Transcript
Alexis: What is up, plant people?
Jessica : Hello.
Brett: greeting Greetings, greetings.
Alexis: How we doing today?
Plant People: a
Alexis: Feeling planty.
Jessica : Planty.
Plant People: Fill in the winter vibes.
Jessica : Feeling chilly.
Alexis: Yeah. Yeah, what's the like...
Plant People: Chili, like as in the food or the weather.
Jessica : oh
Alexis: it Both.
Jessica : but but no
Plant People: Okay, okay, okay. Just point of clarification.
Alexis: I was gonna say, what is a like what is your general feeling after like the first hard frost or like the first freeze of the year? Because that's where we're at now. like I'm curious on the vibes when you like first walk outside.
Plant People: The cabbage fields all smell funny.
Alexis: Oh, God, that is so true.
Plant People: Yes, crucifers.
Jessica : Yeah, very true.
Alexis: The broccoli fields, you're like oh oh and sulfur in the air.
Plant People: Yeah, not good.
Jessica : my
Plant People: Not good.
Jessica : children were very distressed over our new Guinea and patients because where we have had a warmer fall, like they were still blooming and really tall. And they came outside like the next day and we're like, what the heck?
Alexis: Melted.
Jessica : They're like, what happened? They're like flat.
Alexis: Slimy.
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : And they are. And I was like, yeah, we gotta, we gotta clean that up on a little warmer day now. So.
Alexis: Brett, what's your vibe?
Brett: Well, I used, I used to be a ah cold weather guy, but in recent years I've become much more of a hot weather guy.
Plant People: thank
Brett: And so I am not pleased in the past. I would have been more pleased. I do you think the transitional, like the feeling of like, okay, it's now cold. It's now winter.
Brett: It's now fall, even was something I was missing. I've heard somebody describe it as like a shedding of a skin almost, but overall like, man, I don't like how I don't like the cold.
Alexis: this
Alexis: Yeah. Somebody said that to me recently where I was, I was, we were kind of talking about like the tired that we are at this fall, which is every year, but it just, this year felt weird.
Plant People: Okay. Mmhmm.
Alexis: And someone said, well, yeah, you've not had like that cold yet where you can like really finish up, like this is something in your brain, like a switch flips and you can start cleaning up and like doing these like fall tasks and it feels like you should be doing them.
Plant People: I mean, flowers were blooming but until recently.
Alexis: Yeah. I mean, there are flowers blooming.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: So. So it was, even though you know you can and should and normally would be, you know, chopping those down or ripping them out or whatever, it felt like wrong to do that. And so now there's kind of that like permission almost from mother nature and she's like, okay, okay.
Jessica : That's why I have melted impatience that were I still have to clean up because they were still flowering.
Alexis: All right. Here you go.
Plant People: and Enough's enough. Yeah. Yeah.
Alexis: Yeah. Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah, it's doing that cleanup.
Alexis: There was.
Plant People: I mean, that's it. That flips the switch when you're doing all the cleanup and everything has been kind of nuked.
Alexis: I think I kind of was just like finally when when it happened, not because I particularly like the cold, but it just felt like all my chores were behind and I can't do anything even though I definitely could have, I just didn't.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: How am I going to drink my peppermint mochas when it's 71 degrees outside?
Alexis: ah
Alexis: yeah
Plant People: it the The mood is all wrong. Yeah, that kind of thing.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: Exactly.
Jessica : All like the little cows and stuff, like where we have cows, you know, they already got their like winter fluff.
Alexis: Hmm.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : And then like these temperature swings, and they're like, oh my gosh. And then now they're finally like, I mean, it's cold, right?
Alexis: comfy
Jessica : But it's comfy for them.
Alexis: comfy jealous that is the thing I don't like walking out in the cold it's like my nose has it's been so cold that like breathing through my nose has like burn been burning because it's just like icy up in there so that's a
Plant People: Yeah, I don't know.
Plant People: Yeah, and it seems like it happened all of a sudden. We went, you know, we had these swings here in our wonderful transitional state of ah zone six and seven of Kentucky. I mean one day it's going to be I mean 50 degree temperature swings are getting to be pretty commonplace here and it is tough.
Plant People: I cannot keep up and I know it's tough on animal herds it stresses them when you have snaps back and forth with pneumonia and other problems and but yeah I don't keep up either because the
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Plant People: 25 degrees is a different 25 degrees when two days earlier it was 80 degrees. Okay people now when you ease into it on a on a ah ah fairly straight line curve It's yeah, I can transition with that but not these wild swings.
Plant People: I don't do well with that Yep snow, we've got two snows.
Jessica : Yeah, I don't think we eased into it because all of a sudden it was like, snow. Hey, snow, December, December 1st.
Plant People: Yeah
Jessica : Let's have some snow, which, us get everybody in like the festive season.
Alexis: Yeah, I kind of liked it.
Jessica : I kind of did.
Alexis: I got my Christmas tree up and for the earliest time ever, not the week of Christmas.
Jessica : Right?
Jessica : I was thinking as I was driving home, I was like, you know, I don't mind this cold, like this month and maybe a little bit next month.
Alexis: um
Jessica : But then after that, I'm usually like, okay.
Plant People: Done with it.
Alexis: Yeah, mid February, I'm just like, I'm done.
Plant People: I'm so done with it.
Jessica : Can we just?
Plant People: Yeah It it adds a layer of ah Difficulty to a lot of things especially if you're doing things like I don't know some of you guys are that are always outside doing things and that's just a layer of complexity and
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: I'm over it. I don't want to scrape my car anymore. or
Plant People: Uh, just more friction in going about your daily activities. It can, but I don't mind the code. If it stays this way, I'm just going to bundle up and watch white Christmas from now through December 25th and maybe beyond.
Plant People: I don't know.
Brett: In my experience, right.
Alexis: Not the Muppets Christmas Carol.
Plant People: Maybe beyond. Yeah, that too. Sure.
Brett: In my, in my experience, right.
Plant People: All the things.
Brett: It makes things less frictional, more slippery, but I don't know.
Plant People: Oh, true.
Brett: Maybe it's a different situation up where you.
Plant People: That, that could be, it depends on how kind of sharp the icicles are maybe. I don't know.
Brett: whoop
Plant People: Whoop, whoop.
Brett: a Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah, slippery is ah be careful with their people.
Brett: Well, you know, it, it does, it does make along with what you were just saying, one thing it makes easier is to like sit inside or gather inside with other people and think about stuff.
Plant People: Yeah. that That's one thing I enjoy, actually, about this weather is I tend to, I don't know about you guys, but I tend to gather a little bit more. And it does flip some switches in my brain that you know seasonality does.
Plant People: and We've talked about that before. But yeah, the gathering and the kind of you know the activities that you're involved in.
Jessica : yeah Uh, Alexis and I have always joke through the years, see in the winter because spring and summer and fall is, you know, it's a harder, yeah, it's a harder time to commit to some of those social things, which seems silly, but that's like your peak busy growing, growing season time.
Alexis: just Yeah.
Alexis: So busy.
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: When it's daylight until 9 .15, yeah, you're working till 9 .30 if daylight is until 9 .15. So it's kind of hard to go in, get cleaned up and go do something at 10 .30 at night, unless you're that person that doesn't sleep.
Alexis: but
Alexis: Absolutely not.
Jessica : Right.
Alexis: I will not be leaving my house any later than 8pm.
Plant People: No. Now you can go and have an evening of activities and be home by 5 .30, you know, in the dark.
Jessica : Because it's already dark.
Plant People: Yes, it's already dark at 515 or 530, whatever it is now.
Alexis: Yeah, I feel like, ah to like for me, who's kind of ah the the crazy in my brain or ah that doesn't allow myself the rest. It's like mother nature.
Alexis: It's allowing me to rest in some way, like physically. So I'm usually like inside and on my computer working on, you know, website stuff from the farm point of view, but ah given I'm I've been given permission.
Plant People: Records, taxes.
Alexis: Like I, I, because I'm not going to give it to myself working on it.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: Goals for 2025. But, uh, it's like mother and nature is like, ok okay, okay. I've had it. Go inside. Go away. Go.
Plant People: ah yeah And I feel like there's predatory behavior here.
Alexis: So.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Plant People: It's not really, but I'm going to joke a little bit. It feels like predatory behavior by the seed companies because they know this about Especially those of you guys that are actively growing things. So they send out these beautiful, pretty magazines with these gorgeous pictures of all the things.
Plant People: And then we're cooped up on the inside with maybe snow on the ground, maybe 10 degrees outside. And I don't know it. That's another trigger in my brain that gets flipped. Those nice pictures of all the different varieties of green beans.
Jessica : We've already started going through ours and making, making lists and we've already got like four different ones that have arrived and checking it twice.
Plant People: No, you have not.
Plant People: You're like the garden Santa Claus. You're making a list and checking it twice.
Jessica : That's right.
Plant People: I love it.
Alexis: I'm always like, how did they get my info? Like who, like I want to know the main contact that I put my info on, yeah, that shares it out.
Plant People: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jessica : Who shares it out?
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: Cause there's like seed companies and plant companies I've never heard of that I get a catalog with my name on.
Plant People: Wait a minute. Are you complaining that you get these nice catalogs? What?
Alexis: I'm just, well, I'm complaining a little bit cause I'm going to order online anyways.
Plant People: What?
Jessica : Hey.
Plant People: You're just wondering.
Plant People: Hmm.
Alexis: So I do, there's only a couple seed catalogs I really want like a paper copy of. And I feel bad about the environment and the paper waste.
Plant People: So yeah, that's a great, I was going to ask you guys this earlier. When you get these beautiful seed catalogs, I'm one of those that, you know, I do remember the Sears and Roebucks catalogs. Thank you. I'm the elder geek of the group.
Alexis: Toys R Us!
Plant People: um But um do you, I know you probably, what, do you look through everything or do you just kind of look through and it reminds you, you get the fruit and vegetable catalog or whatever, and then you immediately go online and don't look at the book again.
Plant People: Don't even crack it. Or do you crack them open when you get these magazines and things?
Jessica : Yeah, we look through the books and then we make, a we make well as ah we said, we make our list and we do check it twice because then we like pass the list on to my in -laws to review it as well.
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: Okay. Yeah.
Plant People: Mm hmm. Yeah.
Jessica : and And then after the list is made and we've looked through all that, then I end up ordering everything online.
Plant People: Yeah, of course.
Jessica : And then we recycle the books. And if you're lucky, I don't know if this has happened to Alexis, so like it does to me, but I get them sent to my maiden name and my married name.
Jessica : And then my husband also gets sent one. So we'll all have like three or four of the exact same catalogs.
Alexis: The same one, yep.
Jessica : And I'm just like, how, how do we get just one?
Alexis: I'd get them at the office and then at my home twice.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: So yeah, it's like three of them, ah all through a bit different version of me.
Jessica : Same. Yeah.
Plant People: Alexis, if, yeah, and speaking of different versions of you, uh, a little cute thing I do, if I suspect, uh, maybe a company sells my information or shares my information with other companies, you know, ah you know, in this case that we're talking about or any other case, I will be Leroy Jenkins sometimes, and I will know exactly who shared it.
Jessica : Yep.
Plant People: I will be a different, ah different personality each time.
Jessica : Oh, that's a good way.
Brett: Dammit, Leroy.
Plant People: I will be, hey, Ray, Leroy, I'm i'm getting mail from 30 different names at my house right now, it's amazing.
Alexis: All these alter egos.
Plant People: and Yeah, yeah.
Jessica : That's really funny.
Plant People: But yeah, you can always catch the suspect at least you know the one time, because you can tell who shared Leroy Jenkins.
Alexis: But then what do you do about it?
Plant People: I unsubscribe, which doesn't help a whole lot, because once it's out on the web, the interwebs, we all know that it's it's out there.
Alexis: Yeah.
Plant People: so But I'm not fully complaining, because I do like to look through the catalogs, and I'm doing a lot of that.
Alexis: It's out there, you find it.
Plant People: This time of year, this is my time of year that I tend to, and I think we haven't, we talked before about, we read a little bit more like, you know, even for fun or research or look at catalogs and magazines.
Plant People: This is time of the year when I have that big stack that's been collecting all year and I do more of that stuff this time of year.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
Plant People: It's kind of my time to, to do those things and the cold weather, you know, it's not all bad. The cold kind of dark days of winter.
Alexis: No and yeah and take inventory is like one of the first things that I do I find myself because like I'll get the seed catalogs or just even like equipment catalogs right and so like the first thing you want to do is you're like oh I want this and I want this and then I go back and I realize like well I might already have that and so um I'm kind of forced to and and not forced to but also have like the time to take some inventory on like
Plant People: I kind of switch into that mode.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Jessica : Mm -hm.
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Alexis: what kind of seeds i have do i have enough soil just like start the season like pro mix and you know do i need order compost do i you know all of those kinds of things um which gets me then into thinking about like maintenance of my equipment through the winter you know like doing oil changes or putting the batteries on charge so like starting to think of all of those things
Plant People: Mm hmm.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: It's like a, like it's like just this spiral that happens from those seed catalogs, right? It's like A to B and I just keep spiraling and then eventually in like January, I get back to seed catalogs.
Jessica : hu
Plant People: It's a click, yeah.
Alexis: I'm like, oh right, I can order now.
Jessica : Yeah,
Plant People: Oh, yeah. It just wasn't a placeholder, yeah.
Jessica : we've We've already started for like market wise, right? We're just wrapping up. We're kind of like, it's that lull of like, we're wrapping up everything for this previous market season.
Jessica : However, things are coming in already for the new market season, are ready for the year.
Plant People: Mhmm.
Jessica : So like certifications to like sell in certain locations, like the produce vendor stands that are part like of the city, ah like in Fayette County, you have to have, or like your ah license to be able to sell meat,
Jessica : Like we sell meat at the markets, like those have already coming in for like new recertification for the new year. So like you could go ahead and like, I want to set them to the side, right?
Jessica : Cause I'm like, you know, January is when I'm going to, that that's like ja January is my time that I start like making sure that we have all the proper stuff ready to go when those market applications come out.
Alexis: Right.
Jessica : But it's like, nope, I just need to go ahead and pay that. So then they'll send me my certification back and then I'll already have it. And, you know, and that kind of ties into those seed catalogs. It's like the goal for us is like January because we still have, you know, livestock and stuff to take care of through the winter.
Jessica : But it is like for horticulture wise significantly slower and
Alexis: You got harvesting, yeah. Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : being able to think of, um you know, going to conferences and going and getting ideas from other growers and learning things during that slower time that we might want to start implementing, you know, for the new year.
Plant People: Mmhmm.
Jessica : Because when you're in the middle of the season, I mean, you can make changes to some things, but sometimes you just got to like, you know, stick it out and follow through the season because things are just so quick and normal.
Alexis: Yeah.
Alexis: How's
Plant People: Cause yeah, I forget that you guys are growers.
Alexis: it?
Plant People: I mean, you mentioned, you know, you go to conferences yourself. I forget that you guys are growers and you probably go to things. This is probably your time of year to go to things as like commercial producers.
Alexis: Mm
Plant People: And, you know, probably the same for you, Alexis, I guess, isn't it?
Alexis: -hmm.
Plant People: You probably go to things for you personally, uh, during the long days of winter.
Alexis: Yeah, it's kind of fun. I you get to go pull double duty because it's like you're there. Like I might be speaking and then the speaker after me, I'm like, Oh, I get to listen to what they, you know, what they have to say.
Plant People: Yeah. Yeah.
Alexis: So it's kind of fun to, to pull the double duty, uh, on those what's your all's like favorite conference during conference season.
Plant People: I don't know. and I'm not going to mention a specific event, but I'm thinking more of the format of events is I love those conferences that have a blend of like, you know, tracks broken down into like themes, but I love those conferences that have ah also like that do a good job with a gathering point.
Alexis: Mm. Mm.
Plant People: like a networking section, or heaven forbid, there's a magazine section.
Alexis: Yeah.
Plant People: I can go and pick up and put my names on more lists.
Alexis: I will take this and this and this.
Plant People: I love, I do love those areas. Yes, I like talking to like equipment vendors. So I like a format that's kind of really robust and diverse.
Jessica : yeah
Plant People: Now that's not to knock those ah smaller events that may be just, ah you know, big main speakers in one big room. That's fine, also inappropriate. in some situations, but I like these big like state level events where there's all these you know themed tracks going on and all these gathering points and it's built into the program to be you know a networking situation also.
Alexis: Social. Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah, very social.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: You're able to talk to that person who like asked a question about blueberries and then you're like, Hey, meet me at the cider, you know?
Plant People: I like the social aspect. Yeah.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Yes.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: like ah Like a speaker meet and greet after the fact or something like you said, you can go up and meet and say, hey, that was really interesting. You know, can you tell me more about this or that? Yeah. I really liked that type of event.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: I know you were asking about specific events, but now this is sparking my brain to think about those specific events.
Alexis: That's okay. Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : I like, like you said, the ones that have the different tracks because it gives you the opportunity because there there's things at some of these conferences we go to like, I have years of experience of growing tomatoes.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : And you know, finding out the new tomato varieties is important and stuff too. But there might be something going on that I have never grown before or just like have always wanted to grow.
Plant People: Hmm.
Jessica : And maybe you try to convince my husband that we should grow, but then I can go to this track, you know, really quickly and be like, Oh no, we should not do that or, or get super motivated and very excited and be like, Hey, I went to this, you know, one talk and it sounds really cool.
Jessica : We should do this. So I like those that have like the variety of things that you can go like outside your norm um to see. And then, I don't know if you mentioned like the can bit like convention kind of marketing stuff.
Jessica : um Because at some of these, I've been able to find like really great like packaging for products.
Plant People: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Jessica : like some compostable, um, yeah, like shells for like berries and find some other really unique products from sometimes like local businesses that are just starting up that you don't really know about, you know, cause you might've been ordering from something like on a more national level.
Plant People: I really like the production and marketing aspects. Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Um, but like, I always find some good, good things that way too. When there's that combo, um, like convention wise,
Plant People: yeah
Alexis: Yeah, and i like i like the um I like the other stuff that's maybe not just ah growing aspects of it. It's those those parts that a lot of us as like growers, we really enjoy growing things, production, right? That's why we get into it.
Alexis: But the the business side of it, the marketing side of it, the those other things for some of us can be a little bit more taxing. And so there's, yeah, yeah well exactly.
Plant People: No pun intended.
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: in tax Yeah, like taxes, like stuff like that.
Plant People: Nice one, Alexis.
Jessica : Tax season.
Plant People: Brett, you should be proud.
Alexis: Um, look at me pulling a Brett. Um, didn't manage that but that you know, there's,
Plant People: You did a Brett just now. It was amazing.
Brett: Not as easy as I make it look, is it?
Plant People: No, it's tough.
Alexis: It's not, I mean, I mean, I'm almost kind of easy, but ah the opportunity to, you know, go to things like that for, you know, sometimes they're shorter, sometimes they're longer and just see what's out there and what new things might make my life a little bit easier or just easier ways to go about doing something.
Plant People: It's tough to float that.
Jessica : Mmhmm.
Alexis: And and like to get access to the specialist or the expert in the room, and whether it's another grower, whoever it is, that can help me with that. So if it's Brett and he's you know talking about yeah marketing of something really specific, I know that he has some knowledge on that. So like as a grower, I can go and be like, hey, can I get your email and and ask questions of the right people?
Alexis: um whether in real time or you know down the road when I'm trying to do it by myself. so That's always nice. and I'm trying to convince myself more to talk to those like vendors like that are tabling because now I'm a person who does some of that tabling with CCD.
Alexis: and some'm like i need to like actively I just want to like walk by and see what they have, but talking to them, you're it's always amazing the stuff they know.
Plant People: That's like picking up and making a phone call.
Alexis: yeah it's
Plant People: It's tough.
Alexis: like
Plant People: It's tough.
Alexis: it is It can be tough, but then once you do it like the first time, talking to everybody else is much better.
Plant People: Yeah, it can be.
Alexis: And like you never know what grants are available.
Plant People: Mm.
Alexis: Or like Jessica said, like you can ask if you see that they have a plastic clamshell sitting on ah you know the table. You might say, hey, do you guys any carry any compostable ones? And they might have like a whole big resource, or at least tell you where to go for that kind of thing.
Alexis: And so ah I'm convincing myself to be an extrovert at tabling events. And I'm convincing you all to.
Plant People: Yeah, it's always neat. And I'm thinking of groups like, I don't know, the like the orchard groups in the state. There's a lot of different themed groups of producers around the state. But I have noticed over many years that I'll see the same group of producers sitting in a little corner eating lunch together outside of the convention.
Jessica : Yes.
Plant People: That is so, so neat to me. And they've been doing it for 25 years and they formed almost like a family, you know, a really tight knit little group. And they only may only see each other during this event, but they get together. I will see them every time. And that just speaks to the fact that the these, you know, winter conferences and events are kind of cool from a social aspect because I know those relationships might've been made at the event or maybe outside of the event, but that I see them together every year and it's so cool to me that they've had that relationship. And you just know they're over there talking about everything in the world, you know, what's going on, you know,
Plant People: this, that, and the other just kind of catching up. And it's really neat when I see that at these events.
Alexis: Also, if you're at the beginning of the year and when if you're farming, especially you know horticulture crop, there's probably not a lot of money coming in at that time, so it can be hard to spend maybe 80, $100 or something.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: Plus, you know if you're traveling and having to stay the night somewhere, I totally understand that that can be a little bit of ah of a hardship, but just some things to think about. Just throwing it out there.
Alexis: Remember, this is a write -off. You can write that off as education. That's really important and can be helpful ah come tax time, which you know it's it's going to be tax time soon.
Jessica : It's right around the corner, yep.
Alexis: It's right around the corner. but ah
Plant People: Sounds like very threatening.
Alexis: also you know look for you know grant opportunities that could be out there. Again, going to these tables, you can find out about those types of grant opportunities. like Specifically, I know the we reach people not in Kentucky, but there's a lot of Kentucky people who listen. you know For example, Kentucky State University has grant opportunities, very easy to fill out grant opportunities, specifically for education. and so They'll pay your registration fee, they'll pay you know for your for a room for you, and you can go to a couple. so
Alexis: Whether you're in Kentucky or outside kind of looking for those opportunities can be really helpful as kind of conferences and get started.
Plant People: Yeah. So we've talked about like what we like about some of these things.
Alexis: So.
Plant People: And maybe we can circle back to what you ah originally asked before I totally derailed us, Alexis.
Alexis: Now, not at all.
Plant People: is and And I know that maybe you and Brett and some others go to a lot of statewide, both in state and out of state. ah But what are some specific kind of cool conferences um that you guys see?
Plant People: I mean, I know there's a lot going on and it's no no coincidence that a lot of the conferences ah involving producers happened during the winter months. these months over the next two or three months. But what are some cool ones, like more specifically?
Brett: I'll give a shout out to the the Eastern Kentucky Farmers Conference, which is is coming up in February.
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: Oh, yeah. Mm hmm.
Brett: I was on a a planning call earlier this week and they have put together a really cool program, but I think to your all's point, yeah one of my professors that teaches one of the classes that I take He's kind of a nerd.
Brett: and So he says stuff like, you know, the the the base of the word conference is confer, and you're there to confer with each other.
Alexis: consider
Alexis: Mm -hm.
Brett: And um his degree is in philosophy. So, you know,
Plant People: Of course it is.
Brett: But it' to yeah jokingly, i mean his point I think is is well taken and it's one that I think sometimes people in the Ag ah technical assistance support world overemphasize the educational the like formal educational components of a conference. And honestly, in like the more private sector world,
Brett: It's almost not about that at all. It's almost entirely about the networking and the the relationship building and the potential leads and all that kind of stuff.
Plant People: Yeah. Mm hmm.
Brett: And I think there's something to that. And the the energy at that conference is very community or it feels very community oriented. um I really like that about it.
Alexis: Yeah, I'm playing off of that something I'm excited about.
Jessica : Cool.
Alexis: ah Because, you know, could the community part of it I think is so important for growers, a lot of us don't get off farm. And if we do, it's not with other farmers, right.
Alexis: So I was I'm excited about the Kentucky fruit and vegetable conference, which is the fifth, sixth and seventh, I believe, of January. So coming up here. But it's They're doing a lot more round table style events, like within these. And this is a conference that has those kind of tracks like w Ray was saying. So example, and everybody knows them in the cut flower world. the there's a During the cut flower track, ah they're doing like a whole kind of grower round table, which I think is really valuable because we were getting a lot of feedback from growers that they're like, we love the education. We know we need to know about IPM of bells of Ireland. but
Alexis: We also want to know, you know, where so and so got the netting for their bells of Ireland and just like little stuff like that. How did you deal with this? What are your marketing strategies? What website platform do you like to use? You know, like just crazy little questions, like not crazy, but little questions like that can be really helpful. And so having sort of that roundtable, I think helps in like start those conversations. So when people leave or they go to break afterwards,
Alexis: more of that can happen. And I'm excited to see that happening more at conferences, um breaking it up a little bit, yeah, a little bit more intentionally by the planners of it.
Plant People: Yeah, intentionally. Yeah.
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
Plant People: and Didn't don't their last two or three years, they've actually even changed the format of like lunches to bring that on site.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Plant People: And I don't know if that was, you know, what the motivation for that was, but it's had the effect of keeping everyone in one place.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: And I see a lot of people just mingling and talking to speakers and producers and things.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Plant People: And I thought that was a cool change. Of course, the Fruit and Vegetable Conference is a big one.
Alexis: it
Plant People: And they've made changes to reflect, you know, trends and things over the years. But yeah aren't they changing locations again this year coming up?
Alexis: It's in Lexington again this year.
Plant People: We probably should mention that.
Jessica : Mm hmm.
Plant People: It it is in back in Lexington.
Alexis: It's come back to Lexington. and
Plant People: It was in Lexington for several years and then went out to West Kentucky, towards West Kentucky, at Bowling Green for a few years. And now it's back to Lexington, but don't be confused when you go to to check out that event.
Plant People: It's not at the embassy. It's actually across the road this year at Marriott Griffin Gate.
Alexis: yeah
Plant People: And my truck is going to be on autopilot when I think of, fruit and I usually do do not miss the fruit and vegetable conference. It's a, it's one of my absolute favorite ones that contains a lot of these aspects. We've been talking about these social aspects and tracks and things, but my truck's going to be on autopilot and go right into the embassy suites.
Alexis: you're Yeah, you're like, I'm in the wrong place.
Plant People: And I'm going to have to turn around.
Jessica : Right. Same.
Alexis: There's no cars.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah. I'm going to have to then drive across.
Jessica : Really got great parking this year, right? If you go to the, cause that's always a, it was always tight parking.
Plant People: It's like, yeah, well, I can park right up front.
Jessica : right
Plant People: And then I roll in there and then no one's there. And I'm like, Oh, okay.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Mary Griffin gate. So yeah, that's a good one. That's, that's so one of the ones I really enjoy.
Jessica : ah That's one of my, well, ones I always go to and favorite ones and had the opportunity to help there as a student, right? So like getting to getting exposure to some of the tracks that they had before getting really into my own farmer's market kind of business. and um And that's something like, you know, Alexis mentioned, like there's a flower track. There's usually like a fruit producers, one of vegetable growers.
Jessica : But then there's also usually a like farmer's market one where you can like and especially great for those who are
Plant People: Yes.
Jessica : Interested in it like because I think a lot of people are like I'm gonna join the farmers market and I just fill out an application and I'm there But like as I already mentioned like, you know, we're already having to do certification, you know different markets require different things There's different state rules state rules are always changing and the fruit and vegetable conferences have you know often ah a good place to find out about some of these things like when the home is Yeah, the KDA people are there.
Plant People: but like KDA people are there, yeah, yeah.
Alexis: Department of Ag, yeah.
Jessica : So like, when home based processing rules changed, they were able to, you know, share there and present and kind of get ahead of the, you know, the season.
Plant People: Yes, Department of Labor.
Jessica : So that's always a good resource, especially.
Alexis: And if you're not in Kentucky and you're like, all of this is really great for Kentucky, most states have some version of like a specialty crop conference or a beginner farmer conference, or like there's, I mean, a lot going on there, but most states have that and it's usually linked to, usually not always, but usually linked to in some way that land -grant institution, a university that is there because you've got specialists there who do that.
Alexis: I would encourage you to go. I'm going to a Midwest one. I'm speaking at one. Uh, and I think it's like the Midwest specialty crop conference. And I'm excited about that. I've spoke at one, Indiana has a really great one. Uh, Illinois has a really great one. So, uh, with these sort of like tracks, whether you're beginner or and more advanced, like I know ours has a beginner farmer track, but it has advanced tracks in veg, in fruit, you know, so it doesn't really matter where you are in your journey. There's something for you, which I think is really helpful.
Alexis: um if you're going to invest the time and money into going.
Brett: Just just to to quickly kind of spam just some of the names so you can look them up. We're not going to do the whole date. you know rundown, but just in case, one big shout out to our friends at the Organic Association of Kentucky who have an excellent conference that is happening this year and in late January.
Alexis: It's a great one.
Brett: There, I would say, as far as people regionally who are looking for some interesting opportunities, there's there is a specialty crops conference in um in Ohio, but there's also one called called OFA, O -E -F -F -A, which is Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Association.
Brett: That's a nice one. um Alexis mentioned the Indiana Small Farms Conference. There's also a West Virginia Small Farms Conference. If you're listening to this now, unfortunately, you just missed the Virginia Farm to Table or Farm to Plate Conference, but that's another one that to take a look at.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Brett: ah Tennessee has the Pick Tennessee Conference. um and I've gone to all all these and tabled at many ah of them at their trade shows and stuff across time. and Yeah, I think, you know, connecting with community, finding community and finding people where you are who are interested in similar stuff to you can be really energizing and exciting.
Brett: Um, or it can be in a more, you know, utilitarian way. It can be good for business. It can be good for connections in that way too. And so those are just in in case you are feeling lonely as you're listening to this podcast and you've somehow found us through the internet airwaves.
Alexis: the
Brett: Um, those are some, some names to Google, uh, to, to find a conference near you.
Alexis: And I would say if you tend to be a little bit more introverted at conferences as someone who's been like ah speaker as well as just like an attendee at conferences. If you maybe don't know anybody, go up and talk to the speaker because a lot of the time they're, you know, well, they are hopefully involved in whatever they're speaking at. But if you're going to something like you want to grow strawberries, so you're in a strawberry talk, go talk to the speaker who's talking about some on sh strawberries, tell them kind of what you're doing. And I bet they'll introduce you to somebody. So like, if you're kind of like,
Alexis: iffy, I'm awkward when like meeting new people and trying to like insert myself into groups. And I have found that that's like helpful. And then as someone who's been a speaker, it's really nice to be like, Oh, you're wanting to grow this Oh, so and so, you know, might be there in the room and you can introduce them and then you can get into community that way.
Jessica : Thank you.
Alexis: So Just a little tip as someone who has been that awkward person and is like, well, but I know they're growing that, but how do I go talk to them and not make it weird? if You're feeling lonely.
Alexis: That's good.
Brett: lead.
Alexis: Oh, I got to tell you guys about something exciting.
Plant People: Oh.
Alexis: Speaking of winter. So we're talking about the things we do in the winter. And one thing I have started doing. is like taking advantage of sales for things that I need in business. So, you know, like your Black Friday sales or your Christmas sales. And so like stocking up on all my stickers or my cards or any of that, like little stuff that it often runs like on super sale this time of year. And I was really excited ah last, well, two weeks ago or last week. I don't know what day it is.
Alexis: Uh, there was a Black Friday sale and for years, so I do a CSA and for years I've been saying for my CSA members who do like a really big deluxe share, I'd love to get them like a little calendar that has all the.
Alexis: pickup dates because they just pick up once a month pickup dates in it.
Jessica : Oh, nice.
Alexis: And every year I go, Oh, I should have done that. And of course it's, I forget because it's, you know, April and I don't, you know, want it. And then it's way too expensive. I got them for like super duper cheap last week.
Alexis: And I got to put all of our photos in there from, you know, the farm. And so it's kind of branding and it's like kind of a little something special for those CSA people who keep coming back and they are buying the kind of deluxe ones.
Alexis: So. Start thinking about that kind of stuff as well and take advantage of some of those like new year sales That often happen and grabbing, you know, just stickers for your ah Jars, your yeah labels.
Jessica : Labels for products, yeah.
Alexis: I got labels of like a really great price. I was like give me all of them ah so Think about that kind of stuff, too
Plant People: It seems like this time of year is like the business end of things. I mean, you're thinking about taxes or record keeping or restocking supplies, like Jessica mentioned earlier, or you you were just talking about Alexis.
Alexis: Yeah, that's a better way to say restocking supplies, not just go buy things.
Plant People: hit yeah Yeah, it's a sale on stickers.
Jessica : Yeah. Any money. Yeah.
Plant People: ah yeah But you know, all these things are critical and they make a big difference when you're way too busy with producing things during the long days of summer.
Alexis: Buy stickers because you can.
Alexis: him
Plant People: ah Then you're probably not going to take the same kind of time and thought and buy them or are you're going to buy them at that time and it's going to be at a much higher price point.
Jessica : Right.
Plant People: So yeah, these are like the days of restocking.
Jessica : It's it's.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : It sounds silly, but it's like we do a lot of canned items and it's super stressful in the middle of the summer to come up with a label. Like it's not hard to do, right?
Alexis: Right.
Jessica : It's not hard to make a new label for a product, but like taking the time to do it, make sure it looks right, sending it, it gets like reviewed and then like, then remembering to like, Oh yeah, I have to approve it because it's like, come back and then, you know, and then.
Plant People: Mm -hmm just them. Yeah Yeah
Alexis: Order them. Yeah. Where's my credit card? I haven't seen it since the farmer's market. like
Jessica : Right. And like all of that stuff versus like, all right, we're going to do this in the winter months.
Alexis: me
Jessica : We're going to order as many as possible. Right. And you have, it's not as much like pressure to like get it all done. um
Alexis: Yeah, and I've, I've been looking at those notes I've been taking throughout the year which are like chicken scratch scribbled into a notebook like need more June June like just random things I ultimately have to decipher.
Alexis: um but
Plant People: In your journal Hmm
Alexis: There is some of those like things and so that's when I start opening that book back up and I start looking at that so it's not just like production like I'm looking at that to last year I started lilies on June 1st and they weren't ready when I needed them so I need to start them two weeks earlier, but also just like the the random little things ran out of stickers, you know, ordered 100 need more, that kind of stuff is really helpful in supporting spending that money. Because again, you're like starting to get into the tight season. And you're like, I'm not gonna have money coming in for three or four months. So being like, okay, but I know I need this and I'm not I can justify those payments.
Jessica : And that's, so Alexis just mentioned like garden journals or like your little business, or does everyone have one of those? and it Like, I know Alexis has one, I have one.
Alexis: Brett, do you have one for your bonsai?
Jessica : Do you have like a little journal for them?
Brett: have yeah I have spreadsheets, no one will be surprised.
Alexis: Yeah.
Plant People: Exhale all the way down.
Brett: In notes, and I do everything digital, but yeah.
Alexis: Yeah.
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: I think of it kind of like, it it goes in two directions. One is that past Brett has made pleas to the current Brett or present Brett can do favors for future Brett.
Alexis: I love it, yes.
Jessica : There you go.
Brett: And this is a time of year where those things are done um because at some point you reach a kind of frantic cabin fever moment and you're like, I just want to do something.
Alexis: and
Alexis: Mhm.
Brett: And even those things that sound terrible, like going through seed inventory or something like that, for some people would be terrible. For some people would be great. But um it's it's a nice time to have some ability to do that and to and to think about how things went.
Brett: ah poorly or that you want them to go differently from this past year based on either notes that you've hopefully taken for yourself, which I think is a great, if you're if you have the presence and the the wherewithal to do that and the the memory to do that, it's great. um And then also thinking like in June, wouldn't it be really cool if I had all this stuff ready ready to go and don't have to worry about it? So we talk about like, for instance, in the marketing world,
Brett: Um, this time of year, this time being winter, um, could be a good time to think about like maybe making some templates for communications or social media or gathering some pictures and having stuff ready to go.
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: Everybody thinks that everybody thinks that social media and end that marketing in general, I think. Not everybody thinks many people seem to think that it's like, uh, really spontaneous and it's like intensely creative and it's, you know, and I think there is some of that, but a lot of it of really success and really successful marketing campaigns can be built on the most boring planning that you can imagine.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Brett: And it's just that the timing of the delivery is good. And so again, in, in may, when it's time to be doing all the things that you need to do to get caught up in the field and et cetera,
Brett: If you have some social media posts in the in the in the hopper that you can just launch and push, or if you have your, let's say, first week of farmer's market, you have a template of this is what we're going to have that I'm going to send out to my email list or that I'm going to somehow share. Those are things you can do now that that don't require a timeliness. And they also, in general, they don't require money, which is cool.
Brett: to, but, uh, yeah, so, so definitely, yes, I, I keep records, uh, on stuff and have done that with when I was gardening more. Um, but yeah, bonsai surprisingly is extremely logistical, uh, and timing of year is really important on a lot of things.
Alexis: Not surprised.
Brett: And so being having ah a sense of when you're going to do things and exactly what you're talking about timing of like June 1st was way too early or way too late. is you know it's helpful. But yeah, I think of that as like future and present and past versions of me all trying to help each other out.
Plant People: Yeah, coming together.
Alexis: Yeah. Yeah, that's a cool way to think about it.
Plant People: You mentioned a cabin fever. Yeah, it's real. It's real.
Jessica : I like to say that like when planning, especially for stuff and with work and like extension and our county fair, right? So I like always at the end of county fair make an notes that it are like, so like I have one that's like county fair 2025, what I need to do.
Alexis: I hate when you're in that place.
Jessica : That's what it's called like in my, on my computer. And I'm like, future Jessica will think, will thank you for this.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Right. And I usually do every year. I'm just like, look at me on top of things. Cause I forced myself to do it when I was tired.
Alexis: I hate when you're in that moment and you're just like, God, past Alexis was the worst.
Brett: What have you done?
Jessica : Yeah?
Alexis: but and the like Yeah, every once in a while.
Plant People: I used to have a notebook that ah said, you have time now, but you will not later.
Brett: Why did you do this?
Jessica : Why did I do this?
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Plant People: And it reminded me, it was to get stuff done book. i mean
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: It's like the it's like the the concrete example is like like putting your hoses away for the year.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Brett: take the time to kind of like get the rag out and wipe them down and coil them nicely and hang them up where they go versus just like, ah, it's gonna freeze and pull this out, throw everything.
Plant People: and
Alexis: and sir
Plant People: Mine's still laying out back, Brett.
Brett: And yep, I have some too.
Plant People: Mine's still laying out back, laying all the way down to the garden.
Brett: future future bre ah Future Brett and Ray are shaking their heads at us right now.
Plant People: Yeah. No.
Alexis: Mine's on a hose rail but it is still outside and it's gonna remain there.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : I, the somebody ran over part of ours.
Plant People: Yeah.
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : So like, the it doesn't like work right. And it's still there. And I'm like, why isn't, why haven't we thrown this away? Like we, we, we, we just, I've accepted we have to buy a new one.
Plant People: yeah
Jessica : Right. So, but it's still there.
Plant People: you But I like doing these kind of things. I like doing these kind of things in the winter. And it's weird when I get cabin fever in the past when we were producing and growing lots of things. um One of my favorite things to do, we had a couple of equipment sheds and then we had like these decommissioned tractor trailers we had on different spots of the farm that functioned as mobile equipment sheds. But like I would go out and organize those, like everything needed greasing, you know, joints needed greasing, things needed oil changed, the blade sharpened, just and things were just a mess. We would just throw stuff in equipment areas. And it's just complete junk, but I always
Plant People: A part of my brain, the type A part of my brain, love going in during the wintertime when there's nothing else I can do. And, you know, these are uncovered sheds or things that mostly unheeded, but I just go in and organize and I love doing that. And I have fond memories of being able to do that, but it also not only allowed me to, uh, you know, help get things ready and straighten things up to, but it's like the future Ray, you're making that investment. You knew that it had to be done.
Plant People: You could not leave the equipment area in this state of disrepair and disarray. Like you were saying, Jessica, it's all the broken things laying around. I'm like, what in the world is this, you know, combine or what is this, what is this sitting here for busted?
Plant People: Why, why do we still have this? But I always enjoyed those kinds of things in the wintertime, uh, when not a lot's going on.
Jessica : Yeah. ah thinking about like something else. like i I claim beekeeping as horticulture.
Plant People: Oh, sure.
Jessica : That's just what it is in my life.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : I claim the beekeepers. My father -in -law and my husband and everybody, they'll work on building bee equipment during the winter. right so They're like building new frames and building new bee boxes.
Jessica : That's the perfect time to do that, to get ready because as we know with bees, once it actually gets warm and we get through the fake warm spells that are stressful for beekeepers, um they get going, right?
Plant People: False warm.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : And they're building their numbers fast and you might run out of hive, you know, supers very quickly to, you know, put on there.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: Food or yeah. Yeah.
Jessica : So winter is a great time to build beehives.
Alexis: Mine's like mine's potty and soil. Like we Like there's nothing worse than you're starting your seed and you're like, okay, I'm ready and everything needs to be started this week.
Jessica : Yes.
Alexis: And then you're out of potting soil. Oh my gosh. So I bought, I bought twice as many bales as I normally bought.
Plant People: Talk about ordering pallets. You better get that done ahead of time.
Alexis: Cause I'm like, it doesn't goes bad. It can just sit here until I need it.
Jessica : Right.
Alexis: ah
Jessica : Save it.
Plant People: Did you get a deal on it?
Brett: I am already in that mindset of like, I don't have enough.
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: I don't have enough.
Alexis: I don't know.
Brett: I'm not going to have enough.
Alexis: Well, you know, um next time, listen, the well, Ray, I don't think goes to the um produce supply places, but there's three of us here who always shop.
Jessica : Alexis, I was going to say the same thing.
Alexis: the We text each other and I'm like, I'm going tomorrow.
Brett: Okay.
Alexis: What do you need?
Brett: Well, put me, put me on the list.
Alexis: So we.
Brett: Cause I'm going to need a more per light, more per light.
Alexis: Immediately, yes.
Jessica : Yeah, we keep it. We, yeah, immediately we're always like, Hey, I'm heading that way. Do you need anything?
Alexis: Usually it's like I went, yeah, I went or I'm going tomorrow.
Jessica : Or like, I got a truck. Yeah.
Alexis: Don't worry about it. I need too much, but every once in a while.
Plant People: Only ask that if you have an extra space to haul stuff because people will need something.
Jessica : Or like, I'm in it.
Jessica : Yeah. Or it's like, I'm in the truck today.
Alexis: Which I do need things if you're going.
Jessica : So I can get like lots of big things because I'm in the truck.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : so
Brett: Well, Jessica, just as a side note, USDA defines honey and those products as specialty crops and horticultural crops.
Jessica : Okay.
Brett: So you don't have to defend yourself to anybody.
Jessica : Yeah. Claim them.
Plant People: It's not animal science, no.
Jessica : That's right.
Alexis: there' a sense
Brett: You tell them you have the power of the federal government behind you.
Jessica : I mean, I do tell people that there are many, many livestock, right?
Alexis: I would say my agate, my old ag agent called him tiny livestock.
Jessica : Because they're animals.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : Because people are like, what? A bee is an animal, right? um But so I'm always just like, I claim them as mine.
Plant People: They're a fun group.
Alexis: is
Brett: think i think that I think they're better than livestock.
Jessica : They fall.
Alexis: I'd rather have them than like the random squirrel questions I used to get.
Brett: Want to say something?
Plant People: yeah
Alexis: I'm like, I don't know about the squirrels in your attic. I can't help you. I know about plants.
Brett: Hmm, squirrels in your attic.
Jessica : Right. Snakes.
Alexis: The squirrel in your washing machine.
Jessica : I now know a lot about snakes because people think people think snakes and insects are the same.
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: Squirrels in the attic and snakes on a plane.
Brett: Well, well, I'll get the snakes
Plant People: Wow.
Jessica : Tell me how they're the same. Go.
Brett: and insects.
Jessica : Yeah. Why do you think I know about snakes?
Brett: Yeah.
Jessica : Because I know about insects.
Alexis: Because they're gross, so people don't like them.
Brett: Um, can you help me?
Plant People: Things that creep and crawl for $200, please.
Alexis: I don't know. I don't think they're gross.
Brett: Can you help me with my marital problems?
Jessica : what one has One has six legs and one has no legs.
Alexis: I'm just saying.
Brett: Because my husband and insects are similar.
Alexis: How were they the same?
Jessica : How is it the same?
Plant People: Totally the same. Totally the same.
Brett: I mean, six is pretty close to zero. Like grand scheme.
Plant People: I mean, it's closer to zero than 50.
Brett: It's closer than a millipede.
Jessica : Right?
Plant People: I mean, if you're getting technical.
Brett: Yeah. If they ask you about a millipede and a snake, I'd say, okay, hold on a thousand legs.
Plant People: and
Alexis: I don't know, but what they they those ones do kinda look similar besides the legs.
Jessica : Yeah.
Alexis: you take You cut those legs off.
Jessica : That's true.
Brett: Yeah. Well, but, but if we're going on legs, six is pretty close.
Alexis: Is it a baby snake? I don't know.
Jessica : The calls you get in extension.
Plant People: Winter, you can tell by this group's discussion. Yes, these are we're already getting the winter slap happiness, ah you know.
Brett: Well, I'll give a quick a quick plug to the the in the introverts that Alexis mentioned earlier who, you know, go to your go to the conference. I think it's good. It can be helpful in all those things. And I think do your planning and all that kind of stuff. But for me, winter is also a really good time to like intensively learn by myself, mostly through the internet or books or other things like that. um I do it kind of year round, but because I just i just like really like to do it. but um there are times where you just don't have a long period of attention or the energy during the time when you do have time to look at stuff in other times of the year.
Alexis: people.
Brett: And so for me, it's like, that's, that's a big part of, it also shapes plans too, that you're, you're sort of like, Oh, this is a new technique that I've been kind of wanting to think about learning more about or different species or different cultivar or something like, Oh, cool.
Brett: This is a ah way of doing that. And I think to, There are some skepticism in some circles of like internet based education that like it's like, yeah you know, you learn in person from a person and then that's it.
Plant People: Thank you.
Brett: But man, there is a lot of if for all the bad information there is on the internet, there's actually a lot of really good information too. And a lot of it can come from extension.
Plant People: Sure.
Brett: I've given this tip before. If you search in in Google or wherever you're searching and you at the end you write site, S -I -T -E colon dot E -D -U, it will give you results just from E -D -U sources. um That can be a nice way to find some extension stuff, but I mean there's just a lot. I've learned so much um and and I appreciate this time of year because People frown on you staying inside and watching YouTube less than they seem to at other times.
Brett: Like, no, it's sunny now. Come outside. And I'm like, sorry. No, this guy's, this guy's doing some crazy pruning and I'm going to need to know what how.
Alexis: I have.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Right.
Brett: So, uh, yeah.
Alexis: I ah i have a stock, like, banked up. There's no way I'll probably ever get through it, but I have all these videos from organizations I'm a part of, like I'm a membership of, and they put out these really great year round, like every, every month they do at least one, you know, webinar series and I'm like, Oh, that's awesome.
Alexis: I'm gonna totally look and I have this like bank of them and I'm just gonna just go crazy ah and watch all of these different webinars sitting on my couch eating cheese. like that's my Those are my Christmas plans.
Brett: you all Do you all watch and listen to stuff at faster than normal speed?
Plant People: um
Plant People: Sometimes 1 .5. I mean, because and then when you get used to that, it's so annoying when it's one to one.
Brett: It's extremely wild.
Plant People: Yeah. Once you're used to listening to things.
Brett: I'm actually legitimately worried about what I'm doing to my brain.
Plant People: Are you listening?
Brett: but do well i Like YouTube, it gets a max of two times.
Plant People: Don't to say you're doing a quad speed because that'd be really weird. That'd be chipmunk speed.
Plant People: Yeah, you go up to well I think one five and then two or whatever.
Brett: it's i Yeah, i I do listen to stuff at up to double speed.
Plant People: And you can absorb it at that speed. Sure. Yeah.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: So.
Brett: Especially if someone someone talks really slowly.
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: I'm like, bro, we need to.
Jessica : Speed it up.
Plant People: It's winter time. It's not always frozen.
Alexis: The.
Brett: Yeah. Four times sounds like a, like a, something else.
Plant People: Chipmunk. Yeah.
Alexis: Oddly enough, I never even thought of that as an option, and now that I know about it as an option, things are going to change for me.
Plant People: ah Once you start, you will love it. You will love it.
Brett: Bro, because because if you if you sit if you legitimately sit down, and it's like an hour long video and you're like, Oh, my gosh, but you can convert it to 45 or even 30.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Plant People: All of a sudden, it's 28 minutes. Mm -hmm Mm -hmm
Brett: And because a lot of the stuff that they say in the middle is not very like it's my arm.
Alexis: i I just kind of scroll. like I like that YouTube now has like you know where you can go onto the bar and it'll show you like where and I'll be like, oh yeah, that that picture looks like something I might want to know about.
Jessica : Just bluff.
Jessica : Yes, that's what I do.
Alexis: and i But I probably spend as much time searching through it as I would just watching the whole thing.
Brett: Well, here,
Brett: So here's a quick, just a quick ah keyboard shortcut for for those interested in in speeding up and and increasing their YouTube game.
Jessica : Oh.
Brett: So you probably know that the left and right arrow keys will skip forward and backward by I think 10 seconds on YouTube. Other ones have different formats, but also if you hold shift and you hit the comma key, which is the left arrow on the like next to M above the space bar.
Brett: that will slow it down one step. And if you hit the other one to the right, the period key shift period, it will speed it up by it. So it'll go from like one to 1 .25 to 1 .5 to two.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
Brett: So if you like get to a section and you're like, section, you're like, whoa, whoa, whoa, that was way too fast.
Jessica : Oh.
Plant People: Nice.
Brett: Let me hear that hit, you know, left arrow key, left arrow key, back it up 20 seconds and then shift down. It'll slow down to normal speed. Listen to that and bring it back up. I'm telling you, I got a problem.
Alexis: okay yang changer we're gonna learn so much this fall
Brett: But I do that all the time. I'm i'm just constantly doing it.
Plant People: i'm about to I'm about to feed your problem, Brad.
Jessica : I know you're teaching me things.
Brett: There's a lot of YouTube keys.
Plant People: And, you know, they since YouTube, you know, since Google's all in, we're not going to plug a product here, but Alphabet parent company, since ah YouTube is a part of that group, you can just copy the link and drop it it into a little program called notebook LM.
Plant People: It's free to use.
Brett: Oh, wow.
Plant People: And it will summarize that for you in whatever length you want or give you an agenda outline of that. So I've started doing that and it's like, ah it's like, you know, significantly good, and you know, like two hour videos.
Alexis: why
Jessica : Oh,
Alexis: Feels like videos for dummies. Yeah.
Brett: Mm hmm.
Plant People: You can drop it in and it will summarize that in a paragraph.
Alexis: Or like a cliff, clip notes.
Jessica : you guys, you guys are really tech fancy.
Plant People: Yeah.
Jessica : Like I don't know any of this stuff.
Alexis: I know.
Plant People: Yeah, but I don't I don't know that goes to speak.
Alexis: I learned something new every time.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: Would you would you say that you all learn best from one particular like format?
Plant People: Yeah.
Plant People: Oh, that's.
Brett: Not not not like a not like a digital format, but like he listening to a person talk versus reading versus being shown versus
Plant People: my Yeah. Yeah.
Plant People: Oh, it just depends on what I'm trying to learn.
Alexis: Um, I feel like I'm a combo person.
Jessica : Yeah.
Plant People: Yeah, I'm a combo.
Brett: a combo of what?
Alexis: Um, yeah, I think, yeah, more, I'm, I'm a little bit more kinesthetic, but show, yeah, show me.
Jessica : Yeah.
Brett: I mean, if it if like, let's just say what's your what's your, you know, we understand that you all we're all we all contain multitudes, but which pole of that. So what is it auditory visual or like kinesthetic?
Brett: Is that the term for it?
Jessica : Hands on.
Alexis: If you just, if you just tell me, I might not get it.
Jessica : Right.
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : Same.
Plant People: If I'm, yeah, if I'm ah trying to understand the thousand foot view of a problem, I want the outline written on paper.
Jessica : Any visual.
Alexis: Mm -hmm.
Alexis: Like if, if you take a video of you fixing something and there's no sound, I'm much more likely to be able to do it than if you tell me how to fix something with no video.
Brett: written word.
Plant People: Yes.
Alexis: Does that make sense? Like podcasts versus YouTube.
Plant People: Yeah. And if I'm in the car, it's obviously not as safe to watch YouTube.
Jessica : Uh huh.
Plant People: ah but ah But part of it is convenience, Brett. And I'm a huge fan of YouTube. And I get on there. and and And like you and Alexis were talking about, I do deep dives on whatever topic. But when I'm in the car, I also want to hear and learn and catch up on things.
Plant People: So that's when I you know really podcast is when I have to drive. So part of it is just situational. It may not be ideal to listen to a podcast. And I find it hard to listen to a podcast if I'm just at home.
Brett: then
Plant People: It's like then I switched to video, but when I'm in the car, yeah.
Jessica : Right.
Alexis: I to listen to like a story of some kind like most of the time.
Jessica : Same.
Plant People: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Brett: So your, your, it feels like like your eyes need, your eyes and hands almost need to be occupied in order for you to listen to a podcast or to choose a podcast over some other driving or potting or planting or
Alexis: Oh, yeah, that that's yeah, I only ever listen to podcasts when I'm like actively doing something.
Plant People: Yeah, a little bit.
Plant People: Yeah, that's, yeah.
Alexis: Mm hmm.
Jessica : I'm really, yeah, I'm driving.
Plant People: Look at, yeah. it So it's kind of situational for me big time.
Brett: Hmm. Interesting.
Alexis: Fascinating.
Brett: I only read while I'm driving. It's interesting.
Jessica : Oh, that's cool.
Plant People: Yeah, perfect.
Alexis: So weird.
Brett: Yeah.
Plant People: We call it audiobooks.
Jessica : You're so talented.
Plant People: It's fine.
Brett: Texting and texting and driving is so passe.
Plant People: It's fine. Yeah.
Brett: I'm a higher higher social strata than that.
Alexis: When I got really obsessed with a book series, I would read at stoplights because I was like, I have to know what happens.
Brett: I read.
Jessica : Oh my gosh.
Brett: Oh, wow.
Alexis: So.
Plant People: but Oh, man.
Brett: That's, that's cute.
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: That's very like dorky, cute, like you're wearing your glasses today.
Jessica : One of those people.
Plant People: We started out. Yeah.
Alexis: I was at least stopping to stop moving.
Plant People: We took another direction.
Brett: So it's giving, it's giving bookworm.
Alexis: Yeah, I do have for the first time ever two books going at the same time.
Plant People: Yeah. Gilmore girl vibes.
Jessica : Wow.
Alexis: So I'm really, I'm really impressed with myself.
Brett: Wow.
Plant People: I don't believe that. Somehow I don't believe that's true. I believe that this is not a new thing for you.
Alexis: Two very, very different books. So that's, that's the only way I can keep them. And I only read one in the morning and one in the evening. So it's my coffee book and my evening book.
Brett: Wow. Nightbook, daybook and nightbook.
Jessica : Wow.
Plant People: Do you have an audio book going at the same time?
Alexis: Yeah.
Jessica : Uh, we're just reading a construction trucks, Halloween book on repeat every night.
Brett: Wow.
Alexis: Okay, cool.
Plant People: Nice.
Jessica : So yes.
Brett: You and Sean.
Alexis: Yeah. you Sean reads it to her so on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.
Jessica : Yes. About how.
Plant People: Love it.
Brett: Little book club of two.
Jessica : Yes, and and a book from the Dolly Parton series. Those are the best books that Dolly Parton sends you in the mail about solitary animals. And now my kids go around and go, a sloth.
Jessica : It's a solitary animal. An eagle.
Alexis: They're so smart.
Jessica : It's a solitary animal.
Plant People: it It's a ray.
Jessica : A hurdle of what hummingbirds is called a charm.
Plant People: It's says winter time. It's a solitary animal.
Alexis: Oh my God, is it really?
Jessica : So now I know like, yeah, a group of hummingbirds.
Plant People: A charm.
Alexis: I learned, speaking of birds and as collective groups, I learned recently that, you know how we say, you've heard probably that crows, a group of crows is called a murder, right? It's a murder of crows.
Jessica : Mm -hmm.
Alexis: That's actually only something used by the common folk. That's not real in science. And now I'm disappointed.
Jessica : Oh.
Plant People: OK.
Alexis: Yes. They just, they don't call it anything specific.
Plant People: How did you learn that? Which format I want to know.
Brett: What do they call it?
Alexis: I learned it from a podcast.
Plant People: Okay, a podcast, gotcha.
Alexis: Yeah.
Brett: What do they call it?
Jessica : Okay.
Alexis: huh What do, I don't think they could have a group of,
Plant People: A group of birds.
Jessica : That is not in our book, but swallows are called a gulp, I can tell you that.
Plant People: Okay, like a big gulp is a big group of swallows.
Jessica : A big gulp of swallows.
Alexis: What?
Brett: What? Earlier, earlier today.
Jessica : but
Brett: our Okay, wow. That is, that's.
Alexis: I mean just the fact that someone was like we're gonna call this bird a swallow but you know what we'll call a group of them a whole gulp like that's just Is it a joke or real?
Brett: Oh, wait, was that a joke?
Jessica : Right?
Plant People: Yeah. Or is that real?
Jessica : That's real.
Plant People: Okay.
Brett: Oh, I thought it was a joke.
Alexis: No it's real
Plant People: No, no.
Jessica : it's It's in the book.
Plant People: Okay.
Brett: I retract.
Plant People: It was in the book, Brett.
Jessica : The ah solitary animal book.
Brett: I retract my laugh.
Plant People: Thank you.
Brett: And now i I treat it as a serious fact.
Plant People: I'll take it back.
Plant People: Brett was seriously impressed with your wittiness there for a minute.
Jessica : Unless Dolly Parton is lying.
Brett: I thought that that was like, that was really.
Jessica : And I doubt she would lie.
Plant People: ah That's good. So good. That is so good.
Alexis: it it It can be both, alright?
Brett: Dolly cannot tell a lie.
Alexis: They're not mutually exclusive, Brett. It can be really great and also true, so...
Brett: Um, I mean, for some people, I could see that for some people, not for me though.
Jessica : There you go.
Plant People: Rarely, rarely.
Brett: I personally laugh retracted. Sorry, Jessica.
Plant People: This is what happens in the long days of winter.
Jessica : Oh, it's very funny.
Plant People: we do We get involved in all kinds of activities and listening and in addition to conferences and things, yeah.
Alexis: The weird slap happiness of winter? Yes, well...
Jessica : who
Alexis: Maybe we should sum this up for people so that they can get on to their YouTube watching and all of the great things.
Plant People: Yes.
Alexis: So kind of some.
Brett: Man, I hope people were listening to us at like quadruple speed.
Jessica : That's what I was thinking when you mentioned that.
Brett: That would be really cool for me to know.
Plant People: It wouldn't make much more sense.
Jessica : We're going to sound like chipmunks.
Alexis: Maybe that's what I want.
Brett: Yeah.
Alexis: We want to know in the comments, leave a comment on what speed you listen to court culture at about that.
Plant People: At quad speed, it's called an Alvin.
Alexis: That's the request. Give us some stars while you're at it. We would appreciate it. It helps people. People find the pod so they can also listen to us at quadruple speed. But it doesn't matter because they're still listening and hopefully getting something out of it. So you do you, whatever fits. Uh, follow us on Instagram. If you, uh, should so please at, uh, hort culture pod and we post up in there, remind you, we got some episodes coming out, share about our guests and how awesome they are.
Alexis: So we'd love to have you join us on there. You can also ask us questions. You can shoot us an email. That email is in the show notes. If you have any plant questions, because we are after all plant people. So if you want to know about those bones eyes that Brett talks about all the time, he can probably point you to some great YouTube videos.
Alexis: as well as tell you all of the things, because he will tell you all of the things. um If you want to know about any of those conferences, also feel free to reach out.
Alexis: We'll put post, you know, maybe some links. There's a couple links that ah have all of them, at least for Kentucky, in there that you can check out.
Plant People: Yeah.
Alexis: And so we encourage you to do that. And we just thank you for being here with us today. We hope to see you at some of these conferences. If you are there, please ah give us a shout and tell us what you love. And that we you think we're pretty cool because it makes us feel pretty cool. So thank you guys for being with us today. And we hope as we grow this podcast, you will grow with us. Have a great one.
