A Tiny Homestead

Mary E Lewis
  • 5.0 (7)
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Updated Semiweekly

We became homesteaders three years ago when we moved to our new home on a little over three acres. But, we were learning and practicing homesteading skills long before that. This podcast is about all kinds of homesteaders, and farmers, and bakers - what they do and why they do it. I’ll be interviewing people from all walks of life, different ages and stages, about their passion for doing old fashioned things in a newfangled way. https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes

  1. 5d ago

    Magnolia Morning Co

    Today I'm talking with Jennifer at Magnolia Morning Co.  This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee  https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company. 00:29 Today I'm talking with Jennifer at Magnolia Morning Company in Georgia. Good morning, Jennifer. How are you?  Good morning. I'm great. How are you? I'm good. How's the weather where you are?  Actually, it's a beautiful day. It's not so hot. We've had some really hot weather here in Georgia,  like scorching hot. But today is probably in the high 80s and it's calm. We might have some storms later on this afternoon. So it's a pretty nice day here. 00:58 Same here in Minnesota. Yesterday, it felt like September. It was 65 degrees for the high here.  That's beautiful. That's the perfect weather. think high 60s are the perfect temperature to me.  But then again, here lately, I'm cold and hot and cold and hot.  So I feel like I've got an internal thermometer that's going crazy all the time.  Yeah. It was a beautiful reprieve from the three weeks of tropical dew points we'd had before. 01:27 I bet, I bet.  We don't get that in Minnesota very often and my god was I reminded how much I hate humidity.  It's awful. So does my beautiful Australian shepherd dog. was dying.  She kept looking at me like save me and I'm thinking I can't save you. can't shave you. 01:53 I went to Michigan one time and got off the airplane up there and I immediately felt like I could breathe so much better. I was like, oh, the air is not heavy. It just feels wonderful. And I kept asking people, does it, is it like this all the time? Can you breathe? And the air feels, doesn't feel so heavy. And they're like, yeah, what are you talking about? You know, they just don't have a clue what it's like down here with all the humidity.  Yeah. 02:19 Like Minnesota is supposed to be like Michigan, but this summer has been ridiculous.  And I'm going to say it because I'm very excited about it. This heat that we've been having all summer has been wonderful for our gardens.  this week is tomato ripening week. The tomatoes are ripening in our garden.  Yes. Yes. My son has a little small garden as well, and he's been excited about his tomatoes.  So I can understand that. 02:48 I bet he doesn't have 190 plants getting ready to pop.  Holy cow, no. But if I would let him, he probably would.  He has a green thumb. I unfortunately have a black thumb.  I want to see things grow. I enjoy watching them grow. I especially enjoy, you know, fruits and vegetables, but I don't do well taking care of them. I don't. But he definitely has the gift of 03:16 My dad was really good with that. My dad could grow anything.  And my son has inherited that gene, I believe. So he grows beautiful things. He's got plants all throughout his room and a garden out here. And he takes care of all the flowers and all the things.  growing is a beautiful thing. a hundred, how many did you say? A hundred and eighty?  Over a hundred and ninety tomato plants in the garden.  Wow. That's impressive. 03:45 Yep. And our friends and neighbors will be very happy because they'll be buying canning tomatoes from us until probably mid September. Oh, that's awesome. That's awesome. Yeah, we're excited because last two summers we haven't really had very many because the weather was not kind to us. So we've been waiting and crossing everything we have and holding our breath all summer to see how this crop did. And it's looking really, really good. We just brought in the first ripening. 04:14 They're not red yet. They're not ready to eat, but they are definitely blushed. So that's fantastic. Well, good for y'all. I'm glad it's going to be fruitful for you this year. I hope so. I hope so. All right. So tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do, Jennifer. Well, I am a mother of five and a grandmother to two. I have two little grand boys that are eight and four.  And I am 04:44 A full-time everything.  And I'm sure you know what that means,  but I'm a full-time mom, a full-time grandmother, a full-time worker. have a full-time job.  I've been working since I was 15 years old.  Work is just what I do.  I'm a worker bee.  Married to a wonderful man for almost 35 years who is also a worker bee.  And we just stay busy a lot. 05:14 you know, and there's always something to do or something to take care of or somewhere to be or some errand to go or some crisis happening. We seem to have a lot of crisis in our family. I don't know why that is.  but, you know, it's a lot of fires to put out a lot of a lot of the time.  So personally, that's that's me in a nutshell,  just busy all the time. And that is how Magnolia Morning Company came about. 05:44 I needed to slow down.  when I say needed, I mean mentally and physically needed to slow down. My body started screaming at me and I had some episodes of some medical things that made me take pause and go, okay,  I've got to quit stressing out so much.  I've got to calm this down. I'm a natural worrier. 06:13 My brain stays going all the time and I just think things through. think about every scenario and I think about it backwards and forwards and it mentally takes a toll on you, you know, and I didn't know how to shut that off. And I would, you know, be busy doing things for my family and taking them here and there and letting them do the things they enjoyed.  And when my husband, bless his heart, he almost works seven days a week. 06:42 When he gets a little time off, he goes to do some things that he enjoys with his friends.  And I'm standing around one day and I'm going, you know, everybody else is doing something and I don't really know what to do.  I don't know how to stop. don't know how to, I'm just, you know, nobody was in the house and I was there. I was, you know, cleaning the kitchen or mopping the floor or something. And I was like, Jennifer, just slow down.  Just stop. Just take a pause and just rest. 07:10 And I realized I didn't quite know how to do that.  And the more I thought about it and thought about it and had some conversations with my girlfriends and they were like, yeah, Jennifer, you stay going all the time and doing, need to slow down.  But I just didn't understand how I was supposed to do that. You know, and I've, guess I've grown up thinking that rest meant being lazy.  And that's kind of how I equated it for so long. 07:38 So I didn't, so when I stopped, when I would stop and try and rest, I felt guilty. And I felt like I didn't deserve to do that. There were other things calling my name that I needed to take care of this or do that or go somewhere and handle this. And it just became harder and harder for me to do. And so when I had these conversations with my friends and things and thought a lot about it and put some, some time thinking about it and reading about rest and relaxation, I realized, you know, 08:09 I need this.  I mentally need it, I physically need it, and it's okay. There's nothing wrong with rest.  And that I didn't have to have anybody else's permission to do that.  So I started trying to figure out what I could do when I rest. I that sounds crazy, but you know, sometimes it's hard just to sit still. And I didn't know how to sit still, but I also didn't know 08:37 really what I enjoy to do if I were to rest, if I were to find something that I wanted to do to entertain myself, to do something just for me, what would I do?  And so in thinking of all that, and I was talking to my husband one night and I was telling him about it and I said, you know, I said, I bet there's other people out there like me. I bet there are women that are my age and I'm in my early 50s and I bet there are women that 09:06 are like me that don't really know how to rest and don't know what to do when you rest and or even maybe don't even know what they like anymore because they've spent the entirety of their life taking care of somebody else, which is what I feel like I've been doing.  And not that I'm complaining. That's just, you know, what I did all my life. I took care of somebody, whether it be my parents or my children or my grandchildren or something.  And so 09:35 We were talking about it and I was like a light bulb went off and I thought, you know, why don't I put something together and share it with other women and let them know that it's okay if we rest, if we stop,  if we just take a pause,  if we just collect our thoughts or we just have some me time. It's so mentally important to have that me time. And I'm just now learning this because I've not 10:04 I've not done that my entire life. I've not done that.  I've always been a doer and a fixer and I wanted to make everybody else okay. I wanted to do whatever was necessary,  jump whatever hurdle there was to make somebody else's life easier.  And I didn't complain about that. That's just what I did. And I enjoyed it for many, many years. I enjoyed it.  And 10:33 But nobody ever stepped up to make my life better or easier. And I was starting to realize that maybe I needed some of that. You know, I needed somebody else to

  2. Jul 31

    Cole Canyon Farms - more ChchchChanges

    Today I'm talking with Morgan at Cole Canyon Farms.  This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee  https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company. 00:28 Today I'm talking with Morgan at Cole Canyon Farms in Montana.  Good afternoon, Morgan. How are you? Good afternoon. I am doing wonderful. I mean, it's 100 degrees here, but we haven't melted quite yet. Well, I'm glad you haven't melted. And in Minnesota,  it is, I can tell you exactly what the temperature is because I'm sitting here holding my phone.  77 degrees right now feels like 77.  Can I switch you? You come here and I'll go there. 00:56 No, I'm sorry. I can't do that because we had two weeks of dew points that were tropical and temperatures above 90.  This break we've had has been beautiful. Yeah, I thought I moved up to Montana for it to not be Arizona weather, but here we are, 100 degree weather.  I mean, it literally raises, you know, 10 degrees as you're watching it, you know, the time. So if it's seven o'clock in the morning, it's 70 degrees and outside 80 at eight. It's just wild. 01:25 em I'm shocked.  I understand because  I don't remember a time in my 30 years of living in Minnesota two weeks of that kind of heat and humidity. It's crazy. We've had high humidity here too, which is out of dorm, know, but it's destroyed crops out here. Hay is  astronomical. can't even,  I four times as much. I'm just like, all right, well. 01:53 I thought Montana grew a little bit better hay and wheat,  we just haven't gotten the moisture. It's been really humid outside, but the rain is like coming later in the year. We normally don't get a lot of rain this month, but we have and it's way hotter than normal. Yeah, I don't like it. I would like things to go back to the night to 19. Honestly, if I'm being real, I'd like things to go back to 1985.  You know, 02:21 I have heard that a few times that like the early 1980s to early 90s was like the time to be alive. I wasn't alive until 1994.  So I missed that whole fun part.  Yeah, I was like 15 or 16 in 1985 and I hated school, but I loved my life in general at that age. So it would be nice to revisit it.  Yeah. You know, everyone said I was going to need all that, you know, all that school I was learning and like, well, I needed some of it, honestly. 02:50 wish I would have just started farming sooner. I understand why some kids would just drop out and go farm instead.  Yes. And don't get me wrong. I loved my teachers. I loved learning. I didn't like the social aspect of it at all. Yeah, that's right. Because like I'm a social butterfly and over the years I've learned you're kind of a homebody hermit.  like to be your space. I have been shy and quiet my whole entire life. I have been an extreme introvert and 03:18 I tell that to people in real life and they're like, no, you're not. And I'm like, you have no idea how hard I have to work to be social.  You and my husband are scup from the same cloth. Let me guess your husband's a bubbly extrovert. He is most of the time. Yeah. See, that's funny. Opposites definitely attract. So he does your farmers markets, doesn't he? He's the one that goes and sets them up.  Yes, he's very good at it. That's right. He was growing cabbage. How did that go? 03:45 That was our last podcast. talked about the cabbage and lettuce. it was. Yeah, it was cabbage. I think he's sold every single head of the cabbage he's taken so far this summer. See, it was smart of him to up his cabbage amount, but that's because you guys tracked your numbers and you knew what you guys were going to sell. We just started doing farmers markets and I've learned from what you guys told me.  Well, you specifically, because I talked to you, not your husband. Well, you talked to him through me, but yes. 04:13 Yeah, of course, you know, and he he had tracked his numbers. So he went three times as many as that. Correct.  I think so. Yeah. See, so I track my milk  and I've been making goat cheese  and I started making goat caramel also.  And it's been helping. So this week I had to have like a break because of the extreme heat.  get issues with the milk  animals in general. 04:40 you know, cows or goats. They just have a really hard time with the heat. It kind of bogs down their immune system.  It's also been really wet, which is like typical intestinal worm season. So we've just been kind of working through that and at a later time.  So we had to take two weeks off and man, I felt it. I felt it in our wallet. I felt it. You know, I was like, I can't wait until you're back in milk. So I ended up buying a second milk goat just to try and keep up with the demand that were. 05:08 already having our first year at this Red Lodge Farmer's Market. Mm-hmm.  So you said you're making caramel? Yes, it's called Kahita and it's a goat caramel. Yeah. It's so good. I sold out  in my first 30 minutes when I took it to the first uh Red Lodge Farmer's Market. I was selling pints for 15. I'm going to up them to 20 just because supply and demand. It takes one whole gallon of milk, you know, to make six uh 05:38 I think they're half pints. Sorry, not full pints. They're half pints. it's it renders down really far. But  I  added in cinnamon sticks to the  first half instead of adding an actual ground cinnamon this time.  And I like figured out my own recipe. Like, know, you kind of take a base recipe, tweak it a few times. So this was my first time taking it out. And I did free samples and everyone who tried it bought  a 06:07 bought a half pint of it. I even had two roommates and they were like, I'll fight you over it. They were going to just split it for their coffee. And they're like, no, I'll fight you over it. They were younger and they were real funny. So they ended up each buying a half pint and they wrote their names on them  so they could keep them separate because it was so good.  Uh huh. And the thing is not very, I mean,  I am ruining this. Sorry. Let me try that again.  That thing  is Kehita or Kaheda, however you say it. Yeah.  Is  unusual. 06:35 not a lot of people make it.  it is definitely a supply and demand thing. And I would pay $20  for a half pint of that because I'm only going to do it  once a year and I'm going to enjoy it.  And a lot of the people that go to this Red Lodge Market, it's a tourist town.  So a lot of them are traveling. So a lot of the people, it's almost 06:59 I mean, there's a lot of normal  farmers markets where they're not in tourist towns that I could go to, but my booth is $15 there. And so it's a very affordable booth  and you constantly have a new crowd and  every  Saturday during the farmers market, they have some type of event that's either going on before it. have Zuma this weekend and a car show, or they're doing like something after like they did Shakespeare in the park last weekend or the weekend before that. 07:29 Like they do this really cool. If you look it up, you'll laugh. It's called the Iron Horse Rodeo out there. And it's a bunch of bikers that are doing the barrel racing and all those types of events, but on their motorcycle. So you get a new crowd every week and they have, they all have different things they're looking for.  Or, you know, you're attracting a crowd that's maybe not used to some of the things that you're in the farmer's market doing. So having an item like I have, and also offering Chev. 07:56 um, which is just goat cheese. I didn't know that it's any type of goat cheese. I didn't realize that until after I started making it,  um, was one of those things that it's a niche, not a lot of people are doing it.  And so  I had people showing up, you know, from an hour away just to buy goat cheese from me because it was closer than where I'm at in Laurel. So it's honestly opening up to a whole new 08:22 I guess you could say atmosphere of folks, right? Like I'm getting to see a different market every week. So I feel that tracking my numbers is really important. So I'm able to kind of watch all those different things, you know, because the Iron Horse rodeo, I didn't sell any goat cheese. I didn't have um a lot of the products that I had because my goat was taking a break, but I'm almost glad I didn't because of the fact that, you know, we... 08:50 I wouldn't have sold them. Nobody asked for them. I talked about them, but everyone was like, oh, goat cheese. There's this like weird stigma around Shev, around Kehita, um and goat milk in general. So it's one of those things. I mean, we've talked enough times about it. I'm very passionate about it. I'm very passionate about kind of breaking the stigma because goat milk is going to be something with the way hay prices are going that I think we're going to start seeing a lot more of because it's almost unattainable to raise a dairy cow. 09:20 Yes, I have talked to a few dairy people in the last few weeks and it is becoming impossible to get in to dairy work unless you are part of a dairy family right now.  Correct. I've actually been looking at expanding into a dairy cow because I'd like to make my own cream c

  3. Jul 27

    Zebulon Heritage Farm

    Today I'm talking with Ronel at Zebulon Heritage Farm.  This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee  https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company. 00:28 Today I'm talking with Ronel at Zebulon Heritage Farm in Tennessee. Good morning. Ronel, how are you? Good morning. Doing well. How about you? I'm good. Is it hotter than Hades in Tennessee this morning? It just about is. Yeah, I looked at the map that was on the news yesterday and the whole country was red. I was like, that doesn't happen very often. Mother Nature, what? 00:56 What got up your butt and irritated you? Because you're hot. There's something wrong.  Right. It's been a hot month for sure. It's been hot month. It's been terrible.  And  like I said to my co-host on my other podcast, I have two.  The other one is Grit and Grace in the Heartland. um I said to her the other day, I said, I'm trying to keep a really good attitude about this. 01:24 it's getting exceedingly more difficult with every day that the dew point is over 70 in Minnesota. That doesn't happen. Right. Cause that's a little different than here in the East where we have a lot of anyway. Yeah, absolutely. Minnesota is, is yes, close to a great lake, Lake Superior. It's right next to it. But last I knew great lakes weren't the same as ocean. 01:49 I grew up in Maine, so we had a lot of humidity in the summer in Maine. But you would not expect it to be this sticky. Well, I guess it is mid-July now, but usually we get the sticky in August. So it's been a bit much to swallow, Ronel. Let's just put it that way. I totally get it. I totally get it. Yes. So I would love for you to tell me a little bit about yourself and about what you do at Zebulon Heritage Farm. 02:19 Sure, sure. I guess, well, it's kind of a long story. mean, going back, I guess as a kid, I grew up on a homestead where we would bring you some bottle calves back then you could buy them for $5 from a dairy. And we milked some goats as a kid. I was never so fond of the goat milk though. So I guess later we got a family cow, I guess I was about 12. And my dad's like, here's a cow, milk her, take care of her, I want butter. 02:49 And then I milked the family cow for a lot of years. And I guess about 12 years ago, I decided at that point, I already had my own family. I decided I want to start a herd share. Some herd shares have been legal in Tennessee for quite a few years. So I added a second cow and then a third cow. And I guess over the past 12 years, it's just gradually grown and become 03:19 Well, full-time business.  Very nice. So  I know what A2A2 milk is. Is that what it's called? Right? Sure. Yes. But not all of my listeners will know. Can you explain what's special about A2A2 milk? Okay. So I guess there's a lot of different opinions, but I guess the short answer is it is the betacassin, which is the protein  in the milk. 03:48 but I guess it's dependent on the cow's genetics. there are a lot of different variants. And I guess most people don't know that. Most people assume it's either A1 or A2, but there's actually a lot of different variants. And A2, A2, which is both markers are A2, is the desirable one. It is believed to be more digestible, associated with better health. And I do believe there's merit in that because I have more than one 04:18 hard to share member that has told me they had raw milk. mean, most of the time if people can't drink store milk, they can drink raw milk, right? Because it's more digestible, it's less processed. But I have a couple of share members who have told me that they reacted badly to raw milk that wasn't A2A2 and they are able to drink my A2A2 milk. So there is definitely something to it and it is definitely something that a lot of people 04:47 or after because it's  associated with better digestion and better health. Thank you for explaining that because if I had attempted to explain that, I would have butchered it. It would not have been good. I was looking at your Facebook page and your website. Is it just jerseys that you milk or is it another  breed as well? 05:08 Yes, we have only jerseys. I mean, we do have a beef herd too that we  raise grass-red beef. But as for milking, we only have herded registered A2 jerseys. So it didn't start out that way. I just had some random jersey, you know, that I had no idea, you know, anything about her really,  as far as this A2 registration goes. But I gradually, um I guess, built up to the registered herd. So I bought like one registered cow and then bred her  and  tested. I bred only two A2 bulls. 05:39 And the calves I tested and I got lucky in the sense that even though if I had 50 % chance, I ended up getting mostly A2 cuffers. So my herd became fully A2 very quickly.  And then I just continued breeding to A2. So from there, we just went off with A2 cows. Okay.  I'm going to say this for me.  I would get nothing done if I had a herd of jerseys because I love their faces. 06:07 And all I want to do is hang out with them  and kiss their noses and stroke their ears. They are so pretty. Sure. I'm biased too. mean, know every breed has their perks and they definitely have their place, but I'm biased too. mean, the jerseys are just super pretty and they're just so curious. mean, they just have personality and they can be different too. mean, some are definitely nicer than others, but generally speaking, they're just  so like  part of the family kind of temperament, know. 06:37 They always look like they're going to be really sweet. I'm not saying that every single Jersey cow is sweet, but they look like they're going to be very sweet critters. And they are. I mean, I think I've had ones with my kids were a little, it's like before I could stop them, you know, they would call them on the cow or crawl under the cow. I was like, Oh my goodness, you know, you shouldn't be doing this to a cow, but you know, this particular half-puff, she didn't care. Yeah. It's just that, um, you know, some of them are just really gentle. Some of them not so much. mean, most, most of ours are really. 07:06 well-behaved.  I don't keep cows that aren't, but some are really friendly and they will be like upping your business.  Yeah, yeah. I would love to meet your cows. I think that it's so fun. I don't have any cows. We don't have room.  If we had room and I was about 20 years younger,  we probably would have cows.  Right. And I will say this to people starting out,  cows are a digger. 07:33 You know, I never had any intention of having the amount of cows I have right now.  It just kind of like every time a pepper was born, was like, I cannot sell her. You know, I have to keep her. And then I end up with, you know, 40 something calves. I'm going, okay, I got a problem.  Well, if you're that smitten with the Jersey breed, you must be just absolutely beside yourself  in love with the babies every time there's babies. Oh, yes. Oh, yes. They're just so cute. But I mean, they just look like a little deer. Yeah, I 08:02 I have a hard time every time I need to make a decision to keep one or not keep one, know.  Yeah.  Yep. And I can't believe that you remember when you could get  a calf for $5. Do you know how much a calf is going for right now? Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. I just sold one this morning. I  mean, it's just a jersey bull. This one I sold, so they're not bringing as much, but the beef couch right now. Oh my goodness. They're, yeah, it's crazy what they're bringing right now. 08:28 Yeah, just a couple of years ago, I think you could still get a beef calf for like 50 bucks.  Right.  Right now. I heard the other day over a thousand dollars. Right. Nope. That's basically the heifers are going for  a thousand and upwards.  That's a hell of an investment.  Right. Right. And I mean, haven't, you just a few years ago in the time that I was running a herd chair, if I sold an adult cow that was like 08:58 kind of a, you could say a call, you know, maybe when she wasn't breeding or whatever, but she was a nice, fat, healthy, otherwise cow. When you sold her, you would be getting like $200. I mean, I sold more than one that I got $200 for. And I'm like, those days are so gone. Yeah. And I'm really afraid that the days of owning cows and steers or bulls is coming to an end because I keep reading about how the 09:26 I'm going to say bovines. The bovine herds across the United States are shrinking because farmers can't afford to keep them. Right. Right. And that is a concern because it's so, mean, buying replacements.  mean, initially it was like, you know, if a cow, if you didn't want a particular cow or there's something wrong with her, you just bought another, you know, it wasn't, it wasn't a big deal. But right now it's like, you have to, you know, you have to like take out a loan to buy.  You know, they're so expensive, especially if you're trying to buy a nice one. 09:56 Yeah, it's hard to get started in the business right now if you don't already have cows because they're so expensive to get. Yeah, if you're not part of a family that  is raising steers or dairy

  4. Jul 24

    La Terre Farms

    Today I'm talking with Connor at La Terre Farms.  This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee  https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company. 00:29 Today I'm talking with Connor at La Terre Farms in Mississippi. Good morning, Connor. How are you? Good morning. I'm good. Enjoying this breeze out here. So. Yeah. My first question is usually, how's the weather? So how is the weather in Mississippi today? Honestly, it's very nice.  We've been in the hundreds, I think, the past month.  So it's kind of nice to have a breeze out here.  Would you believe that they're suggesting, and I use that term with a lot of hope,  suggestion. 00:59 that it's going to be 104 here on Sunday in Minnesota. Oh my gosh.  Yeah. Wow. Minnesota. Yeah. Yep. I'm praying that the forecast changes between now and then because  I keep saying this. shouldn't keep saying it, but I'm going to anyway. I hate high summer. I hate being hot.  I would rather it be minus 20 out because when you, you,  when it's that cold, you can put on a whole 01:28 megaton of clothes and be warm. But when it's so super hot, you cannot be any more naked than naked.  You know, that is very true.  I must prefer cold weather too, honestly. So the springtime is my favorite summertime.  I absolutely hate farming. Yeah, it's terrible. Yeah, I don't I hate saying that because summertime can be wonderful. 01:55 but not when we get these crazy swings in temperatures. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Yeah. Now you were saying that that tropical storm is moving toward you or you're just getting some of the side effects of it. I think they're just getting, honestly, I have not kept up to date with it. My wife has. She keeps me sane. So she keeps up to date with everything. I just stay in here and look pretty, you know. 02:23 Well, that's a nice job to have  and your stress levels probably stay a little bit lower because of it.  Alrighty, so it's a beautiful day in Minnesota. It was 57 degrees at five o'clock this morning  after a couple weeks of really muggy, really hot weather. So 57 felt like 27  and I was so happy  to feel a little bit of a chill in the air. I was like, wow, that's novel. 02:52 It was it was lovely. I was drinking my coffee with the window open on the front porch and I was like,  oh, that's good.  And it's also sunny today and there's a slight breeze  and it's just perfect July weather for Mary Evelyn. For me, this is great.  It's going to start going back up tomorrow. So I'm going to enjoy today for all it is worth.  I would love to hear a little bit about yourself and what you guys do at La Terre Farms.  Yes, ma'am. So. 03:21 Um, around COVID, um, I had a, job. worked at a science museum and I was a tour guide. And by COVID, uh, we kind of had like a shutdown period, you know, just like everyone did. And so I started to hang out with mom and dad up here a lot, just cause we kind of isolate ourselves from everywhere. Um, and I just, you know, I just wanted to be with mom and dad, make sure they're okay. Um, you're a good son. I try. Um, 03:51 And so we were sitting on top of our barn at the time. Um,  and I was just looking out and I'm like, man, this place is beautiful. Like, why aren't we doing anything up here? You know, like, yeah, it's family land  and  it's beautiful, but I really think I could do something.  And fun fact, my grandpa is actually, was actually a farmer. So we have land in Tallulah, Louisiana  and  my great-grandpa was a 04:21 So it runs in the family. Now I'm not growing cotton or soybeans or any of the hard stuff. ah I'm sticking with flowers. But I just had like an inkling to start farming for some reason. just had like a, I wanted to do something on my own  and thankfully mom was on board with me and now she's stuck with it so she can't escape. uh And so we just  looked up the most profitable 04:51 crop to grow. And number one was lavender. Yeah. And then number two was cut flowers. And I was like, well, I'll be down. And so we started doing that. From the beginning, we didn't know what we were doing. So there's been a lot of trial and error, you know, a lot of failures, but honestly, that's the best teacher, you know, so. And so we sell the florist, we do events up here at the farm at the house and pavilion. 05:20 And we, we, uh, sell the New Orleans floors. sell the base and Lewis force I dell. So we, we never stop, honestly.  That's awesome. have a question about your lavender.  Oh, yeah. Do you, you, um, sell that to places that distill the oil? Um, so I honestly, in the summer, just in heat in general, in our zone,  um, throughout the whole season. 05:50 The only lavender that I know of that can grow down here is Spanish lavender. Um, and I have tried to grow lavender. Uh, unfortunately it does not work out for me. So like, example, we're in Nucleus and Lizzy Anthus, which I grew this year. And I I saw your, your video of it. It's beautiful. Yeah. So I used to, uh, I gave it to the florist. That's why he kind of saw the. 06:20 the last bit of it. But I had heads three times that size. So it's very exciting because it's a really hard flower to grow. Yeah. And then ranunculus, same thing, I would love to grow that but each each state has their own zones are each, you know, state has their own zones. So we're zone nine B nine A, think. And so we can't grow ranunculus. 06:48 We're a 4B here in Minnesota, at least where I am. Yeah.  Yeah. you probably could peonies and all that.  Oh, darling.  I have so many peonies. It's my favorite flower on earth.  I have  like 50, 50, I don't know.  I don't want to say plants because they spread. I started out with about 20 and now I have at least 50 clumps of peony bushes. 07:18 along my driveway. And that's beautiful. Are you interested in the colors? Oh yeah. No, I honestly, love, I love peanuts too. So yeah, have yellow and baby pink and Hello Kitty pink. I don't know if you know what that is, but  Hello Kitty  is a popular little girl's thing. And this color is, is associated with Hello Kitty. So I call it Hello Kitty pink  and 07:47 I have burgundy, have yellow, have coral, and I have white,  like pure white. And every spring,  Connor telling you, it gets to May 1st and I'm just looking at these peony shoots coming up.  And I'm like, please don't get frosted. Cause if they get frosted, they do not bloom. The little buds just freeze and turn black. And this year we had hundreds of blooms. was so beautiful. You know, speaking of frosts. 08:17 You know, it's funny, people are like, man, I wish I could do what you do. You know, I wish I grow flowers and walk through the flowers and  just enjoy the beautiful air. I'm like, do you understand  what goes through on how to grow flowers? You know, it's truly, it's a very delicate situation with flowers, you know? And so like I have to constantly remind myself to keep going. 08:46 Cause like in the summertime, I ain't cranky. I'm like, I don't want to do this. I'm out here. I don't want to do it, but I'm out here. So I had to constantly remind myself like, man, I got a good life, you know, but once they start growing and once they start blooming, that's when I say I have a good life. Yeah. I am constantly saying on this podcast that growing produce or raising animals is a crap shoot. 09:14 It is a wonderful life, but you've got to be equipped to deal with highs and lows because it's not always in the middle. No, it's it never is. You know, actually we lost. Sorry, I'm just rambling here, but we lost. Let's see. So the big snowstorm that happened in Mississippi a couple of years back, definitely suffocated all of our flowers and we're like, oh my gosh, they were all black and we're like, oh, this is terrible. 09:44 And sure enough, snow is a great insulator for  anything, honestly, but especially for flowers. they came up and like, were just gigantic. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. But any other time with just a normal frost,  ice or anything, they're dead.  So.  frost is a different phenomena than snow. Yeah. uh 10:13 It's pretty humbling experience, but you know, I love what I do.  And by the way, my grandpa was a farmer, so it's just in the blood.  And I to hang out with my parents. So that was nice. Yeah. So you were saying that your mother is stuck with this now.  I'm guessing your mom is totally fine with this. Oh yeah. No, she, uh, honestly, she keeps me going because, uh, she's always thinking about the next step. Whereas I,  she calls me, uh, 10:43 was it, um, where I just walk around, I go at my own pace, which drives her nuts. Um, which is a very slow pace, by the way. And she's like, we gotta hurry up. And so she's thinking like 20 steps ahead where I'm, you know, steadily just making the beds and, know, do no labor. I'm like, man, I don't know what I'd do without you. You gotta teach me your ways. She's a, she's like Yoda. Yes, she is definitely Yoda. 11:12 Her name is Terry.  Yes, ma'am. Terry Wiley. Shout out to Terry. What a great mom. And what a great really what a great mom for supporting you in this idea. Y

  5. Jul 20

    Linden Hill Ranch LLC

    Today I'm talking with Hannah at Linden Hill Ranch LLC.  This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee  https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company. 00:29 Today I'm talking with Hannah at Linden Hill Ranch LLC in Missouri. Good afternoon, Hannah. How are you? I'm fine. Thank you. How are you, Mary? I am a little frazzled. I don't know why, but I am.  I think it might be the heat. So I always say, how's the weather? You're in Missouri. Clearly it's hot.  Yes.  It's  think upper eighties today, but we're going to be back in the nineties real soon. 00:57 And humid, of course.  Yeah, the humidity, the dew point is just kicking our butts here in Minnesota. We don't have tropical dew points  for more than a few days in a row,  usually in the summer. And it's been tropical dew points for over a week.  like, um I feel like Frosted Snowman at the end of the show when he melts. 01:25 Yes. I'm dating myself because I don't think that that show is even played on network TV anymore at Christmas time. But I was born in 1969. So Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and all those cute little cartoons that they played at Christmas time. I got to watch those every year growing up. 01:52 And I'm talking about winter stuff to make myself think that it's not as hot as it is. So,  all righty. So,  tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do  at Linden Hill Ranch. Sure. So, um right now we're running a  small regenerative grazing operation with commercial katan hair sheep.  We have livestock guardian dogs that help keep them safe. 02:21 And we've recently  introduced horses into our rotational grazing program. And we also have, let me count.  I think we got 26 birds, uh combination of chickens and guinea fowl and turkeys. Okay. I have to know, did you have experience with horses before you introduced them to the farm? To the ranch? So that's, that's, I'll try to. 02:50 try to sum that up. So I had a little bit of contact with Western pleasure in my earlier life. uh My daughter, when she was in her  preteen, early teens got into English  dressage. And so she's been  getting a lot of horsemanship in her life.  We've sort of been reading and learning and... 03:16 We really wanted for her to have a horse of her own on property just for the, there's a lot of value. Horses are deeply sensitive, very attuned animals. And we couldn't get one, you have to get two because they need a friend. So we, you know, did like what we did with everything. We read, we studied, we learned, we found people who've done it, you know, for years and years that we could kind of pull on their knowledge. 03:46 And yeah, so we've had our horses here on property for,  I'd say,  let me count  pastors because we're rotating them. I would say it's been close to a month and a half now. Nice. Are you enjoying it? I'm sure she is, but are you enjoying it?  Oh, I'm loving it.  I  used to in my previous life have a pretty stressful job that I worked  and em 04:15 Having the horses, my horse is, he's  a 15 hand quarter horse gelding. And he kind of picked me because I wasn't sure that I was looking for a horse  and he's  lovely. I'll just go out there, we'll breathe together and he wants to be hugged and cuddled.  So  he's my buddy. And so that's kind of what I get out of it now.  And then the other horse was. 04:44 I'm unhandled and he's my daughter's project horse. He's coming along nicely. Nice. Um, it sounds like you got yourself a puppy dog horse.  Nomad is definitely, definitely like that. And I appreciate him just for what he is. And  I just, I like,  I love that horses, have to find your zero. You have to find  your, some people might call it Zen space. I'm not in the Buddhist tradition.  So 05:12 I hope I'm not misusing that term, but it's that place of, you know, sort of passionless peace. And that's what horses like to be. And then you can be with it, with them, if you learn. Yeah, I call it centering. m And that way I don't have to worry about offending anybody or appropriating anything because  appropriating is a terrible thing nowadays. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. And I say that kind of with a curl to my 05:41 my lip because I feel like I've always been told that that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Yeah. But I feel like now imitation is the highest form of insult and it kind of drives me a little crazy. Yeah. It's it's a complicated world out there isn't it? It is. And if I'm 56 and I'm having 06:12 trouble feeling my way through all the changes in words. Can you imagine how it is for my almost 80 year old mom and 80 almost 83 year old dad? Yeah. They it's so funny. My dad is very, very with it. He's very hip. He's very, very up to date, but he's 83 years old. He's seen a lot of change or he will be 83 years old. 06:37 I keep thinking he's 83 because he'll be 83 on July 30th.  And my mom  is  with it  and very up to date, but she doesn't really follow. She's not very social, so she's not with younger people very often.  And so my dad will say something and she'll be like, what's that? Because she wasn't with him when he heard the new term. So it's been really interesting watching how they 07:05 gather information and how they perceive it. Yeah. I think part of the key to all of this and to livestock and to homesteading is empathy. Yeah. It's whenever we put ourselves in the shoes of others or even our animals, our plants and think about, if I, what do I, what did they need? What would 07:33 If I were them,  if I were a  sheep or a livestock dog or I'm an apple orchard, what do I need? What are my needs? I think, I think people,  it's, we're all, we're all kind of the same. We're all part of this universe together. And like, this is, this is something I'm learning. Like empathy is, empathy is so important and relationships. And I just think it might apply to almost everything. Yeah. 08:03 I think so too. And if you and I can just put that bug in people's ears with this episode of having compassion for your fellow man  and instead of saying, why are you like that? Why don't you say what happened to you? Yeah. It changes the frame. Yes.  So we could do a whole psychology episode, but we're not going to. 08:29 I want to hear about your Katatins, but I also want to hear about your livestock guardian dogs because  we do not have a livestock guardian dog. We have a small Australian Shepherd. Her name is Maggie. I talk about her at an ad museum because I love her to pieces. She will be six in August and she is a fantastic watchdog. That is her job at our homestead.  So tell me about yours. 08:55 Okay. I love to talk about my dogs. So here it goes.  So,  um,  let me talk about them in the order that we got them. So  just for some clarification,  we moved to our current larger acreage, um,  homestead, farmstead, just a couple of months ago. Before that we lived in a big city  and we had a small property under 40 acres,  um, where we basically ranched our sheep. 09:24 And so we were doing the driving back and forth. ah One of the things that was really key for us for that was our livestock guardian dogs. So we got our first, um well, back up even further, we got our very first livestock guardian dog, a purebred Anatolian Shepherd female a little over five years ago. And we got her while you were still in the city. Oh, wow. Hoping we were,  yeah, this is how we learned about Anatolian Shepherds, but. 09:53 She's been able to manage her pretty well. I've had no incidents to report of anything negative happening with her, but she, yeah, we raised her in the city in our home and I took her on walks and the hope was that we would be able to get property sooner. And sometimes things don't happen on the timetable you want. So we ended up with this lovely, lovely, very protective watchdog, as you can imagine. 10:22 who adores us  and is a little suspicious of guests and visitors. So, you know, she has a place where we can put her where she's safe whenever we have visitors out here. But that was our first introduction to Livestock Guardian Dogs. OK, I have a question. How old was she when you got her? We got her at about 10, 11 weeks.  Oh, so not only Anatolian Shepherd, but Anatolian Shepherd puppy. 10:49 We raised, we raised a puppy, but she wasn't the first, she was the first puppy that we raised, not first one that didn't actually  get to be with livestock. But  yes, a puppy.  we  had, we don't, we don't go, we, go all in. um Um,  but we, but we really work hard to educate ourselves, um, and get mentors and read and study and learn and practice because you have to be careful. I mean, I think. 11:19 I would not recommend that for a lot of people to get that kind of a dog. You must have been what about 20 pounds when you got her? I don't even remember. She was just little and she was lovely. mean, we didn't have issues with her except that she reached an age where we would have to put her someplace safe. 11:47 so that she wouldn't be an absolute  menace.  We had people over and they're not all that way. uh Ou

  6. Jul 17

    Happy Hippie Homestead

    Today I'm talking with Nicole at Happy Hippie Homestead.  This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee  https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company. 00:28 Today I'm talking with Nicole at the Happy Hippie Homestead  in Kentucky. Good afternoon, Nicole. How are you? Hello. Hello. How's it going? It's going good. The weather here in Minnesota is gray and it's going to start raining again any minute. And I don't know if you know what the weather's been like in Minnesota for the last week and a half, but it's been hot and we have gotten rain every day for the last seven days now. 00:53 It's been kind of like that here, but we've gotten rain the last couple of days, which we're grateful for because the garden could use a good drink.  Um, so we're, we're happy that we got some. Yeah. Yeah. It's been like a hundred here. What about you guys? Like humid and hot too? A week ago, Monday. So not three days ago, but a week ago.  Um, 01:22 It was  really,  really  muggy. Like it was above tropical dew point. And we don't get that very often in Minnesota. It was a very long, very sloggy day that Monday. That's hard. That's hard. Yep. we get them a lot here.  used to that. So yeah, very muggy and humid here in the summer. 01:47 Yeah, it'll be muggy, but it's not like you step outside and you're in the shower. That's how it felt last Monday. Yeah. It was gross. My dog was very unhappy all day. She's a, an Australian shepherd and she has the real thick curly hair. Oh yeah.  And oh she laid around  all day and every time I would walk by her, she'd just look up at me like, mom fix it. Oh yeah. 02:16 Our dogs like to go out for a little, you know, runs around the big backyard, but then, you know, are happy to come back in because it's just too much sometimes.  yeah. She,  usually if I let her out, she'll go out in the grass and she'll do her rolly pollies. So she rolled around on her back and her tummy  and,  she just hangs out for maybe 15 minutes. And I let her out that day at about two o'clock in the afternoon. She walked out to the edge of the cement pad, got on the grass. 02:46 and immediately came back up the steps to be let back in.  No laying in the grass, no roly-poly's.  I was like, oh, it must be really miserable for you because this is not your routine. So yeah,  it's been bad. um But our gardens are really liking the heat and then the little bit of rain every day. So I'm very excited about our gardens this year. Oh, that's nice. That's always so good. 03:14 when you have your garden going nice, you know. Oh, it looks so pretty right now. It is so gorgeous. And  every time I look at it, I'm just like, please hang in there. Just keep going. Keep going. I want many, many tomatoes this year. Please. I  I beg my garden to behave, you know. Yes,  it's yeah, it's interesting. We work because we're always like if we. 03:43 plant too early, you know, and then it gets real hot and humid and then you get like, you know, you could get blight or whatever. So you try to, you know, time it. So things are looking pretty good  right now. So we're hoping, we're hoping that's a good mater year. Yeah. The last two summers have been not good for us. So the fact that we have over 190 tomato plants in the garden right now looking healthy and happy. 04:09 is a very welcome site and we thought we were going to lose those because we had early blight. But somehow, somehow they recovered. I don't know how. I think the good Lord said, you guys had miserable summers. The last two summers were tomatoes. I'm going to fix your plants. I was like, thank you.  Thank you.  So, so tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do at Happy Hippie Homestead. 04:35 So um we grow all kinds of vegetables.  We have a no-till garden. um We  use all the animal waste and compost it and put that back into the garden. And we don't do  sprays or anything.  And we also use all the wasted hay to mulch the garden. 05:02 kind of use like the roost out or the lasagna method if you're familiar with that. em And tell me what it is for the listener though if you want to talk about. Oh yes, yes. So it's basically where you, you know, just keep piling up plant matter and compost  and it's a good weed preventative when you do that, but it also helps to keep the moisture in the ground and keeps the ground a little bit cooler. 05:31 which is nice when we have summers like what we were talking about.  So the ground doesn't get too hot and dry out. And then it helps um also with erosion.  And  it's something that, you know, we really don't want to go out and have to weed um constantly  or, you know, do any tilling. So it really helps, you know, if you just keep piling your hay on there, it helps to prevent all that. um 06:00 And it also can help to keep pests down. So, you you just mulch very heavily around the plants and it makes it, you know, a little more challenging for the pests to take over. You know, gives the plants kind of time to take a foothold. But we do, you know, try to get out and we do... 06:24 do a lot of succession planting. So we try to just keep things going for all season. One of the things we grow here is an organic garlic that we've grown and saved seeds from for the whole time we lived here 13 years. 06:44 That's really interesting. We also raise Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats  and  make cheeses and soaps  and  other products like, you know, make some Kehita caramel and yogurts and different products also make some like sugar scrubs and stuff with the goat milk.  And we have chickens. 07:14 and mostly for eggs, we will, you know, sometimes for meat too.  And we just mostly do it  for our own enjoyment and because we want to eat really good, high quality food  and we just really love, um you know, interacting with our property. We also raise bees and harvest honey and it's just interesting. 07:43 to kind of be, you know, you're kind of like the caretaker of an ecosystem. And so we really just enjoy and it's just, you know, me and my husband and we do everything mostly with physical labor. We don't have a tractor. So it kind of helped to keep us physically fit too as a, like an extra bonus. 08:11 pretty much working out  all day every day and just getting to be outside. It's just something that we do that we love. It's fun. When did you start doing this? Well, um we've been married for over 20 years and at our old house,  had  our whole backyard  was basically a garden.  I had grown up in a garden because my grandmother always had a garden. um 08:40 So it's just something that I've done my whole life.  I picked strawberries and beans and everything out of her garden and she would always can. My grandfather was a doctor and I didn't really know  at the time, but looking back, he really  emphasized your diet and nutrition  and  to make sure that you got. 09:08 you know, the vitamins and minerals that you needed. And I just realized that they, you know, showed me all that through their gardening.  And they always grew me pumpkins and things. And so I've just always  loved, you know, to grow stuff. 09:29 He was a wise man. Yes, he was. They were different. You know, the old school doctors  and I've had some really good old school vets  that, you know, have been phenomenal.  And that's really what everything, you know, everything  is based on, you know, the nutrition and the management. And that's,  you know, really what we focus on here. 09:58 because we want to maintain the soil health and we want uh like all the animals  and the humans that live here  to be able,  you know, to thrive in the conditions.  And we, we do a lot of rotational grazing. uh We do a lot of stuff with the goats up in the woods where we help to maintain the native plants  and eat back a lot of the invasives. 10:29 um We appreciate that the goats mow for us a lot, so we don't really have to use a lot of, you know, like mechanical efforts, don't have to put pressure  on the property like that as much. And it helps to save them fuel costs.  So I have a question that I haven't asked yet of people who have goats, and I should have asked it many, many episodes ago.  Do you think that 10:59 the work that your goats do for you offset what it costs to feed them. 11:06 I mean, in so many ways,  you know, there's just the aspect of being around  them. Sure. You know, helps to help you  to connect with your own nervous system and to be able to regulate it. And I mean, also teach yoga,  not goat yoga, just traditional 11:35 Angar style Hatha yoga. And you know, for me, just being around the animals is very relaxing. I mean, of course it can be very stressful at times when you're dealing with something, but just the day to day routine of being around them, you know, just makes our lives more content. 12:03 But yes, I mean, they fertilize the property. That's why  we do  the rotational grazing so we can, you know, just kind of move them around  and. 12:15 They're just,  you know, they really help to maintain the property. You know,  you would really be amazed.

  7. Jul 15

    Busy D's Acres|Busy D's Caprines

    Today I'm talking with Courtney at Busy D's Acres|Busy D's Caprines.  This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee  https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company. 00:28 Today I'm talking with Courtney at Busy D's Acres in Belle Plaine, Minnesota. Good morning Courtney, how are you? Good, how are you?  I'm good. I'm a little sick of the weather.  I really, really wish we get back to the, you know, 79 for the high and a light breeze and the sun shining. This, this gray and hot and sweaty is pretty bad. Yes, it is very hard for us to get in the fields to cut hay and to get in our garden. 00:57 And on the other hand, it's been really great that it's been warm  and enough rain. Because if it was just out or if it was just rain, we would be all screwed. Those of us who grow things. So  on one hand, I want to complain on the other hand, I want to be thankful. So I guess we're somewhere in the middle. I don't know. Yeah. I'm so excited to talk to you because you make goat ice cream, goat milk ice cream. Yes. And you're only on 01:27 property creamery in Scott County, Minnesota, right? Yes.  So I need to know about you and how this happened and what you do. So I'll give a little backstory. The farm has been in my family since 1885. ah Our son is the seventh generation here. ah Back in  the 70s, my grandpa got rid of the dairy cattle and they switched over to Hereford beef cattle. So we had those my entire life growing up. 01:55 And then 10 years ago, we decided to get two Nigerian dwarf goats because my husband and I cannot drink cow's milk. So we're like, let's see how this goes.  Um, I chose the Nigerian dwarfs cause they're really high in butterfat. Cause I was like, well, maybe it'll be fun to try making cheese.  Um, and then here we are 10 years later, we're, uh, on farm licensed creamery.  Uh, we have four different kinds of cheese that we make. And then the ice cream. 02:22 And  my parents are technically busy these acres and we're busy these Caprines, but we're all on the same farm. 02:30 Oh, okay. So it's a family operation. Yeah. So my husband and I are the creamery, which is the Caprines. And then the acres is the entire farm. 02:41 Is there a Facebook page for Caprines?  Nope, it's all the same page because I run them both.  it's Busy D's Acres  and then Busy D's Caprines is in the parentheses.  Instagram is way more friendly that it lets me put both of them. 02:56 Okay, cool. Facebook won't let me put them both because they're too close in names. huh. Go Fig. Love Facebook.  I do love Facebook. That sounded really snotty.  Facebook has been really weird lately. So I don't  know what's going on with it. The algorithm is  sick. I think it's got a cold. 03:19 So  anyhow, uh I have questions about the creamery because  I know in Minnesota we have the cottage food license stuff, registration stuff, and I'm guessing the creamery is not cottage food because that would be really weird. Nope, it is not. I actually have my cottage food too. We've been doing farmers markets for  over 10 years, so I have the cottage side too, but 03:46 The creamer is actually licensed and inspected. So it's the Minnesota department of egg that comes out and inspects. actually have five different inspectors.  have one on our farm side, which is what the goats are considered. And then the milk areas, the milking house  and,  um,  the milking area. And then I have a plant inspector that inspects my, it's pretty much a commercial kitchen, but it's called a plant. 04:11 And then I have an overall inspector that oversees all of them. And then I also have the retail inspection. And then I have  a  lab officer that I have to do my own antibiotic testing before I process each batch of cheese. So  I need an honest answer from you.  Do you feel like there's too much overreach on the regulation or do you think that it's okay?  I am okay now  in the beginning with all of the paperwork and having to get everything 04:41 submitted, it was a lot. My final inspection,  was  way more, I thought it was gonna be way more than it was.  It was actually a breeze, like the final inspection, but there was so much beforehand. ah My dad was a union iron worker, so he read blueprints his entire career. So he actually made us a blueprint for the barn because I had to submit that with all of my barn planning. 05:04 So all of that beginning stuff like down to like where I was gonna have my milk filters with a cover had to be on that map 05:13 Wow. Okay. really specific. Yes. I had to have a detailed list of all my equipment with links so they could approve it. And they can tell you whether or not they approve things, but they cannot give you too much guidance because they are state workers. And so they cannot be biased, which I understand.  But somebody coming from, you know, just milking in a little makeshift milk house to becoming licensed, the milker was the hardest thing for me to find. 05:44 Mm-hmm. 05:47 Okay, so tell me again, how long have you been doing it?  We have had goats for 10 years and I've been in milk for eight years. And then I've been making cheese since we started having milk. 05:58 Okay, so eight years you've been in it with the milk. Yeah, we bred. So we started out with our first two does in 2016. And then in 2017, we got our first buck in weather. And then we had our first babies in 2018, May of 2018. So then we started milking in July of 2018. 06:26 Okay, so you're  kind of an old hand at this at this point. That's long enough to get your under you and grow a pretty decent business.  So  are you  happy with what you've built? Yes, it is a lot of work, which is good. I am not complaining because I'm happy where we're at. ah It's just, it's a lot of work with everything. And right now  my husband still works full time while we're getting this all the way off the ground and 06:55 Um, when I used to make cheese on the stove top, I could do it all in one day. Now with the size of batches that I'm doing, and then also with my antibiotic testing and my pasteurization and everything, it just adds more to it. Okay.  And  are your products, are your cheese, well, are your dairy products, not cheese products,  are your dairy products for sale off the property too? Yes, we are in a couple of local butcher shops,  um, in a couple of local farm retail stores. 07:26 Our cheese curds are most popular.  then,  um, second would be probably our spread. Our goat Vita is getting popularity. People it's, I have to explain that one to people. What it is, is it's Velveeta, but real cheese. So it tastes just like Velveeta. You can use it just like Velveeta, quesadillas, queso,  grilled cheese, homemade mac and cheese. 07:49 And then we do a crumble, which is similar to feta. And then we just rolled out our ice cream two weeks ago. That one took me a little bit longer to perfect with the pasteurization step because it changed the molecules of the fat. 08:04 Yeah, um, your cheese tastes like Velveeta.  I am quite positive that your...  I'm sure your version is way healthier than Velveeta ever had thought to be. Yeah. 08:19 Mm-hmm.  Yeah, I can't do Velveeta. We ate a lot of that when I was a kid and anytime somebody brings it up, I'm like, nope, I'm good. Yeah, the things that we can eat when we're kids and then now as adults, what we know is in it. It's like, oh no,  we're not eating that.  Well, I didn't love it when I was a kid and now I certainly don't want it. So, you know, it's partly bad too. Yeah. So I  have a question about goat milk ice cream. 08:49 Yes. it very different from cow milk ice cream or is it just ice cream? I, it's a richer flavor, which there are richer ice creams.  Um, because our goats are so high on butterfat, all of their cheese  and their products are a little bit more of that rich taste, but they are not that goaty taste.  Um, people, when it comes to goat products, milk, cheese, they don't, they love the goat. 09:15 flavor or they really don't like the goat flavor that like that tangy goaty flavor with our Nigerians what we feed them  and also with their high butter fat. Our flavors taste very in line with cow's milk. 09:30 Okay. And the reason I ask is because people are always like goat cheese is so good. Chev, chev, however you say it.  C-A-V-R-E.  I'm not a fan and I do like cream cheese, but I don't like goat cheese. Yeah.  Right. It's just, there's something about it that I can't get past. And I was like, Hmm, I wonder if that's a thing with the goat ice cream as well, but it sounds like it's not. 09:57 We actually don't make chev because I made it when I was testing out different cheeses. I've made pretty much almost every kind of cheese because before we were licensed, I had to  make different cheeses because I wasn't going to fill our freezer with a bunch of stuff, you know, personal. So I tried almost every kind of cheese. And I made chev and I have a couple of friends that I passed it out to that really like it and the consensus is they actually didn't like it because it didn't taste like chev.

  8. Jul 13

    Backlund Acres

    Today I'm talking with Sheila at Backlund Acres.  This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee  https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company. 00:28 Today I'm talking with Sheila at Backlund Acres in Belle Plaine, Minnesota. Good afternoon, Sheila. How are you? Good. How are you doing? I'm good. We're having a hot one again today. Right. I'm a little tired of it, are you?  Yeah.  Yeah, the plants love it, though. So  I can't complain because everything in the field is just doing amazing. Well, I guess I guess the good news is that at least we've been getting rain along with the heat. 00:58 Exactly.  If we were just getting the heat, we would be in trouble. It's definitely, yeah, it's definitely a bigger problem. And when we had the early heat, I think was it in May or June?  It was  so dry and it was just heat. And so we had trouble with like our spring crops bolting early.  Yeah, our asparagus went to seed super fast this year. I was very sad about this.  Yeah. 01:27 We planted asparagus five years, five springs ago now. And this was the year we were going to be able to have a bunch to sell at the farmers market, right? No, it all bolted so fast that we couldn't keep up. So I have a question about your asparagus. So you planted it five years ago and you can just start harvesting now or you're just saying it multiplied enough where you had  enough to sell? We got 01:53 We got enough to have a mess as my mom would call it two springs ago. And then last year we had enough to have some to eat and some to sell on our farm stand. This was the year where we thought there was going to be enough to actually sell it at the farmer's market. So  we thought that it would have been  long enough that it would have multiplied and sell it.  But no, because it was so hot,  it just went poof because it's a breath. 02:23 as a grass. Oh, I didn't know that.  We are on year two of our asparagus and it was ready  really early. Now, I know you're not supposed to harvest it the first year,  but we  bought like and  we have a whole field of it, I'll just say.  And  they, the company we got it from said we could harvest it for a week the first year. And then the second year it's three weeks. So anyways, yeah,  I was ready in April though, which was really weird. 02:53 We're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves, but we're on asparagus. I'm going to ask this, and then I'm going to ask you to tell me about yourself. Was your asparagus super sweet this year? Because ours was. It was delicious. Yeah.  But then we had a freeze and I had no idea that it all will freeze and die. Oh, yeah. You know, if you're only allowed to harvest it that first week, everything that was above ground froze. And so if I would have known that, I would have taken like I probably would have had an entire 03:23 There was a lot  that I could have brought in and pickled or done something with, but I just, I guess I didn't know.  Live and learn, right?  Right. Yep. Yep. That's all this farming and home setting and ranching is, is living and learning every freaking season. For sure. It's fun and it's frustrating.  So anyway,  please tell me a little bit about yourself and about Backland Acres. Okay. So we... 03:50 So I grew up, me and my husband actually grew up in Eden Prairie and had never planted anything. um So we  got married out of high school, lived in Chock-A-Pee, had never planted anything in my life.  And  my son came home with like a styrofoam cup with  a little plant from, you know, that you do in kindergarten. They plant the seed in the styrofoam cup and bring it home.  So he brought that home and we planted it next to our house. 04:20 in Chakapea, just dug a hole, had no idea what I was doing, just dug a hole and planted it and it turned into this big plant and gave us summer squash. was crooked neck summer squash. Nice.  And I just became  really infatuated or  yeah, just really, really excited. So  I went to the store and I bought a bunch of seeds and I had no idea what I was doing, like literally  nothing. don't even, I didn't. 04:46 don't even know if I had a smartphone then. I didn't know how to look anything up. I didn't look anything up. I didn't read anything. I just started dumping seeds in the ground. But I dumped a whole packet in the ground. So I would dig a hole and dump a whole packet of bean seeds in the ground. Or unknot seeds or whatever. You got the bug. Yeah, I did. And it was really fun. And we had some things, obviously. We had weeds and everything. And I had no idea what I was doing. But yeah, so from there, we had some... 05:16 friends who wanted to  purchase a farm  and start like an organic  meat farm. And so we  were good candidates for that.  we, um they wanted to purchase it and start this business and  they wanted somebody else to live on the property and run the business. So we agreed to do that.  And I just started planting more and more. I don't know how much you want me to tell, but I started planting more and more. um 05:46 when we came out here and learned a little bit  more about what I was doing, you know, that I needed to weed, that I needed to  space the plants apart  and um start some seeds ahead of time.  And this was 12 years ago? Yes, this was 12 years ago. Right.  I'm impressed. You... 06:15 You caught the bug knowing nothing and you have turned it into a business in 12 years.  Right. Yes, exactly. And so when we first moved here, we started with a lot of animals because they were really interested in the animals. So we raised like a thousand chickens a year.  We um had pigs, we had cows  that we had like put up all this fencing to have cows on our land. was someone else's cows, but we were just,  we had 15 acres. So, you know, it was either hay it or have animals on it. So. 06:45 um We were learning how to move cows around and how to move chickens behind them. And we had some sheep at  one point. We had goats. We tried  everything.  But the thing that we did for our business first off was the chickens and the pigs. um So that's more of what we were focused on. But I slowly just started growing uh vegetables. Well, actually not slowly. Before I even moved in here. 07:12 We rented a tiller and for some reason I thought I had to bring the sod up. So I got a sod cutter and um we planted a whole bunch of stuff.  But just again, still had no idea what I was doing. Didn't have a greenhouse and had all this stuff in my basement um and was doing a lot of throwing,  like digging a hole and still throwing seeds in the ground. um But yeah, so over the 07:40 course of 10 years or 12 years, guess,  we  have transitioned to doing less animals and more. Now we have, now we plant five acres of vegetables and flowers  and we have tractors and a greenhouse and  high tunnels and oh all the things.  You also have a model for your CSA that I read about on your website that  I think is super cool. 08:09 people can come and work at the farm. yes. this is.  It's a SDS share, right? Correct, yep.  And this is how that started. So we start, I really started selling vegetables, you so we're still doing a lot of animals. I think in one year I raised like 3000 chickens because I was raising for somebody else as well.  So we're still doing a lot of animals, but. 08:35 We had these gardens that were quite big and they were just for me and there was no reason to have that much garden space. And it was during COVID and I had friends.  So this was, think, so yeah, COVID six years ago. um I had friends coming over because there was nothing else to do with their kids and the kids were playing and we were  weeding the garden. And I just said, let's all take care of the garden together and then we can just split the, whatever we produce. 09:03 So that same year,  a farmer's market reached out to me because I think they needed vegetable vendors, I can't remember, and asked if we would  sell vegetables at their market.  And I was like, oh my goodness, I've never even,  you know, I don't know what I'm doing at all.  Like, we're just, I can grow things, but it's very messy process. Like there's lots of weeds,  things are imperfect. 09:30 So I asked my friends and we said, let's do it. So we all went  on it together and just started planting and um taking care of what we already had and started going to the farmer's market together. 09:46 I so far, love your story and I'm going tell you why. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get people to grow something because things are so expensive right now and seeds are cheap compared to a tomato. Yes. I feel like almost everybody can find a bucket and get a scoop full of dirt and grow a tomato plant. I feel like they really can. I do too. 10:16 And  I also feel like you with your situation  your your child brought home a seedling and you were like, let's plant it and see what happens.  That's not luck. That's intention.  So you are just uh solidifying my my constant push to get people interested. You happen to luck into it. But guys, if you have space, grow. 10:

See All (453)

5
out of 5
7 Ratings

About

We became homesteaders three years ago when we moved to our new home on a little over three acres. But, we were learning and practicing homesteading skills long before that. This podcast is about all kinds of homesteaders, and farmers, and bakers - what they do and why they do it. I’ll be interviewing people from all walks of life, different ages and stages, about their passion for doing old fashioned things in a newfangled way. https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes

Information

  • Creator
    Mary E Lewis
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    453
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    A Tiny Homestead

You Might Also Like