Learn to Garden in Southern California with Ashley Irene

Foreign.

Welcome back to the Grow youw Self podcast. Today I have a guest with me who has been here a time or two before. So please tell us your name, your business, where you are growing, and what you do.

Hi, everyone. I am Ashley Irene from Heirloom Potager. We are based out of Southern California, specifically in Orange county. And I design bespoke edible culinary gardens.

And culinary is the key word here. These are the most edible, beautiful gardens I have seen. Starting with your front yard.

Yeah. Which totally is still there.

Yes.

It is the hit. I'm super excited. We're actually going to be on our upcoming neighborhood home and garden tour this year. Spring.

Wow.

I'm really excited about that. And it was just a transformational thing. I think I've mentioned before, it was this kind of wild hair idea that I had. And my husband said, this is either the best idea you've ever had in your life or the worst.

And you're like, honey, I have good ideas every day. Only good ideas just wait till tomorrow.

Exactly. And it's such a huge draw. Like, it is such a great conversational piece. It's. It's just like my neighbors come up, they ask questions. People come from other places. This last. Coming up this last year, we have a bunch of garden clubs that are gonna come and start touring the gardens. They're all kind of really excited and I. It puts a little bit of pressure on me, but also, like, that Showcase garden is just such a great place for me to test out ideas, try new varieties, and really just kind of push my creative boundaries.

And what a beautiful place to do it. Did I interrupt you before you said where you were gardening? I think I just jumped in because I was thinking about culinary.

Ah, no. Yeah. We're in Orange County, California.

Orange County. Okay. And Orange County's big. Yes. No.

Yes. And we. We've got cool micro. Like, we've got a variety of microclimates. So we're technically 10B.

Okay.

We do have a couple of ranges that I would say are more. A little 10A, but then we also have microclimates because we have. There's a huge difference. So I actually live in Santa Ana, which is several miles inland from the coast. But then we have. We service clients that are on the coast and they have their own kind of microclimate, which is really cool. And we've learned how to cater to those clients as well.

And I'm not a Californian, so forgive my ignorance. Is LA included in Orange County?

It is not. LA county is right above Us and actually we just started servicing LA County.

Hello, Hollywood. The gardens are coming.

Yes.

I love that. Okay, so Orange county, not la, but very close. Close enough for you to just step over the line and start gardening there too.

Yes. And so we had a lot of clients who we kind of just said, no, that's kind of outside of our service range. And as we looked to grow and scale the company, I was like, okay, nope, we can do this. We actually were able to bring on a fellow former gardenary consultant to also start working with us. She just realized that like she had another part time job and she was like, I'm going to lean further back into that, but for your projects. Yeah, I'm there. And so of course my goal is we'll keep, you know, bringing her on and doing more stuff together.

Yeah.

But it's really awesome to have somebody who understands the quality, understands like the systems, the process, the way that we garden. It's so good to have somebody like that on your team.

Yeah. And like heading into, to Fancytown Hollywood, I love it. Not that Orange county isn't fancy town. Speaking of, soon after you set up this gorgeous showcase garden in your front yard, I mean you went, you're bold. I love it. You're like, hello, anyone who's driving by, look what I can do. And I mean it's not just gonna be like open and shut. Right. This thing is like open for eyes any day of the week. And if I remember correctly, recently or like within the last few years, were you on the COVID of Orange county magazine?

I was, yeah. That was a huge surprise to us. It's been about a maybe two years now, but like, yeah, we. I unfortunately was not a subscriber at the time, but my neighbor was and they were like like my literal neighbor across the street and they just, he brought it over. I was on the phone with one of my best friends in the world and I literally screamed out loud, did you? I had no idea. I had no idea. I knew we were going to be in the magazine. I had no idea that my house was going to be on the COVID of a magazine. And so yeah, now my goal is like, okay, Better Homes and Gardens. I know like Arch Digest, when you.

Come in, like get on the list, you're gonna have to wait. That's so amazing. Okay, so you have this magazine worthy kitchen garden in your front yard. Have you always been a garden pro? Like, where did this, where did this, you know, green thumb come from?

It started. I am a California transplant, so I grew up in Wisconsin. And I grew up on my grandmother's farm, and I really thought this was how everybody lived. My grandmother kept an amazing kitchen garden and fed our family. And she, you know, practiced intensive planting and companion planting, like, well, before. Like, I knew that there were terms for it.

Yeah.

So I really just thought that this was how everyone did it.

Yeah.

And I've just realized that, like, when I look back on how I got to this point, you know, like, as a high school kid, I would've said, absolutely not. I'm never gonna do this.

Exactly.

Like, this is not my career path.

Yeah.

It's amazing. Like, it's.

It's.

This is, like, such a great job. It gets me out of an office. It gets me. Interacting with people really pushes my creative side. I get to be the art kid that, you know. My parents, at one point were really kind of nervous that I wouldn't have a career, I wouldn't have a business, I wouldn't be able to have a stable income to support myself.

Did you study art?

I didn't. I was kind of discouraged at that point. Like, they were like, we don't want you to be a starving artist. And so I was allowed. Like, I went to art school as a. All through high school, I went to an arts charter school. And so I have a lot of classical art training. And then I went to college, and I studied business, and then I decided to get a master's degree and study more business. And so I feel like I have a really good setup for being an entrepreneur, but, like, the journey is also so different.

Yeah.

And now I feel really kind of good about, like, where we've gotten the business to. And now it's time for me to actually transition from kind of running in the business and operating the business to completely running the business from behind the scenes.

Yeah. That's so cool. So if you are an OG listener to the Grow youw Self podcast, Ashley's been here two times before. Our first season was in 2020, and you came on in the spring, I think.

May.

I'll never forget. I was at the nursery buying survival plants. You know, Covid survival plants. And you tagged me on Instagram. You already had your name. You were all set up, and I'm like, who is this rockstar heirloom potager, like, gorgeous business name? And it was literally the height of. I mean, the plant store was open, but not much else. And I watched you just create this business out of nothing into a really big something. So she's on in May 2020, and then again in I think February of 2021, because I was just watching you grow like a tomato on an arch trellis. And it was like, fantastic. So if you want to hear her full story, we won't div of it today, but it is quite a beautiful story. And how does it feel now to be. You're in your third. You just basically are about to finish your third full year. So how do you feel differently now than. Let's go back to the COVID day when you were first starting. How different is it?

I mean, it's kind of a whole different ball game. It's like we've had so much growth and so many challenges, but we've been able to overcome them. And I think that has been like, that's a test. Like, that's, it's a testimony for myself, you know, because there have been, there have definitely been days where I'm like, you know what? I don't know how we're going to keep heirloom protege going. Yeah. And those days are really, really hard. And then you share them with somebody that really means the world to you and they literally, without missing a beat, go, absolutely not.

You can't.

You cannot. We are not like, we're not going to let you, like, I'm not going to let you do this.

Yeah.

And they kind of get you motivated and then you do things like this. You get to come and be a part of a summit with like minded people who are at all sorts of different phases of their journey and you get to get kind of re inspired and you remember like, why you started. Like, I still know why I started. Like, I absolutely love gardening and I love food and I think food is the way of the future. I am so, like, I am so saddened when I meet high school students who have no idea what a vine ripened tomato tastes like. They don't know what it looks like. Yeah, I like, I still, there's times when like you go to the grocery store and you're, you know, you buy an actual heirloom tomato for, you know, $8 for this gorgeous tomato. You buy one and somebody, you put it on the conveyor belt and you know, the beggar is like, what is this?

Yeah.

And you're like, it's an heirloom tomato. And they're like, what is that? And you suddenly have that realization of like, we are so disconnected from our food and where our food comes from, how it's grown. People don't realize how long it takes to grow that cauliflower that is Totally. Molding in your fruit drawer.

Yeah. And you spent money on it, you brought it in, it was shipped across the country, at least for me. And then it ends up going in the trash. Best case, it goes in the compost pile.

Right.

But you grew up with this. This was normal to you.

Yes.

And you are a rare case for American, you know, what are you, 15, 20, 25, something like that?

Yeah.

You're a young, young lady and you grew up with this. But I would guess that probably 80, 85% of your peers in America have no idea.

Yeah, they have absolutely no idea. I mean, even my husband, there was no foundation of knowledge of, like, oh, that's what it takes. Oh, that's like, this is what it tastes like, you know, because you just were so used to, like, you were so. He was so accustomed to it. He was so accustomed to having, like, a busy working family that they just bought, you know, your canned tomatoes and all of these other things. And so I just, I want to help get people back. I think that's part of why I really try to focus on the culinary aspect. Like when we design gardens for clients, whether they be residential or commercial clients. Like, one of my questions is, what foods excite you?

Oh, I love that.

What foods? Like, what is your, you know, and a lot of times I'll be like, what is your heritage? Do you want to honor that? Do you want to grow, you know, peppers that you would typically, you know, Hungarian peppers, because you are Hungarian. Do you, you know, are you a family from Croatia? Okay, what cool plants can we find that might make, you know, your family recipes? So, like, that's a big part of, for me, where our name even came from. So it's this combination of, like, I love old things. I live in an old historic house. I like old style gardens, like, like castle gardens and things like that. I'm really inspired by those. And then the idea of a potager is this, like, you eat from the garden every day. And I want to help people embrace that lifestyle. And I think right now there is such a draw for people, like, they want that they don't necessarily trust themselves to create it or to have it or even realize that, like, it is so close to being within their grasp. And I want to be able to help bridge that gap for people.

That's really neat. It's like you're bringing the past, the best parts of the past to the present.

And I think in some ways, the. Some of these past solutions, like the way we used to live even a hundred years ago, which is really not that long. We didn't have a lot of the problems that we have created for ourselves. And so in some regards, a lot of the biggest problems that we are facing, not only here in America, but, like, really globally, the solutions are in our history. We just have to be willing to say, okay, we've advanced far enough. Now how do we scale it back a little bit? Or how do we advance in ways that actually get us to living better lives? And I'm saying, like, living healthier. Right? We just had a little conversation about some books and about this idea of, like, eating wild and, like, how not nutritious our food is now that we get at the grocery store. That's just really frustrating and sad for me. And then, you know, I look at, like, my own family journey, right? My mom passed away. That's part of how Heirloom Podier day got started is my mom passed away from a long battle with cancer. And yes, there's probably some hereditary things and some dietary things, but that's a. It was a symptom, like, that was the cause of, like, how unhealthy we have become. And so I myself has struggled with some of those things. And so I want to get back to the place where we can have a future where, like, our grandkids, you know, grow up in a much healthier environment and they don't have to worry about getting cancer or getting sick and having a bunch of autoimmune diseases and things.

I love that. I often think, okay, not everything needs progress. Yes, some things definitely needed. I'm very thankful for a dishwasher. Right. I'm very thankful for a washing machine. But our food really didn't need to get fixed.

No. There were certain, like, we need to go back. We need to be. I mean, I think just right now, too, like, even on a more global scale, like, this idea of, like, regenerative farming, like, it's totally new to so many people, but it's actually not new methods at all. It's this. It's this looking back at the. At the past to fix the future. And there's something really beautiful about that.

That's so cool. I love the mission. Okay, so bring us through your garden.

Okay.

The showcase garden. Show it off to us. January through December. So I'm just going to call out the month and you're just gonna tell me the plants in the garden. You don't have to give tons of detail, but I'm gonna say January and just tell me some plant names.

So January is All about leaves and roots. For us, honestly, we let God, we get to grow all four seasons. The cool season is my absolute favorite, and it's my favorite for beginner gardeners as well, because you get immediate success. And so it's full of lots of herbs. This is the time when our herbs in our Mediterranean climate just blossom. Like, like perennial herbs. They are just flourishing. And for me, it's like comfort. Like, it's those kind of cool, crisp nights and it soups. It's really a time of healing and going back to nature.

So good. All right. So is February the same roots and leaves?

February and March are kind of similar. The later half of March is when we start really putting in our warm season crops. So it seems early for other people, but, like, even for us, like, we sometimes will overwinter. Like, if we have beds that are in full sun during our cool season, we'll overwinter tomato varieties because then as soon as our temperatures start warming up in like late March or April, we. They immediately set fruit. So it's kind of like that, like, beautiful arch. Like, we've already gotten the greens, you know, the tomatoes to vine over the arch. They're meeting in the middle, and then they set fruit. And it is like an ex. It's just so amazing.

Our clients are always overwhelmed. California living, why everyone wants to come. You're telling me that a tomato is over your arch starting in like the fall. It hangs out there. It's not got fruit on it, but it's just there and beautiful and green. November, December, January, February. And like, that same plant is gonna pop fruit in February or early March.

Usually in March, late March, early April.

Yeah, but it's that old of a plant. Like, it's been in for months.

Yes. And it sets and I mean, usually. So we've had really good success with that with Castaloos, Costaluto, Genovese's, this beautiful Italian, like, wrinkly heirloom, which is so good as a slicer even for other things. And like different cherry tomato varieties. And it's just, it's so much fun because then everybody's like, what? And then we'll plant in new tomatoes.

Right?

Like, we let those give us life and give us food. And then we'll plant in new tomatoes at that same time. And so from that transition, then we start planting in our warm season garden. So we'll start planting beans. You know, we'll take out our peas, we'll put in beans, we'll start putting in peppers in full sun locations because Sometimes the nades are still cool.

Yeah.

So we still get that beautiful transition of like fresh lettuces and things like that. But you, you start getting to change up your salad.

Okay. So we got tomatoes, we got peppers, we got cucumbers. Maybe not yet going in, but not coming out.

Yeah. Going in. We'll start putting in our summer squashes because they also don't. They like those a little bit cooler. They don't like that super intense sun unless they're really healthy, you know, well, fertilized plants. But we start putting in our warm season, and then as we transition into kind of those warmer months of June and July, we'll start putting in our hot season plants.

Okay.

And then the garden really has to be set.

Got it.

For us.

Because it's about to get tough.

It's about to get tough. If we haven't done that, like, we finally have decided to just unfortunately break people's hearts. But, like, we just don't install gardens anymore during kind of like August, like September and October because it is typically too hot.

Yeah. You don't like dead gardens?

Nope.

Yeah. You don't want to give that to someone.

Exactly. I don't want to discourage somebody like that. Like, they immediately think this is so much harder than it needs to be. And it's. It's not. It's just because that plant really needed those extra three or four months of being in the soil to get itself so healthy that, like, it isn't going to die. Like, so maybe a couple will, but not all.

We were already in with you.

Yeah.

Then well done. Because your garden's going to make it through the tough months.

Yes.

But you don't want to start then.

No. So if you come to us in August, September or October, or even if you come. Honestly, if you come to us in June or July, we have to push you off till fall.

Got it.

And depending upon our upcoming schedule, we might even have to push you off until like, the new year. Yeah. So this actually, like, now we're recording this year and November, this is the start of our busiest season. So we've just done our first changeover. Our weather Friendly. Cooperate. Cooperated. In California, we just spent a couple weeks of doing garden changeovers and refreshes for our existing clients.

And is that to cool season or to warm season?

To cool season.

Okay.

And we have put in, like, we will, like, for certain. Certain garden locations, we might put in a couple of things. So, like, we've also, we have a couple clients where, like, they get really good sun and we'll overwinter pepper plants. Oh, that can withstand a little bit. And it's cool because they still get really big and healthy. But we have to remember that, like, our cool season, our fall, is typically what a lot of the rest of the country's kind of peak summer can be. And so that's just a really fun time. But, yeah, like, right now, like, Jan, like, we really hit the ground running because we know everybody's busy. Like, November and December are gone in a blink of an eye. So we do just a handful of installs, and then we hit the ground running in January, February, and March. That's when we're really in the busiest. That's our spring.

So cool. Right? And I bet you get to surprise so many people, because in their minds, I think we just all, like, especially in the U.S. it's like, summer is garden is time. Outside is June, July, August. And you get to walk in and be like, it's January, friend. It's December, It's February. You're gonna have the fullest garden. And we're really far away from July.

Absolutely. And because we want you to start then when it's gonna be the easiest, when it's gonna be the most fun, when you're gonna have the most success, and then you get to grow all through. Right. So we want you, like, loving your life.

Yeah.

Loving this, you know, heirloom protege style life by July.

Yeah.

And we want you excited to try eggplants, which so many of our clients are like, I don't know what do with it?

And you're like, I've got a hummus recipe.

I do. I've got so many recipes. Let me send you my favorite cookbooks.

I love that. Okay, so speaking of plants, can you give us a breakdown, a step by step of a certain plant that you love teaching people how to grow?

Oh, wow. I love growing so many plants, and we grow a lot of them. I think one of the things that I like, we have found that we're really transitioning into that clients are getting really excited about is a lot more perennials. So we. I have an espaliered. Some espaliered apple trees. And we are starting to see people. Yeah. So they're a living fence in front of my. In my front yard, in my. In our showcase garden.

So cool.

We're getting a lot of requests for those. And people really shocked that in Southern California, you can get fruit from apple trees specifically.

Reach us, Ashley us.

The secret. Like, so the secret for us is really picking the right variety of fruit trees.

Okay.

Ones with low chill hours for us. So you're looking for something with like under 200 chill hours since we don't actually ever get a frost.

What's a chill hour?

So chill hours are hours below, what is it, 50 degrees? 55 or 45 degrees.

So fridge. Ish. Like.

Yes, fridge. Like not freezing. Some, some varieties do like an actual hard frost. The fruit that the tree does better, it reserves and saves a lot of its, like sugars and stuff to create really great fruit. But those chill hours, if you don't get enough, you typically don't get fruit production. And unfortunately, like, you know, the garden system, sometimes they don't care. So like your big box stores and stuff, they get, you know, we'll go there and people like fruit trees. $15, I'm going to stock up instead of paying, you know, $300 for yours. And you're like, yeah, that is a 600 hour chill hour variety and that.

Grows in Wisconsin and we're here in California, so good luck with that.

It's going to be green and it probably might not be green for that long. Like it's going to struggle here.

And who will they blame when that happens?

Totally us, that we didn't tell them.

Or not even you. They blame themselves. Right. If they bought it. So this is what breaks my heart is people go buy those things and it doesn't work and instead of blaming the store, they blame themselves.

That's very true and sad. And it becomes hard and then they become discouraged. So for us, yeah, we've just had, we have a bunch of upcoming orchard installs and perennials and I think those are such. For me, I love installing and inspiring people to grow those because there's something that's going to be in your landscape for a while. They're usually high production. So like blueberries can be such high production and they taste a lot different than blueberries you're going to buy at the store.

Yeah.

And it's all about that. And then, you know, for our clients that have kids or even clients who are empty nesters, you know, it's that like entertainment value. It's that like, look at my cool landscape and look at these beautiful trees. Have you ever seen trees like this before?

Yeah. So how did you do the espalier? Did you do it against a fence or your home or out in the landscape and build a structure for it?

Yeah, we built a structure for it. So we have a, a very, like a tension wire fence and we worked with a Local, local forager who created some really cool, beautiful posts. Put them in and put the trees on there. And so now since we're lucky enough to be having our own nursery, we are actually starting to do some like multi grafted and different variety of espalier trees because there's just. They're hard to find. And if you do find them in Orange county, they can be a good, a very, A good investment.

Wow. Okay. And then are you pruning it yearly?

Yes, we prune and we offer. We just started offering and we offer up a pruning and a fertilizing every season for, for clients who do that. So that's also been like a really cool way to grow the business.

Okay, so give us a quick like pruning lesson. Obviously it helps to have a visual, but if you could paint a little picture for us. What are we pruning when we're pruning an espalier?

So you're. The first thing is to look for whenever you're. So you're looking for branches that are coming, growing outward. You're looking for branches that are crossing.

Okay.

And you're looking to thin out. So the key to production on an espalier, so particularly an apple, they actually grow off these really short little branches. So anything that is really super tall, that's most likely going to be a water sprout and you're going to want to cut those off.

Okay.

Because they're just sucking up a lot of time and energy and sugars from your tree. So we'll remove those and then we'll remove branches that then suddenly start really coming outward. So in this case, espaliers are grown in a flat plane and you want to kind of keep that. The only ones we will not cut off is if there is a specific design or structure that we're trying to do with our espaliers. Like if we want this tree to now be growing up to another level, we will pick the two strongest branches that might be growing upward. Yeah, we'll encourage that to actually grow up to another level. And then we'll train them by slowly bending them. But there's a bunch of different varieties. So we've done it with a couple of different projects where we've done some where they're like fans.

Yes.

And so again, for that they weren't even trees. In this case, they weren't even trees. They were actually like the redirect trees at a, at a local nursery where nobody wanted them because they weren't really beautiful, like columnar Style. Yeah, they weren't full. And I was like, that's going to be perfect because we can trim those branches out to be into this beautiful fan shape. And then we got the right trellis support system. And so less is more. And that's really hard for me to say because as you know, I am more. More is more. I am a maximalist gardener. That is my aesthetic, that is my style. That is like what feeds my soul.

I love the title. Let's just put it out there. Ashley the maximalist gardener. Love, love, love.

Yeah. So less is more. Unfortunately though, with a, with an espalier tree, less is more. That's what's going to get you your fruit production. That's what's going to get you the style, the shape and just success.

And a fruit tree in a small space, which is pretty amazing.

Exactly like that's where you can actually do, you know, if you want a beautiful driveway, like this is a really good way to pick a variety that doesn't have tree like roots that uproot and are going to disturb any concrete or anything like that. But definitely small. Make the most of those small spaces. And then just how cool. Like have something that you can share with your neighbor. Just something that's photo worthy or something that just brings a smile to your face when you come home. Like you want to create your home or your business as a place that is just welcoming and makes people happy.

And espalier makes people happy.

Yes. And it's a fun word to say.

How long does it take to get fruit on an espalier tree?

So it depends upon how far along, like how old your tree might be. So a lot of times we'll start with trees that are like two or three years old and they should be ready to actually start producing fruit. We do tend to recommend to our clients that you take your fruit off the first year right after. After planting.

Yeah.

And the only reason is because we are really trying to get that tree to be as successful as possible. So that first fruiting, we'll recommend that clients take all off the fruit just so that all of that energy can go into building the healthiest root system as possible and a little bit stronger branches so that it can actually hold a decent amount of fruit. But then usually like the year after planting, you can actually start getting fruit and enjoying harvests and amazing. Having like the most delicious, juicy nectarines and peaches and apricots and apples and stuff like that.

Oh my gosh, I gotta do it. Listening to you, I'm like Picturing where am I going to put my espalier? So I love a key point I want to bring out for everybody listening. Is she really? Ashley said, you've got to find the right fruit tree for where you live. That's critical. And then starting to prune early on. Right. So catching it and training it, it's just like your puppy, right? You got to tell it from the beginning because you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I know because I didn't teach my dogs nothing. And now they are wild and crazy 7 year olds. So you gotta catch your tree at the beginning, right?

Absolutely.

Okay, so you are a superstar. You're espaliering treece. Is that a verb? Espaliering? Something like that.

It is now.

How could you, like, just what does it mean for you for this to be your life now? Like, that you went from MBA and you know, your old. They can listen to your story. Like your. You're living out your mom's dreams for you, but what does this mean for you? Like, when you wake up in the morning, the tough days come, but overall, what does it feel like to you that this is your life?

So I had somebody really close to me ask me about that, and they said, even on your worst days, is this like, does going to work make you happy? And again, without missing a bead, I said, absolutely. I love what I do. I, you know, there are so many different, like, little hurdles, but as a whole, like, when you look at the whole duration of a year or all of that, it's pretty even. Keel. I love what I do. I love the fact that, like, every day doesn't always look the same. And I love the joy that he got to bring. I think that was.

I.

Like, that was one of the things we talked about, that was my mom's dream for me is, you know, when we knew that her time here on earth was coming to an end, she said, I want you to do something joyful, something that brings joy to the world. And at the time, I was a branding consultant and I thought, well, I do. And she's like, do you? And it really hit me. And so in this case, yeah, I bring joy to the world. I think about the children or even the grandparents and stuff that clients that we work with and watching them pull a carrot out of the ground. There is nothing more exciting than pulling a carrot out of the ground. And I know it sounds silly and foolish, but at the same time, like, it's just fun. And you, you know, there's that element of surprise. There's that, like, a moment of, like, yes, I did it.

Absolutely.

And it encourages you to keep going. And so I just. I'm really thankful and grateful and happy. And I love being able to see other people's success like this last year, I kind of felt like, oh, my gosh. I just had my head down to the ground and was working so much that I wasn't bringing it up to kind of look at what other people were doing. And so having been able to be here at the summit and really connect with other people and have them be like, oh, my gosh, I love this thing that you do. I'm like, really? Because I love this thing you do. And hearing about that has just been absolutely awesome. And I know that I'm. We have what it takes.

Absolutely. Right.

We've accomplished something that, like, you know, you're reminding, like, small businesses don't always succeed. That's right. The bulk of them fail within the first year, and I was adamant we weren't gonna do that. And now, you know, we're not gonna fail. I'm gonna figure out how everything is solvable. I think that's like, the other thing is, like, everything is solvable, and if.

You wake up and you feel joy and you know you're bringing joy, that'll get you up in the morning. Right. That's your coffee. I love it. Okay, what's your big dream? What's the. Like, if you could look back when this whole thing is never done? Of course. Never done, no garden done, what would make you feel so happy? What big accomplishment are you going for?

I want to change the world. I. This, like, this is a profession that can change the world. I want to change my immediate community. I want to go bigger. I want to, you know, one day design a culinary garden in Europe. I want to, you know, work with some really cool chefs that are in other countries who have a kind of little bit different approach or philosophy to cooking. I want to work with somebody who is just like, you know, I want to create. You know, I'm. I want to do a bnb, and I want to make it this, like, awesome destination place. And the food is at the heart of what we do, because that's how we show love. Like, I want to do that. I want to do that for the client. You know, the clients who are just like, food is such a huge part of my. The way I show love to the world, and I bring joy, and I want to be able to do that for them and partner with them and Build their confidence. And so another consultant said to me, they're like, girl, you have the ability to build an entire world, an entire empire. And I was like, oh, that sounds a little intimidating. And then I was like, but wait, I get to do that on my terms.

Yeah.

And that if I can be somebody who can insp. Like, who can inspire others and continue learning from others, and then also. Higher.

Yeah.

Like, for me, that's a big part of what I want to do, is I want to be able to be somebody who employs really good people and helps them shift so that it's not a job. It's something joyful that they get to do. That's just like. So that really makes me feel really good. Like, that is something that just. It makes me feel like my time here on Earth is gonna be a worthwhile adventure.

I love it. And you're well on your way to changing the world. Full of joy, bringing joy. Tell everybody listening where they can find you, where they can follow you, and how they can get you to come.

Change their world so you can find me. We are pretty much Heirloom potager across all social, Facebook, Instagram. I'm not on TikTok, but yes, we do have a TikTok account under heirloom Protege. You can find me@heirloom poge.com and that is P, O, T, A, G, E.

R. Thanks for spelling that for us, Heirloom Protege. Ashley is your woman. She is changing the world, and she can help you change yours. Thank you so much for being part. It's an honor to be part of what you're doing. A small part of your big dream, and I love following you and learning from you. I'm gonna go home and find an espalier spot, and I can't wait to see what you do next.

Thank you so much.

Yeah, everybody, thanks for listening and watching the Grow youw Self podcast. I'll see you next time. Good job. I call everybody Katie, I think thanks so much for listening to the Grow youw Self podcast. You can keep listening anywhere. You love getting your podcast delivered on Apple podcasts on Spotify, iHeartRadio, you name it, we are there for you. And if you want to read the notes and get our free resources to help you grow more, you can go to gardenary.com podcast.