The I Love CVille Show With Jerry Miller! - Erica Cavanaugh And Matthias John Joined Alex Urpí & Michael Urpí On "Today y Mañana!"

Episode Date: August 21, 2025

Erica Cavanaugh of Honeysuckle Creek Farm and Matthias John of Matthias John Realty joined Alex Urpí & Michael Urpí On “Today y Mañana!” “Today y Mañana” airs the first & third Thursday of the month at 10:15 am on The I Love CVille Network! “Today y Mañana” is presented by Emergent Financial Services, LLC, Charlottesville Opera and Matthias John Realty, with Forward Adelante.

Good morning, everyone and welcome to today and manana. I'm Alex. This is Michael. We're very excited to have you joining us on a little bit of a chilly, a rainy morning. A cloudy, rainy, disgusted morning. I'd be honest, it was tough to get out of bed this morning. You wake up and you're looking at the clock and you're like, no, no, why is that?

My little Maria, she woke up at sits on the dot. Yeah. Well, babies don't feel that way the same way we go by the track of the way. Well, the room was dark anyway. Well, she just waits up hungry. Yeah.

And I went to look out the window and I'm like, oh, no, the sun's not even up yet. You're like, don't you want to sleep a little more? I think you want to sleep a little more, right? I told Elizabeth while Maria was going to do feed, I said, just wait me in half an hour. Yeah. I mean, there's nothing I can do between now and then. I know.

I still see the little skinny eyes you got right now. Yeah. You look like you woke up. That just means it's a beautiful morning, right? Exactly. Grab your tafeito and letche, get to your cozy place, and watch them today, mania. Exactly. You know, we will bring some sunshine because we have two great guests that will bring some sunshine to our audience today.

We're going to be joined shortly in the show by Erica Kavanaugh of Honeysuckle Creek Farm. and then later on in the show by it's our monthly meetup with Matthias who always brings a smile to our face and everyone's very interesting. It's funny about the monthly meet up with Matias, I was just thinking about two October's coming soon

for like a couple months. Oh, you're hoping for a redux of October I don't want to put the pressure in Matthias, but I won't mind, you know, we'll be bringing some German beer, you know, he comes in his leader hose and something like that. You wish.

You ever know? You never know? So it's a great one lined up. Be sure to send us any comments, any questions. Be sure to like and share. I see Connie Sylvester liked in the show this morning. Who else we got? I'm getting back into the swing of seeing how many people are liking the show.

I have to find. I said, oh, yeah, yeah, that's where I go to find out where people like the show. So if you are just liking it, I will find you. I will put your comments. But not in the Liam Newsom taken away. Yeah, I'm not fighting that way. A positive. I will read your comment nicely on air. There we go.

Kind of way. Exactly. Exactly. So be sure to like, share, send us questions, comments. Love having them. Love the audience engagement. And, yeah, as always, of course, big thank you to our presenter, Emergent Financial Services,

and our awesome partners, Matiasion Realty, Sharitzville, Opera, Fort Adelante. We love all our fantastic partners. Yeah. one of our favorite things is to work with them. And always be sure to like, share, and subscribe. I got to do Xavier's a little line. He almost forgot last week.

It's, you know. Terrible. He always gets two or three. You'll be like, like, like, like, like, and share. And I'm like, subscribe and share. And I'm like, and like, and like, and like. You know, he gets two out of three every time. I mean, two and three is not bad.

If you've added six, 67 and baseball, you'd be the, the player, whoever lived. That is true. Yeah. But if he was doing a driving test, he'd fail, 6, 6, 16th. Baseball, not driving. There you go. I don't know about you, but I'm excited to jump in for a day. Let's do it. All right, let's do it.

So we are excited to welcome to the show this morning. Erica Kavanaugh, founder, manager, all hats at Honey Sutter Treat Farm. Erica, thanks so much for coming on this morning. Good morning. Thank you for having me this morning. It's great to have you. So, I mean, for those who haven't met you yet, maybe you just start off telling us a little bit about yourself and maybe how you first became interested in farming and growing and in agriculture.

culture. Yeah. So I've been in the Charlottesville area for about 20 years now, about two years shy of 20. I did my undergrad at UVA, but my dad's side of the family is from here. So my grandfather lives in Fluvana. He's on about 75 acres. And he has been growing a small garden for himself for years and years and years. About six years ago, I started going out to help him. And we realized that we put down so much that we're giving produce away left and right. And so we decided to let's just try to see what that looks like, trying to sell it to the public. It was a little bit of a rocky start at first. We made some adjustments and we realized that our bread and butter is value-added products and not selling items fresh. So instead of

selling the produce, we use the produce to make other products and sell that instead. And we're farming on about two acres right now out of the 75. It's a full family affair. So four generations from my grandfather to my daughter and my nephews. Oh, my goodness. Four generations. That is special. Lots of helping, little helping working hands, huh?

They help as much as they can. There have been times where they'll plant a broccoli plant, and then they'll stand up and step on it as they reach for another one. I'm saying, okay. Here's your section. It's fine. Also, they love to help with the potato harvest. So we make it a game.

Everybody gets a bucket and say, go. Go. Go. And they love it. You always a great idea to mix the fun with the work, you know? I noticed when we were going up to it was the same thing. It was like I felt like my dad would complain. It's like, you worked for 10 minutes.

And then the other 15 minutes you played around. I'm like, well, it's how it works, you know? You know, if you can mix it together, maybe you'll get a little better mix of work and buy it. It's definitely a healthy competition between them. Absolutely. Exactly. And so I just, you started growing and to use for others.

And then eventually how did you decide to say, okay, let's create Honey, Subur Creek farms as a brand, as a business? Yeah, so we were just growing so much. It was just giving away like buckets of tomatoes, cucumbers.

I remember one year, it was my daughter's second birthday. I brought home a cooler full of cucumbers. My mom gave me a side eye. like cucumber salad for the birthday party? And then we even handed out cucumbers as party favorites. Like, it's just too many. So it got to the point,

well, let's just see what this looks like. Like, how can we look at potentially creating generational wealth? Establishing a framework here. I mean, we've been here for years, and my family is from here. And so we started at the Seville Market, did okay, expanded over to the X art park, which is where we've been for the last. three years. And it's just been kind of like trial and error. There have been moments where we all

kind of wanted to give up and quit. And now everybody is full blown into it. And so what is some of the kind of like different products kind of like that you offer when you're at the market? Yeah. So right now we're heavily on the on the pickling right now. So pickled green tomatoes, bread and butter pickles, spicy dill pickles, pickled watermelon rind, and then pickled jalapinos. So pretty much looking at anything that we can do something else with. We'll also do seasoning blends, herbal tea blends, getting into the cocktail scene, so looking at cocktail kits, cocktail syrups. Those have been a huge hit. My favorite of the cocktail syrups is a honeysuckle syrup. A lavender and butterfly pea flower one.

It's a beautiful color. I call it Mystic Bloom. It's like a purple pink color. So we have a few variety of options. And then also looking at, we were doing edible flowers. While the flowers are great, they serve the purpose for pollinators. We can sell them as fresh flowers. But now my mom has also been making resin jewelry from the flowers.

So we have earrings made out of the flowers that we grow in the farm. So how does that work? Like you take like the peasant? Or something like that? A mix. We'll either do the whole flower. We'll pull flowers apart and just use individual petals. Sometimes we'll mix up different flowers,

maybe add a little bit of glitter and glam into it. So my mom is real creative. She's very arts and crafty. She's loving the side of it. And she's the one who also handles all of our pickling jellies and jams. Oh, okay. That's a lot of work for pickling. Is it pickling when you have to kind of like boil,

you have to boil like the cans beforehand, or am I thinking of something else? Yeah, so we do it over the stove. So we'll boil the jars ahead of time to sterilize them, then go ahead and do like a vinegar bath with them, some seasoning, get the product in there, and then seal it overheat, like in a hot water bath. There are other ways to kind of can a little bit as well,

but all of our stuff right now is over a hot water bath. Hot water bath. Wow. I mean, that all sounds really good. I mean, I've never had picked. I don't know if I've had pickled green onions. I've had fried green onions, but not pickled, but definitely never the pickled watermelon rye.

Yeah, so we have watermelon coming in like crazy right now, and my philosophy is I want to be able to grow something that we can do more than one thing with. So the watermelon, we look at watermelon jelly, the pickled watermelon rine, and then also I'll dehydrate it, turn it into a powder, mix it with sugar and make sugar blocks out of it. So you have watermelon sugar,

sugar blocks that we then use into the cocktail kits. Wow. That is so creative. I would never think the dehydrate water melt. It's a process. But we do it with the peaches. So we're building out the fruit orchard. So we'll do it with peaches.

Once we get our blueberries and strawberries in, we'll do the same thing and start expanding that way. That's really good. And so, yeah, so clever to use. And I think the movement into cocktail also makes true. I think people are kind of craving. I mean, cato syrups have been, I don't know, a huge thing for so long. But you basically, like, your only choice is, like, the chemical ones that are like, yeah,

I mean, I have no clue what's in this thing, right? So it's so nice, like, yeah, I know what's in this because it was grown here. Yes, and it's, I mean, I keep it pretty simple. I do add a small amount of preservatives, so citric acid and sodium potassium sorbate. But otherwise, we keep it pretty simple. and the nice thing about it is that you don't have to just use it for cocktails. I'll bake with some of them. So I'll put them in like a buttercream frosting to flavor the frosting.

I've made brownies with rosemary and hibiscus syrup. I know some people are into mottails or they don't drink at all, which is great. They can put it inside of like bubbly, like soda water. So there's different ways that people can use them. It doesn't just have to strictly be the cocktails. Yeah, that's fantastic. And so when it's like watermelon or pizza, it really is. It's like that's what's really in it.

That's fantastic. So at this point, what are some of the things you're cultivates? So it sounds like you've got food orchards, you've got herbs, you've got flowers. Yeah, so we do what's called companion planting. So we are on a small space, but we're growing a lot in a small space. So if you were to be on the property and look at the row for tomatoes, you'd see a row. with not just tomatoes, but basil. Oh, I just drew a blank.

Basel and marigold, sorry. The marigold are everywhere. I don't know how I forgot that one. I also interplant a little bit of lemon grass to help control the mosquitoes, so I'm not getting bitten too much. Our row with cucumbers also has string beans growing along the bottom,

and then we have the cucumbers growing up vertically. So we're like utilizing as much space as possible, but also by campaigning, planting, we're not spraying. So we have very few pests because the marigold and the basil for the tomatoes help keep away those pests. The one thing we get is hornworms

and I just know to keep an eye out for them and pick them off. Is that the fat little green one? Yeah, they can terrorize a garden. Those are the scariest things I've ever seen. They're huge. And I hate that when you kill them like they're green inside. I'm like, how are they green?

It's like it's alien. I don't know. I hate them too. because the worst part two is I'm sure you've had this experience like you'll suddenly see the tomato plans of why there's so many leaves missing like on the top and then suddenly you see wait second there's bites like someone ate the tomato and then you're like this thing's going to be huge and you're looking and then as you're getting closer to the plane you'll look at the inside of your face yes I hate those things oh man bringing up nightmares thank you we'll pull them off and move them away and it's like okay you go to that side of the property like no exactly stay away here and the worst part too, so my dad would have to guard. My dad's, my mom's eyesight's terrible. So they'd be like, oh, we got a worm. They'd be like, Mikey, come out. You got to go find the worm. I'm like, do I have to? Like, I got to do this plant to find the worm. We need your eyesight.

I didn't know. But that's so neat. So, so the planting things together isn't just for space. It, depending on what you put nearby, it deters. They're beneficial to each other. They're beneficial to each other. That would have otherwise attacked. Yeah. And it's not just pests, like string beans or any beans. They, they are natural nitrogen fixators. So they'll naturally put nitrogen back into the soil, which helps

the plants grow as well. So we'll enter plant beans throughout where we're growing all of our produce. I had red kidney beans down, figured, hey, they can just do their own thing. I'm going to let them dry out. And potentially we'll do like soup kits with the red kidney beans down the road.

But the whole time, they're also helping to provide additional nutrients into the soil. That is really neat. I like that idea. Is that what people refer to when they call like was a regenerative farming or am I thinking of something else? A little bit but it's also

that also goes into things like cover cropping making sure that you're not putting too much external nutrients into the ground you're using natural resources even in the off season to grow something that's going to be beneficial for the ground later.

So you'll see farmers throw down a variety of cover crops let it grow throughout the winter, early spring, and then go ahead and put down cardboard or tarp or something to kind of naturally suppress it down and then work that, like work the debris into the soil again. And so as those plants break down, it's natural organic matter and it'll help to regenerate the soil. Wow. That's a great process. Wow. Yeah, using the earth to heal itself. Well, so many things you learn about that. you didn't even realize I would just been like

no you just take out the tomato place and next year you're throwing back on again like it's just dirt yeah exactly I mean so you obviously experienced this desire to to you know utilize this land grow on it

have you seen in your time at the first city and now at X market like an interest from the people you encounter there in a renewed interest or greater interest in like local farming like I want to get things from you locally? Yeah, and I wouldn't even say renewed interests.

Ever since I've been at the market, it's been a very strong support. And over the last few years, definitely building up a customer base where people know that, no, I'm going to get my seasoning from this individual. They know that we have the pickled watermelon, rind, and green tomatoes, so they tend to ask, like, oh, where is she? I also will grow microgreens, so I sell those to botanical fair. and when I grow too much or I just have an excess, I'll dehydrate them, turn them into a powder,

and now you have a healthy green, microgreen powder that you can mix into soup, stews, whatever. So I've had people that are asking, like, the market staff, hey, is she here today? Because I'm not there every weekend, and they're looking for particular products. So there's definitely been a huge interest and a huge support here. But I wouldn't say it's renewed.

I would say that the people who live here have always been really strong support as of locally grown and local products. That's awesome, yeah. It's so important and so key to, you know, for your own help, I mean, for like the community, but also like for your own health, you know,

and the health of our families. And Erica, you also mentioned some tea mixes. Can you kind of go into that? Because I'm always trying to monitor the tea market because I have two sister-in-law's, and tea's always a good little birthday. Yeah. So I actually started the teas as our first value-added product, and it was more of a personal reason. I started doing it at home because I have an autoimmune disease, so I was looking at ways to help reduce inflammation naturally. And so now we have about 10 different tea blends. One is a honeysuckle bloom, so there is honey supple in it, as well as some bachelor button flowers, bee pollen. And so I like to bring that one out around the springtime because a few. you have ever heard about getting

the natural honey for allergies, bee pollen has the same benefits. So that's one I like to bring out early in the spring, especially as we're pulling a honeysuckle a little bit later in the spring and keep that one going for a bit. We have one called Dreamweaver. It is like a sleep aid, so it has

rose petals on it, but also Valerian root. So the nice thing about our tea blends is at least one thing that we grow is mixed into each batch, and then we will supplement with some wholesale products. But we are very good about making sure they're grown in a way that we support, so organic as much as possible.

And so our wholesaler has been absolutely amazing. I've actually done tea events, so in Haymarket, Virginia, or with – sorry, it's now root-to-table. I've done some events with them and have done like a lavender honeybush tea. um there is uh there's two dessert teas one is a dark chocolate mint and then another one is an apricot cinnamon and that one i've also blended in um marigold flowers oh okay so you're using everything yes is there anyone that's like your most popular if you have to say like ah this is like the one that kind of flies off the shelf the most the lavender honey bush and the hybiscous charm um and so some people get a little hesitant with lavender

because if it's too much, it's very soapy and overpowering. The nice thing about the lavender honey bush, it's more honeybush than lavender, and the honey bush gives you natural honey notes. Yes. And then the hybiscous charm is lavender and hybiscous together. And they kind of cancel each other out, so it's not too

tart, it's not too, like, flowery soapy, it's a very nice balance. So those have been the two most popular. That's nice. Keep in the back of my mind. It's had to keep it track. Exactly. Keep a track there.

What's it like, obviously, you've got one of the things, you know, about kind of being an entrepreneur is you've got your, okay, this is my farming hat. But then you've got all these other hats. What's it been like by being an entrepreneur as well now? It is a balance, and it's not always an easy balance. I am fortunate enough to work from home. So that makes things a little bit easier when I'm in the middle of something with web development. Maybe I'm running a process in the background.

And I can take a moment and say, all right, let me go check on this product and go ahead and get this going. Maybe the dehydrator needs to be run or take things out of the dehydrator. So I can give myself a 10-minute break, jump over, do that, and then come back and go back to my 9 to 5. it also does help that with me working from home I'm not commuting into work that gives me a little bit more time where I can then head out to the property do something really quick and come right back so it's it's a little rough there are some really really late nights and a lot of times I'm up until one o'clock in the morning prepping especially before a market if I haven't had time to do certain things but now that we've been going for a while. We definitely have a rhythm. I've had some people come in to help, which has been fantastic. And so now with the helpers coming in, they know where everything is in the house. This is where all the dried products are, like all the dried ingredients are. Here's the recipe book. Here are all the containers. This is what we need done. And they will knock it out in a heartbeat.

And that way I can focus on my actual 9 to 5 job instead. So the help has been. that beautiful delegation growth phase I do not have to do all of this myself anymore no it's definitely it's a real thing but it's just reminding the audience that like entrepreneurship isn't like it's not this like how do I put it kind of fairy tale thing where it's like oh yeah you know I worked a couple hours

here and a couple hours there That translates into, I'm up at 1 a.m. before someone has to do it. It has to, and, you know, the butt stops with the entrepreneur, right? You know, you're not, the help will go home before 1 a.m. Yes. And my daughter even tries to help at the house, so she's six. She's like, Mom, can I help with anything? I was like, you know what, not this time.

But one thing you can help with is just giving Mommy about 15 minutes. I'll get this set up, and then we can go do what we need. to, and once you're in bed, I will finish that because it'll be done, and I can bottle it up, and everything's great. So she is a real trooper about it. That's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, well, and little by little, right?

Well, now you can do this. Oh, exactly. So, well, now that you ask, I have some ideas. Oh, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. So this has been an absolute pleasure. I've learned a whole bunch, and just it's so

glad to know that you're here, that you're at It's for sure. Yes. But where else should people, if they want to know more, find you guys, know the schedule, where should they go? Yeah. So we're at the Ix Art Park every other Saturday. So we'll be back there next Saturday, not this upcoming Saturday. We will be at an event on this upcoming Sunday at Eastwood Farm and Winery.

Yes. They are doing a sangria event. So they're going to use a couple of our syrups with their wines to make some sangrias on So I will be there selling some of the cocktail syrups. But then next Saturday I will be at the farmer's market with our full list. And then we'll do every other Saturday from there. We do have a website, honeysuckle Creek Farm VA.com. Sorry, honeysuckle Creek Farm.com.

Instagram is Honeycuckle Creek Farm VA. I do try to update the website, but I will admit that gets the, that's kind of the last thing on the list. So it's been neglected. It is not updated, but we're working on it. But there is an email subscription for email marketing, these letters to go out. And then there was a law change for the state of Virginia last year, which allows us to sell at more events. So this past year, we were at the Hanover Tomato Festival. So I grew up in Hanover County, Virginia.

My dad's side is from Alba Marl Fluvana. So it was kind of like going home for me. And then we had the pickle green tomatoes, and people were. we're loving it. It's fantastic. So we'll probably do that again next year. And then looking for other events, but it is one of those that we're not trying to do it every weekend.

We would like to live our lives a little bit, so trying to keep it down to every other as far as selling as much as possible. You know the cadence. So if you're out there, every other Saturday. So set your calendar for not this

Saturday, but the following one, and then just every two weeks. Put that thing on the day on. You could get Erica at Eastwood Farm and Vineyard, yeah. Yep. Get a little Sanria. It's never a bad way to spend a Sunday. No, no. I don't know that anybody would complain about that, especially now that we've heard of the flavors of these syrups, I'm like, oh.

Yes. Well, Eric, it's been an absolute pleasure. Thanks so much for coming on. It was so great being here. Thank you for having me. No, thank you. So as we made a swap here, be sure, to check out. It's a beautiful website.

at Honeysledbroreetfarm.com. Yes. And you know that details. And from there, you can all the way at the top right, just click that little Instagram button. Yeah, I mean, I was going through it like a products tab

and you could kind of go through all the stuff that Erica, you know. Oh, yeah. It has the seasoning blends, the herbal teasers. I mean, it's a beautiful website. So be sure to be sure to check that out. And next Saturday at Itch's.

I mean, there's always, we've had on a number of people from Itts. So it's never a bad reason to go. There's so many great entrepreneurs at the farmer's market. that's one of the best parts of actually going to the farm and the farm. You get to see these little farms, these little pop-ups, kind of do

doing their own thing. We've had bakers, we've had farm folks, we've had other people who kind of do like little jewelry and stuff like that. Jewelry, like culinary, like, you know, some treats and so forth. Everything. I even see people who sell like these gourmet

dog treats. Yeah, I know. It feels like they make a killing. So many people get in the gourmet dog treats. How many dog treats? So there you know. People love their dogs. They treat their dogs better than they part treat themselves.

Like, I won't get my dog or gourmet. You eat what I eat. I mean, I'll all. I'm not going to, you know. Well, because you have this gourmet dog treat. It's like, it feels like it's more than a blueberry muffin. I'm kind of like, you know, wait a second. I'll just get the blueberry muffin and give it to the dogs.

But it's, yeah, so it's always a good reason to go to the ips. And shout up. of Park Hill watching the show this morning one of our favorite audience members. The Queen of Earlysville is right? I think that's what I think that's Jerry's nickname for her. The Queen of Orleansville. So thanks so much for tuning in this morning.

And I mean from one great guests to another. I mean he needs no introduction but I will introduce him anyway. It's the one and only Matthias Yon here for our monthly meet up with Matthias. Matias, it's been a while for me too. I've missed you as well so

to be here when you're here. always glad to be here. And you're right, Alex. It's been a few months that you, you know, had the pleasure of sitting at that chair, right? It was usually Michael and then your dad. Matthias got tired of seeing me and Xavier. He's like, where's Alex? I don't want to come on the show unless Alex is he. I made very specific requests this time, but no one listened. And here we are again. It's great to be here on with you and just It's always always good especially because I know It's funny, I was so glad Eric was on first

Because I know one of the things that's always on your heart You know, in areas is just all the amenities and good things that we have around the area One of which is like the farmer's market, the surrounding countryside I know it's something that you bring up often on the show Yeah and I did not know Erica's farm at all. You know, we have many farms in our area and they probably all go

to the X-Park, to the farmer's market or here downtown. But I'm always interested in learning what they offer. And sometimes it's very creative and something I haven't seen before. I was just listening to Erica talk about her tea blends and

they do spices and herbs. It's not the first thing that comes to mind when I think of a farm, right? I always think of fruits and produce, but yeah, it's true. Over the years, the X farmers market has developed into a large and rather into a market with a lot of variety if you think about it. Do you ever go there?

I do. I do sometimes. It's amazing what you can find. It's true so much more than just the produce. I mean, I would say, I mean, this is just speaking from when I've been there. a lot of times I would say at least half the people there are not even there looking for produce

like they're there because I want to eat something it's an activity yes that's the thing like I would say one third of the markets produce people one third is just people selling treats and baked goods and then the other third is just people kind of sell on trinkets like there's even someone there

who does like a little poetry thing like where it's like you go up to them and they'll write like a little poem you know so it's like the creativity that comes from the markets is very it's designed to be a family activity. Saturday morning most people have time to

leisurely walk there and as you said it's not just to get your produce it's also to spend time there I see people go there and little groups as families you can drink wine there you can eat lunch you can have breakfast coffee shops you can buy

books and postcards and poetry that's right it's always funny to see and the other day the other Saturday I went to the Ix park to that set farmer's market and then notice that there is a bit of a hype around very

particular farms or vendors there's one farm that would have a huge line of people waiting even though the vendor next the next booth has pretty much the same variety to offer let's say berries

but for whatever reason this one farm had a huge following and so sometimes I wonder is it is it because they have a good social media marketing where they're able to create a TikTok around their berries

I know that's I think one of sometimes too it's also word of mouth like people have gone to that gotten fruit from a certain stand but like oh it's really good so someone's like oh I'm going to go there I mean because I know because a couple of times there's a certain farm that's had eggplants and now a couple of times my brother Nick

when he won an eggplant said can you get those eggplants because we got on once in it was delicious so every once in a while even just last week he wanted went to that particular farm where they had the little stand and got those eggplants because he knows that they're good. Now, there's other little setups that are other little forms that have eggplants, but we go to that one because you know it's good. You know, you have the experience with itself. That sounds like Nick. Yeah. He wants his food from a very particular place, and he makes sure he gets it. Yeah, exactly. And he would be the diet and says, yeah, I know an eggplant

die. I know an eggplant die. That's the eggplant died. That's the eggplant from him. Nick is Nick is an Italian old man Oh yes Yes And I mean this in a very positive You know Italian shirt

Forget about it Absolutely absolutely I mean do you Have you found Are things like that I've always wondered Are things like that Something that ever comes up

When people want to like Consider Would we replace such a child I like Does anybody ask you ever Like you know Are there things like Farmers markets

And local food Or is it kind of like more like at the bottom of a list of wants? Well, I think many people have that on their mind because it's part of the appeal for them, right? When selecting our area, whether it's Central Virginia or Charlottesville in particular, it is their aspects are just interesting and appealing to people

when they move here unless it's job-related than the farmer's market or the restaurant. scene is probably secondary. But sure. I mean, let's remember why retirees move here, for example. Why are climate refugees from Florida moving? And it's, you know, the area offers a variety of amenities that we are all so happy to have that we are proud to have access to. Right. and in fact the lifestyle aspect is a big one

right let's look at the different reasons people have to live in our area to stay here to move here to refuse to move away and we are facing challenges so it's not that everything is perfect

and just easy and inconvenient to live here affordability is a big problem problem, right? And so that's the challenge not only Charlesville but the surrounding counties that are part of that trend are facing right now. And so you're absolutely right to ask what is it that people are looking for when they consider moving here and the lifestyle amenities are a big one. We have plenty of them. But that popularity also leads to that that never-ending question of, you know, how can we maintain that balance? And in fact, let me tell you about that, in particular, as a real-time part of Carr, right?

And that's the association of us real estate professionals here in the area. And so I'm involved in a few boards there. And so what we are doing right now is we are interviewing candidates of the surrounding counties that are applying for the Board of Supervisors, right? So in particular, that's Green County, that is, Louisa, Fluevana, and Nelson. All those counties are part of the car footprint.

And the reason why we are interviewing them is because we want to find out who are the candidates that align with our values as car. For example, who is advocating for affordable housing, who is interested in working with VDOT on safe and accessible infrastructure, and so on. And then we can decide on whether we as car want to endorse them and how we end up doing that. And it's a great opportunity for me and others

to really learn how those candidates want to support. policies and initiatives that support those initiatives and, frankly, align with the values of the community and the needs and the demands and so on. Otherwise, we just have, you know, media, but this is first-hand interaction with them. Very interesting. And so what we are learning, what I'm taking away from that is that all the counties struggle with, that balance, right? You just asked me what are the amenities. All those counties have

advantages or have amenities that people care about. That might be the reason they want to move there, right? And so as we are experiencing growth, whether it's in Charlottesville or in, let's say, Louisa County, there's always

this challenge of of maintaining what is there, what has been attractive for people in the first place, like to residents that grew up here or that moved here, and how do we grow in a sustainable manner? In a way that doesn't take away from why people move there in the first place. Yes, and so there are specific mechanisms in place that help regulate that, and there are smart people that work on that,

and then also people that don't do that good of a job, right? That's why we always have that discussion, of course. And one of those mechanisms is, of course, zoning, right? And on a very local level, here in Charlottesville, we are currently experiencing the controversy around that. And so it shows me that that's on everyone's mind, maintaining that balance. We want to remain attractive,

and we want to support those local businesses and amenities, whether it's a brewery or a tourist site in Nelson County, whether it's the agrar tourism or the historic aspect of Chattlesville that makes the place so special. All that need to be maintained at the same time. We want to grow because we are in a popular area. and so how do you do that right that's the that's the question that charleswell is facing but all the surrounding counties as well that's what what is they're impacted by right as the more

attractive chargeville alpemarle becomes sooner or later right there are so many people that no longer fit and so where where do you where do you go next is it well okay right i wanted to move in this area, I no longer want to maybe be in charge for Alamo or I can't afford to be there. Okay, well who's right next door where I can get some of what I want?

Who knows? I mean, depending what amenities they want, they may say I get more of what I want by being in one of the surrounding counties. Exactly. So, in that particular example, you know, affordability residents or being priced out of Charlottesville.

We can say that. That's That's a true statement. And so those end up living in Augusta County or Waynesboro, for example, right? So those counties are opening up for those commuters, but also for people that like to live in the area and can work from home. They don't mind the drive, even though the drive is not long anyway. It's about half an hour. So, you know, that's what Augusta County opened up for.

we have a lot of new development in the Wainsborough, Stewart's Drive, Fisher'sville area and that's great because people are being priced out of Alvoma County and Charlottesville. But then we also have buyers that

move here for a lifestyle and I always consider Nelson County to be for those seeking a specific lifestyle because you still have a lot of nature there, you have a different pace of life, which also means you won't have major subdivisions in Nelson County, even though they're discussing this right now too,

and they have their comprehensive plans looking into the future and what change needs to be made. But as we are interviewing those candidates for BOS, we also learned that many of the candidates they want a slower, sustainable growth, whatever that means for them, but it usually means no big developments, please. And in some areas, it's simply not feasible. But, yeah, speaking about growth, Louisa County, have you heard about the data center controversy? Yes. And isn't it a good example?

For example, on the one hand, it makes so much sense because it's a huge tax revenue driver. The data centers two are already there. They put money back into the pocket of the county. And so that serves everyone who lives in the county, you would say, in theory. For example, it's basically free infrastructure for the county. But it also has downsides because it forever changes. changes the nature of the county and in particular with the data centers the concern is what about the water right a lot of residents are concerned those data centers need a lot of water do we have enough so what's the it's the downside for those that live there and so you have those pros and cons and it's you know it's difficult for for those in charge to decide on that because they have to weigh in on the pros and cons and it's not

all just positive and residents have mixed feelings about it and that's a good example of you know data centers it's not a topic in every county but it's a good example for this challenge of maintaining

a balance that that serves everyone well it's a good example I think of what what growth looks like in other words it's not always like okay you just grow because more people show up and nothing changes and

more people show up and nothing changes and you just did more money coming in. It said, no, growth looks like, okay, this will come. It will bring maybe some jobs. It will bring some infrastructure, for sure. It will bring some revenue.

But it will change X, Y, and C. It will change the appearance of something, right? Or even something like, okay, a bunch of people want to move because you have all these amenities, you have a lot of green space. Well, if they all come and move, do we build a development?

Development means they can all come, enjoy the green space with us, but if you build too many developments, there's less green space. I remember my mother-in-law from Germany, one of her, you know, one of her bit things with you came, is, oh, it's so nice that it reminds me of Germany because there's all this green space like in Bavaria.

And of course, what, and our thinking was, because I had been venting the little and saying, yeah, I mean, it's obviously, because they don't let you in a lot of areas put any developments or build or split up land, you know, it means that it's an affordability issue, right? And then you said, yes, but at the same time, that means you to keep the green space. In the words, if it's all one-bit farm and you can't change it, then it stays green. And I say, well, you know, that's true.

I mean, if you want to look out and see a whole bunch of mountains, you can't fill it up with things. So it's keeping that balance because at the same time, you don't want to. to make a place where it says, well, no one to never afford to live here because it's so expensive. And we will never build again. And that's how you end up with scenarios that we kind of experienced in 2020 time from which is like, man, there's nothing. You can't find a house anywhere.

And if one shows up, everybody's bidding in three days, right? Because there just wasn't, there wasn't inventory. So it's finding that balance and growth kind of looks more like, that. It's a little bit messy, good people to disagree, and you have to make trade-offs. It's ironic, right? We always want two things at the same time. We want growth, but also don't change anything. And I'm not, you know, I'm guilty of that too. I'm a resident of the area for 11 years, and there's always this voice in me that says, oh, stop building that. You know, don't cut this tree down. Because I want to...

things to stay the way they were when I moved here and fell in love with the area in the first place. At the same time, I'm part of and I work in real estate, so I see development and I see the need for

more housing. So how do we combine those things? My wife, she was born and raised in Albemar County. She still remembers when Crosay was just starting to get developed when old trail was still a farm

that makes her sound like she's very old, she's not but old trail, how old is it 20, 25 years old? And so all of this is recent. Well I remember when Crozé, like literally the only thing I heard

there was like a Crozé pizza that sometimes people go to, but you never heard of anyone actually like going to Crozay or hanging out in Croixie or even like living in a Croze. It was just like no, there's only like croze pizza out there but now it's like, it's a busy area. Yeah.

I know a couple people live there now. Yeah, exactly. You know some of those dang people that they keep moving into those developments in truth in Rosé, you know, but of which I'm guilty, you know, but then you appreciate that it was there because it was affordable.

And then right next to Old Trail, you see the houses of those that live there, you know, for two, three generations. They're not too happy about the tax increase. Exactly. But at the same time, they benefit from other amenities that have been created.

Physicians, schools, it's one of the best school districts in the state. So it's always a up and down, throwing con scenario. Have you heard of the Spanish people in the tourist areas that are now on the barricades and their... Oh, and spring people? They marched through the streets? they want less tourism even though it helped their local economy for a long time

but it's just it's too much because that balance is not there anymore or in Italy on the Amalfi Coast or the Mallorca and there's so many examples I saw a video of a

like a travel guide a travel expert and he was going through Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast and saying all the little shop that were once privately owned, selling what they made, like ceramic and so forth. They've all been replaced by cheap Chinese knockoffs and things like that. Because what happens? The people who worked those shops lived above them.

When the places above them got turned into Airbnbs for tourists and they got kicked out, they don't live in Sorrento anymore. They had to go and live out in the culture. So they can't keep the shop. I can't keep the shop. I can't keep the shop if I have to drive in every day. I didn't have a car. So their shop is now out in the countryside somewhere where they make the ceramic

and who moved in underneath is some big company that says, yeah, I'd buy all my stuff, my little cheap, you know, things that, all my little cheap lemons, my cheap plastic lemons from China, I put them in this shop and I sell them to tourists. That's the only people that are there anymore. And so you feel sad, but you say, well, there was somewhere in there was a balance and they lost it. And so you see there what's happening and then you say, okay, how do we make sure that you want tourism, obviously in Charlottesville and Alamemarle, but how do you make sure that it doesn't become, what do they call Venice, like an outdoor theme park where it's not real anymore. No one actually lives there except people for tourists. So you want to bring people in for the wineries and the market. But you want to make.

sure also that like the people that are there also actually living here not just that we're the only people that live here sell to tourists that's it so but it's it's hard because in the meantime there's the enticement of well you know tourism revenue is great because they don't use up any amenities right they just show up spend money pay the meals tax pay the hospitality tax and leave you know but it's it's finding that balance and and oftentimes the business is moving into the area whether it's a data center or a vineyard

they promise a lot of things and to be fair some of those opportunities are being created but not always for example people expected the data centers to bring hundreds of jobs as we know no that's not the case

most of them live somewhere else and moved here with the company yes right and so the challenge is to be realistic and we throw this word around a lot today but balance

right and that's a challenge itself but this is one people understand because it's what it sounds like from what you're describing it's one of the reasons people move here in the first place that they themselves are looking for balance as if all you wanted to do was work

and go and have a nightlife then you would just live in D.C. D.C. Richmond, North Virginia area. Like you come here because you're trying to balance that with something else, with the lifestyle, with maybe the slower pace of Nelson or something like that, right? And so you don't move here, say, I want to move to charge of it so I can work all day long.

And then, you know, work until 8 p.m. That's typically not why you would move here. So they themselves are looking for a balance. And the community is just, I think, reflecting what they themselves are looking for. Yes, and I personally think we need to make sure that everyone that lives here or that is part of that larger community benefits from it, right? Not only a select view and I always say when those that those people that make the area are enjoyable, safe, accessible space can no longer afford to live here, then we have a problem, right? And again, everyone's talking about it. It's not new, but I'm actively following this

because that's what I'm generally concerned about. There's no Charlesville police officer that lives in childhood school. I was just a great. It's a good example. But yeah, you're right. There are lots of aspects that make people want to move here. For me, it was a relationship 11 years ago, but there are lots of things

that discovered about Central Virginia that made me stay. They made you stay. That made this place home for me and for so many of my clients. Your perspective is a little different because you grew up here.

You were born and raised here. And you just see the influx. We came a little before you, but we came in 2008. Oh, that's right. So not even you. You were not born here either. I was born in California.

I see. Okay. But, I mean, it is where were your class, it came for UVA, stayed for Charlottesville kind of person, which I think is extremely common. Yes. You know, or even I've often heard come for UVA leave. And then come back. Then come back.

Then come back, which I'm sure you probably did some of. That's true. Or even those that have a temporary assignment here in a professional way. four or five years and then end up staying. Exactly. They never, they never, just it has, again, it has that balance. Because it just, as someone who lived, maybe because we lived, so we never, I have no memories of living in New York City in Brooklyn, but were you born there?

I was born in Manhattan, technically, but we moved when I was three. But the family was there. So we would go back to up to New York City frequently. So we've got a lot of experience of what that looked. light and then we grew up in a town that basically in California had like 4,000 people did it and so we know what that looks like and it's amazing that you see we as soon as we moved here we saw reflect probably even beforehand as well drew us to it reflected kind of the balance of those things says the town of 4,000 there was a symphony but like your closest

sports is two hours away in San Francisco your closest big symphony is two hours away in San Francisco. Your, you know, your peers with a lot of restaurants and things like that, maybe a couple, like, 30 minutes away, but the best stuff is two hours away. It was a place more for retirees, so, of course, it was all about the nature and quiet, and probably there wasn't one restaurant that opened past 8 o'clock, so there's no such thing as a nightlife, you know? And then obviously, in New York City, you have all the, like, things to do amenities, endless restaurants, endless bars, endless, bars.

24 hours a day. You have a bunch of sports teams, right? But, I mean, you have a nice big green patch in the middle of Manhattan, and then the rest is a trouble, what is in the concrete jungle. And if you want to get anywhere, you, okay, I want to go eight miles, I'll be prepared, you're going to be in the car for two hours, right? And Shortsville, it combines the pulse. You see the appeal that you don't feel often like you're in a big city, but you have a lot

of the things that you would look for in a big city. Well, think about it. Like, when you go on the 29, there's like a 10-minute stretch where it's like, you know, stores and restaurants and, you know, car dealerships and, and bowling alleys, whatever. Like, you feel like you're kind of like in a big

city. But you go 10 minutes outside either way of the 29, and you're in the country. Wineries. Yeah, you've got mountains, you've got the green fields like Monica would mention, you know what I'm saying? Either way, whether you're going towards Rockerville, you're going towards Ivy. It's either way.

So it's pretty incredible. Last weekend I was in Richmond with a client. I don't usually work in Richmond. It's not my area of expertise, but I was doing my personal favor. And so spent the entire day, we were looking at different business locations. And I realized, again, that Richmond is too big of a city for me. And, you know, I've lived in Cologne, Munich, Berlin, lots of big cities in my life, and a city of 200,000 people is what Richmond has currently,

I think, is too large for me. That's just where I am in my life. I'm 40 years old now. I have a family. Charlesville is the perfect size. And even here, I sometimes complain about the traffic Yeah, as New Yorkers, that's our, whenever people would say, there used to be a really big hold up on 29 by the, all the, no, all the chicken stores, the chicken alley, over there, right? The cock block. Yeah, they don't. And people would be like, oh man, I sat for like 10 minutes in that thing. And my dad, you would chuckle.

You said 10 minutes at a light. in New York City you sit an hour and you're like I have not moved in an hour but it's just so funny but then that's that's why we like being here because you only sit for ten minutes at life

but it's it's just it makes you appreciate why when you go out it makes you appreciate what we have here. It really does yeah and sometimes it's worth remembering that when I

sit in my 10-minute traffic jam and complain about it, right? Exactly. It's all relative. This has been, it's amazing how quickly almost a half an hour passes by.

Right? Well, we'll cover the next part in a month. Oh, exactly. Exactly. And as Michael said, it'll be September and almost time for our October fest. Yeah, I mean, well, and I think it was, I think it was

a monitor who told me that in a lot of places, they start Octoberfest in September. Oh, so we could just do two October festivals. They start some of the harvest at that point. They always start end of September leading into the first week of October, but the name is

Octoberfest, yeah. But yes, our small German-American association, we will have our October fest again. I'm not sure yet where, but yeah. Oh, yeah, you joined us last year. I was there last week. That was so much fun. That was a whole bunch of fun.

Yeah, come again. did not speak German. It was still a lot. But I knew. I met someone there, but of all things, was like, Liv was born 20 minutes away,

or lived 20 minutes from my wife's home, well, my wife's family's hometown, which only has, like, 800 people then. And I'm like, what are the odds? What are the odds?

You're all halfway across the world. And he's like, I know that town. I live 20 minutes and I'm like, how, how? But that's, that's what happens. And you go to the Stomtish, is what it's called, right?

Yeah, that's our monthly get-together. The monthly get-together, okay. That's right. Yeah, that was a lot of fun. Well, then bring your wife and your baby. We'll do. We'll do this time. I don't think she quite fits in the durnal yet, but we'll try.

But, Matthias, this has been a blast, as always. Good to be here. Thanks for having me. Always a pleasure for having this. Listening to me. No, we love. We love the conversation. I always learn new things.

You're also a little feed for me about what's going on. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, I remember hearing about that, but Batiaz knows more details than I do. It's a monthly update with Matisse. Exactly, exactly. This has been fun. Thanks, thanks everyone for tuning in.

Abe Garcia, thanks for tuning in. For get free, if I'm pronouncing wrong, Habibola Amadi, thanks for tuning in this morning. Neil Williamson, thanks for like to the show this morning. thanks everyone for your for your lights and shares always appreciate everyone next week well two weeks from now we'll be having on um from from german to Spanish we're going to be having on Andrea Jacobs from Siebel Sabroso festival yes that's coming in September so that's our classic Latino festival here in in Charlottesville so be sure to check that out

Alex is going to wear his uh was it sombrero well sombrero would be I don't know with Cuban sombrero obviously his classic Mexican you know the way wide-rimmed hat. Spain, it would be Sombrero de Trespitos, but I don't know what it would be called in Cuban. Maybe also just sombrero. So, the error just means hats.

Yeah. So it might just be the same thing. That is true. In Cuba. Yeah. We'll see. Maybe Xavier can you give a second? Exactly. He'll know. He'll know the answer. But be sure to check that out. Of course, be sure to check out.

Matiasio in Realty, of course. We love that. And Honeycuckle Creek Farm, be sure to check that out. you can find, of course, on our Today Maniana Facebook page, all are fantastic interviews, a bunch of whole bunch of just speaking of things to do and people who are here

making this a better place, be sure to check that out all their interviews are on there. It was great being on with you. Happy to have you back, Alex. The chair was cold and empty and in the field. I'm glad to warm it up. I'm glad to warm it up. I don't know, Jerry will be glad I warmed it up, but I'm glad to warm it up. But, of course, love

Georgeville Opera that they, you know, they were a great partner of ours through their season. they'll have another they're always doing new things so be sure to check them out Merger Financial Services love being on the I Love Segal Network set Love Judah Woodcaro

behind the camera making us all look good Alex loves everybody today I love everybody today I'm just glad to be back I love you the audience thanks so much for tuning in today we look forward to seeing you

in a couple weeks but until that time as we'd like to close it out on the show Asta mania Hello, boys.