime, more outside time, more gardening time. But, uh, yeah, it's, it's tough when I go to work and it's dark and I come back and it's dark. I feel like a cave troll.
00:03:09
Alexis
Yeah, it's miserable.
00:03:11
Josh
Yeah, yeah, I got that.
00:03:11
Brett
right Ray, I feel like i you're making me need to confess.
00:03:16
Brett
I can't help but jump on a bandwagon when people are dogging on someone like we just all did on you for saying that you're...
00:03:20
atack2010
but it but it's but it's But it's fun, though.
00:03:24
atack2010
It's fun, though.
00:03:24
Brett
I... Yeah, it was very fun to to just to do that to you just now.
00:03:26
atack2010
ah But what are you going to admit?
00:03:27
Alexis
The dog on you, yeah.
00:03:27
atack2010
Do you have a confession?
00:03:29
Brett
i i i am I am confirmed officially a hot weather guy.
00:03:36
atack2010
Are you? Are you?
00:03:37
Josh
Yeah, I knew a guy like that no, thank you
00:03:38
Brett
I... Yeah, i i used to know I used to hate it.
00:03:44
Brett
And i I just love it. I just feel so alive. Yeah, I'm sweaty and like uncomfortable. And like sometimes when I'm working outside, I feel like I'm going to...
00:03:52
atack2010
Um just sounds good so far.
00:03:53
Alexis
Yeah, everything sucks about my life. but
00:03:55
atack2010
Yeah Yeah Yeah It's like your whole body's crying
00:03:55
Brett
You can make me feel like you're going to pass out. And like you know if you if you don't drink water, it's not...
00:03:57
Josh
All right. It's on the edge.
00:04:00
Brett
Yeah, if you don't drink water, it's not like a minor inconvenience. It's potentially healthy you know health problem-causing.
00:04:07
Josh
I will say what is cool.
00:04:10
Josh
I will say what I appreciate about it is just when you're drenched in sweat, like nobody can tell that you're crying.
00:04:19
Brett
good And even if you were, they could understand why.
00:04:23
Josh
Well, I'd be like, I get it.
00:04:24
Alexis
i i Do I have to pick just hot or cold? Can I just pick the shoulder seasons?
00:04:28
Alexis
Because I don't...
00:04:29
Brett
Oh my gosh, no, you can't pick the shoulder seasons.
00:04:32
atack2010
Nobody cries on the shoulders, miss.
00:04:32
Brett
This is America, land of...
00:04:34
Brett
This is America, land of extremes.
00:04:36
Brett
It's a two-party system, hot or cold.
00:04:38
Alexis
I, I just need to be acclimated. I think the acclimation like time period is the, I'm so pissed off that I'm not like, I can't, I'm like, I was fine last July, but now it's early June and I can't function.
00:04:54
Alexis
And it's like, I don't understand. I haven't acclimated yet. And so I had to give myself a little bit of grace, drink some more water, eat at a popsicle or two.
Seeking Shade: Escaping Summer Heat
00:05:01
Alexis
And then eventually I get there. I felt a little better after this weekend, but, um, I don't,
00:05:05
Brett
See, your mistake was when you whenever you stopped eating popsicles last July.
00:05:09
Brett
I just eat them year round and I'm ready to go ready for anything.
00:05:10
atack2010
You just year round just, you never, you you never have to reacclimate.
00:05:11
Alexis
just year round popsicles.
00:05:12
Josh
My mouth is hot. What happened?
00:05:14
Alexis
We, uh, I don't know if I, I don't know if I told you this or not, but we just got a fridge in the barn that I found on sale and I got like the first thing that went in there was, uh, those popsicles that like cut the sides of your mouth.
00:05:16
atack2010
If you never stop, you don't have to acclimate. Yeah.
00:05:29
Brett
oh yeah, fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla- fla
00:05:29
Alexis
Like the old, yeah.
00:05:32
Alexis
like have but That was the very first thing that went in the, in the fridge was bar, like barn popsicles, like, uh, Just doesn't, nothing hits quite like a Popsicle out in the heat, like.
00:05:32
atack2010
Yeah. ah My brother called him flavor shanks.
00:05:45
Josh
I like when you you kind of get going too fast with the cold stuff and you get like the brain hurt.
00:05:50
Alexis
you Like that's something you enjoy, just status.
00:05:51
Josh
Yeah, it's good times.
00:05:52
atack2010
Yeah, that's always nice. Yeah.
00:05:54
Brett
see i knew you were a hot weather guy josh
00:05:57
atack2010
We're all admitting it.
00:05:59
atack2010
I don't know, i I love the long days, he's not necessarily the extreme heat, but you know, I do believe that's one of the reasons that I love like woodland areas because that's where the shade is.
00:06:08
Josh
Yeah, yeah, I got you.
00:06:08
atack2010
When it was hot out, you could be under like woodland, it dropped 15 degrees. Like if you got a large canopy overhead, a little breeze going, that's maybe why I love like shady woodland areas is because, you know, if you have to live with that day in and day out and then sleep in that kind of hot weather, then I grew to love like shady areas.
00:06:27
atack2010
So yeah, and I am blonde headed fire complected, so.
00:06:28
Brett
They're very brief aside, Ray, from a previous episode you referred to the blue side of the mountain.
00:06:35
atack2010
Mm-hmm Yeah ah yeah ah Yeah It's a game changer and It needs to be normal people's next hour.
00:06:36
Brett
I think about it all the time.
00:06:39
Alexis
but One of the next songs Brett puts out
00:06:39
Brett
I it really that i don't know what, something about that. woof
00:06:46
Alexis
Normal people's next album, Blue Side of the Mountain.
00:06:51
atack2010
It really does.
00:06:51
Brett
I don't know if we're rustic and ah like authentically
00:06:52
atack2010
It was a big deal.
00:06:55
atack2010
I mean, you you go to the blue side and there's just ferns and moss because and I would seek those places out in and particular places with running water in the summer and you would go there and it's 20 degrees cooler.
00:07:06
atack2010
Just the rock doesn't, you know, accumulate heat um and doesn't give that off on the day.
00:07:07
Alexis
that's That's where the fairies are.
00:07:12
atack2010
That is where the fairies are.
00:07:13
Josh
Well, yeah. And if you're, if you're in that kind of like slope, like that's where my cabin was when I lived out in the Eastern part was like, quote unquote, the blue side of the mountain, but at the base of like a 1200
00:07:18
atack2010
Oh, yeah, the shady part.
Sunlight's Role in Gardening
00:07:23
Josh
So there was just this constant cool airflow blowing by.
00:07:24
atack2010
It's awesome. Did you get any sun much during the day? Is it like really, really like, like a very short period of some 12 o'clock?
00:07:30
Josh
You never get like, in order to get sun, you'd have to leave my house and maybe it and you'd have to leave my house at noon and walk like 200 yards away. Like it was just and the sun never hit that structure.
00:07:40
atack2010
Yeah. Yeah. Yep. Yep. It is. It is a different world in winter times. I mean, it can protect you in the winter time, but I mean, the trade-off is, I mean, how do you grow like a garden in those spots? and And I got questions like that in the past in a very mountainous county that I covered. ah People will try to grow gardens and, and you know, sunlight is the number one limiting factor in a forest. That's the first thing they teach you in forestry is sunlight's the number one limiting factor.
00:08:05
atack2010
It's not nutrients. It's not moisture. It's sunlight, you know, and those places you just are not going to get the sunlight.
00:08:11
Josh
Yeah, so you just eat, your diet becomes mushrooms.
00:08:15
atack2010
Yeah. Drowland fish and other such you know things that you could find in the woods.
00:08:20
atack2010
You have some all-stain Yeah, lots of those around so
00:08:20
Josh
Grubs, mushrooms, different lichens.
00:08:20
Alexis
Fiddlehead ferns. Fiddleheads are very high in vitamins.
00:08:24
Brett
Yeah, very filling.
00:08:26
Josh
And animals. let Let the animal go out into the sunny spot, eat some some grass and then come back and then you eat the animal. It works out.
Solstice Traditions: Flower Crowns and Fairies
00:08:34
atack2010
Yes, yeah, that's part of the cycle yes a very very long leash I
00:08:35
Brett
Just need a 200 yard long leash.
00:08:39
Alexis
However, on the solstice, you have to find some wildflowers because you have to make a flower crown to wear to ward off the chaos causing fairies. So um hopefully you have.
00:08:51
atack2010
Did you say chaos causing coworkers or fairies?
00:08:54
Alexis
I mean, what's the difference?
00:08:55
atack2010
Yeah, whatever, whatever.
00:08:57
Alexis
Just chaos in general. um
00:08:59
Brett
I'm going to say it again. The biggest mistake that you would make is not wearing the, the wildflower crown year round.
00:09:06
atack2010
Yes, I think so.
00:09:08
Alexis
I, I'm just going to get it like tattooed across my brow.
00:09:08
Brett
and works It works. It's worked out great for me.
00:09:13
Josh
There you go. Yeah, that will definitely slow the chaos in your life down.
00:09:17
atack2010
Yes, that will.
00:09:18
Alexis
What were those commercials where the guy was like, he'd like get in accidents. Mayhem. It was the guy who was like, he, he was mayhem.
00:09:26
Alexis
I feel like that's where we are here. Like the fairies are mayhem and you have to wear a flower crown because obviously that is the answer. Wear one.
00:09:35
Brett
Well, so I will say prior to when I started working um with the very fun, but admittedly quite crunchy crowd of the UK South Farm and other affiliated people, I never really observed the solstice ah or even knew it was happening.
00:09:57
Brett
But among ah that type of people, I guess I'm one of them now, this also does hold some significance.
Gardening Insights: Solstice Effects
00:10:07
Brett
in cross-cultures, it has it has held a lot of significance.
00:10:10
Brett
We mentioned the kind of Midsommar, Maple, Germanic traditions and all these other things, that we some of which we don't even really understand the origins of.
00:10:21
Brett
um And obviously there's there there are some implications for growing things. you know It's the the daylight, the day length is getting shorter, but I'm curious for you all, ah you know it could be directly or just ah obliquely horticulture related.
00:10:41
Brett
what What does the solstice, the summer solstice trigger for you all? Or what does it what how do you think about it? What does it mean? Does this mean anything to you?
00:10:50
Alexis
Um, I mean, I'll, I'll start out. I mean, we all know I like to grow flowers. And so a lot of flowers are daylight sensitive. And so the solstice is the longest day of the year. And that means that after that it starts getting darker. So, uh, you lose daylight starting, um, after solstice until When is it? Late December and then we start gaining light again.
00:11:13
Alexis
and so ah For a lot of flowering plants, that this is a cue for them. so Once they hit certain amount of daylight hours, they will begin flowering or they'll begin vegetative growth or you know all of them are a little bit different. and so I know I get questions, I see questions on, you know, like Facebook groups that I'm in and I get questions as an extension agent a lot on why are my cut flowers, you know, they're flowering and they're only three inches tall. And it's because those plants are going to flower when that light changes period. It doesn't matter if it's three inches tall or 12 inches tall.
00:11:51
Alexis
It's going to start flowering once it hits certain daylight. and so you know You have to plant those things early enough to get the plant beefy enough so that it has long stems by the time those hours come along. and so Really, for me, that's um you know we don't always think of it as our planting time. We should plant it you know in March so that it's beefy enough by solstice, but really that's what we're talking about is is the light change. we want
00:12:14
Brett
what are What are examples of those types of flowers?
00:12:18
Alexis
Um, chrysanthemums are a big one. I think that everybody's pretty familiar with whether it's like a potted mum, right? That you buy for, you know, the holiday season in the fall or, uh, cutting mums. And so they start to flower under, I think it's under 12 hours of daylight. Don't quote me on that. Uh, another one that is Campanula, which is bellflower. It will flower. Um, it flowers. on less daylight, so it's the opposite. or it's the opposite itll It blooms early in the spring, so once we kind of hit solstice, it's done.
00:12:53
Alexis
It's already flowered and set seed. so and some you know There's sunflowers that are daylight sensitive and and there's a lot of crops. Some of that has been bred out of plants.
00:13:01
atack2010
Points at is that's a big one short name.
00:13:01
Alexis
That's a big thing now. Poinsettias are short day.
00:13:04
atack2010
Yeah big commercial crop And isn't that manipulated commercially ah How does that work?
00:13:07
Alexis
ah That's why we grow them in the winter here. A lot of the reason why, because we have short days, ah but they Mm hmm. Yes.
00:13:15
atack2010
I mean that you could you can't you don't have to rely on the Sun that do you?
00:13:17
Brett
You put a blindfold on it.
00:13:19
atack2010
Yes, you covers relies
00:13:20
Alexis
Basically, yeah, like, so there's, there's shade cloth that they put on and they'll actually interrupt that. Uh, you know, depending on where they are in the season, they'll interrupt that. So they'll be dark all, you know, say they're dark all night and they're supposed to have, you know, only supposed to have six hours of night. Uh, but you know, the night is actually longer than that in the winter. They'll actually interrupt it with, you know, like sometimes even five minutes of light ah in the middle of the night, we'll interrupt interrupt that and reset the clocks for that plant.
00:13:48
Alexis
And so it's like. throws that out of whack, but ah that's how you get them to bloom and set color.
00:13:54
Brett
that feels that feels like a torture torture under the Geneva Convention like waking someone yeah
00:14:01
Josh
Alright, right. You can't get more than 10 hours to sleep.
00:14:03
Alexis
Well. Yeah, yeah, but you're feeding them when you do it. It's like here, wake up and have an ice cream.
00:14:10
Brett
Yeah. So they can continue their hellish facade of, but I'm just kidding.
00:14:12
Alexis
And then go back to.
00:14:14
Brett
I'm just, I'm just teasing.
00:14:15
Alexis
If someone wakes me up at 3 a.m.
00:14:17
Alexis
and is like, I usually am awake anyways at 3 a.m. because I don't know, that's when the fairies come out, I think, or you have a five minute life and someone handed me an ice cream, I'd be like, okay, that's fine.
00:14:21
Brett
Cause you got that five minute, that five minute light that comes on. So that used to,
00:14:29
Josh
And then right back to Ben.
00:14:31
Alexis
And then back to bed.
Solstice: Cultural and Historical Perspectives
00:14:34
Josh
Now isn't that term, I always think of it as like it, cause I think we learned about it described as photo periodism and like photo period sensitivity for those of you that want to look it up and see what it does.
00:14:35
Brett
that's really cool.
00:14:46
Josh
Cause it is plant specific as to what plants are sensitive to it and how the sensitivity comes up, whether it's like a broken, you know, a broken nighttime or shorter days or growing shorter days.
00:14:52
atack2010
How much? Yeah.
00:14:57
Josh
It can be all pretty different.
00:14:59
atack2010
And some plants really don't mind, do they?
00:14:59
Alexis
And yeah, they don't care.
00:15:01
atack2010
Either way, some plants don't care.
00:15:03
atack2010
They're just going to grow.
00:15:03
Alexis
They're like, I just give me, give me food, give me water. I will do whatever.
00:15:08
atack2010
I'm thinking of you, Zenyas. Zenyas don't care.
00:15:09
Josh
Day, night, whatever.
00:15:11
atack2010
but They're very neutral. they they They just grow and are beautiful.
00:15:14
Josh
Yeah, it's like photo period sensitive and photo period neutral, I think.
00:15:21
Alexis
We're gonna go with that. We can trust us.
00:15:23
Alexis
We're professionals.
00:15:24
atack2010
And the long day stuff is like my favorite garden grass, like tomatoes, pepper, stuff like that. That's like the sun loving long day. But, uh, what is it? If you, if you're considered a short day plant, you're typically, it has flowered before the solstice, which this year, the solstice, I don't know that we've said at June 20 at what time is it like four 50 PM exactly the polar there.
00:15:42
Josh
June 20 to 21, yeah, something like that.
00:15:46
atack2010
But, uh, the, if you're a short day plant, you're typically what done with the blooming. Sockle before that and if you're a long day plant you bloom or you're growing right around that at the best at around the summer solstice Yeah
00:15:59
Alexis
And as your as those days get shorter, so like mums, for example, they want to grow during the longest days and then once we get to fall, and those day that daylight drops under 12 hours or whatever it is, that is what signals the plant to bloom. so It's kind of some somewhat opposite of what you might think, um but yeah, long day plants actually bloom when the light gets less and short day plants actually bloom when the days hit a certain length, like longer.
00:16:22
atack2010
mm-hmm yeah you can base it I mean and some people ah that you can get caught up in is it day length or night length but in the end it's kind of the same it's just however you conceptualize that
00:16:37
Brett
Yeah, i read I read something and I was doing a little background looking in on some of this stuff and they they talked about the the the summer solstice being the shortest night of the year, which I think that was the first time I'd ever heard it described that way.
00:16:55
Brett
um And and that like some of the folkloric traditions were around like since the night is so short like the spirits are kind of wiling and so you got to be like kind of careful because It's just like I don't know.
00:17:09
Brett
They're yeah, I guess so um I think for me as far as the meaning of it ah It's it's this really odd ah marker of when things start to change in the year, but it, and unless I was like aware that it was changing in that way, I don't necessarily know that I would know.
00:17:34
atack2010
Yeah. In Kentucky, you know, I see June 20th, summer's just getting cranked up.
00:17:41
atack2010
We're just going.
00:17:41
atack2010
I mean, now that may not be true of all parts of the country, but summer solstice is a little bit odd for me. I look forward to the the winter solstice. We were talking about this as we were getting ready for the the episode today.
00:17:53
atack2010
I look forward to the winter solstice because, you know, I'm going to get more daylight back, but the summer solstice always catches me unless I look at a calendar and say,
00:18:01
atack2010
It's going to be June 20, 2024.
00:18:03
Brett
it if It feels like the the crack of the whip, you know, where it's like, it's where the, je but but it happens, but then the actual like landing of of all of the inertia of the year happens after, you know, it's kind of like a delayed thing.
00:18:04
atack2010
It's like I don't see it being the height of summer. Like that's not happened yet.
00:18:07
Josh
Right, yeah, it's like the date. are Right, yeah.
00:18:11
Alexis
Like the start of summer, almost.
00:18:12
atack2010
Yes, it is a wake up call. Yes.
00:18:24
atack2010
Yeah. The wind up.
00:18:27
Brett
But yeah, what were we gonna say, Josh? Sorry, I cut you off.
00:18:29
Josh
Well, yeah, ah basically the same thing that like the you know we've been getting all these growing, lengthier days. Lots of solar heat is hitting the planet. But like the actual warmth and the heat of summer doesn't hit till later. like I don't think of June 20th as the hottest day of the year, just like noon isn't the hottest part of the day.
00:18:51
Josh
It's like after it's had time to kind of build up. And while while doing a little bit of research on this, I was looking at, um terminology like ah how there's like an equivalent to like the mid somar kind of thing um i'm not even going to try to pronounce the word but in the uh kind of chinese uh lunar solar calendar they refer to june 22nd ish the solstice as the summer extremity but you know it's uh it's a month later that they refer to it as like the great heat of summer so it's like it there's that kind of build up
00:19:22
atack2010
like a rubber band effect almost delayed.
Gardening in Summer Heat: Fall Planning
00:19:26
Brett
carry over when you're cooking.
00:19:27
Josh
Right. So it's like, even though the days are getting shorter, the nights are coming in sooner, the heat is like really starting to settle in.
00:19:35
atack2010
my My brain doesn't accept like summer solstice until like October.
00:19:35
Alexis
Which is good that...
00:19:38
atack2010
And I know that's totally incorrect. You know, the days literally have to be getting cooler for me to think about it.
00:19:41
Josh
That is wrong. Right.
00:19:46
Alexis
Yeah, it's kind of nice ah that the, I guess at at least in our area that the nights get start to get longer when the heat is starting to get the worst.
00:19:56
Alexis
So that could be kind of nice, but yeah.
00:20:00
Alexis
And then from like a plant perspective, like a gardening, gardening perspective, uh, you know, we start talking about, um, thinking about at least planning for your fall garden. So even though it's a little bit early, you know your your summer plants may not have even started you know to fruit by now. if you just If you put your tomatoes in around Derby Day, you know you're probably not seeing a whole lot ah ah yet.
00:20:24
Alexis
and maybe Maybe you are, but ah so but it's already time to think about, okay, when am I going to rip this out and put the next thing in? Because gardening, farming is all about the prep and you are essentially like at least a season ahead, which is can be great if you're a planner, like if you're like me and I just like love to plan, but can also it can make it hard to revel in the moment.
00:20:50
Alexis
And so ah that's always a struggle for me is like to appreciate what I've grown right now and the successes I've had when I'm already, it's almost like I'm just now picking it, but it's over for me. Like my brain has, is just finishing up the crop. Uh, when, cause I'm already planning the next one and that can be, that can be a struggle, but it is time to think about your August, September fall garden.
00:21:15
atack2010
Yeah, it is a real transition, yeah.
00:21:15
Josh
Yeah, especially longer stuff like potatoes are like mid June so you're you're there for your fall garden Yeah Parsnips
00:21:25
Brett
Yeah, I think i think that the the planting for the fall garden, because we think, oh, cool season crops, kale and broccoli, how nice, it's gonna be nice and cool. It's not when you're planting them. when you are if you're If you are planting a fall garden correctly, you are sweating a lot.
00:21:43
Brett
Um very just mad, you know, you need the as a hot As a as a hot weather guy, I wouldn't be mad but a previous version of myself That was not so big of a fan Uh, yeah would be would be quite and it's ah it's very it's almost disorienting in a way.
00:21:47
Alexis
These are cold weather crops. Why am I sweating?
00:22:02
Brett
Um, but yeah, you are putting it you don't get if you're doing this professionally or just intensely in general
00:22:09
Brett
you know't You aren't coming off of a restful winter ah where your all your energy and cabin fever and everything else is built up for that spring garden.
Maintaining Gardening Energy in Summer
00:22:18
Brett
You're coming, you're like, it's hot and it's like, oh man, I've got to bend over and plant this stuff again.
00:22:18
atack2010
Mm hmm. I used to wonder why people didn't do that.
00:22:21
Josh
Alright, I am over the gardening hobby.
00:22:24
atack2010
I just think you've nailed it, Brad. I used to wonder why people I'm like, ah when I first started, exciting you know, try to encourage people to maximize their gardens, you know, have that three season garden and definitely fall garden, the stuff so much better, yada, yada, yada. Your brassicas are amazing. But then I come to realize it's exactly what you just said. The energy and the vibe is totally different when you're trying to put something in the ground at 100 degrees.
00:22:46
atack2010
Yeah. ah You don't have that cabin fever and you're just bursting out with all this energy. You have this energy of, oh my gosh, I've got a thousand things to do with the family in the summer. So yeah.
00:22:55
Josh
where I'm committing another 90 days to this.
00:22:57
atack2010
Yeah. So it totally, I totally get it now. So every now and again, I'll do a let's plant a fall garden kind of program, uh, just to do that, but they are ah historically not well attended. Let's put it that way. People sometimes even give me the stink eye.
00:23:11
Alexis
Everyone's hot and tired.
00:23:13
atack2010
Yeah, they're like, we're already hot. And this is the home gardeners, not the pro gardeners, not the commercial gardeners, ah commercial producers. This is the home gardener where it's a tough sell. It's, ah as they say, a hard sell in the industry ah to do fall gardening. um But there are there are a few ah gardeners out there that do and undertake those activities and love it. And you do get you know crops that are amazing in the fall. But I am not one of those as far as a home garden goes. I don't, you know, I'm not planting a lot at this time of year. No, no.
00:23:43
Brett
Yeah, and to be clear, if you are planning a fall garden, you should not be doing it between the hours of 11am and 5pm, you know, take advantage of that sun going down or not yet coming up again.
00:23:55
Brett
um You know, you're a hot weather guy, then you can pretty much do it whenever you want to do it.
00:23:56
Josh
Unless you're like a hot weather guy, then you're just out there like living the dream.
00:24:01
atack2010
Unless unless you can reach around and put, you know, sunscreen on that part of your back.
00:24:04
Alexis
I mean, actually the plants don't love the middle of the day either, because they are not like they're hot weather guys, but also kind of not.
00:24:10
atack2010
You know, that's a great point, of Alexis, and you might be able to speak to this some. are You know, this is the longest day, the most sun we're going to get during the year. Are there plants that need protecting during this time of year that we wouldn't otherwise have to think about?
00:24:23
Alexis
I mean, I don't love, have I done it?
00:24:26
Alexis
Yes. Will I continue to do it? Absolutely. But I don't like ah planting, not just personally, but I don't like to put the plants out when it's full sun.
00:24:36
Alexis
I like a cloudy day, ah ideally, where I plant in the evening when you know it's cooling down.
00:24:43
Alexis
ah because they are undergoing stress, right?
00:24:47
Alexis
they're Even if they're perfect transplants that not root bound, they are lush and just hardened off, that's the big thing.
00:24:49
atack2010
I've been hardened off. Mm-hmm.
00:24:55
Alexis
If they're hard enough and perfect, they're still undergoing a change of scenery, right?
00:24:59
Alexis
When you're moving your kids from one place to another, it can be really stressful.
00:25:05
Brett
Yeah. And the process, the process of transplanting them is like continually slapping the water bottle out of your kid's hand as they try to drink and rehydrate and yeah.
00:25:14
Alexis
Yeah, you're just like squirting it at their face, just like a little at a time. Like, can you catch it?
00:25:20
Brett
You can have your water bottle back after you've settled in or after for after a few days.
00:25:23
atack2010
Are we, are we just encouraging people to plant fall guns or what right now? I mean, we're just so encouraging.
00:25:29
Brett
i Just if you're you know, it's what is it if you're hot if you're hot then they're hot or something or if you're with their dogs or something ah Yeah that like there is something kind of poetic about that of like Do you want to go out and stand in the hot Sun right now and not have access to much water?
00:25:33
Alexis
Yeah, if you're cold, they're cold, bring them inside.
00:25:47
Brett
No, then don't do that to your plants and and like you mentioned Alexis and we we recently transplanted some stuff some perennials, but And we had it in pots and they were doing fine and watering them. And and we were we had a window to plant them, but it was going to be extremely hot and extremely sunny for like three or four days.
00:26:06
Brett
And so we decided to hold off and plant them. And then it was one of those moment proud moments where like everything works correctly, where you're like, you like put it in the ground as the first water droplet falls out of the sky.
00:26:18
Alexis
Yes, that's so satisfying.
00:26:18
Josh
right right yeah yeah
00:26:20
Brett
like ah and then For the next 48 hours, it was overcast, light periodic rains, nothing too deep.
00:26:27
Alexis
I got my dahlias in on that schedule and I was like, this is gold, gold.
00:26:29
Brett
oh yeah For every one of those, there's a lot of others.
00:26:33
atack2010
it's It's amazing. They do so much better.
00:26:36
atack2010
that The stress is nothing compared to that if it were a sunny day. And I would remember watering plants you know during the heat of the day, because you're like, oh my gosh, this plant is super dry.
00:26:45
Josh
Right, right, right, yeah, yeah.
00:26:47
atack2010
And then the soil just turning to concrete. It's you know just so hot.
00:26:51
atack2010
And I'm like, oh my gosh, you know depending on what type of watering you're doing. But plants, um they're growing well typically during that time of year. But that also means they're using probably the largest um quantity of water that they're going to be needing the entire season during that time period.
00:27:07
atack2010
So good to keep in mind.
00:27:08
Brett
And I do think some, you know, we plants are resilient, they do, they can wilt and bounce back and do all these other crazy things that are amazing. But like, there's a difference between surviving and thriving.
00:27:21
Brett
And when you push a plant to the point of needing to survive, it's just not going to do as well.
00:27:27
Brett
And so if you're growing food, you're not going to get as much food, or you're not, it's not going to be as resistant to to disease or to insects or whatever, it's going to be more vulnerable. And and Sometimes it just happens. You just got to do what you got to do. But um yeah, I think you know something for me subjectively about the solstice that I feel like I notice, and you all tell me if I'm if i'm just crazy and this is confirmation bias or something.
00:27:51
Brett
But i I feel that there is a notable um like color change in the foliage of the various trees and other ah plants, shrubs, parent mostly perennials, I would say, like in in the landscape or in the forest or whatever.
00:28:10
Brett
like It goes from this very, like I would say it goes from a green that has more yellows in it to a green that has more like darker darker blues
00:28:22
Brett
And and i it's like i can it's almost like the there's this, I don't know, this is me getting into it.
00:28:25
atack2010
Some it's a maturation phase of new growth.
00:28:29
atack2010
A lot of that. Yeah.
00:28:30
Alexis
Especially on your trees.
00:28:30
atack2010
The the li lime green growth.
00:28:31
Brett
But and along along with that, I feel like this you know energetic like crescendo of a lot of insects, a lot of other, I don't know, I can understand why someone would experience it as a magical time. um So you all are telling me there's a a botanical underpinning to what I'm
00:28:51
Josh
and so yeah There's a physiological thing going on.
00:28:54
Brett
Well, thank you for killing my magic.
00:28:57
Alexis
Sorry, it's science.
Societal Rhythms: Solstice and Day Length
00:29:00
atack2010
I know that there was, you know, historically there's the, you know, activities like bonfires that celebrated this and everything, the abundance.
00:29:06
atack2010
And I read some things that said the abundance of summer, but yet we're not harvesting a lot of stuff at that time yet.
00:29:13
atack2010
So I think that's why it's a, you know, um, the solstice celebrations historically was the, you know, if I could break it down, it's kind of the middle kid syndrome. It's like, you don't get those cool fall, like harvest celebration bonfires that are more predominant, you know, in history.
00:29:30
Alexis
I, uh, it reminds me there's in the flower world, um, we say that June is, can be kind of like a, like a dry month for flowers. And I mean that as in like, it can be, uh, there's not a ton.
00:29:43
Alexis
So like, you know, we say plant perennials, biennials, sort of sort of these things to fill that June gap because the, The natural thing is that your spring planted stuff isn't blooming yet. ah The stuff that overwintered and came through already bloomed. And so we hit this June is often a gap month for a lot of flower growers. So they have to do a lot to really make up for that.
00:30:07
Alexis
And I'm trying to think of if it's like that in like the veggie world. Because i know I know a lot of our farmers market people that I've been seeing lately ah you know sort of our, they're using season extension and things like that, uh, to really fill those gaps. But would you say June's kind of a low month even for like produce?
00:30:30
atack2010
I mean, that's buffered out some with the high tunnels.
00:30:33
atack2010
But yeah, the variety, what do you guys see at markets?
00:30:36
Brett
Well, I think I think one of the things about it is, you know, you can you can plan around like you're saying with the biennials and and stuff in the annuals, you can plan around it, you can kind of you know beat it, beat it out.
00:30:49
Brett
in certain ways with strategies with and different and different hybridized varieties too where like you have a tomato that's really really fast and then another one that's a little bit less fast etc but yeah there always was feels like there always is kind of a lull
00:30:50
Alexis
buffer it out, yeah.
00:31:05
Alexis
Just like maybe a lack of variety is a better way to think about it.
00:31:05
Brett
when In June, July, where you have just a couple of crops, and if you're trying to do like a diversified system, um it same for I'd say for like for the consumer, the that early June and like um like September are kind of like magical times where you start to get some of the summer stuff and some of the like cool season stuff.
00:31:29
Brett
And you can make like a really awesome salad with fresh tomatoes and um that kind of thing. But ah in general, yeah, I mean, you there there, I think there is a little bit of a lull ah in some of the it's not like nothing, you know, but it's
00:31:42
Alexis
Yeah, it's not bad or anything. Yeah. I won. And I'm thinking my CSA share. So like my spring CSA share ends the beginning of June and then my summer one doesn't start until the beginning of July. And so I think some of that is just, you know, family stuff and like good on them, but there is like a gap.
00:31:59
Alexis
And I think some of that is just that transition phase where they don't have enough variety to make up a CSA share. Um, because it's just a weird time.
00:32:07
Brett
Yeah, and like some of some of the diverse stuff, it it you know, is real, it can be real sensitive to heat. And so if you have a really intense hot spell, it bolts or it takes off or whatever, and then you know, it's no longer
00:32:18
atack2010
Yeah. You know, I think about how, you know, day length has just affected not only farming, but just our society in general. I'm kind of zooming out here, ah the thousand foot kind of view of things.
00:32:31
atack2010
But if you think about the way that You know, even the time change, if it's real time change and whether or not that's a good or bad thing. A lot of, some of that historically has been based on like farm labor and taking advantage of the long days and, and how that played into decisions. But it's amazing even with school schedules and being off for the summer and how that affects family rhythms and the consumption of even things like fruits and vegetables and having time to cook fresh fruits and vegetables,
Day Length and Societal Structure
00:32:59
atack2010
or are you going on vacation to the beach or whatever.
00:33:02
atack2010
But it's amazing when you really think about it, how, you know yes, we're advanced as ah as a society and we have environmental controls.
00:33:09
atack2010
We can be comfortable whether it's hot or cold outside. But it's amazing how day length really dictates
00:33:16
atack2010
Uh, you know, agriculture and farming and just society overall, if you're looking at it from the broadest perspectives, that's why the solstices are, you know, I poke a lot of fun and and have some fun with that, but the winter and summer solstice and day length and all that, it just affects everything.
00:33:31
atack2010
Uh, it's still pretty amazing.
00:33:33
atack2010
Uh, and it goes right back down to, as I said, the time changing stuff. You know, here in the Eastern time zone, we you know do switch back and forth, ah daylight savings time, so on and so forth. But some of those things are underpinned based on day length. So ah it's still everywhere.
00:33:48
Alexis
I have a, I have a question. So we know that in opposite sides of the world, like Australia, right? They're the opposite. They're, um, summer is our winner and.
00:33:59
atack2010
Yeah, first summer solstice is December 20th or whatever. yeah twenty
00:34:02
Alexis
Yeah. So do they call that their summer solstice, even though it's in December or do they call it the winter solstice, but for them winter solstice means days.
00:34:08
atack2010
I think it's summer solstice.
00:34:09
Josh
I think they call it like summer. Like they don't, they don't.
00:34:11
atack2010
We, yeah, yeah.
00:34:12
Brett
Summer's always hot, yeah.
00:34:13
Josh
i Yeah, right, right.
00:34:15
atack2010
And there's actually two summer solstices, and you just mentioned that northern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere.
00:34:20
atack2010
So there's technically, you know, we only care about one, as somebody said earlier. In the northern hemisphere, we care about our own. But yeah, it is. I always love to think about that as a kid.
00:34:28
Josh
I always represent my home hemisphere.
00:34:31
atack2010
Yeah, you got to represent your homies.
00:34:33
Brett
The home is, you gotta represent the homosphere.
00:34:34
atack2010
your homosphere. There you go. But I always love thinking about like, on the other side of the world, what's going on, you know, when I was a kid, I would be like, Oh, it's probably just hot in Australia.
00:34:44
atack2010
And I'm freezing myself to death, you know, here in Kentucky.
00:34:47
atack2010
So I love thinking about that.
00:34:49
Brett
and we had ah I had ah a colleague in graduate school who was from South Africa and um she would talk about how at Christmas time, it was like a tradition in her family that at some point one of her uncles would throw a watermelon into the pool
00:35:08
Brett
And the kids would like try to get it and whoever got it out or something got a prize or something like a very, a very yeah fourth of ju a very fourth of July vibe at a Christmas party um and and being here.
00:35:12
Alexis
ah Very summer centric.
00:35:13
Josh
Got a free watermelon.
00:35:22
Brett
And and i when I was ah in a different part of my life, I ah ah went to Argentina for a while and I went actually left around the summer solstice here. And I came back around the summer solstice there. And so it was like 30 degrees Celsius there when I left and like 30 degrees Fahrenheit when I got back.
00:35:43
Brett
And that was a very disorienting and strange experience.
00:35:47
Brett
But yeah, I remember what you're talking about Ray with like the It reminds me of the, I think they attribute it to Paul Harvey, the idea that we, ah despite how fancy we think we are, we owe our existence to a six inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains.
00:36:03
atack2010
Yes, absolutely.
00:36:05
Brett
It's just kind of a similar like, we're not out running this whole sun thing.
00:36:10
Brett
And the way, ah yeah.
00:36:10
atack2010
No, it has a little bit of an impact. Yeah. Well, what marks, I mean, we're talking about, I mean, we touched on a little bit that, I mean, the summer solstice, even though I technically know the days, you know, getting shorter, the nights are getting longer after June 20, that doesn't
Seasonal Changes: Triggers and Activities
00:36:25
atack2010
mark. So what does, I mean, what triggers you guys for the change of the seasons in summer or anything? I mean, is there an activity or a family tradition as far as what marks like end into summer or ending summer?
00:36:37
atack2010
What triggers that for you guys?
00:36:39
atack2010
I mean, the solstice doesn't do it for me. I don't know what does exactly.
00:36:42
Josh
Yeah, that's definitely something that's like going on in the background. It's noticing the day length. Because yeah, I mean, you know when you're when it's like 9.20 outside, it's still like very light.
00:36:53
Josh
It's like, man, this day just keeps on cranking.
00:36:55
atack2010
And all the people with young kids are like, these kids are not going to sleep. What's their deal?
00:36:59
Alexis
Yeah, yeah i would yeah, I would say end of summer for me is when I get to go to bed at a normal time because I'm not eating dinner at 9.30 at night.
00:37:00
atack2010
It's terrible on parents.
00:37:06
atack2010
Well, what do you consider a normal time?
00:37:11
Alexis
I want to be in bed probably asleep by like, yeah, I want to be dead asleep by like 9.05, like dead asleep.
00:37:21
atack2010
And that's hard to do in the sun shining out. Yeah. It's kind of weird.
00:37:24
Alexis
Well, you don't really even mean to do it a lot of the time.
00:37:24
atack2010
Sun's coming in and you're like.
00:37:27
Alexis
Like you just get focused on a task. It's light out and usually, you know, in the summer it's starting to cool down. So you're trying to take advantage of it. And so you just, before you know it, you look at your clock and it's eight 30 and you haven't eaten dinner yet.
00:37:38
Brett
So you would say you are photo period sensitive.
00:37:41
Alexis
I am very photoperiod sensitive. Yes, that would be, that's why I don't like the time change aspect of what we do.
00:37:48
Josh
That ain't right. That makes me bolt and bloom early and just go to seed.
00:37:52
Alexis
yeah and bolt Yeah, I'm very...
00:37:55
atack2010
Your reproductive cycle has just ran its course.
00:37:56
Brett
Only once every 10 years does Josh have poinsettia flowers for Christmas on his head.
00:38:00
atack2010
yeah Yeah, I guess that's true. Lexus hadn't thought about in those terms, but it's a different kind of season. It's like when the sun shines, I want to be outside doing something. And it's so weird because sometimes, you know, in the winter, I go to bed earlier. I never thought a lot about it, but it's weird to think that by 905, if I were to do that in June, it would be weird because the sun's out.
00:38:22
atack2010
People may judge you, ah but in the wintertime, it's totally acceptable for me to be in bed by 845.
00:38:26
Alexis
And it's, ah it also is a little annoying because you're going to bed later, but I'm also getting up earlier because number one, the heat and number two, just the sun's up, you know, like the sun's up at six 20 and I'm like awake.
00:38:38
Alexis
My brain is saying it's time to get up.
00:38:39
atack2010
ah So you're kind of on a farm rhythm, yeah.
00:38:41
Brett
So, so why are you, but are you, do you also, are you also perceiving like a cumulative tiredness effect?
Farmers' Summer Fatigue
00:38:51
Alexis
Oh yeah, I mean by by that's why there's a, and ah you all have experiences as people who have farmed, but as if if since you've if you've not been out in a while and a lot of people who are.
00:39:04
Alexis
Whoever farming, we always say August is like by August 1st, we are dead tired. Like just because it's this, I have to farm when it's cool enough for me to be outside.
00:39:15
Alexis
um You know, a lot of farmers work other jobs so they can't take like a midday nap, but most that most of them wouldn't anyways because they're going to do computer work or a bunch of other stuff that they've got to do. And so um you just lose sleep for a couple months. And ah then by August, we all ask ourselves, God, we're just so tired.
00:39:35
Alexis
Why are we so tired? Well, because it's been 100 degrees for the past month and we've been getting six hours of sleep every night.
00:39:42
Brett
Yeah. I mean, that that that level, i can yeah i am I can see.
00:39:47
Brett
I feel like, though, I need less sleep in the summertime than in the winter or something.
00:39:52
atack2010
I think the sun just, I seem to have my energy seems to be, ah I don't know if that's a correlation with the sun and the technical aspect of it hitting my brain or the chemical reaction of our body when it's making vitamin B.
00:40:03
atack2010
I don't know, but it's a real pain.
00:40:04
Josh
Yeah, there is something about getting.
00:40:04
Brett
Or maybe the the extra extra activity.
00:40:07
Josh
Yeah, I was going to say getting up and out of bed and rolling in the summertime is a snap.
00:40:14
Alexis
Well, yeah, because it's not freezing cold on your feet.
00:40:16
Josh
yeah Well, and it's bright out, right? Or, you know, the sun's coming up.
00:40:18
Alexis
Yeah, and it's bright out.
00:40:19
Josh
But like, you know, in wintertime when somebody's like, hey, let's get together at 730, I'm like, who are you?
00:40:28
Alexis
I'm not leaving my house in the dark.
00:40:30
Josh
Right, right. There's evil spirits out there.
00:40:31
atack2010
There's more friction in the wintertime, yeah.
00:40:35
atack2010
The night is long and dark, yes. Uh-huh. Anybody else have anything different besides like farming and production rhythms, any traditions that remarks the season?
00:40:43
Alexis
Do you know what the um word solstice comes from the Latin words soul, which is sun and the stadium or still or stopped.
Solstice as Symbol: Change and Growth
00:40:54
Alexis
So sun stopped is.
00:40:56
Josh
Yeah, it's like this the sun just goes up there and hangs out. okay
00:41:00
Alexis
And you're just kind of like, what's going on here? The glitch in the matrix has happened. Really, secretly, it's just a weird algorithm in the matrix that like twice a year, the time gets thrown. And we're all just like, yeah, this is normal.
00:41:16
Brett
i I just keep coming back to like the metaphorical components of it because like it it's sort of both, you know, good and bad things. Sometimes when they are in the process of ending, you don't know that it's happening when it's happening. And like that, even the the beginning of the end of the long day,
00:41:38
atack2010
Like death by a thousand cuts kind of thing.
00:41:41
Brett
Um, or, or just like, let's say you've been going through a really hard period in your life and something, you know, bad happened to you or a series of bad things keeps happening to you. Sometimes it feels like it's continuing to get worse and worse.
00:41:56
Brett
And in reality in the background, like, so for instance, the heat of August, right?
00:42:00
Brett
It's like, God, it's just getting worse and worse. And in the background, actually the process of it becoming okay again has already started like two months ago.
00:42:09
Alexis
Yeah, you're on the down slope of the bell curve.
00:42:11
Brett
Yeah, and I think there's just something really like poetic about that where where sometimes you just don't you don't really, your your perception your perception of what's happening and the underlying architecture of what's happening don't necessarily line up.
00:42:28
Brett
um And so if you're going through something really bad, you know that that that is something to at least kind of keep in mind that and you know it's
00:42:36
Brett
Not exactly the dawn is darkest before the but the dark is whatever night is darkest before the dawn or whatever
Life Changes: Gradual and Noticeable
00:42:42
Brett
kind of nonsense that is, but something along those lines that like sometimes things are getting better even if it doesn't feel like they are.
00:42:49
Alexis
Something along those lines that has stuck with me lately.
00:42:52
Alexis
It's just like been ringing in my brain is the, the saying that, um, day by day, nothing changes, but looking back, everything is different.
00:43:01
Alexis
And like that for some reason has just really been hitting me.
00:43:05
Alexis
And like so that saying has been smacking me in the face a lot. And I don't, I don't know why I'm going to figure it out here soon.
00:43:10
Alexis
I'm sure, but yeah, it just seems like nothing, nothing has changed in the past 11 years as me being an extension agent, but.
00:43:18
Alexis
when I look back to who I was when I started versus now, it's like, that's not the same person.
00:43:23
Alexis
But I have somehow done the same thing every day.
00:43:28
Alexis
But it's kind of that in plants as well.
00:43:31
Brett
And even so even season to season like with growing things, it's it's almost there's there's times where it feels in like February. It feels like it's very distant and maybe impossibly distant that you're going to be. you know, harvesting something that you harvest in June or July. Like it just seems conceptually so far away and distant. And then by the time like the day day by day, nothing changes and then you look up and it's June or it's August or whatever.
00:44:00
atack2010
Suddenly it has.
00:44:01
Brett
And and that that's a like perpetual mystery for me of growing growing things existing as part of the natural world.
00:44:09
Brett
I mean, part of it too is that Wow, 25 seemed 25 years old seemed like just yesterday and then 35 and then you know, just keeps on kind of stacking in a similar way.
00:44:22
Brett
And I think we have we have negative associations with that culturally sometimes, ah but there's something really wild and and ah beautiful about that like that that contrast of like the cycles of nature kind of keep going and our perception our perceptions get skewed and
00:44:38
atack2010
I think a a lot of the markers of time are very natural you know all the things we're talking about today is I mean some of those are astronomical and they were you know very a cute observations made back then with kind of very rudimentary equipment but
00:44:52
atack2010
You know, a lot of the things that mark time for me, you know, I've said it before on the podcast is exactly what you're saying, Brett.
Natural Cycles: End of Summer Reflections
00:44:58
atack2010
It's ah the growing of things. And, you know, we've talked a lot about those cycles and, and it marking time, just like, I guess the, the dog days of summer is what I think about when I think of high stinking summer in Kentucky.
00:45:10
atack2010
I used to phrase it like that in my head, but that kind of marked the time, not the not the summer solstice.
00:45:15
atack2010
But I guess we have different ways of marking time and the passage of time. and And it's so cool. And that's one of the things I loved about growing crops.
00:45:22
atack2010
Tomatoes was my time marker growing up because Once the tomatoes were all done on the vine, the indeterminates, especially that just kept producing, wouldn't stop.
00:45:30
atack2010
Once they were done, summer is over. I knew the growing season was done.
00:45:33
Alexis
Yeah, you were done.
00:45:34
atack2010
When you're mowing the tomatoes, summer is done because I'm so sick of those tomatoes, I grab a big piece of equipment and mow them down.
00:45:43
atack2010
But that, that signified, I mean, it's weird how would that picked up these random things that marks the end of summer for me.
00:45:49
atack2010
And that was it. That was one of the things that, that marked the end of summer. So yeah, the the passage of time, as you say, Brett.
00:45:56
Alexis
Does anybody still look for an adult of your adult in the situation or have you realized you are the most adulty adult in the room most of the time?
00:46:05
Alexis
Because I still look for an adult of your adult.
00:46:09
atack2010
And it's usually, yeah, it's becoming less, less and less.
00:46:14
Brett
You mean for to to to tell you that it's OK to mow your tomatoes?
00:46:19
Alexis
Just general. It can be like anything.
00:46:22
atack2010
Are you, are you, you're talking about getting older, like becoming, uh, the most mature adult.
00:46:22
Alexis
anything Well, yeah, it kind of goes back to what like Brett said, where you're 25 and then 35.
00:46:28
atack2010
Oh, ah I sensed your nervous laughter.
00:46:32
atack2010
You're, nervous you were a little bit nervous about that.
00:46:33
Alexis
Well, I noticed it more when I got a coworker who is about 10 years my junior.
00:46:34
atack2010
alex this She's like, uh, yeah.
00:46:41
Brett
Yeah, that'll do it.
00:46:42
atack2010
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:46:43
Alexis
And so I continuously look for an adult to your adult sometimes. And then I have realized I'm his adult to your adult.
00:46:48
atack2010
Mm hmm. You're yes.
00:46:50
Alexis
And I was like, Oh God, don't trust me.
00:46:53
atack2010
It hits. It hits completely different.
00:46:54
Alexis
I still look for someone else.
00:46:55
Brett
Just just pull a fire alarm and close its fire alarm.
00:46:58
atack2010
Yeah, it hits different, man.
00:46:58
Alexis
I don't know. I don't know.
00:47:02
atack2010
Yeah, it hits different. It really does.
00:47:04
atack2010
When when you look around and you are part of the ruling class there.
00:47:07
Alexis
And it's not always age, right? Like it's just somebody who's more experienced in an area. They're just more adulty about something.
00:47:13
Alexis
But like, yeah, I'm that person for our new, a new person.
00:47:13
atack2010
And you're that person all of a sudden.
00:47:17
atack2010
So are you saying that your summer solstice may have happened a couple of years ago?
00:47:22
atack2010
Your days are getting shorter. I mean, I don't know what are we saying.
00:47:23
Alexis
Yeah, about three years ago when my new age had started, bless his heart, he's like asking general questions and I'm like, why are you asking me?
00:47:31
Alexis
I don't, oh, I do know things.
00:47:32
Alexis
I know the answer to that. Okay. All right.
00:47:34
Josh
I guess the springtime of my life has closed.
00:47:34
atack2010
Just remember Brett started this. Yes. When you realize there's more days behind than before.
Shared Cultural Meanings of Solstice
00:47:43
Josh
Future's behind you.
00:47:43
atack2010
That took a yeah that took a dar dark turn.
00:47:43
Alexis
Oh god, I'm gonna die soon.
00:47:48
Brett
ah Yeah, i well, I think part of part of this stuff that we're talking about and that we're, you know... grappling with and whatever makes it it's the reason for me why I have start have or had started paying more attention to things like the solstice is because it's it's this thing that has shared cultural meaning but it also allows you to take a beat and just kind of recognize that like this summer of my life is is at its peak right now you know and
00:48:12
atack2010
I like it. Yeah, that's cool.
00:48:19
Brett
um It's going to get hotter, yeah. but yeah and And I just think that those, when we we live in such like intensely culturally individualistic times, um and maybe it's been that way for a while, but I think the internet makes it easier to to live in a little private ah ah fort.
00:48:42
Brett
and And like things like when we were talking to Jonathan Larson a couple of episodes ago or numerous episodes ago now about um cicadas and talking about like the power of that natural phenomenon that just is like beyond control and the same way with the so of the equinox that happened back earlier this year.
00:49:03
Brett
There is something really, really cool about getting out of the individual artificial whatever and getting into something that feels like more shared, you know, when you walk out and you're on it's like a five old goes west, you know, knowing that you're underneath the same bright scar underneath the ah someone else is somewhere out there, someone else is wishing on that same bright star.
00:49:17
atack2010
Ox on the hound.
00:49:24
Brett
I don't know. I think ah not to get too hippy-dippy, and again, I've accused other people of being crunchy earlier, but ah clearly I've joined them. um But i do I do...
00:49:33
Josh
fifty but Clearly on I make my own granola.
00:49:36
Brett
Yeah, exactly. And the yogurt as well.
Horticulture and Solstice Observations
00:49:39
Alexis
Sauerkraut, proof my own bread. Where do I begin?
00:49:45
Brett
the same place that I ended. I don't know what that means.
00:49:51
Brett
But um but and I do think, to to bring it back just to the horticulture thing, I think that's one of those aspects of growing plants that we talked about the joy of plants in one of our earlier episodes. That is, it's part of what draws people to this in the first place is there's elements of being things being out of your control, there's planning, there's tending and caretaking, there's engaging with the natural world, there's submitting to things beyond your own power.
00:50:19
Brett
And I think that the the solstices and the equinoxes and are as good a time as any to to recognize that and sit with it.
00:50:28
Alexis
To put your flower crown on and recognize it, just sit with nature for that extra hour or so. Enjoy it.
00:50:36
Alexis
Breathe it in deep. Notice the color change, the deep greens.
Dog Days of Summer: Origins and Significance
00:50:42
Brett
that that is That is magical and in no way explainable by the powers of science.
00:50:47
Alexis
That is all fae magic. ah We have no idea why it happened.
00:50:50
Brett
On this extension podcast, we will talk about.
00:50:56
Alexis
Fairies on the blue side of the mountain.
00:50:59
Brett
Yes. Thank you. Yes.
00:51:00
atack2010
and And as a little bit of a bonus, I mentioned Dog Days of Summer, but it's interesting that that's a real thing. I looked it up. ah I can't remember the the details. I looked it up a long, long ago, and it could have been fake. So somebody correct me. But ah the you know ancient cultures, would they'd look into the sky and you know they would notice constellation.
00:51:19
atack2010
ah movement and Sirius, when it was in the sky, when this was being observed, which is the Dog Star constellation, ah that was during the hottest months of the year.
00:51:28
atack2010
That was July and August.
00:51:30
atack2010
And for much of the world, that was a very hot period. So they, I forget the name that they gave it. It was a very Roman name that they gave this time of year, which basically translated literally to Dog Days.
00:51:41
atack2010
So Dog Days has ancient roots.
00:51:41
Josh
Yeah, DS Canecularis, the puppy days.
00:51:46
atack2010
Is that what it is?
00:51:47
Josh
Yeah, listen to this. Hellenistic astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy. God, I am so with this.
00:51:55
Josh
and Fever, mad dogs, and bad luck.
00:51:56
atack2010
I'm lethargy. I'm on board.
00:52:01
atack2010
What's not to love about the dog days of summer.
00:52:03
Alexis
Well, that sounds positive.
00:52:03
Josh
I know, it takes a turn.
00:52:04
Brett
So what the one the one for bad luck wouldn't have no luck at all.
00:52:05
atack2010
it the Yeah. We don't want to end on a positive note.
00:52:13
atack2010
Best be your impersonation.
00:52:14
Brett
I was going I was going where I was going where Freddie King.
00:52:19
atack2010
yeah Okay. and That's good too. Hmm.
00:52:21
Brett
Right on a bad sign.
00:52:29
Brett
If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all.
00:52:33
atack2010
Oh, he started. He's not going to stop.
Conclusion: Summer Reflections and Future Hopes
00:52:35
Alexis
Brett's beautiful notes here.
00:52:37
Alexis
Sing us out, Brett. um Thank you for joining us today and hopefully yeah you'll learn a few plant things. Maybe you felt better about loving or hating summer either way. you know we but we We're there with you in that grand spectrum of what summer can be. and what it can be annoying about. So we hope that you will wear a flower crown.
00:52:58
Brett
Bop bop bop bop bop bop bop.
00:52:59
Alexis
We hope that you will enjoy ah the solstice and enjoy those ah you know shorter nights that are coming up. i I certainly will love to get back to bed a little bit earlier. But on that note, thank you for joining us today. ah Thank you for helping us grow this podcast. And we hope that you will grow with us moving forward. Have a great one.