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Beat the Heat and Bid Farewell
81 Plays4 months ago
This week on Hort Culture, we're tackling the challenges of summer's scorching temperatures and offering tips to keep your lawn and garden thriving. But remember, while caring for your plants is important, taking care of yourself is paramount. We'll provide safety tips to help you stay cool and hydrated while working in the garden.
And in bittersweet news, we're saying goodbye to our longtime friend and co-host, Josh Knight. As Josh embarks on a new adventure in cooler climes, we celebrate his contributions to the show and wish him all the best in his new role. We're excited to see where his journey takes him and look forward to having him back on the show as a guest in the future.
So, tune in for expert advice, gardening tips, and a heartfelt farewell to a beloved member of the Hort Culture family.
How to Care for Your Garden in High Temperatures
Stay cool, stay green and beat the heat with these tips for healthy summer plants
Heat wave in the garden: How to identify and prevent heat stress in plants
Heat-Related Illnesses and Agricultural Producers
Questions/Comments/Feedback/Suggestions for Topics: [email protected]
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Transcript
00:00:17
Alexis
Hi,
Heatwaves and Climate Impact
00:00:18
Alexis
hey, um, who's sweating? Cause I feel like that's, there's a Josh, you were telling me, uh, you were looking at, um, like climate stuff.
00:00:21
atack2010
it's ah ben hot in kentucky it has been
00:00:23
Josh
Yeah.
00:00:24
atack2010
yeah
00:00:25
Josh
Ooh.
00:00:29
Josh
Symptoms.
00:00:30
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah. Tell me, tell me all about this because it has been miserable, miserable outside.
00:00:35
Josh
oh yeah you're saying like the the for and foreseeable future at least this summer yeah i was um pulling together uh some stuff from the noa's climate prediction center for kind of what uh later summer weather looks like and uh it's hot i think is an easy way to sum it up it also looks like there's gonna be you know kind of lower precipitation than normal but the main thing is that it is hot
00:00:40
Alexis
Yeah.
00:00:47
atack2010
It's been hot in Kentucky. It has been.
00:00:54
Alexis
see
Record Temperatures and Climate Change
00:01:00
Josh
and
00:01:00
Josh
We are kind of we started a heat wave a bit ago and it seems like it's not really going anywhere it's except for like a few little reprieves here and there.
00:01:09
atack2010
It seems I can vocabulate heat domes. I mean, that's a thing now, heat domes.
00:01:09
Alexis
You know...
00:01:12
Josh
Yeah.
00:01:14
atack2010
So yeah, when did that happen?
00:01:14
Josh
Right. I mean, ie the first one that stood out to my memory was like there was one in the Pacific Northwest where it was hitting like 120 degrees in Portland and like summertime.
00:01:24
atack2010
Very unusual.
00:01:25
Alexis
Ugh.
00:01:25
atack2010
Very unusual, yeah.
00:01:25
Josh
Yeah. And it's essentially these like kind of persistent systems that don't move on and the sun just keeps feeding energy into it and the temperature keeps going up.
00:01:34
atack2010
And Washington. and Washington DC hit like a was it a couple weeks ago um ah Record high temperatures, you know, so all these records all these records are being broken.
00:01:41
Josh
yeah Yeah, we had a lot of records. We had a lot of, yeah, and the the ones that broke around here or in DC earlier this summer were from a heat dome that was in southern Florida that kind of like blew out and then spread over the Midwest.
00:01:45
atack2010
Yeah. yeah
00:01:57
atack2010
Yeah Bring us back
00:01:57
Alexis
How dare they?
00:01:58
Brett
Well, so okay. Okay. I'm going to, I'm just going to step in here because as a, as a person who has gone down rabbit holes of climate doom, I, I like to do that on my own terms. And some of our listeners probably tune in to not go down those rabbit holes of, uh, of wow, whole K, um, felt myself slipping down it just now. So I'm not, uh, I'm not here to, you know,
00:02:21
atack2010
you
00:02:23
Brett
ah We are here in extension, we're here part of the part of the university to allegedly stand on science, and science shows that climate change has all sorts of effects on our lives. And if you want to look into that, you can. But in the short term, we're here today.
00:02:38
Josh
It's true.
00:02:42
Brett
you know Let's be present here in this moment today. where it is still hot as hot as all get out.
00:02:45
Alexis
And in this sweaty moment.
00:02:47
Josh
like Right.
00:02:49
Brett
And we want to talk maybe a little bit.
00:02:50
Josh
It's hot as Georgia here.
00:02:52
Brett
Yeah, yeah, exactly. I didn't sign up for this when I and i stayed up here in the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
00:02:54
Josh
All
00:02:59
Brett
um
Vacation Plans and Escaping Heat
00:03:00
atack2010
it it It has been so hot that we are going north for the first time for our vacation here in a couple weeks we are we we we plan to go north.
00:03:00
Josh
right.
00:03:01
Josh
Nice.
00:03:07
Josh
nice
00:03:08
atack2010
um um I hope that Mackinac Island is really nice this time of year.
00:03:11
Alexis
I've been there.
00:03:11
Josh
Oh man, yeah.
00:03:12
atack2010
But we are going north.
00:03:13
Alexis
Cool.
00:03:14
atack2010
We normally always go south. And and I love you know ah going to the southeast. ah It's beautiful. yeah I love all parts of the US. But um' now I've got this infatuation with going north and northeast.
00:03:24
Josh
Mm-hmm.
00:03:25
atack2010
The last few years, it has been absolutely on my mind. So we're going to do that this year.
00:03:30
Josh
Yeah.
00:03:30
atack2010
Part of it is the high temperatures driving us north. So there you go.
00:03:33
Josh
Yeah, that's wise. I mean, right? You see birds going in a direction? Not a bad idea.
00:03:38
atack2010
I mean, if you're a
00:03:39
Brett
you see You see presidential families moving to the compound on an island off of the the coast of Maine?
00:03:39
Alexis
There's a
00:03:40
atack2010
yeah
00:03:43
Josh
Hehehehe.
00:03:44
atack2010
it's It's in signs and symptoms, signs and symptoms, yeah, whatever.
00:03:45
Brett
You know, from Texas? Good move.
00:03:49
Alexis
You should move. There's a butterfly um ah garden at like, not garden. What's, what do they call them when there's, it's like a greenhouse.
00:03:59
atack2010
Oh, yes, it's like a, not an estuary, but, you know, something like that that has a specific term, yeah.
00:04:01
Alexis
Yeah.
00:04:03
Alexis
Yes. They have one of those in Mackinac Island and it's, it's a really nice one. So I'd recommend going.
00:04:08
atack2010
No, um i've I've never been there. So I really look forward to it. I like the fact that there's going to be no cars, no motorized vehicles on the island.
00:04:13
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:04:14
Josh
It's cool. It's a cool spot.
00:04:15
atack2010
So ah we are going there.
00:04:16
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:04:17
atack2010
Yeah. ike and Yeah.
00:04:17
Alexis
There's a lot of fudge involved also. so
00:04:19
atack2010
That's my, that was personally my main reason had nothing to do with the weather or the demeanor.
00:04:23
Josh
There are some places that have fudge.
00:04:24
atack2010
Yeah. This fudge fudge.
00:04:25
Josh
It's not like the whole island is made of fudge, which is kind of what the impression I got from Alexis just now.
00:04:29
Alexis
and don't Well, I mean, but I'm not wrong, right?
00:04:30
atack2010
Oh, I've heard that the whole island's pretty much fudge. I'm excited.
00:04:33
Alexis
so
00:04:34
atack2010
I'm excited.
00:04:35
Brett
When it comes to fudge, it's a to Mac a yes from me, dog.
00:04:35
atack2010
I've already picked out the top, top fudge places. Yeah, it's not a Magno.
00:04:38
Josh
yeah
00:04:40
Alexis
likeana
00:04:40
atack2010
That's right. Yeah.
00:04:41
Alexis
Well, uh, speak for those of us who are not going north and are going to continue to stay here and be sweaty. Uh, what have you all been doing to kind of combat that? Uh, those of you who are doing some garden work and field work or whatever, or what did you do in the past? Cause I know, you know, you all have experience
00:04:59
atack2010
Yeah.
00:05:00
Brett
um but
Gardening in Hot Weather
00:05:01
Alexis
in different areas.
00:05:01
atack2010
yeah
00:05:02
Brett
Before we jump in, you know I just want to point out, we do we as we were going down memory lane, we realized that we did an episode on heat stress, particularly in plants, about a year ago. And you know things change in the world, but things haven't changed so much that that episode wouldn't be worth a listen, going back, popping over there.
00:05:13
Josh
Mm-hmm.
00:05:20
Brett
And it was almost almost exactly a year ago that that episode came out last June.
00:05:25
Alexis
but We were hot then, we're still hot now.
00:05:25
Josh
I'm speaking.
00:05:26
Brett
Yeah, turns out we have, yeah.
00:05:27
atack2010
It's on our minds. It is on our minds, people. Yeah.
00:05:30
Brett
Um, but, but so today maybe we're talking a little bit more about just like living as a human being out in those spaces, obviously crossing over into horticulture, but horticulture, the business or the culture of horticulture, part of that is being a human being with, uh, sensitivities to all kinds of weather and other events.
00:05:39
Josh
Sure.
00:05:49
Brett
So that that's just a little bit of a context, but Ray, you were saying, Oh, shoot.
00:05:53
atack2010
I forget what I was saying.
00:05:55
Alexis
Oh, I was gonna say, also if you're an alien.
00:05:55
Josh
Just that you can't take care of plants if you're not.
00:05:55
atack2010
Oh, uh, yeah, I was, you, we started talking about like, what's going on in the garden.
00:05:58
Josh
Yeah.
00:06:00
atack2010
I haven't noticed something really interesting this year. I've kind of moved gardens down ah below the hill and there's, there's some shade down there.
00:06:04
Brett
Thanks.
00:06:07
atack2010
It's next to, uh, Elkhorn Creek here and and where I live in Scott County.
00:06:09
Josh
Oh, nice.
00:06:11
atack2010
But, uh, I moved the garden down there and it's not the biggest space in the world, but I'm switching from containers to in-ground gardens because I have that luxury. a pretty good soil down there next to Elkhorn. But I planted pretty dense this year, whereas in the past, ah when I had a home garden and had much more space. I planted things in rows because that's what we did commercially on the farm. You plant things in rows, keep them orderly, and there's lots of reasons to do that. But I planted really dense this year. Lots of, you know, summer squash and zucchini and even the tomatoes I put so close to the bush, cucumbers, they're fighting it out in a death struggle right now. But things are planted very close and there is no sunlight reaching the ground. And it has been incredible. Two things with this density of planting, well, I guess three things.
00:06:58
atack2010
ah The bad thing is it's it's kind of hard to harvest. I have to get in there very carefully, unlike my 10-year-old son, who's like the Kool-Aid man in the garden.
00:07:02
Josh
any.
00:07:06
atack2010
He just breaks his way in through my beautiful zucchini. It just tears me up. But to ah yes, exactly.
00:07:09
Brett
oh yeah
00:07:12
atack2010
But two very positive things that I've noticed with that density of planting in my small space, I want to take advantage of every inch, is that very few weed problems. I re i weeded partially one time this year,
00:07:25
Alexis
Well?
00:07:26
atack2010
And then, you know, how quick like squash and things grow in cucumbers, they cover the ground very quickly. So the shading kept the weeds from growing, but my water usage in ground.
00:07:35
Brett
Oh yeah.
00:07:36
atack2010
has been half of what I would normally need because there's this canopy over the soil.
00:07:39
Brett
Mm.
00:07:41
atack2010
And my only concern is that all the plants fight their way to some sort of sunlight and they produce enough of a crop for me because it's just a home garden, remember not commercial. But it's, it's but I've had some real benefits this year and I'm seeing those benefits now that in weeding and not having to water as much. And that makes me really happy that my garden is down there
00:08:01
Josh
All right.
00:08:05
Alexis
you.
00:08:05
atack2010
Um, and I'm seeing those things. So that's a little bit different for me this year and I'm kind of digging it. I'm kind of digging it.
00:08:11
Josh
Or would you say that, I mean, so they're getting a little, it's more dappled sunlight, you'd say, that they're getting?
00:08:16
atack2010
therere On the fringes it is. In fact, ah where it is more, where where I have less sunlight, that's where the onions. And I've continued to grow lettuce in the the the the truly dappled areas.
00:08:25
Josh
Hmm.
00:08:27
atack2010
It has natural shade with some evening sun.
00:08:30
Josh
Yeah.
00:08:31
atack2010
So I'm unaccustomed to growing lettuce in my home garden this late in the year. And it is hot. But yeah, Josh, yeah.
00:08:38
Josh
Oh, yeah.
00:08:38
atack2010
There's some dappled sun. Yeah.
00:08:39
Josh
Is it kind of would you say it's making some of the plants like a little bit leggier that you've noticed or they seem.
00:08:44
atack2010
No, there is enough direct sunlight during the day to where everything has fought through and formed like this canopy.
00:08:44
Alexis
Thanks.
00:08:48
Josh
And.
00:08:50
atack2010
So that most everything, there's maybe one tomato plant that the squash is really trying to take over. I've noticed a couple of tomato plants have gotten just, they're stretching, they're totally eating or stretching towards the sun. And I have noticed that and they're not going to do great.
00:09:04
Josh
and
00:09:05
atack2010
They're not going to have maximum production, but in my home garden, that is not my goal. It's more of a goal not to have to water as much or have to weed as much but this summer's been a different experience during this hot weather and I guess it's because the density of planting that I have going on down there.
00:09:15
Josh
Yeah.
00:09:22
atack2010
So that's what's going on in my garden right now and it's hot.
00:09:23
Alexis
Hmm.
00:09:26
atack2010
It's very hot and I guess the the soil is getting shaded and so I'm starting to see some of the benefits of the way I Helter Skelter planted things and then my wife Jennifer has her own flower bed. She has big blocks of flowers that you know she kind of puts down there and she basically um I'm just a horrifying when she takes 10 packs of whatever flowers that she picks up and just throws them out there English garden style like a commando and the that Taipei in my brain is just yes I hyperventilate and they're the most beautiful things right now it's gorgeous um they're they're technically too dense she's not done anything much with them and she just picks beautiful bouquets all summer I mean how does that even work but
00:09:54
Alexis
Hyperventilating.
00:10:08
atack2010
She has, I guess, subscribed to the high density planting philosophy like me in our home garden this year. Yeah. So a lot going on in the garden. It's a, it's a new space for me and it's a lot of fun. I have some shade where I can grow the, you know, the cool season stuff, uh, like lettuce, uh, that doesn't like the heat that we've been getting. Uh, but I can, I also have enough sunlight to kind of throw it all together really thickly and just see what I get. It's it's a hot mess. I'll need to send you guys a picture. It's, but I'm harvesting a lot off of it.
00:10:35
Josh
and
00:10:36
atack2010
So, Hey, I'm not going to, I'm not going to argue with that.
00:10:39
Josh
Yeah, that's interesting. ah Like when ah the first farm that I worked on was in coastal Georgia, and I mean, not on the coast, it was like a few miles inland. So there was no nice coastal breeze. There was just like clouds of sand that's and stuff.
00:10:51
Alexis
Uh.
00:10:51
atack2010
Oh, nice.
00:10:51
Josh
um But, you know, it was kind of this the the the actual plot was probably about 12 acres of mixed vegetable, but um There was a section that we had, we had left this large, I believe it was a live oak that cast like kind of a decent like dappled shaded area. And we would do lettuce and stuff like that down there. um And it was kind of so much more pleasant like working just in the vicinity of that kind of shade tree made such a huge difference than being just out on the land and you're the thing casting the tallest shadow like getting roasted.
00:11:13
atack2010
a
00:11:14
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:11:15
atack2010
Yeah. Yeah.
00:11:22
atack2010
Yeah. Yeah. And it's kind of, it's one of those things that gets in my head too. And I'm in the middle of a big field and there is, like you said, no shade inside. There's just, you can't get away from it. The only shade you're making is your own.
00:11:33
Alexis
Thank
00:11:33
Josh
yeah
00:11:34
atack2010
So it's pretty tough.
00:11:35
Josh
right And honestly, they don't make a hat big enough.
00:11:38
Alexis
you.
00:11:39
atack2010
No, the brim is not wide enough to get away from the sun on some days. That's exactly right.
00:11:44
Brett
So interesting, interesting note on the, they don't make a hat big enough. Um,
Sun Protection Strategies
00:11:48
Brett
so I, well, I mean, I, I run into that experience regularly just because of the size of my head, but that's not what I'm referencing here.
00:11:48
atack2010
Hmm.
00:11:55
Brett
There's a company that I have gotten fitted hats from several times, uh, Palm, big Palm, uh, straw hats, Mel well-made and, and like I said, fitted to size. And there was, I was ordering one, and the other one's thrash from being in the sun so much. I was ordering another one and I wanted to get. their biggest brim, which was the the brand, or the ah model of it was called El Humongo.
00:12:23
Josh
but
00:12:23
atack2010
Nice, very appropriate terminology.
00:12:25
Brett
And Annie, for better or for worse, you know who's to say, shot that down and you know did not, I'm pretty sure, like I legitimately don't think I could have walked through a door with it on.
00:12:32
Josh
it vetoed ah
00:12:32
Alexis
Forbid it.
00:12:37
Josh
What are you wearing it through a doorway you wearing it outside is just what I'm saying
00:12:42
Brett
That's right. That's exactly right. Um, but I, I've been just a quick shout out ball boy tip for the heat. So I started wearing a couple of years ago. Um, the, the brand name is like is buffs, but they're these like. it's It's sort of like a handkerchief crossed with a ah ah bandana crossed with a scarf.
00:12:59
atack2010
Mm
00:13:04
Josh
i mean Yeah.
00:13:05
Brett
it's It's a tube of material, and you can pull the thing over your head. you see like I used to see like people fishing, particularly off the coast, wearing them quite a lot because they can't have UPF ratings, um but you can wear it in all kinds of different configurations, but ah something that Ray and Alexis will not understand.
00:13:16
atack2010
-hmm
00:13:25
Brett
but The, the bald among our listeners will is that when you don't have hair on your head, it's sort of like having a land with no cover crop on it during a heavy rainstorm.
00:13:29
Josh
but
00:13:35
Alexis
Mmhmm. Mmhmm.
00:13:37
Josh
Right,
00:13:37
Brett
There is nothing to hold back the torrents of sweat coming down and the buff has functioned to replace, or at least it's like a, you know, like the mesh that they put down on the side of slopes, you know, when they're trying to prevent erosion.
00:13:45
atack2010
nice yeah i
00:13:51
Alexis
sewing grass seed
00:13:51
Brett
and
00:13:52
Josh
right.
00:13:52
Brett
Yeah, exactly.
00:13:52
Josh
right
00:13:53
Brett
um But the the buffs have made like a huge difference in my life in the heat, because it like sucks up sweat, it keeps you a little cool, it's it ah protects you from the sun and you can slip a hat on on top of it. um So I stack I stack my sun protection, but a good hat.
00:14:07
atack2010
mean
00:14:11
Brett
Man, people who go are out in the heat and they're not wearing like full full brim action.
00:14:13
Alexis
I don't know how they do it.
00:14:16
Brett
I yeah, I
00:14:17
Josh
Yeah.
00:14:18
atack2010
The back of my neck has never, I am blonde, but that even after years of, you know, like leaning over when I was younger, it just never, it would always burn the back of my neck. So until I learned where I'm like, no, this cowboy hat has function.
00:14:27
Brett
I know
00:14:30
atack2010
Thank you very much.
00:14:31
Josh
Right, right.
00:14:31
Brett
him.
00:14:32
atack2010
It's not, it's not pretty. It's not pretty.
00:14:34
Alexis
maya My, my blonde husband also, he wears this big hat that has like the long neck gator on the back.
00:14:37
Brett
Hmm.
00:14:40
Alexis
And so like he rolls it down.
00:14:41
Josh
Oh, yeah.
00:14:42
Alexis
So it keeps his neck from, or, uh, he'll wear like, uh, like a. ah Sun protection shirt, like it's a very light one, but it's a button up with a collar and he'll flip the collar up just to keep his neck from, or one of those neck gators, like you were ah describing Brett, and but he'll pull it down kind of over and wear it like a little, little turtleneck, which I don't love having stuff on my neck when I'm hot like that.
00:14:49
Josh
Yeah.
00:15:05
atack2010
Yeah.
00:15:06
Alexis
Even if it's soaking up sweat, like I have to just be shaded in some way.
00:15:09
atack2010
I know that yeah makes sense.
00:15:10
Josh
Yeah.
00:15:10
Brett
Yeah, to be clear i to be clear, I put it on my head like a bandana, not around my neck.
00:15:10
Josh
it's
00:15:14
atack2010
Gotcha.
00:15:14
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah.
00:15:15
atack2010
So it doesn't, not like a, what is it, a baklava or baklava.
00:15:16
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:15:19
Brett
Yeah, not like that.
00:15:20
atack2010
Yeah.
00:15:20
Alexis
Baklava is it delicious.
00:15:22
atack2010
ah You wouldn't want to put food through stuff.
00:15:22
Josh
right butlava
00:15:24
atack2010
Yeah.
00:15:25
Brett
If I put it on my neck, I store some baklava in there for a snack in later, and with hands-free.
00:15:25
atack2010
Yeah.
00:15:26
Alexis
Mmm.
00:15:28
Josh
yeah
00:15:28
atack2010
yeah
00:15:30
Josh
It's like, you know, you put the hoodie on backwards, so it's got like a little bucket with food in it.
00:15:30
Alexis
For your cat.
00:15:33
atack2010
Yes, it has a built-in food trough.
00:15:34
Josh
Yeah, for yourself.
00:15:35
Brett
thanks
00:15:36
atack2010
Yes.
00:15:36
Brett
Now you see multifunctional.
00:15:36
Alexis
You put your cat in there.
00:15:37
atack2010
Yeah. But ah all this tech gear is really amazing. I know straw hat, which I love those, that those have been around for a long time, but a lot of the tech gear, the materials um that you can get now, it's just really um cool. Not literally, but also literally. It's good stuff. I mean, they work. the lightweight materials, the lighter color of materials, it is amazing what a difference that that makes when you if you're working outside a lot that you invest in some of those versus something like a 100% cotton that once that gets saturated, it is going to cause some chafing and some problems, some heat retention, all sorts of bad things.
00:16:11
Josh
right
00:16:15
atack2010
Yeah.
00:16:15
Josh
Yeah, loose is totally the way to go.
00:16:16
Brett
Yeah, I mean, I think
00:16:16
atack2010
Yeah. Yes.
00:16:18
Brett
i would I would confess, I think I, in general, am becoming, and I've been told, I've told people this left and right, I'm becoming more of a hot weather guy as I get older. um and I will never enjoy working in the heat.
00:16:27
atack2010
okay
00:16:28
Josh
Hmm.
00:16:29
atack2010
you're in your hot gafffe
00:16:32
Brett
i just don't That's just not, that's off the table.
00:16:32
Alexis
Yeah, that's different.
00:16:34
Josh
Hmm.
00:16:34
Brett
But I used to hate even just like hanging out in the heat and like spending any amount of time in the heat.
00:16:39
Josh
Hmm.
00:16:40
Brett
um And as I get older, I just, I don't know, I'm i' less sensitive to it or something because
00:16:47
Alexis
I feel like you appreciate it more.
00:16:48
Brett
it's
00:16:50
Alexis
like Like after you've gone through so many winners and winners as an adult are not as fun as winners as a kid, right?
00:16:54
atack2010
Okay.
00:16:55
Alexis
Like you don't get to go sled riding as much.
00:16:56
atack2010
You're in your hot guy phase.
00:16:58
Alexis
You don't get all their days off of school. You know what I mean? So there's not, and we also don't get the snow.
00:17:02
Brett
Yeah.
00:17:02
Josh
what are you talking about i haven't been to school in years
00:17:05
Brett
Yeah, I got infinite days off.
00:17:06
Alexis
is There's ah not as much snow as there used to be either.
00:17:08
atack2010
All the days.
00:17:10
Alexis
So even if you wanted to do those kinds of cool things. So I think as an adult, it's not nearly as fun in the winter. and And so the summer just becomes a reprieve. At least this is the way my brain is thinking because I hate hot weather, but it's become more of a reprieve. Um, and so I appreciate the time that away from the really cold and yeah.
00:17:26
Josh
What are you talking about? I haven't been to school in years.
00:17:32
Alexis
And I, I just. There's something about it and you just get more used to it. Like I, well, and there's also, I always wanted like part of how I deal with the heat as someone who does have to work in the field. and a lot of my crops are coming in, regardless of how hard I try, in the dead of summer. like And so there's just the dead of summer.
00:17:52
Josh
but I love that phrase, the dead of summer.
00:17:56
Alexis
ah Because that's how I feel. So like I really have to adjust my schedule. um And so I'm getting up really early and often staying up late.
00:17:56
atack2010
The dead of summer.
00:18:04
atack2010
Mm hmm.
00:18:05
Josh
the
00:18:05
atack2010
Yes.
00:18:07
Alexis
And then I have to like I sometimes I just have to nap in the middle of the day or I get like my indoor church chores done because otherwise I would not get nearly enough sleep.
00:18:11
Josh
Oh, yeah.
00:18:15
Alexis
So I'm like, what are the dogs do?
00:18:16
atack2010
and
00:18:17
Alexis
And the dogs nap in the middle of the day. So that's what I'm going to do.
00:18:19
Josh
Yeah. and Everybody
00:18:20
Alexis
but
00:18:20
atack2010
Dog days
00:18:20
Brett
Okay.
Heat Exhaustion vs. Heat Stroke
00:18:21
atack2010
of summer.
00:18:21
Josh
does, right?
00:18:21
Josh
You move towards the equator, that light kind of CS to action is just a thing that people do.
00:18:22
atack2010
There you go.
00:18:27
Alexis
And it's, it's necessary.
00:18:27
atack2010
functional, yeah.
00:18:28
Alexis
Yeah. It's functional. Like you, it's not like you being lazy. You've spent just as much time outside working.
00:18:32
Josh
Yeah.
00:18:33
Alexis
It's just, you're, you're splitting that up. And so I've, um, that little afternoon nap is really nice. And so I've come to equate summer with at least getting a nap in the middle of the day. And so there's some joy that comes with that.
00:18:47
Josh
Yeah, yeah.
00:18:48
atack2010
Yeah, I remember working for, yeah, modify your schedule.
00:18:48
Josh
I think that's a huge one, is that kind of breaking up the work day?
00:18:50
Alexis
Hmm.
00:18:53
Josh
Because my first farm job was like kind of, I don't know if I'd call it banker's hours, but it was attempting to conform to the, we start early and we work to the late afternoon or whatever.
00:19:00
Alexis
Mm-hmm. Nine to five.
00:19:03
Josh
And of course, late afternoon is brutal, right?
00:19:06
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:06
Josh
like
00:19:06
atack2010
Oh, yeah.
00:19:07
Josh
pushing that extra 30 minutes is just killing you. And then my second job, it was like more open and flexible. And they had adopted this kind of, we would start crazy early, you know, just before sun up and work till like 10 30 ish and then knock off until like, I don't know, six ish, something like that.
00:19:17
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:21
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:25
Josh
And then work till the sun's gone, which you know it can be like nine o'clock.
00:19:26
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:19:27
atack2010
Yeah.
00:19:29
Josh
So we'd get these like nine, 10 hour days of work, but it wasn't, yeah, I wasn't dying.
00:19:32
Alexis
But you're not exhausted in the same way. Yeah.
00:19:35
Josh
I could go run my errands in the mid part of the day, you know.
00:19:35
atack2010
Yeah.
00:19:38
Josh
Oh, I got to go to the bank. They got air conditioning. This is fabulous, you know.
00:19:42
atack2010
And it's easy to say if you have to work out. I remember, you know, working on the farm and we you know would work with family and a few other folks.
00:19:47
Josh
Mm hmm.
00:19:48
atack2010
And it's it's one thing to say, oh, you should recognize when you're getting too hot. I mean, just go sit down. But that's not the way like heat exhaustion works.
00:19:55
Josh
Totally. Yeah.
00:19:57
atack2010
That's not that you don't know that it's happening by the time you think something's going on.
00:20:00
Josh
Yeah.
00:20:03
atack2010
It's already too late.
00:20:04
Brett
In fact, your ability to know that you are in trouble is impaired by the heat.
00:20:04
atack2010
So.
00:20:08
Josh
right Yeah, the danger zone.
00:20:08
atack2010
Yes, yes.
00:20:09
Alexis
she
00:20:10
Josh
I remember like ah that South Georgia job, I remember harvesting some zucchini one day, and it was like a triple heat index. Let's just say it was brutal outside, right? And we were approaching that like noon hour. And I was like, oh, I'm going to run out there and grab these couple of things real quick. And I remember noticing that I suddenly went from being miserable to like, hey, this actually kind of isn't so bad.
00:20:33
Alexis
You were like the drownings.
00:20:34
Josh
and And my head was kind of like swimmy, you know? And I was like, I'm in trouble.
00:20:34
atack2010
Yeah.
00:20:39
Alexis
I'm in trouble.
00:20:39
atack2010
Yeah. Well, when you, you feel like you're breathing in hot wax or you, when you, when you realize that the air you're breathing in is really hot, it's not a good sign.
00:20:48
Josh
Yeah.
00:20:49
atack2010
It's not a good sign.
00:20:49
Josh
right That isn't cooling you.
00:20:50
atack2010
Yeah.
00:20:51
Josh
Nothing's cooling you anymore.
00:20:52
atack2010
No, the transpiration is not working.
00:20:54
Alexis
God, the I hate the cotton mouth that like but gross. I played sports in the summer and the brutal heat and just, I had it the other day and just not drinking enough water for how much I was sweating.
00:21:00
Josh
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:03
atack2010
Oh, yeah.
00:21:10
Alexis
And I was like, why is my mouth just blech?
00:21:10
Josh
Yeah. and And that's a brutal one too. It's like the symptoms of dehydration are like confusion.
00:21:18
Alexis
Mm-hmm.
00:21:19
Josh
Anything where the symptom is confusion, that's a problem for me because I generally walk around in a state of confusion.
00:21:24
Alexis
Yeah, same.
00:21:27
atack2010
It's like, is this normal or is this abnormal?
00:21:28
Josh
Right. Right. Is this a dangerous confusion or just my typical?
00:21:30
atack2010
Yeah.
00:21:32
Alexis
like regular confusion.
00:21:33
Josh
Right.
00:21:33
Brett
Yeah, so there's a there's a somewhat famous graphic you've probably seen around that's put up by the CDC and in collaboration with and ah ah Noah, the the Josh reference earlier, and Nyosh and others, but the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke and so heat exhaustion being the less severe of the two and then the heat stroke being the holy moly. um But heat exhaustion is dizziness, thirst, heavy sweating, nausea, weakness, and then it advances to heat stroke when the confusion starts setting in, dizziness starts setting in, and then unconsciousness.
00:22:08
Brett
um And so, you know, you again, again, you we won't even know if you hit the last, the last criteria or not.
00:22:08
Alexis
oh
00:22:09
Josh
Right, yeah. And heat exhaustion. All right.
00:22:15
atack2010
Yeah, you may not be aware of that.
00:22:16
Josh
Yeah.
00:22:17
atack2010
Yeah.
00:22:17
Josh
Well, and you know heat exhaustion, the solution isn't to push through it for a few more minutes to get this thing done. It's like, no, go to a cooler area.
00:22:23
Alexis
No.
00:22:26
Brett
Yes, cool off, drink some water.
00:22:27
Alexis
Don't drink ice water
00:22:30
Brett
I think for me, you know one of the things that I have to do, um and I don't work in the heat, well, I can basically stop working in the heat whenever I want to, because it's always just for, quote, fun, end quote, um now.
00:22:40
Josh
All right.
00:22:42
Brett
But ah the when i when I had to do it a little bit more ah for pay, um I think I would almost I don't know that I ever did exactly set ah but I would keep an eye on the time and set a timer for like every 30 minutes go and drink a good amount of water even if you don't feel like it and like every hour hour and a half go and like sit in the shade somewhere
00:23:00
Josh
Yeah.
00:23:01
Alexis
Mm-hmm
00:23:04
Josh
Yeah.
00:23:10
Brett
and just check in with yourself. And you may sit there for five minutes and be like, I'm cool, I'm good.
00:23:12
Josh
Yeah.
00:23:15
Brett
But every once in a while, you're gonna go and do that. And it's like, oh, okay.
00:23:20
Josh
You know, things were getting a little dicey out there, right?
00:23:21
Alexis
I was not good Mm
00:23:23
Brett
Yeah, and and that's the only, and and I think, you know, watching out for other people, if you're working with other people, it's kind of hard if you're by yourself.
00:23:27
Josh
Yeah.
00:23:29
Brett
um Gosh, yeah.
00:23:30
Alexis
-hmm
00:23:30
Josh
Yeah, that's that's a really important one is because like I was lucky enough to start my first couple of seasons in a situation where there were lots of other experienced workers around, and they could stop me from being an idiot.
00:23:40
Brett
yeah
00:23:43
Brett
Right.
00:23:44
Josh
um And ah you know there is a lot of there are a lot of ag workers who are just working on their own.
00:23:44
Brett
Somebody stop me.
00:23:49
Josh
And you could you know if you're getting started or messing around, like yeah, I think that timer thing is a really sharp strategy.
00:23:50
Brett
Totally.
00:23:56
Josh
Because the thing goes off, and you know hey, go drink water and check in.
00:24:01
Brett
Yeah.
00:24:01
Alexis
i um I know when I say to myself, I think I need to sit down because I've just stumbled around for a minute, that I need to go like out of the heat and sit down.
00:24:08
Josh
I remember one of the things that like I would say to people would be like, look, it's better to sit down than to fall down.
00:24:11
atack2010
Thank you.
00:24:18
Alexis
Um, yeah, I'm, or yeah, when the dogs have, uh, refused to come out.
00:24:19
Brett
Mmm.
00:24:20
Josh
It always goes smoother, when in doubt.
00:24:29
Alexis
So the, I have, that's how I know.
00:24:30
Josh
yeah Your little canary in the coal mine dog.
00:24:32
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So the other day I was, I got up early, went out at like five 30 and, and was working outside before. And it was going to be like 93 that day and I'm starting to get hot. And, uh, I was looking around, looking for the dogs. Usually they lay in the shade because they're smart, but they lay where they can see me. That's important to them. Right.
00:24:52
Josh
Sure.
00:24:53
Alexis
And I didn't see them anywhere. And I knew it was too hot for them to have like meander it away. You know, they're not going to be doing that. What are my coolers in the barn and there's a little bit of air that escapes under the door so so they'll lay in front of that so i know that if they're in there and they're not even willing to come check on me and they won't come when i call them it's too hot and i need to go inside they are.
00:25:03
Josh
Nice.
00:25:14
atack2010
They're like, you're on your own mom.
00:25:15
Josh
right
00:25:15
Alexis
They're like no now we ain't doing that like she done.
00:25:15
atack2010
You're on your own.
00:25:19
Josh
All right, I don't want to watch mom die, so let's just chill here.
00:25:19
atack2010
Yeah. They're basically just the opposite of cats.
00:25:22
Alexis
Yeah.
00:25:24
atack2010
They're laying by the cooler, the cool spot they're laying by that.
00:25:24
Alexis
Yeah. Yeah. My my so ah youngest Corgi has a little bit of like a longer hair than my older one does.
00:25:26
atack2010
Yeah.
00:25:28
Brett
Thank
00:25:31
Alexis
And he will like run me over when I open the cooler to put stuff in, like run me over to try and get inside. And I'm like, dude, you don't live in the cooler. I worry about him sometimes. He'll be in there for a long.
00:25:42
Josh
He's like, oh, it's just like whales where my people are from.
00:25:45
Alexis
yeah Yeah.
00:25:45
atack2010
Yeah, more moderate in there.
00:25:48
Alexis
I was like, you're not a husky.
00:25:48
Brett
you.
00:25:49
Alexis
You don't just live in the cooler, bro.
00:25:51
Josh
yeah
00:25:52
Alexis
like It's 37 degrees. Come on.
00:25:55
Josh
Oh, yes.
00:25:56
Brett
I think one thing, you know, as far as the, the tasks, maybe that change
Plant Care in Extreme Heat
00:26:01
Alexis
a
00:26:01
Brett
in the, in the hot weather and the, like, we talked about that maybe the structure of the day, but, um,
00:26:04
Alexis
and you
00:26:09
Brett
I think it's pretty staggering sometimes how much water plants can take up and transpire this time of year.
00:26:16
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:26:18
Brett
Um, and then sometimes where it's like, I've put in as much water as I can down and it's just, you know, we're just gonna have to get through this together. Cause you weren't, you weren't able to move water fast enough.
00:26:26
atack2010
Yeah.
00:26:26
Josh
hahaha
00:26:28
Brett
And, um, I of course have, uh, in my, again, just backyard personal setup. I have things that are either ah tolerant and even seem to enjoy the abuses of a variable climate, which is the native plants we have planted back there. And then bonsai, the most helpless, like, I have no reserves, I need this care. And so it's kind of a blend of of those two. um But i I do, I do still tend to water some of the, um, the plants that have flowers on them right now, just to keep up the nectar flow for the bees.
00:27:03
atack2010
Mmhmm, yeah.
00:27:03
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:27:06
Brett
Um, just as a vibe more so than anything, the plants don't care.
00:27:10
Josh
Hehehehe.
00:27:10
Brett
They would, they would be happy to just sort of have dry flowers, but you know, I like to take care of the the butterflies and and wasps and bees and other other insect friends. But as far as like tasks and stuff when it's hot, or how do you orient differently? What are you watching out for as far as taking care of plants when it's hot?
00:27:28
atack2010
Well, that's all the newly planted things. We have the a lot of that discussion. We get lots of so-called disease calls, beginning with hot weather.
00:27:36
Alexis
Mmm.
00:27:37
atack2010
And one of the first questions I ask about ah how long has a plant been established in its current location? And if they say three years or less, I'm like, well, that's not really an option if we're in an extended dry spell. You need to water, but ah you know I know we've talked about this some on different episodes and some episodes dedicated to just this, but ah you know I'll go into the whole discussion of you not only need to water, you need to water if it's 10 gallons a week for a newly established tree, for instance, that's a standard recommendation. ah during dry spells, about 10 gallon a week.
00:28:08
atack2010
you know There's some other factors, but that's roughly the amount. It's not 10 gallons running out of a water hose in three minutes.
00:28:15
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:28:16
atack2010
It's 10 gallons slowly put onto the plant, like with them with a plant bag or a five gallon bucket with a tiny hole poked in it.
00:28:22
Alexis
Drip.
00:28:24
atack2010
However, you can drip that on there with a soaker hose or whatever, but the newly established plants is what I think are first that don't really have um
00:28:32
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:28:34
atack2010
um Lots of root systems to support them in this challenging weather. I think of those things first.
00:28:41
Alexis
And thinking of next year's bloom, so we all know my my brain always goes to yeah you know flowers, but this could be true of any perennial fruit crops or something like that. And so what you do this year matters for next year. So if you're getting you know seven, 10, 14 days where you've not had rain, And if you're getting seven days where you're not had rain, your temperature's up that high, you need to be applying some water if you want it. Those plants might live, but if you're ah wanting a good display in your home garden or if you are selling plants as a crop, what you do this year to get it through those problems is going to influence that crop for next year. So from a perennial standpoint, ah yeah, sure, the plants will live, but at what cost?
00:29:28
atack2010
Yeah, and in zone six and seven that we're in sitting here physically in here in the central part of the state, um it was always a challenge. It's always a challenge for commercial growers that if they're doing fall crops, especially commercially, and we have these late extended heat spells, that's really tough on your co-crops, C-O-L-E, co-crops, um and can and really be tough on those transplants.
00:29:47
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:29:53
atack2010
And I don't know what you do on a commercial scale. You have a few more options as a homeowner as far as shading, extra you know care with watering, but commercial crops, you that's the last thing you want to see for your fall crops and being newly planted in the ground and these you know triple degree days kind of sneak up on you for several days in a row and that can really damage those new transplants so you have to really watch your water schedule and in some of those cases you're watering not for the water you're watering to cool the soil to try to get some of those temps down any way that you can ah commercially especially but homeowners have a few more options once again you can you you know you shade cloths and some other things some other techniques to kind of manage
00:30:25
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:30:34
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:30:37
atack2010
the heat, but I think about those commercial producers and their limited options when they put it out their cool season crops and it's still 99 degrees. ah That can be really tough on newly planted things, especially ah depending on how you plant it, if you're planting on plastic. I mean, that's hot enough to where a broccoli plant will lean against the side of the plastic and just physically get burned and die.
00:30:57
Alexis
Mm.
00:31:00
atack2010
So you're thinking about ah you're thinking about all of those things when you put out you know crops all the time.
00:31:01
Josh
Hehehe.
00:31:06
atack2010
So it's a tough time of year for those transitional crops, those late season crops here in our area. I know. So that's that's kind of a tough situation.
00:31:12
Brett
Yeah, I think, I think, you know, with plastic culture it can always be kind of tricky sometimes even with irrigation. Like if we get rainfall, sometimes the the rainfall seems to work its way into the root zone, but if it's not an extensive, you know, soaking one, then you still kind of have to irrigate.
00:31:23
Alexis
Mm.
00:31:27
Brett
And I heard someone say, as a general rule, something they observed in people is that inexperienced people tend to water too much when plants are young and not enough when they're old or bigger.
00:31:38
Alexis
Mmhmm. Mmhmm.
00:31:41
Josh
Mm.
00:31:41
Brett
And that's like annuals even, you know, that um you soak them and want to take care of them, those tomato plants when they're little tiny things, but then they're these huge biomass things that have all these leaves that are transpiring off water. And you don't give it enough water and it gets blossom in rot.
00:31:58
atack2010
Yeah.
00:32:00
Brett
Well, what happened? Uh, it's, well, apply a little bit of that, uh, doting watering that you were doing early in the year to later in the year.
00:32:05
atack2010
Oh, tomatoes are incredible.
00:32:06
Josh
really
00:32:07
Brett
and it Yeah.
00:32:08
atack2010
Yeah. I've got those and I've got eight or 10 tomato plants and they're in about, I don't know, eight to 10 gallon containers along the side of the garden. Most of my garden is in the ground this year, but I did maintain some of those containers, move those down to my new garden location. I water those twice a day now. And they they're not even into the pink stage of tomato production, like they have little tomatoes on there, golf ball sizes currently.
00:32:24
Brett
Yeah.
00:32:31
atack2010
A little bit bigger than that now, I got a late start, but it's absolutely incredible.
00:32:34
Alexis
Mm
00:32:35
atack2010
And when I lift up the side of that pot, I'm like, my gosh, I just watered this thing this morning. And it's already dry again by late evening.
00:32:41
Alexis
-hmm.
00:32:42
atack2010
It's it's amazing. Yeah, how much water it takes.
00:32:44
Brett
Yeah, I think I mean, that's that's an interesting aspect of you mentioned the kind of using the water just to cool things down and that that transpiration is part of the mechanism there is plants being able to cool themselves down that they just like we sweat, you know, and our as the water evaporates the area around at the temperature drops the same way with
00:32:56
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:32:57
atack2010
Uh-huh.
00:32:57
Alexis
They're sweating.
00:32:58
Josh
Mm hmm.
00:33:05
Brett
with plants. And so when you're watering them, yes, you're helping them stay not wilty and all those other things. But part of it is too, they're sitting baking in that heat and they need a way to move that heat off and and that that transpiration um process. So they i remember talking about the the evapotranspiration rate, and it goes up ah when it's hot, and especially if humidity is low and it's hot, it's even higher.
00:33:28
Alexis
Mmhmm.
00:33:28
Josh
Mhmm.
00:33:32
Brett
And so that is that a it just spontaneous water is spontaneously evaporating, but it's also being transpired ah off through the leaves. And so the amount of water that you're losing when it's really hot, I mean, we we know this intuitively, but the amount of water you're you're losing and in all kinds of different ways um is increased drastically when it's hot and it adds the the cause or the call for the mulch like we spent an hour talking about, uh, on a previous episode, how awesome mulches and how helpful it can be in, in retaining water.
00:34:04
atack2010
Bare soil is not what you want in these hot days.
00:34:06
Brett
Yeah.
00:34:07
atack2010
I mean, ah yeah, that's, and I think that's part of the reason my garden has done well with a little bit of, with less water this year is that there's no bare, there's no soil in there in my garden much that sees the sun right now. It's all covered. It's pretty thick in there, like a mini jungle.
00:34:22
Alexis
i do want to I do want to remind if you are dealing with, which I have seen in Kentucky this year because we've had days where our humidity is extremely high and it is in the 90s and we are looking at you know close to 90% humidity, at least at my house, and according to my weather station.
00:34:23
Brett
I think another, oops, sorry, go ahead.
00:34:43
Alexis
and ah
00:34:44
Josh
the air immediately surrounding my body.
00:34:47
Alexis
Yeah, that too. When you hit feel like you hit a brick wall walking out the door, but a lot of the time you, you were talking about that transpiration where a plant is pulling water through the root system up through the leaves, right? And it's basically sweating out of its leaves. When you have high humidity, you don't get that pressure that allows that imbalance of pressure that allows that plant to bring
00:35:07
Josh
who
00:35:12
Alexis
ah water up through the root system and out so you can have wilty plants even when your soil is wet ah because it's not able to move that water out and make itself cool down.
00:35:21
Josh
Right.
00:35:23
Alexis
And so there's really nothing you can do about that unless you want to put fans on them or something, which is why fans in high tunnels can be really great. ah but it can be really hard to deal with so don't like feel bad about it. I i had ah i say I feel bad because I had a woman who actually just called me today and she's really concerned about her tomatoes and she was like, I just i think I just need to just pull them out. And I was like, no, like yeah it's okay. It doesn't have to be perfect to still be good and don't let that be perfection be the enemy of the good there, but ah it's okay if it it will recover and if it looks better by them the next morning, then chances are you don't have a ah you know a disease problem, ah like a cucumber, verticillium wilt, but we see it a lot in really big leaved plants. They just can't move water out of their leaves. So just wanted to give it a little tip.
00:36:15
Brett
I like that.
00:36:16
Josh
Yeah, it's kind of a weird...
00:36:17
atack2010
And I'm...
00:36:17
Brett
It's it's it's like that feeling when you use you keep sweating and you're not getting any cooler because it's so humid.
00:36:23
Josh
Right, right.
00:36:23
Brett
It's the same the same thing because it's your sweats not evaporating.
00:36:24
atack2010
Yeah.
00:36:25
Josh
Yeah.
00:36:27
Brett
So the the whole wonder sweating is that you it goes on your skin it evaporates and cools you down.
00:36:27
Alexis
Right.
00:36:27
Josh
Right.
00:36:32
Brett
But if it's so humid that it's it's a you know, an imbalance.
00:36:34
Josh
Yeah, there's nowhere for it to go, right?
00:36:35
Alexis
time Honestly, go inside at that point.
00:36:36
Brett
Yeah.
00:36:36
Josh
Yeah, like the the air can't absorb any more water.
00:36:39
Alexis
like don't
00:36:40
Josh
I remember Like I, so I worked this summer out in New Mexico with some guys who are from like four corners area, lived there their whole lives. And yeah, it gets real hot there, right? The summertime real bright, real shiny, like a hundred degrees, but it's not a humid place. So getting in the shade is pretty chill. And anyway, these two brothers came and visited me in Lexington like when I was an undergrad ah to kind of, you know, check out they were doing like a little tour of the US. And I remember when the older brother got out of the car, this guy, Walt, he was like, What is wrong with the air?
00:37:11
Josh
This is miserable. He's like shaking his shirt.
00:37:13
Alexis
Why can I chew it?
00:37:15
Josh
Yeah, you know, and it was probably like 75% humidity, something that we would think of as like, ah it's kind of muggy out.
00:37:21
Alexis
Normal. Yeah.
00:37:22
Josh
And yeah, he was like, this is terrible. Like he just kept pulling at his shirt and trying to fan himself.
00:37:28
Josh
He's like, something's wrong with your hair.
00:37:28
Brett
It's not great.
00:37:32
atack2010
Your air is broken.
00:37:32
Alexis
yeah Felt.
00:37:35
Brett
Well,
Environmental Adjustments for Comfort
00:37:36
atack2010
Yeah.
00:37:36
Brett
one thing too, I think um you could think about a little bit as far as taking care of yourself in the heat is um in in general with like processes, we I think producers and and people who are technically minded and in thinking about continuous improvement, they think about ways that production practices could be improved.
00:37:54
Brett
But I think another thing that you can think about is ways that you can shape the environment to better take care of yourself. And so like there are spots maybe where you could put in a simple sun sail or a pop up 10 by 10, um, uh, like when those pop up tents or something like that.
00:38:00
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:38:07
Alexis
Mm hmm.
00:38:07
atack2010
Mmhmm.
00:38:08
Josh
Yeah.
00:38:11
Brett
even if it's a small area where you're, you know, you're walking back and forth between two buildings and every time you walk out there, it's just beating down sun, like little things, improvements like that to the environment. Um, maybe it's like giving somehow constructing a space closer to the field that is shaded and comfortable and has access to water and all those things.
00:38:30
Josh
yeah
00:38:30
Alexis
for processing.
00:38:34
Brett
So you don't have to like, yeah, for processing or for taking a, taking a beat. So you don't have to have a,
00:38:39
Josh
Yeah.
00:38:41
Brett
four minute walk in the bean down heat back to your shade.
00:38:41
Josh
I see it.
00:38:44
Brett
ah I think that's just one of those we we think about production systems and we think about maximizing efficiency and in those ways.
00:38:45
atack2010
Yeah.
00:38:51
Brett
But we there's also, you know, small changes you can make that will keep you from passing out and going to the hospital, which is a big boost to efficiency and productivity because you will do zero work while you are laid up with heat stroke.
00:39:05
Josh
Right.
00:39:06
Alexis
Yeah.
00:39:06
Brett
um
00:39:07
Josh
ah That reminds me of like there was kind of a rule like when you were trying to figure out a fertilizer application or something like that, something that involved doing some kind of math. The rule was don't do math in the direct sunlight. Like when you're doing a calculation, get into the barn.
00:39:19
Alexis
yeah
00:39:22
Josh
It's not going to come out. You're not going to get it right.
00:39:25
atack2010
There's this urgency to stay alive while you're out in the full sun and Kentucky summers. Yeah.
00:39:29
Alexis
Yeah, that feels accurate. I saw a farmer, they were harvesting carrots and it was, you know, 90 degrees outside recently. And so they just put a pop-up tent up and they harvested carrots and then moved the pop-up tent because they were doing it by hand, right?
00:39:41
atack2010
Yeah.
00:39:41
Josh
Nice.
00:39:43
Alexis
And so then they would just move the pop-up tent like every couple minutes.
00:39:44
Josh
Slick.
00:39:47
Alexis
And, uh, I was like, genius.
00:39:49
Josh
time Einstein over here.
00:39:53
atack2010
Well, that's one of the motivations when we I told you we relocated just the home garden. But one of the things I wanted to do is one side of the lower yard next to the creek is all it's shaded by a bunch of boxed elder trees, just so it's some scrub trees, but a whole grove of those things of boxed elder trees down there. So we drug down a couple of Adirondack chairs down there next to them, built a fire pit.
00:40:13
Josh
and
00:40:15
atack2010
And so that's off to the side of the garden. And it's a really pleasant place to just go and sit.
00:40:20
Alexis
Mm.
00:40:20
Josh
and
00:40:20
atack2010
ah Because it never gets that hot it can it seems like if it's a hundred degrees out It'll be 20 degrees cooler under those trees, but it's not far from the garden and it's amazing How much more we go down there and you know kind of mess around look at the garden water the garden Jennifer goes and picks her flowers But it's a nice place to be because it's a comfortable place to get out of the Sun in and out once again It's a home garden, ah you know, so we can kind of do that
00:40:37
Josh
Yeah.
00:40:42
Josh
Is it? Yeah.
00:40:46
Josh
Is it deep enough for you to just lay in the water and the creek?
00:40:50
atack2010
ah It is. We swim a lot down there.
00:40:52
Josh
Nice.
00:40:52
atack2010
We've got we've got video evidence.
00:40:52
Josh
Yes.
00:40:54
atack2010
We fish and swim and kayak and you know do all the things. in the it's I think it's the largest creek that's not a river in the state. So yeah, we we have fun night down next to the creek. But there's lots of trees. And yeah I wish we had more sunlight for the garden sometimes because we don't get full sun exposure down there. But I would take the trade-offs any day because it's really pleasant. But there's lots of chiggers in those trees.
00:41:15
Brett
Did you say it's Elkhorn?
00:41:17
atack2010
So that's the only thing. Elkhorn Creek, yeah.
00:41:19
Brett
Yeah.
00:41:20
atack2010
It's it's a it's a it's a lots of smallmouth bass, anecdotally, in that creek.
00:41:23
Brett
Yeah. Well, I was going to say it was, it was used to be at least one of the premier smallmouth bass creeks in the United States.
00:41:24
atack2010
So.
00:41:28
atack2010
Oh, there's lots of fish still in there. Oh, it's it's good fishing.
00:41:31
Brett
Uh, yeah. Teddy Roosevelt, Teddy Roosevelt fished the Elkhorn and like wrote about it in his journals and stuff.
00:41:35
atack2010
Oh, really?
00:41:37
Brett
Yeah.
00:41:38
Alexis
Wow.
00:41:39
atack2010
I mean, there's still lots of good fish in there, so tell Tyler any time there's kayaks down on the creek, so. Yeah, it's but yeah, it's good stuff.
00:41:46
Alexis
He's a, he's a boat man now, so.
00:41:48
Brett
Well, so the so the you know, does anybody else have any other aspects of the heat kind of?
00:41:49
atack2010
Oh man, what kikes a boat.
00:41:57
atack2010
I will just give a shout out to home lawns. I mean, I know how you guys love home lawns.
00:42:03
Alexis
They're fine.
00:42:03
Brett
Hey, I'm I'm moderate here, okay.
00:42:03
atack2010
so
00:42:06
atack2010
Okay. Okay. I like moderation, um, in some things, but home lawns, when it's this hot and most of our home lawns, I'm just making a baseline assumption that, well, most, most home lawns here that I've dealt with are cool season grasses, blue grass, and mostly, uh, some kind of fescue. But the last thing you want to do is most short because You mow short, then the sunlight penetrates into the ground and it's already dry and it gets drier because of more sunlight penetration. It's a vicious, never-ending cycle. So you have to be careful with mowing short, especially this time of year. Leave your grass long and what you're trying to do is improve the health of the plant in multiple ways. but
00:42:44
atack2010
One of the main things you're doing is simply trying to shade the ground by mowing just as high as you can.
00:42:49
Josh
and
00:42:51
atack2010
And the next thing you have to be careful of is mowing anytime it's 90 degrees or so out, you're doing damage to your home lawn. It causes a tremendous amount of stress and yourself, but I said,
00:43:00
Josh
And yourself, right?
00:43:00
Alexis
in yourself, yeah.
00:43:02
Josh
Your mind.
00:43:04
atack2010
Yeah, I had to work with these commercial, one of the things I did before, you know, my current position was I worked with a landscape company and ah there was just a lot of damage to these big commercial landscapes and and it wasn't comfortable for the crews. So we adopted a policy after a while of we didn't do that during the middle of the day if it was very hot and very dry for the grasses health and for the crews, the mowing crews health, ah both of those things.
00:43:26
Brett
Thank
00:43:28
atack2010
So watch out for your home lawn.
00:43:30
Brett
you.
00:43:31
atack2010
Anytime it's hot and dry, the less you can mow, the better. The higher you can mow, the better. Don't fertilize. ah you know When those conditions are present, unless you're you know fully irrigated, then it's fine. You can be on a more aggressive fertility schedule if you're a commercial turf. and you're fully irrigated, it's fine. But if you're a typical homeowner with no irrigation, don't fertilize when it's hot and dry, and you'd be very, very cautious about any kind of weed control that you put down, because that can act as an additional stressor stressor to your home lawn, and that will cause you problems when it's hot and dry out, like it has been.
00:44:03
Josh
Mmm.
00:44:08
Alexis
So just leave your lawn alone when it's hot and dry, okay?
00:44:09
atack2010
and Leave it alone, leave it alone.
00:44:12
Alexis
Leave it alone.
00:44:13
atack2010
It's it's struggling for its life there. So yeah, just kind of chill out on your lawn, yeah.
00:44:17
Brett
When I, in the, in the early years when our, when our lawn was a little more robust, I would intentionally cut it ahead of hot
00:44:17
Alexis
And wear your sunscreen.
00:44:27
atack2010
You would threaten it.
00:44:28
Brett
hot periods because I was trying to like take some of the vitality out of it so I didn't have to cut it as much.
00:44:32
Josh
Yeah, yeah.
00:44:32
atack2010
Yeah.
00:44:32
Josh
Yeah, I was going to say, if you're mad at your lawn, scalp it. Now is the time.
00:44:36
Brett
Yeah.
00:44:36
atack2010
Yeah. Go after it.
00:44:37
Brett
I would not go out and do it when it was 90 degrees but I would try to do it so it had to go through 90 degrees freshly cut so that's I don't know.
00:44:37
atack2010
Go after it.
00:44:40
Josh
so Make it bald with he bald with no hat.
00:44:45
Brett
i
00:44:45
Alexis
Yeah.
00:44:46
atack2010
It's like getting a haircut. That's like cutting off all of your hair. Yes. Yes. Ooh, that's a good one. I like to remember that, Josh.
00:44:52
Brett
Well I guess I guess one strategy for dealing with the heat
00:44:52
atack2010
That's perfect. Perfect.
00:44:58
Brett
is to flee from it.
00:44:59
Josh
Run like a coward.
00:45:02
Brett
Yeah. And in our in our hemisphere, that includes going north, as Ray said about about vacations.
00:45:11
Josh
Mm-hmm.
Farewell to Josh and Vermont's Cool Climate
00:45:12
Brett
But some of ah some of us may be doing that in a more...
00:45:16
Josh
In a less vacation sort of way?
00:45:17
Brett
Yeah. Yeah, more...
00:45:18
atack2010
Yeah, less vacationing.
00:45:19
Josh
Yeah. and So Brett is ah referring to this as my last episode because I will be leaving. I'm taking a job up in Vermont, which is a little bit cooler climate. They described their summers as mild, which that works for me.
00:45:35
Alexis
Which is how we describe our winters here. so
00:45:37
Josh
Right, right.
00:45:38
atack2010
Yeah.
00:45:38
Josh
Yeah, it's very similar in the Curpen Climate Index to to this place in Northern Kentucky. It's like ah they describe it as precipitation throughout, whereas as here it's hot summers, there it's mild summers.
00:45:51
atack2010
What is, did you know the average temperature up there? Just curious. joe I've got this fascination. I've told Josh before with Vermont anyway.
00:45:56
Josh
I
00:45:57
atack2010
anyway but
00:45:57
Josh
don't have the average temperature memorized, unfortunately, but they do they get pretty routine like snow coverage.
00:46:01
atack2010
Yeah, it's going to be a pleasant for us.
00:46:05
Josh
It's very similar to um kind of very blue side of the mountains, Eastern Kentucky and West Virginia. It's a very like mountain forest state. But yes, that is a somewhat of a longer range drastic strategy for beating the heat would be to run for your life.
00:46:24
Alexis
I want maple syrup sent to me or else.
00:46:25
Brett
Yeah.
00:46:28
Brett
Daily.
00:46:29
atack2010
Yes. Authentic Vermont, Mabel Serum.
00:46:30
Alexis
Or else.
00:46:30
Josh
Oh, yeah, yeah. That is their like big commodity. That's kind of like fascinating to me is their big ones are maple syrup and cheese. And I mean, that was part of the yeah the interview process was I just drank a quart of maple syrup and ate a one pound block of cheddar.
00:46:41
Alexis
Literally two of my favorite things, so like.
00:46:49
Alexis
And they were like, if you throw up, you're fired.
00:46:49
Josh
And they were like, this guy is part of the solution.
00:46:54
Brett
Yeah.
00:46:56
Alexis
Well, you will be missed.
00:46:58
Josh
Thank you. But if you want awkward interjections, you'll have to make them yourselves from now on.
00:47:06
Alexis
God, I feel like I do everything around here.
00:47:08
Brett
Challenge accepted.
00:47:10
atack2010
Yeah, I don't with this group. I don't think it'll be a problem. Yeah
00:47:15
Brett
But we're gonna we're going to explore and and see about maybe a different fourth host potentially.
00:47:15
Alexis
Well,
00:47:23
Brett
But ah Josh, obviously the four of us started this from the beginning. We're we're well over a year now of of podcasting and it's been a ah lot of fun. And obviously we thank you and we'll miss you, but we we wish you the best of luck in in Vermont. um And we will,
00:47:42
Josh
Maybe I could be like a foreign correspondent, you know, like periodically check in as a guest.
00:47:48
Brett
Yeah, wearing like a light sweater in in June.
00:47:48
atack2010
How about like a.
00:47:49
Josh
Yeah, I'll have like a flannel on and like a henley or something and maybe a wool cap, checking in from the igloo.
00:47:53
atack2010
Perfect.
00:47:55
Brett
I like that.
00:47:56
Alexis
It'll be July.
00:47:58
Brett
Splitting, splitting wood during the podcast.
00:47:58
atack2010
You can be like, we'll call you. Yeah, this is our northern Sentinel checking in.
00:48:05
Josh
The moguls are high today, snowboarding is clutch.
00:48:10
Alexis
well um yeah i don't i'm i'm disappointed but also super pumped for you i'm sad you are aism not to echo your mother's words but
00:48:16
Josh
okay
00:48:17
atack2010
Yeah. Your disappointment, Josh.
00:48:18
Josh
This is a familiar feeling. This is our dynamic.
00:48:26
Josh
Josh, I'm very disappointed. I understand and am used to it.
00:48:32
Brett
Disappointed and not surprised.
00:48:34
Josh
but hopeful ah
00:48:37
Alexis
Well, if you have any tips for living in Vermont, ah you can feel free to leave those in a review or an email and we will make sure they get to Josh as tips and where to go, places to eat as those pretty much this most important things to him or places to eat would be.
00:48:52
Josh
Nice. Definitely.
00:48:54
Alexis
helpful. ah So please feel free to share those. You can share them also with us on Instagram at Boyle, I almost said Boyle County, which is where I'm at.
00:49:01
Josh
the
00:49:04
Josh
yeah
00:49:05
Alexis
Nope. At Hort Culture Podcast.
00:49:05
Josh
Yeah.
00:49:08
Alexis
And we would love to hear from you and we'll give Josh ah pass those tips along or any well wishes that you may have. Or if you're just mad in general, you can write that too, but like still five stars.
00:49:16
Josh
yeah and pass pass along death threats, whatever you want to
00:49:18
Alexis
Okay. Death threats, but give it five stars and threats.
00:49:21
atack2010
Well wishes and death threats.
00:49:24
Josh
Good riddance, whatever you want to say.
00:49:25
Alexis
um ah god to Thank God he's gone. If you are a ah bald person who would like the opportunity to be on the show, we're looking for someone. so
00:49:36
Brett
Send a self-addressed postmarked envelope to Ford Culture.
00:49:40
Alexis
And, um, a, we need proof of what wax you like to use on your head. Uh, so that's all right.
00:49:45
atack2010
OK, that's a lot.
00:49:47
Josh
Bye.
00:49:49
Alexis
Well, thanks for being here today with us. You guys, we hope that as we grow this podcast, you will grow with us and that you'll join us next time. Have a good one.