Justin West of Thrive Lot: 5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Successful Vegetable Garden To Grow Your Own Food
An Interview With Martita Mestey
… Incorporating as much diversity as possible. The more biodiversity you can plug into your garden, the better. Biodiversity doesn’t mean just a bunch of random plants. For example, if you want to grow broccoli, you need to also plant wildflowers. The wildflowers attract wasps and other predatory insects. Those bugs kill the bugs that eat your broccoli before you do. The more biodiversity you plan for ahead of time, the less work you’ll do while your plants grow. In addition, you won’t need harmful chemicals to prevent pests.
As we all know, inflation has really increased the price of food. Many people have turned to home gardening to grow their own food. Many have tried this and have been really successful. But others struggle to produce food in their own garden. What do you need to know to create a successful vegetable garden to grow your own food? In this interview series, called “5 Things You Need to Know to Create a Successful Vegetable Garden to Grow Your Own Food” we are talking to experts in vegetable gardening who can share stories and insights from their experiences.
As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Justin West.
Justin West is the CEO and co-founder of Thrive Lot, an online platform and Public Benefit Corporation on a mission to help transform yards into lush, bountiful ecosystems. Thrive Lot brings organic food production closer to home by designing, installing, and maintaining edible landscapes and forest gardens. With Thrive Lot, yards are able to become aesthetically pleasing, multi-functional, bountiful, and ecologically diverse landscapes.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a little bit about your back story?
I grew up on a small farm with fruit trees, wild berry patches, huge grape vines, and an enormous garden. That land had a profound impact on me. My family didn’t have a lot of money at the time. Still, we always had good food to eat. We preserved fruits and vegetables and were able to live very healthy lives.
As a kid, I became involved in 4-H’s wildlife judging program. At 15, my urban ecological design won the national championship. That experience taught me that our impact can benefit both the environment’s biodiversity and humanity at the same time. It doesn’t have to be an either-or.
I internalized that truth at an early age, and it turned into a desire to do something good for the world. Growing up during these times, I’ve always felt the world was burning, and I had to do something about it. Society is facing significant challenges today. How will we continue to feed ourselves while taking care of the world around us? Contributing to these issues through my entrepreneurial work is an awesome privilege.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?
Every forest garden I’ve been able to visit is mind-blowing. Last year, I visited one in Florida that was only 3 years old. Just 3 short years ago, it was a normal front yard — a patch of boring grass just big enough to park 4–5 cars on. Now, it is a 3-dimensional, living, breathing space filled with blooms, berries, bees, birds and butterflies. The trees and shrubs were already over head-high in some sections, and you could eat or make medicine from every single plant in the lush space. The winding pathways took you through a living world, and on a large tree branch overhead, stretching from the neighbor’s yard, a massive hive of bees had already moved in, knowing that below were thousands of blooms filled with life-giving nectar.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
The trait that has most contributed to my success is the ability to start from the assumption that I don’t know all the answers. This motivates me to listen and find out what I need to learn. I picked up this trait by observing a number of successful people. They struck me as incredibly humble and full of questions. I quickly decided that was the type of person I wanted to be. I’ve also learned the importance of this from trying things and failing miserably at times. Failure contributes to a willingness to listen to the people who have already been down the road you’re going and can tell you what’s ahead.
The next trait contributing to my success has been hard work. I show up every day and give 150 percent. I’ve learned the importance of self-discipline and consistency from several entrepreneurs that have been willing to serve as mentors in my life.
On the other hand, I feel my success is also due to figuring out how to avoid needless work. If you learn how to work hard and work smart at the same time, you actually end up getting a lot more done in much less time. It’s important to me that the work I’m doing is valuable. Some people work incredibly hard on things that don’t matter. Those people aren’t able to give time to the things they truly value. Working smart is not a perfect system, but it has certainly impacted my lifestyle. I’ve always been a fan of Tim Ferriss’ podcast and book, “The 4-Hour Work Week.”
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
I love quotes, but I think the most impactful for me is one from a 14th-century mystic called Meister Eckhart. He said, “The outer work can never be small if the inner work is great, and the outer work can never be great if the inner work is small.”
During the first stage of my career, those words enabled me to reprioritize my goals. Instead of focusing on physical health and money, I began focusing on spiritual health. During this shift, I began exploring the question of what it means to be a good person. I began wondering what would happen if I set a goal to be as good of a person as I could be. I thought about what that would even mean in my life. That led to a lot of changes in my thinking and habits. It led me to the work I’m doing now.
Are you working on any interesting or exciting new projects now? How do you think those projects will help people?
Thrive Lot is the undertaking that is most important to me. This project has the potential to impact the future of humanity and life on this planet for a thousand years.
Today, we have an extractive relationship with the natural world. We’ve evolved to look at the natural world and extract incredible value from it. That value has created the life improvements we enjoy today.
In order for us to continue to improve, innovate, and advance as a species, we need to solve the looming issues of poverty, disease, violence, instability, and climate change. All of these problems stem from our relationship with the natural world. We need to move humanity away from an extractive relationship with the natural world where we destroy nature in order to feed ourselves and obtain resources. The solution is a facilitated relationship where we create the context for ecosystems to grow and thrive. Those thriving ecosystems have the capacity to produce all the food and resources we need. They could enable us to rise above all the challenges facing our society. That would be a very different future.
Ok super. Let’s now shift to the main part of our discussion about creating a successful garden to grow your own food. Can you help articulate a few reasons why people should be interested in making their own vegetable garden? For example, how is it better for our health? For the environment? For our wallet?
Look at satellite maps and images. You will immediately see parts of the earth covered in a lush forests or pristine grassland. You will also notice that a man-made patchwork covers more than 50% of the planet’s land today. We can shift our thinking to where we are facilitating life in order to create food and resources for ourselves. That is the only way we can continue to grow and develop as a species. We need to preserve biodiversity so that future generations can study nature’s intellectual property and continue to innovate.
At Thrive Lot, we are building an industry around the creation of natural and sustainable ecosystems. Ultimately, we are designing the tools and digitizing the knowledge to share these ecosystems so that everyone, everywhere, can facilitate them at whatever scale their land can support. We’re helping some people design biodiverse gardens in their backyards, and we’re helping others change an entire countryside of green fields and industrial agriculture into prosperity and abundance.
The benefits of creating these ecosystems are twofold. Our health improves, as does the health of the world around us. The goal is to shorten the distance between the land where food is grown and the people who eat the food. The shorter the distance between you and the site where your food is grown, the fresher the food will be when you eat it. If you grow enough food locally, you don’t have to optimize it for shelf life. Even organic fruits and vegetables are genetically bred for years to optimize pest resistance and shelf life. Heirloom species that you can grow in your backyard have higher micronutrient content and don’t have to be shipped or packaged in plastic. Those fresh foods are healthier for you and the planet, as well. Because they can be grown without chemicals, and don’t need to be shipped, they eliminate massive amounts of pollution from the world. Growing food at home means that a little patch of wild space in your yard is preserved. Somewhere else, a little patch of industrial agriculture, a cloud of smoke coming out of a transport truck, and oil burning to cool a grocery refrigerator shelf won’t happen. It’s one of the most revolutionary things you can do. Imagine saving money while making you and the rest of the world healthier.
Where should someone start if they would like to start a garden? Which resources would you recommend? Which plants should they start with?
Of course, the plants you would choose for your garden depend on your geographic location and your property’s topography. Every yard varies according to its sun exposure and even microclimate. If you’re on the northwest side of a mountain here in eastern Tennessee, versus the east side of the mountain, you’re going to get different wind patterns, rainfall, and sun exposure. The right plants for your garden depend heavily on your site condition. From there, we will help you choose plants based on the level of effort that you want to exert.
There’s a lot of great information out there, but most people have pretty busy lives. That’s why we created Thrive Lot. You can have the benefits of a healthy garden without having to go through all the effort of learning and getting started. We connect you with local experts who come to your home and do part or all of the work for you. We bring the expertise to the table, and you reap the benefits.
If you’re a person who enjoys doing it yourself, start with the soil. The most important thing for every human on this planet to understand is that growing good food requires starting with good soil.
The dirt around your house is probably not soil. The first step in today’s construction projects is scraping off all the topsoil. That top layer contains the food plants need. All the time, people tell us, “I love what you’re doing, but it just won’t work at my house. Nothing grows here because the soil is so bad.” In reality, that earth isn’t bad. It’s subsoil — not soil. If we create soil, things will grow. This is planet Earth. Things will grow everywhere as long as conditions are right.
We start building soil by bringing in organic matter such as sticks, twigs, mulch, and leaf mold. These are the things typical landscaping companies scrape away from properties and throw into landfills, creating methane emissions as they do their work. You need that organic matter in your yard to grow food. One of the things we want to unlock in the future is a way to divert all those streams of wasted organic matter into our customers’ property. We try to help people understand the importance of grass clippings and fallen leaves. Don’t throw those away. Pile them up where you want to build soil and keep those nutrients.
Start with the soil. From there, your location and climate will determine the plants you will choose. For an educational resource, I highly recommend a book called “An Island Garden” by Celia L. Thaxter. It’s a comprehensive guide to growing advanced gardens that are low-maintenance, high-yield, and chemical-free.
In terms of what plants to choose, I recommend opting for as many perennial plants as possible. Perennials are plants that grow back every year without you needing to replant them. For example, a blueberry bush will give you berries for 30 or 40 years. All you have to do is ensure the bush has good soil and food. On the other hand, broccoli is delicious, but you’ll have to replace it every year. The more perennial plants you choose, the easier your garden will be to maintain. Basically, the easier your garden is, the more likely you are to use and enjoy it.
There are so many amazing edible perennials that you probably haven’t run into in the grocery store. A mulberry tree is one of my favorite plants. It’ll grow a hundred feet tall, drop 600 pounds of berries every summer, and live for 300 years. You don’t have to do anything to it. There are also artichokes that are healthier than potatoes and return year after year. Asparagus and a certain variety of kale are also perennials. All kinds of great fruits, vegetables, and herbs replenish themselves and require less maintenance than other choices.
Can you please share your “5 Things You Need to Know to Create a Successful Vegetable Garden to Grow Your Own Food”? If you can, please share a story or example for each.
We already covered the importance of building soil and observing your property’s unique microclimate, so my next tip is to find ways to reduce your work. The plants you choose, the biodiversity you incorporate, and where you position your plants will determine how much work you do as a gardener. As I said before, the easier your garden is to maintain, the more likely you are to use and enjoy it.
I also believe understanding how water moves on your property and how it comes to your plants is critical. People like planter boxes, but unless you live in an area that receives a lot of rain or you set up some sort of irrigation system, those boxes are going to be extra work for you. Water simply drains out of them. There are many great plants that don’t want a lot of water, and then there are plants that need a lot. Knowing how to get every plant what it needs is vital.
The next key is incorporating as much diversity as possible. The more biodiversity you can plug into your garden, the better. Biodiversity doesn’t mean just a bunch of random plants. For example, if you want to grow broccoli, you need to also plant wildflowers. The wildflowers attract wasps and other predatory insects. Those bugs kill the bugs that eat your broccoli before you do. The more biodiversity you plan for ahead of time, the less work you’ll do while your plants grow. In addition, you won’t need harmful chemicals to prevent pests.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen people make when they start a garden? What specifically can be done to avoid those errors?
Common mistakes include putting the wrong plants beside each other. For example, tomatoes and cucumbers don’t get along. Most species of tomatoes and cucumbers are climbing plants. If you plant them together, they will crawl all over each other and use their energy fighting instead of making food for you.
Another common mistake is putting all of the same plants in the same place. This goes back to biodiversity. Most people who want to grow 20 heads of broccoli put them all beside each other in a nice, neat little patch. They don’t realize this is like painting a giant bullseye for the animals that eat broccoli. Those animals will move in, eat, and reproduce. People attract pests and then turn to chemicals to fight them. If you spread those 20 heads of broccoli across your whole garden with a bunch of other plants, the things that eat broccoli won’t start a cycle of eating and reproducing right in your garden. You create resilience.
The third mistake I see all the time is people putting their wrong plants in the wrong places. They’ll put a plant that needs full sun in the shade and vice versa. They’ll plant a plant that’s going to grow tall in front of a shorter plant that needs sunlight. As the garden grows, the shade shifts. Know your property. Observe the light, the soil, and the water.
What are some of the best ways to keep the costs of gardening down?
First, keep organic matter on your property. Start composting. Ask for your neighbors’ grass clippings and leaves. Cheap organic matter cuts your soil building and mulching costs.
Second, look for plant swaps. You can also find your local gardening guild on Facebook and tap into people that save seeds. You’ll save a ton of money by planting with seeds.
Finally, if you observe how water moves on your property closely, you can use rain barrels instead of irrigation. You’ll save money on water, and you’ll also grow healthier plants. Tap water has chlorine that actually damages the microbiome in the soil and makes plants more susceptible to disease. Your plants will do much better if you allow them to drink rainwater that hasn’t been chlorinated.
You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger 🙂
The movement I would hope to inspire is one that shows people that soil is wealth. If you build soil, you can grow food at home. I know a lot of people live in apartments and condos, but everyone should understand the value of soil and try to contribute to the soil around them. That effort is critical to the existence of humanity and our planet.
Is there a person in the world, or the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, any why? He or she might just see this, especially if we tag them 🙂
Love him or hate him, I’m looking forward to having lunch with Elon Musk. The guy thinks big and works toward what he believes will enable a better future for humanity — and he gets things done. I’d like to share how we can regreen Earth as well as Mars, directly and with a massive economic upside.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
That’s easy; thrivelot.com is the place to go. You can sign up to follow us on any social media channel and at Thrive blogs. For the latest on what we’re doing, our Twitter feed, the website, and our email newsletter are the best sources of information.
Thank you so much for the time you spent on this interview. We wish you only continued success and good health.
Thank you very much for the opportunity! I wish the same to you.
Justin West of Thrive Lot: 5 Things You Need To Know To Create A Successful Vegetable Garden To… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.