Healing at the Root with Taylor Yowell

Wellness is a practice, not just a word.

Welcome to the Synergy Podcast, where myself, Kelly Engelman and Lori Essery shed light on powerful tools and topics that nourish.

Your body and most importantly, feed your soul.

Hi, senergy listeners. Lori and I are extremely excited about today's interview.

We are.

We have Taylor Yowl with the Garden Pharmacy that will be joining us. And listen, he is going to really change the way that you're thinking about how you're eating, where you're getting your food, how it's sourced. He's going to help us think about some really cool things that we could be doing at home, like composting and juicing and investing in a csa. So listen in. You know, we know that food is medicine. You guys already know that if you've been following us for any length of time. But this will really challenge you to perhaps do things different on a daily basis. We are so excited to be back in production for podcast and today we have with us Taylor Yowl. Taylor is a local farmer right here in the metro Jackson area, and Lori and I are really excited to have him with us today. Taylor, I want you to start off by telling us your story. Like, how did you get into this because you didn't go to school, right, Right off the bat, you were engineer, right? Engineer student.

Yeah, you're right. There is a story to it. How good of a story it is is, I guess, to be judged. Although it began in 2011, so that'd be 12 years ago. I was working as a civil engineer in Madison county, and I was young, I was 23, and I was, you know, used to. In college, I worked at a garden center, so I was used to working around plants. But then also realiz being pent up in an office and eating fast food for lunch every day, I just wasn't feeling as good as I could. And then also realizing, wow, you know, they're starting to carry organic produce. And the grocery stores around here is really when the organic trend was starting to pick up. And that love and that work with plants that I was doing in college. And then noticing and becoming aware of there's other choices you can make in the food world, in the grocery store that can better your health and really make you stronger, smarter, all kinds of different things. Food is everything. And so that's when I started brainstorming with the idea of, well, maybe I could learn how to become an organic farmer. And that's where the fun began, is I realized I wanted to learn how to become an organic farmer. In Mississippi, where, unfortunately, it just wasn't here at that time. The closest thing to it would be pretty much grandparents that were growing their own vegetable garden in their backyard. Would be as close as you can get. And that's where the search began for finding a farm somewhere where I can just delve into this idea that I have of wanting to learn how to grow organic. And I sent my resume through throughout the country, ultimately to all kinds of different farms, and some of them certified organic and some not. Went through a lot of interviews just like any normal job process. But then I was accepted for one in Northern California in Humboldt on a certified organic farm, vegetable farm, and they were also a one acre certified organic vineyard where they were creating organic wine on the premises also. And so after communicating and going through the interviewing process with this farmer, I decided to take the job. And I put in my two weeks at the civil engineering firm and I drove west a long way, a very long way. Packed up everything I had and just hit the road.

Gosh, Taylor, that's way west to pack up everything and just take a risk. So what happened next?

And I got to this farm and it was very secluded, very isolated. It was actually on a Native American reservation on the Hupa Native American tribe in Northern California, which is the largest Native American reservation in California. And it was wild. It really was. They were along the Trinity river, and it just had everything, you know, natural about it in a lot of ways, and then just happened to also be a very productive organic farm. And so what I learned immediately, it's about not only how the produce is being grown, but where it's being grown. And there was clean air, clean water, just not, you know, pollution from vehicles or whatever runoff there may be in the creeks or streams. But it was. It was just real pristine. And that was a huge, I think, realization at the standpoint of, well, I have found health not only in how we're. What we're doing here, but the environment itself. And that's where I started an apprenticeship for one year there at Green Fire Farm in Hoopa, California. And that whole year, it was just a grind. The whole time, the farmer was just. He was teaching a lot, but also we were just working because we had to make money for the farmer and for ourselves to survive. And it just turned out to be an isolated farm. Although the community it was in, which was an hour and a half east, I'm sorry, west on the Pacific Ocean, a community called Arcata. And they had a very vibrant farmers market. Extremely vibrant. The community just really Absorbed it and supported it. And so I learned that there is a market, there's a way you can make money with this, this style, this career also. And so I was just picking up on all these things. And that was the first year, that was the first year where I learned a lot. I stuck with the farm the whole year, did all four seasons. And then the year after that I decided to take on another apprenticeship, but one focused on fruit tree production. Nursery trees. They were an online fruit tree nursery selling over 700 different varieties of fruit trees around the country. And so I immediately went into learning how to propagate trees, meaning not only learning how to grow, harvest and pick fruit, but how to create the tree itself.

And that's where you fell in love, right? That's your, that's your dig in passion there.

You're right. You're right. Because it's kind of like it's a seed that lasts with your vegetables. You know, you plant the seed, you harvest, you're done for the year. So I was really intrigued with this model of, wow, there can actually be an organic farm that's not always the soil being tilled and always putting down fertilizer, chicken manure, things like that, but one that stays in place and not only grows on its own, but takes care and maintains itself too. And so that principle in farming I just became absolutely obsessed with. And then once I finished a year long apprenticeship at this location, the second one, the name of the farm is Rolling River Farm. It was even further in the wilderness. It was very interesting to just meet these families and people who just decided to live a lifestyle of solidarity and isolation so that they could have the food that really their bodies and minds needed to be who they wanted to be. Which is fascinating. So after two years of grinding it out and learning a lot, I decided I was done being isolated, as at that point I was 25 years old and ready to go have fun. And so I moved immediately to Richmond, Virginia on the east coast. And I started working for an organic farm right outside of Richmond that was an all vegetable CSA farm and jumped right in. They put me at manager and it was my first year to grow on my own without direction per se. But the way the farm operated was the owner of the farm was the CEO of Harvard Medical School. He and his wife owned the land and managed the operation, but I was the farmer. And so it was very cool to have that connection, I guess, in a very, you know, well connected family growing vegetables for their farm and doing with kind of bringing to fruition what they wanted to see happen with their land. And it was great. So I spent the whole year there selling vegetables and doing the CSA model throughout the Richmond, Virginia area and just got a really good experience on what it takes to grow on the east coast at that point. So now I've got the west coast experience, now I've got the east coast experience. And then at that point, I said, well, I'm ready to start my own farm. I'm ready. And that's very hard to do. So I came home, really with no leads, nothing, Realizing I was gonna have to start from scratch. And I kind of just kind of muddled around. There was. I wasn't getting any breaks, any leads. The money was becoming an obstacle. How am I gonna afford this? How am I gonna pay for it? And so I was just kind of fingers crossed. Things just not really happening until I went to an organic farming conference in Mobile, Alabama, about two months after being home. And I met a lot of farmers that were in the south that were operating. And this conference is one held every year by really a kind of a regional organic farming committee. And so they had unique speakers and all kinds of different farms there. And I met a group of farmers from Mississippi that had just started, not only within that year, but just very recently. So the organic trend at that point had made it to Mississippi just barely. The young farming initiative was there, just barely. And so I showed up back home at the right time, and I met the right people. I met Will Reed, who owns Native Sun Farm in Tupelo, Mississippi, and Samuel McLemore, he was there as well. He has bountiful harvest farms in Starkville, Two very incredible young farmers that are still in operation today. And I got to talking to Will Reed of Native Sun Farm, and he offered me a job. And so I realized that it would kind of set me back a little bit with the idea of finding my own land, you know, being in that mental search for things. It's a full time job, also, also working with realtors. So I just stepped away from that idea and I went and worked for Will Reed as an apprentice. So here I am, I found myself back in an apprenticeship program, my fourth one. So kind of like my. It would be equivalent to being a senior in college at that point, when I thought I was done, when I thought I'd already graduated. And so here we are in Tupelo, Mississippi. It's Will Reed, myself, and one other apprentice. And I realize that Will's a very ambitious farmer, which most farmers are. But when I realized his vegetable field was 30 acres and there was three of us. I was like, oh my gosh, what have I gotten myself into? And I was right. Because the whole entire year it was like one thing after another. Not necessarily because of the scope or how large his farm is, but it's a very good farm. But challenges kept coming up. His daughter was diagnosed with cancer about a month and a half after I had been there. And so he was gone all of a sudden. And so now it was me and another Apprentice running a 300 member, roughly 300 member CSA farm. And you had no option except for either quit or just keep going. And that's where the real experience kicked in. I thought it was cool learning and working for old established farmers in California and learning all these things. But then I learned what it was going to take to own a business or to make tough calls on the farm when you don't have really any options at all.

You know, there was a part of that that, you know, you just got to. Is when the. When the going gets tough, the tough get going, and you either have a choice to allow that, you know, adversity to grow you or to destroy you. And in that situation, you said it really taught you a lot. You know, you had already seen a lot. It sounds to me you are a forever student.

Yes.

Is that right? Is that what I'm picking up on?

You are correct. Yes, ma'. Am. Yep. And that's farming, and that's the world we live in ultimately, as everybody really is. But in the world of farming, where things get thrown at you very severely left and right, unexpectedly, and you have money involved in the reality of trying to make a living, also, it seems to hit very hard to. Consistently. Consistently.

Yeah. I was reading some statistics a few years back, and farmers were the top of the list for stress of any career. Top of the list. So what are the things that create stress for a farmer? I mean, the weather seems like the biggest.

Yes, right.

But maybe it's not. Maybe there are other things that are more pressing. But you would think the weather conditions.

Yes, yes. Weather is certainly top and foremost. It's a career where you can do everything absolutely perfect and you still are guaranteed nothing at the very end. And it's because of that exposure, outdoor with the weather, et cetera, but also just how easily injury can happen and then you're done, you're toast, at least for a little while. But things that we deal with in Mississippi that make it hard and stressful and I'm sure similar in a lot of Other places is not only the heat from the long summer, but the insects, the fire ants, the snakes. I mean, the spiders. I turn over heads of cabbage sometime and there's black widows. And you're just like that could have easily got. But how did it not, you know, so it's not only dealing with the we weather, but just the environment in general. And that's what makes it hard because you're doing it day after day. And sometimes the weather is your friend. Sometimes it's. It's wonderful. It's a beautiful day and everything's going right. But then, you know, usually that means there's bad weather right around the corner. And then you. So you lose all of that very quickly. When something like a tornado or severe thunderstorm is in the, you know, the general area of your farm, it is stressful. And another thing.

And it's very unpredictable. Yes, it's very unpredictable. Right.

Yep.

So I would ask the question, what makes the risk worth it to you?

That's a great question.

What makes the risk worth it?

Sure. What makes it worth it is the unknown is the fact that you are doing something that you don't know what the final outcome is going to be. And it's like, in a good way, it's positive gambling, because if you. If it does work out well, you're going to make money doing it. But if it doesn't work out, you make a loss. So it's a little bit of my personality and somewhat adventurous, but then also willing to take a gamble, but then also to, you know, succeed with slight ambition at the same time.

I want to go back to the beginning, what you said. When you're sitting in Jackson, Mississippi, or the area and you're at the grocery store, you know, you need to be eating better and you're not seeing a whole lot of what you need. You see a little bit of it trickling in.

That's right.

But you're not seeing a whole lot. And so you go on this quest to figure out how to produce that. How can I bring this back to the community? And I think that's what makes a hero.

Well, thank you.

Because I can't do my job. Lori can't do her job in helping people heal without the right types of food that are good quality, that are, as you said before, clean. The clean air, clean water, clean food is what we talk about all day long. And so I have been just amazed by your work from the very first time I met you and so saw your produce.

Thank you.

Like, it is incredibly beautiful. And delicious and interesting. You know, there were things in my bag that I had no idea what they were and I had to figure out how to prepare. But that's fun.

Yeah, yeah, that, that is fun. And you're, you're very correct, Kelly. It's, it's something where the community has to get behind it for us to be successful. It has to have people like you.

Right.

To bring it together and also to share why you think it's so unique with other people that brings them into it.

Right.

So you guys hit on a topic, csa. And we throw initials around all the time in our communities and we assume sometimes that people know what that means, but many of our community don't know what that means. And I know that that's something that you, Kelly, have taken advantage of. And I've heard you, Taylor, speaking about that. Can you give us a little bit more information about what is a CSA and what does it mean?

Sure, that's a great question. It really helps bring the movement, the organic farming movement to surface, to explain and help people understand what a CSA is. The CSA model, before I delve into it, it began in the 1970s. It was a way for people who wanted to get back to the land, who wanted to maybe raise their children on a farm and still try to make a living without going into the office every day, to have a model that is generic, that everybody can easily learn and to, to replicate also and share. And so what the model is is that as an organic farmer, you have to be diversified to be resilient. You can't put all your eggs in one basket as in most careers, or really anything. And so the model is, hey, let's grow squash, let's grow cucumbers, let's grow tomatoes, let's grow eggplant, let's grow basil, other herbs, peppermint, thyme, oregano. And then that gives us the ability to put together a package. We're not just dropping off a 20 pound box of tomatoes, we're dropping off a package that stands for or it creates an option and an ability for a family that invest into this farm, into the CSA model, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. To be able to cook two or three different meals using all these different vegetables or very diversified cooking, it helps inspire them to be more of a chef. So what CSA stands for, like I just mentioned, is Community Supported Agriculture. And really what that means in a nutshell is that folks like Kelly, like you, people in your neighborhood, in your office, are going to say, I'm going to join the Garden pharmacy CSA this year, and every single week during that growing season, you're going to get that box of vegetables, that bag of vegetables that has 8, 9, 10 different items in it. And that's what makes it fun and unique. And so when you hear a farm say, we're going to do a CSA this year, all that means is that you're going to. You have the ability to join their farm, to invest into that farm and get a share of that produce each week, depending on what's in season. And the fun part about it is with the diversity that the CSA is if, say, since you are practicing organic, by the way, and you're not spraying things, if you have something wipe out your tomato crop, which is unfortunate. It does happen, though. You have other things to go in there into that, that box or that, that bag. And so the family is investing and taking a little bit of a risk into that farm, but with the idea of not only just getting something, a lot of people think they're just investing into, or they're paying us and they just get vegetables. But what they get is the general idea that the farmers are shepherding the land, they're taking care of the land. They're making sure that the air might be slightly cleaner, that there may be a healthier balance within the ecosystem of good and bad insects. So what people are getting when they invest into a CSA program is not just the vegetables. It's the improvement and the continuation of a healthy ecosystem where they may live, breathe, or work. And that's what I try to get people to understand, is that the CSA model is a great model to invest into a farm, but just don't expect produce. You should be really proud of investing into your environment as well.

So one of the things I heard you say was, you know, creating resilience. Right. And that's something that Lori and I talk a lot about with our patients, is we want to create in them resilience. We want to create in them a lifestyle that's building resilience.

That's right.

Right. And we get a lot of that resilience capacity from what we put in our bodies.

You're exactly right.

Right. So that produce, I'm assuming from an organic farm where the land is cared for, is more nutrient dense, there's more nutrient value in that food than per se you would get at the grocery store where something's been shipped halfway across the world.

You're exactly right.

And we're getting in season as well.

Yeah.

So one of the things that we wanted to talk about today is sustainability, resilience and how that plays into what someone can do at home to create that for themselves. And I heard you say invest in a csa. That's one of the things that you can do. Regardless of what community you're in, there should be a CSA in your area that you can invest in to be part of the solution.

Yep, you're right.

How does a person locate a csa? I know we have one here in Florida and I'm super happy that we do. And I love my box when I get it. I have to say, it forces me out of my comfort zones and it certainly stretches me my cooking abilities. We like to throw recipes in there. But how would a person locate a CSA that's not in your area or where I'm at?

Sure, that's a great question. I highly recommend going to your local farmer's market and usually those CSA farms are also going to be at the farmer's market and they also, some farms even have their CSA pickup at a farmer's market. And so really it just takes engaging the community within those options of how or where fresh produce may be sold in your community or even at a local co op. A lot of even larger cities have co ops and those co ops support local organic farms. And so they would certainly know just by being in communication with the farmer. And then I really think social media is a great tool as well for finding these farms. If it weren't for social media, a lot of these small farms would already be toast. I mean, it's just been such a great marketing tool for low budget operations and trendy as well. Everybody likes to see a good picture of a tomato or something. So social media, farmers markets or local co op are going to be your best option.

Not all small farmers are organic.

Sure, right.

So what questions can people ask the farmer to see? Because I know getting certified organic is oftentimes cost prohibitive and you know, you can't really claim that. But what questions can they ask the farmer to make sure that they are getting the best in the way of produce?

Sure. Simply, you know, it seems like there's a popular slogan right now, know your farmer, just get to know them. I think ask them just really basic normal questions, become friends with them and then just start asking them very, you know, simple questions about their farm. Do you use a tractor? Do you not use a tractor? What's your favorite crop to grow? What's your favorite fertilizer? Fertilizer is where it kind of gives, gives way there. Most people, and even myself, I Thought this, that fertilizer was simply chemical based, that was used on large farms. Well, fertilizer is just a term. You can have organic fertilizer and you can have non organic fertilizer. Some fertilizers that are used on organic farms. That might be an easy question to ask your farmer. What kind of fertility are they using to grow the food? Because that's where the nutrition comes from. That's where what you're eating actually is. Fertility would be earthworm castings, chicken manure, compost, mycorrhizal fungi, things like that are growing this food. But if he says he's just using, you know, triple 13, then you might just want to move on to the next farm, you know, thank you for your time, you know.

Right.

And that's, that's kind of the obstacle we hit as farmers is it seems as if organic farmers are pitted against the other guys and the other guys are pitted against organic farmers. And it's kind of true. But we're also still farmers at the end of the day and we still have a lot that we can teach each other. But it still is two different modes of thinking which makes it challenging. So I always recommend easing in. And if the farmer is organic, you'll find out real quickly. But if they're not just people like and say, you know, we'll circle back around with you.

Right, Absolutely.

It's a fine line, but that's a great question.

Yeah.

Well, the tractor I have to go back to that question is, I would have never thought to ask that question. So you got to expound on that for me. You know, why would you ask them what equipment they use?

Because equipment is sometimes it can do the farming for you or you can be the farmer that's in control. And I've learned in the small farming world, you do have to be trained. And you can be trained with a tractor or without a tractor, and both are handy modes of farming. But I've learned that when young farmers who might be failing or not doing as well, they tend to just want to buy some piece of equipment that is going to make their farm better, their operation better. I really think that young farmers need to realize how important it is to be trained to be a farmer, whether even if it's just one year working on another farm, and that you are the farmer and that it's up to you to make the produce grow. Not a tractor or not a lot of fancy equipment. Save that money, use that money wisely, because you're going to need it. And so equipment is a big topic. I feel like you can go in a lot of different directions. And my experience in farming is that most of the time we have been, or my education has been without a tractor. One year it was, and it was great. But I. It's just not really the style of farming that we delve into with how connected we can be to the earth with hand tools, with always being on the ground and not relying also on the exorbitant amounts of diesel or gasoline that tractors require to operate. And then you become. If you're using a tractor or a lot of equipment, you quite simply become dependent upon it. When your tractor breaks, you're like, well, how am I going to get this done? And so it's just a mentality that we appreciate in that, well, we're going to get it done whether the tractor is there or not. And it does help efficiency purposes to have what we call a hand tractor. It's got a small machine, but you operate it with your feet on the ground and your hands. It looks similar to what you would see your granddad out in the backyard with his roto tiller, but it's far more powerful than that. And that's what, you know, Taylor, would.

You go so far to say that, you know, maybe a farmer who is using a lot of equipment, maybe as. Isn't as in touch with their crops. Is that kind of what you're saying? And I'm only asking that question because I go back to. Because I'm trying to create an understanding for myself. I go back to in my early years of nursing, when I worked in a very, very. It was a teaching hospital, and I was really taught how to not depend on Equ, but to really use my ability, my skills, my common sense. Get in there. And then I transitioned to a hospital where the nurses used all the equipment and they just. Whatever the numbers read on the screen, that's what they wrote down. And there was a real disconnect. So is that kind of. Does that example make sense in your industry?

Yes, it makes a lot of sense, although it doesn't need to be. I don't need to say it in a way that's offensive, obviously, to people who do use a tractor. But I do need to state it's important when you realize you only have a certain amount of land to use to grow food, that your tractor has to have room to turn around. Sometimes you have to maximize your space to get the highest production. And so we don't have room or areas necessarily to be able to turn around A tractor, and we don't want to either. We also plant fruit trees within our vegetable areas. And so it would be very easy to run over a fruit tree or to smack one or tear a limb off full of fruit or anything like that. So you start to realize that you're practicing a form of agriculture without all the modern technology that is very similar to how our ancestors operated. But not only our ancestors, but very highly productive native tribes throughout the world. The Native Americans, they were extremely productive when it came to agriculture. They produced tons of food, and they always had a forest farm model where you're blending perennial agriculture with annual. And so a lot of the problems that we seem to have in our society these days stem from, or at least what they're pointing toward scientifically or even just basic common sense is the scale of our agriculture, which is operated with equipment like that. So there's a fine line. So the way I see it is it's a good example, and I think that it plays into a healthy community when you start to shift away from all of those needs and wants of what industrial agriculture makes you think is exactly the only way to do it.

So I want to dig into the soil.

Sure.

Because Lori and I treat the gut microbiome. I mean, that's the foundation of a person's health, is what's going on in the gut microbiome. You know, the more I think about soil and how alive it is, and I think about, you know, what could the average person be doing at home to improve the soil around where, just where they live.

Sure.

And I think about composting.

Yep, you're right.

And so talk a little bit about that, how easy or maybe hard that is to do. And, you know, just as a way of inspiring our listeners to, if they can't grow, you know, they think they need a lot of land to grow fruits and vegetables, and we really don't, number one. But number two, if they think they can't even do that, how does composting play into that whole philosophy of preserving the land and improving the soil?

Sure. That's great. Very important, because like you said, Kel, you can do this on a very small scale. You can grow healthy food on a small scale, your own backyard. And it's even easier if you sometimes are located in an urban area where you can go collect bags of leaves that are on the side of the street that are thrown out for the trash, or even pine straw, or just small sticks and stems that your neighbors may be growing out, collect those, pile them up, let Them sit in a pile. Maybe go buy a bag of earthworm castings or chicken manure every now and then. Every now and then, and just add that bag to that pile and just let it build up and build up. And then after about a year, you will have literally a pile of black gold. That's a pretty common saying when it comes to compost, and it's true, because you don't even have to mix this stuff into the soil. You can just plant something and put this compost around your plant, and you're good to go. For some circumstances, especially fruit trees, especially perennial crops, things that come back every single year, soil is very important. That's an example of how you can do something very simple and easy to build your own backyard soil. But what most people do not realize is that a lot of our topsoil in the United States has eroded or is eroding very quickly. Erosion is a big issue in Mississippi. Since we are a state of agriculture, we have been for a very long time. A lot of our good topsoil that has taken obviously millions of years to build. I mean, it literally is gone. On my farm, we even. We're on a hill, which is good because you want to be, you know, have good drainage, et cetera. But that topsoil, because they tilled it and worked it so hard over the years, I'm not even talking about recently, like in. Even in the 30s, 1930s, and 40s, it's all gone. And so we have to build our soil or we can't grow food. And that's a very important concept for people to understand. Whether you live in a neighborhood, on a farm, or no matter what is that somehow there's got to be some initiative or something that you can do to help build soil where you are. And what we do to build soil is compost. That's very important, although it does take a little while. So we usually have to supplement that first year to bringing stuff in to improve the soil, but start building compost as soon as possible. And also, what is fascinating about soil, like you said, Kelly, that is where the nutrients come from in your food, that is in your gut, that is in your microbiome.

So you can take also food scraps, right, from vegetable trimmings like onion and things like that that you're chopping up anyway, that you would normally throw down the garbage disposal or put in the garbage can. That's easy to go in the compost.

Yep, that's exactly right. And that's coming right out of your kitchen. And Also, what's really fun about joining a CSA is that it gives you the option to use. Use more vegetables. So you're building your compost that is a value added, very small, but value added concept. So really, instead of there being an organic revolution, which there has been and currently is, there needs to be a compost revolution because.

Right. That's where it has to start.

Yeah.

If the soil is not there, then we can't really produce that organic.

You're right. You're right. And I think that a lot of young farmers like myself, we've been in the business for a little while and we've learned how hard it is to stay in business. You need to realize a way that you're creating your own fertility, your own compost, and not just going to buy it because it does get very expensive. And as we've all seen within the past year, no matter what kind of fertilizer it is, no matter what country you live in, it is skyrocketing in price. So there, for once within my career, which is not long but a little bit of time to understand a lot of the way not only our food system, but the world works, is that we're in a point in time where it proves how everything is connected. Whether it's politics or war, agriculture, anything, it's all connected. But what's most important is that we all keep in mind how valuable healthy food is and access.

Well, I think, Kelly, we can be a part of this composted revolution, because I love that. And I know you're already doing it, Kelly, and I think that even sharing some of what you do with your juicing and stuff, I mean, I find how you just started and what you developed over the course of years is pretty amazing. So you gotta share that.

Yeah. So I've been juicing for many years because I was not a vegetable eater and my palate just did not like vegetables. And I used juicing as a way of training my palate to like vegetables. And then a few years back, I decided, well, why am I throwing all of this produce that's left over and all of the fiber down the drain? You know, why should, why can't I be composting? And so I started composting and just replacing the soil in my flower beds, which now I'm growing vegetables in the flower beds. You know, nice okra right in the front yard. And it's beautiful, but, you know, it's just doing one thing at a time. You know, started with juicing, now it's composting. Juicing and composting, you know, just building on those practices that are easy to do, doesn't take time. Doesn't take much time or effort. It just takes developing that practice, you know, something that you do that you feel good about.

Yeah, you're right. And I might say about the fun thing about juicing is that the compost that you are using after or added the juicer breaks down so much quicker and easier. It's already.

I was going to say my compost is ready. Yeah, it really is. Because we have trees in our yard, so we do use the leaves from the trees. And then I typically add some bone meal and blood meal and things like that to the compost. And then with those vegetables, I mean, it's. It breaks down really quick and we're able to put it right into the flower beds. So, yeah, it's been really fun. The grandkids love it. They love to see the worms and dig around in the compost. So, yeah, it's been fun.

Awesome. That's great.

So I had a. An experience several years ago where I was going to Orlando quite frequently, and I would stay at a Marriott right next to the airport in Orlando. So busy, busy area. And at this Marriott, in the backyard or in the back quarters, they had an organic farm.

Wow.

They were farming everything right there for their restaurant. And so I would always stay there the night before I was leaving out of Orlando. And it really inspired me. I was like, if they can do this here in the middle of Orlando, I could do this in my yard. Like, this is not that hard, people. And so, yeah, don't think because you don't have land, so to speak, that you can't garden. We also do some aquaphonic gardening with the juice plus towers, so using those to do kale and lettuces are really easy to do in there. Nice and fun, too. I mean, just really, really good produce.

Nice.

At the end of the day, I think what we all know, and it's something that Kelly and I have been talking about for a long time, and Taylor, it sounds like you obviously know this too, is that what we feed our body. Right. Is so important. And choosing farm fresh directly to the plate with minimal cooking. You know, most people like to cook it a little bit, but with minimal cooking and just really feeding those good gut bacteria. Because at the end of the day, what we know is our immune system is only as strong as what we feed it and what our waste management system is. Those two things are extremely important to our overall health. I love some of the things that you mentioned today, and I think some of the things that we can really talk to our consumers about, Kelly, is, you know, more about joining a CSA and really support. Supporting our local communities. And you said it. It's important for us to definitely support each other in our community. So joining a csa, definitely. Now I feel really good about this whole composting revolution. I think you guys have convinced me. You know, I toyed with it, and then I was like, I don't really know, but I'm definitely gonna, you know, go back, circle back to that, because we have a responsibility. We have a responsibility, like you said, to our land and to doing something about it. And then I think we need to ask good questions. You know, I. Kelly, you had said we have great farmers markets around here, and I'm so blessed to say that we do, but I do feel like many of us don't really know what those questions are to ask when we go to the farmer's market. And we really do need to get more confident about those questions to ask those good questions. And you've really shed some light on that today. So I really appreciate, you know, so far, what you have shared with us. Thank you so much.

Yeah. Taylor, we really appreciate you taking the time to be here with us today. Our mission, truly is to educate the public and empower them.

Yes.

To do whatever their next step is. And food is such a big part of that. So not only thank you for what you bring to the community, but thank you for being here today.

You're welcome. Thank you. I've enjoyed it.

Can you take a minute and tell us how, number one, they can find you? We've mentioned the Garden Pharmacy, which I just love, but you need to spell it for people. It's a little. It's a little unusual.

It is, sure. Yes. The name of our farm is the Garden Pharmacy. T, H, E Garden. G, A, R, D, N. And then usually where I catch people is pharmacy. We do not spell it in the traditional way, but we spell it far. M, A, C, Y, Farm, C. In other words, showing that food is medicine. Food is medicine. Exactly.

Absolutely.

And we do have a website, TheGardenPharmacy Online. We are on Instagram at the Garden Pharmacy. We are on Facebook, the Garden Pharmacy. And you can definitely get in touch with us very easily through either one of those outlets.

And you typically have a spring and a fall csa.

Yes.

That you can go online and put in a request for.

Yep.

I know it fills up every year, so if that's something that you. You want to do. I would encourage you to do that sooner than later. But again, we just appreciate you.

Yeah. Thank you. Thank you. It's been fun.

Thanks so much for listening to today's episode. You can find more information about synergy at Synergy for Life. That's S Y n e R G e the number4life.com.

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