Five minutes with plantrepreneur Colah B. Tawkin
Ticole, better known to her audience as Colah B. Tawkin, who shares her green thumb with listeners through her podcast Black in the Garden. We talk with her about her love for plants, motivation behind her podcast, and she offers advice for those of us who love plants but don’t know how to keep them alive.
Q. For the people that don’t know you, tell us about yourself.
A. I’m a hypercreative, plantrepreneur, mom, comedian and podcast enthusiast of various talents and abilities. Over the past few years I’ve spent most of my energy and focus on learning how to not kill plants (aka gardening). I’ve also created a planty business, Sol to Soil, to support my family and my houseplant addiction. Cultivating green thumbs and impacting food deserts via community gardens is my ministry.
Q. Tell us about your podcast. What motivated you to start it?
A. Black in the Garden resides at the intersection of black culture and horticulture in a world where 99 percent of the garden gnomes and fairies are white. As a former trucker, I consumed more than 1,000 hours of podcasts and didn’t care for the vibe of gardening podcasts and they mostly bored me (which is a trucker’s recipe for fatality).
I know my culture is not only diversely rich but my people have vast horticultural/agricultural expertise. Inspired by my favorite podcast The Read, by Toni Morrison’s insistence to center blackness in my narrative, and Fannie Lou Hamer’s liberation call to speak out for myself, I decided I needed to start a black-centric gardening podcast. I was compelled to connect with my skinfolk who were also tending landscapes with durags on, in the house playing Curtis Mayfield for Monsteras, or sowing seeds while twerking to Lil Wayne — all having a specifically black gardening experience.
Q. I love efforts to increase community gardens. For people who live in apartments or in smaller homes, what are some plant suggestions they can grow?
A. Honestly, you may kill a few plants before you find the one who loves you — and that’s OK. Some die-hard houseplants include cactus, snake plant, aloe and pothos vine. Kitchen herbs such as basil and mint are pasta and cocktail friendly. Fun fact: anyone can grow microgreens in two weeks.
I always advise speaking with local nursery pros about specific home conditions before buying plants. For those in need of consulting I offer a plant-matching service. I’m excited about Sol to Soil’s upcoming container gardening, seed starting and beginner gardener workshops to turn brown thumbs to green. Community gardens should exist in every church and school where the space is abundant and underutilized. Sol to Soil can help get those popping, too.
Q. What’s on the horizon for you in 2020?
A. Diversifying the structure of Black in the Garden, refining the sound and interviewing Oprah. Cultivating green thumbs in the Midlands as a garden coach and plantrepreneur operating Sol to Soil. And fighting against hunger via community gardening.
Preach Jacobs, special to GoColumbia
This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 2:35 PM with the headline "Five minutes with plantrepreneur Colah B. Tawkin."