Welcome to the Private Property Farming Podcast. My name is Mbali Nwokko and thank you so much for tuning into this episode. Today we're going to be talking about alternative home gardening solutions using a growing system. But before we get into our conversation today, I just want to remind you at home that we have a competition running where you can stand a chance to win your very own growing system. And all you have to do is go onto our Facebook page on the competition and comment about what type of crop you'd like to grow onto the system. And the winner will be announced in the next gardening series episode. So let's get into today's show. I'm joined by none other cast from home growers who will explain to us what a growing solution is. Kass, thank you so much for joining us. It's always great to be here and I'm glad that we can present the grow barrel. Absolutely. I'm so excited. So just explain to us what the grow barrel does. Because the grow barrel is probably the finest growing system that you can get. It's a soil based solution. So that's the one thing that people need to understand. It has an integrated worm form. Now there's some magic around there. Because what happens is the soil has to be kept in the best condition possible. And the only way you're going to do that and you can't beat nature is to use worms. So you have red wiggler worms that are inside the barrel. You feed them by taking your kitchen scraps and you put it inside the barrel. And they munch away on those scraps and they populate that in the soil with the highest possible nutrients. And the plants that are inside here benefit often from those nutrients. And the runoff, when you water this barrel, the runoff runs all the way through and it collects in the lower trough which is re-horvested. You can take it water harvesting process and basically water your vegetables again and the whole cycle continues. So it's highly nutritious. It's very effective. It's water harvesting. It's organic. There are no chemicals. You've got a worm form in there. There is, honestly in my opinion, there is nothing better than this. So just to explain on this kitchen scrap, you're saying it's anything from eggshells, teabags. You just slot them in here and where do the worms come from? Very good question and I'm glad you're asking them in that order because when we talk about kitchen scraps, we refer to everything that is not acidic. So we do not put in meat, we do not put in fish, we do not put in bones, we do not put in citrus, we do not put in onions, we do not put in bread. Some people don't and do put in banana skins. I personally don't. They decompose slowly anyway but the worm is going to break them down. Now the interesting fact about a red wiggler specifically is they are the most incredible little creatures so what they do is they can pick up the electromagnetic discharge from plants. So as soon as they feel that they can sense from the soil and the root system that the plant is no longer producing an electromagnetic charge, the red wiggler worm goes up and eats and disposes of the decaying matter and puts it back into the soil as fresh food. So that is what's remarkable. So a lot of people get squeamish and they go, oh I don't want worms in there, I don't want worms in their food source. But you will not get worms, they live beneath the soil, actually shy. You can talk and you can go around and look at this barrel and I can scratch the surface of the soil and as we scratch you'll see the little red wigglers and what will happen is they will disappear because they don't want to see you and they don't like light. So they are always in the barrel. They are remarkable. And does this barrel come in only blue? Let's say I want an orange barrel, red looking barrel. Does it come in various colours? Yes, another good question as well. The barrel comes in many colours. But we only work with two colours. We work with the blue and we work with the green and the reason being is that the blue and the green barrel are the only two barrels that are considered to be food safe barrels. In terms of, now if you understand the history where the barrel came from, in terms of America and Europe, those are the first few areas that started recycling barrels in terms of making them into farming, growing units. That's where the movement started and there are various laws around the world that govern the usage of a green and a blue barrel specifically. They are termed as single-use barrels. You can't use them more than once for transportation. Whereas the other barrels, the red, the brown, the silver, the grey and the yellow, those are used for many other substances. Has it as stuff? Absolutely. And a lot of people come here and they go, ooh, I'd like a yellow barrel, I'll put you in my garden, a red barrel. So I say to them, you must understand, when you look at colours, red and yellow are warning signs. That's telling you, keep away from me, I'm dangerous. It's like a robot. When you're going in your car and you're driving, you're heading towards the traffic light to change colours. Orange means be careful, red means stop. There's a reason for that. The same with the barrels. Barrels work exactly the same way. And the FDA, if you go read about it, in America, the Food and Drug Administration, they closely monitor and watch in terms of the shipping line, in terms of moving of single-use barrels being green and blue. So that's why we will only use green and blue to top that off. We only use brand new barrels. We don't recycle or upcycle. And the reason being is that we need to know that if we are giving you a barrel, we know that there's never been anything in it that's toxic. Absolutely. And that is very, very important. Because we're growing our own food which goes into our stomachs, you know? Yeah. So that's an empty barrel. This is one that's like fully kitted with crops already growing. Yeah, it looks so stunning because I can already see different type of vegetables here. So just explain what this barrel has. And yeah, and also the soil, I suppose it's potting soil as well, right? So what we do is we do a mix, again, only on organic. Okay. We do a mix of potting, mix, and composting. And by turning it up into a mix before we feed it into the barrel, the reason why we're using composting is because that is a beautiful blend for those red wigglers to eat as well. So once you've thrown the soil in, et cetera, those guys are eating already. Okay. And they're creating beautiful, future nutrients for your soil system. And also what you need to understand is when you populate your barrel for the first time with soil, gravity also plays an effect. Okay. So as you've loaded it, it's very full. Yes. And after a few weeks you see that the soil is actually dropping. And that's only because gravity is pulling it down. So you have to top up as well, that you've got to do. Okay. So in terms of the varieties that we've got here, I mean, we've got different types of mints. Yes. We've got different basils. We've got varieties of it. We've got lettuces. We've got spinach. We've got blood sorrel. We've got a whole host. Incredible, incredible herbs and vegetables. And they honestly just carry on growing. They really and truly do. What we're still going to do, this particular one, and as many others that we have at Home Growers, we're going to get them ready for season. Okay. You're not so soon. You're going to get egg plants. You're going to get everything. You're going to see an explosion of color. And you're not going to see the blue. Now the one thing in my house, I've got a blue barrel. And people say to me when they come in and say, no, I don't want blue. I want green. So I said, you know, I'll be honest with you. My first choice is a blue barrel. And I'll tell you why I like blue. Okay. Because when the green is green, there's a contrast. And it stands out. So you see this explosion of absolute beautiful greenery. Now if it was green on green, you don't really see the green. Which is also very special. So, but it's a really remarkable, remarkable system. So this one here, we might be lucky to show you. I don't know if you will. As I lift this open, we might be able to see some worms. There's a baby worm that's in there. Okay. But you're not really going to see it too well. They're probably just sleeping. But they're crawled up. They'll come back later. As we throw food in, they'll land up coming through. Yeah. They'll land up harvesting the food, putting it back into the food source. And they are happy. So a couple of questions, right? You said the grow barrel takes soil, right? Right. How many bags of soil or compost would one need to fill up? And when you're filling up the bags, is there a waiting period before you start planting? Okay. So when we set up the grow barrel, we take it as an empty unit. Yeah. We remove the cap. Okay. Take newspaper, but the non-glossy newspaper. Okay.  And we shove it into the top of the barrel. Till it's full. Correct. We'll close to full. Okay. And then, only then, Yes, I can see that. And those are the exit points for the worms so you get in and out into the soil baseline. So when we pour soil in here, we don't want the park to fill up. And the reason being is we want ease of passage, ease of passage for those little worms to get around. Yeah. So that's why. But they'll manage the way. They love newspapers. They really do. So we then pour in the soils of the mix that we do. And we're talking around about nine bags of potting mix or potting mixture composting mix solution. Okay. And we just pour it in. Okay. And that is it. So you pour it till it's full to the brim. That's right. There's newspaper in here. That's right. And then what happens? And then once it's all settled, we then start the process of putting in our seedling plugs. Okay. So we end up putting seedlings in every one of these pockets. And that naturally starts taking effect. The other thing which is beautiful about the barrel, which is really special, because it's 365 degrees as a complete circle is, you're getting different degrees of heat that hit the barrel at different times of the day. So a lot of people say, but what happens if I get more shade or less shade? It doesn't really make a difference, because the barrel itself has got different facets of where the light hits it. So you can take this one here and you put your hand there. It's cool. Yes, it is cool. But if I go to the side there and you'll find that that is warm. Actually, it is. That's right. So what happens is you get a buildup of this magnificent moisture inside the barrel. The root systems grow towards it. And that's why a certain veg will grow so much better at different parts of the barrel. And the root systems find it. Nature's magnificent. We can't teach nature anything. Nature will teach us. Just like the worms look after this entire system. Same with the way the roots grow. It is the most remarkable. You'll find that we have mint growing, but the mint was never planted in a pocket, but it was planted on that side. And the rooting system found out where to go because the conditions were perfect and all of a sudden you have this magnificent growth. The beauty of nature. It is absolutely spectacular. And the one thing which you would also notice which you can see and you can sense it where you weren't on camera, unfortunately, and in exposure is the scent. You just rub the leaves and you get this magnificent scent that you get off there. The aroma is absolutely incredible.  You'll get your predator insects that will come and eat the insects that cause damage to your plants. So, for example, if we've got a fennel, a fennel will grow, the ladybugs will rock up and they will end up feasting on the aphids and the cycle continues. The whole thing about this beautiful system again is when I push and talk around anything about home growing, keep as far away as you can from chemicals and toxins in terms of pesticides. Try and let nature do what nature does best. And nature is working well here. There's no growth hormones in here. There's no chemicals in here. You're not going to get anything better anywhere else than what you have here.  I mean, the aromatherapy that one will derive from oils coming from what you've got in a grow barrel is remarkable. So, I just want to find out how do you maintain the plants? Firstly, I can see we've got a very lovely looking stand here and with some sprinklers so I suppose this is for watering. However, can one use a watering can or when we purchase the growing barrel does it come with this? Just explain to us how we give it some water. Okay, so the grow barrel doesn't come with a watering system such as this. Okay. This was one of, and again, with home growers we have such a great movement of customers who come and see us. This was made by one of our customers because he has a grow barrel, he loves his grow barrel, and he went and made this for us that we can put on display. And you plug your host pup in it and it's got all the spray jets and it basically sprays your barrel. For a grow barrel you don't need such an instrument. You take your water from a watering can or a host pup and your water, and I'll show you on the empty one because it's easier, just water around the sides. It's all you do, you water around the sides with a sprayer and spray the pockets. Because remember the water is going to pull down anyway. So spraying there is just really going to cool the leaves off, but in terms of the nutrients and the hydration and so on, it's going to come from the top. And then you put a bucket on the ground which comes with it and it's full, full, full of nutrients.  Correct. There's total usage of water, recycling, there's harvesting of water. That's why, you know, where we don't have, we've got issues with water supply and so on, this is your solution. So where do you keep the growing barrel? Is it on the patio or do you just have to put it outside in full sunlight like this? It really doesn't make a difference. We've got barrels on property which you've seen before where it's in mostly shade and performs incredibly well. You've got some that are in direct sunshine that perform incredibly well. So it really doesn't make a difference because like I said, it's a 360-degree system. It's not going to be in some the entire day. Because you get a canopy, as you can see, you've got a beautiful canopy that grows. So what happens is you've got all these that are getting shade. So even if it's in direct sun, these guys that are doing incredibly well, they are providing essential shade to those that need the shade. Wow. So it's a very, very simple and a very effective system to harvest and grow your own vegetables at home. So this is what the solution offers you. And still on the crops maybe then. Let's say now I am finished. I've plucked so many spinach leaves and I'm tired of spinach now. I want to maybe grow lettuce. What happens? Do I just remove the spinach plant and then put in the lettuce? Or do we have to change the whole system in terms of the soil once again? How often do we have to reuse the soil before we could put in another plant inside? In terms of changing soil, there's no need for that. There's no need to top it, but there's no need to change because as long as your worm farm is healthy, then there's no need to change because they're keeping it. It's like if I look anywhere around and you're looking your gardens or whatever, how often you're digging pools out of soil and putting new soil in the water? Not quite often. Because the soil is natural and it's perfect. This is the same system. It doesn't make a difference. So the thinking is identically the same. You've got an ecosystem here. So those are going to be plucked out and put new seedlings in. For example, if I take... I haven't got celery in the front here, but the side I don't have on this one either, but let's say, for example, if one was going to harvest, you would either cut with your scissor or with your break wolf and you would have your fresh, fresh veg that you would get. Now leaves get about that size and you've got to see the leaves in them. Full growth and you harvest but if you're going to start fresh, chop this out, take a little garden fork, stick it in and remove it and start again. So now we're going to take this piece and feed it to our little friends because let them also do something. I can help you there. Let's open it up and we just pop that in and nothing must ever get wasted. Nothing must ever get wasted. Straight in there, even if you've got dead, dying leaves, like you've got this one here, so we'll pluck a few off, so in there it will decompose. That suits beautifully, it goes back in. So is it safe to say that during the day the worms come out, they fertilize the soil in this whole entire ecosystem and then they go back into their house?  If I had to brush away some of the soil now, we will actually see little red wigglers running around. They'll be everywhere. If I scratch around here, we'll find it. This thing has got, and the nice thing about it, they don't overpopulate, and the worms will be healthy enough for what the barrel can sustain and what food source is available. So that's the other upside with regards to the colony of the red wiggler worms that you have. What I like about this grain barrel, it's quite steady. The fact that we've got the sand in here, we've got the various plants in here, but it's still quite steady. I'm sure you can withstand very strong winds as well. This is fantastic. This is what we talk about in general space, vertically. And again, using no pesticides or insecticides, nothing goes to waste in here. Yellow leaves, we pluck them back into the house, and the worms come back. Absolutely. The magnificent thing about this grain barrel again is there's 67 varieties of vegetables you can grow vegetables or herbs. The top we would always try and keep are the leafy, bigger bushes. So ideally like your big tomatoes are the top fennel. So you get this beautiful canopy, beautiful big growth coming out of the top. That's what you want to do. And the smaller tops, because your spinach is not necessarily small. The leaves here that size, spring onions, your celery leaves are huge. So you have all this available, which is magnificent. We've got cabbages growing in season where the heads of the cabbage are like soccer balls out of a pocket. We've done on that side where you saw earlier your onions go into the top, because once an onion grows, and it will grow successfully in there, but you'll never get it out. So onions that you don't want to put in there, beetroot you don't want to put in here, you want to put it into the top. Anything that is a root system that you want to pluck out or even the top not into a pocket because you will not get it out of the pocket. But it's a great system. And I think just like once again it's coming into home grows, you've got all the growing medium, the seedlings as well that you want to farm, and you're good to go. Absolutely. How often would one need to water the growing barrel? So that's a question that people ask all the time, and I always say use the finger test, just stick your finger in the soil, and if it's moist and damp then it's fine.  Remember the humidity and the condensation that you're getting inside the barrel from the shift of temperature is creating its own condensation and moisture inside the barrel. So it's never going to be dry, dry, dry, dry, dry, dry. And you'll see that even always going to be moisture inside there. And it's just one of those fantastic things. I just saw this now whilst we were talking and I want to point this out to you. So this is an eggplant. And for season it obviously leaves now. So now this is coming back to life and we're going to have eggplant coming out quite soon. So that's amazing. That's some lost season. This is amazing Cass. Sure. I'm just so surprised at how easy and efficient it looks like. It doesn't take a lot of space. But yet you said 67 varieties that could be grown. 67 varieties in less than one square meter. In less than one square meter. Now you think about it. I mean a person doesn't even have to take a measuring tape. Just close your eyes and just imagine. If you had to take and you had to plant out in your garden or whatever it was and you had to put out 67 and you put out one like pace of step at a time. What kind of space are you using for 67 varieties? A couple of meters I could tell you. And the other side is how much work? How much work does it take to keep 67 and veg healthy? You might as well be watering a pot plant. You've got to form with the whole energy and effort of a pot plant. With one person. That is what's amazing. This is beautiful. Cass this is fantastic. Thank you so much for coming on to the show today and explaining this growing barrel. We've got a competition running so I'm sure people will just start engaging because now they could physically see that you know we have spinach we have various different lovely looking crops here that could be grown with ease simple minimal maintenance rather and you water it based on how humid the soil is. That's right. And I think what I'd like to do is as we start having future episodes and that down in the line let's get feedback from viewers and let them say they'd like to see tomatoes growing and we'll take the challenge we'll put tomatoes in and then we'll every time to time we'll give them a snapshot and say look how well these guys are growing. So it would be part of the journey. Yeah and as opposed to the person that wins it would also be nice if they could share their story of the different crops and varieties that they've been planting. Thank you so much Cass for your time today it was phenomenal having you. Absolutely brilliant thank you. Thank you so much for watching this segment of the gardening series. As you've heard from Cass this is the growing barrel that can grow 67 different varieties and you just only need one person to manage it water it as and when it needs to by testing the humidity of the soil and come on to Home Growers because they'll show you how to set up this entire system with the growing medium the potting soil how we're going to get the plants inside and how the worms really work and regenerate the soil that exists inside and you could grow it outside in your home garden or underneath the patch or whichever space you decide to put it in. Trust me this growing barrel will give you food for a year's supply. So a reminder to just please enter the competition that we have running because you could win yourself a growing barrel right here from Home Growers and they will provide you with all the assistance that you need to just get this growing barrel set up and successfully growing your own vegetables in your own home. Thank you so much for watching this show and tune in for our next episode coming on next week. Thank you so much.


A few days ago, LeVion Bell was released from the Jets after what has been a disappointing, can't even say one and a half seasons, but a season in change of just not much production and apparently not seeing eye to eye with the Jets in their front office. And now he's a free agent. So the rumors are flying, the rumors are swirling, and y'all know how it normally goes. But one rumor that we had heard a lot about and talked to a lot of team keeping clean was that the Ravens are interested in LeVion Bell. And I, while I believe it, but I just, I don't think anything is going to come of it. I do not think anything is going to come of the Ravens being interested in LeVion Bell. Because just because a team is interested in somebody, it does not mean anything unless that person was actually to come visit the facility. And with the Ravens, while LeVion Bell, he, I'm sure he could work out and whatever, it would be fine. He could fit in, blah, blah, blah, but no, it's no. Actually, you know what? When I think about it, his, his run style, like him catching passes out of the backfield, that would be really good. But his run style, he has a very patient run style. And this offensive line, especially this year, especially this year, this offensive line is not built for patient runners. You have to hit that hole. And I know there's a lot of people say, oh, LeVion's washed, LeVion's washed. I don't think LeVion Bell is washed. I do not think that at all. He went to the Jets. The Jets. Like the, no, anybody who goes there would look washed.  Well, he actually ain't looking washed, but still, man. And in Basha'a Perryman, like, you know, Basha'a Perryman top five receiving the league. And things ain't been so good over there. But anyway, LeVion Bell is not washed. He still got plenty left in him. But now, but him behind this Ravens offensive line, it just, it wouldn't be good. It would not be good. And LeVion Bell would be a luxury at a position where we have so much luxury already because the Ravens like, imagine if they added LeVion Bell. Like, let's go down this road real quick because I know there's some people that saw the report and they're like, oh, yeah, yeah. Not too many of them, but some people like, yeah, LeVion, let's go, Ravens. But with LeVion Bell, if he were to come to the Ravens, they currently have Mark Ingram. They currently have Gus Edwards. They have Justice Hill. They have JK Doppins. So you add a LeVion Bell to the mix. Obviously, if you brought him in, one of them would go. Because I mean, I already didn't think they were keeping four running backs, but for them to keep five, that would be a big guy. Some people have actually said, hey, bring your LeVion Bell and put him at wide receiver. Anyway, there, you bring in a LeVion Bell and whether you keep four running backs or you keep all five, which would be highly unlikely. But you never know what the Ravens, because you know they love some running backs. This whole entire offseason, they signed about 63 running backs. But anyway, they already are not using the running backs efficiently as is. That's already happening right now. So you're bringing a LeVion Bell to the mix.  An even bigger yikes. Because imagine if they, because they already trying to keep everybody happy. Imagine if they brought in a LeVion Bell. They're going to start trying to keep him happy too. So now instead of the running backs averaging seven yards, seven carries a game, now they're probably going to average about three carries per game each. Because you know that they got to keep everybody happy. Everybody got to leave the game with a smile on their face. And I mean, Mark Ingram, he did say it best in the presser from yesterday because somebody asked him about the carries. They asked him about how do you feel about the lack of carries and I'm paraphrasing. But they asked him about that. How do you feel about the lack of carries with the offense and you with the other running backs? And he said, hey, I want the ball. You know I want the ball. Of course I'm a running back. I want the ball. But at the same time, he said, we're winning. And I'm a team player. So, hey, whatever's best for the team. Well, whenever, and he said this is about all the running backs. He said, well, of course we all want the ball. But whenever our number is called, we're going to come through and try to make some place. And while it is as Ravens fans, it is frustrating the how inefficiently the Ravens have been running the football and how they won't just really stick to one guy. We know Mark Ingram is their number one back. But even still with him, he even doesn't really get into much of a rhythm. Because they just they flip flop and they just get so hot and cold. But we do really love and appreciate his and the other running backs attitude. We love it. And that shows you how strong that locker room is. That shows you how strong that team culture is because of how they are. And I feel like especially Gus Edwards, because it's been years now. I feel like he has every right to complain. He has every right to be like, hey, y'all please just trade me. He could put it in one of his mixtape songs. He could be like, man, the Ravens need to just trade me. Or else somebody going to have to fade me. I don't know. He could put whatever lyric he wants to. But he doesn't. He doesn't. And J.K. Dobbins, I'm a second round pick. What are y'all doing? Use me, man. What's hope? But they don't. So that's the beauty of it. But if you have that right now and then you add in a LaVion bail. Oh my goodness. It's no. It's just it will be a recipe for disaster. So even if the Ravens were interested, I don't expect them to make a move on them at all. And they're the use rumors now that he would, he is expected to sign with the chiefs. And I've seen a lot of people say that it's looking like that's going to happen. That LaVion bail going to land with the chiefs and be like, oh boy, it's the chiefs really? Because you know with the chief and he there he will be a good fit. There he will. Oh, he will be a really good fit because they already got Clyde Edwards, Eli. Nice. You had a LaVion bail to that. You had a LaVion bail to that. And they did lose Colletio similarly for the season, I believe. I'm not sure if it's been confirmed that it's for the season or not. But they lost him for a significant amount of time because he tore, I think, tendons in both of his knees, something like that. Something just grew some injury. So we feel bad for Colletio similarly. But if he went there, it would just be yet another weapon for Patrick Mahomes and those chiefs. Because Clyde Edwards, Eli, he'd be sitting back. Oh, man, I'm feeling tired. Coach, I need to be spelled, man. I need a quick rest. Hey, let's bring in LaVion bail. Come on, LaVion. It's like, man. So that would be just the rich continuing to get richer. But we'll see. We'll see because you just never know how these things are going to work out.  Because he can go wherever he wants to. He can go wherever he wants to. He didn't even have to pass two waivers or anything. He's been a veteran for long enough. I'm not sure why he didn't have to pass two waivers, though. Because Terrell Suggs did. And Terrell Suggs obviously been around longer than LaVion. I'm not sure. So I'm not sure how the whole waiver system really works. But he is free to go wherever he wants to. And we'll just have to see what happens then. But yeah, I expect him to sign with the Chiefs unless something crazy happens. But I'm sure we'll be talking about, oh, LaVion Bell signed with the Chiefs and how he's going to impact them. So we'll see. Y'all make sure you subscribe to the channel. Leave a like on the video. Do all that good stuff. I appreciate y'all showing support. And I appreciate y'all being willing to listen to us talk about football every single day of the week. I love y'all team keeping clean. I appreciate y'all. And just like LaVion Bell with the New York Jets, I'm out.


live if anybody wants to come in and talk about nothing because that's what I'm here to talk about nothing quarantine hair we've got quarantine hair I even put a ton of conditioner on it they need somebody needs to invent a scarf for summertime there's got to be something I can do I could I could put a dish towel around my neck and say that I was just in the kitchen cleaning up and oh I forgot this was here oh my gosh I thought I looked better than I do right now when I was applying my makeup after I got out of the shower I looked in my mirror and I said to myself so actually I didn't say self you look good I said self you look a hell of a lot better than you've been looking all week long because let me tell you kids not bueno so it's actually the title up here is kind of a lie it's not cocktail hour here yet because it's only 320 but here's the thing my bedspreads ready I made a real weak one with some fruit punch ice and I haven't been on this week just because I don't know why just haven't I've lacked enthusiasm that's it I have had zero zilch enthusiasm I really don't have that much right now either but I thought what the heck let's see what we can come up with out here what's happening who's here should I say hello to Cheryl's hair Barbara's hair Tracy's hair yet London's hair I smell good can you guys smell me like diamonds my chemistry with white diamonds is just amazing in fact it's kind of funny because I have when I'm at Disneyland I like to embellish things I was gonna say I have all these guys what actually was only three at three different times be in line behind me or in front of me or around me and they'd say oh you smell you smell good is that white diamonds and I say yes yes it is and they say my mom wears white diamonds and I think oh well your mom must be lovely then I have high-lensing IRL if anybody has a topic in which you would care to discuss please bring it up because I ain't got nothing except bad grammar my mom heard me who that smells good with your chemistry yeah it's hard Barbara I don't know white diamonds on me though it just I don't even know why I put it on because here's a little secret and don't be going and telling all your friends it's just between me and you but it's not like I was even Elizabeth Taylor fan I wasn't even close to being a fan I don't think I have seen any of her work except in Michael Jackson's wedding or Michael Jackson was in her wedding or she was marrying a chimp and Michael Jackson was there I don't know all I remember is Elizabeth Taylor Michael Jackson and monkeys I don't know there's a total chaos homestead oh la she was beautiful I mean I guess she was beautiful I don't she wasn't you know how we all have like I don't want to say a type but a type my type is like to me beautiful I think Sophia is it Vergara Sophia Vergara I think she's beautiful I think Samo Hayek is beautiful who else do I think is beautiful there's a lot of folks but I don't know what it was about Elizabeth Taylor but that's okay you know what you know why I don't feel bad about not loving Elizabeth Taylor because I think now just call it a hunch I think she did okay without me without my support I'd say she did call me crazy so what's happening this week what day is it today today's Thursday Oliver's home you guys all her came home last night and you know what even though I was greatly enjoying my alone time and I didn't dare call him because then I was afraid he'd say Nana can I come home and of course I'd let him come home I just felt like I needed a long time so they're not worrying about anything boy I sure noticed a change in my mood when he got here he looks like a mop top he looks like a beetle with all four of the Beatles hair on one head the boys got a lot of hair but dad made a barber appointment for him I guess the barbers are allowed to be open now what else can I share with you what can you guys share with me hello Jessica um Tracy just heard about all the WWE employee me later I don't know anything about that not a thing but I'm sure it'll all come out the news and and I'm sure until then there will be wild wild wild speculation I'm sure there'll be even people that think they know but they kind of really probably don't know because well I don't know hi Suze oh my gosh Suzy I picked out two pair because I couldn't decide on one pair so you got me a pair and a half and I got the other half and I can't wait to show you you guys hi malls I'm so glad you came over Molly I wanted to ask you have your Laura Geller come in yet miss me on the gram you know what Maria just haven't had anything to say I mean I can always come up with something to say but I only like to come on when I'm chipper and happy and I don't want anybody to ever view me and go boy she's having a rough time of it isn't she yeah do you know that I forgot to change my mother's address for five years after she moved and all her mail kept going first address hi Lou what's happening honey what's happening stuff so as far as the program goes hi Kristen hello fun making the smoky beef brisket with the WWE cookbook while I watch you oh that sounds delish yeah I do reorder it you know it you know what Molly okay wait Molly hold the line everybody plug your ears for a second okay this is a private conversation I'm just kidding I'm just kidding Molly I do have something to say to that later when we're typing about Peyton and Oliver so remind me okay because I I got besides Kleenex I've got tricks up my sleeves so everybody's doing okay on my program briefly I'm doing great I have oh I've had one little stumbling block interestingly enough that has the three years I've been doing white waters has not been a problem I'm tracking them but they're there I like to call empty points if you will I keep eating at night wait hold on there's something over here what is that over there oh nothing peanut butter and jelly sandwich I don't know what it is it's the soft you okay we don't have to talk about everybody likes peanut butter and jelly right I've always been able to say no to it but the last two nights in a row people I've had peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they are not a good way to spend your points I mean they're your points spend them however you want them I don't care to spend them that way what did we have for dinner last night oh that's why I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich because Steve made I wanted the real stuff Barbara the pv2 I use with my apples and I have some other breakfast things I'm gonna come up with that I'm gonna use my pv2 with but I just felt like the real stuff you know not even though I don't mind my 45 calorie bread I like it it's fine for me Steve made since Oliver came home last night he made their favorite raviolis from a Costco and I didn't want to spend on the raviolis and I wasn't hungry lonely old I got hungry and I spent the same day points on a peanut butter and jelly sandwich but other than that I'm everything's copacetic man everything's cool oh I got this great new picture you guys aren't gonna be able to see it from here I'm gonna have to post it tell you what I'll post it on my Instagram I was talking to my cousins last night in San Diego because I need to go on a vacation I need to go to okay Molly we'll talk about that I need to go to a hotel on the beach told you guys to see the day so I texted my cousins and I'm like direct me to a hotel on the beach that way I'd come down there and I don't care what anybody says I'll go see my folks my cousin because we share the same grandfather my dad and their mom were brother and sister she sent me this picture she goes do you have this one because she knows I have all the rest and I just love it and it's just like trivial it's like lady why are you getting on YouTube to talk and shown us a picture of your grand-grandpa with some lady let's see if you guys can even see where's the camera okay let me tip it down that's my grandpa can you tell who the lady is and isn't my grandpa the most handsome guy you've ever seen I love it I love it yes ma'am that's who it is okay so Molly is loving the purple plan is there anybody else here on the purple plan hi Liz what's happening honey everybody who's doing the purple plan if you can put a purple heart but if you're on a computer and you can't just say I am because I've seen a lot of folks looking to do Lou okay look at all these purple people's okay Liz is blue okay so okay let's go back I want you guys to go to classically Molly just in case there's somebody here that doesn't know Molly which I find probably not likely click on her name subscribe to her channel I love her so much I'm not even going to get started she is currently doing the purple plan and then I want you to go up to Liz at 23 points a day click on her name subscribe to her channel she's currently doing the blue plan hello Jessica Kristen's on purple but she's maintaining it's been hard I'm on no plan Barbara you are too homestead is on blue she switched from green Molly what did you lose last week on purple didn't you lose like she had a significant great loss and she's been kind of like well though you guys watch you know how she's doing hi Rosie Rosie's on green with me I will always be on green I will never switch to down 7.4 since she started purple isn't that make a drink for Molly here's to Molly wise scratch my nose okay Liz said hi Barbara I was just saying to my husband how glad I am to have gotten your lovely painting oh yes I look at it while I said it Liz so you know what not to one up you or anything but not only do I have her painting of Oliver while I sit at my vanity and put on whatever all this crap is she painted me a birthday card that is sitting a little off to the right I wish I was in there right now to show it to all you guys because I haven't shown it to you guys and it's so so beautiful oh yes thanks Rosie do you guys have your water or like in my cocktail there's this much of see through something and the rest is water you got something I want to run in and get my painting would somebody guard the door if I were to do that I know Molly's killing it I love it and she's Molly I meant to tell you to I don't know if it's about the purple plan I don't know if it's just about you're feeling better about how it's all going but you're glowing man your hair is looking I mean you've always you're always beautiful you're like that girl's like he's always pretty she never has a bad day but the last cut you block the door okay Barbara you're on it sister don't let anybody out the door cuz I'm gonna run make a rent for it but Molly you are looking spectacular across the top floor come down the escalator it's just very time consuming yeah I agree new focus always helps why didn't anybody sing why didn't you guys have a sing-along speaking of sing-alongs we're gonna have one in just a second okay let me get my breath back just sometimes it doesn't pay to live in such a huge home Yolanda did great on purple for a while but then she needed to change and I'm glad you took that change because when you need to change you need to change ha ha Lou this is Hotel California fun fact about Hotel California when I was in the ninth grade that's no that's not right yeah eighth or ninth grade was when Hotel California came out now the Eagles is my favorite band when we got our annuals that year in every single annual that I signed I wrote out the whole song to Hotel California I'm known by wide and large across the country for my signatures of Hotel California oh no she I think she just started Rosie okay so channels Lou do we have everybody's channels do we have Barbara's channel you guys need to go to Barbara Pask click on her name see her beautifulness okay this is a little bit of Barbara's beautiful I love it so much I might have to commission a large one this is the birthday card that she painted for moi and sent to me and it's all my favorite colors and it's so beautiful so so beautiful it isn't just a card Barbara it's not just a card it's not just a card it's far from just a card I absolutely love it it's gonna frame it I ordered frames today for oh wait hold on I have to go to the East Wing now and get something else to show you guys hang on thank you jeeps okay I'm back all right I really need to have Steve get me a smaller place um it is I know Liz she does make it look so easy so speaking of painting I know I showed you guys this finished product but I'm gonna read something to you in a minute and don't anybody think about going to anywhere because you guys have to hear this if you're sitting around in the background because I see we have 32 folks here say hello say hello all right so I finished this one Steve finished the cockeyed eyes hi Louise tomorrow is my cocktail hour okay fair enough Susie it's it's a wreck it's quarantine I don't know there's got to be a name for it anybody is free to come up with a name for it but thank you thank you Cheryl if anybody wants to give me a like we can work on this gosh darn algorithm and maybe I can get to 36 so I finished free to last night you want to see her Barbara are you ready for this fantasticness she does not have a mustache that's what's known in the art world as shading ask me I know I think she came out great thank you guys the flow from my wife and I are getting it a diamond painting highly recommended I couldn't do that because I have dexterity issues with my hands but I have a subscriber who made one of Mickey Mouse for me and the amount see there we go see how my hands frozen right now I can't move my thumb hold on with me here you guys anyways I can't imagine the amount of work she put in there I can't move my fingers that's why my my hands what are you saying in here Liz her brows look like mine that's what Barbara said Barbara says that she is indeed a factor of quarantine it was fun to do so I want to read you guys something in case you didn't see it oh it's okay it's okay just some folks are new and don't realize and sometimes it doesn't happen when I'm on live so I can't I can't share the fun of my fingers okay so you guys I want you to listen to this because it's super important if you saw it on my community tab just sing along Susie here miss Susie Louder she's my favorite sub other than all of you other guys who I tell are my favorite subs you all know who's really my favorite sub you are she sent me a birthday card with beautiful words of her to me a wonderful gift that I'm not gonna mention because when I acquire it I will show you I'm sorry you guys I'm allergic to on you because my nose always itches when I get on here dang dang man okay so don't go anywhere there's 35 of you if I see the number go down I'll find you because I this is technology I'll find you and she wrote this and for the original 35 and anybody who's been around for any amount of time you're totally gonna get it and dig it and love it it is supposed to be sung to my favorite things from the sound of music but I'm not gonna sing it because I'm out of breath from running around this whole big mansion maybe I should look into a weight loss program what do you think so check this out rain and pink roses and whiskers on kitty dog drinking morning coffee in your Disney mug by your fire log Steve and sweet Oliver much joy to bring these are a few of your favorite things sun hats while walking and doing live chats recording your YouTube is straight-up first-class drinking your water and hopes will join in you always know how to make us all grin aprons and earrings and music all day shopping at home goods that comes home to stay painting by numbers with Steve by your side this is the best part are you ready for this while he fixes faces that went a bit cock-a-dick some it's your birthday and you can't go out if that makes you feel sad you simply remember you simply remember all your pals on YouTube and then you don't feel so sad the most amazing thing because exactly Liz she nailed everything about me in here my aprons my earrings my wackadoodle paintings you know read this and she'd say well that's lovely Nina who's it about I mean Susie's got me more pegged than anybody else I know in the world and I just it's just so wonderful and so good so we're gonna have these friends and you know what look at this Liz in Barbara the greens are gonna go together so they'll be framed and hung together and I'll be able to look at them every day all the time serious room happy room I can't start crying there is no crying in baseball you're supposed to have makeup on and that just would not be attractive oh my gosh wasn't that just so amazing I have read it over and over and over to everybody and anybody who crosses my path when I got to the fixes faces that went a bit cock-eyed just the whole thing the earrings and the aprons and it's like the best gifts cost nary ascent right just the thought so anyways I had put that in my community tab but I wanted to show it here to you guys and and my other birthday cards that I got and everything thanks so much you guys you got Steve off the spit off the roaster because I put him on the spit you know those things that you cook your pigs on that a luau yeah that's pretty much where he hung out for a couple days after my birthday poor guy he's never gonna learn oh we lost two people they didn't like our poem sews ask me a fuck yeah so today's Thursday right tomorrow's Friday people are leaving by the droves was it something I said so much to go in my teeth was it something I said oh where everybody's leaving let me just say this and then I'll get off my personal stuff if you guys want to talk about something please bring it up and we'll talk about it you know me Steve does this thing what makes it worse is that while he's ignoring my birthday or Christmas or our birthday and doesn't get me a flag he knows he's doing it right then the next day he says I'm sorry which doesn't mean but then he tries to backpedal and the back peddling is what pisses me off it's like don't be back peddling don't be loving me 10,000 times more right now when you could have covered your ass two days ago oh Lori I didn't see you come in I'm sorry enjoy your dinner I always come in when you're going when you're having dinner I apologize and it the way the time goes I'll always be coming in when somebody's going somewhere right so anyways that's it that's all I have going on all my flowers are still doing well is anybody even like staying on program or you're going mate to their number their nose to the program what's going on with you kids Kim's eating while she's watching are you having anything interesting Kim I had a late lunch today because I FaceTimed with my friend Trina today and we hadn't talked in a while so we talked for quite some time then I just had a what I told you guys I had a turkey sandwich oh no that was the peanut butter and jelly sound hamburger soup by the way were those flowers really done on purpose no we can't figure it out he was only charged once and this is what we're thinking he did it online he didn't call 1-800 flowers or the need he did it online and we think that the order got sent to three different places because he was only charged once but the flowers kept coming right Liz had a blue dot right on Lou changed her okay let's see Lou changed her way in day from Tuesday to Friday this week what's that yeah well that tells me that I'll remember because my way in day is Friday oh I'm scarily on the cusp of a decade that I just cannot live with myself getting into and Jessica's on program and changed to green good job good job my lady and did I thank you for my birthday card because I meant to and I can't remember if I did or not if I didn't I apologize it's because Steve lost it and then I wanted to show it and then he finally found it but I'll have another question about the men the men folk Roberta struggling to get back to go you'll do it Roberta you'll do it it'll come I promise as soon as there's a little normalcy I know Barbara isn't that wild Patty's on that doesn't surprise me so together did we did we put Liz's link in here did I mention Liz's channel 23 points a day I always forget you guys have to remind me having chicken on the grill better not squash fries and corn on the cob you guys all eat so well hi Cindy what was I gonna tell you Steve keeps everything in the garage down to our our stamps like when I want to send you guys a card or something I gotta go the garage and find the stamps keeps everything down there Molly says I was off for so long feels great to be back look like you are off honey you look like you're doing well your lawn is on plan yeah everybody's doing a good job that's great it feels good the only thing I haven't done is walk and who was it that I saw oh Amy I was walking watching this morning I think it was Amy because I don't want to I was watching somebody walk this morning I didn't see me what but somebody was saying how they were out of shape oh no it was Rachel I think kids when we stop for too long man boy howdy can we feel it right that's why we just we just got to keep going the best time for me to walk is in when Oliver's out of school is in the evenings but by the by then Steve gets home and it's like okay it's evening time it's time to stay home I don't know there's no there's no rationality to it now Molly does your husband eat the grains and the stuff with you or do you guys kind of separate your meals I've always been curious about folks who are on the purple plan Liz I know your family eats everything that you make which I think is fantastical when I see you cook all that stuff that has never even crossed my lips and then I know that your son and your husband are gonna eat it I'm like that's awesome Molly that's great yay everybody's being so successful here's to everybody I'm being successful if anything I'm under eating I think I make basic stuff because we don't have adventurous pellets you know what Molly when we get together it'll all be good because we don't either have you and I fight over squash fries yum as it would I'm sure it makes it a gazillion times easier but it just I don't know what to say to that it's it just won't happen and what I eat they won't eat what they eat I won't eat they eat a lot of raviolis and a lot of cheese and a lot of you know that kind of stuff and I'm not willing to take the points for that I I'm not a pasta person anyways but when we have fish we eat the same thing oh that's awesome Molly did you see the last meal Liz what was it that you made it was like it blew my mind you had all these things and you put it in a bowl and you gave one of the boy and one of the husband foods that I've never even seen before it is helpful oh yes it was it was I put your comment I put that you're doing your cooking channel I mean you were really into it it looked like a real cooking show maybe it was a noodle bowl you had you I mean you amazed me the way you cook it just blows my mind you're like okay tasty it we need a little more of this a little more of that you do need to have your own cooking show Mike lost weight well I did with the change and he loved it found so many great WW recipes Susie she was a vegetarian but she's not anymore okay I just wanted to make sure she saw that because her name used to be a veggie vegetarian months and vegetarian I told you going blank reluctant vegetarian sorry didn't mean to scare everybody hi Tony you haven't missed a thing I'm just sitting here rambling away Ramelon because now's the time the time is now to sing my song yeah that's what I thought maybe you were that's why I jumped in there and answered her question for look at Lou I love the you need to build me for all the work you do for my channel your cute husband oh my gosh you guys need to go over and see Liz's cute husband even though I only caught like a second of a glimpse but it was long enough to go woo woo woo woo woo lose always on fire Liz I just talk about I'll say something like and don't do it Liz but I'll say hey have you heard Elvis Presley's song about blah blah blah next thing you know Lou's got the late there for everybody to listen to she's my right hand Lou earn Barbara Barbara's my whack-a-mole or have I mentioned everybody's channels you guys I want to make sure I want to make sure I feel like when I was running to the other end of the mansion that I remembered someone and then I forgot I can't believe Oliver hasn't come out here one single time this whole time we have to return his Chromebook next week and I got to thinking about it how's he gonna socialize with his friends without his Chromebook maybe I'll have to buy him one huh maybe I'll buy him a Chromebook because God love the kids that's the only way they have to interact with each other and it's so funny I think so Barbara I don't know he's been in his room since he got here I take food I open the door I set it on the inside I close the door and you know I hope for the best you know what it is YouTube Lou because there is a bunch of people some of my Disney folks Emily Noel who I just love even though I'm not a makeup wearer I just love watching her and I was like gosh I hope she's okay I she hasn't been come up in my subs and forever sure enough I was unsubscribed isn't she just the best I want to be like her when I grow up might be cheaper to eat for everybody to eat the same thing him absolutely but sometimes it just it just doesn't work YouTube is weird there's one person who steps to me every three days okay let's talk about that for a second I have that going on too I thought that they like yeah we're not gonna watch anymore and then they're coming back and it so did I never even thought of it that way see how worked I am books aren't that expensive and I don't think with the tablet they can do what they're doing and he's gonna need one anyways he's had a tablet before yeah the Chromebooks aren't expensive this is Diane my first time well welcome Diane drink of whatever you got to Diane Diane do you have your water who have stepped into the kindest group of ladies you could ever hope to step into with the occasional drizzle what was me we're a pretty happy bunch we try to keep it light I hear some banging around in there so yeah it's a great group of ladies I love them all dearly talk mostly about what waters but I like to talk about other stuff too because everybody being stuck at home we'd like to talk about other things because there's other things to talk about you guys I'm sorry I apologize I can't tell if he's a laughing or crime I'm sorry I have to check watch the door in the little squirrel in there I think we need to go for a bike route or something thank you Liz yeah Oliver is my grandson he resides here with my husband kitty dog and myself and sometimes he just gets bored and throws himself around his room I don't realize how I don't think he realizes how big he's getting I'm gonna have to buy him something he's an elementary school he's an elementary school with the Tom Selleck mustache have a great dinner Yolanda and thank you for hanging out with us and the kids the heat does make it easier doesn't it Tony here's a link to the iPad might be good for the boy thank you Lou let's see Cindy has good news bad news oh she was furloughed furloughed for I can never say that furlough that now they laid me off permanently but I did lose one pound last week and in five well congrats on the good news you know um somebody else was Liz right below you at 23 points a day just went through what you're going through you guys can oh you guys but yes Bravo on the weight loss good night Lindsay sleep tight well not you but the boys we'll catch you later kiddo okay Kim thanks for popping in actually I need to too I joined WW2 online this morning oh nice which program I'm sorry for you guys yeah Liz too she liked her job but I have to be honest with you it'll be super interesting to see if you guys decide to pull up stakes I guess he didn't want to come out Liz I was super shocked to have to be honest with you I was really shocked probably maybe just because I'm closer to you and talking than I am the rest of the interwebs Disney World is opening on the 11th I believe Disneyland has not given us anything to pinpoint or hope for we're thinking seriously about selling the house and moving it I know and that's intriguing I'm trying to think if Steve I think he has I think it's just quicker to do it in the air fryer Molly yes 7-11 what did I miss what did it shoot we put him in the air fryer simple oh yes 7-11 for Disney World Molly are you so excited are you gonna go do you think you're gonna be able to go all day with a mask on that's the only thing I'm I'm bye Patty thanks for popping in enjoy your enjoy your meal Suzy we make him in the air fryer just bloop bloop and they're ready to go so so easy we put on the barbecue I'm pretty sure I haven't decided yet but people will need a reservation to go oh that's right which one did you order Lou a little one or a bigger one you're welcome the time of day all right small one's just as good as a big one we just needed to get a bigger one oh you're sorry for being late to the party don't be sorry whatever you're sorry for don't be there's nobody needs to be sorry oh okay Molly and remind me what I was gonna tell you cuz I have a plan Z okay I have a really good plan cuz it happened to me so I got the dash from the WW site on a count on a amirite it was on sale and free shipping is that a narrow fire I've never heard of that is it like the people that make the little teeny tiny waffle makers and such hi honey no notification again you guys for me just for the heck of it will you hit when you hit the thumbs up in the notification bell and if you're new will you subscribe up be your best friend I'll let you ride my bike whatever you want it's yours oh that's perfect I think we haven't turned on my oven it's the last time I turned on my oven so long ago I don't even remember Steve puts everything in the air for art his tater tots and his burgers and then that great chicken you guys has anybody gotten that chicken at Costco that I told you about the five pound bags for notifications make sure it's on all and not personalized okay wait I don't know what that are you talking into the folks notifications and not personalized there's so I don't know anything about YouTube in fact someone was telling me that I need to have this on top chat not live chat let's put it on live chat cat sister Marty was saying it should be on live chat I love I know I need to get out there to write a sues all right everybody Liz says notifications put on all oh that's fantastic Lou yeesh what's the East for oh yes okay when you hit the bell oh okay when I get off here I will try to hit the bell and see what happens because I okay as long as we're all telling the truth here it's a truth telling hmm I don't think I have one notification on except for a couple Disney channels and they come up like the next day so that's why I don't bother bother with the notifications hi Rosie because they don't work for me what's the WW code hi Jessica I don't know what's this a riddle I don't know what is the WW code yeah because I don't I know I watch so little channels it's like okay I'm gonna go watch this this okay watch everybody the discount code oh Jessica for WW you need to go in my description box and it's in there and if it's not in there let me know and I will get it to you hope says I think I'm gonna quit WW virtual meetings don't help me they don't help me either but I'm not gonna quit hope I hope you don't quit either or at least just go online what would your option be I hope come on I don't like it maybe but I'm staying if I wine will you stay I actually I went to go just I kind of called their bluff and said you know what the zoom meetings aren't for me oh hang up because I'm on live dang it okay I'll be down in a minute okay I gotta go you guys I'm in the ding dang garage and Steve needs to park gosh turn it hope I hate leaving you like this because I don't want you to quit bye Suze love you you guys I gotta run down and move my car renew but I want to talk about this anybody who wants to talk about it come over and message me on Instagram because I have ideas but I have to move my car thanks for hanging out with me you guys


Freedom! Today I wanted to talk to you about, actually, I'll be honest, I don't have any idea what I want to talk to you about because this is prerecorded. See, I'm stateside right now and I had to do this whole beginning thing so that I could pass it off to myself over into states. So take it away, me. Hello, Freedom family. I'm Anthony as some of you may know and I recently helped execute a project with Freedom where we sent out to 100 partners who had been with us for quite some time and who had uploaded regularly and who just simply didn't give up. We sent them this. This is from Spreadshirt. You can visit the Freedom shop at freedom.spreadshirt.com. So you open the gift like this and immediately you're presented with what looks like a shirt and a card. Let's go ahead and take a look at the card. This card has a similar printing to the box but slightly different color. You can actually see that it's kind of textured. See it might, there we go, it dances off the light. So let's go ahead and open the card and have it upside down. So the card says, thank you for being a part of Freedom, uploading regularly and never giving up. This is a gift for you to celebrate our third birthday with your help. We look forward to many more. As you can see, very small print on a larger card. We hope that this project will be able to continue so that we can send out more things to partners, more things like shirts, more things that I don't want to talk about but there are some things that we're looking into. Now here's the shirt that's sent out. This is an extra large, obviously not gonna fit me. And it's got the Freedom logo on it. Very clear, nothing on the back. And we may even look into if we continue doing this, even printing either on the front or the back what the occasion was of the shirts. That way people who receive them this way rather than going to the shop to buy one get something that is exclusive to that event. Anyways, I want to let you know what we were doing. Were you one of the 100 chosen by Freedom to receive a shirt? If you were, let us know in the comment section down below. And also if you did receive a shirt and you haven't made a video about it, you don't have to. But if you do, I am looking to make a compilation of those. Anyways, till next time, don't forget to like, subscribe and do all those things that make us love our jobs. Also, be awesome to yourself and amazing to each other. Bye guys.


Environmental factors play an important role in human health and disease, thanks to two revolutions in biology. First, there was epigenetics, where diet and lifestyle changes have been shown to turn genes on and off. And the second, our unfolding understanding of our microbiome, changes in our gut flora appear to impact greatly on human biology. Until relatively recently, the colon was viewed as a retention tank for waste, and water absorption was its big biological function. The problem was it was hard to get in there, and we weren't able to grow most of the bugs in a lab. As many as 99% of all microbes fail to grow under standard laboratory conditions. And so, how do you study something you can't study? Ah, but now we have fancy genetic techniques. It took 13 years to sequence the DNA of the first bacteria ever. These days, the same feat might only take two hours. And what we learned is that we can each be thought of as a superorganism, a kind of human microbe hybrid. We have trillions of bacteria living inside us. One commentator went as far as to say, we are all bacterias, a provocative way of acknowledging that there are more bacterial cells and genes in our own body than there are human cells and genes. And most of those bacteria live in our gut. All animals and plants appear to establish these symbiotic relationships with microorganisms, and in us our gut flora can be considered like a forgotten organ. Health-promoting effects of good bacteria include boosting our immune system, improving digestion and absorption. They make vitamins, inhibit the growth of potential pathogens, and keep us from feeling bloated. But should bad bacteria take root, they can produce carcinogens, putrified protein in our gut, produced toxins, mess up our bowel function, and cause infections. Researchers are still in the process of figuring out which bacteria are which. There are more than a thousand different types of bacteria that take up residence in the human colon. Just to give you a sense of the complexity, let me show you a diagram from a typical study of gut flora. This happens to be the largest such study done on the elderly, showing the frailest older folks tend to harbor similar bugs, suggesting further may be the lousy diet in nursing homes that's causing the shift, which may play a role in ill health as we grow older. As you can clearly see in Figure 4, I mean, duh. Thankfully, not all microbiome diagrams are that complex. Based on studying what comes out of twins, those that eat different habitual diets and stools from around the world, it has become evident that diet has a dominant role on the bacteria in our colon, and the diet-driven changes in it occur within days to weeks. Change our diet, change our gut flora. The hope of impacting health through diet may be one of the oldest concepts in medicine. However, only in recent years, as our understanding of human physiology grown to a point, we can begin to understand how individual dietary components affect specific illnesses through our gut bacteria. Milk fat on that piece of pizza, for example, may complex with bile and feed a bacteria that produces the rotten egg gas hydrogen sulfide and has experimentally been associated with colitis, inflammatory bowel disease. Fiber, on the other hand, feeds our good bacteria and decreases inflammation in the colon. Colline, found in eggs, seafood, and poultry, as well as carnitine and red meat, can be turned into trimethylamine oxide and contribute to heart disease, and perhaps fatty liver disease. And excess iron may muck with our good bacteria and contribute to inflammation as well. The good news is that specific dietary interventions offer exciting potential for nontoxic, physiologic ways to alter gut microbiology and metabolism to benefit the natural course of many intestinal and systemic disorders.


I have a very interesting story and I didn't have a typical childhood like most people. I was born in St. Petersburg, Russia with spina bifida. There was no wheelchair available at the time. My way of being mobile was to use my arms and just scoot around. For the United States, three gold medals in London, aiming for a fourth hand. For me, mobility doesn't mean putting one foot in front of the other. What is mobility? We all might have a different perspective on what that actually means. I'm Steve Vasquez for Uprox, coming to you from Athens, Greece, home of the original Olympic Games and the cradle of Western civilization. What better place to host a mobility summit featuring world-class athletes and engineers from around the globe to help us rethink what is possible? I was an EOD officer in the Navy. Unfortunately, at the tail end of my Afghanistan deployment, I stepped on an improvised explosive device. I lost my vision as a result. When the lights went off, another opportunity emerged and that was to be a para-athlete. After my injury, mobility was probably my biggest struggle. So I'm particularly excited to be here for the summit. We discussed a lot of different things from the I-Bot, which is an advanced wheelchair, to things like Project Blade, which is a synthesis of the technologies that are utilized in autonomous vehicles that might be used by the visually impaired like myself. My name is Robert Byron. I'm getting ready to be the first person to drive an I-Road, kind of the cross between a small car and a motorcycle. These hand controls allow me to drive the car with just my hand. The things that we're developing are just tools to allow us to see that person and allow them to be emphasized in life. Stuff happens to all of us in life. For me, what's important is how do I respond to it. If I can challenge someone to appreciate what they have and to push themselves, then something good is coming out of my injury. It's easy to feel stuck, like we're trapped in our circumstances. This weekend makes us realize that mobility is not just about being in a car or walking. It's how you get around. What are the tools that help us all move around better in life? Because at the end of the day, we're not stuck. Mobility is actually here. It is in between these two years. Part of overcoming the seemingly impossible starts with a shift in our perspective.