Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
What’s on Your 2026 Garden Vision Board
94 Plays14 days ago
In this episode of Hort Culture, the team shares what’s on their 2026 horticultural “vision boards.” From big-picture garden goals to deeply personal reflections, the conversation explores how visualization can shape both landscapes and mindsets.
Brett is leaning into maintenance mode—with a literal pile of mulch topping his list—focusing on soil health, polish, and finally taking time to enjoy the garden he’s built. Alexis shares her vision of creating lush, plant-filled living spaces that blur the line between indoors and out, while also embracing the idea that gardens (and growers) don’t have to be perfect to be good. Ray talks about redesigning his home garden for better proximity and enjoyment, bringing beauty closer to the back door and creating a cozy, lived-in outdoor nook.
Along the way, the crew dives into design, decision-making, perfectionism, visualization tools, and the importance of making space to simply sit and enjoy what you grow.
Whether you’re planning big changes or just spreading mulch, this episode will inspire you to think intentionally about your own horticultural year ahead.
Recommended
Transcript
Availability of Video Formats on Platforms
00:00:16
Alexis
Look what I found.
00:00:18
Brett
Greetings. Alexis, what what do you...
00:00:19
Alexis
Greetings.
00:00:21
Brett
So for our...
00:00:22
Alexis
What am I showing on an audio format?
00:00:24
Brett
Well, we have video, so if you want to see what it is, go to YouTube.
00:00:25
Alexis
with
00:00:28
Plant People
You can see this if you're watching through Apple Podcast. It has a video component built in. You may not be aware of that. You need check it out because Alexis has pictures.
00:00:36
Brett
Yeah. Some Spotify podcasts have it too.
00:00:38
Alexis
Yeah.
00:00:39
Brett
i don't know if that's...
00:00:39
Plant People
Yeah, I don't understand why some'm doing some do and some don't.
00:00:40
Brett
Yeah.
00:00:42
Plant People
But Alexis has pretty pictures.
00:00:43
Brett
So narrate for us regardless.
00:00:45
Alexis
Yeah. Okay.
Vision Boards in Business and Personal Growth
00:00:46
Alexis
ah So I have, from my first few years of business, when I started like more or less growing for myself and like taking like going from hobby to real life, like I'm going to farm thing, I have my first three years of ah vision boards that I created, which was mostly just an excuse to glue things in colorful fashion. So I have 18, 19, and 20.
00:01:17
Alexis
and now I kind of do it just like, you know, not as official.
00:01:17
Brett
Okay.
00:01:20
Brett
And would that would that be hung up somewhere during the year of 2018? Yeah,
00:01:23
Alexis
Yes. Yeah. So it was hung up by my desk.
00:01:24
Plant People
o
00:01:26
Alexis
And one of the reasons I like to make it pretty and colorful, because I would hang it up where I would see it every day when I was on my computer doing things for said business.
00:01:35
Brett
yeah it kind of has like a layered mural decoupage kind of energy to it for those who are not watching at home.
00:01:39
Alexis
Yes. Yeah.
00:01:43
Alexis
Yeah.
00:01:43
Brett
And it also has some some phrases on them.
00:01:44
Alexis
the collage. Yeah. Yeah, I have i have phrases. So let's see.
00:01:49
Brett
Give me the phrases. what are the phrases?
00:01:51
Alexis
I have high standards as one.
00:01:53
Brett
Oh, that one didn't work out.
00:01:54
Alexis
Classic. Cooler than cool is another one.
00:01:56
Plant People
Feels threatening.
00:01:58
Alexis
Yeah. ah Quality, value, and service is another one.
00:02:02
Brett
Hmm.
00:02:04
Alexis
A little less worry is on the same one. ah
00:02:08
Plant People
Good one.
00:02:09
Alexis
ah And then the past, present, and future. That was my very first one. Had that on there. Oh, I also had, this is when this word was really big, slay this way.
00:02:20
Brett
Slay this way.
00:02:20
Plant People
Oh, is that 2019?
00:02:21
Alexis
Slay this one.
00:02:21
Plant People
felt that.
00:02:22
Brett
ho, ho.
00:02:22
Alexis
No, this 2018.
00:02:23
Brett
Head of the curve.
00:02:23
Plant People
ah felt that Okay. found it was in the the teens.
00:02:26
Brett
Head of the curve.
00:02:27
Plant People
Yeah. Okay.
00:02:27
Alexis
as What an adventure, right? You're starting your adventure. ah Plants are an investment. Choose wisely.
00:02:38
Brett
So as you were forming these, do you remember do you remember why you started doing them in the first place? Are you a lifelong vision boarder?
00:02:45
Alexis
No, I mean, other than just like as a, you know, teenage girl making collages that were, I guess, sort of vision boards in my bedroom with my best friend growing up.
00:02:56
Alexis
No, I took a um i took a class, a series ah series on flower farming and just kind of getting started.
00:02:57
Brett
I think.
00:03:07
Alexis
In that realm, and one of the things that they suggested as as homework was to create a vision board physically, you know digitally, however you wanted to do it, ah just to you know have and be able to refer back to when you know times were tough, where you feel like you lost your way, and that kind of start of...
00:03:24
Alexis
of a new business. And so I did them for, for three years. And again, a lot of it was just, it was fun, um, something colorful, something upbeat. And then some of those, you know, slay this way obviously was very inspiring to me in 2018.
00:03:38
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:03:40
Alexis
So yeah, it was something fun. I think I do a version of it now. um you know, just kind of some different ways these days. But I think they were it was really helpful in the beginning. And I had flower pictures, but also had vegetables and other things that just kind of inspired my design thoughts and where my brain was from a design perspective at the time.
00:04:05
Alexis
So.
00:04:05
Brett
Yeah. I think you see these, you see these in a, like some creative area, different creative areas where either like you might have a vision board for an event or for a particular thing that you're trying to do.
00:04:10
Plant People
Thanks.
00:04:11
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:04:15
Alexis
okay
00:04:16
Brett
And rather than, trying to explain it to someone else, you can show them or you can collect
Pinterest and Vision Board Concepts
00:04:23
Brett
it. and Pinterest sort captured, uh, capitalized on this in the social media sphere.
00:04:29
Brett
ah never really did quite wrap my mind around Pinterest. Um, like I understood it intellectually, but I never really connected with it or under, like I i would have been, I would have liked to um, i think I wanted something a little more analog, um,
00:04:45
Brett
vision board vibe for some of the things that I would think about.
00:04:46
Alexis
You're
00:04:48
Plant People
little hands-on, little bit more hands-on, yeah.
00:04:49
Brett
this it It blends them together and it's a little less linear and a little more, i don't know. Again, real Pinterest heads out there will say that you're Brett, you're a moron.
00:04:59
Brett
Maybe you should have done it done a better job.
00:05:00
Alexis
not doing it right.
00:05:02
Brett
And they I would say that's fine. I got nothing. I got no pushback on that.
Horticulture Vision Board Ideas for 2026
00:05:06
Brett
um But it it was, we were thinking, or when we were trying to kick around ideas for an episode, do something a little bit lighthearted this time of year, but also thinking about the year ahead and shout out to Annie, my ah wife who suggested this as an idea of, I was curious, my fellow hort culture, hort culturists,
00:05:28
Brett
What is on your vision board for 2026?
00:05:34
Brett
Horticulturally speaking, of course.
00:05:36
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:05:38
Brett
And so to give a little bit more, you know, i put this forward, this idea, and then everyone's like, what? what do you What are the parameters?
00:05:43
Plant People
Huh?
00:05:44
Brett
How are we going to do this? And I was like, well, here's a really unclear explanation. So once we get through that, I then an image... ah a a graphic, a illustration, some a symbol, could be words, could be just a phrase, could be a, you know, that represents something that you're you're aspiring to in 2026. And it could be a continuation of past success, could be a new thing, something you've been trying to do better each year and you want to do better this year.
00:06:17
Brett
Again, all in that sphere of the horticultural experience And so I will be happy to go first.
00:06:22
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:06:24
Brett
So my first item on my vision board is a big old pile of mulch. It's steaming, warm, ready,
00:06:36
Brett
Because this year we are hoping, we know we we installed a bunch of stuff over the last 10 years, intensively in certain places over the last two or three years. We put in some mulch at the time.
00:06:47
Brett
it's worked out great. It's starting to become one again with the soil. And ah you know we weeds were okay last year, but if we let it go another year, it's going to be... a problem.
00:06:57
Brett
And so we we are hoping to, rather than spending much time installing stuff and putting stuff in and establishing beds, which we've already done, we're hoping to instead spend some time really spreading that mulch.
00:06:58
Alexis
You
00:07:15
Plant People
You are past the design and installation phase. You're into the, my demo method, D-I-M, design. It's like you're in the maintenance phase.
00:07:24
Brett
We're in maintenance phase, baby. and And the thing about mulching is, and know we have a whole episode about mulch, and I think my passion along with everyone else's passion is well documented in this area.
00:07:36
Brett
But the thing that's great about mulching is it's like a triple thread, at least quadruple thread. I don't know how many threads. I'm just going to start adding up all of the things that are amazing about it.
00:07:43
Plant People
Multiple threads.
00:07:43
Alexis
Yeah.
00:07:46
Brett
One, it's a nice manageable like
Gardening Techniques and Maintenance
00:07:50
Brett
task. It's doesn't suck as much as some. It's not as easy as others. Gets you a little bit of exercise, gets you a little bit of movement.
00:07:59
Brett
That's great. It is generally good for the soil health. You know, you're protecting your and your plant health. You're protecting root moisture. You're protecting, you know, fluctuations in soil temperature at the surface, all those things.
00:08:13
Brett
it It looks really good when you do it. like Once you finish mulching and you're like, man, like you put in a planting job or whatever and you're like, it looks pretty good.
00:08:20
Plant People
can see the plants.
00:08:22
Brett
And then you mulch it and you're like, oh my gosh, the the colors have never popped like this before on that dark brown black mulch. The oranges are orange or the bluers are blue.
00:08:33
Brett
The Even the greens are greener. um And so I think in all of the... And I actually happen to like the smell of mulch. I know some people don't. So that's a secret quadruple threat for me personally. But it's just one of those things that's like... <unk> When you're done, you also just feel so accomplished because you can see what happened. Sometimes even when you weed a row, you're like...
00:08:57
Brett
It looks, I mean, it looks better, but it doesn't look like, wow.
00:08:58
Alexis
What have I done?
00:09:01
Plant People
It's not transformative like mulch.
00:09:02
Brett
All you can see is that the the good version of the thing now, you can't see the the progress.
00:09:02
Plant People
Yeah.
00:09:08
Brett
um So maybe the shout out a tip, take a before and after of things that you're weeding so that you can feel better about it.
00:09:15
Alexis
but
00:09:15
Brett
like
00:09:15
Plant People
So, you know, you've done good. and Yeah.
00:09:17
Brett
So anyway, that's my first entry on the vision board is a big old pile of mulch.
00:09:20
Plant People
Maintenance, maintenance, maintenance.
00:09:22
Brett
Maintenance, maintenance, you got it.
00:09:25
Alexis
Mine as I've been... When I was like searching through these, the thing that keeps...
00:09:30
Brett
Amen.
00:09:31
Alexis
Consistently, i keep like saving these photos. um Part of it is because we are ah in the process of trying desperately to finish our upstairs. We have an old farmhouse. And ah if you there's been episodes where you may have heard pounding in the background because ah we've got some work going on upstairs to create a second bathroom and a third bedroom in our in our house.
00:09:59
Alexis
And so it's complete blank slate. I mean, there's no floor. There's no walls. The walls are my roof at this time. So starting from complete scratch and having to come up with some of these ideas. And and I keep coming back to these photos that all have a certain theme. And it is that they are they all have a lot of...
00:10:20
Alexis
a lot of lush greens, some natural wood ah elements, you know whether it's bedroom, bathroom, closet, like they all have this same idea behind it.
00:10:32
Alexis
And it they ah you this is very natural, very like soft ah look. And I wouldn't quite call it cottagecore, not quite there, but same same same general, like yeah, it's more it's like moody cottagecore, right?
00:10:46
Plant People
Approaching, approaching.
00:10:50
Alexis
dark greens instead sage green, right?
00:10:50
Plant People
Gothic cottage cars.
00:10:52
Alexis
And so, but a' saying that, it comes back to something that um my best, one of my best friends and I have been saying ah is that, you know, we don't we don't like to like leave a lot.
00:10:52
Brett
Cottage Hardcore.
00:10:52
Plant People
Yeah. Ooh, yeah, there you go, Brad.
00:10:57
Brett
Cottage Hardcore.
00:11:07
Alexis
Like vacation is great, but we were talking about how this year staycation sounds actually really nice. And I love to travel, like throw me on a plane. I don't care, wherever. But like staycation sounds so nice this year.
00:11:20
Alexis
Because I want and it's like I want to do these things that are like chores that kind of suck. ah You know, i want to like paint, you know, my door and, you know, do all these things around the house. And a lot of what I end up doing around the house has to do with like my flower beds or planting a tree, the American beach that I want to, you know, plant and ah these things that are not farming, but they are all about.
00:11:37
Brett
Going to.
00:11:41
Alexis
And we said it creating this space that we don't want to leave, you know, and like in in the best way. of like a staycation sounds nice because I'm creating this environment, this atmosphere that is just so cozy and a place that I enjoy, generally enjoy being with the people that I love that I don't feel the need to necessarily go out.
00:12:00
Alexis
So I think that's really my On my vision board as I kind of look through some of these photos and some of that is, you know, creating new space upstairs. But I think a lot of it has to do with like incorporating plants and something that's more my personality into this place that I spend most of my time.
00:12:13
Plant People
Hmm.
00:12:19
Brett
What does that mean? What
Creating a Comfortable Home Environment
00:12:20
Brett
what is the the incorporating the plants into the space? Like what are what are some ideas that you have for what that'll look like?
00:12:25
Alexis
Yeah, just um so one of the like big things about upstairs that, you know, I have very few. ah it has to be this way or else. I have very few threats to my contractor, but one of them is the natural light that we'll have in there. It's really it's very dark upstairs. It's literally my roof. There are very tiny windows and old brick So like it had, we need skylights. We need a lot of this natural light because number one, I am basically a plant. I need light to photosynthesize, but I want light for my plants. And so in my brain, i have this, um there'll be this one really tall wall because we have very high pitch peak ceilings. And so there'll be this one wall and I want it to be sort of like a collage, but instead of overlapping like my vision board, of photos, there'll be these pieced out kind of floor to ceiling, different things. And one of some of the things will be plants that hang on the wall, that vine, and I just take their vines and, you know, trellis them kind of around picture frames and around, you know, ah different elements that I might hang. And so just this
00:13:35
Alexis
idea of this natural living soft ah is so important to like making my ah comfort, like for me to be comfortable in a space, I need like this living.
00:13:50
Plant People
Well, and it's a space you're creating. it so I mean, from scratch almost. I mean, the space exists, but you're making it.
00:13:54
Alexis
Yeah.
00:13:56
Plant People
Yeah, modifying it.
00:13:57
Alexis
yeah Yeah. And like, but same, like when do you move into a house, right? We always talk about we're plant people. It's a a place does not feel like, It's just not a, ah I don't feel it was my safest if there's not ah like a plant in the vicinity.
00:14:11
Alexis
Like I can either see it or touch it or sit near it or something. It's just not as a a place that I feel as safe in, I think.
00:14:19
Plant People
Except for dragon fruit, maybe keep it in the greenhouse.
00:14:21
Alexis
Except for, but like so I can visually see it and be like, this is a place that it thrives.
00:14:22
Plant People
Yeah.
00:14:26
Alexis
So maybe therefore I can thrive. Yeah.
00:14:29
Brett
so
00:14:29
Plant People
Plenty of sunlight, some warmth, all the good things.
00:14:32
Alexis
And maybe maybe I'm more like the dragon fruit than I expect.
00:14:32
Plant People
Yeah.
00:14:36
Alexis
I'm a little prickly. I like to be moved around a bunch.
00:14:40
Plant People
You like your solitude.
00:14:40
Brett
popular but But popular somehow nonetheless.
00:14:43
Plant People
Yes. Known worldwide, just like you. So there you go.
00:14:46
Alexis
I feel like that was like really deep. I don't know if I really meant it to be that deep, but that's that's just like the photo when I think like scroll through my photos on my phone of that are not necessarily ones I take.
00:14:51
Plant People
It's like that landed, that landed differently.
00:14:57
Alexis
It's like this, basically the same picture keeps popping up, but it's like a kitchen version, a bathroom version, a bedroom version and, and you know, but creating my whole home to feel that way.
00:15:08
Alexis
So it's something I'm envisioning for 2026.
00:15:09
Brett
from
00:15:13
Brett
Yeah, I like that. I think it's ah it's about too, the the the horticulture and the design, they interface and they intermingle, which is very, or the plants and the and the design.
00:15:20
Alexis
Yes.
00:15:22
Brett
which kind of is horticulture at it at its heart.
00:15:23
Alexis
Yeah.
00:15:25
Plant People
Bringing the outside in love it.
00:15:25
Brett
It's not just plants everywhere all the time, though that is kind of cool.
00:15:28
Alexis
Yeah.
00:15:29
Brett
it's There is this element of choice and design and intention.
00:15:31
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:15:33
Brett
Love it.
00:15:35
Plant People
um I'm not envisioning.
00:15:35
Brett
Strong start.
00:15:36
Alexis
Right?
00:15:36
Brett
Strong start. we got We've got Alexis's very in-depth answer and my big pile of mulch. So we're off to Ray to figure out ah what his what's the first item on your on your vision board?
00:15:42
Alexis
To
00:15:46
Alexis
set the tone.
00:15:50
Plant People
Well, I have a, I guess it's a small thing.
Garden Relocation and Design
00:15:53
Plant People
i have a personal thing and a couple of professional things if we get around to going, you know, talking about other things.
00:15:57
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:15:58
Plant People
But the first one is, um I guess, bringing the the pretty pretty stuff in the garden a little bit closer to home. It's over the hill now, which is a good spot.
00:16:08
Plant People
It's next to kind of a creek and it's a cool area. It's almost like a secret garden area. And it's where Jennifer, my wife, she kind has some very nice, we plant some flowers and Pretty good size planting of flower beds and things and looks really nice, but we just want to bring that closer. We have to go over the hill and it kind of at to the edge of the woods down a steep embankment to get to that. And we just want to bring that closer. ah Number one, we we get a little bit better sun exposure.
00:16:37
Plant People
up where we want to move that to, but we kind of want to completely kind of reconfigure that and rethink that a little bit and utilize maybe more, um and I'll have to talk to you guys about this at some point to get some ideas, but maybe you utilize containers and raised beds a little bit more for flowers and bring those closer to when we come out on the back patio, we can immediately enjoy those. Not only that, but You know, it's a good reminder of when to water and just enjoying those in three steps instead of 50 steps.
00:17:09
Plant People
Just bringing that closer to home and making some changes there. It's closer to a water source. It's closer to us. We just want that to feel more lived in, like a space.
00:17:18
Brett
Yeah, I was going to ask if it was if it was like a vision of being able to see it from the back window, you know, you're washing dishes or whatever, and you can see that thing. Or if it was more about partially trying to create an outdoor space that is, you know, or enhance an outdoor space, I should say.
00:17:31
Plant People
ah both. we'll We'll keep ah about half the area down there because we can see it from the kitchen window and it looks nice, but it's a steep hill and I have to walk back up the hill. What goes down must come up kind of thing.
00:17:43
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:17:44
Plant People
um So we'll keep some flowers down there, but we're going to transition more to traditional veggies, you know, some basic things, peppers, tomatoes, things for the home use. But Jennifer has this vision in her head. She's got this wrought iron table,
00:17:57
Plant People
that she's got and she wants a kind of a villa style garden built around that. So she's, it's a mulched area. I've already got the mulch down the underlayment and it's a a mulched area and we've got tons of containers we've been gathering.
00:18:12
Plant People
We've already filled up and we're letting those chill out and get ready for the spring. A bunch of those big containers.
00:18:17
Brett
So this thing will be kind of like ah an outdoor plant stand basically. Like it'll function like, or or or the table will be still used.
00:18:23
Plant People
Yeah. ah the The table will be used and the plants all the way around it. If you can imagine like a little cafe style table in Italy, you know, like a little with plants all the way around, ah stacked in layers.
00:18:32
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:18:35
Plant People
And I don't know, we've got 25 or 30 large pots and then some stacking.
00:18:36
Alexis
Mm-hmm. You're creating a vignette.
00:18:39
Plant People
Yeah, basically.
00:18:40
Brett
So you would be able to sit at the table or no?
00:18:41
Alexis
Like when you, but like, like putting. in
00:18:42
Plant People
would be able to sit at the table and eat, you know, breakfast or whatever, whether it ever be used at that, we'll see.
00:18:46
Brett
Wow. What a vibe.
00:18:50
Plant People
Jennifer has a vision for that.
00:18:50
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:18:51
Plant People
And we just had a new ah patio replaced on the back and we were waiting to do any significant projects like this until we got that replaced. It's done now.
00:19:00
Brett
Oh man, what's what's the what's this what's the vibe on the patio?
00:19:00
Plant People
So now we're ready to make that space in the middle.
00:19:03
Brett
Is it like a poured patio?
00:19:05
Plant People
ah No, it's like a two-story deck with a shade area underneath. It's composite and the two two level stacked stairs kind of comes down off the second floor.
00:19:10
Brett
Okay.
00:19:14
Brett
Okay.
00:19:14
Plant People
ah But off to the side of that that has very good sunlight with a wooden gate behind it, wooden fence, is this nice big area.
00:19:22
Brett
Oh, wow.
00:19:23
Plant People
That was just a kind of a mulch square. Now it's a private little area and it's just perfect for a nook. I mean, I can kind of see it. Jennifer says, I'm going to see it, whether I see it or not, I'm going to envision this and make this vision real. And and I like the idea of space making in this context of bringing the flowers, some of the ones that she enjoys the most, you know bringing them up closer to the you know house to where we come out because we're not gonna walk all the way down generally and eat breakfast. I mean, sometimes we do in the lower garden, but not as often. I feel like we'd utilize it more if we bring it closer. and I talked to you know master gardener classes and gardener classes about the importance of proximity as far as enjoyment, maintenance, observation. that importance of convenience and proximity and gardening.
00:20:10
Plant People
You know, it's a big concept. So we're sort of playing on that kind of thing, but just to do that area.
00:20:16
Brett
Practicing what you preach, huh?
00:20:17
Plant People
Yeah, I know.
00:20:17
Alexis
yeah got some of that like permaculture vibes the things that need a lot of attention are closer to home
00:20:18
Plant People
I know. Yeah. yeah Yep. Yep. And closer to a water source, so I don't have to drag the hoses and stuff. So win-win. And that does open up a spot for, you know, some vining crops and stuff down at the lower garden where I can have some space back for my stuff I enjoy. So, you know, something in it for me too. Yeah.
Tools for Visualizing Garden Plans
00:20:40
Brett
Well, something I did a couple of years ago when we were doing some reinvent i was doing some re-envisioning of our backyard with the landscaping is I went out and i and I kind of took some pictures just of the space And then I brought those over into like Canva and reduced the transparency to make it like almost like a see-through image.
00:20:59
Alexis
Okay.
00:21:04
Brett
And then I kind of constructed some things and brought in clip art and things.
00:21:06
Plant People
Oh,
00:21:08
Brett
And it's amazing how even that goofy little envisioning thing, like we followed what I laid out pretty closely.
00:21:08
Plant People
yeah.
00:21:14
Plant People
Oh, wow.
00:21:14
Brett
Like it looks kind of like what I had laid out. And it's funny how that helped, like the the idea of the vision board addition, other additional other visualization tools can really help where like, I'm i'm just imagining with the the space with the table and the other things, like if, if you were like, okay, Jennifer, here's what you told me, i think you want.
00:21:35
Brett
And then you pull together and she's like, what, this is not at all what I was, or she's like, oh, wow, this is better than what I thought, or this is different or whatever.
00:21:39
Plant People
This is the wrong thing. Yeah.
00:21:43
Brett
um It's so funny, though, like we're we're so social and we talk and we write and we do all these things. But having like a visual can be really helpful for communicating.
00:21:52
Plant People
I think it makes it real.
00:21:52
Brett
Mm hmm.
00:21:53
Plant People
I mean, once, once it's real, then you have a target. And once you have a target, you can take Yeah. you know, it focuses that effort. And I love, you know, one of the things I, when I was landscaping, working with landscape escape company is I was always amazed by the architects that would do these drawings and stuff and just how a space made no sense to me. And then they would put in the hardscape and then i would look at the plants.
00:22:14
Plant People
And then when it all was overlaid, all the layers, I'm like, ah, that's it.
00:22:18
Brett
Yes.
00:22:18
Plant People
That's the one. and it's a, so powerful, a true vision, you know, even beyond like a vision board, but any kind of visual, it doesn't matter if it's pictures or digital art in layers, but it makes it real for me.
00:22:19
Brett
Yes.
00:22:30
Plant People
I'm very visual. Yeah.
00:22:31
Brett
Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:32
Alexis
same
00:22:33
Brett
Well, i'll I'll piggyback on yours for my my second vision board item, which is a picture of me
00:22:36
Plant People
Yeah.
00:22:40
Brett
or ah but just another you know old guy, another old bald guy, sitting on the patio, surrounded by plants, looking out and just chilling and enjoying it.
00:22:44
Alexis
Old bald guy.
00:22:45
Plant People
Hmm. Listen.
00:22:54
Brett
And that for me is like an intention to really, especially in those shoulder seasons, um before it gets crazy hot and mosquitoes are...
00:23:01
Plant People
Hmm.
00:23:06
Alexis
But...
00:23:07
Brett
one, one with my blood, um, that to get out and like really spend time just kind of chilling, not feeling like I have to do anything, not on my phone or on my lap, more like for me on my laptop or whatever, just like hanging out in the space because like that.
00:23:25
Plant People
Enjoy the fruits.
00:23:26
Brett
it
00:23:26
Plant People
Yeah.
00:23:27
Brett
Yeah, exactly. You're doing, you're doing all this crazy stuff and you're going to have to continue doing stuff.
00:23:28
Plant People
Yeah.
00:23:31
Brett
Um, And you're not intentionally taking time to enjoy it. um Sometimes I feel like other people end up enjoying the space more than I do, which is great, but I would like to do that myself.
00:23:40
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:23:43
Brett
So that's on the vision board, very similar to your your thing. And and we did, we did a couple years ago. um We put in ah a new, did a new patio, like a paver patio.
00:23:55
Brett
That was old crack, just old cracked concrete one with some covered space and some better seating and all that kind of stuff.
00:23:55
Plant People
oh
00:24:02
Brett
And it's crazy how much of a difference it makes to be able to spend time, i like want to spend time out out there and then not be this, it used to be like this brutal, like mini horticultural farm, no shade,
00:24:04
Plant People
Yeah.
00:24:16
Brett
just not a fun place to spend time.
00:24:19
Plant People
It went from Orwellington to Hobbington.
00:24:20
Brett
It was cool to have a bunch of tomatoes to can, but this is tough. I feel like I need a OSHA representative out here to consult and make sure that I'm, make sure I'm doing okay.
00:24:29
Plant People
Make sure nobody's getting too much sun.
00:24:31
Brett
um
00:24:32
Plant People
Yeah.
00:24:32
Alexis
I feel that.
00:24:33
Brett
Yeah. So anyway, so, so that's, that's kind of the second item on mine, I would say is, ah
00:24:35
Plant People
you You've accommodated the human aspect in your space.
00:24:39
Alexis
That was on mine last year.
00:24:39
Plant People
Love it. Love it.
00:24:41
Brett
which was what?
00:24:42
Alexis
would say the like sitting and enjoying.
00:24:43
Brett
Like to kind of enjoy it.
00:24:45
Alexis
I like put in a a flower bed that it's pretty much only if you sit in the side yard, can you experience? And so it was like, well, if I'm going to put this in, I got experience it.
00:24:57
Alexis
I bought myself a nice chair that I like to sit in. And sometimes I just read, but it's like the idea of being in that space more.
00:25:03
Brett
Oh yeah, totally.
00:25:05
Alexis
And ah so, yeah, I didn't do – quite as much as I wanted to, but I blame a lot of that on just like the heat. Sometimes I just didn't want to be outside because it's uncomfortable.
00:25:14
Brett
Yeah. Totally.
00:25:17
Alexis
So I was in the shade, I was doing all the things, it was just grody.
00:25:22
Brett
Yeah.
Embracing Imperfection in Gardening
00:25:24
Alexis
Yeah, I think, ah so one of the things that my vision board from a from a farm perspective is a quote and I feel like I use it in a different perspective in my life all the time but it's really resonating with like the farm and where we're at and like where the plants are at and just the whole the whole life cycle of it is like that I the quote of like and now that you don't have to be perfect you can be good it's like that idea of you know don't let the the enemy of good is perfection and all that kind of stuff but uh
00:25:43
Brett
Thank
00:25:57
Alexis
I feel like i'm I'm in a better place to be able to agree with it and actually follow that line of thinking. and so i like that for for just all the plants that I'm dealing with.
00:26:11
Alexis
It's like Mother Nature is going to do her thing. I just got to roll with it.
00:26:13
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:26:13
Alexis
It doesn't have to be perfect to be really still be really good. and ah So yeah, I think I'm going to have a little bit of a better place to be able to do that.
00:26:24
Brett
So did you feel, did you feel before that you, did do you think that you had to be perfect before or did you just feel that you had to be perfect in the past?
00:26:24
Alexis
For me to hear.
00:26:32
Alexis
I think there's a lot, Jessica and I talk about this, you know, with her her doing farming and also, you know, being a horticulturist by training. There's sort of this pressure of, well, like I'm the one, you know, quote unquote expert in this area.
00:26:45
Alexis
My job is to teach people how to do this the best way, you know, in and yeah. So therefore I should be doing it the best way only to kind of realize that just because the books say, the books say this is the best way, but the books don't take into account, like you are a human being who only, you know, survive so much and has so much money and has so much, you know, daylight hours and, you know, has all these other things that go into, you know, quote unquote, making something perfect. And so
00:27:17
Alexis
realizing that there's a lot of things that go into that, that it doesn't have to be perfect, it does have to be good,
00:27:24
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:27:25
Alexis
has been helpful.
00:27:27
Plant People
It's almost like at a point just making a decision. If you're a thinker or an overthinker, it's like getting to a tipping point, like we're just going to do this. Sometimes that's a scary decision and inflection point or pivot point is just making that decision to go forward.
00:27:40
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:27:41
Plant People
I don't know. dode Are you one of those that likes to research every possible contingency and possibility and you're considering and thinking and planning short, medium, long-term plans and all of a sudden you're like, okay, I got to do something.
00:27:49
Alexis
I'm,
00:27:51
Alexis
Yeah, I'm kind of a mix of those people because like I'm going to do the research way before I need the research.
00:27:53
Plant People
Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:57
Plant People
Yes.
00:27:57
Alexis
So in that way, it's like I am doing all of it.
00:27:57
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:27:57
Plant People
Mm-hmm. Yeah.
00:28:00
Alexis
But then when it's time to pull the trigger, I don't have any problem. Like, and it's not always the best decision, but it's kind of like, so it's a it's a weird like in the moment I can be really fast, but it's because, you know, a year ago i did all the deep dive because my brain was like crazy.
00:28:04
Plant People
Let it ferment and then you've got the bar. Yeah.
00:28:16
Plant People
Yes.
00:28:17
Alexis
So it's like enables me to really be fast in those approaches.
00:28:17
Plant People
It's
00:28:20
Alexis
So.
00:28:20
Plant People
almost like muscle memory.
00:28:21
Brett
but if you're But if your choice turns out to be the wrong choice, you're going to beat yourself up about it too.
00:28:22
Plant People
Yeah.
00:28:28
Alexis
Yeah, especially if it's like something I i should know.
00:28:29
Brett
ah Right. like The difference between someone who who is paralyzed, they're not able to make a decision because they want to avoid all possible mistakes versus someone who makes the makes the decision and then isn't able to let it go if if there was, a in fact, a mistake.
00:28:37
Plant People
Yeah.
00:28:39
Plant People
Paralysis. and
00:28:45
Alexis
The
00:28:47
Brett
oh Kind of a different
00:28:47
Plant People
I tell myself the mistake is the accomplishment. I tell myself that's the accomplishment.
00:28:52
Alexis
decision-making period.
00:28:52
Brett
Does yourself listen?
00:28:54
Plant People
No, that myself says, you idiot. You know, no.
00:28:56
Alexis
Yeah.
00:28:57
Plant People
But upon reflection, I try to i try to take Alexis' lemons that she has a surplus of, she mentioned in the last episode, and make lemonade or lemon cake or whatever delicious thing you guys have suggested Alexis make.
00:29:05
Alexis
yeah
00:29:09
Alexis
What was a ah funny thing I saw that it was like ah lemons are actually a product of human intervention like that.
00:29:09
Plant People
Yeah.
00:29:16
Alexis
You know, the lemon was not is not a natural thing to happen in the world. So, in fact, life did not give us lemons. Humans gave us lemons.
00:29:27
Plant People
And sugar gave us lemonade, so yeah.
00:29:27
Alexis
And I have never felt so betrayed.
00:29:29
Plant People
Yes. we We thought we knew something, yeah. Sometimes you just have to, I guess, to to quote a famous tagline, just do it. I mean, so my dad always said, you have to get to a point where the only way you're going to know is to do it and to make the mistakes.
00:29:48
Alexis
That's me with power tools. For some reason, something about power tools, I'm i'm very like ready fire and when it comes to like a power tool, a chainsaw.
00:29:50
Plant People
I'm a little scared. of I'm little scared where this is going with a drill.
00:29:57
Alexis
I'm just like, let's just go.
00:29:57
Plant People
The only way I'm going to know is if I fired up.
00:29:58
Alexis
I'm like, Tyler, as engineer, nuts.
00:29:59
Plant People
I'm terrified right now. I'm a little scared of this conversation. Yeah.
00:30:03
Brett
One time,
00:30:03
Alexis
And I'm like, we just have to we just have to start. We just have to start.
00:30:06
Plant People
Yeah. Yeah.
00:30:07
Brett
i don't know i don't know why this is coming up, but I know that he listens, so i I'll give a shout out. I was over at Sean Lynch's house. and This has been mol like five years five or more years ago. Who knows how actual long it ago was? And we were, I was helping him to make something or trying to make something. We were cutting some wood and his son Henry, who at the time was probably eight.
00:30:29
Brett
I was like, do you, do you all want to like, is it okay? Does he want to try to like help? Like I'll help him operate the saw, the little hand powers, a circular saw, electric so circular saw.
00:30:41
Alexis
Thank you.
00:30:42
Brett
He's like, yeah, yeah, yeah, that sounds good. And he got, he was excited to do it. I got him, you know, gave him all the rundown, put on the eyes, put on the ears, all the things. And, and he's like going along and cutting it And we're doing great. And then his left hand, as if completely ah possessed by some external spirit, just starts like gravitating toward the blade. And I was like, I'm going to grab your hand and we're just going to put it down to your side and we're gonna finish the cut. But it was one of those situations of like seeing a child just like try to self-destruct.
00:31:13
Plant People
What is happening?
00:31:13
Brett
Just inexplicably.
00:31:14
Plant People
yeah
00:31:15
Brett
It was very funny. Yeah, Henry probably doesn't remember that at all.
00:31:17
Plant People
Luckily there was intervention. you There's some intervention.
00:31:18
Brett
But I remember but I was like... We're just going to put that down by your side and children are drawn to the blade.
00:31:22
Plant People
Yeah, we're just going to do this right as your heart was beating like 120. Yeah. Yeah. Sometimes we don't get close to the cliff because we go where we see. They taught us that in motorcycle school. You go where you look. So I've always thought about that in life is you steer where you look. That's a universal. You go where you look. So be careful where you look, folks. You might find what you're looking at. Yeah.
00:31:46
Plant People
Yeah, exactly. In that case.
00:31:47
Brett
So just ah just to keep us recapped here. So for the actual vision board to absolutely force this metaphor down our throats, despite the fact that we don't have actual vision boards,
Educational Incentives for Gardening
00:31:58
Brett
we've got a mulch pile and a dude looking out on his garden.
00:31:58
Alexis
yeah.
00:32:02
Brett
We've got like ah maybe like a picture. Is it like a picture of a room or is it like ah like a collection of swatches of a vibe?
00:32:06
Alexis
yes yeah
00:32:09
Alexis
it's It's more of a picture of a room, like a consistent picture.
00:32:13
Plant People
Gothic first topic would be just play
00:32:14
Alexis
Yeah.
00:32:15
Brett
And then your second one would be like the quote, the quote, you know, that would be more of like a, and then Ray yours is maybe like, what would that first, how would you represent that first one?
00:32:17
Alexis
Yeah, the second one's just like the quote.
00:32:28
Brett
Like, how is it appearing on your actual physical vision board?
00:32:31
Plant People
Just people around with plants around. I mean, you know, basically sitting at that table, being a part of that, that space.
00:32:35
Brett
I like it.
00:32:36
Alexis
Sitting at a table.
00:32:38
Plant People
I am, I'm in the space.
00:32:38
Brett
Like a better, better homes and gardens spread kind of vibe.
00:32:40
Plant People
Yep. Exactly. Yeah. Maybe a cat on the table, little cat in the corner with some terracotta, you know, to floof it up a little bit.
00:32:42
Alexis
Oh.
00:32:45
Alexis
yeah
00:32:47
Plant People
Yeah. All the things, all the things.
00:32:48
Brett
And so what's going to be your second item that's on your vision board?
00:32:48
Plant People
Yeah.
00:32:51
Plant People
My second thing is actually not anything for home. It's just something I'm trying to do professionally there at the office. And some of us have talked about, you know, the current state of like education and educational delivery and the nature of information availability now.
00:33:08
Plant People
It's sort of a commodity, whereas when I first got into extension, you know, information was traded by people walking in, getting a physical publication.
00:33:09
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:33:18
Plant People
Now, you know, it's very much accessible. online university information, you know, information on the World Wide Web, good and bad. Information is readily available. So one of the things am doubling down on this year is ah educational incentives. So on my vision board, there would be probably just a generic plant seed catalog.
00:33:39
Plant People
And what I'm doing this year, and it's already yielding results through, you know, higher class signups.
00:33:42
Brett
Ayo, pun, let's go.
00:33:44
Plant People
Yeah, let's roll.
00:33:45
Brett
Reaping what you sow, you could say?
00:33:46
Plant People
Oh, yeah.
00:33:46
Brett
Hmm.
00:33:47
Plant People
yeahp Yeah. You are on it Brett. We are on the same wavelength. But what I want to do there is just give more incentives, more educational incentives. ah By that, I mean, if I talk about an asparagus variety, that's an improved variety over the old standby Martha Washington.
00:34:03
Plant People
I am going to give like the first 20 people that registered for that class, a bunch of this improved variety. And that is a little extra boost to come and listen to me talk about growing, whatever blackberries, strawberries, raspberries.
00:34:10
Brett
Hmm.
00:34:17
Plant People
We have lots of classes coming up and each one of those classes I have this spring, there are incentives for coming. And part of my reason for that is that I know people share things like asparagus. And if I can seed,
00:34:29
Plant People
those improved varieties into a ah county, it kind of levels it up because then you're making citizen teachers out of those people.
00:34:35
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:34:35
Plant People
My thought process being they can get the information, but they come to me for what?
00:34:36
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:34:41
Plant People
They come to me to get the hands-on, to say, here's how we plant it. Not only that, but here's a little bit that you can take home, put in the ground, and if it does prove out to be in a variety in some way,
00:34:54
Plant People
then they may share that information with their neighbor or even better, they may share some if they're able to, of that cultivar, or that variety, if it's appropriate. They can share that. And so I'm seeding that information, that testimony into communities. So it's almost like a citizen spread project.
00:35:10
Brett
Wow.
00:35:11
Plant People
But I want to do more of that.
00:35:12
Alexis
deep.
00:35:13
Plant People
And it's all based on my assumption or the the current state that we're in that information is a commodity. So what's your stick beyond that?
00:35:20
Brett
Hmm.
00:35:22
Plant People
what's your What's your value add?
00:35:22
Brett
Hmm.
00:35:23
Plant People
My value add in this case is the next level is, well, here's some to actually try. If you're on the fence, I'm going to knock you over to the other side of the bright side. I'm going to give you some of this improved variety.
00:35:33
Brett
Hmm.
00:35:35
Plant People
You're going take it home. It's going to do awesome because you're going to do exactly the recipe that I give you. And it's going to do well, and then you're going to share that with your neighbor. So that's my current, on the current vision board, is just to incentivize attendance and just, you know, habits based on what I'm recommending.
00:35:51
Plant People
Whatever I'm recommending, I want to give a little incentive.
00:35:54
Brett
Yeah, but it also does, like, it's ah it's a relevant incentive besides just, like, dinner, you know?
00:35:58
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:35:59
Plant People
Yeah, it's directly tied
00:36:01
Brett
Like, a this is the...
00:36:01
Plant People
And I'm literally trying to seed, like, improved strains into the county and that are, you know, you know how asparagus spreads.
00:36:05
Brett
It feels so OG, in a good way, OG extension.
00:36:12
Plant People
Yeah, and that's kind of what I was channeling. it It's kind of taking our old model, but I wanted to update it by acknowledging that one of our old standbys is the dissemination of information.
00:36:17
Brett
yeah
00:36:23
Plant People
Well, you know, that that like that is accomplished a lot now through lots of different methods, through digital methods and coming to see us. So it's kind of leveling that up and taking a different, yeah, ah kind of a little bit different approach to that.
00:36:37
Plant People
But yeah.
00:36:38
Brett
i love that. That is just
00:36:40
Plant People
Yeah, that's on the vision board this year. and And it does. We see attendance. If people are on the fence about coming to a program, we do see our attendance as it's always better when we give those little incentives.
00:36:51
Plant People
It's a minor incentive, but I think it has, you know, brings people in.
00:36:54
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:36:55
Plant People
And that's that's what we're all about is, you know, working with people and communities and
00:37:00
Brett
Well, was that thing too, like we talked about a couple episodes ago with Jessica about how in order to have all the things that you would need to try out a dish garden,
00:37:10
Plant People
Yes.
00:37:10
Brett
you'd have to order probably three to five to more times as much as you actually need in order to get the supplies. And so this idea of you can get this little bit, you can come in and see the difference of in-person instruction for someone who's from someone who's been doing this for a while.
00:37:22
Plant People
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
00:37:25
Brett
And you're getting a thing that you don't have to go and ask wherever you buy your stuff from. Do you have this, you know, improved variety that UK recommends you because you're getting it right away.
00:37:33
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:37:34
Brett
I i think the, yeah the idea of like the, Educational information cannot be the only thing that we offer is a message that should be spread low as wide as we can because, yeah, we're in we're in a information ah surplus right now.
00:37:44
Plant People
Yeah, that that's my assumption, one of my assumptions, yeah.
00:37:58
Plant People
Mm-hmm. You have to operationalize that, you know.
00:37:59
Brett
curation Curation, demonstration, and connection, I think, to me, are like... that's That's the sweet spot. and that's what we try to do here on Hort Culture.
00:38:06
Plant People
Yeah, multi-levels, multi-levels.
00:38:07
Brett
Subscribe now if you haven't subscribed already.
00:38:09
Alexis
Look at that, they see that.
00:38:10
Brett
ah
00:38:12
Plant People
we We like that.
00:38:13
Brett
That's awesome.
00:38:13
Plant People
It's a classic carrot, Brett. that This is the carrot, you know, just little carrot. Yeah. And by the way, dish gardens, which is going to be irrelevant when you're listening to this, dish gardens are tomorrow at four o'clock. So there's something about every day.
00:38:26
Plant People
So rock and roll.
00:38:26
Brett
yeah So mine is a, my my like my third one here is it a horticultural oddity.
Bonsai Growing Techniques
00:38:35
Brett
So as many of you all know, i partake in the the competitive sport of bonsai.
00:38:41
Brett
I try to talk about it literally every time that I get the chance.
00:38:42
Alexis
Thank you.
00:38:45
Brett
But so the the image is, and I sent it to my my colleagues here, but imagine a little, like a pine tree that's planted in a pot. And around the base, it has a bunch of needles and small branches and other stuff.
00:38:58
Brett
And then it has a crazy long single branch that like goes three, four feet in the air that has needles out at the tip.
00:39:08
Brett
Okay. If you want to look it up, look up pine bonsai sacrifice branch.
00:39:09
Plant People
Very Dr. Seuss.
00:39:15
Brett
That's the Google, that's the Google thing that will help you arrive at this space.
00:39:19
Plant People
It'll take you just straight to the dark web.
00:39:21
Brett
And so the the reality of ah of growing bonsai is that if you're going to grow them from scratch or from seed or whatever, you basically have to grow way more material on the plant and then trim back to what you want.
00:39:35
Brett
So you you will hear credited to all kinds of different people, but let's say it was ah you know Michelangelo who said that within ah Within a big hunk of marble, my goal is to see the sculpture within and then remove everything that isn't the sculpture.
00:39:54
Plant People
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:39:54
Brett
In bonsai and a lot of different horticultural, topiary, whatever, you create your big hunk of marble by growing a bunch of biomass and then you trim back to whatever is there for the sculpture.
00:40:09
Brett
So this is a long way of saying that um I have a bunch of little crazy Whoville pines in my backyard that will continue to become more and more Whoville-ish as their long, crazy antenna that will ultimately get cut off um is growing.
00:40:25
Brett
And so it's my, in this middle set of a few years of growing these trees, it's my reminder to myself to kind of stay the course with the process, trust the process, keep going, even though it looks super weird and unsatisfying compared to the trees that you could be growing and don't bail on that process too early and end up with some trees that, you know, that aren't, I would rather wait three or four more years and have trees that I'm happy with or, or 10 more years and have trees that I'm really happy with rather than,
00:40:56
Brett
bailing on these crazy oddities now. And so that's that's something that's in my my vision board.
00:41:03
Alexis
That would be so hard. I just, I just, just a little.
00:41:09
Brett
Yeah, it's really bizarre. It's a strange counter because it doesn't look good now.
00:41:14
Plant People
but makes perfect, but makes perfect sense. I mean, have that and it's function and and what you're going to do with the later, but I'm like Alexis.
00:41:17
Brett
yeah
00:41:23
Plant People
I'm like, it's like a hangnail or something just sticking out like a, you know, a and little errant branch.
00:41:28
Alexis
I just can't let it go.
00:41:28
Plant People
I just want Yeah. Yeah.
00:41:30
Brett
And in in case anybody is is at all curious or has been thinking about doing bonsai or what it has come up, whatever, the ah very brief reason that you do this, you grow this crazy long branch that's really, really far out.
00:41:42
Brett
And the tree thinks, oh, man, I need to get resources up to that branch. So what I'm going to do is I'm going to create more tissue, which gives me a thicker trunk with more vascular tissue that's able to transport stuff up to that.
00:41:47
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:41:55
Brett
The end result of that is that the trunk itself down where we cut it off is really, really big, which makes all the branches that are growing out of it look, it makes, it gives the impression of it being an old tree, a really old ancient tree.
00:42:07
Plant People
Yeah.
00:42:08
Brett
But you can't, if you, if you cut the branches off all the time, it will never get thick within my lifetime to to do that. So that, that's why you do it is you're just manipulating the vascular systems of the tree in order to to make that happen.
00:42:22
Brett
But nobody asked, but that's the story.
00:42:25
Alexis
Well, okay, this is this is slightly off topic, but is related to plants and how my brain goes right into plant mode ah constantly.
00:42:26
Plant People
Hard-won knowledge. Ancient, yeah.
00:42:36
Alexis
I was was reading you know um women you know, tend to have bad like osteoporosis and issues as they get older. And so, you know, I'm reading what are ways as someone who's a little younger can you know, do what's what's your diet?
00:42:52
Alexis
You know, should I be walking? Should I be running? Should I be like what type of exercise or whatever? Anyways, it and i I am not a medical doctor. This is just what I read online. Okay, just preface that.
00:43:03
Alexis
This is what i read.
00:43:03
Plant People
Must be true.
00:43:03
Brett
So you should not have done that surgery on me then, is what you're telling me.
00:43:04
Alexis
Okay.
00:43:06
Plant People
Yeah. thought you were certified.
00:43:07
Alexis
Um, but one of the things where I immediately went into plant mode, they were saying uh, you know lifting weights, heavy weight of some, you know, some kind, these different exercises where you're moving heavy weight or you're jumping a lot or doing something like that.
00:43:25
Alexis
It's actually really good for the bones because when you do it early, you're your body says, oh, um you know, there's a lot of pressure going into this. I need to put down more bone, right?
00:43:35
Alexis
And that's exactly what plants do. We tell people like, don't, when you, you know, plant a tree, don't you know uh trellis it in or uh what's the
Improving Farming Efficiency and Education
00:43:45
Alexis
word uh take it in with something too tightly you want that trunk to be able to move because as that wind moves it the plant recognizes that there are it needs to lay down more wood and have a bigger trunk to be able to resist snapping in the wind and it's like i tell people pet your plants right you're
00:43:45
Plant People
There's any stakes or, yeah.
00:43:45
Brett
like stake it in with, yeah.
00:44:05
Alexis
signaling the plant to lay down some more, you know, cambium layers and stuff like that. It's like same with humans. So I immediately was like, oh my God, I'm just like a tree. As I was thinking about it. um Sorry, that's, it reminded me.
00:44:17
Plant People
Thickening cell walls, yeah.
00:44:19
Brett
So if you have an elect if you if you have an Alexis at home, do not try to stake it down.
00:44:19
Alexis
I am a boy. Hi.
00:44:24
Plant People
No, it is not healthy for it.
00:44:24
Alexis
but
00:44:24
Brett
ah You're just compounding your problems and also also osteoporosis.
00:44:27
Alexis
she needs to be it She needs to be out there squatting her own body weight and doing stuff like that, all right?
00:44:30
Brett
yeah
00:44:32
Plant People
Jumping and running and being feral in general.
00:44:32
Alexis
like but
00:44:36
Brett
So is is a ah big PR max on your vision board or what's your next vision board ah item, Alexis?
00:44:36
Alexis
That's what's
00:44:44
Alexis
I mean, it it ah one of my goals is to be able to squat my own weight and to deadlift my husband's weight in case I ever have to like you know save him from a burning building or something. So I'm pretty close to that one.
00:44:54
Alexis
But my the hard part is is that my weight keeps going up.
00:44:55
Plant People
that's
00:44:58
Alexis
So it's really hard to say.
00:44:59
Brett
You just keep setting yourself new goals.
00:45:02
Plant People
That's just higher opinion.
00:45:02
Alexis
Yeah.
00:45:03
Brett
You just keep raising the bar for all of us, including yourself in so many ways.
00:45:05
Plant People
Yes.
00:45:07
Brett
Just look at it that way.
00:45:07
Plant People
Let's it's not lemons.
00:45:08
Brett
You're just raising the bar.
00:45:10
Plant People
It is lemonade, Alexis.
00:45:11
Alexis
it's like It's the lemonade of it. I'm just getting stronger by being larger.
00:45:16
Plant People
Yeah.
00:45:17
Alexis
My pants don't fit because I'm too strong, dang it.
00:45:20
Brett
That's right.
00:45:21
Plant People
That's right. Thick bones or whatever you said.
00:45:27
Alexis
Yeah, i being having big bones is is an actual thing, come to find out, if you do a lot of running and jumping.
00:45:32
Brett
you weren't You weren't accounting for all these micro-fissures and how they were making your bones larger and pushing everything.
00:45:32
Plant People
Yeah. yeah
00:45:34
Alexis
Do
00:45:37
Alexis
you realize that?
00:45:38
Brett
You weren't accounting for that.
00:45:39
Plant People
No, no, that was not taken into the ratio.
00:45:40
Alexis
d realized
00:45:41
Brett
Those pants are trying... It's going to girdle your trunk. You need to Those pants are like the straps.
00:45:44
Plant People
That's right.
00:45:45
Alexis
that's Yeah, I know. That's why i had to go to stretch pants.
00:45:47
Brett
They're holding you down.
00:45:50
Alexis
Can't wear hard pants anymore.
00:45:50
Brett
We've covered a lot to them.
00:45:52
Plant People
Confinement is bad. can let's Let's all agree to agree.
00:45:56
Alexis
I feel like my roots have the burlap wasn't removed from my root system.
00:45:57
Plant People
Yeah.
00:46:00
Plant People
I don't know what this vision board is looking like.
00:46:01
Brett
That was...
00:46:02
Plant People
It's real weird in my mind right now.
00:46:04
Brett
handsts Your pants were not designed by a certified arborist.
00:46:04
Plant People
It's real strange. It's real strange. There's like, you know, hard pants in my mind right now.
00:46:09
Alexis
Yeah, there's just like ball and overlap trees all over my vision board.
00:46:10
Plant People
And yeah.
00:46:12
Alexis
And it's to remind me that I do not want my roots to be girdled.
00:46:12
Plant People
Yes. Yeah.
00:46:17
Plant People
And there's plants running around having strong bones.
00:46:17
Brett
That's right.
00:46:20
Plant People
So there's that. So.
00:46:21
Brett
so did you Did you in fact have another item for your vision board?
00:46:24
Alexis
um Well, I was going to say, I feel like I've been looking at a lot of tools lately ah and tools for efficiency sake, but also
00:46:31
Brett
Not just on this podcast, am I right?
00:46:33
Plant People
No, not just to us.
00:46:34
Alexis
yeah um
00:46:36
Plant People
Don't laugh that hard.
00:46:37
Alexis
ah Equipment for... That was so good. I can't... ah tools for efficiency, but also going along with, I am really excited to be doing another, ah planning another field day with Sarah, with the Organic Association of Kentucky.
00:46:53
Alexis
So shout out Sarah. And we were, ah worked together to put together a field day, worked together to put together a field day last year on mechanical weed control, which was really awesome.
00:46:55
Brett
Woo.
00:47:06
Alexis
And farmers were able to experience some of these things in real life and, it just reiterated to me like how this idea of getting to use the tool, see the tools in action and ah you know, just the experience of it all can be really helpful when you're, when you're building a farm.
00:47:26
Alexis
And so I've just been looking at tools a lot cause like, Ooh, it'd be really cool if I knew how that worked. Therefore someone else probably wants to know how it works too. So we should have that on our field day, but yeah.
00:47:36
Plant People
Absolutely.
00:47:37
Alexis
So it's, it's hard.
00:47:38
Brett
this Do those tools fit into like a particular, any particular aspects of growing or of?
00:47:46
Alexis
it'll be It's going to be, I think, a little bit more of a broad field day instead of you know just mechanical weed control. We're kind of looking at this idea of you know seed to plants, seed to in the ground, or I forget exactly the the lingo we're using, but you know having a really good propagation system, you know there's different levels of you can do this really inexpensive or you can have this high tech stuff, but you're going to get great seeds or great cuttings or transplants out of it, you know, to oh old tobacco water wheel setter, you know, that can be retrofitted for veg.
00:48:09
Brett
Mm-hmm.
00:48:18
Alexis
Or one of the things I'm excited about is the like paper pot planter. If anybody's ever seen that before, And how, you know, it's really great in theory and you may see somebody use it, but their soil could be so different than yours.
00:48:31
Alexis
Or, you know, maybe pulling something for 100 feet over and over and over again is not great for your body. So there's these other tools that could be used. And so I just, my brain and my dog's brain is also very excited about tools.
00:48:45
Brett
He's hyped. He's hyped on the...
00:48:46
Alexis
Heights.
00:48:47
Brett
you He heard Paper Pot Planner and was ready to fight.
00:48:49
Plant People
He is strengthening his bones, Alexis.
00:48:50
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
00:48:51
Brett
Somebody's got some clay out back.
00:48:52
Alexis
Yeah. He's like, I'm going to be herding that equipment around the farm.
00:48:54
Brett
A hundred feet.
00:48:55
Plant People
you
00:48:57
Alexis
Maybe I can hook the corgis up to it to pull the paper.
00:48:57
Plant People
Yes.
00:48:59
Brett
A hundred feet.
00:49:02
Alexis
Mush!
00:49:04
Plant People
It's the tiniest, cutest little bobsled team you've ever seen. Little floofs, little floofs.
00:49:10
Alexis
Forget Balto. Hashtag old movies that are on my brain now.
00:49:14
Brett
Ray, do you have do you have a third item?
00:49:14
Plant People
I like those.
00:49:17
Brett
Or...
00:49:18
Plant People
Mine's quite literally a vision board for the office and one we've worked on many years, and it's just an architectural drawing. We've saved money forever, and we've desperately needed the agents there in my county additional teaching space because we're on top of each other and we we run out of room space, and we don't have enough teaching space.
00:49:36
Plant People
And it's not directly related to plants, but it is because I want more space to teach people about plants. and to have a community around our programs to expand that community.
00:49:46
Plant People
So we've been working on this for the last 10, 12 years. And it was finally made real, I think, when we worked with an architect and I literally pinned up a drawing on the refrigerator with magnets.
00:49:58
Plant People
And it's the the expansion of the building, everything, all the planning we put into, the financial considerations and consideration for the teaching space. But when you see that on just a basic drawing, i mean, then it became real.
00:50:11
Plant People
The question was not, are we going to do it? It's how are we going to do it? and, you know, to make it happen. So that there was a real shift is just having a simple line drawing, if you can imagine architectural drawing, but it's something we'd work towards and it's just additional teaching space, something I'm very excited about.
00:50:22
Brett
That's amazing.
00:50:29
Plant People
It's going to take a lot of work yet to do over the summer on our part, but I'm pretty excited. It involves some renovation and expansion, but it's It's just expanding, you know, our ability to deliver bigger, nicer, cooler, and more of a quantity of programs in my local community.
00:50:46
Plant People
But, you know, it's a true vision board. it We literally pinned it up for that reason. So to kind of make it real for leadership. And now when they walk by, it's in a meeting room. When they walk by, people ask about it and it's a point of conversation.
00:50:58
Plant People
That's a springboard where we can say, oh, yeah, here's why we're doing it. Here's a process we went through. you know, to settle on this and the design and all that spark conversation. So it's been cool watching local leadership engage with that process and, and everything to get us to this point.
00:51:13
Plant People
And now we've got a ways to go, but yeah, it's real now. We have a drawing. I mean, we have a drawing. It must be real, right?
00:51:20
Brett
That's right.
00:51:21
Plant People
Yeah.
00:51:21
Brett
ah the The power of visualization.
00:51:21
Plant People
It's concrete.
00:51:23
Brett
And I think sometimes sometimes people and in leadership, sometimes they especially if they're visually minded, but like that it has does have a real ah rhetorical power almost in conveying something or making it feel possible or...
00:51:24
Plant People
It is amazing.
00:51:35
Plant People
Yeah.
00:51:39
Plant People
It can shift the energy.
00:51:39
Brett
and think that's why people do vision boards is because
Power of Vision Boards in Planning
00:51:42
Brett
they're, they're, it's, you know, it's not just a silly thing.
00:51:42
Plant People
Yeah.
00:51:45
Brett
Like it's a real, it can be silly and fun and that's great.
00:51:46
Plant People
Mm-hmm.
00:51:49
Brett
But um there is something when you put, take it from just a stray thought into something.
00:51:52
Plant People
There is.
00:51:55
Alexis
put
00:51:56
Brett
ah
00:51:56
Plant People
It's ah that just almost bringing it into existence. I mean, make little bit more concrete. Yeah.
00:52:01
Brett
Well, so I have, have a, oh, go ahead.
00:52:01
Alexis
think i want to put ah I was going to I think it reminds you um I think I want to put one of those ah things. I want to put it on like my cooler and, ofve you know, if it's the amount of money that you make or amount of flowers you produce or, what you know, whatever the goal is and you like get to color in a section and as it goes up and I'm like, oh, that would be, that'd be a cool visual visualization to have.
00:52:23
Alexis
Just like every month you get to color, hopefully in a new section. Yeah.
00:52:27
Brett
That would be a huge vibe. And if you have like a month that's challenging or whatever, you have like the bigger, fuller, you know, that full section andre like, oh yeah, okay.
00:52:33
Alexis
Yeah. All right.
00:52:36
Brett
It wasn't all this month.
00:52:39
Alexis
I'm like, I'm inspired. I want that as a visualization. I'm go to print something out.
00:52:43
Plant People
I miss the old photo albums for that reason, Alexis. Jennifer and i talked about this the other day. ah we prep For whatever got into our brains, we printed off you know some actual physical photos, put them in an album. I'm like, holy cow, why did we stop doing this? you can Not only is it forward thinking, it can also be an assessment of what you've accomplished or what you've done in the year before.
00:53:03
Plant People
And Reed was like, how what did we do last year? And he looked at all these photos we had printed off and he's like, holy cow, we did a lot of stuff. I'm like, yeah, we did, buddy.
00:53:11
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:53:11
Plant People
We did a lot of stuff. But I like the forward thinking, but I also like the reflection that those vision boards can do. So pick your point in time. Just visualizing it for me is very important.
00:53:23
Brett
Yeah. Well, I think that, that idea of curation that I mentioned before, where you're, we have so much information, so many things happen, so many memories, so many, whatever, just in the course of a year or a month or whatever, that taking the time to to reflect backward,
00:53:30
Plant People
Yeah.
00:53:32
Plant People
We do.
00:53:35
Plant People
It's easy to forget.
00:53:39
Brett
um thinking more, thinking less about fewer things, but those things are important is.
00:53:41
Plant People
just you, Brett. you
00:53:45
Plant People
Like your backyard, you saw the before and the after. That was powerful. You look back, but it also has to forward.
00:53:48
Brett
Yeah. I'm very grateful that through no planning at all, I have pictures of like every stage of development of it from around the same vantage point.
00:53:55
Plant People
Yeah. Yeah.
00:53:57
Brett
And it's pretty wild, but so I wanted to close with one more question.
00:53:58
Plant People
Pretty cool.
Podcast Vision Board and Merchandise Ideas
00:54:00
Brett
I know we're, you know, a little over typical time, but um what would you add to the Hort culture vision board?
00:54:00
Plant People
Yep.
00:54:11
Brett
for 2026. If you had to, if you have to choose something that you wanted to kind of represent what we're doing, um, is it, are you calling for your answer to be Alexis?
00:54:22
Alexis
Yeah. Pick me, my lord.
00:54:24
Brett
Um, we're going to come back to Alexis.
00:54:24
Plant People
Pick me.
00:54:26
Brett
We're going to start with, no, I'm just kidding.
00:54:29
Plant People
And I'm going to take what she was going to say, and she will be stabby to me later.
00:54:33
Brett
Let's start with the Alexis.
00:54:34
Plant People
then
00:54:34
Brett
Very enthusiastic.
00:54:34
Alexis
Yeah.
00:54:35
Brett
I'm getting the feel of what it must have been like to be one of your teachers or professors. ah front Front seat.
00:54:40
Alexis
Pick me, my lord.
00:54:41
Brett
Very aggressive young woman in the front seat. ah Alexis. Yes.
00:54:46
Alexis
ah i i want us to have ah swag with all the funny things that we've said.
00:54:50
Plant People
oh
00:54:52
Brett
Swag.
00:54:53
Alexis
Swag.
00:54:54
Brett
The swag is on there. I think that that is achievable.
00:54:57
Alexis
That way we can, what was it? We can slay this way.
00:55:02
Brett
We can slay this way.
00:55:02
Alexis
The hort culture way.
00:55:03
Plant People
We had some amazing ideas for taglines way back when, several weeks ago.
00:55:06
Alexis
I have them. I have three, at least i have three written down.
00:55:08
Plant People
Oh my gosh.
00:55:08
Brett
She's got him.
00:55:10
Plant People
There's some good ones.
00:55:10
Brett
Analog.
00:55:10
Plant People
There's some good ones in there. Love it. The analog. It's real.
00:55:14
Brett
Yeah, so maybe maybe when we we can have a ah listener way listener's way in on you know the top, however many we want to we want to carry forth.
00:55:14
Plant People
Love it.
00:55:24
Plant People
Yeah.
00:55:26
Brett
Okay. I like that. So, so maybe it's like, uh, and when you say swag, are you imagining this is again, let's be specific and and paint the picture for ourselves so we can imagine it.
00:55:28
Plant People
That's a good one.
00:55:37
Brett
Are you imagining, is there a particular swag type that you think we should start with or embrace?
00:55:43
Alexis
I want either stickers or
00:55:49
Brett
Yes.
00:55:50
Alexis
ah shirts.
00:55:53
Brett
Stickers or shirts.
00:55:54
Alexis
Would also settle for hats. Hats are thing because I have so many shirts. I feel like people are just, they've got a lot of shirts, you know, a lot of free shirts.
00:55:59
Brett
Yeah.
00:56:03
Alexis
that Anyways, I would also do a hat.
00:56:05
Brett
Yeah. What about, what about temporary tattoos?
00:56:08
Plant People
Ooh, yes.
00:56:10
Alexis
Listen, Oak brought those to the field day and they were just like vegetable, little temporary vegetable tattoos. And people were pumped about them. Just like a little radish.
00:56:17
Brett
So I am, I am 100% not joking about this.
00:56:22
Plant People
Okay.
00:56:22
Brett
I think we could do like our faces on,
00:56:22
Plant People
Yeah.
00:56:29
Brett
Stickers on. Exactly. Ray just did the face right there. He's doing the face. Boom. Done. Cut out the background onto a sticker or a, like it could be the four of us.
00:56:34
Plant People
Yeah.
00:56:39
Brett
It could be maybe people have a favorite ah host that they really want to, they could put mine out to help keep away the livestock ah from the crops or I don't know.
00:56:50
Brett
That was kind of a boomer joke, ah but nevertheless, yeah. um yeah so i i think i think we could do that and it would be very fun um i think we could go the plant route and be a little more whatever but um love that now we're in now we're thinking
00:57:04
Alexis
What if it was our heads with a little bubble of a quote, like a little, like, like epiphytes, not epic fights or, you know, dead heads.
00:57:13
Brett
hu
00:57:14
Alexis
And it, but it has like a little Xenia snipped on it or something.
00:57:15
Brett
dead heads
00:57:19
Alexis
Yeah. It's a combo of these two.
00:57:19
Brett
Yeah. wanted' it Somebody looking truly cult leader-ish saying, welcome my true leaves.
00:57:26
Plant People
Maybe little plant tags. I use fun plant tags for my youth programs and like, and I have little fun, like little fun things, little, little plant tags.
00:57:30
Brett
Oh, the plant tag. Bro, bravebe what a great idea.
00:57:35
Plant People
You can get those printed, Brett.
00:57:35
Alexis
That's cool. I know a potter who makes little plant tags that like have funny sayings and on them, like not dead yet, and they like they'll stick them in the pots.
00:57:37
Plant People
You can get those printed.
00:57:46
Plant People
I have, that's one of the versions I have. It's wooden, but it says plant of some sort or yeah.
00:57:48
Brett
Bro, I love this idea.
00:57:51
Plant People
Yeah.
00:57:53
Brett
Or we could, yeah, some some sort of like an accessory for like a house plant or something like that.
00:57:53
Plant People
There you go.
00:57:57
Plant People
Yeah.
00:57:58
Brett
um All right, now we're cooking. So anyway, okay, so that's that's a really good vision board item. Alexis clearly got a lot of engagement.
00:58:06
Plant People
Solid. She is not going to let that be forgotten.
00:58:08
Brett
She's the engagement queen, you know.
00:58:08
Plant People
I love it. Yeah.
00:58:09
Brett
ah
00:58:10
Alexis
I really want a shirt that says Epiphytes, not Epic Fights, because I think it's hilarious.
00:58:10
Plant People
She's got it clutch.
00:58:13
Brett
We got it, okay? We got it
00:58:16
Alexis
I want a little orchid on it, okay? Or a hat.
00:58:21
Brett
She's really pulling pushing the epic fights.
00:58:21
Plant People
And I wanted to say, um
00:58:21
Alexis
They had hats at Oak Conference that said Soil Nerd on them, and I wanted one, but I don't look good in those kinds of hats, so I didn't get it.
00:58:29
Brett
What kind of hat was it?
00:58:30
Alexis
It was like... ah
00:58:31
Plant People
Big trucker hat.
00:58:33
Alexis
No, it was like ah like a hiker's hat. Like there's that ball cap style that like hike people who hike wear and it had like a real flat bill.
00:58:38
Brett
Flatman?
00:58:41
Brett
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,
00:58:43
Plant People
You could curve those.
00:58:43
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah. It's not like a baseball player's flat bill. It's like a specifically like an a crunchy outdoorsy person's flat bill.
00:58:46
Brett
yeah. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
00:58:47
Plant People
Oh, yeah. know what you're talking about.
00:58:48
Brett
yes
00:58:50
Plant People
Yeah.
00:58:51
Alexis
I look dumb in that.
00:58:53
Plant People
Duck bill.
00:58:54
Brett
it's because you have to your hair is too voluminous the poor poor thing
00:58:57
Plant People
I'm not...
00:58:57
Alexis
i need ah I need a good old-fashioned ball cap that I can just curl up.
00:59:02
Plant People
I want a shirt that says we don't talk about Epiphate Club.
00:59:03
Alexis
Poor thing.
00:59:06
Brett
oh yeah okay ray ray what are you putting on the vision board are you on the vision board ray
00:59:07
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah, I also like the deadheads.
00:59:09
Plant People
but as Swag. Swag means a good thing. Oh, we talked about earlier themes.
00:59:12
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:59:14
Plant People
I love the the thought of themes on here. Let's do like special topical themes or whatever and dive down into those themes. and And Brett's done some legwork on that. And we talked about some pretty exciting kind of series of things we could talk about.
00:59:28
Plant People
So I'd love to see that happen.
00:59:28
Brett
Yeah.
00:59:30
Plant People
And I know you've already started working on it. We talked about it today. so I look forward to that, doing some more of that in the future. And I love the thought of like a little bit more deep dive things. So that is mine.
00:59:42
Brett
Yeah. I think for me, i would say that I would put a picture of somebody ah or ah a yeah, probably a picture or video somebody doing some research, kind of learning about a thing to have a little bit more of a heads up.
00:59:52
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
00:59:55
Brett
You know, we we do some planning on these episodes, but we also sometimes get busy. um and and have to so i'm trying i'm trying to prioritize i want us to prioritize getting those things planned so that we can do a little bit more preparation research whatever at least somebody can if they want to um because i really enjoy learning and a lot of this was about sharing things that we've learned through various experiences and education and everything else um across time and so i that that's something i'm excited about the the prospect to be able to learn some stuff and and
01:00:04
Alexis
yes
01:00:06
Plant People
m
01:00:28
Plant People
Yeah.
01:00:29
Brett
and And along with that comes learning and hearing things from a lot of the cool guests that we'll be having this year.
01:00:35
Plant People
That's why i love that. It's one of my favorite things is the guest.
01:00:37
Alexis
Those ones, we are already planning those. Like we have agreed people. So like come back.
01:00:42
Brett
Yes, we've got we've got tentative contracts signed and um you know agents, riders.
01:00:46
Alexis
Yeah. My people are calling their people.
01:00:48
Brett
Ray's been separating out the M&M's.
01:00:49
Plant People
NDA is the everything.
01:00:51
Brett
into Yeah. So now we've got some cool guests that we're either inviting or have invited already and a couple of different, different styles, but yeah. Thank you all for indulging the vision board concept. um I'm excited.
01:01:05
Plant People
Good stuff.
01:01:06
Alexis
Yeah, well, and if you're out there listening and you know what swag you want, write it in the comment as you give us five stars and we'll try we'll try and prioriti prioritize.
01:01:06
Plant People
GardenVisionBorder.
01:01:15
Alexis
And if it happens to be epiphytes, not epic fights, I mean, that's what it happens to be. Whatever. Can't can't help anything, but...
01:01:22
Brett
can't help but extremely influence democratic process, you know?
01:01:26
Alexis
i I mean, what?
01:01:27
Plant People
Alexis' plant tag will be five stars. It's going to be five stars.
01:01:31
Alexis
Yes, I just want five stars.
01:01:31
Plant People
don't know. It'll be like, yeah.
01:01:33
Alexis
It says hort culture on it.
01:01:33
Plant People
Yeah, five stars. Yeah, they'll know they'll know the guest. They'll know the one.
01:01:37
Alexis
Spotify, five stars.
01:01:38
Plant People
Yes, five stars.
01:01:40
Alexis
Awesome. Thank you guys for being here. We hope you keep listening. We hope you enjoy it. You know, throw out ideas or, you know, if you would like to be a guest, you know, let us know. what do you What do you want to be a guest about? That would be cool too. But we are excited about the upcoming season and all the great episodes and the guests that we have. So we'll talk to you next time. Have a great one Go plant something cool. Have fun.
01:02:02
Alexis
Be a true leaf.