So, we delve into the world of... kale chips and vertical gardens? Yep, you read that right. This month's episode finds us venturing a little further off the well-trodden path of decluttering and storage solutions, venturing into the fascinating (and admittedly, unexpected) territory of Juice Plus and Tower Gardens. Now, hear us out before you raise an eyebrow (or reach for your cucumber stick). This conversation with LouAnn Stark-Dykema, a passionate Juice Plus Partner and Tower Garden enthusiast, unexpectedly resonated with the core principles of organized living—and we think it might surprise you too. Join us as we explore the unexpected connections between dense nutrition, vertical farming, and creating harmony in your space. Trust us, by the end, you'll be ready to sprout your dreams, shrink your footprint.
About LouAnn
LouAnn explains that she has always been aware of health and nutrition to some extent but 20 years ago was when she became a Juice Plus partner and everything changed from there. Juice Plus is a company that provides fruit and veggie supplements that the whole family will enjoy. Since then, she has learned more and more about health and nutrition, making healthier lifestyle changes, and then eventually got into tower gardening. I also asked LouAnn how her best friend would describe her and she responded "Someone who smiles a lot" and I couldn't agree more! She is always smiling and laughing! She even said that laughing is a huge health benefit, so it's important to get those belly laughs in every day!
Tower Gardening
Now it's time to talk about the elephant in the room (if you're watching the YouTube video you know what I'm talking about)! The tower garden in view is too big to be shown on the entire screen! LouAnn explains that a tower garden is a vertical gardening system. It is similar to hydroponics because it does not use dirt, it only uses water and it goes vertical so it takes up very little space. LouAnn has been "farming" with her tower gardens since 2012. For her indoor gardens, she likes to grow herbs, lettuce, greens, etc. Overall, the tower garden structure is an efficient way to grow greens all year long.
How does tower gardening relate to organizing?
There are so many times that I go into people's homes and they just don't have enough space or enough light for plants and when I saw these tower gardens, I thought they would be a great solution! I am also all about multi-purpose items and these just blew my mind. Not only to they solve the space issue but they also include lights so you don't have to worry about your plants not getting enough light either! They're so compact (2 feet wide), you can just put one in place of a chair!
They are super low maintenance too! Everything is on a timer! The lights are on a timer and the water circulation is on a timer too, so you don't need anyone coming and watering your plants while you're on vacation! You may just need someone to come in and harvest while you're away or you'll come home to too much food! I notoriously have a black fun (hey we can't be great at everything) and I may even be able to keep some plants alive in this thing!
Tower Gardens eliminate clutter
If the space saving and low maintenance features of tower gardens hasn't sold you and how they are an organizers dream garden, I have something else for you. The eliminate clutter! I am somewhat of a garage organizing expert and I can't tell you the amount of gardening clutter I have organized in garages. I had to know how much clutter one of these tower gardens can create, so I asked LouAnn. She came prepared... with a small "bucket". It was literally the size of a medium plastic bin from The Container Store AND THAT WAS IT! And she said that she only needs to access these supplies maybe once a week at most when the water level gets low.
How to plan out plant placement
There are a lot of slots on these tower gardens, so I was curious about how LouAnn plans out where she is going to place each plant. I also wanted to know how she decides what to plant and when? Here are her steps:
Decide where you are going to grow - inside or outside
You plant what you like to eat!
Plant things in a pyramid (larger at bottom, smaller at top)
Consult your tower garden coach!
Wrapping things up
As I always do to end the show, I asked LouAnn what was currently cluttering her life. Her response "my office". She said she did declutter recently, but the closet in there is the main area she avoids because it houses all those photos we collect. For me, I have a lot of mental clutter right now with business planning and budgeting for the year. We all have clutter in our lives in some way, shape or form.
Want to know more about LouAnn, Juice Plus, and Tower Gardening?
Contact LouAnn using the information below or visit one of her websites for more information about what we talked about today!
Juice+ Website: https://louann.juiceplus.com/us/en
Tower Garden Website: https://louann.towergarden.com/us/en
Email LouAnn: Louannsd26@gmail.com
