SS-Ep2-Forrest === Elizabeth: I like your shirt. Thank you. Yeah. In fact, this whole, this whole setup is fantastic. I take it. You've been doing a few Zoom calls over the last couple of years. Well, I work from home, so like, this is where I spend, you know, probably 70- 80% of my waking hours. Elizabeth: So that's, that's fair. I, um, I've been slowly transitioning this office that I've been using and like, I have plans for this back wall. Mm-hmm maybe like some wallpaper or something, but, uh, there's lots that you could do. So right now it's boring now. Right now it's a blank slate. It's very, um, uh, modern Elizabeth: right, right. It's it's really a statement piece right Elizabeth: on, on the industrialization of the modern home, on the, the general graying of life. Yes Elizabeth: Thank you for joining me today , Forrest, on starting seeds. I'd love to hear what you've been up to lately. Like what, what you kind of do, if you wanna introduce yourself, what you do during the day. Forrest: so I live back home now in Louisville, Kentucky. I mean, we met in Macon, Georgia, right? Um, for sure. So far away miles, I guess. Um, but, uh, I work as an instructional designer now. Um, so I'm like using my degree. Yay. Elizabeth: for, for the people at home, what does an instructional designer do? Forrest: I build training. That's, that's what I do. Whether it be like eLearning or, you know, virtual instructor led, I've done a little bit of light classroom stuff or, print documents, quick reference guides, job aids, yada yada, yada some light video stuff, I guess like a little bit of everything, but pretty much I, I build, I build training. Yeah. Very cool. And have you been doing at the same company for a while or have you moved around a little bit? Um, I've been at my current company for. I guess a year and a half now. Um, I started in December of 2020, so yeah, about that. Um, yeah, but I've worked in a, a ton of different industries right now I work at a, at a tech company based outta Raleigh, but I've worked in healthcare and telecom and consulting and AV industries like, like most people, I feel like nowadays you bounce around every, every couple of years, you know, Elizabeth: mm-hmm, always something new to do, always something else to learn. Forrest: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Elizabeth: For sure. So you, you you're using your degree. Is that something that has felt natural for you? Is it something that, you know, this is kind of like an extension of how you process things in the world? Um, or is it just kind of like been a learned thing that you get to kind of mix creativity with? Like what, what are the, what are like the genius zones that you've been able to apply? Forrest: Yeah. Yeah. Um, I don't know. I feel like, you know, My degree choice. And the industry that I moved in was more about like security than, than like passion. Right? Mm-hmm not to say that I don't have any passion for instructional design. Like I get excited about what I do and it's fun to see learners really like grasp what we're trying to teach them and those beautiful moments, you know what I mean? But I think especially when you're, you know, You grow up kind of through the early two thousands and just like the state of the world now, like it's, it's less about passion and more about like security. So instructional design is a growing field and there's plenty of jobs out there. Um, and the compensation is fair. Unlike a lot of other jobs that you could do. So mm-hmm. That was kind of like the original reason why I went this direction, you know, um, there was like an aha moment in a class that I took that like, oh, that's cool. Like thinking about like the learner and not, you know, the product like that, that aha moment was like, okay, let me see where this is going. This is interesting, but, um, I think I've discovered more of the passion side as I've done this job, it, it didn't start out that way, but it's kind of become that, I guess. Elizabeth: I think that's really been an interesting thing cause like, from, from my side, like I'm not using my degree at all. So good on you for using your degree. Um, but, but I think it's been really interesting that, um, I think that that's sort of mindset of applying, um, security principle, like , they say that necessity is the mother of invention. And I think that there's a certain amount of constraints that actually help people be creative. And so I love that, you know, you're using kind of what you've experienced, um, to, to create like the work that you're doing. I think that, I think that, um, we often laud like passion projects and we forget that security is important. You need to feel safe. You need to have the, that hierarchy of needs met before you can actually go and do more stuff. And I think that's, that's kind of the point of this podcast it's like, I think that, I think that being able to be in the dirt is kind of like, uh, a key, a key thing for humanity. Like we can, we have our needs met. We feel like we're taking care of other things. And then we can feel like we can take care of ourselves. Um, so that's my hypothesis. We'll figure it out together. But, um, so I've, I've, we've followed each other on Instagram for a while. Yeah. Yeah. But I've admired your garden. It is beautiful. Will you tell me a little bit about what got you started in gardening and kind of what your setup is? Forrest: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Um, so I guess gardening really started with, um, with my mom, right? Like we had a garden. As long as I can remember, there's been some sort of garden in the backyard. Right. Whether it was, you know, like one little square, like I remember, um, dad helping build like the little raised beds, you know, um, when I was very young and I remember helping her uh, plant carrots, that was like my favorite thing to, to plant carrots. Um, but we like always had a garden. Friends that I've had, or mentors growing up. I remember my friend, um, Glen, he, we kind of like, he had a wood shop and I would help him when I was a kid, but he had like a half acre garden, like a huge garden. Um, And so I feel like gardening's always kind of been there and it's been fun to, you know, especially as a kid, like, oh, we're eating this and we grew it. Like I remember what used to be that little dirt patch is now like the carrots that are in my lunch! So, um, gardening has always been there , always been like a, a fun thing to do. I mean, that's what started out as a kid is like, you know, fun. But now that I'm, um, I, I struggle with calling myself an adult, but an adult right in the eyes of like society. Elizabeth: Right? Um, not by choice. No, no, no. Forrest: We're, we're forced, forced to be there. Um, you know, I think it's more about like connecting myself more with the food that I eat and, um, I think there's some therapy in there too, and, you know, commitment to, um, the values that I hold of like sustainability and, think global, but act local. Like it's, it's more than just, "let me have some fun in the garden." It is that still, but like, let me see what I can do to make sure I'm the best person I can be and I think a garden's extension of that. as far as like the physical setup of the garden, right? It's like, uh, I'd say it's like a quarter of my backyard. Um, I have a dog. This is Dave. Elizabeth: Hi, Dave. Yeah, thank you for being on today, Dave Forrest: he's the man. Um, but he, uh, he is not the best garden companion. So I had like fence off the section, you know, he likes to eat flowers and dig holes and that kind of thing. Like he's a puppy, right? He's not even two. So, um, I have, uh, four square beds that are like four by four and then three round beds that are like 36 inches in diameter. Um, and then I have like small reusable containers, right? Like, uh, you mentioned earlier that, um, like I think necessity breeds creativity. you know, so like I have old, like recycling bins that are like potato containers and, uh, uh, I used to work for a brewery and I got some 55 gallon drums from them and like cut 'em in half. And, made that into a, um, uh, you know, a container. So it's a little bit of a mishmash of everything , but it's my little space , and it grows some food for me. So Elizabeth: I, I really love that. Um, I think that, I, I think our approaches are kind of similar. It's like, what, what can I offset? Um, I, I don't wanna use a lot of like dime words or, you know, big concepts. Cause I think a lot of them can be, um, divisive. Like there's a lot of words that have a lot of baggage, but I like to make sure that I'm walking softly in this world. Um, and so it's like, well, what, what can you know, what am I normally going to the grocery and getting a plastic bag and putting the produce in that I can easily grow here certain seasons, or it's even better that I can grow here. So, um, that, have you always been kind of, um, like, is that a, is that a token of our generation, um, to be trying to reduce that? Or where do you think that thought process came from for you to be more sustainable? Forrest: Oh, it comes from my upbringing 100%. Um, yeah, I mean, I can draw a direct line from how my parents raised me and how they try to live their lives to, you know, what I try to do, um, in my life now they're very, um, crunchy people. Uh, you know, they're they're, I mean, my name's Forrest, what more evidence do you need? So, uh, they've always been environmentally conscious, sustainable people as much as they can afford. I feel like there's, uh, a lot of pressure on people now to like, do everything to be as sustainable as possible, but that's still kind of expensive, you know? So, like, do what you can, we're all just trying to be the best little versions of ourselves. So, whatever you can, whether it's, trying to grow most of your own tomatoes or go to the farmer's market once a month or whatever. So I think that came from, from my parents for sure. I mean, um, yeah, they've always been that way and it kind of passed down to me. Elizabeth: I think that's cool. I think the whole lineage of like, not you have, and for your case, it's like literal lineage. And I think like in my case, um, my parents didn't initially grow anything, but like I knew people, I had professors that grew things. I, you know, I had friends that had gardens. I remember one time my father received payment for helping someone with his computer by us loading up the back of a Toyota Corolla with corn. Um, and so like, I. I think it's interesting when you, when you consider the cross sections of our lives, like it's not necessarily a lineage of bloodline all the time. It's but it's like, what touches you and kind of what shapes your values? So I, I really, but I really love that that's something that was taught to you and encouraged. Um, and I never really put that together. Forrest of course, very crunchy Forrest: yeah. Super crunchy. I mean, dad makes his own granola. If you're not a hippie after that, like Elizabeth: that's so good. um, so, so you got your little garden that you fenced off, so blessed Dave doesn't get back there. Um, what do you, do you grow year round? Do you just grow in the summer? Um, what kind of are what's your patterns for planting and then like what, what is always done well for you? Forrest: Yeah. Yeah, for sure. Um, so I think I, in my current garden, I guess my third season, um, I would say I, uh, I bought my house in 2020. Um, So that was the first kind of like, I felt like sustainable place. I could put a garden, you know, like the rental properties were fine with me building garden boxes or whatever, but I wasn't gonna be able to take 'em with me. So, um, we had some like containers and stuff back then, but not, not anything, anything crazy. Um, I think, this last year I did grow year round. I put some garlic, I made like one, one bed of garlic and that did really well. And that was kinda like my first foray into, not only growing in like spring, summer into fall , um, that kind of thing. Uh, I always grow like the standard tomatoes, peppers, you know, those kind of things. But now that I have a lot of space, I really tried to grow as much as possible at the beginning of this year. Um, my favorite thing to grow is snap peas. I mean, that's like, candy in the garden, if you ask me! Most of them don't even make it into the house. you know, uh, Elizabeth: I'm guilty of that too. well, and it's so fun because they grow so quickly. Um, and you've got the, you've got the little shoots that you can eat or yeah. When you finally have the peas and you just like take 'em off and I'm, I'm always like, I'm only walking inside with three. I might as well just eat those as well. Yeah. Like, yeah, Forrest: for sure. For sure. For sure. They're they're the best. Um, I love snap peas. That's my favorite thing to grow for sure. Um, but I try to grow as much as possible, you know, sometimes it's successful sometimes it's not, like I tried beets this year and I got an okay amount, but some of them didn't, I definitely, didn't plant them far enough apart, that kind of thing. I'm very much a just get it in the ground and see what happens kind of gardener, you know? Elizabeth: Um, yeah, I think that's, what's really interesting about a lot of gardening. I was actually about to ask you if you knew what zone hardiness you were in, or if you literally just threw stuff in the ground. Um, mm-hmm Forrest: I mean, I think I'm like a, like a six B seven, a, something like that. Yeah. Six. Elizabeth: Yeah. I, uh, I have a vague understanding of that. Mostly just look in the back of the seeds and I'm like, okay, this is where I am on this little colored line here. um, but, but for any listeners, um, who don't know what zone hardiness is, uh, it's, it's basically like where you are, um, on the globe, it's gonna have different length of growing season and different times that things, um, uh, are, are best planted because like snap peas are, are cooler weather. plant, um, tomatoes, obviously those are summer, um, joyful summer plants, but, um, when, when is normal for you to plant, um, in Kentucky? for, for summer garden. Forrest: Yeah. Uh, so lots of people in Kentucky say that like, um, Starting your, like your, your garden in Derby, right? Like Derby week is kind of, um, the situation. So like beginning of May kind of, Elizabeth: that was like a Kentucky thing to say! I love that! Like, I would've. Sorry. Forrest: Well, I mean, it's like, you know, growing up in Kentucky and I'm sure like all of rural America, right. And even some in, in, in urban America, but there's like all these sayings, right? Like your corn should be knee high by 4th of July. Like that's another one. Um, I don't have enough space to grow corn by any means. I think corn needs a lot of, a lot of space. I remember one time as a kid, we tried to go corn and it just like wasn. Populating like it wasn't growing as much. And I think, uh, we like pulled a tassel off of one and tried to like be a bee, you know, and kind of move around and pollinate. Um, but anyway, I'm getting much off, much off topic. Corn's a tough one. Definitely. Um, yeah, I, I would say, you know, May /April is when I try to, to get the garden going, um, I always try to start seeds inside, but I'm just so bad at it. Oh man. Elizabeth: I'm so me too. I am too. I'm like so good. And they get to be like, you know, an inch, inch and a half, and then like there's a period where I should be transplanting it into maybe a larger pot or something. And then I just get distracted. Yeah. I don't think I've, I don't think I've ever in the four years I've had a garden. I don't think I've ever, um, Planted something from straight from seed inside and then transplanted, I've done it straight seed in the, in the garden itself, but mm-hmm. I'm glad I'm not the only one. Forrest: It's, it's hard. I mean, I, you know, you go down the like YouTube rabbit hole, right. Of like, how do I do this? And they talk about, you know, light conditions and some people have to even have like fans blowing and you know, all this. And I, I have like a little grow light. And, um, like a little tray and I, and I try, you know, and every year I like, I'm gonna do this different or I'm gonna do that different, and one day I'll figure it out. Um, but, there's no shame in, you know, going to the garden center or here in Louisville, there's a nonprofit called Louisville Grows that does the seeds and start program in the spring and falls. So I try to get from there if I can, um, but there's plenty of places and ways to get starts. And there's no, no shame in that. You know, I wouldn't have a garden if I could only start from seed in the inside. Elizabeth: Well, I, I think that that's, um, one of the things that I love about, uh, about gardening is like, like you said, just plant something and see what happens. Um, you know, one of, actually one of the, one of the first rules that I learned when I was planting a garden was, to plant something, and then the plant that does the best, keep some seeds from that one, because it's acclimated to your soil. It obviously does well in your soil. And I think that's something that, yeah, you can go and get your soil tested. You can do all this other stuff, but like nothing is going to, um, be able to optimize your growing as much as your own experience. Um, as much as, as much as something that's actually done, it has actually been in it. Um, so, uh, I, I, I, um, I really appreciate that so, um, your you've you've grown, um, tomatoes, you've grown snap peas. Um, you, you guys have attempted to grow corn and not a, not a big fan of that. Is there anything personally in your garden you've wanted to grow and it's not, not done good. Forrest: Yeah. Yeah. I have, um, an ongoing battle with herbs. I Elizabeth: really ! Forrest: Am so bad at growing herbs, oh my goodness. I don't know. So I've always tried to do like container herbs, right? Like even when I rented, I had this like little, you know, kind of like square, you know, kind of mobile container that I would plant some herbs in and it just, they never. Never do well, like they'll grow like a little bit and then just like die. Maybe I don't water them enough, like, um, on the back of my house, like I have a little deck and, uh, those little like coconut core kind of, you know, um, rail baskets. Mm-hmm mm-hmm um, so. Uh, so I've tried to grow 'em there before and they just don't. I'm just so, so bad at herbs. I would love to be able to do herbs, right? Like fresh herbs is such a, a great thing for cooking. Um, or, you know, anything you wanna do with, with herbs, but I'm just, I'm really, really bad at herbs for sure. Elizabeth: Um, any particular herbs? Like just all of them. Forrest: Oh, all of them, like, even like I've tried basil and thyme and rosemary and I, I will say, I don't know if this counts as an herb or not, but my house came with mint, like along the back porch and like that grows like a weed, like you can't get rid of mint, so there's plenty of mint. Um, but anything else I've tried herb wise? I don't know. I just never like dedicated like a raised bed to it. It's always been like small containers. So maybe that's what I, what I need to do is, you know, like put some things in actual ground, but Elizabeth: so it's amazing how that, that helps sometimes. Rosemary that has done okay. I was surprised at how well parsley does. Very resilient. Um, but the thing that has been the bane of my herb existence is cilantro. It's so delicate. Mm-hmm um, uh, I had a friend once who was like, I'm gonna grow cilantro. And I was like, good luck. like, it makes me spiteful. Like it's, it's one of those things, like. You know, I hate buying basil because it's, it's somewhat, somewhat easy to grow, but cilantro 100%, every single time I buy cilantro every week, it just, it is what it is. That is the cost of me living. Um yeah. So yeah, so, uh, that's, that's what it is. Forrest: Sure. Like I know some people have even had success with like growing basil as a house plant, you know, I think, Elizabeth: oh, Forrest: um, A friend of mine had a, had a pot of, uh, basil just in her living room. Um, so I think you can grow it as, as a house plant. I've never tried before. Um, I need elevated surfaces, you know, because of, uh, little pal back there, but Elizabeth: oh, Dave, he's so helpful. um, what is, what is your, what is your watering set up? Do you water by hand or do you have like, uh, Okay. Forrest: Yeah. Yeah. I usually water by hand. Um, I have a rain barrel. I try to collect, uh, rain water if I can. Um, you know, in the summer it runs out pretty quickly. uh, you know, I, when, when the plants are young, um, and it's dry out, I try to water every day. Um, that kind of thing, uh, mulching is imperative. have to mulch, got to mulch. Um, It'll save you so much in watering. Like if there's one tip I could give anybody, it was just like put mulch down, just do it. Um, you know, whether it's like, uh, grass clippings, that's totally fine. If you get straw, fine, like, uh, you know, leaves in the fall, like I'll try to like bag up leaves and just like throw them under the deck. Um, just cuz they're just so Elizabeth: that's really clever. Yeah. So you've got, I mean you have, 'em already. Uh, they're available. That's really good. That's really good. I would've never thought of just bagging up the leaves and hang, like keeping 'em around as a resource. Forrest: Oh, yeah. Oh yeah. I mean, if you have a place to throw some bags of leaves yeah. Do it for sure. Gotta mulch. Elizabeth: Yeah, over the summer, especially when it's warm, what are the highs in Kentucky during the summer? Forrest: Oh, I mean, we can break a hundred for sure. Mm-hmm mm-hmm um, you know, it usually stays in the nineties, I guess for highs, eighties, mm-hmm. It's been a weird, a weird year, um, for sure. Like, uh, uh, we had a spring that was much longer than normal as far as like tepid temperatures go. Um, and then, even August was not as, as hot as it usually is. Who knows what's going on with the climate nowadays, but. Yeah. So, I mean the, the summers can be quite hot, always humid, always. Um, we live close to the river here in Louisville, so that helps. But, um, Yeah. Yeah. Highs, highs in the nineties can break a hundred every now and then that kind of thing. But Elizabeth: I, um, I mean, Kentucky, every time I've not spent a lot of time in Kentucky, I did go to like West Virginia, I think all of the time that I am in, in Kentucky, it's driving through Kentucky mm-hmm . Um, but it's be like, I think it's, it's quite beautiful because of the mountains and the, like it's very green. Um, it's one of those places that I do wanna spend more time. Forrest: I will say that, you know, being from here, I guess I have a, a bias, but Kentucky is not what its reputation is, like most states, right. Like I think that's, that's very true, but, um, uh, we have a very diverse population, um, here. I mean, You know, we're predominantly white, of course, but you know, there's a lot of diversity and cool things that are happening here. And , for anyone who has a, a, a thought of what Kentucky is like, come here, visit, um, I will show you the, the true Kentucky. We are much more than what the, the news may say. Elizabeth: I love it. I, I mean, I think that's very true. I there's so many times that we make these broad generalizations and we really have no clue what we're talking about. Mm-hmm , um, much like, you know, we were talking about, you have to know what your soil is gonna grow by just putting something in the soil. You can't just, you can't just say, okay, well here's a test or whatever. Those can help guide your decision. Sure. That's not your decision in the end, so, well, Forrest: I love what you said earlier about just like throw something in the ground, right. My favorite gardening story is, is my great aunt Valla, right? Even she had a garden forever, like a huge, like half acre garden behind her house. But, you know, she lived well into her nineties and in her later years, she would just buy a bag of like garden soil, cut a slit in it and stick like a tomato start in it. And like that, that at the end, like she would grow tomatoes that way, you know? So no matter what your situation is, like, just buy a bag of soil, cut a hole in it and put a plant in there and see what happens. Wherever you are, whatever you're doing, you, you can grow something. Elizabeth: I think that's, I mean, I think that's really good. Like. I've talked to a lot of people in getting this started. And, um, some people are like, yeah, I have a garden, I grow every year. I'm somewhat successful. I've got people who are like, I'm not successful, but I try every year. And then I've got people who are like, I, I kill everything. And I. I think that maybe they just haven't found the right plant. Maybe they just haven't found the right process, um, for that works for them. So I'm always like, yeah, just try, just try something else. Just, you know, I have, I've had tons of iterations of gardens that had various degrees of success. A lot of them ended up in failure. Um, so, so that's just, that's just how it is, but, um, I love that about your, your great aunt...? Forrest: Great aunt Valla. Elizabeth: Um, so. The next question is kind of maybe, maybe more poetic than the other ones, but, um, is there anything in particular that you've learned in the garden that's kind of bled over into the rest of your life? Um, obviously you're talking about as a child, um, you have all this family also who had gardens that you're just kind of surrounded by it, but, um, you know, is there kind of, are there lessons that in, in gardening, in iterating and whatever that you've, you've kind of tangibly been able to take along with you? Yeah, I think so. Um, I think it's funny how my garden often like reflects what I feel like the state of my life is, you know? Mm. Um, like I'll go out there and maybe I haven't weeded in a month , and there's ankle high grass in the bed, you know? And, um, that maybe that's a reflection of how I feel about my life. Like, it's just been. Busy or I'm not taking care of the things that I'm supposed to take care of. Right? Hmm. Um, but even if you dig into that grass a little bit, there might be a tomato plant that's growing or, uh, a carrot that you forgot to harvest that's just huge now ! So like, I think the things that I've learned from my garden is: it's okay to just take life as it comes to you. Like, I feel like sometimes we're always like pushing to the next thing, pushing to the next thing and pushing to the next thing. And like, stuff will grow if you just leave it alone, and you just let it happen to you. Um, life doesn't stop and sometimes you'll get that little carrot out of the weeds. Um, you know, it's, it's okay to not harvest your tomatoes every day, and just let some things die on the vine, that's okay. Uh, life is gonna happen. It happens to your garden. It'll happen to you. And we'll all just be okay at the end. Turn, turn your soil over at the end of the season and grow something new next year. Elizabeth: I that's really, I, I, I, I think that's really good. You know, people that I ask, like, do you, do you have a garden? Is that something you enjoy doing? And, um, and immediately they're thinking of those Better Homes & Gardens: those, you know, this beautiful and everything's in line rows of stuff. And, um, you know, nature is much more messy than that. The only reason we have plants, the only reason we have things like berries is because they evolved tenaciously to exist in whatever environment. And so I think, I think it's always really interesting when, when you know, we get, we get onto ourselves for not being on top of things. And I love your little analogy there where sometimes when you let something lie, there are other gifts that are hidden when you come back around to it. Um, I, I think that we're so we're, so we joked about my, my blank wall here about it being like, uh, commentary on the industrialization of the home. But I think that there's so many things that we sterilize when it comes to. The world that we actually live in, you know, all of our groceries are coming from a big box store. Um, we don't know where, uh, if you eat meat, um, what that process looks like. Um, you know, it's just kind of, we're used to this very clean, white little package, uh, that we throw in a cart and scan with a, a white and black barcode and, uh, and, and take home and put in the microwave. And I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that. I think fed is best mm-hmm . Um, but I think it's, I think it's definitely one of those things that we forget that sometimes in the mess, things grow, and, and in good ways. Uh, so I really like that analogy. Forrest: I, I think the other thing I've learned is just from, from the garden is how much, I didn't know about the food that I eat, you know? And just as a, as a small example, right. Uh, potato plants grow berries. Elizabeth: what?! Forrest: You could. Yeah. They produce berries. Uh, Elizabeth: uh, what color bear? Red berries. Forrest: They're green, Elizabeth: green berries?! Forrest: They're green. They're like green and they look like little green cherry tomatoes. I had no idea like Yukon gold tomatoes for the, or, uh, potatoes for the first time this year. And like, I let 'em go. And they flowered, which was surprising to me. And then there was like a little berry. Apparently they're poisonous. So don't eat 'em. Elizabeth: Yeah. So literally going to be my next question. yeah, yeah, no, I didn't eat a Google. This is don't don't eat them. Forrest: Potato Berry. What's going on. Elizabeth: So they make, they make berries. That is too. That is too cool. Is that why they're called apple apples? No, no. They're potatoes B. Forrest: Huh? Yeah. Isn't that wild. And it's like, you just, until you grow something, you have like, no idea. Like, it's just, like you said, it's a, it's a, a thing and a bin at the store, you know, and that's fine. Like, we need to appreciate what, what the, um, like the growth of farming has done for us as a species, right? Like it's not, it's not all good or bad, but like when you grow something it's like, who knew that a potato made a berry. I, I didn't know that, you know, and, um, those are kind of cool things to discover along the way Elizabeth: that is, that is super cool. I learned something. I mean, I've learned a few things from you today, but that's really interesting. I had no clue. I've not successfully grown potatoes either. So, um, I love that. Um, I do wanna bring up the beans that you grew most recently. Yeah. Um, you said that there was a big story behind those beans and we'll have a picture up I'm sure. But will you tell me a little bit about what you planted this year? Forrest: Yeah. Yeah. So I grew, um, uh, I guess they're black bean. I don't know, like when they're, when they're dried, they come out black. Um, so I, I guess that's a black bean, but, uh, I was in kind of like my local, um, seed store, I guess, um, uh, St. Matthews Feed and Seed, if you're, if you're local. Um, but, and they have like heir- an heirloom section of, of seeds there. Right. And I saw this, this package and it said like Cherokee trail of tears, beans. And I was like, okay, this is interesting. Like I wanted to grow black beans. And on the back of the package, it talked about how this guy saved them and put them into the heirloom seed program. Um, And apparently like the, the Cherokee Indians, which is native to like, um, uh, Tennessee, a little bit of Kentucky, that area, um, they carried them with them on the Trail of Tears, to Oklahoma, where they were, you know, eventually. Um, settled in, you know, they've been saved like all these years, right? Mm. Um, and it just, I was like, okay, I'm gonna grow these beans. And like, let me see how it is. Like it started 100% as that I wanna grow black beans, this seems like a cool option. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm um, but it, it, as I grew them, like, I, they were a pole variety. And so I gave them about four feet of pole space, which was, it needed three times that much, you know what I mean? Um, and you know, every time I went in the garden, I was like, this is cool. Like, I think these beans were grown here at some point way back, way back in the day, it made me feel connected more to, um, the ground and trying to just be something that was here originally, the garden can be connected to so many different parts of, of life, whether it be your life or someone else's life. And, um, you know, there's heirloom varieties of seeds that came out of Benjamin Franklin's garden. The, the seed saving process is such a cool part of the garden and how it connects people, to even even the first people here, um, in the United States. So it was a little reminder for me that, you know, when I'm, I'm a product of colonialism and I need to respect who came first and, um, educate myself and, you know, it was just a little, little reminder, um, in my garden. And secondarily to that, I think is these beans grew insanely fast and big, and I didn't give them enough space. And, you know, they, you know, a month in, they were up up, um, the trellis and then like all the way back down to the ground growing over. And so, you know, just a little, a little lesson on, on how to grow it. Right. But. I'm gonna try to save some seeds and you can get 'em online if you want to from like, heirloom, um, seed websites, that kind of thing. But, uh, it was just an nice little reminder. Elizabeth: Um, I think, I think it's also maybe a good place to note that like biodiversity, the biodiversity of seeds is like really important, um, for, for, not just like for our agriculture, but like for making sure that, um, evolutionarily something doesn't get wiped out completely by some other vector. I think, I think we're, you know, we go to the grocery and we're familiar with Roma tomatoes or we're familiar with, um, you know, there's certain brands of, or breeds of things like bananas are notorious for this. Like there's one type of banana that is available now in the groceries. And there used to be a different one a hundred years ago, but that one got destroyed by some virus. And so I think, I think that we, we often look at heirloom seeds as, um, something delicate or something that is just a fun thing to pursue. But I think that having those in even a hobbyist's garden is a really great way, not only to connect, but also to propagate and continue that sort of biodiversity that is necessary for us to keep, keep being able to produce things in the world. so, oh yeah. Um, yeah, I think, well, I won't get into, I won't get into GMOs. Um, I won't get into GMOs. I mean, but I, I mean, I, I, I think, you know, GMOs are such a dirty word. Right. But like, really all it is is this plant does well in this sort of condition. So let's just use more of this plant. Um, it's just like us using our good human brains, um, to, to make sure that we can keep moving forward. Uh, yeah. Forrest: Yeah. But yeah, I mean, GMOs are so much more complicated than like, this person in a lab made a, you know, pest resistant variety of that, right. Like, right. if you researched like, uh, like how corn started, right? Like the big corn that we see now is not the beginning of corn. Right. Mm-hmm um, and it's not like we designed it in a lab that way, like, of course, some of that happened, but it's also like picking the strongest variety, you know, like they say with garlic, for example, you should save your biggest bulbs. Right. So that, and plant those next year. So your next year's bulbs are bigger and like, extend that across all the generations. And now you have big garlic, you know what I mean? Mm-hmm , Elizabeth: I think it really goes to show how shortsighted we can be. We, um, I think I heard a quote once that we overestimate what can be done in a year and underestimate what can be done in five. Um, and I think that, that, I think that gardening is a great example of that. Like you said, with the pole beans, you weren't expecting them to grow like they did in those first couple of weeks. Um, I think that happens a lot where I walk into the garden and I'm surprised. Um, I forget about, about how quickly time passes and yet how slowly it passes as well. So, um, any other lessons from the garden you wanna, you already gave us like three really great ones. So I'm not, I'm not asking you to dig deep, but I just wanted to make sure that you were happy with, with what you've said. Forrest: Yeah. Yeah. Um, I think so. Yeah. You know, um, I would say just do it, you know, just grow something. Um, whether it's a, a house plant or, uh, you know, a full half acre garden in the ground, you know, just plant something and if it dies fine, plant something else, you know? Um, and if you, if you don't want to grow a garden, that's okay too, you know, I would encourage you to support your, your local farms go to your farmer's markets. You know, those kind of things. If you wanna feel a little bit more connected to the foods you eat, um, you know, you can, you can do that for sure, but give it a, go, grow something. Elizabeth: I love that. Um, so this, this season, I know we're, we're rolling into fall. Are you planting anything tangibly and then, uh, with that, is there anywhere that you're volunteering or is there anything that you're doing with your work that you'd like to share? Forrest: Yeah. Yeah, definitely. Um, I'm definitely gonna do garlic again. Uh, I was pretty successful with my garlic. I think I grew like 36 bulbs. Wow. This year, which for a first go round, I was very happy. Some of them were like really small, but some of them are, you know, pretty big. Um, so I'll definitely do garlic again. Um, I've been toying around with the idea of like a low tunnel for, you know, like the kales and the, the hearty greens to see how far I can, I can stretch those. Um, That kind of thing, but, but we'll see how that goes. You know, definitely garlic. uh, and as far as things people should know about, um, I, I, it's all gonna be very Louisville specific. Uh, I love it, but, um, Louisville Grows is a great nonprofit, uh, that you should support if you're around here or if you want to, you know, throw support as a non-local, they do a seeds and starts program. Um, they're also dedicated to, um, revitalizing the canopy of Louisville. Like, cities are, are heat islands, and if we can grow trees here, so they do a lot of like free tree, uh, tree planting, that kind of stuff, as well as, um, support for getting community gardens off the ground. Um, so Louisville Grows is a great nonprofit. Uh, if you wanna support something there, um, and then go to your local farmer's market, you know, uh, most of the time they happen on the weekends, Saturday, Sundays, that kind of thing. Um, meet the other farmers, like talk to them about gardening, Buy their goods. Like they, if you wanna learn how to grow something in your local area, a farmer is the person to talk to, um, 100%. Uh, I go to the St. Matthews farmer's market. Um, it runs through the end of September. So, um, you know, there's other ones that run all year round. Uh, so just get involved in your local, local agriculture. For sure. Elizabeth: I, I, I think that's really good. I love your comment about, um, talking to farmers. I think that so often. We forget that there is a real person with a real livelihood behind what we're eating. And so it's really interesting, not only to get ideas about gardening, but, um, you know, sometimes they'll do, uh, plant days where they need help putting something new in the garden or they need help um, uh, Uh, weeding or something like I, I went and weeded asparagus once, um, with, with a local farm and it was, it was a really great opportunity to actively contribute to my community without having to be responsible for it for myself. Um so, so that was, that was pretty cool. But, um, Uh, aside from plants, is there anything that you're involved in that you feel like people might wanna know about ? Forrest: Um, outside of gardening, I mean, Kind of my, my main hobby, I mean I board game too. So, you know, I like board games. Elizabeth: Yeah! Give us what's, what's the board game that you've been enjoying the most lately? Forrest: Um, my favorite board game is called Parks. Um, okay. It's uh, a National Parks kind of themed board game. You're, you're kind of hiking trails along the way. Um, and, uh, it was kind of designed around, um, like a print series they did for the National Parks. So it's called Parks, go play Parks. It's my favorite. Um, for sure. Uh, I went to Gen Con last month, which is like one of the biggest board gaming conventions in the world. That's a ton of fun. Go do that. Um, for sure. But yeah, plant a garden, play a board game. You know, stop looking at your screens. Like , Elizabeth: I think that's probably gonna be the quote for, for you for this, this session is, uh, plant a garden, play a board game. I like it. Forest Corbett done. Yeah, we, you can, you can put that on your LinkedIn, uh, quoting you. I Forrest: like it. I like it. Elizabeth: Forrest, thank you so much for your time today. I really enjoyed talking to you getting to hear about your garden and the things that you have going on in your life. And I look forward to having more conversations, uh, next year after you start your fall garden. Forrest: It was good catching up with you and talking gardens with you. Um, I'm always down for a conversation about gardens, um, you know, through a podcast or, or not. Uh, it was awesome. We'll do it again. Um, thank you so much for your time today and we'll see you next time. All right. See you. Bye bye. Forrest: Should I gargle should I gargle? Should I, should I go get some Listerine? Should I sing? How do people. How people warm up? I don't know. How do people warm up? Just a conversation with friends. Nothing to be nervous about. Nothing to overthink. Just to get to enjoy people, just get to enjoy my people.