Episode 271: Farmer Nick
Nick Cutsumpas started his houseplant growing career by buying 100 plants for his one-bedroom apartment.
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TRANSCRIPT
[0:00] Music.
[0:17] Jane Perrone Hello jetlag my old friend. Yes, I'm back from my trip and I've got a lovely bubbly episode of On The Ledge podcast just for you.
[0:25] Music.
[0:32] Jane Perrone I'm interviewing farmer Nick. Yes, Nick Cutsumpas, star of Netflix's Instant Dream Home, author of The Plant Coach and all round jolly good chap about everything from impulse plant buys to why he wants to have an olive tree named after him.
I've been to Canada to see my folks. I can report that my mum's coffee tree has doubled in size since I was there just over a year ago. So perhaps it's in the blood. And now I'm back and having my bottom kicked by jetlag. Unfortunately, 3am is not my friend, But the show is here to wake me up and hopefully provide you with some planty diversions in the form of my chat with the wonderful Nick Cutsumpas, aka Farmer Nick. He joined me via the wonder of the internet to chat about all things plant-related and our shared love for sustainability. And I started by asking Nick a very simple question. Please introduce yourself.
[1:44] Nick Cutsumpas
Sure. Nick Cutsumpas, also known as Farmer Nick. I'm a plantrepreneur, passionate about all things green, and that can be landscaping, environmental landscaping, floristry, houseplants, growing food by one true love. If it's green and it helps the planet, that's, what it's all about.
Jane Perrone
Awesome and I love your TV show. I recently got a copy of your book, which actually, I'm not going to lie, it's gone up into my top three houseplant books.
Nick Cutsumpas
No way. Stop that.
Jane Perrone
Yes, it has. It actually has. I mean, I'm not going to say I was surprised, but oftentimes, there's houseplant books and houseplant books, aren't there? There's kind of coffee table books that look gorgeous. But I was really impressed with your book. We'll come on to that.
Nick Cutsumpas
Thank you.
Jane Perrone
Let's start with talking about, I guess the old saw of, people always ask this of me and I'm sure you too, was this something that was kind of in your DNA, loving plants or did you come to it through some epiphany? Was there some moment of discovery or was it just in the blood?
[2:54] Nick Cutsumpas
It was a come to plant Jesus moment for me because I honestly had no plants ever growing up. My family was not a family that had houseplants in the home. A couple years we'd maybe grow some tomatoes outside, right, when I was younger, but we had nothing. And it wasn't until I graduated college in 2014, and I'm set to live a very corporate New York City life, businessman, all that stuff. And I was living at home, saving up money, paying back my loans, and my mom said, okay, if you're gonna live at home rent-free, to do something around the house. So I was like, all right, well, what do you want me to do? And, she suggested I start a garden. We had just lost a tree in the backyard and there's this empty spot there that got a lot of sun and without knowing anything about plants, went to Home Depot, threw some tomatoes and cukes in the ground. And from the moment that I tasted the literal fruits of my labour, it was, it was just love at first sight. It was amazing. I was like, how can I have this experience inside, outside for everything that I'm doing in my life, and was fortunate enough to make it a career four years later.
Jane Perrone
Amazing stuff. Yeah, it's really crazy. It's that moment where you sort of taste that strawberry or something just really hits you out of nowhere. And I don't know about you, but then you're kind of like telling people about it being evangelical. This happened to my husband when we got an allotment. It's like, have you found this secret? It's so exciting. And people are looking at you like... mmmmm....
Nick Cutsumpas
You should have seen the looks I got when I would bring in my produce to the office.
[4:39] So I'd show up to the office, big corporate office building in New York City, with a basket of zucchini. Because you know how it is with courgettes out there, right?Yeah, yeah, absolutely. You're going to have way too many. I can't do them fast enough. And I was just giving them away to people and putting them on their desk and stuff. They thought I was crazy.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, the same. When I worked at The Guardian, the same. I used to bring stuff in. I used to make a load of jam and bring it in. And I remember a colleague of mine, a particularly sort of a fruity colleague of mine, journalism colleague going, talking about my Blackcurrant jam and saying, "it's like an angel crapping on your tongue". I converted him that way. Oh, that's fantastic to hear. So the rest obviously came, cascaded from there, house plants, outside design, you wanted it all.
Nick Cutsumpas Absolutely, I wanted it all and once I moved from the suburban home of my parents into New York City, that's when the houseplants came into the picture because I went through this withdrawal of - oh my gosh I don't have the green in my life. That's making me so happy and fulfilled. So I did the only thing that a rational man would do and I went out and bought a hundred houseplants for my 600 square foot apartment. It made sense, you know, this makes me happy, let's buy a hundred of these things. And that was about the time the Instagram kind of started and people started asking questions, hey, can you help me with this? Can you maybe do this at my space? And it just started snowballing from there.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, that is - that's a steep learning curve right there going straight in with 100 houseplants. Wow.
Nick Cutsumpas
Oh, I mean, I had good plant instinct. As you know, you know outdoor and indoor very different But if you have good instincts and can start to really pay attention, And that's the key is I talked about in the book all the time. It's like don't read the care card. Just pay attention. The care card doesn't know your environment. It doesn't know what's happening in your space. It doesn't know that you know the construction across the street prevented light coming through your window. You have to adjust and you have to observe your ecosystem. And I was good at that. I was always good at that. So it made the houseplant process very smooth or relatively smooth. And it was something that I wanted to teach my clients like, hey, this is not something that you just put a Google reminder in your phone on watering day. These are living beings that you have to actually interact with in order to know how they function.
[7:17] Jane Perrone
Yeah, absolutely. And what kind of things were in that list of 100 plants? Were you kind of going down the aroid route? Or was it just whatever took your fancy?
Nick Cutsumpas
Honestly, anything I was down except succulents. I couldn't get into succulents until I moved to Los Angeles. Because there, they're grown on the street and it's like a dollar. It's easy. But I was a huge fan of Monstera in the beginning just because it was like the, interior design plant, I had the fiddle leaf fig, but I also really got attached to alacasia, which I know most people don't like because they're tricky and they get spider mites, but there's so many amazing leaf variations and colours and the Alocasia reticulata in particular was a favourite of mine and I got good with those. And oftentimes there's certain plants that are tricky for some people, but really easy for others. That was the one that I really loved.
[8:17] Jane Perrone
Yeah, that's really true. I mean, Alocasias and me, we're not good bedfellows. We don't get along. We are, one might say arch enemies, but give me a cactus or give me, you know, a Gesneriad and I'm away. So you're right. It just, you've got to choose those things that are gonna be something you feel like you can really pay attention to and make them thrive. Now, the other thing that I didn't mention about your book, Plant Coach, that I absolutely loved was the fact that you put the planet into the title. And I'm glad to see that, you know, sustainability is very important to you and it's something that's very important to me. Why was that something you wanted to put front and centre?
[8:59] Nick Cutsumpas
That was a very conscious choice, because I'm approaching plants and gardening through an environmental lens. Because for me, there's no point in having these beautiful plants if it's not connecting us to nature and making us think about nature a little bit more. For me, it wasn't until I got thrown into my backyard situation that I started acknowledging okay like if I care about these plants shouldn't I be caring about all the plants that are around me and what's happening to them with climate change and all the issues that we're facing as a as a world and for my clients I tell them all the time I'm like listen like this is a stepping stone, you interacting with this plant I don't care if you name it and talk to it every day you sing to it play the ukulele for it I don't care whatever strengthens your connection to that little plant is great because it's going to get you to start caring about or at least thinking about the big plant we all live on. That's the goal. Houseplants are great. If you want to collect them, great. If you want to just look at them, great. But just their presence, being in your space, will make you view the environmental issues in a new light. That's always the forefront goal in everything that I do.
[10:18] Jane Perrone
Yeah, I think that's a really great philosophy. I see it so often, people who get into houseplants and then they're suddenly stopping on the street and looking at the plants growing cracks in the pavement and realising that, oh, my local council is, you know, spraying weed killer on all this stuff. And maybe that's not such a good idea. And it all snowballs from there, doesn't it? It really does. And that's why I guess the last couple of years have been really powerful. How have you found the sort of the pandemic period in terms of of your own fans and followers and their commitment to plants?
[10:56] Nick Cutsumpas
It was a huge moment of growth, to be honest. As the world started slowing down, that's great, because plants are slow. If you've got a lot of time, plants are a great thing, because it's something that you need to kind of reset your mindset, especially if you're living in a big city, and saying, okay, the world's kind of slowing down here. What am I gonna do to help make me happy, give me that sense of nurturing, sense of control in a very chaotic time? And I think plants filled that void for many, many people. You know, I'm sure you've seen it, the rise of the pandemic plant parents, all over Instagram and social media, and like not saying it's a bad thing by any means, I think it's a great thing. Because it just got people thinking differently. And people ask me all the time as well, like, do you think that this is a fad? Because there were big trends in the 80s and early 90s with houseplants and whatnot. But I don't. I think it's here to stay because our generation is so focused on environmental issues. And if you having that plant makes you more connected to some of those issues in that fight against climate change, I think it's going to stick for a long, long time.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, I think you're right. There's always going to be a few people I think that went hard in on the houseplant thing during the pandemic. I'm seeing a few of those IKEA greenhouse cabinets coming up for sale secondhand now where I think people are going back out into the world and they're not at home all the time and suddenly that big cabinet of, you know, anthuriums is proving a little bit more tricky. But I agree with you totally that the core transformation has happened and certainly I know my children, they are really concerned about the environment and even if they're not particularly interested in houseplants, they're really on the ball with environmental issues and it's exciting to see. And we got to stay motivated, haven't we? Cause it can get slightly depressing with the headlines right now.
Nick Cutsumpas
Slightly depressing? Very, very depressing. Soul-suckingly depressing, it's terrible.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, I know, I know. I mean, I have struggled with that, how to talk to my son about it because he gets particularly sad. He's 13, he gets particularly sad. And what do you say? There is actually a good book that I want to read that's about this very topic, how to talk to children about climate change. And it's a real issue in my household right now. So yeah, you try to focus on the things that you can do and the ways that you can be active. And that is a powerful thing, but it's tough. It's tough. Going back to the book, sustainability at its core, but I also love the practicality in there and your checklists were amazing. Chef's kiss, love the checklist, love the way that you laid it all out. What was the inspiration for, who were you trying to reach with The Plant Coach?
[13:53] Nick Cutsumpas
I think the main audience is gonna be someone who is certainly erring on the side of a beginner, but also wanting people who were just looking to connect with nature in a different way, because there's a lot of books out there that just say, here's what to do. That's great. But what people I found, especially working with my clients, there's so much correct information out there, there's so much misinformation out there, but more importantly, they need confidence. They need to feel empowered, they need to feel confident. It cannot be a source of stress. Just like you were mentioning the eco-anxiety of your son, plant anxiety is real, I'm sure you've seen it, where people are so afraid to make a mistake. And that's why I wanted the book to be kind of funny and cheeky at times, and be honest about what this is and how we can kind of develop a confidence that gives us the freedom to make mistakes. There is nothing better than, going through the process of a plant death because you learn. And I'm not advocating you do it on purpose or it happens because of negligence, but if you have a plant that you've taken care of and all of a sudden something happens to it and it passes on, that's a learning moment and that will never happen again. And people are so afraid of those things, but it's a part of life. And I wanted the book to be for that person who's a beginner who feels a little bit unsure of themselves, make them laugh, make them smile, give them the confidence that they need so that they can create their own green spaces.
[15:28] Jane Perrone
Now you have a great list in the book, sort of plant shopping do's and don'ts. Something I'm really passionate about because as you say, we all kill plants from time to time and it's a great learning curve, but also we sometimes make these impulse buys that are just chronic. So tell me, give me an example of maybe your worst quality impulse buy. There must be a few out there where you're like, why? Oh my gosh. Oh, why?
Nick Cutsumpas
All right.
Jane Perrone
'Fess up now, Nick.
Nick Cutsumpas
I mentioned the Alocasia reticulata, one of my favourite plants. Alocasia are very prone to spider mites. I had never really dealt with a major spider mite infestation. I go to a plant shop, and at this point I'm about a year and a half into the houseplant stuff.So I'm feeling good, that kind of like cockiness that's not fully deserved yet, you know? And I see a couple really struggling plants on a clearance rack and it's an Alocasia zebrina. Very similar but another kind of wishlist plant for me. I was like oh my god 30 bucks? He goes yeah I'm just warning you it's like been dealing with spider mites. No problem. Bring it home, treated it, didn't isolate it enough, put it next to my other Alocasia. One week, gone. Whole infestation, took over the plant, doesn't matter how many times I treated it, it was nasty and I lost it. And that was a moment where you kind of feel humbled and you're like, okay, like maybe I can't do this all, maybe I have to be a little bit more discerning in what, what plants I bring home and let some of the other ones kind of do their thing or have someone else do it who's more capable potentially. So that was a tough moment. I had my plant goggles on for sure, but it happens.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, absolutely. And I love those. I think pests are messages from the universe sent to teach us that actually we're not as great as we think we are. I mean, this has happened to me numerous times. Have you ever had root mealybugs? Root mealybugs.
Nick Cutsumpas
Root mealybugs?
Jane Perrone
Oh my word.
Nick Cutsumpas
That's a new one. That sounds like nightmare.
Jane Perrone
Root mealybugs school you that you are not as good a plant person as you think you are. I'm telling you, they are really, really bad.
Nick Cutsumpas
I've got to Google this.
Jane Perrone
So yeah.
[17:53] Nick Cutsumpas
Root mealybugs?
Jane Perrone
Yeah, sorry about that. It's really quite bad. And the thing about root mealybugs is you won't know it's a problem until it's too late, because they're on the roots, right? You're not gonna see them. Anyway, it makes you so paranoid that every piece of perlite you see, you're looking at with a hand lens because you think it's a pest. Anyway, that's my personal trauma. Let's set that aside.
Nick Cutsumpas
You've ruined me now. I'm gonna go unpot every one of my plants when I get home.
Jane Perrone
Well, hopefully you don't have that problem. You're right.You think you get to that stage where you've had some plants and it's all gone swimmingly and then winter hits or a past hits and, you know, it's tough.
[18:36] Music.
[18:47] Jane Perrone
More from Nick in a little bit, but it's time for a little bit of housekeeping now. Now, if you sign up for Patreon on On The Ledge, then you do get a shout out. And I also like to point out when people have gone up a tier, and that's the case with Katherine, who's upgraded from Crazy Plant Person to Ledge End, which unlocks all kinds of extra bonus things like ad free versions of the show and an extra episode of my bonus podcast, An Extra Leaf once a month. And of course, the legendary Christmas mail out. So thanks for upgrading Katherine. And thanks to Kai, who has tried a free trial of the Ledge End tier. Welcome Kai. I hope you stick around. If you've got any questions about Patreon or other ways of supporting the show, then do drop me a line. I turned up in Canada and my dad welcomed me wearing his On The Ledge t-shirt. Yes, because my dad is my biggest fan. Every time he goes to the dentist or the optician, he basically bends their ear about the show. So, so thanks dad.
[19:53] Also, just wanted to say, I received a one star review for my book, Legends of the Leaf, which - I'm not going to be precious about this. I'm a journalist. I have a thick skin. I'm not easily offended. But maybe I have some chutzpah in believing that this is not a one-star book. So I just urge you, if you have enjoyed Legends of the Leaf, please go and leave a review. You can do that on Goodreads. You don't have to have bought the book from Amazon. You just have to be an Amazon customer to do that. And I'd really appreciate it. Your honest thoughts about the book. You don't have to give me five stars. That would be super nice. But I just feel like this one-star review is maybe dragging me down right now. And just a final reminder that if you have pledged for the book and you haven't received a copy, drop support@unbound.com a line and they will be able to make sure that your copy is winging its way to you because I know there's a few people who still haven't confirmed their postal address and that's vital to do before you get your copy. And there's also pre-orders now open for my next project which is a wonderful thing called Houseplant Gardener in a Box and that is a set of 60 cards contained in a delightful gift box plus a booklet full of gardening advice from little old me. It's a lovely present, the illustrations are beautiful, they're by an illustrator called Cody Bond, so I would love you to take a look at that you can take a look at it on all of the usual places an you can pre-order a copy now. It will be released in October. Makes a very nice Christmas present if I do say so myself, published by a new imprint called Skittledog. Skittledog, I like that. So yes, do go and check out The Houseplant Gardener in a Box. I mean, I might at some point do a silly video where I'm in a box for Instagram. I mean, it seems an obvious thing to do. And just a reminder about The Plant Ledger, my email newsletter. It comes out every week and is packed, and I mean packed, full of news about the house plant scene, it's got an events listing for events in the UK and people seem to love Jane's Planty Week which is where I include a sort of a random smorgasbord of links to interesting things that I've been looking at this week and people do love to check that out. Sometimes it's a little bit obtuse, sometimes it's funny, you just don't know until you click the link. So you you can sign up for the plant ledger by visiting janeperrone.com/ledger that's l e d g e r and while you're on janeperrone.com click on the shop link at the top right hand corner of the page and you too can join my dad and don some merch for the show there's everything from tote bags and cooking aprons to mugs and t-shirts and hoodies to check out with various iterations of the on the ledge logo and also a couple of other designs my lovely hand lens gang illustration which i totally am in love with if you go to janeperrone.com click on the shop link and away you go you can order items of your choice and it helps to support the show.
[23:17] Jane Perrone
And now it's time to get back to my chat with the lovely Nick Cutsumpas. I also wanted to talk to you about getting a little bit more therapy out here. DIY. I've nearly hit my half century and I am the world's worst DIY. Literally the world's worst. The last time I drilled into the wall of my house, water came out. That was not a good moment. Anyway, I have an old house. Nick Cutsumpas
No, that's a tough one.
Jane Perrone
I want to know, there's some really nice DIY projects in The Plant Coach book. I want to know any tips to help me improve at DIY without killing myself. What's the best method?
[24:06] Nick Cutsumpas
There are levels to DIY. And I think part of the book is, as you see with the different DIY projects in there is that they start off easy and then they get progressively harder. And I think it's all about just knowing like, okay, like what tools do I even have to get started?Because all you need to get started is a power drill, get a couple nails, screws, a hammer, power drill, you're fine. You don't need to go to a full workshop facility and build a coffee table planter, although that was quite fun. But being able to just know like, okay, what am I capable of? And what's the easiest thing that I can make just to get started.And for me, that was those little air plant frames that I made. It was literally made with scrap wood. So funny story about those is actually all the wood that we use for the DIY projects came from a company in LA called Angel City Lumber, which recycles fallen trees in Los Angeles.
Jane Perrone
Oh, nice.
Nick Cutsumpas
So it's not net new lumber, which is really, really cool. And they let us use our facility, but that was something you could do at home. And all you're doing is taking scrap woods and making different shapes and putting a little stand in there with wood glue. We didn't even need any materials for that. And it's so easy to do and gives your air plants a moment in the sun to shine, because air plants are so underrated. I don't know why people aren't having hundreds of air plants in their home all the time because they're so easy and pet friendly. So that's a good one that I think is really nice. But if you didn't even want to do any woodworking, a terrarium is so fun. You can do a dry open terrarium. You can do a closed wet environment terrarium.Those will eventually lead to your bigger vivariums and Ikea greenhouse cabinets down the road, but just grabbing a glass jar, reused mason jar, and just put some soil in it and seeing what happens.It's a great activity for kids too.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, terrariums I can manage. As a child, one of my projects as a child was my dad, God knows where he got it from, got me a massive, like... I don't know, a meter long fish tank. And I had that as a kid. But although because I couldn't like get to the store because I was a kid to get any potting soil, I use garden soil. So I had worms in there. Wow. Pretty well. It worked pretty well. But yeah, I think I need to upgrade to the next level of DIY. Maybe those air plant holders you were talking about would be a good for me. That would be a good project for me. I can see that working and you're right. Air plants are are really underrated. I'm just actually doing a part of some plant trials, which I'm helping the Royal Horticultural Society with about air plants. And I've just had my mind blown by the amazing array of different air plants you can grow. So yeah, air plants are good. So yeah, DIY, I'm gonna think about that. I'm gonna go back to the book and look at those air plant things and see if I can get some wood glue and give that a go. That sounds doable.
Nick Custumpas
Do it, do it, and you gotta send me a picture, so I have proof. Yeah, I'll send you a picture, I'll send you a picture, and yeah, just don't laugh.
[27:17] Nick Cutsumpas
No judgment, no judgment here. The good thing is, my husband's just as bad. It's not like either of us is a DIY genius. We're both useless. We'd rather pay somebody to do this stuff, you know, like anything in our house. But then again, I did actually manage to fill in some holes in a windowsill recently. So I'm onwards and upwards, onwards and upwards.
Nick Cutsumpas
Yeah, we're on the up and up, I love it.
Jane Perrone You called yourself a plant, I can't even say it.
Nick Cutsumpas
Plantrepreneur.
Jane Perrone
That's hard to say. What does that actually mean to you? And what do your parents, what do they think about your career as a plantrepreneur?
Nick Cutsumpas
You know, in the beginning, I didn't really have many family members or friends who are like, wow, this is amazing. This is your path. Do it. Because they're looking out for you. They want what's best for you and the six-figure job with benefits is a lot better than rolling around and playing in the dirt and not having many prospects. So I would like to say that they had all the faith in the world, but I don't think they did. And that's okay. But now I think, you know, having built this out, they're starting to understand that there's a strategy. You know, having worked in the business world for six years, that was the best thing that could have happened for me because I developed a sense of branding and marketing and salesmanship, that was authentic to me. And if I could sell someone else's company, really what I didn't believe in fully, how easy would it be to sell the vision that I have to make our world greener? Something I'm really, really passionate about. So that has been quite fun. And it's all about diversifying, because you can't just rely on Instagram.You can't just rely on one thing. So for me, having my landscape design business, having Instagram partnerships, having books and TV, investing in certain companies that are doing amazing things in the environmental and plant-based space for food. Very interesting opportunities to kind of expand and plant a diverse selection of seeds and see what comes up and some of them I might be harvesting now, some of them I might be harvesting in ten years. But it's all about just like seeing the long game, which as gardeners and plant people, we know that's the ultimate vision.
Jane Perrone
Absolutely. We are planting those seeds and trees for the future.And one of those seeds is the Netflix show Instant Dream Home. I really enjoyed watching this show. I had to shed a few tears. It's one of those shows that catches you. It's a TV makeover show.It's a format that we're all familiar with, but it's done in a really charming way. But I did feel a bit sorry for you because I kind of felt like when you're rushing to complete these projects that maybe your fellow renovators didn't really get what you were up against. Can you just tell listeners about the concept of the show and what was involved?
Nick Cutsumpas
I appreciate your sympathy. It is something I dealt with all the time. But the premise of the show is that we take a deserving family's home and we renovate it in one day. Literally one day.And with that, you know, we have a team that has interior design, a build team, a special projects person, and then exterior landscaping.The problem is when you do something like this, there's 200 people on the job site, and they're all going in and out of the house. So as the exterior person, how am I supposed to be planting trees and shrubs and redoing the walkway and everything associated with the exterior if there's a giant hole in the wall and people are trampling through the things I'm trying to plant, it's problematic. So a lot of my work ended up having to get done in that last half of the day until they were done inside. So oftentimes, and you see it on some of the episodes, I'd be running inside trying to help them out to speed up the process so me and my team could actually plant the garden.
[31:40] Jane Perrone
Yeah, I mean, I love these kind of shows is because you see these amazing transformations and the family, I mean, maybe it's the wonder of TV, but they do look genuinely blown away by the transformations. How much pressure was it on you, though, to feel like you are taking someone's very personal space and completely ripping it out and changing it in many cases?
Nick Cutsumpas
You know, it's - for me? Easy, because I'm only doing the exterior. I'm not the one in the house that's, you know, doing something to the kitchen and the bedrooms where they're spending a lot of their time. So for me, it was a little easier. I know on the interior design side that there, it's hard knowing that you've made all these memories in these spaces and it's gonna look different. But I felt a lot of pressure because that first look is all exterior. When you see the before and after, that is just the exterior work, the facade, the garden, the hardscaping, all of it. And I want that first impression to be spectacular, whether it's from the family, the neighbours, anyone just driving by, kerb appeal is so important to a home's value too. And that was my favourite part - seeing their reaction and also acknowledging how many of them were like, wow, look at these new plants we have, this is amazing. So that was, it was quite special for me.
[33:06] Jane Perrone
And do you sort of, after the show's finished filming, do you then have to go, okay, here's your care plan because you've given people a whole load of parts to do it?
Nick Cutsumpas
Oh my gosh. It's a book.
Jane Perrone
Oh wow.
Nick Cutsumpas
It's a book on the entire house, new appliances, the plants, anything that we did differently in the house, there is a manual for. And there's a lot, right? But in my job, we wanna make it as sustainable for the families as possible. It's right, we're running irrigation, we're doing those things just because we want it to be as low maintenance as it can be.
[33:40] Jane Perrone
And which was your favourite of those projects that you worked on for the Instant Dream Home? Any ones that you'd be like, I like that garden.
Nick Cutsumpas
I mean, the first episode when we built the edible garden in the side yard was amazing. And that family was unbelievable. There's a reason it's the first episode. That's the one you need your tissues for, for sure. But aside from that one, which I know is an easy answer, I actually love the fourth episode where it rained the entire time. Because when it rains in landscaping, you're like, all right, guys, pack it up. See you tomorrow. Let's hope for the best. But we had no choice. And I'm supposed to build a little patio area that's supposed to be dry, and it's literally filled with water. So that was a very fun episode to overcome those challenges, make a makeshift tent, be able to lay down the pavers that we needed for that space. It was wild, but it was a lot of fun.
[34:38] Jane Perrone
And what's been the reaction to that show? Have you had colleagues in the garden design world sort of take issue with you for doing what's kind of an instant makeover show? Has there been any pushback from anybody or has the reception been good at all?
Nick Cutsumpas
There's always pushback. Like there's folks who say, oh my God, you cut down so many trees. Why'd you cut down so many trees? And when you talk to them and you try to explain like, hey, you weren't there. This tree was diseased. This tree was struck by lightning last year. All you're seeing is the chainsaws. You're not seeing what actually happens and why we're doing what we're doing. Some of it was also, you know, things that the family had talked about in interviews, like, oh, we'd love to do this edition, but the tree's in the way, so we have to do this, this, and that. A lot of it's not up to my choice. Obviously, when I work with clients now, I'm always pushing to save as much as we can. But inevitably, it happens, you have to do it sometimes. It's a part of the job. So that you get some pushback on and then also you get folks saying, oh, is it really done in one day? Yes, but it's months and months and months of planning and preparation that go into knowing exactly what that schedule is so there's no mistakes or as little as few mistakes as there can possibly possibly be on install day.
Jane Perrone
And is there going to be another series? The important question.
Nick Cutsumpas
I honestly, I don't know. It's been wild working with Netflix. We just got nominated for an Emmy.
[36:13] Jane Perrone
Wow. Congratulations.
Nick Cutsumpas
Thank you. Thank you. So I hope that would inspire them to want to bring it back. But I also know it's an endeavour. It's a lot of people on a job site. It's a lot of work. So we'll see what happens.
Jane Perrone
And what's your award ceremony outfit going to be? Is it going to be something, you know, a suit made of leaves or something, you've got to think about that, right?
[36:34] Nick Cutsumpas
Oh, I mean, it's very important. The Emmys got postponed to September because of the writer's strike here in the US. So I have some time to think about it. I'm open to ideas. But I was thinking about trying to like, go and like thrift a green suit, or something like that, I think would be quite fun. But we'll see what happens.
[36:55] Jane Perrone
Fellow thrift enthusiast here. I love a thrift store.
Nick Cutsumpas
The best!
Jane Perrone
Oh my gosh, and I love, I mean, I have family in Canada and when I go to Canada, I love like comparing, in the UK, we call them charity shops and I love comparing like, oh, well in the UK, this would be, I love it. It's just international thrifting, it's great.
Nick Cutsumpas
The UK has great charity shops.
Jane Perrone
Yes!
Nick Cutsumpas
In London, I got a Burberry trench for 70 pounds.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, yeah, amazing. I have three on the road I live on, which is amazing. So I'm just like, oh, I've got to go out to the shops. I might just be popping in the charity shop on the way home. It's great. It's really great. And what's also really good is that it's a good place for getting like plant pots as well. Like, you know, you can for your houseplants, you can find some really interesting containers. So that's always a good one. Now we've got a little quick fire round to finish off this interview. You have not been prepared for these. So I'm just gonna kick off with the most important question of all: poinsettias, yes or no? You can't qualify it's just yes or no.
Nick Cutsumpas
No.
Jane Perrone
Thank you. You will be allowed back on the show. Thank you for that answer. We don't need any elaboration.
Nick Cutsumpas
That's all you need to know.
[38:14] Jane Perrone Yeah, we could get further into that. But yeah, that's just the perfect answer. Okay, next question. You're off to your desert island. And you can only take one houseplant with you. What are you taking along?
Nick Cutsumpas
Houseplant?
Jane Perrone
Or one plant? Let's let's broaden it out. You can take one plant with you. What are you taking to the desert island?
Nick Cutsumpas
A houseplant in the desert, it might not last so long.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, it would have to be a cactus.
Nick Cutsumpas
Yeah, gotta be a cactus. I'm taking, oh, I'm taking a sunflower. Sunflower.
Jane Perrone
That's a good answer.
Nick Cutsumpas
They're great. They pull out heavy, heavy metals out of the soil. They produce food. They're good for pollinators. And they're beautiful.
Jane Perrone
Perfect answer. Your plantagonist, the plant that you cannot get along with, whatever you do, you've done the research, you've studied it, you've cared for it endlessly, and it still dies.
[39:12] Nick Cutsumpas
Don't judge me here.
Jane Perrone
I'm gonna totally judge you, sorry.
Nick Cutsumpas
Pilea.
Jane Perrone
Ha ha, really?
Nick Cutsumpas
I honestly don't know. I see these people's pileas and they're huge. They're amazing. Ah, yes. And mine's fine, but it hasn't grown ever, ever.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, that's an interesting one. I mean, that's a whole other podcast right there, but I'm just gonna say to you.
Nick Cutsumpas
I mean, you could say Calathea, but that's a boring answer. Pilea's is a little bit better for me.
Jane Perrone
The only thing I would say is maybe try growing it in water, because if you read, if you go into the scientific research, they've been found growing in fountains in China, in Yunnan province in China, where they actually grow. So maybe try water culturing it.
Nick Cutsumpas
That's a good idea.
Jane Perrone
Just a thought.
Nick Cutsumpas
Yeah, that's brilliant.
Jane Perrone But let's crack on with question four, and question four is, who is your planty hero?
[40:18] Nick Cutsumpas
David Fairchild.
Jane Perrone
Oh ok.
Nick Cutsumpas
I don't know if you know who David Fairchild is.
Jane Perrone
I know there's a Fairchild Gardens. I'm guessing that he is the namesake.
Nick Cutsumpas
Yes, he was one of the first great American botanists who was responsible, working for the US Department of Agriculture in like the 1920s, to go out and find different plants that we could grow here in the United States. And he brought back the avocado, which is obviously huge in California. He brought back different species of hops for beer, so many different varieties he brought back. And he was the one that brokered the deal with the Shogun of Japan to bring the cherry trees to Washington, DC.
Jane Perrone
Okay, that's pretty fine. I can go with that.
Nick Cutsumpas
Amazing guy.
Jane Perrone
Yeah, that sounds good. I mean, how could we live without cherry blossom? Okay, final question is, the botanists come to you and they say, Nick, Nick, we'd love, we think you're a really great guy. We love what you've done with your book and with Instant Dream Home. We just wanna name a plant species after you. Now, Nick, what kind of plant do you want to have your name? It could be, you know, it can be anything you want. It could be a houseplant or it could be an outdoor plant or an edible. What are you thinking you want your name to be attached to?
[42:00] Nick Cutsumpas
Wow, leaving a legacy. I'd say it would definitely have to be edible and outdoor. I honestly, like, I think a variety of an olive, an olive tree would be amazing for a couple of reasons. Number one, I'm Greek, and that fits naturally. Number two, olive oil is so uniquely tied to the culinary cuisine in the Mediterranean. And it's also, you know, the idea of extending an olive branch is peace and what that represents. So I would definitely want it to be an olive tree.
Jane Perrone
I love that. I thought I was leaning towards you saying a tomato, but I was wrong. I was wrong.
Nick Cutsumpas
I was close!
Jane Perrone
Because I'm thinking there's so many, like I can just see, you know, tomato 'Cutsumpas'. Like that would be a great, I mean, it'd be, It's a great name for any cultivar of any plant. But yeah.
Nick Farmer
I would be very into it. We'll see.
Jane Perrone
I would still be buying that.
Jane Perrone
I don't know about you when it comes to buying seeds of vegetables and things, but I'm totally suckered by a name. If it's got a cool name, I'm in there. I'm buying it. It doesn't matter if it tastes terrible. I just love the cool names.
Nick Cutsumpas
There's a tomato I grow, 'Indigo Rose'. It's like black.
Jane Perrone
Oh yes, yeah, yeah.
Nick Cutsumpas
Delicious tomato. I only bought it because of the name. What a great name.
[43:29] Jane Perrone Yeah, same, same. I bought it for the same reason. Exactly, exactly. And tomatoes are great. This year I'm growing a classic heirloom tomato. Short season tomato called 'Yellow Scotland'. So it's a short season, because here in the UK growing tomatoes outside ...
Nick Cutsumpas
You've got what, two months?
Jane Perrone
Yeah, it's a gamble, let's say. And these ones are supposed to ripen early, so we'll see. but they usually do, but it just depends on the weather. So I like a bit of 'Yellow Scotland', but I would certainly have a tomato named after me. I think that would be great, but I love the olive. That message was really good. Yeah, that was perfect. It's almost like you've done TV, Nick. It's very impressive.
Nick Cutsumpas
Yeah, comes with the territory.
Jane Perrone
Well, thank you so much for joining me today. It's been tremendous fun to find out all about you and all that you do. Just finish off by telling us, aside from obviously Netflix, where people can find you online? If you want to find me on social media, it's just @farmernick on Instagram. Message me questions about your plants, I'm always happy to help. And then farmernick.com, you can see some of our portfolio work and some of the business and also lots of blogs on sustainability.
Jane Perrone
Perfect. Thank you so much. And yeah, happy growing. I hope you have a good growing season.
Nick Cutsumpas
Thanks, Jane. Appreciate it.
[44:40] Music.
I chat to plantrepreneur Nick Cutsumpas aka Farmer Nick about houseplants, garden makeovers and more.
This week’s guest
Nick Cutsumpas is a ‘plantrepreneur’ whose skills include plant coach, urban gardener, and landscape designer. Nick is a host on Netflix’s Instant Dream Home and author of book Plant Coach: The Beginner’s Guide To Caring for Plants and the Planet.
Chapters
0:00:32 Introduction to Farmer Nick
0:02:54 Interview starts
0:10:18 The Power of Plants in a pandemic
0:13:02 Talking to children about climate change
0:15:28 Nick’s houseplant impulse buys
0:18:47 Housekeeping: shoutouts for patrons, giving a review to Legends of the Leaf, and merch chat
0:21:30 Housekeeping:Pre-orders open for my next project, Houseplant Gardener in a Box
0:27:58 Interview part two starts
0:30:01 Netflix show Instant Dream Home
0:45:39 Music Credits for this Episode
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CREDITS
This week's show featured the tracks Roll Jordan Roll by the Joy Drops, The Road We Use To Travel When We Were Kids by Komiku and Whistle by BenJamin Banger (@benjaminbanger on Insta; website benjaminbanger.com).