I think the post provides support, and the comment is like a vine or any other little plant, maybe even a mushroom. If the post is a big strong tree, then the little plants thrive around it.
In the good environment the grassy plants support the saplings till they grow, and vise versa.

In the future when your situation improves, think about the following. When you do something you both produce and consume energy. It is best to do things that give more energy than they cost. Those things you can export, that is exchange for money. Other things that are not very efficient is possibly something that others are good at, so it might be possible to outsource them. It is best if the people around you complement each other in terms of what they enjoy doing.
I had an insight about thinking about economics and how ecosystems work, because all those things they are trying to emulate ecosystems, and those can be good or bad: variety rises, everything thrives, or things get stagnant & variety falls. Should observe & think more before having a solid model, but already there is some things are becoming apparent.