SharkFarmerXM's podcast
Amy Lister from IL 6-12-24
Unstoppable, unshakeable, but it rolls off the town unfakeable, it's unavoidable, you're so relatable, in between the lines start to loosen up your mind. And welcome again to Shark Farmer Radio, hey, I'm your host Rob Sharky, we're in a studio today just outside of Bradford, Illinois. First chorus brain is all done, and probably start beans, maybe, I don't know, we leave don't we at some point. We do, you're speaking in Bloomington, which is actually super close on Friday. That's great. And then yeah, we take off this weekend for Oklahoma City. So, woof. Are we driving out there? We are. You know, honest to God, I'd rather drive 10 hours in a rental car than I would trying to get a flight, and then when it changes get another flight, and then when that changes try to get a rental car that they don't have. Flying is awful. It is, oh, it's gotten so bad, I think, I think 12, maybe 14 hours in a car now. Yeah, yeah. I think that's our limit. You know, it used to be. Used to be eight. Well, you got, so we, we've got a zero turn, a mower, some, I don't even know what model it is. It's a deer, but it's got the two little tires on the front, right? Yes. And down, and we just, we've been run with it for probably two, three weeks. Yeah. We keep just pumping it up. It'll be fine. It'll be fine. It wasn't fine today. It's done. Oh. So I got a new one, and I'm trying to put it on there, and I, you know, I'm decent at putting the tires on a rim. This thing I can't get on because it's so small. It's like you can't hold it down and force it on there. You're getting a good workout today. You know, heaven forbid you have somebody do it for you because darn it, we can do it ourselves. Yeah. All right. Speaking of that, today we're going to go to Edwards, Illinois. We're going to talk with Amy Lister. How you doing, Amy? Hey, I'm doing great. Rob. How about you? Pretty good for the people that don't know where is Edwards in the once great state of Illinois. Yeah. So we're in central Illinois just outside of Peoria on the West edge. Mm hmm. And you are a horticulturist. Is that correct? That is correct. Long word, but an easy job. Uh huh. Has that been your lifelong dream? You know, as a kid, I didn't know what horticulture was because I grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis. So botany was kind of a thing, but once I realized that's more of a lab type job, I figured out that horticulture was the way to go. So yeah, probably since I was 17 or so, sounds about right. So tell me what that's like growing up in Minneapolis. I mean, was everybody really particular about their gardens and their lawns? And that's how you sort of got to be around it and learn a love of flowers? Or did you have to leave the city and say, okay, someday I'm not living here. I'm living somewhere else. Well, the gist of it is I grew up in suburbia at Burnsville to be technical, and I don't come from a long line of gardeners by any means. I know my grandfather would grow some tomatoes and petunias just about like your average neighbor. But I just loved it. I loved being outside. I didn't really think a dust job at a computer was going to do me so well in the future. So when I started getting those mailings to go to college, Iowa State spoke to me, and that's a huge agriculture school with tons and tons of farm kids. So I kind of learned in the roundabout way of how to enjoy life in the country, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Never right on the edge of town here, but my husband's from a small town in Iowa, and that was actually one of the first times I went on a farm was in college. I had never been on a real farm, just those sort of history living farm museum type places. Yeah, that's what surprises me about you. You went to Iowa State and you're not afraid to tell people. Yeah, what's even more ironic is my husband is second generation cyclone, and then I married a cyclone, and then our daughter, who is a senior, decided to become a hot guy. So that was a big adjustment, but we've made it through, and anything in Iowa is a great place to be. Is that Caitlin Clark? She made it through. I bet there was a collective gasp when her daughter announced that. Yeah. No. Okay. You did meet her husband in college, like in a bar? It's funny you say that. So we were too young to be in a bar. We were only 20, so it was one of those residence hall things where you have a brother floor and a sister floor, and you do stuff. You play softball or volleyball and hang out, and something clicked. So here we are 30 years later, and we're still together. Yeah, they met in a bar. It's fine. So he was from a farm. I mean, was that the farm you went to? Was that what you were talking about? Technically, that was the second farm. The first farm was one of my roommates. She lived real close to Iowa State and Ames, and sometimes on the weekend we'd go to her place. Her dad had cows and hogs and pea corn and beans, so that was really my first introduction. You know, it's so funny. When we live on a farm, we take for granted that, gosh, you know, you were in college before you got to see a real working farm. What were your thoughts when you first went there? Did you think, "Oh, my gosh, they work really hard," or was it a lot to get used to? It was definitely a lot to get used to. You know, my dad had a corporate job, so he left in the morning and he came home just as clean as he was when he left. So when you're on the farm, you're constantly getting dirty, and something happens. Somebody gets out of the fence, and something breaks, like you're lawn mower attire. You have to derail your whole schedule and take care of business. So yeah, it was a lot to get used to, but going to college without a farm background, there was a lot of assumptions made, so I took my first introductory soil science class, and everybody assumed I knew what a disc was and what a hero was, and so that was kind of one of those, "Excuse me, could you explain that because I don't know what you're talking about," kind of interaction with the professor. I bet the rest of the class just loved you. Yeah, there's a lot of awkward moments. Yes, I bet. Today, we're talking with Amy Lister from Edwards, Illinois. She is a horticulturist. When we come back, we're going to talk about what she does. We're going to talk about her family and her kids, man, her son. That's a cool story. We're going to talk about all sorts of things. All right, after the break. This segment is brought to you by Common Ground. Are you looking for an easy way to buy, sell, or lease your land? Well, check out Common Ground, where they connect landowners and farmers, and hunters too, by the way. Go to commonground.io, that's commonground.io. You're looking good for a good agriculture podcast, which I keep saying that, but this week's wasn't. It was a non-agriculture podcast. A guy was on, it was in the Twin Towers, Brian Clark is his name, and the plane hit on his floor, kind of. The wing went through. The fuselage was a few floors down, and by the grace of God, he made it out and helped someone else out, but oh my gosh, the tale of who he started out with and how they couldn't agree on where to go and how those people were lost later. It was a harrowing journey, and his faith comes into it too, how we felt pushed along the way to turn a certain way, and it's, oh my gosh, it's a fantastic story. Yeah, we're a little away from Ag this week, but totally worth it. Yeah, we forget like before that happened, the thought of those buildings actually coming down was not even, it wasn't even thought of. No. There was going to be fire, you know, on one floor or the other, and you know, the worst thing would be people would be trapped up there, but they're actually falling down. No one ever considered that. No, and not like pancake, boom, boom, boom, on top of each other, never even thought of that. Yeah. Yeah, and you know, he came to our son's school and our son said, you know, dad, you've got to interview him, so, you know, you do it, and it was fantastic. That's at sharkfarmer.com under the shark farmer podcast section. Today, however, we're talking with Amy Lister, now she's from Edwards, Illinois. She's a horticulturalist, did not grow up on a farm, married a farmer, and then you worked on your own for a while, didn't you, Amy? Yeah, I started out a couple different park district and a couple garden centers, and then I decided I needed a better flexible schedule when I had kids in sports, so I worked on my own for about eight years as a personal gardener. Okay, I never even knew that was a thing, so tell me what you do as a personal gardener. Yeah, so each day of the week, I went to a certain person's home, and we worked in the garden for two to three hours, sometimes together, sometimes I was on my own, and that's when I would listen to podcasts, believe it or not, but I never caught yours. Oh, yeah, I was pulling the weeds and planting annuals, and sometimes we would just rearrange things with the advisement of the homeowner and take care of business, so yeah, it worked out really well, it got me through the Marine Corps, which we could talk about later, and I got through COVID that way, because I was technically essential, and working outside, so that was a good thing, but yeah, it was getting hard on my body, so I decided to come back and use my brain more and less on my back. I think we kind of got to talk about the Marine Corps now that you brought it up. How did being a horticulturist get you through? Who was in the Marines? Okay, so I have two children, and my oldest was born in 2000, and he decided to join the Marines. That was the decision he made, much to our chagrin. He was only 17, and we had to go into the recruiting office and sign on the line, giving our son over to Uncle Sam, and after he graduated, he joined the Marine Corps, got through boot camp out there in San Diego. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, one question first. What was his driver? Sound like he really wanted to join? Yeah, you know, he just really wanted to be part of that kind of a team, that mentality, to be a strong person. He loved working out. He loved challenges, but he also doesn't like being told what to do. He had hesitation about doing that, but once his mind was made up, that was the end. Okay, so he's in there, and how's mom holding up? Oh, we did okay. I actually have a sister who lived out in San Diego, so that was somewhat comforting to know that they were at least close by, but yeah, he ended up going to Afghanistan on a deployment, and he got stuck over there, thanks to COVID, so it took a long time for him to get back to the States, and once that happened, life was much better. And he was a sniper? Yeah, so after that, he went to sniper school, and I'm told it's super hard, really challenging, and he flunked, and that was out at Quantico. So he got sent back to San Diego, and I should say 29 Palms, California, and then they sent them to another one at Camp Pendleton, and he passed, so he's official scout sniper, so I remind people that if they're not nice to me, I got somebody. Oh my god. That's a threatening word. That'd be nice to her. Okay, all right, let's not mess around. So he's still in service? No, he finished up a couple years ago, and he's back around here in Central Illinois, going to college and working at a box store, so all's well. Gotcha. And freshly married? Yeah, they married actually right after he got back from Afghanistan, the whole COVID thing put the kibosh on their wedding that we had planned out for here. And long story short, we all flew to Vegas wore our masks outside and 106 degrees and got married in a chapel with Elvis. So there's a story for you. Can't deny love, can you? You can't. Yeah. So going back to these gardens that you were working for now, I'm trying to picture this or is this like the high end people? This is the rich folk? You know, I only had a couple that I would classify in that category. Most of them were your average Joe that they were pushing 80, some of them. One of my ladies was 90, and they just couldn't take care of it anymore, but they had high standards and they wanted their yard to look as good as it did when they were taking care of it. So that's really where it was and sometimes I would just come over and we'd just sit on the driveway, crack a beer. It was more of a therapy session than much of a gardening as long as the weeds were taken care of, it was all good. Okay. I was on where you could get paid for doing this. I know. Well, I would clock out, yeah, yeah. Right. But then you moved on, you're working at Hair Nursery, which in Central Illinois is a big old nursery. What drove you there? Well, I lived close by and it is one of the biggest best nurseries around in Central Illinois, so there's a lot going on and good people work here, so it's good to be part of a team. I think that's really what I was missing when I was self-employed, was having that camaraderie with fellow plant geeks. Okay. I suppose that's like one of those things we can call ourselves at, but nobody else can. Right. Right. Well, and that's how we met you. We were coming to get some trees for our yard and lo and behold, you helped us load up one night, so that was nice to meet you and hear all about Hair Nursery. It's a beautiful nursery there. They have amazing trees and flowers and plants and do you enjoy working there? I do. I do. There's a lot going on. There's always a variety of tough parts when it gets above 90, but we're tough people that work here so we can handle it. All right. We've got to go to break. Today, we're talking with Amy Lister from Edwards, Illinois, and when we come back, I want to talk about the nursery life. I want to know the best, most famous tree out there. If I'm going to buy a tree, what's it going to be? We're going to talk about that and all sorts of stuff. All right, enough to the break. This segment is brought to you by Common Ground. Are you looking for an easy way to buy, sell, or lease your land? Well, check out Common Ground where they connect landowners and farmers and hunters, too, by the way. Commonground.io, that's commonground.io. Will is still gone, producer Will, and natural. We go down to Nashville and he leaves. I know that was so funny. We were actually going to pop in and say hi one day when we were taping, and no vacation. The one time we're down. Yeah. We didn't talk to anybody down there. We didn't. Everybody was busy. And then we were out and then we were back late, and yeah, it was a little crazy, but amazing time taping season nine, which is coming up in July on Shark Farmer TV. Well, yeah, when we do the green screen now, we do it on a Sunday, which I wasn't sure about, but I mean, that studio, they put in, they put out so much stuff. They do. Like 50 hours of live TV a week. And I'd rather have the studio all to ourselves for a whole day than you come down and you know, you have a couple hours hearing between shows and a couple hours there. So yeah, we had some good interviews come in and, and you got, oh, a ton of content done. So that was good. Plus it was CMA fast. Who doesn't love CMA fast? I don't. I do not. Way too many people down there, but I suppose it'll be. It's fun. I like me. A good crowd. I'll have to say everybody wants to see the jelly roll. Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Man, that boy can sing, can he? He can sing. Yeah. He just like it sounds like he's saying right to you. Hey, we're talking with Amy Lister from Edwards, Illinois. Amy, do you like the jelly roll? Actually, I do. I appreciate his music. Okay. I'll tell him. He does. It does make me a little sad, though. His songs are a lot of them for sure. Some of them are just straight like a redneck. I'm on a beach up type of song. It's true. Yeah. Amy is a horticulture. This works at Hair Nursery there and that is an Edwards address in the name. It's a Peoria address. Yep. Right on route 91. Do you know what Rob's favorite tree is, Amy? I do not. It's a honey locust. A honey locust. Oh, honey locust. I'm actually sitting under one right now. That's funny. So they are. Okay. The thing is a honey locust that I see is out in a timber and they're called devil trees are called Satan, whatever. I mean, they have the largest, sharpest and stingrayous thorns that you would ever seen. But the one that you all are selling, you've bred all that out of them, haven't you? Yeah. Yeah. We would never sell anybody a tree that would cause great bodily harm. So we sell the ones that are thornless. So it works out. And I could see why people would want them because like in the woods, they're always like the straightest, nicest tree that you'd want to hang a deer stand on, but you can't because you value life. Well, what I like about them is the shade beneath them is really light. So if you do want to grow turf and have a nice lawn, it works out well to have a tree and healthy grass. So that's why we sell them. Mm hmm. What is the top selling tree? Good question. I would say toss up between an autumn blazed maple and a brandy wine maple. We talked about brandy wine maple's Rob. I would have remembered wine, so I don't think so. Okay. Well, they're great because they are a male clone. So they're grafted and they are seedless. So you will never have a helicopter on a brandy wine maple. So that makes it one of our top sellers. That's kind of the fun thing to see those things fly down though. People don't want that. Well, you know, it's fun to watch, but it's not so fun when they're sprouting in your gutters and clogging up your patio with some things like that. So yeah, there's other things you watch in the eye that are fun. See, they would blow away here. That's the thing. I don't think Emily and I understand it because we never rake because we never have to. That's right. Everything just blows away out here. Yeah. So I'm assuming that's a pretty big deal and the city is people having to maintain these things with the raking and all that stuff. Yeah. So they try to have plants that are easy to take care of and don't cause future issues. So a lot of times the fruits are little on a crab apple. They don't fall off anymore. You know, things like that, things that are dwarfed, so you don't have to prune if you don't want to, drought hardy, that kind of a thing. So yeah. I always wondered like working on a nursery there because there are some guarantees because some of these trees, the big ones, that's a lot of money. And then some of these people that buy them are as dumb as a rock and don't even know, like you say, oh, I watered it with like, you know, the little sprinkling can and that. I mean, how do you deal that? You have a tree that dies, but you know, you're dealing with a dunderhead. How's that work? Well, we have a little handy dandy brochure that spells it out, but we spend a lot of time educating customers on the best ways to water and maintain their trees because really nobody wants a big fat do over, you know, you want to get it going done, going right the first time. So we do. We spend that time and we take care of you and share our expertise with the customers. So they won't make those mistakes. I don't remember them telling us anything. Oh, heaven's yes. That was my job. That was the brochure in my hand. Oh, yeah. You are the one to bottom. I was. I was the one who bought him. So speaking of doing it right the first time, we have to backtrack. And you have to tell your wedding story because, you know, all of us who farm, you had to plan your wedding around hogs. Yes. Yes. So we wanted a summer garden wedding and that hit in August for us and my husband's family was showing spotted hogs at the Iowa State Fair since the, well, for a long time, since the 50s really. And so yeah, I had to plan my wedding around the hogs show at the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines and then my father-in-law told me, he said, for me to be a true lister, I had to show a hog. So I waited a year, kind of got up my nerve and made sure I had a really nice outfit, of course. I had red boots and a matching red sweater and I showed a hog in the ring and I have no idea how I did. That's how distracted I was about. I was very worried about losing which hog was mine because there was probably six or eight in the ring at the time and they all look the same to me. Okay. That's fantastic. I love that. I used to show hogs that I don't think I ever worried about losing the pig, but I'm glad you survived and you had to impress a father-in-law, didn't you? I did. I did. I passed the test and still a lister to this day, so it makes for a good story. Okay. Besides the trees, what are the big sellers there? We have a lot of roses right now and people are getting more into being self-sufficient, so we have fruit trees and small fruits like raspberries and blueberries and then we go down onto the strawberries and all the different kinds of vegetables you can think of, but a lot of people come in and they just want something pretty, so we have hanging baskets and containers with mixed annuals, things like that, and a huge perennial yard. Some people get real tired of planting annuals repeatedly, so we have perennials and it's hopefully one and done. Emily has this pear tree and the pears never get soft. I don't know what she's doing wrong. Honestly, I couldn't tell you other than putting them in a paper bag, which is what I do when I buy things at the grocery store, trying to get them soft. Okay. We'll try that next. Yeah. And then she has all these paw paw trees and that's really good, but you can only eat one a year and then you get sick of them. You do. You do. And about the time they're ready to pick a good wind comes and get some. Oh, and the raccoons are horrible on them. They are. All right. Amy Lister from Edwards, Illinois. Go check out Hair Nursery. Now, here is H-O-E-R-R, H-O-E-R-R. I don't know why you spelled it that way, Amy. Well, it's German and it wasn't my idea. So yeah, tough one to spell. Amy, I want to thank you for doing a show. Really appreciate it. And I hope you have a great non-warm day out there, but Amy, I don't want you to go anywhere. Sean Haney is coming up next. He's part of the Canadian horticulturist. All they want is maple trees. Every single tree is a maple tree. We'll catch everybody next time.