wants to see you try … well , they know I ’ ll try it , even if it doesn ’ t work . I like going through those comments and seeing common issues or common question and addressing those to help people . B : We like problem-solving .
A harvest of watermelons stowed away … for a little while , at least .
there are so many YouTubers out there who just tell people how to garden without putting it into context for their area , for their region , for their zone . B : “ You can do this anywhere !”… yeah , no . T : For example , there ’ s a guy in the UK named Charles Dowding who ’ s hugely popular . And he does all this no-till gardening , adding layers of compost , and his garden is beautiful . But people don ’ t realize , you look at the latitude of the UK , they ’ re in line with Maine … it ’ s a whole different world over there . Especially when you consider what we ’ re dealing with down here in terms of climate and pest pressure . So much of gardening advice is relative . I like to test these different techniques you see people using , that seem fail-proof . But you need context , need to know how the puzzle pieces fit together – B : We use that as inspiration to be as transparent as possible in our own videos . In every video we show or explain what worked for us , and why , along with what didn ’ t work for us . We show the good , the bad , and the ugly . If we show you our best plants , we ’ re also going to show you these ones that are eat up by bugs . T : We use our interactions and comments to fuel the vast majority of the topics and questions that we address on the videos . That ’ s one reason why I like interacting with folks . You hear something that ’ s a frequent problem or something someone
Have your videos led to any in-person connections with local growers ? T : Not really . Most of the people who watch our videos , they ’ re not in Moultrie . They ’ re all over the world – Australia , Europe , all over the place . I would say not many farmers in Moultrie have any idea who we are ! ( laughs ) They might know , hey , those are the people out near Funston who have the big garden , but – B : They probably don ’ t know that we ’ re doing YouTube videos ! Now , we have made some connections with other gardeners , and other homesteaders – we ’ ve attended conventions and that sort of thing – but we haven ’ t really connected with anyone locally .
How do y ’ all select the seeds , the varieties of crops that y ’ all grow ? B : Travis just looks through a book and picks stuff . I mean , this man grows plants you ’ ve never heard of , you ’ ve never seen … if he ’ s grown it before , he ’ s probably not going to grow it again . We may have four or five things we grow every year . But right now we have five sweet potato varieties . Nobody needs five sweet potato varieties . We just wanted to see how they would grow , what they would taste like , what ’ s different about them . T : Again , you ’ ve got all these different people saying , “ Oh , this is the best variety , this is the best variety …” – well , shoot , let ’ s put them all side by side and see which one really is the best variety . B : A lot of the varieties we select do come from suggestions by viewers . And Travis knows a lot about the seed game . T : When I ’ m picking stuff I haven ’ t grown before I ’ m looking for disease resistance , heat resistance , vigor , and productivity . I like reading the descriptions and every now and then I ’ ll see something odd I ’ ve never heard of before and I think , we ’ ve gotta try this ! Like some purple broccoli we ’ re growing this year . B : You haven ’ t asked this question , but I think the craziest thing I ’ ve seen since we started the YouTube channel is what people will send us . For
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