A valuable team member since November 2018, Josh is currently our outstanding lead grower at CVG. We recently sat down with Josh to ask him a few questions about how he got started in this industry and what he likes most about it.
Learning from Challenges
Josh first began working in greenhouses while in college, which was unlike any job he’d had before. At the time he was studying Psychology, but quickly became interested in plants as he spent more time around them. “I just loved the atmosphere… You know, the air in the greenhouse, just the smell and everything in the spring.”
As Josh became more involved in the growing processes, he realized that his biggest challenge would be not having a significant amount of background knowledge in the field. Over the years, he has taken a learn-as-you-go type of approach, which has so far provided him with an abundance of knowledge.
He also mentions, however, that the challenge of getting to know more about the plants is one of his favorite parts of the job. “There’s just so many different things that you can see that are new, and then things change all the time… But that’s part of what makes it extra enjoyable. It doesn’t get stagnant.”
Constantly Innovating
While working on a senior project in college involving psilocybin mushrooms, a mentor shared a job posting with Josh which led him to start working with us here at CVG. He said that his favorite part about our greenhouse is that we are constantly striving for improvements. “There’s a lot of change, and there’s a lot of just looking for better. It feels more lively and exciting… It’s gotten better each year.”
He also notes that spring, his favorite season, is the busiest time of year, which brings along the greatest need for hard work and innovation. “Spring is hard… just the intensity of it… It’s probably the other thing that is my favorite with the job… Day’s just kind of go by, it feels like Mission Impossible or something. Every day is like you’re constantly working, constantly doing stuff. You can see the work.”
After a few years of working on the team, Josh feels as though he is able to contribute new ideas for the greenhouse with the knowledge he has gained. His best gardening tip: “Observe the plant. It’ll give you indications of if it needs something… Just paying attention to that rather than just following little rules.”
Inspired By Family, Inspiring Family
When asked about what he likes to do in his free time, Josh quickly stated that he loves to travel and spend time with his family. In fact, it was members of his family that initially gave him the planting bug. “I’ve got a lot of aunts and uncles that work with plants. My grandma was always into plants and gardening.”
Additionally, Josh mentioned that he is very close to his young son, and caring for him happily takes up a lot of his time. At six years old, his son has taken a strong interest in the type of work his father does. “He loves it. He has impressive knowledge already.”
He also stated that, while he doesn’t have an abundance of plants at home, their family has several types of herbs and berries growing in their yard because edible ones are his favorites.
Josh’s final piece of advice to anyone who wants to know more about the process of growing plants is to “follow the interest.” He says that there are always new things to learn about different kinds of plants and their personalities as well as the maintenance processes around the greenhouse.
If you’d like to know a little more about plants and also be inspired by our greenhouse, stop in to say hello!
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