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You are now listening to this episode of Tea With Kea. Y’all know how we do on the show we sip and spill and I have a very, very special guest with me today. Introduce yourself to the people listening. Hello, everyone. Yeah, it’s been a minute, a hot minute, you know, we’ve been like, out of college for like three years now. I keep wondering like, what have I been doing with my life? I feel like realized out of color. I don’t know. I didn’t know that. Yeah, that’s the crazy thing. The older we get the more Yeah, I realized that like all the older people were right. Wait, what? In that sense, and that’s a lot of adults that he planned and be playing games, but in this sense, I’m just telling y’all straight up. I’m getting a little festive early. I have no idea why but so I’m drinking my tea ever. They make it rain mug but it’s like r e i n. And it’s like one of those mugs that have like a little reindeer with like a little festive hat. So I’m being festive drinking my chai tea today just for the heck of it. I mean, these are facts. These are facts. What you simple nada. Moderate now before the refresh. And actually, this is what I was going to tell you when I got up because I had like a scratch myself. And there was like a bite. So I moved to this place. I guess I didn’t realize when you live on a river. There’s like a bunch of bugs. Yeah. I didn’t realize that. Like I live on the Chattahoochee River, which did you know that it’s 430 miles long.
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I had to.
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So like my, whatever I know about water bodies.
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And they were like, you know, like water, bugs in nature. All That Jazz. My own neighborhood. It was a lot of it was like pine straw. It wasn’t like a lot of real real foliage. But now here, it’s like the river and trees everywhere and bushes and grass everywhere. So I guess I didn’t realize the bug factor. And you know, I have a new knee So I walked here every day. I’m trying to wear like long pants and long sleeves. But the bugs are still finding a way to get me like now they’re biting my hands. And I’m not saying I’m upset. I had just not realized that living on the river like I you know, the South, the bugs are everywhere. But I guess more foliage brings more critters Do I need to wear high socks and like gloves when I walk my dog?
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I think it’s maybe like if you’re walking your dog around with the early morning or around instead of like the middle of the day, although then you would be like hot. Really funny. bugs are everywhere. I started there biting you. These are these indeed are facts. I was
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like wait, hold up, hold up, hold on what’s what’s what’s going on? You know, normally when I have my guest on the show, I always talk about how you met. But what I like to do is I like to ask my guests their recollection to the best of your memory. Our early days. What was they looking like
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while you were my big and aapo which for those who don’t know.
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And I remember getting friend requests like completely, never met before. And I was like maybe like, based on our mutual friends. I figured it was social media profiles. thought that I was going I was like, okay like this person at all I feel like you were probably my and it turns out you were
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yet no, literally. No literally I am that person. Obviously all of us like want littles we were like, we would all like chit chat and whatnot. And I was like way who? And I remember when we were like a fellowship or something. And I was like, she seems fun. I like her energy. And I was just like, boom, bam, bam, but yeah, the first request thing was definitely not what’s the word like low key at all? Like, looking back on that probably was not the smartest decision. Because he I want to be like, incognito. It’s okay. Because at the end of the day, yeah, I was like, yo, surprise, but I wasn’t really surprised. It didn’t do APR was like a lot of a lot of good people. A lot of good energy. Yeah. aapo definitely helped me bring it to life because yeah, it was just like, I drank to my friend who would go get boba, you know, me and my roommate, like, chitchat it but yeah, actually having the fellowship. And I think Jesse also helped push me as well as Blaine Donlan, Rh D for when I was an RA, they definitely helped me bring tea with key to like other people and actually make it a thing. And then like, you know, me and Jesse, we’re doing our fellowship together to acumen Jesse. So I definitely have to thank aapo for the friendships, of course, like I wouldn’t have met you otherwise. And then also the aapo for leadership, friendship and service, the friendship portion of having fellowships and be able to say, Hey, this is what I’m interested in, this is what I want to do to get some brothers together. So definitely got to give props to the gamma chapter there.
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Yeah. That was like having a fellowship was a good way.
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Like facilitating these conversations. Yeah, I’m happy that Apia was able to, like help you move to the next level?
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Most definitely. Yeah, definitely. Like the getting people together that may otherwise not having met and just also like having those conversations, because even now, with the podcast, I’m finding that I’m in the south or the North. And so you know, we don’t physically get to be together, but being able to still talk, and I’m finding that when I’m having my friends on the show, people literally have said to me, You know, I hope I get to meet this person. And like if I come to Atlanta, or like when I go back to New York, so it’s also interesting, because people that I know, are talking about things that they’re interested in things that they’re passionate about, and my other friends are interested. So it’s in a way, it’s also it’s, it’s still bridging that connection, you know, between people, so and that’s one of the things too, like, why I want to have you on the show, because when I when I texted you and I was you know asking you like do you think that or have you noticed that, you know, since pandemic COVID, spreading across the globe, I personally have seen people become more interested and like growing their own gardens, and just like taking care of plants in general. Like I literally one of my friends got me a plant for my birthday. And she she is like, I don’t even know if there’s a word for like, you know, people who like eat food and take pictures of food and stuff like that they’re foodies. I don’t know there’s a word for people who have like a new plant all the time and post their plants. I don’t know what that community is. There. But I feel like I am one of those people. What I want to hear from you is your own personal experience, but also taking a notice and either like the people around you or social media when it came to, from what I’ve seen this knew, no pun intended, but growth and people having a greater interest in actually taking care of their own plans. Yeah, I’d love to
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talk to you about those things. definitely feel like I do what you’re saying. I’m like I’m in this community of people that have plans and enjoy the best If it’s like taking care of plants or gardening, so I guess, like I’ve always been someone who enjoys the outdoors, I consider myself very outdoorsy gardening is something that I think rather than, like buying houseplants, but I don’t have always had like desk lamps at my desk at work. But I guess in reference to like, now it’s going on, like this surge of people taking care of plants, like I have fallen in the past my life outside of me I lost my job in March to prevent the spread of a virus. But I don’t mean productive and like the capitalist thing that like, we should all be putting our labor into something that like makes us more marketable or like something that we can sell but starting with something that I found that added more like purpose to my life, especially like when I started in March, so my family
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a lot of their food for like, almost to the end of their lives. I have so many memories, like picking things with my grandpa and then turning into a jam with my grandma in the basement and like using that jam months later. And so like seeing that cycle of like sprout and then like enjoying whatever was created out of it is something that like I felt very special and something that I really enjoyed as part of my childhood.
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I really felt that when you said like you had that last feeling when you’re gardening you are creating life and sustaining life. You are essentially a caregiver but your plants are like also helping you at the same time because you get to see them shine and grow and just be their best selves. Yeah.
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Also think about like the conditions. migrant farmworkers have still been working throughout this whole pandemic of sexual workers and so I guess for me like this was the factory garden. I like it was giving me purpose and it was something to care for when like we’ve been living through a lot of uncertainty within the past six months. But growing on your like your local food system and you’re just like overall I feel like incredibly fortunate and I have had access to like a backyard. And I don’t want to give anyone the impression that like I have this like farming operation going on. I try to utilize access to joy But I have found even more connected to the community that I’m now I am in the Bronx. And I don’t know many people in her neighborhood outside of like her and maybe like a few of the neighbors, but so many hours, like clearing overgrown plants that were there or like, or planting and weeding things that I’ve interacted with a few of the neighbors, who their yard touch are
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adjacent to
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my yard. And it’s been a way for me to, like meet those people who I know her and somewhere to look. That’s curiosity. Which I like, really, she like, wants to learn and I’ve been giving her some produce, like, DSP in this garden grow from like, oil. Now, it’s kind of like, some
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backyard. I wasn’t even like thinking about that factor. But yes, but the pandemic going on, like proximity is everything. So being able to just, you know, in the safest sense, like being at home, or in this case, yes. Like being in your backyard. And like having that, that shared space. So you’re not only getting to, like, grow, grow food, but also being able to be more integrated with your neighbors who are also a part of that is that’s rewarding.
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Yeah. Definitely. Like value, like community gardens or communities every year, like walking their dog, but I wouldn’t know who they are, or I never felt was fairly part of that neighborhood or community or visiting my mom or staying with her for the time. But it was never like, necessarily, no.
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The streets like having a full conversation is more just like, in passing. I know that. Like, we’re living near each other. We’re not like, we’re intimate. Really. Yeah.
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But now like if I have a ton of numbers, which I have people and like have some I like the woman who was behind my mom like I know her daughter a lot of time where I don’t know many people are meeting new people necessarily.
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That’s that’s definitely true. You actually don’t Okay, so you said something that I kind of want to I kind of want to back up to Okay, so cuz I actually wanted to ask you a follow up question. Roger garden. So you were saying how like you had given some of your neighbors some cucumbers from your garden right? Yeah. So it’s it’s interesting because so my mother she’s trying to like have her own little home garden too. And she’s the most successful she’s been has been with the cucumber is not really what the tomatoes the corn died. I don’t really know what happened. And then there’s kind of like this. It looks like it was we didn’t know if it was a watermelon or a pumpkin but it looks like a gourd. So like I don’t really know what’s going to turn out to be but basically, the most success that she had as a cucumber is like that’s they just they just appear and Mike Jamison loves to eat them. So my first question to you is, what have you been growing in your garden? And my second question is, is it just the cucumbers, they just do? Well, that’s that’s honestly
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I have found it really easy to grow up on the ground, tie them up so they can climb. So they were the first thing. Any sort of like vegetable like it’s just started to wilt a little colder up here starting to get colder, and so I don’t see bouncing back from being a little wealthy, I just think it’s like the end of the line. I’ve been growing peppers and banana pepper, I have a bunch of different types of tomatoes. And I’m also growing basil, rosemary, and you really you’ve done it all out there. Okay. I’m gonna try. Because I’ve never been responsible for this much fruit like this garden by myself. I’ve always been like a helper growing up with my grandfather. But I figured like, I’m gonna sprout as many things as I can like handle. I know there will be casualties along the way. I’d rather like start with a lot and then was enough. And I feel bad if like, most of my count, like, I have not done a very good job of taking care of my zucchini plants, I think I’ve got still alive and one of them. Both of them have been known her how to handle it. Because I don’t like my garden. It’s so small, I don’t want to like buy a lot of like, I haven’t used any pesticide. And I this is more like for fun rather than me trying to like produce as much zucchini as I possibly can. But I definitely relate to the struggle. Like some of my plants have not done well. Or just like the kale has been so easy for me. I just hooked them up the weeds when I’m ready to pick them and then just like leave them tomatoes, take a lot of effort to like, monitor them to make sure there aren’t like burrowing inside of them or they’ll fall off the plant. But it’s definitely been a learning experience have been the easiest plants I’ve grown. But I think it’s also different of like where we are. I don’t know, I haven’t tried corn corn. space for corn because it gets tall.
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Yes, it was definitely that’s the thing, like, so I wasn’t there for like the full process because, you know, she’s in North Carolina, and I’m here in Georgia. But when I did go home, yeah, it was there. But then like, it wasn’t I was so confused. Like you could like see, it was like getting tall. But then like it didn’t come out. I mean, honestly, I I have not like tried gardening at home like myself, the only time I was really gardening was when I was abroad because we were doing this like leadership program. So we tried to basically start gardens and neighborhoods because just based on like you were saying, it’s it gave, like the community something a to care about, and then be like if people like needed to do they could like go to it. But other than other than that, and that was back in 2016 I haven’t like really, really, really been gardening but it’s interesting that Okay, so earlier on which I had a follow up questions I never thought about, I guess, like, the differences and like the purposes. So, you know, obviously we’ve been talking about, you know, players that are within a garden that we could grow into, like full term. You know, hopefully, you also want to comment too, about people having like desk plans and house plans. And I guess like my question is, I don’t know. I’ve got I got oh my gosh, was it called? I gotta I thought it was a spider plant. I was a snake plant. Okay, yeah. My friend gave me a snake plant. And she said it was really good because it’s like, it’s, I think she’s, like difficult for it to die. Because I also have an organ and my orchids I struggled a little bit. Do you have any quote unquote desk plans or house plants that are like that you actually have like inside? Yeah,
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I have a few succulents. There are plants that remember what type of second like what’s the name of the succulents Are you Water moisture in the ground
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water in the water was just like
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something I had to really monitor very well. But I do have indoor plants I don’t people feel like all this instead of grilling like flowers or like something that has an aesthetic value, but I value nice places and it’s nice flower able to do that.
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I’ve never actually heard this like in my life. So I’m like, still like processing I didn’t actually know that people because I mean, oh gosh, this is what I wish I could like phone another friend because my boyfriend’s two friends. They’re florist so
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literally told me that flowers are funny like buying flowers, flowers, and it’s so much part of like our culture. It’s like American culture. So like flowers, whether it be like, I don’t know, your anniversary or someone like passes away, like, flowers at night. I don’t know, I was like, so cynical right now. Like, true. Okay. It’s like all the other art. Also. Class also, well, I don’t know I just negative.
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Okay, so I have like a, Okay, so here’s my view. And I told my boyfriend this early on. I think flowers are nice. I like, you know, I like going to the gardens. I like being able to see them. However, I’m not I don’t like to receive flowers. I told him that from Joe. I rather just have the flowers just be out in nature and just like see them, you know, flourishing versus, but I don’t want to have flowers that like you give to me. I put in a basement table like I’d rather be outside and see them. So like the person who said that I’m like, okay, I don’t agree with like the point that like, okay, they like there’s no purpose, but if you as an individual like me don’t want to receive them. Like, that’s that but I still like yeah, like, when you when you’re out and about it is nice to see them. And then yes, like you’re like, thinking about the bees like hello. So but I just never thought that like there were like, anti flowers, I guess? I don’t know. But
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I, uh, well. Definitely, I think, I don’t know, I appreciate the value of flowers and like giving classes gifts.
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And I think like, in my personal opinion, if someone was going to give me a plant or flowers or something, I’d rather get it that like flowers and then I could take care of I won’t have to watch it like welcome. Flowers. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I
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always wondered that honestly. Because, like, you know, I understand. And this this is what I guess I experienced with adulting you know, being in the office, you know, pre COVID and like people receiving flowers and everyone’s but then I’m like, wait, like, these flowers are in a vase. like are they gonna die? And then like, what? I don’t know. But yeah, versus like. Oh, yes. A thing. It’s like, yeah, okay, so I appreciate my friend miracle for giving me like she gave me like a plant in a pot. I I’m fond of that. Okay, but yeah, what I’m not fond of is like, yeah, you like they’re clipped and then you get them in a vase and then I’m like, but they’re gonna die. So I’m like, that is the part that confuses me. But I guess the thing is, like if the plants still have opportunity to grow, like I’m down for that, but like, if sorry, the flowers, but if the flowers don’t have an opportunity to grow anymore
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like a flower Like a flower every year, that’s like a gift that keeps on giving.
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I think there’s so much nicer because I, I feel like people are very disconnected from the natural world. And we spend a lot of time in a way where you can either go outside if you have access to this other beings out in this world
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do you think that every single person in the world, or to get a planet and like, like have to keep it alive? Do you think that would make people more compassionate?
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Another person to do, like on a large I definitely could be more compassionate. Like I think about my plant babies all the time. compassionate, they were taking care of an easy way to do that. Okay, well, why don’t we just like give people see, I guess something to be said about, like, failing. That, like, not allowed or something? Like,
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I think there are like regulations, country by country about like planting plants that you get from other countries. Like I think, like the FDA, like regulates some of that. So if you’re getting from another country, you don’t necessarily know, like, what type of plant it is. I don’t think that’s like, I think that’s discouraged. But what if it’s like within the country is okay. Like, always a thing of, you know, where this is coming from,
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you know, people listen back to this episode. We always do takeaway points at the end. So this is the time where you think, you know, in terms of everything that we’ve talked about today, if people didn’t get nothing out of this episode, which won’t happen, but what would you want people take home when they listened to your episode.
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Some of my, like, main idea, or things that I’ve talked about, that I would like people to think about in the future are one I think just being connected to like the natural world. And that could be anything from like, you might not be in the outdoors. Like I don’t think everyone needs to be a hardcore like backpacker that travels through, like wilderness without service and like surviving off the land, like,
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I don’t
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think everyone will be that. But I do think there’s value in people recognizing our natural environments. There’s a way for them to be more connected to that, whether it be like a depth plan, where they can care for this thing, or starting a backyard garden. Like I’m all on board for those things.
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I think we can look beyond the sense of like, having a barbecue with a bunch of people over or like cooking a meal together with your family and eating it together. Like I think food is a really good way to build community. But I also think like you can build that community by growing your food and being more connected to your food system
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and
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You’re growing
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local, like,
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I think people are talking about like local people who, like go to farmers markets, and they talk to the farmers and they purchase their food directly from the farmer. But I think there’s value in
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whether it be like food, which is like landscaping, but also like landscaping. So you’re able to like things also tie in with like, we are an incredibly globalized society, we get food from everywhere.
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migrant farmworkers have been essential workers during the pandemic. And I don’t think people know, like human rights, issues that come from micro farmworkers experiences, like, I think that’s something that I want people to maybe look into this conversation. And I also want to bring in like, these things aren’t new.
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growing their own food forever. We just live in a society now. Where like, we do need big farmers to grow our food, like we have a very large population. But I think nothing wrong comes from partly growing your own food from your backyard or
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people losing their jobs, I think going out to food pantries and relying on like, community resources like that, but I would like more people to look into like community farming or
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overgrown Victory Gardens, because a lot of like the military and like, why did we stop doing it?
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Like, why can’t we do it looks up something I’ve said or wants to look into this more, which I think will be better for all of us as a culture. I know that was a lot of gold takeaway.
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No, I am so appreciative of that. Because Yeah, honestly, like that, that is the point of, like, have these conversations and really like, what I appreciate, you know, like you’re giving me things to think about that I’m
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gonna look into, you know, like,
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I’m gonna listen back to this episode. And I really appreciate when my guests come on, and they like, kind of,
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we’ve touched on a lot of things. And I really think that your takeaway point as far as like, this is nothing new is something that I think will definitely, with people, it’s just like, because of the pandemic, it’s in our face. So being able to
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get a lot out of it. This like he said, labor of love, like if this is the real deal.
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Yeah, thank you for talking about these things. In the beginning, you mentioned like those people not the foodies, but the people like posting photos, their plants, their food like that is like, I love that I like thank you for like creating a space with your podcast. Like learn not just for you, but like the people on your show or people who are listening and like bringing in these topics.
Tea With Kea 