Transcript
Alexis: Hello, and I'm going to apologize for the froggy sound of my voice as is, but luckily we have a guest with us today so you don't have to listen to me very much. ah
Brett: I thought your voice sounded more more toady than froggy.
Jessica : Oh.
Alexis: more to More toady than froggy?
Plant People: Bluesy.
Jessica : Not froggy.
Plant People: Bluesy is a better marketing scheme, Alexis.
Alexis: Okay.
Brett: I don't know, but I mean, i you know.
Alexis: and
Plant People: Say bluesy or sultry. But froggy, I mean, yeah, that's not a good marketing plot.
Jessica : It's more like Willie Nelson, right?
Plant People: Yeah, I don't know.
Alexis: what
Jessica : Like when you like had a like a music teacher like in elementary school, she would like tell you pinch your nose and then sing, and you could sound like Willie Nelson.
Plant People: Oh, OK. ah and eyes Yeah. Little Kermit the Frog and Willie Nelson cross, Robert.
Jessica : There you go. Yeah.
Alexis: I ah don't feel like Willie Nelson today.
Plant People: You really don't feel good.
Alexis: No.
Jessica : yeah
Plant People: Okay. Sorry.
Brett: For all those taxes you've been paying.
Plant People: Yeah. Man. How do we get here?
Jessica : Not a roll today.
Plant People: I don't even know. We are.
Alexis: I know Brett with the puns today.
Plant People: We're starting off strong.
Alexis: Well, all right.
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: Are you guys ready for your question? I feel like it's a good one.
Plant People: Okay.
Alexis: OK.
Plant People: We're all good.
Brett: you As long as you feel like that.
Jessica : Ready.
Alexis: If you if you could be any Lord of the Rings character, who would you be?
Plant People: Yeah. We'll let you know.
Jessica : Oh, man.
Plant People: Oh, man.
Alexis: Who wants to go first?
Plant People: Somebody's going to go really esoteric on this. I can feel it.
Alexis: I want to be I'll start if I don't know have any takers, I would like to be Gimli personally.
Plant People: Oh, what?
Jessica : Hmm.
Alexis: Yeah, yeah, I feel like I feel like that resonates the best with me.
Brett: So you would like to, and you feel that it fits.
Plant People: Why would you like to? Are you? Are you very?
Alexis: Yeah, yeah, I feel like it's both fitting and I would want it at the same time.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: Can you try in your current state, can you try a Gimli voice for us real quick?
Plant People: Are you very?
Plant People: Yeah, yeah.
Alexis: and I don't know if that's say safe like snot might like come out my nose or something.
Plant People: Oh, yeah, that would not that would not be good. and That would not bode well.
Brett: You could cover the mic with something before you.
Alexis: Yeah, this is a good good CCD mic so I don't want to snot all over it.
Plant People: We've all established Alexis is very dangerous.
Jessica : oh ah Oh man, right.
Alexis: What about you guys?
Plant People: Since you took Gimli, I'm definitely a hobbit, because it's all about that second breakfast. I know. I knew you were going to grab a gas, so I jumped on there, yeah.
Jessica : Well, like, you know, I.
Alexis: There's several hobbits, you can pick one.
Jessica : Younger I would be like I want to be an elf but not like a girly it like elf that doesn't like just hangs out But like like one that would be like I'm gonna go fight people to kind of elf But that hobbit lifestyle man that draws me in I think now as I as I've gotten older I was like, yeah, I think I might want to just live that hobbit lifestyle As I've gotten older
Plant People: You could keep a know I know gardeners Live in the shower Yeah, I was same Jess.
Alexis: Yeah.
Alexis: Potatoes. So Jessica's feeling very Sam in her. in her feelings.
Brett: Oh, Sam.
Alexis: What about you, Brett?
Plant People: Oh, yeah same. Yeah, Brett. What you got? I
Brett: um Well, my wife is a big Lord of the Rings person, um more the books, you know, from way back. and And she she says that I have the like the kind of the energy of a of a dwarf who was raised by hobbits.
Alexis: Yeah.
Alexis: Yeah. That vibe.
Brett: Still, I'm like a head taller than all of the other people around, but culturally fitting in.
Alexis: So that checks.
Jessica : yeah
Alexis: yeah no that checks little got some Gandalf in here yeah it was
Brett: ah But we were talking about this once upon a time, and and are ah Tim Woods, of we who we work with, said, dwarf, I think.
Jessica : Okay.
Brett: I'd say you're a wizard. And I was like, oh, thank you.
Plant People: Oh, wow.
Brett: That's really nice.
Jessica : Like yeah, thank you.
Brett: Thank you.
Plant People: Are you always on time or what?
Jessica : That's a nice compliment.
Brett: I don't know if that was a very good Tim or not.
Plant People: up bread yeah
Brett: I don't know. it was meant it was meant in ah in a positive
Alexis: All right, and our wonderful guest today, Bethany, do you have a Lord of the Rings character you resonate with or you feel you want to be?
Bethany Cox: So, I don't know if I wanna be, but I definitely wake up most days feeling like Gollum.
Jessica : Oh, goodness.
Plant People: a
Bethany Cox: I'm like, I have a one and a half year old and I just feel like I am just like a troll.
Plant People: Okay. Okay.
Brett: It was meant in a positive way.
Bethany Cox: I'm not a troll, but I feel like I'm a troll. But admittedly, I have not read or seen any of the Lord of the Rings.
Brett: Wow.
Bethany Cox: I've just gone down different fantasy book choices.
Alexis: Oh my God.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: Sure.
Bethany Cox: have kept to me from it, um and I've definitely read more Harry Potter growing up, so yeah.
Alexis: but's right
Alexis: Okay.
Jessica : Yeah. that could be That should be our question for next time, Harry Potter.
Alexis: Yeah. Harry Potter related. It was one or the other. I just went with Lord of the Rings. It was.
Brett: So do you have like a fixation on a particular object that you won't let anyone, including your one and a half year old touch?
Bethany Cox: um I mean, honestly, I hide treats in the house um from my husband, from my child. um Yeah, Trader Joe's has like peanut butter covered, or no, chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels that have almost caused like marital fights.
Plant People: Ah, your precious trees.
Alexis: it
Alexis: o
Jessica : Mm.
Brett: Hmm.
Bethany Cox: Like I buy two packages when I go and somehow my husband eats all of that all of his and then eats mine and I'm like, I'm gonna burn this house down.
Plant People: honorable
Alexis: Mmm You are dead to me
Bethany Cox: um So yes, yeah, I definitely like hold certain things like with an obsession.
Brett: You could say it's ah it's a precious resource.
Bethany Cox: that Yes, my precious.
Plant People: Yes, precious commodity.
Brett: I see.
Bethany Cox: Yes.
Brett: i see yeah What about ah but about your like camera equipment? are you is that Is that something you'd be interested in in talking about?
Bethany Cox: but
Brett: Or like and do you let people use it? or
Bethany Cox: Yeah, no, definitely would be down to talk about it. Um, I actually found some of my like first equipment the other day and it was hanging on by a thread. So that, and yes.
Jessica : Well Loved.
Bethany Cox: Yeah. Well -loved for sure. At the time it was definitely like my precious. Um, but now it is in the box to go to Goodwill because it has seen better days.
Alexis: yeah
Bethany Cox: so Um, and I have definitely moved on from that to better things, better horizons for sure.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: Well, cool. Well, before we start talking more about these better horizons that you have found, Bethany, introduce yourself a little bit to our to our public, to our, what do we what do we call them? Our sprouts?
Brett: The true leaves.
Alexis: Our true leaves, yeah.
Bethany Cox: Oh my gosh, wonderful. um Well, thank you so much guys for having me on. um So my name is Bethany Cox. I am with the Kentucky Horticulture Council. um So we're an ag nonprofit that has been around since 1990. And we work to support horticulture within the state um through farms, through different um other organizations along with us and then also supporting statewide research through University of Kentucky, KSU, different were ah universities. um But we also help to support and promote horticulture across the state to consumers. So it's been really great. I've been with the Hort Council for four and a half years now. um Started back in 2020, which was
Bethany Cox: A crazy wild ride, um especially like being able to get out on a farm and get out of my house. It was really wonderful. um But yeah, so we get to work with the lovely CCD folks, Extension. We work with um UK across the board in a bunch of different areas. um But we have member organizations and um we work with Oak, we work with KCard, really just a whole gambit. so We're here as a support support group and yeah, I get to work with farmers every day and it's wonderful.
Alexis: sweet yeah my brain is full of snot somebody else is gonna have to
Bethany Cox: a
Plant People: I was going to say, it seems like every time I met a big event, um, Bethany, that I see, uh, you know, some of the council folks there, you know, a lot of the big statewide programs, you said you work with other organizations, but I see you guys working with a lot of and individual programs around the state of Kentucky too, like all the programs all the time.
Plant People: It seems like either you're at the front, you know, someone with your group is at the front desk doing registration and working the program or just attending the program. So you guys seem to be everywhere. You're kind of like Santa Claus.
Plant People: I mean, you're everywhere, so.
Bethany Cox: Thank you. That is like the best compliment. Yeah, there is um four of us. So that's actually amazing that you feel like that. um We're all across the state and we all work from home. um And so currently, I feel like conference season gets earlier and earlier every week every year.
Plant People: Yeah, absolutely.
Jessica : Yes.
Bethany Cox: Right now, I feel like we are like every single conference. We're tabling or we're dropping by to say hi to people or somebody's giving a talk somewhere and and everything.
Bethany Cox: So yeah, it's,
Alexis: Thanks.
Bethany Cox: of a strong four -person team for sure.
Brett: Well, the so TLDR, the Hort Council is awesome, but that's not the focus today. The focus today is on Bethany being awesome, and in the specific ways that she is awesome, which some of the things that you're
Alexis: facts
Plant People: individually often.
Brett: ongoing but earlier work that I think about is some of the like the seasonal cooking videos um where you're kind of preparing stuff using seasonal ah produce, seasonal horticultural products, but also a lot of on -farm stuff. And I think of you know you're you're oriented toward marketing ah and and discussions of that while also promoting the horticultural industry as a whole. And I would just be curious, like, how did you get started, you know, for for people who either are thinking about doing some video stuff for their own farms, or and people who are just kind of interested in in maybe even a work or a career like this, how did you get started with the digital storytelling, media, any of that stuff?
Bethany Cox: Yeah, so um going back like probably way farther than you want to like talk about, but I have um always been really interested. I was a really picky eater. like Chicken nuggets only would refuse to eat anything else. I was very stubborn, and strong -minded, um much to my parents dismay. um But I got involved in cooking classes when I was about 10.
Bethany Cox: really fell in love with it the peer pressure of other kids eating things made me eat things um so yeah exactly i know i'm like it's not all bad um yeah maybe that's why i like have anxiety still i don't know maybe that wasn't working on it no and exactly yes yes no but i um really enjoyed doing the cooking classes and kind of from there it just
Jessica : and Good peer pressure, right?
Plant People: Yeah, not bad.
Plant People: know That's why you have the snacks. That's it.
Jessica : Yes.
Bethany Cox: like developed into I really wanted to be in the kitchen. I liked eating, um, eating in general. I mean, we all do. Um, but just getting creative in the kitchen. And so I went to the university of Kentucky. Um, I ended up working at the university of Kentucky's food connection, which is incredibly amazing. Um, if there are any students that are listening, you need to go to a cooking class. You need to work there. Chef Tanya is the best. Um, she's a friend and mentor and During my time there, you know, I really got involved in the like local food scene. um So, you know, caring about where your produce comes from, caring about your farmer and your community and all of the things that went into that. um I started working at the farmer's market during that time um for a farm specifically and really just got absolutely enveloped in this world. um So 2020 happens.
Bethany Cox: I'm still at the Food Connection and Chef Tanya was, everyone was pivoting at that time. So everything was digital. you know We're still trying to kind of act like things are normal -ish, as normal as it can be. um And so she started doing virtual cooking classes. um you know It was a great way for people to feel somewhat of like a community or a connection.
Bethany Cox: um It was very entertaining to watch.
Alexis: Thank you.
Bethany Cox: And it was just, it was fun, um something fun to do. And so I was helping behind the scenes with that. um And then this job at the work council popped up and it was kind of just like a really beautiful natural progression from the food connection.
Bethany Cox: um Cindy brought me on, Cindy Finneseth brought me on um And we had this awesome grant that was covering like farms, farmers markets and agritourism. And it kind of was a very broad grant that was just kind of like, get creative, do what you want, it's marketing. um And so yeah, my my role then and now is direct marketing program coordinator. um And so it was really just how can we get both farmers and consumers involved in the marketing of farms. um So I mean, immediately first thing I was like, okay, so how can we do some digital content? um And how can I incorporate cooking into this? um And so, yeah, I started going out and visiting farms. I have had and have a DSLR camera. um And so I kind of just went out to farms. i spent
Bethany Cox: two hours talking with the farmer, just kind of getting an idea of their history, um you know some just really interesting things about them.
Bethany Cox: Because at that time, we were really all trying to have farmers share their story.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Bethany Cox: And I think it's kind of ah like comical now, because we all say it 14 times over every time we talk to people or you know give a talk or something. um Still very important.
Bethany Cox: But at that time, we were like, OK, people want to know you.
Alexis: Right.
Bethany Cox: um And so, yeah, so I went out, I would walk around the farm, I would get some, to me, cool pictures and um um come and get some produce from them, um come back, edit the pictures, see what I liked, and then would film a video.
Alexis: it
Bethany Cox: um and I, please, no one go back to like the first video. I have to constantly like go back and edit like this and that from them.
Bethany Cox: And I can't even tell you how much I like shrivel into my own skin when I watched like the first couple. I mean, even like recent ones, you know, you always look back, but that first video I did live, which was not,
Alexis: belt.
Bethany Cox: something I would suggest. um But it was live and I was like trying to make conversation the whole time to my two viewers. And it was just, I think I was making like apple fritters, which is not something you should do on camera.
Jessica : Oh.
Bethany Cox: crying So, um,
Brett: we'll have We'll have links to those in the show notes.
Bethany Cox: yeah
Plant People: Oh yeah, we'll definitely have direct links to those.
Jessica : Yeah.
Bethany Cox: i not Please, oh gosh, yeah. um No, so it kind of just, since things were within my control or creative control, I really just kind of changed things from there because I didn't have the technology like technical capacity to do live videos.
Bethany Cox: um I didn't have the technical capacity to do live videos that way. um And so I pivoted to, okay, I'm going to do ones over top. And that's a model that I've stuck with, but things change so much. I mean, I went from like 30 minute videos down to now I'm doing like 12 second videos.
Bethany Cox: And it's one of those things that it's like, I would love, I think there is an avenue for doing longer videos, but I think right now we're trying to keep with like attention spans.
Alexis: Mhmm.
Alexis: Yeah.
Bethany Cox: And that's not to sound bad at all.
Jessica : Mm hmm. No.
Bethany Cox: I mean, I assume Reel's like nobody's business, hu but like the goal is like to entice someone and then they look at the recipe and they realize like in the caption, I talked about where the farm was and things like that.
Jessica : so
Bethany Cox: And now like they're interested in it. um So yeah, that was just like a 30 ,000 foot overview.
Jessica : yeah Well, I know those videos worked because they captured my attention because I used to watch them all the time.
Brett: That's great
Jessica : And like, I think, you know, we forget, like you said, those 12 second videos, how much work that still goes into doing that, right? When you're doing those recipes from, well, just visiting the farm, the getting the produce to the prep, and then they're not short, you know, that recipe
Bethany Cox: Oh my gosh.
Jessica : you're showing in that 12 seconds, that really takes like 30 plus minutes to, you know, put together and do so.
Bethany Cox: Oh my gosh. Well, depending, yeah, depending on the recipe, I mean, it's crazy when I'll fill out my time sheet and I'm like, oh my goodness, I spent four hours doing this video.
Bethany Cox: Like, and I haven't even edited it yet.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Bethany Cox: Um, but yeah, I mean, Especially if because when you're trying to show like the best of the best on camera, it was like, okay, I didn't like that swirl that I did with the plan.
Alexis: Maybe.
Plant People: Mhmm.
Bethany Cox: So I'm gonna actually do that four more times. And then this has to cool or um I have like a little hot plate that I would film so that I could you know, cook it on camera.
Alexis: Well.
Bethany Cox: Um, but sometimes that would not work with a certain pan. So I would have to cook it and then bring it back over and then just all these different things. So, I mean, I always made a mess, um, for sure.
Bethany Cox: But, but yeah, there's, there's so much more that goes into it. And when you see like a eight second video and you're like, Oh, cutesy, they cranked that out and nobody's business.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: Movie magic.
Bethany Cox: Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Bethany Cox: And I'm like, Oh,
Plant People: now yeah that that so Does it all come back to you now when professors used to say it is harder to write briefly than it is to to write something like long form?
Plant People: and The same is true for video, it very much is, especially in the case that you're talking about, it sounds like.
Bethany Cox: Yes.
Bethany Cox: Like at least with live videos, you don't edit that. Like you just post it.
Alexis: Right.
Plant People: Yeah.
Bethany Cox: I mean, unfortunately it is what it is. you know yeah Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah, there's no post -processing, yeah.
Bethany Cox: But also you don't have to listen to your own voice when you're editing or doing audio voiceovers.
Jessica : over and over again. Yeah.
Bethany Cox: Oh my gosh.
Plant People: Yeah, yeah.
Bethany Cox: That's, I mean the editing, so
Jessica : what
Bethany Cox: When things moved from the live, that one video, the live to, um you know, like I said, still longer videos to, you know, trying to keep them under 10 minutes, I was doing the voiceover for those.
Bethany Cox: The voiceover itself, because I'm me, took so long because I would record it. I was like, that was awkward. Or I'd record it and say, that didn't get the point across that I wanted it to.
Plant People: Yeah.
Bethany Cox: Because I was talking about the farms and I was trying to really convey, you know, what amazing farmers we have in the state. um And if I wrote a script, it sounded too scripted.
Bethany Cox: So I was just trying my best and it just took so long, but yeah.
Plant People: And there really is so much art, I mean, and science, you know, to getting the point across, but there, there is definitely a lot of art and it's so deceptive when I see, you know, content creators, uh, doing short form stuff and it takes a million takes to condense 30 minutes down into 20 seconds.
Bethany Cox: Yep.
Plant People: And it's, it really is tough, but do you find that ah you, I know you've worked with different formats. Do you find, do you, um, use different formats to reach different audiences, uh, much at all, uh,
Bethany Cox: Yeah, so ah rich so we post on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Bethany Cox: um And when we were doing the ah slightly longer videos, um those didn't necessarily translate very well to Instagram.
Bethany Cox: At the time, reels weren't a thing. um I think it was like IGTV or something like that.
Plant People: Yeah. Mm hmm.
Jessica : Mm.
Bethany Cox: Man, throwback. Um, and so I don't think we were getting the translation across to Instagram. We had really, really great interactions on Facebook, um, which is kind of what we just focused on at the time, because ah farmers were sharing, like the whole point was this was a way for the farm itself to market and to show their customers, you know, who they are. And for people who are were, were,
Bethany Cox: on the Hort Council's page, they could see, oh wow, this is in my area. I can you know go visit them, or I can support them at the farmer's market, or I can buy their CSA. um So at the time, we really like put a lot of effort into the Facebook um area of it. the Now that Instagram is on Reels,
Bethany Cox: We actually focus more on that because with meta, you can just cross post and it ends up on Reels on Facebook.
Jessica : Mm.
Bethany Cox: And honestly, that made it a lot easier. And on YouTube, when we post it, if it's short enough, it ends up on their shorts. um And we kind of just let that go as it once.
Bethany Cox: um So that as of right now, we haven't felt the need to do different like tailoring um just because when you're I've been filming,
Bethany Cox: um like up and down. um but it's The way that you have to film to get all of it is just difficult. um but yeah so and i only This probably shows that I'm like an amateur because this is not at this point the only part of my job now. um That was a huge part you know, three years ago, four years ago.
Bethany Cox: um I'm working on other projects now that I can't devote as much time to this. um But yeah, I use iMovie. I have not had an issue with that thus far, aside from running out of storage on my laptop.
Plant People: Mhm.
Plant People: Oh yeah.
Bethany Cox: um You know, how many family photos can you delete before it's like, this feels really bad.
Jessica : Ha ha!
Bethany Cox: um But I've really enjoyed that. I have coworkers that have worked with Adobe um and that definitely has a much bigger learning curve with it. um But I just find the things that I can use that are working, like if it's not broke, why fix it?
Plant People: Sure. It sounds like you've looked into the numbers a lot on that stuff.
Brett: Yeah, I think what?
Plant People: So it's cool. Yeah. Sorry, Brett. Go ahead.
Brett: That's okay. I mean, I would just say, one, um you're just to say, you know, that's not amateur, that's that's choosing an elegant solution for a problem. But it also, I think, importantly, reflects ah the position that a lot of folks and in our producer and business communities are in too, where they're trying to do lots of different things. And so I think that there's a lot of times where you'll have perspectives from having actually done it while also having competing other interests that allows you to speak to supporting them. And I'm curious, have you seen interest in uptake of ah some of the video content, whether that just be simple iPhone shot reels or from the producer community?
Bethany Cox: Oh yeah, 100%. Especially because the currently the media that does best is video content. um That's something that I think Brett, you and I have talked about with farmers markets with different farms. Every time that I'm talking with um farmers, I will say, you know, live videos do best, which I completely understand if that's not something that you feel comfortable with, because personally, I do not flourish, like I said, live. um But I know a lot of markets that will do that. But video in general, if you can get that out there. And like I said, especially like a shorter video that can capture attention, um it's the best thing that you can do. So I've seen a lot of different farms and producers
Bethany Cox: um that are getting into that, you know, in whatever way that they can. And some of them are starting out and they'll just film, you know, a day on the farm or they'll do, I mean, they're not going to sit down necessarily and take three hours to edit something. um And that's, you know, not what I'm aiming for when I talk about this. um It's really just showing snippets of their lives or you know, showing what they made with their produce. That's been the the main thing that I've been trying to encourage them is just like show people what you eat, you know, like how you use your butternut squash because man, if you're 12 weeks into your CSA and you have four pounds of zucchini, like everyone wants to figure out the best way to make it, like how to use it, not waste it. Um, and everyone gets inspiration from each other. So,
Bethany Cox: I definitely have seen an uptake in video content and there's a a ton of interest in making um videos. So yeah, it's exciting to see it for sure.
Brett: So you you gave the you said you said DSLR.
Bethany Cox: Yes.
Brett: ah That's a that's a type of camera. um And and if basically, if you've bought a decent digital camera in the last 10 years or so, it was very likely a DSLR, it might be a mirrorless camera, but it's it's likely a DSLR.
Bethany Cox: It is, yes.
Brett: So it's a achievable, attainable type ah camera, what other equipment and stuff? Or an even like, as you're setting stuff up, you know, do you use like lights from your house? Or do you use like, ah what what kind of other kind of stuff do you use? What's what's your setup like now?
Bethany Cox: Yeah, so um when I first started out, I had a melamine cutting board that I covered in contact paper um and so that I had some kind of like steady spot that looked somewhat okay, because I was in an apartment and didn't have you know the most beautiful um countertops. um So that was nice. It kept continuity as well. I had a lighting, a very inexpensive lighting system um that I would use especially because there were times that I was filming at night and so that was nice that I could somewhat control the shadows. um I mean like I said this is these like I'm I am an amateur I have more experience now but I wasn't gonna be able to spend you know $200 on a really incredible lighting system and And I don't think that's necessary, like at least in the area that I'm in. I think I get the point across and I'm very proud of the videos. I think um some of them have turned out really beautiful. um And so currently, so we moved from from that. um I have a really nice board that I have magnetic sheets that go on top now um that have different backgrounds. So it has like marble. um There are options that you could do like wood
Bethany Cox: um different things like that. So it just keeps a really clean nice background. um I have, I call it like my claw that clips to the table I film on and it just holds my phone over top of it um so that I can get those overhead cooking shots. um I use natural lighting now because I think it looks best. um That does limit you if you know you need to film early in the morning or you know right now when it gets dark at 5 30 p .m. um but But I have found that like that looks best to me. um And I have links for all of this stuff. um I did a budget Tabooji filming graphic a year or so ago. um And I have a presentation as well where I talked about you know if you're doing this at the most basic level, you really don't have to spend maybe not any money. I mean, if you have a place that you can shoot, you have a phone,
Bethany Cox: You know, just use the software on Instagram reels, things like that. um There are ways to do this. And then if you really want to elevate it, there are options. um So answering part of that question, too, I don't use my DSLR to do filming. I have before. And I think it has a time and a place. But for me, doing the reels or shorter videos It's just, I don't need to use that. um That has been really helpful for me to get pictures on farms. um But I've seen some really incredible iPhone pictures as well that farmers have shot that I'm like, that's gorgeous. like I couldn't have even gotten that on like a fancy, fancy camera. So um yeah, I think we've done different presentations on just like, you know, how to get those shots with your phone.
Bethany Cox: Um, that I think just like knowing what to look for or knowing your lighting kind of can make a huge difference. Um, but yeah.
Plant People: You mentioned that, um, you know, you've worked with producers and I'm pretty sure some of my producers have attended your program because, uh, they've kind of alluded, uh, to some of the things that you just said, but, but when working with like a new producer, that's just getting started and they want to have more of a social presence, I mean, is, and I know you've done programs on this, but how do you normally direct them? I heard, I've heard you've mentioned, you know, fancy, fancy cameras just now, but also, uh, some incredible results that you can get from something like a camera on a, on a phone.
Plant People: But how do you normally direct like producers that want to get into this like quickly and look somewhat these have good results too?
Bethany Cox: Yeah, um so I think the first thing is just be realistic about how much you're going to post. um One of the things that we always talk about is like you want to keep consistent.
Bethany Cox: So if that means that you can only do one video a week or one video every two weeks even to start out, like if you can commit to that, then go with that. um Don't set out and say you're going to do six videos this week unless you're just filming your day and that's really easy to do.
Plant People: Yeah.
Bethany Cox: um So ah yeah, that's always my first step is just kind of like be realistic about how much time you have. um If you can do any kind of pre -filming and then just schedule it out through Meta um on your desktop or even on your phone, that's always really helpful because you can schedule, you know,
Jessica : Mm.
Bethany Cox: a month in advance if you want, um something that you've had ready because you had an extra 30 minutes. um That's always really helpful because everyone is so busy all the time. um And then yeah, I would just say start simple. I don't, like I said, I don't think you need, especially starting out to get the nicest, most expensive camera. And honestly, even if you wanted to, the learning curve on those can be really hard and takes so much time.
Bethany Cox: um So I would say just start with your phone. If you have something that you can prop it against or I've done stacks of books and then you just like put your phone over the edge and let the camera shoot down.
Plant People: ah Yeah.
Bethany Cox: home You know, I mean, you're not aiming for perfection. If anything, I think it's more enticing to have those kind of real human parts of your life out to customers.
Bethany Cox: um So yeah, just start simple. You have, if anyone has questions, I'm like here to help. Um, you don't have to do, you know, your own original recipe video. You can find something on Pinterest and just say like, Hey, I made this and this was awesome. And take a look like that kind of thing. Um, but yeah, just getting started, I think honestly is like the first step.
Plant People: Yeah, and I'm guessing like ah just and the ones that seem like that do it well or, you know, have pretty good hits, pretty good metrics behind some of the social content that they do, the farms that I work with, it seems like that they they do look at the numbers. They look at the time of day when they post and see what gets them the best hit or they just go online and do a little reading of frequency and timing and things like that. And they have a very specific interest and they go after that.
Plant People: And, you know, usually them being producers and marketers wrapped all ah up in one big ball. They don't have any time whatsoever. So and that's the thing they go for is, you know, the best camera, which is the one that they have on them, which is typically a phone.
Plant People: And then they figure out, you know, all of these pieces to it. But there's definitely pieces and the ones that do it well are the ones that look at the numbers and see what gets the most bang for the buck, I guess.
Bethany Cox: Mm -hmm, that's for sure.
Plant People: um But we see that we see that a lot. So it's ah it's all the things you're talking about, which is cool.
Alexis: it It seems to like something is better than nothing, you know, like, I think we all get caught up um in the perfectionism of it all.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Alexis: And, you know, like you said, like the the perfect, you know, voiceover or whatever, but
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: you know just taking a eight second video if you've got all of these bins of squash and you've got you know all these colors of the bins and just doing like a quick sweep with your phone to show those colors like I think it's hard because like as the farmer you don't see it as special anymore right because you're around it all the time but remember it's like remembering that you're customer your clientele are not constantly surrounded by these things.
Alexis: So they want to see, you know, the dog walking down between the tomatoes, um or, you know, setting on the tractor, or just, you know, you pulling in bins on the wagon, like, this is a life that they're most of the time not familiar with.
Bethany Cox: Mm
Alexis: And so it can be a little 10 second shot, and it doesn't have to be anything
Bethany Cox: hmm.
Alexis: overdone and like I know I have to constantly remind myself that all of this can be new to a lot of people and so just posting something is is better than not posting anything at all if if that's like a channel you're trying to reach.
Plant People: Yeah, you know, and it's interesting that um some of the, you know, and talking with what and I'm thinking of one particular producer, but I'm like, you know, they like, and it's something that you said, Bethany, it's their, their biggest hits or their biggest numbers on things that they posted on whatever platform have come from their kind of ad hoc at the moment, they're kind of raw, rough cut.
Plant People: and But the real there was some moment that they recognized as this is cool. I need to capture this. But they say that that's some of their best numbers is just these moments that happen and they're not real polished. But it's very interesting. I guess that sticks out nowadays where.
Plant People: A lot of the the stuff does look highly post -produced, which is fine. there you know I love the nice slick you know produced look, but it's sometimes these videos, are ah you know they catch your eye or they get your attention that are just sort of rough and real.
Brett: putting the reel back in reels.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Hey, I like it, Brad.
Jessica : Yeah, there you go.
Plant People: Yeah, Brad is here. He is here all day, folks.
Jessica : I think it's great how much you talked and shared about how easy you can do stuff with just a phone, whether it be an iPhone or an Android or whatever you have because I think that can be intimidating for people who want to start marketing.
Plant People: Yeah, I love that.
Jessica : I have a grower in our county who is really bumping up their produce, but they no marketing background. And they're both, um I love them to death. And they could be my grandparents that they're definitely senior citizens, right? And so they're just like, we are not, we have no idea how to start this, you know, but they both have smartphones. So just knowing that they can just use those smartphones to help with their marketing and not have to get so a real fancy camera or anything like that. And they can still be a part of, you know, they can still still do it.
Bethany Cox: Oh, yeah. Yeah. And I mean, what you're talking about, Ray, like the authenticity of it all is really just like that is what people want to see now.
Bethany Cox: Like you said, like, I think because things are looking so perfect in other areas, like people want to see other people's lives looking like theirs.
Plant People: Yeah, it is.
Bethany Cox: They want to see the mistakes they want to see. um I mean, I think Like sometimes people's blooper reels where they completely yeah, I mean ones that like do the best for people um my goodness I've compiled a whole bunch of videos where I've just like spilled things everywhere and I've just like Complete I've shattered a plate.
Plant People: That's the good stuff. Yeah. Yeah.
Bethany Cox: I've like done something and I'm like, okay We need to like compile this because this is this is the real part of it. I mean, this is not Yes.
Plant People: The B roll is the gold. Yeah.
Bethany Cox: Yeah
Plant People: Yeah.
Bethany Cox: I'm not sitting here like having the most incredible, beautiful plate for every single meal. It's like I captured one instance. um Yeah, so, but yeah, I mean, I think it's great.
Bethany Cox: In the world of social media, like, and having a a phone that has a camera on it, you really have like zero barriers um to enter the the marketing area.
Plant People: Uh -huh.
Bethany Cox: um And that is like one of the hardest areas I know that farmers are so busy you know doing all of the things. you know They're taking care of their farm. They're taking care of their family. They're usually working another job. There's so many things going on that the last thing that they're thinking about is marketing. And I totally get it. I mean, we I have this conversation with farmers all the time. um But like Alexa said, like keep it simple. Start with something small. um And yeah, just just start. I think that's the the first goal.
Plant People: And I love the fact that all of these tools we're talking about today and all these platforms, it's like their phone first. So that just eases the barrier. That's that much less friction because everything's designed for a touchscreen now.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Plant People: And even, I mean, I used to be a desktop Photoshop user a little bit back in the day, but now PS express on my, even that's on my phone. I haven't touched Photoshop desktop in a long while for video and photos.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Plant People: It is crazy, but it's a, it is convenient that and that does remove a lot of barriers and people know how to use their phone. So. ah That's, you're halfway there already. So, so cool.
Alexis: What's your favorite video that you've made, you think?
Bethany Cox: um I did a Honey Nut squash gnocchi last year with brown butter and it was so good.
Jessica : ooh
Alexis: Yum.
Bethany Cox: like I was like dancing behind the camera. like I took pictures of it on my phone like just for me that I have i kept. all I don't keep the video once I've posted it um because it just it takes up a lot of data.
Alexis: Fills up, yeah.
Bethany Cox: yeah
Plant People: Yeah.
Bethany Cox: I have saved every one of the filming videos for that because I'm like, the light was just beautiful. I just loved it. But, but yeah, I mean, I love the dessert ones as well.
Bethany Cox: We do um one year I did 24 days of Christmas, which was a lot.
Alexis: A lot, yeah.
Jessica : ah lot yeah
Plant People: Yeah, that's a commitment.
Bethany Cox: Yes.
Plant People: Wow.
Bethany Cox: But now we do 12 days of Christmas um using like local products. and And there's always some kind of treat in there that's really nice to have. and Um, and everything.
Bethany Cox: So yeah, I just, it's really fun and it gets me in like a diff out of a creativity rut. Um, especially, you know, this time of year when there is still a ton of produce that, um, I don't know if like consumers realize that there's a ton still being grown, um, especially with like season extension and high tunnels, um, and greenhouses and and everything.
Jessica : A lot, yeah.
Bethany Cox: Um, but it definitely gets you like trying to get really creative when you're like, okay, so. We don't have tomatoes right now, so what can you...
Alexis: But we have cold Robbie, so.
Bethany Cox: Exactly. And it's like, how can I make Kohlrabi sexy for Christmas?
Alexis: A little crunchy, a little butter, yeah.
Jessica : Yeah!
Bethany Cox: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Plant People: You just said butter.
Brett: Have you tried maybe like branded branded is like Cole Robert.
Bethany Cox: So.
Plant People: My attention just swept back. Butter.
Plant People: How about cool, cool Robbie?
Brett: Yeah, like stuff like Stefano Kelle, you know, Steve, Steve Urkel, Stefano Kelle.
Bethany Cox: Cool. that
Plant People: Oh, nice.
Brett: This is Cole, Cole, Cole Robert.
Plant People: Once we start, we will not stop.
Jessica : you
Plant People: We get going.
Brett: Not your not your grandma's Cole Robbie.
Plant People: That's it.
Brett: I don't know. I feel I feel excited about it.
Bethany Cox: We need that on a shirt.
Plant People: Ooh, yeah. I like it.
Alexis: food Doesn't Food Connection have some really good plant pun shirts now?
Bethany Cox: Oh yes, yes they do.
Alexis: Yeah. Yeah, I'm i'm pretty jealous of that. I want all the plant pun shirts. Cool Robbie. I think that needs to be the next one.
Jessica : That's a good one.
Bethany Cox: yes We'll send the suggestion in, see what they do.
Plant People: See if we can end up on a t -shirt memorialized. It'll be amazing.
Bethany Cox: Ha ha ha.
Plant People: Such good stuff. Um, you know, it seems like farms and farm operations, particularly like or even horticulture operations with all the colors and unique production practices. It lends itself very well.
Plant People: to getting the word out about the all the awesome things that local producers are doing and you nailed it. ah Some producers that are doing the best job, I'm like, oh man, I just, what did you just do? That was so cool. Or they did something that was kind of beautiful and, you know, the sun setting over this, you know, patch of whatever vegetables and they don't see it sometimes. And and I like that when you said that.
Plant People: You just have to kind of see it and know the value in that and the value that it may hold for other people. And hopefully that'll translate into the market in your operation and the bottom line. So it all comes together in the grand scheme of things, but you got to do it. You got to do it.
Plant People: and yeah
Brett: So as we, as we wind down here, i'd I'd love for you to leave us with a couple of the recipes that you've either tried or are wanting to try this time of year. He mentioned there's some, some, uh, uh, good variety of produce.
Brett: And if you, if you factor in value added stuff, a whole lot even more than that. Um, what are some things you think people, but some, some good snacks, uh, whether that be a meal snack or a snack, snack or a dessert snack.
Jessica : h
Brett: whatever sub category of snack using some local products this time of year that that for you is like this is this is the joy of the season.
Bethany Cox: Oh, yes. um Well, I will drop this first because we have Thanksgiving coming up next week. um And one of the most wasted. Here's my food waste part coming out. One of the most wasted leftovers is mashed potatoes. um And so we have a recipe out that I can share um that is for a mashed potato gnocchi.
Bethany Cox: As you can tell, really big gnocchi girl over here. ah But it is super simple.
Jessica : Yum.
Bethany Cox: You just use like a cup of mashed potatoes and then you have this really delicious like pasta pillowy type kind of thing and you get your mashed potatoes out of the fridge if you are not a leftover connoisseur.
Bethany Cox: um But honestly this time of year I am just really excited about squash. um we I kind of just spend all of the summer, like yes, enjoying the produce, but just like, okay, if we make it to October, November, then you're going to get some like sweet potato and butternut squash and, um, I mean all the like wonderful, beautiful ones. Um, so always doing some kind of sweet potato casserole, um, holidays or not. Um, I think like that's, that's a dessert for me, honestly, cause we top it with, you know, the butter and the, um,
Bethany Cox: like brown sugar pecans.
Plant People: As a hobbit, I approve this message of potatoes, this theme of potatoes.
Bethany Cox: Yes, yeah.
Plant People: It all sounds amazing.
Bethany Cox: This time of year, I'm like, give me all of the starches and the carbs and everything, even though it was like 68 degrees yesterday, not like it's time for hibernation. um But yeah, I honestly, I have a lot of recipes queued up for the next month.
Bethany Cox: Um, but for me personally, I always just like to throw like butternut squash in soups and stews. Um, or like honestly, a quinoa salad. Um, you know, it's, which is really good for lunches. Um, but just like a vinaigrette. Um, I'm trying to think, I said the sweet potato gnocchi, uh, or butternut squash gnocchi. Um, I think we're going to do some like caramelized squash, um, recipes in December, which are great. Um,
Bethany Cox: And I believe I've also done like a Hasselback squash before where you like slice it really thin and then you like put stuff in between the layers.
Jessica : Mm.
Bethany Cox: um Really delicious. um But yeah, im I've done French onion mashed potatoes before, which are really good. um Yeah, I'm really sticking to the the carbs theme.
Bethany Cox: but
Plant People: Yeah, it's a good thing.
Bethany Cox: and
Plant People: It's a good thing.
Bethany Cox: Yes, and I did um a broccoli and wild rice casserole last year. That was really good. And I brought it to some holiday meals. um And it's like a great vegetarian side dish that was super creamy and buttery and wonderful.
Bethany Cox: And I had local broccoli, so incredible.
Jessica : Yeah. You're all good to go then for all the holiday, like parties and everything, right?
Bethany Cox: yeah
Jessica : I mean, you have just like a whole bag of recipes to pull from.
Bethany Cox: Yeah, I over commit.
Jessica : and
Bethany Cox: And then it's like, I'm frantically in the kitchen trying to get this all together. And I'm like, why did I do this to myself? But but yeah, it's kind of my love language. Like I love feeding people.
Bethany Cox: and You would think that I would be really confident in it. But every time I make it, I'm like, it's not my best.
Plant People: I
Bethany Cox: But I don't even say that as like, ah like asking for compliments.
Plant People: know.
Bethany Cox: I truly believe I'm like, I messed this one up. But anyway, this is yeah.
Alexis: Too bad, this is what you're getting.
Plant People: And it's amazing anyways, so yeah.
Alexis: So, Bethany, if they want to see all of your wonderful recipes, how do they find all of this great stuff online?
Bethany Cox: and
Bethany Cox: Yes, yeah, so um we are, like I said, Kentucky Horticulture Council, so you can find us on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube. um and our website which is kyhortcouncil .org um and our ad is at kyhortcouncil or at kyhorticulture. And then you can find me personally, um you can send me an email at bethany at kyhortcouncil .org um and I am happy to answer any questions and work with you during this off season.
Bethany Cox: You know, it's going to be super busy. You're probably going to be inundated with info at conferences and everything. But I am here as a like free person to help with anything marketing. So I would love to work with anyone and everyone that's interested.
Bethany Cox: Or if you just want to email about food, I'm also super open about that. Or send me a recipe.
Alexis: ah If you wanna learn how to fold in the cheese, Bethany probably had the video about that.
Bethany Cox: yeah Oh, yeah it's beautiful. yeah Just fold it in.
Alexis: this You just fold just folded it in.
Bethany Cox: so just fold fold it in the cheese
Jessica : But how? How do you fold in the cheese?
Bethany Cox: us
Alexis: Fold in the cheese one more time.
Bethany Cox: just
Alexis: Awesome, all right, well we will make sure to put Bethany's ah info in our show notes. you can find You'll be able to find her link to ah their Instagram on our Instagram page.
Alexis: So if you follow us at Hort Podcast, ah I just blank.
Bethany Cox: Yeah.
Alexis: I'm once again going to blame the snot but we will you can follow us on there. We'll put links in the show notes. And we'll link ah Bethany's awesome videos and they really truly are awesome. And if you just want to like doomscroll but also feel like you're learning something that is where I go to do my doomscroll that actually is not ah bad for me.
Brett: Yeah, I don't have a sense of doom when I watch them. You know, like, huh?
Alexis: Well, doomscroll is a good general um
Plant People: That's to do this, bro.
Bethany Cox: What are you saying Alexis?
Plant People: What are you talking about, Alexis?
Alexis: um Sorry, my new my new term I heard to use instead of doom scrolls dopamine mining.
Brett: and when whenever
Plant People: Man.
Alexis: I'm dopamine mining when I watch those videos.
Plant People: Yes.
Brett: oh
Jessica : Oh, that's a new one.
Plant People: Sounds so much more happy.
Alexis: So yeah, yeah, I like that better.
Brett: Dopa mining.
Alexis: So if you want to dopamine mine with me, you can watch Kentucky Horticulture Council videos.
Brett: mining.
Plant People: Get that shot of happy.
Alexis: ah But thank you Bethany for being here with us today. We really appreciate it. Thank you for my my family also thanks you because I will make your recipes and they will be good. And it's your, you know, thank you. So they thank you as well. Anyways, ah we hope that you keep listening and you continue to enjoy this podcast as we grow it and that you'll join us next time. Have a great one.
