Latest / Corpus Christi Originals Podcast / #63 | Ryan and Lauren McNabb with McNabb Microfarm

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#63 | Ryan and Lauren McNabb with McNabb Microfarm · Corpus Christi Originals Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: What's going on y'all?
• 0:00
  SPEAKER_02: Corpus Christi Originals back at it again, coming to you live from the produced sound studios, downtown Corpus Christi, Texas.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Real quick, want to give shout out to our sponsor El Vago Burger and Barbecue, located 4701 Baretta, 78416.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: Have y'all tried that?
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_02: Well, you guys are vegan, no?
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_02: Well, check them out, anyways, guys.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: We got uh McNabb Micro Farm with us today.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_02: What's going on, Lauren and Ryan?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, sir.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, how y'all doing today?
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Doing good.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Doing good, happy to be here.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, awesome.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_02: So the art you know where the art walk it was, and I told you where it was.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_02: You're like, oh yeah, I know where it's at.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: That's cool.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: So what's uh uh can you tell what was the first question?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: Uh introduce yourself, tell us a bit about your family and the journey of starting McNabb Microfarm.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm Lauren McNabb.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Ryan.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: We are husband and wife.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, we do get that question sometimes.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: And we do have a seven-year-old son, and um, yeah, this is Ryan's business, so I'll let him take it away.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh started right after the pandemic, 2020.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um wanted to start off doing uh a little bit of gardening, but you know, trying to I was also out of a job at the moment, so uh wanted to bring income in, so I needed to find something.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: We really wanted to get into gardening, um, start doing something more sustainable and uh you know, just return on investment wasn't gonna be there, you know, how long it takes to grow vegetables to to their full grown part and like you know, waiting on a tomato to grow just to see a squirrel take it, you know.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Which should happen a few times, yeah.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: So uh so yeah, we uh a a buddy of mine knew someone that was growing microgreens uh before the pandemic.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, before the pandemic and at a small scale, and uh and you know, we started looking into it.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: I took a course on it, so you know, spent you know, invested in some money to uh to actually learn it the proper way instead of just kind of googling everything.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and uh, you know, took that that course's advice and you know, bought all the materials and got it going in our backyard.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we were really lucky.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: We had just um bought our house uh a few months before that.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And like you said, we knew we wanted to start a garden because like everyone knows during the pandemic it was just hard to get certain stuff, a lot of stuff shut down, and so that's you know why you mentioned the gardening.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: We wanted to be able to feed ourselves, and we thought about doing the farmers markets, and then um, like he said, it it's a long time and we didn't, you know, he really needed an income.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but when we did start to look into microgreens, we were honestly mind blown.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people probably haven't even heard of microgreens, but the ones that have, you know, you hear these amazing things that about them being a superfood, and there's oh, they're so much healthier for you.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: And we were just kind of looking into not just growing them but the benefits of them, yes.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and us already eating a plant-based diet.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: We were just blown away.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, and we got really excited about that and wanting to share that with people.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then yeah, like you said, you know, learning to grow them the right way.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And we were really lucky that our house already had like a separate shed in the back that was nice and enclosed.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: We had a separate space where we were able to grow.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: So we were really um just grateful that all that all kind of worked out.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: Cool, it's awesome.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: If you guys can see on the video right here, check out these micro.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: They blessed me with some of them, y'all.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_02: You guys gotta try them out.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: Check them out.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_02: So, where y'all where y'all uh primarily sell these at?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think the art walk, well, not the artwork, the uh art center, right?
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh grow local farmers market every Wednesday night at the art center, 5 to 8 p.m.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we're also out of Boreye Craft uh butchery.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Nate does carry some of our greens that you can purchase anytime during their store hours.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: And uh we also offer home delivery.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people don't know that.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: So you can pre-order for delivery or pick up at the market.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we deliver all the way from Orange Grove to Portland to the island.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, kind of all over the coastal bend.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can pick up at the farm McCallan, but you know, we do deliveries as well, and then uh we're in a lot of the restaurants too.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I like how you guys are real serious with it, you know what I mean?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: It's like a business for you.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: For sure.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and a lot of us like we want to we start a business and then we stop, you know what I mean?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, so you've been doing it since what 2020, so that's four years.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, that's awesome! Yeah, that's cool.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: I like that you're into like restaurants and stuff like that.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so you mentioned starting a garden at home after being laid off during the pandemic.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, can you share more about the initial experience?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: I guess you kind of did already, right?
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: So y'all y'all would plant in the in the yard, and then eventually y'all got into uh vertical, vertical growing and then like indoor growing, right?
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: And y'all use solar power.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_02: That's we do now, yeah.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's something that we added in the last year.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_01: So why'd you so how come you guys decided to take that route instead of just trying to make it as sustainable as possible, that way it's not impacted on by the grid.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: And uh another fact is that we actually had the power go out one time.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they were working on one of the power lines next to our house, so they had to turn the power off, and I think the power was out for like three or four hours and it killed all the greens that was growing inside.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: So it was on a Wednesday, I remember, because we had to leave to go to the market.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: So all we did, I think we it wasn't too hot that day, but it was definitely too hot and humid for the greens.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: We left the door open to the grow room, is what we call it.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: But I mean, we weren't able to run fans or lights or anything, and it just wiped out everything.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: So we were like, what can we do to make sure this never happens again?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so solar panels, backup battery.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: That way uh we got at least a few hours of window to you know keep the greens going.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: And not only that, you know, the environmental impact is something that we're also really passionate about and something like he said, sustainability.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's kind of this thought that growing microgreens is a sustainable practice when it's really not.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: We do have to buy new fresh soil um constantly, new seeds every time, because these plants obviously never get to the seed stage.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: So we're having to buy new supplies, having to replant every week.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we kind of look at that and say, okay, well, how can we kind of lessen our environmental impact?
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: We do obviously ask people to recycle their plastic.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: We do encourage customers if you're coming to the market, bring your own Tupperware.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: A glass jar works really well.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, that way we can just kind of save some of this plastic.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, there's they do make compostable containers, but there's no facility to even compost them here.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: They're not just like backyard compostable.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: So plastic, unfortunately, is the best route.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but again, that's why we went with solar panels.
• 6:55
  SPEAKER_00: We have people tease and say, oh, you use indoor lights, you use electricity.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_00: Well, why don't you use the sun?
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's right there outside.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: But green, these microgreens won't grow outside, not here in this environment.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, some parts of the country where it's cooler and less humid, sure, you can get some growing outside.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_02: So they're as they're they're more fragile than the actual, because these are smaller versions of so what microgreens are is I say they're the baby versions of the plant.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: So not smaller, not like a baby corn or a baby carrot, but but younger.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: So these are all grown for 10 to 21 days before they're harvested, and they're just younger versions of these full-grown edible plants, flowers, and herbs.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And when you harvest them at this stage, they're gonna have a lot more concentrated nutrition than the full-grown plant.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, concentrated concentrated nutrition.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: So is this one of the reasons why y'all decided like a plant-based diet or um because were y'all like I guess vegan, right?
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_02: Is that the term?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_02: Were y'all that before y'all did this?
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, okay.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: So this was like a plus.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, our diet's changed a lot.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we've been together almost six years now.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: It'll be six years next month.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_00: And so when we met, I was already vegan.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: He was transitioning to vegan, but we were still kind of junk food vegans, I would say.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: We still kind of interesting a lot of French fries.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: Being vegan doesn't exactly mean you're healthy.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, right.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_01: You can eat almond milk and Oreos all day long and be vegan, but that doesn't mean you're eating a healthy diet, you know.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, that's amazing.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_02: Oh man, so so the main motivation.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_02: So, what was the main motivation for starting?
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: I know you probably mentioned this, but I keep I forget really fast.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: It was it well, I guess you were trying to bring income in, right?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_02: Was that the main thing?
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then is that the was that the main motivation or at least half of it.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, it was I needed to bring income in, and we also want to do something that helps and promotes our diet and something we're passionate about.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, you know, there's other ways to make money and probably quicker and probably with less investment and less overhead.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: So it definitely wasn't purely about the money.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: We definitely wanted to do something we were passionate about and could dedicate ourselves to and feel good about.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Because there's a million ways out there to make money.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but if your heart's not in it, you're not gonna stick with it, you're not gonna take it seriously.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: Interesting.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um I think that's that's why we take it so seriously.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: It's because it is health and plant-based health and nutrition, and uh, especially here in Corpus Christi, we know it's something that is, you know, really a need.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_02: Do you do you advocate for it?
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like in how do you find yourself doing that in our in the community?
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: I wouldn't, I don't personally advocate.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if that's the right word, but I know what you're saying.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, we're very open about our diet, um, but we're definitely not the type of vegans that are judgmental about anyone else's diet.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um people come up to us all the time and say, oh, well, all I eat is, you know, steak and potatoes.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: Great, throw some radish on your steak.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I know personally, I'm also um becoming a certified health coach.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not here to change anyone's diet.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not, we're not gonna change anyone's beliefs.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I say if you're gonna eat meat, support local, support your local farmers and ranchers, go to Boreye, get some, you know, because like I said, we're really passionate about the environment and it's more environmentally friendly to go buy your beef from Turkey Hollow Farm from Edelin farms that are within driving distance than it is to use a vegan product that's maybe shipped from you know another state.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, cool.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, can you what what are some of the health benefits uh in incorporating microgreens into one's diet?
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh yeah, so uh a lot of the microgreens are uh high in antioxidants, uh just about all of them are.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: And um even for you know, us vegans, we hear all the time where you get your protein, microgreens.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: They you can actually get your protein from microgreens, tofu, other stuff.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, we do get a lot of our micro uh our protein from microgreens, and uh they're just packed with vitamins, all you know.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_01: As long as you're eating a variety, you're getting a variety of uh of all your micronutrients and vitamins that way.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_02: Nice, and I like how y'all dehydrate because you see you don't like to waste stuff, right?
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: And you make them into spices?
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we have um we have five different seasonings that we make with them.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's cool.
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: Also using like local ingredients, local sea salt from Saltmasters.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'll use local peppers that we grow that the other farmers grow to make our spicy one.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_02: And you give them to you give some to uh is it the jalapeno or the the the salsa people?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-hmm.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, our brand salsa um uses the dehydrated greens in their uh green bikini that's cool.
• 11:42
  SPEAKER_02: Man, so yeah, that's interesting that you can get protein from the greens.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I never would have thought that.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: I thought it was just like you know, animals or whatever.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_02: That's that's very interesting.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_02: What's so what are some of the most popular microgreens that you grow and why?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, some of the most popular ones are signature varieties like sunflower and broccoli.
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, broccoli is uh high in sulf sulforimate sulforophane.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so the the broccoli microgreens are really high in this chemical called sulforophane, um, which you know, we can't really promote necessarily the health benefits of our microgreens, but what we can tell you is, you know, the certain vitamins and minerals that they're high in and what those do.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So sulforophane is a really special one.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's been they've specifically studied that chemical.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: They've specifically studied it in broccoli microgreens, and sulforaphane is gonna help regulate blood glucose levels, improve heart health, and can reduce cancer risk.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: So now we can't go out here saying our microgreens cure cancer or anything like that, but we can say that it is a really good source of that particular uh antioxidant that's awesome.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_02: What makes your ranch blend special and how did you come up with it?
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: Do you also do it?
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we love that.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: That's one of my favorite because uh we actually make homemade ranch with it.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and as so that that's how it started is us making our own ranch.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: I think I just found a recipe online, but of course it calls for either just the full herb or you know the the dried spices, whatever you have.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I just had this idea one day of well, what if we just grow those microgreens?
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so because we already had the garlic chive, which was a favorite at the time, now we do we replace that with leeks, which pretty much tastes the same, kind of a garlicky onion taste.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: And then we started growing the parsley in the dill.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: Nice, and then I'll slap my ranch recipe on the back of it for you, too.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: I so wanted to try that, and you have it on the back on there.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I want to try that.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so vertical farming and stability.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, can you explain what the vertical farming is and how it works at the McNabb micro farm?
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we're using shelves that uh hold the microgreens, about five shelf five you know, uh racks per shelf.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_01: Racks per shelf.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and uh we have two lights per sh per rack, so we're able to um grow up to about 100 trays a week.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we're able to supply about 20 restaurants in the local area with it, and you know, like I said, we we use solar panels to uh you know help with the power consumption, making sure we're not just reliant on the grid the whole time.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: And uh we have to keep you know the microgreens happy, so we have to keep the room at a stable temperature, we have to keep it at a stable humidity, and um that way the the greens can thrive and and uh but we have to harvest it within a certain window, otherwise they start getting bitter once you start growing them for too long.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: So it's just a constant turnover.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, I mean we're like you said, putting up a hundred trays a week.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, so that's a hundred to two hundred and fifty pounds of these greens um and only 190 square feet of space.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, it's amazing.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: So did it did you add something to your house?
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: Is it like a a room in your house?
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, so I guess it's so originally we had this shed, it was about a 12 by 13 shed um that the house came with.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, but we outgrew it um in about a year or so.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so last summer we built a new um standalone um just metal building.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then you have to insulate it and put it however you make it to where you have I guess I guess make it for the actual for your microgreens to grow and flourish, right?
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_02: Control it, yeah, and that's amazing.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um I guess uh how does use it utilizing for uh vertical farming benefit uh both the business and the environment?
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh less square footage, you know, smaller footprint, don't have to have a huge field to grow these things.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then with the solar panels, and we're not affecting the grid.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: And for us personally, it means we can grow in our backyard.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we have space.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: We're very blessed that we have that that space where we could throw up another building.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but what we may have to do in the future, or what a lot of microgreen farmers do, is they just rent out retail space, or when they're really big, they'll rent out a warehouse.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's not like someone wants to just go start a farm, they have to go find farmland, and that's getting harder and harder to find.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: But microgreens, just like any indoor vertical farming space, because people also grow, you know, tomatoes, lettuces, things like that that you can grow hydroponically.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: We could just go, you know, rent out a retail space, basically.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: Wow.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And with full-grown farming, uh, you're reliant on the pesticides and the fertilizers.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, even if you're going organic, you know, it's still using pesticides and fertilizers to help mend the soil.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_01: With microgreens, you don't need any of that.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: So we use Coca-Core and Perlite, uh, and the microgreens thrive uh without any help added to it.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: And they're never they're not sprayed with anything.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: They're they're clean, they're truly clean, truly organic.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: So the pesticides would actually affect the growing the growth of the or the nutrients that go inside the the plant?
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_01: So just I mean, pesticides are bad chemicals that are keeping bugs off of it.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: And so we grow indoors, we don't have that problem.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, no, no, I don't want to eat pesticides.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know anyone that does, and um, we also really don't want to affect the local ecosystem, you know.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: If we even on our our garden, you know, we use things like essential oils and Dawn soap, you know.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: If if we can avoid harming, you know, any of these little organisms we're going to.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_02: Have y'all have you always been like to where uh uh I guess sustain not sustainability, but uh like the environment environmental type of person.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Have you always been that way?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's really kind of what got me into being vegan in the first place, you know, back when I was like 16.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: It's been on and off for sure, but it's definitely something that um you know that's near and dear to my heart.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, yeah, I mean literally having to cut down rainforest to accommodate for um for cattle.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean we've been hearing that, you know, it's as millennials, that's what we've heard our whole life, you know, is you know, save the rainforest, save the rainforest, save the whales, you know, this, that, and the other.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you just get to a point where you're just kind of still really mindful of it.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, we live in Corvus Christie, we live on the bay, and we pay attention to what's going there, and you know, there's just pollutants uh in the area, and you know, that kind of affects all of us too.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, yeah.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: Ooh, and then they were talking about the water plant just recently and all that stuff going on, so there's something there.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, what challenges did you did you face when implementing these sustainable practices and how do you overcome them?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um just trying to figure out how to grow the microgreens in the beginning uh was a bit of a learning curve.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: You know, trying something brand new for the first time, never tried it before.
• 19:13
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't have a coach in my ear telling me what I'm doing wrong and what I'm doing right.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we were fortunate to have uh Chef Natalie from the Ruffian help us out and like pre-buy a few of the microgreens before we even knew exactly what we're doing.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: She's actually, yeah.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: So Chef Natalie, shout out to Chef Natalie Trevino, um, you know, high school friend of mine.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_00: So I've known her for a while.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but actually before we even started this, I reached out to her first and was like, hey, Ryan's thinking about growing microgreens.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: What do you think?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because we didn't know if there was going to be a market for it.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I'm like, so many people don't even eat vegetables around here.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: We're like, is this even a good idea?
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and she gave us a resounding yes, do it.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: I will support you.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's a great idea.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: And like Ryan said, she was one of kind of our earlier investors.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: And here's some money to try this crop.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: Here I want to order this.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's amazing.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so she was obviously the the ruffian was the first restaurant we were in.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um shows how important it is to support local.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_02: How does that how does that feel for y'all?
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: Like to have that kind of support.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's been amazing, and we love working with other vendors and trying to you know mix match products and you know, whatever benefits us and them, that's even better.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, and then all the chefs and restaurants we work with, they're all local owned and operated.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so it really does go go back and forth.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's we're able to say, hey, go eat at these restaurants, go support them.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: They're the ones supporting local and using local ingredients.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's really been a nice um, you know, collaborative effort.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it's like 50 restaurants or something like that, right?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: Or not that many yet.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: I can't remember 20.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: It's about 20 between the other restaurants and the food trucks and yeah, um, catering, charcuterie, that kind of thing.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: So no, we're very, very grateful for everyone that's given us a chance and and uses our products.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so why why is it important to support local farmers, especially in today's globalized market?
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's there's the the big farms that are you know bringing produce in from either Mexico or from out of state, and the reason that uh you know that product's not as good is because they're having to spray chemicals or pump it full of nitrogen to make it last longer, or they have to harvest it early.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, you get an unripe tomato and it ripens on the way.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_01: And by the time you get it, it tastes like nothing, you know, it has no flavor, but you get a fresh picked tomato and you eat that.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: There's no comparison.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's absolutely no comparison.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so for health reasons alone, you know, you do you want something that was grown to its full ripeness and has all those nutrients?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Or do you want something that was artificially ripened?
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then the environmental impacts of having to bring it in from, you know, from who knows where.
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but you know, I think everyone knows how important it is to support local because you're supporting the local economy, you're supporting a family.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a big corporation.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, these families rely on people coming out to the markets and or you know, ordering their subscriptions.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, it's without you guys, without supporters, I mean, we have nothing.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: There would be no no business.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it goes both ways.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's benefiting us.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you're supporting these local families and farmers, and you're also getting a better product than you would at the store.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, that's awesome.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: That's a good uh I guess caveat.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what you call it, but that's awesome.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: Is that is that why y'all decided to like deliver or or have as many options as possible to get it out there?
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we definitely want to be as accessible as possible.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we know it's it it's really hard for people to get enough, you know, vegetables.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, a lot of people, you know, like he was saying, people tease us about our protein intake, but um, in America, anyways, 99% over 99% of people get enough protein, but I think it's less than 15% get enough fiber.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: A lot of people are fiber deficient.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think a lot of it is just kind of lack of education around nutrition.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: Or taste.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: And taste, right.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: You know, when you're just not used to eating that way, it's hard.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard to make a change.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: People just didn't grow up eating vegetables, um, which is why I think the microgreens are a good introduction for those people that are a little squeamish about seeing broccoli on their plate.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: You can really sneak this into anything.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's it's like small buttons, like it's like a already chopped, not chopped up, but like as if it was chopped.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, there's no prep to it.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but yeah, accessibility is really important, which is why I love that Grow Local accepts Snap EBT.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_00: So if anyone didn't know that, that's cool.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you can come out, they'll actually do matching funds.
• 23:59
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we deliver all over.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we did work with the Coastal Bend Food Bank for a while with our diabetes program.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_00: So, and then now we're in a couple school districts.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sent an ISD in London ISD, got a grant through the USDA cool to be able to give the kids uh some some local produce too.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: They've been loving it from what they've been telling us.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: That's cool.
• 24:22
  SPEAKER_02: So, how did y'all get into like the schools?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: Do you like network or yourself or somebody told you told them about y'all?
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: It was through Grow Local.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_00: Through um every year they do like a little farmers conference and uh Miss West, shout out to Silka West, uh, came out.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_00: She's the nutritional director in Sentin ISD.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: She came out to meet the farmers there because they had just gotten this USDA grant, but it requires them to use local produce.
• 24:49
  SPEAKER_00: Well, microgreens are kind of the only local produce that you can have consistently the whole school year.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, stuff doesn't I mean the school year is a pretty good growing season, you know, kind of fall and and spring, but the microgreens you can get out a consistent amount every week.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: They can say, Hey, this is what I want next week.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's just it's a little bit more customizable as far as what they want for their menus.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then she's the one that told uh the other school districts about it.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: That's so awesome.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_02: When I saw that, I was like, oh cool, like other places are yeah, especially uh, you know, I guess more consumption of it, like bigger orders of it instead of smaller orders.
• 25:28
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I'm thinking.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 25:29
  SPEAKER_02: And it seems like you guys, you guys are y'all the only ones doing it down here?
• 25:33
  SPEAKER_02: Or do you is there other farmers like you guys?
• 25:35
  SPEAKER_00: We're the only ones in Corpus.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um there there's been some that kind of came and went, and uh, there's people kind of outside of Corpus, but yeah, we're the only ones um inside corpus doing it.
• 25:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're definitely the only ones doing it at this scale.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, that's awesome.
• 25:52
  SPEAKER_02: So I I'm always afraid like if I order online, I and how how do you go about doing that?
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_02: Like making sure that it's still fresh or whatever once before it gets to the person.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we harvest and deliver either on the same day or the next day.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so it we try and keep it as fresh as possible, and they have a uh uh about 10 to 14 day shelf life um that we recommend eating by then.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I've seen them last even longer than that, depending on which crop you're talking about.
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but yeah, uh, you know, nutrients start start to drop off after that time period.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: So uh we recommend you know 10-14 days uh stays fresh.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: And do you fridge do you refrigerate them or okay?
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: So 14 days after 14 days after uh you're saying, oh, wash before you use keep refrigerated awesome.
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_02: That's cool, y'all.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_02: Man, this is so awesome.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what initiatives or partnerships has a McNabb Microfarm engaged in to promote local agriculture?
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we're out at Grow Local Farmers Market every week.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I do a little bit more with Grow Local as well.
• 26:57
  SPEAKER_00: They have their Cook Local camp.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh real quick.
• 27:00
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Grow Local is it's uh how often is that?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: What is that?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm hearing about that.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so yeah, Grow Local is the downtown farmers market.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: The one at the Arts Center.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay, okay.
• 27:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that's a Grow Local Farmers Market.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but Grow Local South Texas is the nonprofit that organizes and runs that.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um so they do a lot of outreach.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they have their summer camps um where some kids come out, and so they have a cook local camp.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll be going out there and cool, doing some cooking demos for the kids.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Nice.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we also have attended a few events um at Sentin ISD.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: They have like a community health fair and they have some other events like that.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, sorry, I didn't mean to throw you off.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh uh yeah, grow local.
• 27:41
  SPEAKER_02: That's all so that's uh uh what was I saying uh to promote the local local agriculture.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: So you so grow local is one of the ways to get the word out.
• 27:49
  SPEAKER_02: Is that what you're for sure?
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of social media.
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we can ask you about well you you said you said that it's his business, but you do most of the social media or both people.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_00: So Ryan does all the farming and harvesting and delivering and all of that, but I'm the one that does yeah, the social media, the website, kind of the more business side of it, I guess you could say.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I well, obviously it's important, right?
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_02: And you you have Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.
• 28:18
  SPEAKER_02: So, how do you find yourself keeping up with all three of those?
• 28:21
  SPEAKER_01: I do the TikTok.
• 28:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_00: Because he's in he's in the grow room more for sure.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's that is definitely a challenge.
• 28:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because like I was telling you, you know, I have my own separate business and career outside of this.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, when he started this, the business, I was like, I'm not helping.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, I can't do this.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm too busy.
• 28:41
  SPEAKER_00: I have my own stuff to worry about.
• 28:43
  SPEAKER_00: This is gonna be all you.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: But then I was kind of like, well, I'll help you get the Facebook started.
• 28:49
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, and and um, shout out to my mom too.
• 28:51
  SPEAKER_00: She actually set up our website.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_00: My mom uh works on the site as a website designer.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I was like, Mom, I need you to do this.
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: I need you to look into you know these payment softwares and everything.
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_00: So she got all that set up for us.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she saw me trying to make a post on Facebook and it's like, give me that.
• 29:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, the photo.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm not that great at it.
• 29:12
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, she's that's one of her strengths, let her do it.
• 29:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why we work so well together, is we know each other's strengths and weaknesses, and we just, you know, it's either his job or my job to do something, and that's how it gets done.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right on uh we were talking on social media on uh before we were setting this up.
• 29:31
  SPEAKER_02: I think we're talking about the topic topic of ADHD or ADD, which I mean and my wife are kind of on that spectrum.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_02: So I find it interesting that you both of y'all own your own business with you know ADD or whatever.
• 29:44
  SPEAKER_02: So what's it like running a business with ADD, ADHD?
• 29:48
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of notes.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_01: We we have a lot of notes, a lot of reminders on our phones, um, you know, constant schedule on our on our calendar, rewriting it all the time, and just making sure, you know, if one of us drops the ball, someone else is, you know, one of us is there to pick up, pick it back up.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, a lot of a lot of communication, constant communication, constantly double checking each other, making sure what I have written down is the same as what he has written down, and kind of sometimes you almost, you know, I don't ever want to come off naggie, but it's like, did you write that down though?
• 30:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, let me see you write it down.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_00: You know, let me make sure you wrote it down and kind of in the middle, you know, be the middle of the night, we're about to go to bed.
• 30:29
  SPEAKER_00: Hey, did you soak seeds?
• 30:31
  SPEAKER_00: Did you, did you plant?
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's kind of just I I I don't know, honestly.
• 30:35
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know how I keep track of everything.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's we kind of just have a schedule and you know, we have our little habits that we do and have lots of spreadsheets and like you said, a lot of notes.
• 30:47
  SPEAKER_01: So now we're on our third year of doing this, so we've got a rhythm to it.
• 30:51
  SPEAKER_01: So you know it's it's becoming more natural.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's easier now to kind of spot those those gaps.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because at first, when you're just starting a business, you kind of are in every direction, and you kind of don't know what to focus on, you don't know where the mistakes are gonna happen.
• 31:07
  SPEAKER_00: But now that we've been doing it for so long, now we know okay, this is a weak point.
• 31:11
  SPEAKER_00: This is we really need to focus on this, or this mistake has happened in the past.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_00: Let's make sure that doesn't happen again.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: Wow.
• 31:17
  SPEAKER_00: So now, like the sh the ship's a lot tighter now.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and figuring out where we need to be putting our energy into.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_02: Oh that's a big one.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's a real big one.
• 31:26
  SPEAKER_02: At the end of the day, you're all the energy's already spent and you still got more stuff to do.
• 31:31
  SPEAKER_02: I just I just crash out, yeah, start in the morning fresh.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: Does that happen now?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh when we can.
• 31:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: Sometimes you can't wait.
• 31:41
  SPEAKER_01: So like these microgreens do require a lot of attention.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I'm I'm there in the grow room at least, like even if I have nothing to do in the uh in the grow room, it's at the very least go in there every morning and and water and check them at night to make sure you know they have enough hydration.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it's not got it hasn't gotten too hot or anything in there, humidity's good.
• 32:04
  SPEAKER_01: Nothing's fallen, nothing's fallen, yeah.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, because the way that you grow, uh you actually stack them up on top of each other.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: The trays.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, once there's seeds in trays, they get stacked.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then we put weights on top of that, and they grow under weights for four days, and they literally push the trays above them up.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: Cool.
• 32:25
  SPEAKER_01: And uh very few times we've seen them where they've actually shoved the the trays on the the weighted trays on top uh completely off.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, it's amazing.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_02: So it where you get your seeds, is that a secret or not really?
• 32:42
  SPEAKER_01: No, uh true leaf is a uh big microgreen um supplier.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_00: True Leaf Market.
• 32:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, True Leaf Market for the seeds uh for Johnny's, and yeah, I I like Johnny seeds because the because the way they run their business and they No, that actually is a really good question because we have we're in you know a few of the microgreens forums on Facebook and stuff, and there's people starting out saying, Oh, I'm really excited, I want to start a business.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_00: I got this 50-pound bag of bird seed.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, it's sunflower.
• 33:12
  SPEAKER_00: Will this do?
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh.
• 33:14
  SPEAKER_00: So never be afraid to ask uh a farmer, I mean, especially a microgreens farmer, where do they get their seeds?
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of soil do they grow in?
• 33:23
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, anything like that.
• 33:24
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you're this is stuff you're putting in your body, and some people seem to not do their research, not care.
• 33:30
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so the people that do care are never gonna be offended by those questions.
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_02: Right on.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_02: And is there has it been how how is that how has that been for y'all as far as learning for people learning from other people?
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like have you has there ever been a time where you where you somebody hasn't wanted to help you with that?
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_02: Or has it just mostly been helpful?
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm saying?
• 33:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um with the the forums that we find on Facebook, um, most of those people are pretty helpful, and you know, most of those questions have already been asked, so you just kind of search through the forum and and figure out like anytime I'm growing a new crop that I've never grown before, I want to research it and see what specific parameters I need to take to make this grow.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_01: Because not all of them grow the same.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_02: Interesting.
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_02: Do you grow it all?
• 34:18
  SPEAKER_02: Do you grow them in batches?
• 34:19
  SPEAKER_02: Like I'm gonna do all the broccoli this time and then or all the you know peas this time or whatever it is this time.
• 34:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um we grow them in weekly batches.
• 34:27
  SPEAKER_01: So like uh they we have a 10 by 20 tray that we plant in, and uh so we grow basically we grow to order.
• 34:38
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, okay.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're gonna as the order comes in, you uh prepare for that order.
• 34:43
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 34:44
  SPEAKER_01: That way we're not growing more than we need.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I like to grow just a little bit more than I need, but not like a crazy amount, just so I know, like I'm never gonna have to tell someone, hey, I couldn't get your your microgreens.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I want to be able to say, Hey, I had plenty, here you go, and we'll figure out what to do with the rest.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_01: And that's where we go to dehydrate and pickle microgreens.
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, what's the deal with that?
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: I heard about that.
• 35:08
  SPEAKER_02: They're so good.
• 35:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, uh Romaine with Spice Collection, she's another vendor at Grow Local, just came up to us one day and was like, Hey, you know, give me some of your microgreens.
• 35:18
  SPEAKER_00: I want to try to pickle them because she makes pickles, and we were like, Okay.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_00: And so she took some of the speckled pea home that night, and then the next week she said, Here, try them.
• 35:28
  SPEAKER_00: And they were delicious.
• 35:30
  SPEAKER_00: Like we were mind blown.
• 35:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they still stayed really crunchy.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so she uh shared her recipe with me and kind of gave me some tips and and we started pickling, so yeah, I I never would have thought that's something we would have done.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_00: No one does that.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: No, um, I've because I looked, I looked on Instagram and I kind of looked through all the forums and I found like one other farm that's that does it.
• 35:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, maybe one other person does it, and um, it's been a big hit.
• 35:59
  SPEAKER_00: People really like it.
• 36:01
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, people love pickles.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_00: Who doesn't?
• 36:03
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we mainly uh pickle the sunflower and the speckled peas.
• 36:08
  SPEAKER_01: The speckled peas are nice and relish, uh like a sweet relish, a flavor.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: And sunflower we we uh do in a dill brine, and it it tastes just like a dill pickle with like a little sunflower seed flavor to it.
• 36:21
  SPEAKER_02: Does it maintain the nutrients still?
• 36:22
  SPEAKER_00: Or uh it's gonna break down some of them for sure because of the vinegar.
• 36:27
  SPEAKER_00: But at least you're always still getting the fiber.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: And keeping it shelf stable since the you only have a 14-day shelf life.
• 36:33
  SPEAKER_01: You pickle them, they have a much longer shelf life.
• 36:36
  SPEAKER_02: So, can you so can so can I do it like if I take these?
• 36:38
  SPEAKER_02: Can I pickle some of them?
• 36:39
  SPEAKER_02: Or do you is that a difficult process?
• 36:41
  SPEAKER_00: No, pickling is pretty easy, especially if it's just for home consumption.
• 36:44
  SPEAKER_00: You don't exactly have to worry about stuff sealing and things like that.
• 36:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, you could just look up recipes.
• 36:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, just Google a recipe, and definitely it's amazing how stuff is at the like internet.
• 36:54
  SPEAKER_02: You could just look it up.
• 36:55
  SPEAKER_02: Isn't it great?
• 36:57
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 36:58
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so deliver delivery market presence, that's awesome.
• 37:02
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I was participating in the local farmers market uh and the corpus Christi market helped your business grow.
• 37:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that's where we started, uh, aside from Chef Natalie helping us out.
• 37:14
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, that was our first market at the Art Center at Grow Local, and uh that's actually where we've met a couple of chefs where you know they come by and they they try out our greens and they you know they get excited over it.
• 37:29
  SPEAKER_01: So we we're really happy to be able to work with chefs.
• 37:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's where most of our income comes from is working with these restaurants.
• 37:35
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, and that's where we met uh Nate too with Boreye.
• 37:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh he came out before it even, I think before the store had even opened.
• 37:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 37:43
  SPEAKER_00: Or had just opened.
• 37:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he said, I want to start carrying vegetables, I want you guys to be the first ones.
• 37:49
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 37:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's so just right off the bat, yeah, gave us that chance.
• 37:53
  SPEAKER_02: I guess like the good chefs, they go to local markets instead of buying exactly.
• 37:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, instead of you know getting the Cisco special.
• 38:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no kidding, bro.
• 38:02
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, that's amazing.
• 38:03
  SPEAKER_02: So, what were you doing trying to sell it before you got to the market?
• 38:07
  SPEAKER_02: How were you going about selling your greens?
• 38:10
  SPEAKER_00: Or or online mostly, online through our website.
• 38:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, just trying to kind of promote on Facebook and marketplace and word of mouth.
• 38:19
  SPEAKER_01: We knew we had to get out there, so going to a market is a great way to meet a lot of people, yeah.
• 38:24
  SPEAKER_01: Meet other like the chefs and and other people that just want to figure out what microgreens are, or so many people have never heard of it.
• 38:32
  SPEAKER_01: Our first year was mostly just educating people what microgreens are.
• 38:38
  SPEAKER_02: That's for sure, man.
• 38:39
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, did we did we talk about what you were doing before this on on air?
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_02: Mm-mm.
• 38:44
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 38:45
  SPEAKER_02: Do you want to talk about the okay?
• 38:47
  SPEAKER_02: How does how is what you were doing before?
• 38:49
  SPEAKER_02: How does it relate to what you're doing now?
• 38:51
  SPEAKER_01: I've had my fair share of blue-collar work of being a mechanic, and uh I used to install locks, so I was traveling a lot.
• 38:59
  SPEAKER_01: That was that's when the pandemic hit, and so I didn't want to be, you know, we just got a house together, didn't want to be traveling all the time.
• 39:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and it was it's it's been a really nice change to be able to work inside.
• 39:14
  SPEAKER_01: You know, my greens stay inside, I get to stay inside.
• 39:18
  SPEAKER_01: So uh it's it's been a really nice uh journey to be able to and and a very stark difference between the work I used to do and the work I do now.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 39:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's still very much working with your hands, it's still very much a system.
• 39:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh I mean he has this system dialed in.
• 39:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and like if he ever gets sick, I there's no greens that week.
• 39:38
  SPEAKER_00: I don't, I'm not I'm not gonna be able to go in there and you know, he's he's very good about writing everything down.
• 39:43
  SPEAKER_00: It's still very scientific.
• 39:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's wow, you know, keeping track of how much he planted and then like kind of what we harvested.
• 39:49
  SPEAKER_00: So he, I mean, even from the beginning, he's been tracking literally every tray that he's grown and really has it like dialed down to a science.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: Amazing.
• 39:57
  SPEAKER_00: Which I think, and we've had other customers say this too, that that's really the difference between our microgreens and maybe something you get somewhere else or get at the store is different, you know, the difference in quality, okay.
• 40:09
  SPEAKER_00: You know, is because he puts he's a perfectionist.
• 40:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah.
• 40:14
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, just really has everything dialed in to where they're just perfect, yeah consistently.
• 40:20
  SPEAKER_02: Somebody was saying too do you spray peroxide before you put lay down the dirt or something like that?
• 40:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a it's 12% peroxide.
• 40:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it helps just kill any bacteria that might be on the tray.
• 40:31
  SPEAKER_01: So we wash the trays, get them nice and clean as best we can, uh, you know, just basic soap and water.
• 40:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then uh after they dry and right before I plant, I'll spray them down with peroxide, make sure there's no no plant pathogens that can be um that can be sitting on there and can be, you know, contaminating our our crops.
• 40:51
  SPEAKER_00: Right uh because that's the thing is when you know you're only growing for a week.
• 40:55
  SPEAKER_00: So people think, oh, that's easy, you only have to keep them alive for a week, but at the same time, that's a very short window where a lot can go wrong.
• 41:02
  SPEAKER_00: Wow, you know, it's not like growing plants outside where you can just plant way more extra seeds and then you know, most of them are gonna make it.
• 41:10
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's you know, there could be mold, pests, things like that.
• 41:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, a lot can go wrong in a short amount of time.
• 41:18
  SPEAKER_02: So you have to micromanage the micro farm.
• 41:21
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 41:22
  SPEAKER_02: That's amazing.
• 41:23
  SPEAKER_02: Have y'all made up with the with the mushroom guy?
• 41:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Mark Mark Marky, yeah.
• 41:27
  SPEAKER_00: Marky, yeah.
• 41:28
  SPEAKER_00: Marky there's that Alan too.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah.
• 41:30
  SPEAKER_02: That's cool.
• 41:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he's got his own farm too.
• 41:32
  SPEAKER_02: And I thought I when I first talked to him and shout out Mark, I made him some stickers.
• 41:37
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but I thought most of his stuff was like psychedelic stuff, but some of it is it's like uh it's medicinal.
• 41:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, exactly.
• 41:44
  SPEAKER_00: I get tinctures from him.
• 41:45
  SPEAKER_02: Really?
• 41:46
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, which one is it?
• 41:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I use the turkey tail every morning in my tea and then the Rishi before bed to help me sleep.
• 41:54
  SPEAKER_01: No way, that's so crazy.
• 41:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I use the lion's mane in my coffee.
• 41:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 42:01
  SPEAKER_02: It's amazing.
• 42:02
  SPEAKER_02: Have y'all have you uh speaking of AD ADDH ADHD, have y'all ever used like medicine?
• 42:09
  SPEAKER_02: Or do you use I don't.
• 42:10
  SPEAKER_02: I've taken it was on Ritalin when I was like in middle school or high school, but I've never taken it since then.
• 42:16
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I I really don't want to.
• 42:19
  SPEAKER_02: You know what I mean?
• 42:20
  SPEAKER_00: I've taken like caffeine supplements that had caffeine in them and kind of helped with focus, but even that I I really got away from because I don't like to be like dependent on stuff.
• 42:31
  SPEAKER_00: I want to just kind of yeah, no, I got you.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no.
• 42:34
  SPEAKER_02: I'm the same way, and I and these and the the nutrients are really good for the brain too, like for AD ADHD and stuff like that.
• 42:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I never liked the way some of those medicines made me feel, so that was I was really adverse to you know not really wanting to take those medicines and kind of be zombified throughout the day.
• 42:55
  SPEAKER_01: You know, still want to have my personality.
• 42:58
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly, yeah, exactly.
• 43:00
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and like we were cons we weren't considering, but I was like, do I want to put my kids on that stuff?
• 43:05
  SPEAKER_02: Not really, you know, show them show them weight, show them how to to to live, give them tools, right?
• 43:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, if it's necessary, pharmaceuticals can can be useful, but you know, I I like to figure out a better path before you have to resort to that.
• 43:23
  SPEAKER_02: Awesome.
• 43:24
  SPEAKER_02: How has the family dynamic and vegan lifestyle influenced the way you run the McNabb micro farm?
• 43:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um just working with all the other you know businesses like Marky.
• 43:37
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, we we use his mushrooms, we'll we'll make some some nice oyster mushrooms or a lion's main steak.
• 43:44
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's uh you know, adding our microgreens on top of it.
• 43:48
  SPEAKER_01: Just one makes the dish look so pretty, and and on top of that, you're getting all those nutrients in it, and you're getting an amazing flavor out of them too.
• 43:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, like whenever you try these microgreens, you're like, you'll have to tell us, you know, how you how you like it.
• 44:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like them and like cilantro.
• 44:02
  SPEAKER_01: I don't like cilantro.
• 44:03
  SPEAKER_00: Like full ground cilantro.
• 44:04
  SPEAKER_01: Full ground cilantro because it has that soapy taste.
• 44:06
  SPEAKER_01: I have that gene where it you know tastes soapy to me, but not microgreens, not not the micro cilantro.
• 44:12
  SPEAKER_02: What's the best way to eat these?
• 44:14
  SPEAKER_02: Do you just eat them whole like that, or do you mix them with any yeah?
• 44:16
  SPEAKER_01: We garnish it on whatever we're eating.
• 44:18
  SPEAKER_01: So whatever meal we're picking up or making at home, we just kind of garnish it on top.
• 44:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you can cook them and saute them a little bit or steam them a little bit if you want.
• 44:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um and uh I I just prefer just throwing them right on top of our food.
• 44:34
  SPEAKER_00: Breakfast tacos, pizza, whatever, you know.
• 44:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's good fiber, like you were saying.
• 44:38
  SPEAKER_02: We're not getting a lot of fiber, but enough protein.
• 44:41
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, myself, especially like I love tacos, I eat tacos, and uh, and like I'm thinking throughout the day, I'm that damn I hate them tacos.
• 44:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I'll get like an apple or something, whatever, some kind of fiber, you know.
• 44:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then, yeah, as far as working together as a family, it's you know, it's been really nice.
• 44:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's yeah, we're we're able to kind of separate business talk from personal talk, you know.
• 45:01
  SPEAKER_00: We might have a tough day at the office, but then it doesn't carry into you know all night or anything.
• 45:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think we're we're both the same kind of personality where we take our jobs really seriously and we're really professional.
• 45:12
  SPEAKER_00: And so we know that if tensions ever get high, mistakes are made, what uh we're running late, etc.
• 45:18
  SPEAKER_00: Like we know it's just because we're taking our business so seriously and it's never like a personal attack.
• 45:23
  SPEAKER_00: No, nice.
• 45:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and you know, and our son works with us too.
• 45:28
  SPEAKER_00: How does he come?
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: He wanted to come.
• 45:29
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, Am I gonna be on the podcast?
• 45:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I was if that would have been cool.
• 45:34
  SPEAKER_02: I would have brought my daughter.
• 45:35
  SPEAKER_02: Hi, Francesca.
• 45:36
  SPEAKER_02: She's she's on the on the chat.
• 45:38
  SPEAKER_02: And we uh Barbara S.
• 45:39
  SPEAKER_02: Sunflower microgreens are my favorite.
• 45:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's probably my mom.
• 45:44
  SPEAKER_00: My mom.
• 45:45
  SPEAKER_00: My mom.
• 45:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but yeah, but our son will, he's uh seven, he'll be eight uh in a couple months.
• 45:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um he's always been a big part of our business.
• 45:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, through my massage business, he always did vendor shows with me from the time he was a baby.
• 45:59
  SPEAKER_00: So he loves going to these vendor shows in these markets and meeting other people.
• 46:03
  SPEAKER_00: And he you'll see him at Grow Local on his scooter, talking to all the other vendors.
• 46:08
  SPEAKER_03: And so cool.
• 46:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so he really loves being involved as far as that and you know, being on the social media, and um he has his own part of the business now.
• 46:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so he we started this earlier this year's Sweet Williams Flower Farm.
• 46:23
  SPEAKER_00: Oh edible flowers, right?
• 46:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, he grows edible flowers, yeah.
• 46:27
  SPEAKER_02: What what's the business call, sir?
• 46:29
  SPEAKER_00: Sweet Williams Flower Farm.
• 46:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 46:31
  SPEAKER_00: So his name's Will.
• 46:32
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, but sweet Williams are also another name for Dianthus flowers.
• 46:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so a little play on words there.
• 46:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um nice, but yeah, that's uh he got to start his own little company, so which has been nice because you know it gives him something to do, of course, and and you know, some responsibility, but it's also teaching him how to run a business and everything that goes into it.
• 46:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, definitely something that that we should I think we should all learn at kids or just at a young age.
• 46:59
  SPEAKER_02: Because we you can run in you'll run into a lot of stuff that you know you didn't expect and you'd learn it at an older age.
• 47:07
  SPEAKER_02: Uh you know what I mean.
• 47:08
  SPEAKER_02: Uh finance is like that's one big thing, budgeting and stuff like that.
• 47:12
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we never I was never really taught.
• 47:14
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't find out till later.
• 47:16
  SPEAKER_02: Are you guys originally from the Cal Island area?
• 47:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, yeah, Cal Island Wildcats, right?
• 47:22
  SPEAKER_00: I graduated Cal Island.
• 47:24
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what that face is.
• 47:26
  SPEAKER_00: He graduated from TM.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 47:28
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, Tilas from Midway?
• 47:30
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, bro.
• 47:31
  SPEAKER_02: My uh yeah, my cousins went out there a while back.
• 47:33
  SPEAKER_02: That's cool, man.
• 47:34
  SPEAKER_02: They're from they live in they were from the Clarkwood area, though.
• 47:36
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah.
• 47:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 47:38
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that's awesome.
• 47:39
  SPEAKER_02: Shout out Clarkwood and uh TM and the Wildcats.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 47:43
  SPEAKER_02: So, what are the future aspirations for the McNabb Microfarm?
• 47:47
  SPEAKER_00: I think right now our our focus is expanding the flower farm.
• 47:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's going really well uh as far as people being excited about it, chefs wanting the flowers.
• 47:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, there's so much opportunity there to do more.
• 48:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like, you know, we've been giving flowers to Olive Blue Charcuterie.
• 48:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, shout out to her, um, bakers, you know, there's just a lot that you can do um with that.
• 48:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that'll kind of be our next step is um, because right now he's just running off of one brat, but we would really like to build out um his own space to explain the the the flower farm.
• 48:24
  SPEAKER_00: And then after that.
• 48:25
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a big hit.
• 48:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we've already got an established connection with uh chefs, so it's it's been pretty easy to just be like, hey chef, we got edible flowers now, and they're like, Yes, bring that.
• 48:36
  SPEAKER_02: How did you come upon that idea?
• 48:38
  SPEAKER_00: Through through the chefs or yeah, we have a uh a few restaurants that have been kind of asking us for a couple years.
• 48:45
  SPEAKER_02: Amazing.
• 48:46
  SPEAKER_00: Because it again, it's one of those things that if you can't get it local, you have to order it like from California.
• 48:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then maybe by the time it gets here, maybe half those flowers are still good.
• 48:54
  SPEAKER_00: So, you know, uh a lot of microgreen farmers do make that transition um as far as just expanding their offerings.
• 49:01
  SPEAKER_00: So edible flowers is kind of just the next logical step.
• 49:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but the flowers we actually grow completely hydroponically.
• 49:09
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Ryan and Will built the whole like automatic hydroponic system.
• 49:13
  SPEAKER_02: Hydroponic, what is that?
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry.
• 49:14
  SPEAKER_00: So it's grown completely in water.
• 49:16
  SPEAKER_00: So instead of like the microgreens, we grow them in a soil type medium.
• 49:21
  SPEAKER_00: The uh the flowers are just in little cups that get soaked with water.
• 49:24
  SPEAKER_02: Wow, that's so crazy.
• 49:26
  SPEAKER_02: No, no soil at all.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 49:27
  SPEAKER_00: Completely soilless.
• 49:29
  SPEAKER_00: You just add that kind of the organic food grade fertilizers to it.
• 49:34
  SPEAKER_02: Is that affecting y'all's water bill?
• 49:36
  SPEAKER_02: Not too bad.
• 49:37
  SPEAKER_00: No, we actually you just have to fill up a big uh 27-gallon tank every couple weeks.
• 49:42
  SPEAKER_01: That's about 15 gallons we put in.
• 49:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it's yeah, yeah, it's not too bad.
• 49:46
  SPEAKER_00: I think all our all our water bills are fixing to go up.
• 49:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 49:52
  SPEAKER_01: But again, we always try and reuse what we can.
• 49:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, like for that water, it's still full of those extra nutrients for the flowers.
• 50:00
  SPEAKER_01: So we take that water and we'll put it in the garden.
• 50:03
  SPEAKER_00: Give it to the banana tree.
• 50:04
  SPEAKER_01: And and same with our soil from uh the microgreens, we compost it and then we reuse that compost into our garden.
• 50:13
  SPEAKER_01: So again, we try to have nothing go to waste as best we can.
• 50:18
  SPEAKER_02: No, it's amazing.
• 50:19
  SPEAKER_02: Man, you guys are amazing.
• 50:20
  SPEAKER_02: We've been at we're at 50 minutes.
• 50:22
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for coming onto the show, you guys.
• 50:24
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having us.
• 50:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, for sure.
• 50:26
  SPEAKER_02: Um how do we how do we find you guys online?
• 50:29
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so we're on Facebook and Instagram and TikTok, uh McNab Micro Farm.
• 50:35
  SPEAKER_00: You can also go to our website, mcNabmicrofarm.com.
• 50:39
  SPEAKER_00: There's where you can learn more about us.
• 50:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, order your greens.
• 50:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, like I said, we're also out at Grow Local Farmers Market every Wednesday night.
• 50:46
  SPEAKER_00: Come check us out there.
• 50:48
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah.
• 50:50
  SPEAKER_02: Is there any any advice that you would share with someone?
• 50:52
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, or is there any is there anything y'all want to share?
• 50:54
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry, I forgot to ask you guys that support local.
• 50:58
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 50:59
  SPEAKER_00: Support local as much and as often as you can.
• 51:03
  SPEAKER_00: Your neighbors are depending on you.
• 51:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how you're helping the environment, you're doing something good for yourself.
• 51:09
  SPEAKER_00: And it's and it doesn't, it goes beyond food, and it goes beyond restaurants.
• 51:13
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, go out to these vendor shows, go out to these markets, see what's there, you'd be surprised at what you find.
• 51:19
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, we use local cleaning products and soaps and shampoos and stuff for our dogs.
• 51:26
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you just you know, some stuff you can't get locally, but anything you can, you should.
• 51:32
  SPEAKER_01: And when you support local, you're supporting someone that cares about what they're doing.
• 51:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, they care about the product they're putting out.
• 51:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's reflective on their name.
• 51:41
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it's just important to support that, support them.
• 51:45
  SPEAKER_01: And you know you're gonna get a better product out of it.
• 51:47
  SPEAKER_00: And these local businesses are are gonna be the ones that support you and your family too.
• 51:53
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we always try to buy ad space and do sponsorships for you know local sports and different organizations and stuff, and you know, big box stores aren't gonna do that.
• 52:05
  SPEAKER_00: You know, these are your neighbors.
• 52:06
  SPEAKER_00: I think I honestly think small business is the best part about Corpus Christie.
• 52:10
  SPEAKER_00: Honestly, it's not just the small businesses that are there, which is great, but it's the community of everyone.
• 52:17
  SPEAKER_00: You know, so many people you've had on this show were or are friends of ours that you know we've worked with and we support and and and shout out.
• 52:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's that's the best part of being a small business owner.
• 52:28
  SPEAKER_00: It's all the other friends we've made with other small business owners and the community that we've built.
• 52:33
  SPEAKER_02: Keep the money local too.
• 52:35
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 52:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's amazing.
• 52:37
  SPEAKER_02: I really like that last point right there.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_02: Support local.
• 52:40
  SPEAKER_02: I try to I try to look support local.
• 52:43
  SPEAKER_02: You guys appreciate y'all.
• 52:44
  SPEAKER_02: If nothing else, we'll say goodbye.
• 52:46
  SPEAKER_02: You guys good?
• 52:47
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, appreciate you know bringing us on.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you're welcome.
• 52:50
  SPEAKER_02: You guys, McNab, Micro Farm, check them out uh at the local farm uh farmers market.
• 52:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh sorry, what is it called?
• 52:57
  SPEAKER_02: Grow local.
• 52:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but yeah, stay tuned for the next couple of podcasts.
• 53:01
  SPEAKER_02: I'm trying to wind it down, trying to figure out what I'm doing here.
• 53:04
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but you guys stay tuned for the next one.
• 53:06
  SPEAKER_02: We got uh one last comment, Tabitha Trim.
• 53:08
  SPEAKER_02: Great, such a great podcast today.
• 53:10
  SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much for watching.
• 53:12
  SPEAKER_02: Do you guys know her?
• 53:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, yeah.
• 53:15
  SPEAKER_02: All right, well, if nothing else, thanks a lot, you guys, for coming on to the show.
• 53:18
  SPEAKER_02: Stay tuned for the next couple shows, guys.
• 53:20
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, Albago Burger and Bark Barbecue, check them out.
• 53:23
  SPEAKER_02: They're the sponsor of this show 4701 But it's a drive uh in Molina 78416.
• 53:29
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks a lot, you guys.
• 53:30
  SPEAKER_02: Bye.