Dig, Plant, Water, Repeat chronicles the gardening journey of trained Master Gardener Janey Santos, who shares her experiences and tips through YouTube and on her podcast. We loved speaking with Janey and learning more about her beautiful garden in northern California. We love her gardening-focused videos that cover everything from gardening tours to advice and how-to’s. Janey also chatted with GOODLAND's founder, Craig, about slow living and the wood-fired hot tub experience in her podcast.
We’re so excited that Janey’s own garden features a Wood Burning Hot Tub that’s been beautifully set up for her and her family. Explore the videos to learn more about the process of setting up and using the Wood Burning Hot Tub, and read through Janey’s thoughts on the Hot Tub and gardening from a recent interview with her below.
How did you decide on your Wood Burning Hot Tub setup?
We put it right in the backyard and had a landscape designer come out. The hot tub is right off our back porch, so it’s easily accessible for us. The style of the tub is also perfect—I have a California-style garden, and so the natural wood works perfectly. For the setup, we commissioned a metal screen with an olive metal branch pattern. We have a lot of olive trees growing around, and I thought having the branch pattern would be pretty, and looks so nice against the GL tub. And, of course, first and foremost I’m a gardener, and so I had to surround it with lots of pots of plants and climbing roses—it makes the whole setup really romantic and pretty.
What was the big selling point on the Wood Burning Hot Tub, compared to other hot tubs out there?
I had wanted a hot tub for a long time, but my husband was super against the classic type of hot tubs with the chlorine and chemicals. I was so excited to find out about the GOODLAND tub, and knew it’d be a perfect solution.
We loved that it wasn’t this big beast of a traditional hot tub that makes all of this noise and costs so much to heat. To me, it was also just so romantic to have the water heated by fire.
Now that you’ve had the Wood Burning Hot Tub for a few months, are there any unexpected things you’ve discovered since using it?
I have two daughters who are 9 and 11. We were afraid that they weren’t going to be able to set it up, put the wood in, and all of that. We thought that we would have to do everything for them. But, within the first couple of times that we used it, they learned how to set up the tub and the fire safely. They love it because they feel independent, and of course we’re keeping an eye on them as they set it up.
It’s such a good thing for our family that gets us away from the screens, and outside. That was something I didn’t realize—just how good it would be for our family. The temptation of a hot tub experience has been great for connecting our kids with nature.
As a gardener, what makes a good outdoor space in your eyes?
I think the most important thing about an outdoor space is that it can’t only be beautiful, but it also has to be accessible. It has to be a space where you can go outside without shoes on and where you don’t have to get dirty right away. Ultimately, it’s got to be a space that’ll be comfortable and easy for you to access, even on days where you don’t want to be digging in the garden.
One of the reasons why we put the GOODLAND hot tub close to our back patio was exactly this. Having it nearby means that we can put on our swimsuits and run out barefoot—as opposed to having to put on shoes and a jacket. For us, this is a huge factor. Since it’s accessible and easy, we can use it so much more.
How does gardening connect with slow living?
So when I started gardening, being mindful wasn’t really my goal. I started gardening because I wanted my garden to look pretty. But, once I was out there, I realized that having my hands in the dirt, feeling the wind, and smelling the air outside made me slow down and focus on what I was doing. Over time, this has become the thing I cherish the most about gardening. I can be type A and focused, and gardening just became a way that it was a practice that allowed me to slow down.
I think it’s important to have a payoff for being mindful. For a garden, the payoff is a beautiful garden. For a hot tub, the payoff is the experience of soaking in a wood fired hot tub. Setting it up, smelling the firewood, and feeling the cool water turn into a warm tub—it just gives you that same mindful experience with this amazing payoff.
What’s your favourite part about a soak in the Wood Burning Hot Tub?
The smell. That might sound funny, but you know when you get in a regular hot tub and you smell chlorine and the chlorine overpowers everything else? Then, when you get out of the hot tub, your body smells like chlorine. With the Wood Burning Hot Tub, you smell the cedar, the air around you, and flowers if they’re blooming.
Courtney Dionne
Courtney leads the marketing team here at GOODLAND, where she shares her expertise on all things bathing, slow living, and more. She loves a good long walk in nature, lounging at the lake, birdwatching, and (of course) a soak in the Wood Burning Hot Tub.
