Get To Know Leaf & Limb: Meet Gus

The first thing I ask everybody is to introduce themselves however they’d like.

Hi, I’m Gus Frank. I was born in Nashville. I went to school for environmental studies at New College of Florida in Sarasota. I moved to Raleigh a few years ago.

You mentioned Nashville — I have to ask the obvious question. Are you a Nashville cat?

I would like to be a Nashville cat. I don’t know that my chops are that good yet, but I play some bluegrass, and I play the banjo. My family does a “picking circle” whenever I go back home. It is a very Nashville thing.

What originally drew you to this kind of work?

At school, I was in charge of the food forest for a few years. It’s a big permaculture system — a mix of tropical trees. Had about seven different kinds of mulberry, peanut butter fruit — stuff I’d never heard of. Sweet potatoes in the ground. We had a big old jackfruit. It’s a forest that makes food! It was awesome.

My thesis was to calculate the total amount of carbon stored in the above-ground plants in the food forest. It was a huge challenge and a big undertaking. Once it’s in the ground, there’s constant change, and I was struggling to keep up with the growth. I wanted to care for these trees, but I realized I had no actual knowledge of how to prune them. I was building theoretical knowledge through my studies and conducting extensive research. I was tired of learning from books, and I wanted to get my hands on some tools.

I wanted to learn how to actually care for these trees in a more meaningful way. And Leaf & Limb was the only company I found that was doing tree work in a more holistic way. I didn’t want to work with trees in a way I didn’t agree with on ethical grounds, such as cutting them down.

What was the most surprising thing about the job when you first started?

I was really blown away by how knowledgeable everyone was. We’re looking at trees as closely as you possibly can every day in a way that very few other people are. And the knowledge that people have of trees, and their inner workings, is truly astonishing at this job. And also how much they care, how purpose-driven everyone is.

What kind of things do you do at Leaf & Limb?

I joined to learn responsible tree work, but now I’m doing ecological restoration. Building native habitat is the most rewarding thing I can do. To me, we are trying to change the paradigm and people’s understanding of landscaping and what it means to own land. And I think a big part of that is caring for the land and allowing the land to manifest itself in the ways it wants to, which means restoring native ecosystems.

It’s so rewarding to start with someone’s front yard where it’s just turf grass and replace it with a prairie. Even within the first year, the amount of life bursting in that prairie is incredible, from bees to birds to rabbits. Dragonflies show up and get rid of the mosquitoes. I think it’s a very rare thing that this company provides — building native habitats and restoring the land to use.

What’s a skill or talent you have that people might not expect?

I love jug band music and I have a varied collection of electric kazoos and acoustic kazoos. I made a wash tub bass out of a barrel. I play washboard, and also banjo and guitar. I wish I was 12 people because then I could be a full jug band by myself, but I guess I need 11 more friends.

Do you have 11 more friends?

Yeah, but none of them are great at the spoons yet, so I’m kind of bumming on that front. I’m going to start putting up flyers. Spoon expert wanted for a jug band.

Is there a book, film, or person that has had a big influence on your life?

There’s a famous artist named James Turrell and he has art installations in Sarasota and Nashville. The one in Sarasota is a beautiful room with jasmine vines that go about seven feet tall. And wherever you stand, it’s framed perfectly with this square hole in the ceiling and a slightly sloped floor. I lay down on the floor, and for hours I just stared through the hole in the ceiling, watching the clouds move through this pinpoint focus on the sky, and how the sun reflected off them. When I walked outside, I saw so much more than that. I saw the trees, the grasses, the ocean, and it blew my mind. I realized the closer you look, the more beautiful everything is. And I took that moment and realized how I want to help improve the earth around me and look more closely.

That was beautifully said — and I would end here, but I’ve been dying to ask: what is a peanut butter fruit?

Ah! The peanut butter fruit looks like a cherry tomato and has a very strange, sandy texture, but it tastes exactly like peanut butter with a hint of grape jelly. It is uncanny. I spread it on some Wonder Bread and ate it like that, and it tasted no different than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I’ve got one in a pot at my house. If it ever grows a fruit, I will bring it in.

“You know who we have to feed it to, right?”

“Who?”

“Kelly” (the PB&J king of Leaf & Limb)

“You are so right.”