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Alexis' Favorite Things: Grower Essentials for 2025
64 Plays3 days ago
In this solo episode, Alexis shares some of her favorite things she has been using this year that could be useful for commercial growers or home gardeners. From hand hoes to help with weeding between close plantings to temperature controllers for heating and cooling, and even a recommendation for the book Profit First1.... Alexis highlights tools and resources that have made a significant impact on her growing and business practices. Whether you're looking to improve your efficiency, optimize your plant care, or simplify your accounting, this episode is packed with practical tips and recommendations to enhance your gardening or farming practices.
Questions/Comments/Feedback/Suggestions for Topics: hortculturepodcast@l.uky.edu
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Transcript
Introduction to Hort Culture
00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to Hort Culture, where a group of extension professionals and plant people talk about the business, production, and joy of planting seeds and helping them grow. Join us as we explore the culture of horticulture.
Solo Episode & Recording Challenges
00:00:16
Speaker
Hey everybody, it is Alexis just jumping on here for a solo mission. ah Things have been kind of crazy between the weather and just the holidays for off us getting together to record. So we're doing a few solo missions. So if you hate the sound of my voice, this is not the episode for you. And no, no offense taken in that way. I
Favorite Gardening Tools Overview
00:00:40
Speaker
know sometimes things just get crazy to listen to, but Anyways, jumping on here, and I thought I might talk about some of my favorite things this year that I have used. A couple of them, if you've been listening for a while, you will have heard of before, which just means they're still my favorite, which I think is something. So these are kind of some grower things that might be useful for you, whether you are
00:01:04
Speaker
a commercial grower or even a home gardener I think that these could be of use to any of you all and of course in the extension world we have to say we are not ah giving any specific ah you know good goods to and we're not making any money off of any recommendation recommendations that we give out I try and be as general as possible, but some things are just you know known as it like duct tape or Kleenex as In the industry you might buy duct tape and it might not actually be by the brand duct tape,
Cape Cod Hand Tool Benefits
00:01:38
Speaker
right? So I try and do that so buy from any brand that you want But hopefully these types of things could be helpful for you ah in your gardening or farming ah lifestyle so
00:01:51
Speaker
The first ones I want to talk about because I have been using them a lot lately are my hand hose. And so I have two that are very, very similar. I'm not saying that you need both, ah but I like both for for sort of different reasons, but I really do think they're similar enough that you could get away with just having one. And so ah the first one I'm going to talk about I got from a ah local supplier earth tool. Shout out to them. They're wonderful in educating our farmers.
00:02:18
Speaker
on a variety of different things ah here in Kentucky, but ah they carry a ah hand hoe. It's made by DeWitt, this one is. Again, I think there's some other great places out there that make these, but the one I have and have used is from DeWitt, and it is called the Cape Cod ah hand tool, and it is one of those that you use sort of on the pull. And the reason I like that is it's it's very thin, so if you know what an emery board, you know those those things that you file your nails with,
00:02:48
Speaker
those thicker ones look like it's honestly about that size. So we're only talking about, you know, an inch and a half maybe. ah yeah I'm not honestly great with eyeballing measurements. So I would say no bigger than two inches. And yeah and it is a ah little hand tool, it comes in right and left handed. And so I would recommend that you make sure you're getting the right one for you. ah My left handed husband hates using some of my tools because they are made for right-handed me so make sure you're paying attention when you order those ah but the Cape Cod one so it's thin I like it because it is ah the width of it as far as I guess the length of it really is just at the right size to get between my very close plantings and so when those plants are ah you know very young
00:03:35
Speaker
We like to you know weed in between those when necessary and then eventually hopefully those plants are large enough and healthy enough that they kind of shade out the weeds, right? And a lot of the plants that I grow are sort of in a rosette type form, which means they're very low to the ground and they kind of spread out. And so it can be kind of hard to weed between them.
00:03:54
Speaker
And so this one is not only a low profile, ah but it is a good width, which is about, I'd say about five inches, and it gets between my six-inch plantings. And so that's what I love about it. I can get really, really close to the base of those plants and pull up a lot less of them and nick a lot less of them. I still
Japanese Hand Hoe Features
00:04:14
Speaker
do it when I'm not paying attention or one of the dogs has run up on me, or, you know, I'm just in my own little land ah when I'm waiting.
00:04:22
Speaker
I really like these little hand hose. The other one that I have that I love for, it it does get really close to plants, but it's a little higher profile, so it's not kind of sneaking up under them. So when plants are a little bit ah larger, not those, you know, an inch off the ground, kind of little babies.
00:04:39
Speaker
I really like this one and it's a little chunkier and so it's a Japanese hand hoe. There's a couple different versions out there. I cannot find like the exact name for the description of the one I like but when you if you look up Japanese hand hoes there's a bunch of places that make them and just get one ah that seems to be of high quality and can be sharpened and again those come in right and left and it is very similar but it man it just cuts through those weeds now these two you do have to be you know kind of on your hands and knees to get them done ah but i believe they also make these in a stand-up version so if that's more your cup of tea i have one that is in a stand-up version and it is great although i am not i am personally not great with it
00:05:25
Speaker
but it is great for those people who are a little bit more careful in their movements and so I need to be a little bit closer when plants are small to get them weeded well. but Anyways, the Japanese handout, the Dewitt Cape Cod. I really love them ah for scraping out weeds. It's very, very satisfying as well. And so highly recommend those.
Inkbird Temperature Controller Uses
00:05:47
Speaker
Another one I like again, this is a brand you can buy a temperature controller, I think from a couple of different brands. The one I have personally used is by Inkbird and it is a temperature controller for both heating and cooling.
00:06:01
Speaker
And so it's just this little thing. I plug a little space heater into it, and I've also plugged a fan into the cooling side, but you could plug just about anything that just takes, you know, like a regular p plug. ah You know, maybe that's a humidifier or something like that. Anything that you might use to cool down a space.
00:06:19
Speaker
into the cooling and so it keeps temperature of a room and turns on that heater or turns on that fan ah when you need to so you kind of set your ideal temp so if you want to keep it around 40 you say hey it can get up to 43 or down to 38 and it'll keep it within those ranges. And I have really liked this when storing my tubers or for starting some tulips early or things like that. ah You know, you can use this. I use this in my walk-in cooler, but this could be in a garage or a shed, a basement, whatever.
00:06:51
Speaker
And I love that it has both because I think we run into a lot of just one or the other. And so it either, you know, but it doesn't help you. It gets really, really cold in there and you really just have the fan and, you know, you get some weird ah freak weather as we have a lot here in Kentucky at least, then you need your heater on or vice versa. And so I really love that it has been both. It's been very economical. It's easy to use. ah You can also get one that's Wi-Fi capable if you have it in an area.
00:07:21
Speaker
that can pick up signal, which means it's even easier to use on your phone and you can check it at any point in time. So if you're one of those kind of crazy people like me who ah wants to know at any point in time, you can grab the one with Wi-Fi for just a little extra dollar. So again, that's the Inkbird. I believe there are some other makers out there. This is just the one that I've used, but feel free to ah check out some of those others. So it's just the te temperature controller for heating and cooling.
00:07:48
Speaker
ah
Wind Strip Trays for Seeding
00:07:49
Speaker
Moving on to the wind strip trays. And so this one is a brand I've not found anyone else who makes these, so they must be, ah you know, kind of copyrighted. And that's W-I-N-S-T-R-I-P. Wind strip trays. So these were trays that we used on the research farm at UK.
00:08:10
Speaker
and they're still using them and I love them. I bought some for myself as well and these are for those of you who like to do your own seeding. They come in a variety of sizes and what is so great about these is that they last for forever. So they're not those cheap plastic trays that maybe if you're lucky you can get two seasons out of them if you take care of stuff. ah These are a hard thick plastic. They're easy to wash and they root prune, which is the other important thing. There are a lot of different ah thick, you know, multi-year use trays. These ones specifically do some root pruning. And these, I found these, or i I knew about them from the farm, but the reason I kind of moved to doing them is because I was doing soil blocking for a while and really, you know, I wanted to get away from using as much plastic. Really loved that there was some root pruning, you know, air pruning is also known.
00:09:04
Speaker
happening so my transplants were heavier or happier they took off quickly but I they were hard for me on a bulk scale to get done when I was doing a lot of seedlings ah and to get those things you know set out and they were harder to water And so I could, I had to, if I'm having somebody else water for me, I have to train them specifically how to water those trays. And so the wind strip trays are a good in-between. Yes, they're still plastic, but they're not a throw away one time or two time use. They're going to be multi-use plastic.
00:09:38
Speaker
ah You're going to have them for a really long time and they have these wide slits on the sides of the cells that allow for the same type of air pruning to happen. And so I tend to see that my seedlings seem to be slower at first, ah but then they kind of take off and they're ready in about the same amount of time as a normal um tray would be, but they kind of have a slow start. And that's because they're doing some really good root growth under there and I have healthy transplants. and so You can get those, ah like I said, those are wind strip trays. I think ah Bootstrap Farmers also carries them or you can buy them directly from wind strip or never sink tools. So there's a couple options there where you can find them um for good quality. They are expensive. So if you're used to buying the cheap trays that are you know one or two time use, you've got to get a little bit of sticker shock.
00:10:30
Speaker
I recommend just buying a couple at a time. I buy 10 every year until I'm kind of at where I need to be. And they come in a variety of cell sizes. And they even have, I've seen, ah you know, four inch pots and things like that. So if you're one of those people who really likes to get your tomatoes, you know, up to a ah nice pot size before putting them in the ground, ah but you don't want to have to, you know re you know, waste plastic every year, you want those root pruning ah things, you can get them in bigger pots. So that's a pretty cool thing to do. Highly recommend those and like I said I know the research farm uses a lot of them so they're they're good ones.
00:11:09
Speaker
All right. And then moving on, I always recommend because it's something that I personally review every year. And
Financial Insights from 'Profit First'
00:11:16
Speaker
I recommend it to a lot of people because it's something that's easily digestible in the accounting world, which is, in my opinion, as a plant person and a, and a grower, ah not the easiest thing in in the world. So if you are a grower, a small business person, it really doesn't matter what you're selling.
00:11:35
Speaker
the book profit first and i'll I'll make sure we get some links in there is going to be a game changer at least it was for me and like I said it's easy digestible the author Mike and I'm blanking on his name I'll make sure to get it in the show notes for you but he is funny so an accounting book that's actually funny ah is is great and you know we have a a bunch of really excellent extension resources and some, you know, primer and different things that you can do, some ah nice worksheets. and And I do recommend those still as well. But ah the Profit First book was a really big game changer when we bought our farm, how to start paying yourself, just kind of how all of that works. And so I always want to recommend that and still recommend it in my publications.
00:12:21
Speaker
No matter, again, if you're a farmer or a, you know, maybe you're making something else, jellies and jams and selling them. It's just kind of all about business without being incredibly boring and overwhelming to take in. It just puts it in really simple terms ah to help you get started and to begin paying yourself, which I think a lot of farmers don't do. So.
00:12:44
Speaker
highly recommend
Pump Mister Utility
00:12:45
Speaker
that and then sort of the last thing I want to say I mean I could go on about the cool things that I've seen but I wanted to focus on ones that I really use regularly and you know just can't say enough good things about and this one is really simple you can buy it just about anywhere box stores you know those fancy online places that get you things in a day or two ah but it's just a little mister like a little pump mister and so if you're used to like what a like a little pump sprayer backpack sprayer type thing is this is the same system but it's small it's only half gallon maybe a gallon ah so really small handheld and you just pump it ah with your hand and it miss
00:13:24
Speaker
and I never realized how much I needed one until I found one and it was on sale and I grabbed it and was like maybe I'll use this for my seedlings or something and I use that thing for everything whether you're putting on you know a neem oil or you're wanting to mist your houseplants for you know to increase humidity or you've got some really tiny seeds that you don't want to wash away by watering them And I don't tend to bottom water a ton of my stuff, even though I should. I like the pump mister. And so it really can help with humidity as well. If you're storing some stuff, you go in once or twice a day and give the area a little mist. And so, like I said, any brand.
00:14:05
Speaker
buy them pretty much anywhere, especially in the springtime. And I get a lot of use out of mine. In fact, I want another one and one that I just used for water. And maybe, you know, if I'm doing any foliar feeding with some, you know, worm castings or something like that, I can use one and then another one that will be used for, you know, if I ever need pesticides.
00:14:28
Speaker
I need to do a foliar on that one and I just and on a small scale and I think that can be really helpful especially if you're you've got some like indoor plants or small plants ah that are hard to hit with the hose and so I love my pump mister and ah I never really thought about it thought it would be as useful as it is so so I do want to throw that out if you're looking for a couple things that maybe make your life easier If you have any questions about these items, ah feel free to, of course, you know reach out to me.
Engagement and Feedback
00:15:01
Speaker
You can send an email to that Hort Culture email address and we will all get it. And you know if you just say, Alexis, what was that thing that you talked about? Or I can't find it? Or do you have a recommendation on cell size or whatever it is?
00:15:15
Speaker
ah you know Feel free to shoot that out and we will definitely check it and get back to you. I'm going to try and post on our Instagram some photos of these items in case you're curious on to what they look like if you go searching for them. ah So you can follow us at Hort Culture Podcasts on Instagram. Again, you can message us on there if you want, but I'll get some photos up when this episode is released.
00:15:37
Speaker
that you all can check out and you know see if that might work for your system, if it's it's going to be good for you. And lastly, send us some stars. Let me know, have you used any of these things? you know Write a little review and let me know if you like ah your WinStrip trays or if you've read the Profit First book, or maybe if you've come on to some other really great business accounting information that is digestible that the world ah Could use that other growers could use you know leave us a review leave us some stars it helps other people find us ah But we really appreciate you being here today I know I'm only on here by myself And I keep saying we but I can tell you that we as a group Jessica Brett Ray And I do really appreciate it, and we enjoy doing this for you also when you listen and it
00:16:28
Speaker
benefit somebody it means a lot to us and kind of fills fills our bucket up as we like to say and so that we can water all of our other plants. But thank you so much for being here with me today. If you listen to me jabber on in my own voice I appreciate you. Thank you for checking us out and we hope that you will join us next time and that you have a great one.