A Tiny Homestead

Mary E Lewis
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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. 1D AGO

    Steel Spoon Farm

    Today I'm talking with Jen at Steel Spoon Farm. You can also follow on Facebook. Content Seeds Collective 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. Today I'm talking with Jen Kibler  at Steel Spoon Farm  in Ohio.  And good morning, Jen. How are you? Good morning. Good. How are you? I'm good. How's the weather in Ohio this morning? Oh, it is beautiful. I think we're on fake spring round two already. It's going to go back to winter again this weekend, but I'll take it. 00:29 Yeah, they were saying this weekend on the news that we would be getting snow this week, but I'm looking at the forecast and I'm like, I think LaSore, Minnesota is going to get rain. I don't think we're going to get snow. Yeah. We had 16 inches dump on us about three weeks ago now. So I'm glad to see the snow piles gone. We actually have grass again. So that's nice, but now it's mud season straight into mud season. So yeah, God love mud season. We have a, we have a dog and 00:59 She freaking loves spring because she can go out and roll in the grass again. But she has these cute little feet and the cute little feet leave cute little dirty footprints all over my floor downstairs. And I'm just like, you know what? I'm not mopping the floor until the weekend. I'm going to it all at once. And then she's going to come in and walk on it again and I'll do it the following weekend because I am not mopping that floor every two hours. We have four. 01:25 and two of them are great Pyrenees, then the other two are black labs. And the Pyrenees, of course, are like horse size.  And they just clobbed in so much mud into the kitchen this morning to eat breakfast. Oh my gosh. Yeah, Maggie's a 35 pound, well, maybe pushing 40 pound um Australian shepherd. So she's got these adorable little footprints, but they're not adorable when they're mud on my floor. tell me what tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do at Steel Spoon Farm. 01:55 So we have kind of everything here. I've had horses my whole life. So I've got my three big old horses that are all retired now. And then we have two little  feral mini mules. And I say feral because I've literally never touched the one in the two years she's been here.  We'll just take her time. She knickers at me now. She does her little mule money. So we're making progress, but mules and everything has to be on their time.  And then we have a little mini pony too named Apple for my daughter. So she's so sweet. 02:24 So we've got them and we have Angora goats  and then a bunch of just miscellaneous Nigerian dwarf goats too that are just, you know, they're pets. to sell some of the mohair off the Angoras. Haven't had time to even process it lately because I've been so busy with all my other business things. ah But I do really love spinning when I have the time. I've spun my own yarn, did a bunch of crochet with it.  Actually made the shawl that I wore in like our maternity pictures with 02:54 hand spun mohair from our own goats. So that was really neat. um That's a needle felting with it, all kinds of stuff. I've sold it to all kinds of different people online on Etsy and then on my own site too.  Everything from fly  lure creators, they use the mohair for their fly lures, which was really odd. um To of course the reborn dolls, which is amazing to see how realistic those are, but they've used mohair for those. 03:22 mask makers for theater mass in New York City, all kinds of stuff. So it's amazing to see how far that can stretch just from my little farm to all across the world.  is one of the reasons I love this podcast so much because  I hadn't even considered the fact that  that mohair would be used on the dolls. Yeah, they use it.  It was a local lady actually, and she  literally plucks one single hair at a time into these silicone doll. 03:51 It's the patience I do not have  for that, but she does.  And if they have really fine hair, like if she's doing a memorial doll, she actually paints the hair on and uses a paintbrush that's one hair width and paints these tiny little baby hairs on these dolls. It's incredible. And then the mask maker in New York City. This is a crazy crossover, but my husband is a lifetime wrestling fan and 04:19 this guy actually made the masks for mankind, for Mick Foley, mankind, and Undertaker, which are two of his favorites. And here he is buying mohair from my goats to make these theater masks. I thought, what a crazy small world that is. That's not small, that's miniscule world. Yeah, that was very niche. that was super cool. Wow. Wow. I just, every time I talk to somebody new, I find out something either 04:49 I either learn something new that actually can be used in my life, or I find out something that has  nothing to do with anything that I do, but it's a really neat trivia fact.  So thank you. I now have a new trivia fact. oh I've never actually pet a mohair goat and I've never touched mohair in my life.  What does it feel like? hear it's really, really soft. Oh, it's so soft. And everybody thinks they're sheep. 05:18 which  just because they're so fuzzy. uh But so I have to correct people all the time that they are actually goats.  They're in full fleece right now. We still call it fleece. Like there, if you take it the whole thing off, still collectively, it's called their fleece.  But it is  mohair. It's not fur. It's not wool. It's its own material. uh It's extremely fine  and quite slippery. Now that's that's kind of like a spinner term for like the slip or the feel of 05:47 the material that you're spinning, it's so super fine. So a lot of the times people will blend it with wool  or some other material to make it a little bit more grabby for when they're spinning. But the Kidmo hair especially, so on the babies that are usually under a year, um have the finest, finest hair. It is like a cloud in your hands. It's so thin. That's the stuff that you're gonna use for knitting like your close to skin wear. 06:15 kind of a thing. It's so fine and so high quality. As they get older, the hair quality sometimes goes down a little bit, but I have one of my oldest does, Patsy,  for everybody out there who knows Patsy.  She has  like  no grease  to her hair and  they have grease called a yolk. It's kind of like lanolin in wool where it has like a little bit of a greasy texture. That's what protects their skin, protects their hair. So goats have the same thing. 06:43 but hers is so clean and so fine. She has hardly any curl. She's just like this big white cloud.  And her hair is my favorite to spin because I can spin it literally straight off of her. It's so clean and so nice.  But then I've got some of my goats that have  really, really tight curls. ah I've made like Santa ornaments, especially with those ones,  with the needle felting I've done. I needle felt their. 07:09 curly little white locks on for Santa beards on the ornaments and things. So that's really fun. um Personality wise, they're very calm and quiet. um So if you're somebody that's used to the dairy goats, like especially Nubians are really loud. ah Even my Nigerians are pretty loud and friendly. uh The angoras are so super calm and quiet. They're just peaceful. They're really, really nice animals to have. And I'm glad that we got them.  Are they 07:36 probably a weird question, but are they more expensive than any other goat? They are, but the same with any other breed. ah Depends on where you buy them from, what their bloodline is. We have all colored angora goats, which is a different breed set. Then there's also like the American white angoras, which is  the ones that you typically find like running in the herds by the thousands down in Texas. Those are the ones that are bred like for  commercial mohair. I actually have two of those. 08:05 ah Their hair is totally different too. Those are the ones that have like they're really really tight curls their whole face is covered in it their legs They've got the pom-pom tails whereas the colored angoras because back in the day the colored angora used to actually be uh a Defect because if you had a hundred white angora goats, then you had one black one come through You can't put that black mohair in the same bundles as the white hair. So 08:31 they kind of bred the color out of them for a long time. And then a couple breeders started breeding the color back in and grabbing those colored ones. So now there's all kinds of different colors of colored Angoras.  So it just depends on the breeder, where you find them,  the quality of the mohair too, body size, everything. But same with any other breed of goat, any other breed of animal, it just depends on where you get them from. ah Mine, I'd say mine are all pretty pet quality. We got a couple from breeders. 09:00 And, I'd say now there,  I didn't breed specifically for like this goat needs to pair with this goat because of this bloodline cross and all these things. We just did it for part of our hobby farm and just to have the babies. Cause there's nothing cuter than a baby goat other than a kitten. Yeah.  Yep. Just had this conversation with another person for the podcast a couple of days ago and 09:26 I  literally said there's nothing cuter than a baby goat and I was like, eh, kittens are pretty cute too. Yeah, kittens and baby goats, we had those at the same time too. That was pretty ridiculous.  So are uh Angora goats any good for milk as well or not?  Technically, no. 09:45 Because they put so much energy

    40 min

  2. 3D AGO

    Silo Springs Farm

    Today I'm talking with Tricia at Silo Springs Farm. 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. 00:11 Today I'm talking with Trisha at Silo Springs Farm in Tennessee. Good morning Trisha, how are you? Good morning, I'm good. How are you?  I'm good. I'm just going to be honest. The first part, we tried recording this and it didn't work. So we're starting over from scratch. So I'm going to ask the same questions over again. um How is the weather in Tennessee? It is beautiful today.  Sun is shining and the ground is drying up. We had a really wet rainy day yesterday and today is looking really pretty. 00:41 I'm actually really glad to hear that you guys got rain because I have a friend that I co-host another podcast with. She lives in Nebraska  and they've been under fire danger for oh most of the winter time so far. And she's always lamenting the fact that they really haven't gotten any snow or any rain. And I'm like, oh, if I could just send you some from Minnesota, I would do it. 01:05 It is a gorgeous, sparkly, sunny, warm day in Minnesota today. And it was so cold three weeks ago that I have nothing to complain about. Exactly. It's so pretty. I'm like Mother Nature, stop teasing me because I know we have snow in the forecast later this week. Oh, really? Just a little bit, yeah. Whether we actually get snow or not remains to be seen. I suspect it might be rain because I don't think it's going to get cold enough to snow, but we'll see what happens. 01:34 Yeah.  All right. So tell me a little bit about yourself and how you ended up raising Highland cows and High Park cows. um Well, it kind of started, it's kind of funny how it got started. My husband  was offered a job in Nashville, Tennessee, and we're  from the city. We're actually from Alabama and have lived in subdivisions all our lives. And when he uh 02:03 said that he had to move if he accepted this position. I was like, okay, well, we're going to get land and we're going to get us some mini cows.  And so that's what we did. We  moved to a little uh old farmhouse that had 12 acres and remodeled the farmhouse and got us some cows and  just kind of going from there. nice.  Your husband is a canine police officer. Is that what you're saying? Yes. uh Okay. have a quick 02:33 offside's question. When you're a canine police officer, does the canine come home with the officer that it works with or how does that work? Yes. He's actually had two dogs  and uh one  got sick and had to be retired. And so we adopted him and still have him, but  his other one  comes home with him every day. it's em not really 03:00 good for farm life. He's a  GSP and he  doesn't get along well with the chickens. He wants to point them and eat them. ah I imagine. So  the reason I'm asking is because I know with service dogs that you're not supposed to go up and pet a service dog at the mall.  And I'm assuming it's the same thing with a canine officer. You don't just walk up to a canine dog and, you know, an officer dog and pet it. 03:27 Yeah. Well,  it's always better to ask, but like  his dogs are explosive dogs.  Um, and so like they're not on duty. They know when they're sniffing an area that that's when they're working.  Um, his old dog, anybody could just walk up and pet him, but this dog, he just gets too ramped up and gets kind of hard to hold onto when people start giving him attention.  But yeah, yeah. He lets people pet his.  Nice. Okay. I was just curious because I've never known anybody who had, who had that 03:57 job and never never known a  canine that was working with police. So I thought I would ask while I had the opportunity.  Okay, so your cows you raise them so that you can have babies so you can sell the babies. Is that right? That is right. Yes. Okay. So when is when is calving season for you? Is it coming right up? Well, we usually um have in the spring and then some will have in the fall, we try our best to avoid 04:26 summer calving  just because of the flies and the bacteria that's rampant in the summer.  So we just actually delivered um our last 2025 calve yesterday and  really hoping that we start having some babies in March or April this year. Okay. Wow. The last one for that you that you were expecting in 2025 was just born. Yeah. Well, no, it was we sold it yesterday. Oh, okay. It was born in October, but it went to its 04:56 home in Alabama  yesterday. oh I misunderstood. Sorry.  All right. So when you,  like I said, I don't know anything about how this all works. When you sell the babies,  do you know what those babies are going to be used for? Whether they're going to be used for breeding stock or meat or milk or do you have any idea? Well, with the, um, with the Holland breed. 05:24 They're really popular right now for just pets or yard ornaments,  people wanting to breed their own.  They're so expensive. I  really doubt anybody would be eating them. uh I don't know anything about them and I know they're not, they don't get as big as say, you know, an Angus. Right. I wasn't sure whether people actually use them for food or not. And I don't know about their milk. Is their milk worth? 05:53 using or is it just for the babies?  I haven't ever actually milked these, but I have read that they're really good beef  and uh milk cows.  And I do know people that like have huge massive farms of highlands  and you know, lot of their bulls they'll steer and eat those, but  we're so small. don't, we can't do that. Yeah. Yep. We have a three and a half, sorry, 3.1 acre property here ourselves and 06:23 Somebody asked me if we were going to get a mini cow and I just laughed. was like, number one, cows are herd animals. That one critter would be so lonely it would die. Yeah. Yeah. They need a friend. Yeah. And number two, we don't have enough room or any place for them to graze. That's an expensive, expensive hobby. Oh yeah. So the answer was no, but I just laughed before I said anything. I was like, no, we are not getting cows. 06:51 Nope, chickens. Chickens in a big garden is about the extent that we're going to commit to farming here.  Yeah, I love our chickens. That was one of the first things we got was chickens. They're great. Do you have one specific breed or did you go crazy and get all kinds of different breeds? Well, I went crazy and got all  different breeds according to like the pretty ones and the colorful eggs. 07:15 which was probably a mistake because they're not real good layers. So we go a good portion of the year without eggs, but they're getting started back now. But we do have a lot of pretty eggs when we get them. You have the different colored ones? We do, yeah. Rainbow eggs. That's what my daughter would call it when she was little. She'd see the blue and the, I don't know what they're called, the Marin eggs that are dark. Yes, yes. 07:42 We'd be somewhere and somebody would have all different colored eggs and she'd be like, Oh mom, they have the rainbow eggs. And I'm like,  uh-huh. They sure do.  She was very disappointed when she found out that the blue ones didn't taste like blue raspberry. Yeah.  They all taste the same. That's cute. Yep. An egg is an egg is an egg. Just like a rose is a rose is a rose. That's correct.  Okay. Um, do you have lots of chickens? We have 18 so. 08:12 I don't think that we have lots of chickens, but I tell people we have 18 and they're like, oh, that's a lot of birds. Yeah, that's probably about how many we have. um I have two coops, the ones that lay and then I have some silkies um and another coop. And so probably all together  20, 25, something like that.  I was just talking with somebody that raises silkies and she was like, they are so pretty, but they're the dumbest birds ever known to man. 08:40 They really are. I have to go and collect some of them at night because they just can't seem to make it back to the coop. that's what she was saying too. She was like, I don't know what it is, but they just will not go in the coop on their own. like, they're dumb. She's like, they're dumber than dumb. 09:00 They do struggle. Dumb as a stump as my dad would say.  Okay, so do you  incubate any of the eggs from your chickens and sell the babies or not? I did at one point. I  have,  well actually the last two years I sold  silkies,  but I'm probably not going to this year. 09:27 But they're really good mamas. They're not real bright, but they're excellent mamas.  They're not so bright.  No one but a lady from the South can say they're not very bright in the nicest, lightest way ever. 09:43 God bless their hearts. They're not very bright. That's right. Love it. Okay. Um, are you guys parents or you just have your animals? Um, we have children. Um, I have a daughter, uh, that she, uh, just will be 19 this year. And then my husband has two sons and, um, they're grown. Okay. So you're, you're pretty much empty nesters at this point. 10:11 Very, very close. uh Yep. I understand. just, I'm going through it now and I raised four kids and I'm like, wow, the house got really, really quiet. I know.  So hard. Yup. um did,  did your daughter,  I don't know, was she younger when you guys moved to the farm?  No, she wasn't. And I wish she had been. When she was growing up, she was a little tomboy. 10:39 But when we moved here, she was like middle school age. And so she was um more into  doing video games and  she just, she would have been more into it if we could have uh moved here when she was a lo

    38 min

  3. FEB 13

    New Beginnings with Leah at Clear Creek Ranch Mom

    Today I'm talking with Leah at Clear Creek Ranch Mom. 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 In this episode of A Tiny Homestead, Mary welcomes back returning guest Leah from Clear Creek Ranch Mom in Nebraska. Leah has previously appeared on the podcast four times since March 2024, and today’s conversation brings exciting updates. They begin with a little seasonal appreciation, talking about frosty mornings, baby pink sunrises, and the beauty of unobstructed rural views. From there, the conversation turns to what is new. Introducing a New Podcast Mary and Leah recently launched a brand new podcast together: Grit and Grace in the Heartland: Women in Agriculture After thoughtful consideration, Leah said yes to co hosting, and the two have been recording weekly conversations that highlight the voices and stories of women in agriculture. They talk about: Why so many podcasts stop around episode seven and why they are determined to keep going The joy of unscripted, authentic conversation Creating space for women to be heard The power of storytelling in building connection and courage The importance of real human connection in a world increasingly shaped by technology Leah shares how her background in communications and her love of asking questions have shaped her passion for elevating other people’s stories. Why Women’s Voices Matter Grit and Grace in the Heartland focuses on women in agriculture and the many roles they hold. The podcast explores: Identity and authenticity Wearing multiple hats in rural life Leadership, business, ranching, and family Financial literacy and independence for women The deep and often unseen emotional labor of rural women Mary and Leah discuss how meaningful it is to go beyond surface level conversations and create a space where women can share their real stories, including the hard parts. They also reflect on the courage it takes to put yourself out there publicly and the importance of community support, especially in small towns. The Power of Asking and Listening Leah shares stories about the impact of simply noticing people and saying thank you. From fast food employees to store clerks, she talks about how powerful it can be to acknowledge hard work and offer genuine appreciation. The takeaway is simple: If you see something, say something. And not just when it is negative. Kind words and curiosity can change someone’s day, and sometimes even more than that. Stories That Shape Us Mary and Leah also reflect on the women who shaped them, especially their grandmothers. They talk about unconventional women, loneliness, resilience, and the importance of preserving family stories. Every woman has a story worth telling. Every family holds stories that matter. That belief sits at the heart of both podcasts. A Nebraska Favorite The episode wraps up with a lighthearted discussion about Runza, the beloved Nebraska sandwich filled with beef, cabbage, and onions baked inside bread dough. They even share tips for making them at home. Where to Find Leah and the New Podcast You can find Leah at Clear Creek Ranch Mom on Facebook. Listen to Grit and Grace in the Heartland: Women in Agriculture at: gritandgraceintheheartland.com Find Mary and A Tiny Homestead at: atinyhomesteadpodcast.com Thank you for listening to A Tiny Homestead. If you enjoy the show, please share it with a friend and leave a review. Your support helps more people discover these meaningful rural stories.

    38 min

  4. FEB 9

    Grounded In Maine Podcast

    Today I'm talking with Amy at Grounded In Maine Podcast. 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. Today I'm talking with Amy Bolduc at Grounded in Maine in Virginia. I know that's weird, but that's how it falls.  Good morning, Amy. How are you?  I am doing fine. Thanks. I know it's such a funny thing. People are like, where are you? Like I'm in Virginia,  but why is your podcast Grounded in Maine? Well, because you'll always be. 00:29 Your heart will always be grounded in Maine. That's why. mean, 49 years, not like that's nothing. That's not nothing. Yeah, exactly.  Well, what's the weather doing in Virginia this morning? Oh, geez.  It's so cold this morning. Like, I'm sure it's not Minnesota cold, but it's still cold. mean, it was 15 degrees when we were walking this morning. um And yesterday,  yesterday, it was so yesterday we had 45 mile per hour winds. um And  it was not much warmer. 00:59 So but then two weeks ago, I mean, if you're asking about weather, the weather here is so weird. I mean, all of like November, December, it was beautiful, like 40s, probably. And I know I, you know, everyone was like, oh, my gosh, it's so cold. It's snowing, snowing, snowing. And I'm like, well, you know, don't want to say anything because I'm in the south, blah, blah, blah. But then two weeks ago, the weather forecast was looking like we were. 01:27 My weather app was telling me we were going to get up to 21 inches of snow.  And I was like, what  is this about? ah And then when it actually came, it was like a dusting of snow, but then an inch and a half of freezing rain, ah which I would so I would prefer 21 inches of snow a million times over freezing rain and ice. ah Anyone who's dealt with freezing rain would agree a thousand percent freezing rain is so dangerous. 01:57 Yeah. it's, you know, it just is like, but since then, so last weekend,  I, my, my trusty weather app that I've been using for years lied to me and said, you know, maybe, maybe one between one to three inches of snow. I'm like, okay, you know, that's no big deal. But then we got 10 ish inches of snow  and it was fluffy snow, which was cool. But then like, when I moved here, I did not get a snow shovel because I was 02:26 You know, last winter we had four inches total, like  all winter long, two, two inch storms.  And I was like, that is no big deal. And then this year,  you know, and then the ice, I was like, I'm not I'm not even shoveling. I literally can't shovel that. But so I have a travel trunk shovel, which  it's in two pieces and it's rickety and plastic. I've had it for probably 20 years uh and. 02:54 I ever used it, only when I was working and I got stuck in a snowstorm.  But so that's what I've been using. I actually went out yesterday to try to get a real shovel and they were out. Of course.  Of course.  Because we just got 10 inches of snow.  yeah, I mean, the weather is great. And then, know, Tuesday is supposed to be like 60. I  like,  there's no,  I don't think there's like Virginia weather. I think it's just whatever. 03:23 happens, like what it just feels like. 03:28 Yeah, Mother Nature has become extremely bipolar over the last two years. That's a great way to say it. Maybe she's going through menopause too. I don't want to make you jealous, but it's seven, it's, what is it right now? I'm looking at my weather app. It's 27 degrees here in Minnesota in Lesor right now. And it's supposed to be 38 for the high. Tomorrow 45 for the high, Tuesday 38, Wednesday 38. 03:57 Thursday 40, Friday 40. Well, that's like making up for the last two weeks when it was below zero. That's exactly what I was going to say. We had, we had 14 or 15 days in a row where we never got close to freezing to 32 degrees.  And it was the longest stretch I've seen in years and it sucked. No question.  So anyway,  um, that's the weather update. I would do weather update.  Um, start with a weather update folks. 04:26 Oh, always do. In case you need to know. Every podcast opens with how's the weather because we're all doing stuff that weather impacts and I figure it's a good way to do it.  We're all experiencing weather. We sure are. And when we're trying to grow stuff or, um you know,  if we have chickens. Raise animals. Yeah. Yeah.  It's  kind of important to know what we're walking out into.  So that leads me to my first question. I saw that your  chickens are starting to lay again, beautiful eggs. 04:55 How are the chickens doing and how many do you have? The chickens are good. I have five. I've actually, so I've had one. Miss Lacey never stopped laying. Like every so often she'll skip a day, but then the next day she's like, before I even get there, she's already laid her egg.  She has not taken a break.  Jason, however, has not laid an egg for at least two months. uh Jason is a hen.  She came to me with that name. don't,  Jason Kelsey. I don't know. 05:24 I think that's football. Yes. I don't know. It's football. That's the name that she came with. That's so funny. And she's very nice and she's very pretty, but she had a really, really rough molt and she was really funny looking. I'm sorry. I'm sorry, Jason. I know you can't hear this, but she was funny looking. But it's always the worst timing when they molt. Do you have chickens, Mary? I have 18. You have 18. Okay. 05:52 How many kittens do you have now? um Well, technically we have three kittens, but they're about five months old now. Oh, well, they're still kittens. um Okay. So  I have, yeah, five still. I have not lost a single chicken in a year. Good job. They barely see the light of day, but  I feel like that's a good trade off. mean, they do. They get out. um 06:17 like an hour at the end of the day, because that's when I am not working and I can actually be out there with them. And even if I'm not out there with them, like usually when I get out of work, so now because the time, because with the time change and the light, longer darkness, whatever. So I get out of work at 4.30, my dog and I walk at 4.30 and I let the chickens out at 4.30 because 5.30 it's going to be dark. 06:44 So I let them out at 430 and I leave my phone while we're walking  with music playing so that the critters don't feel like the predators don't feel like they're alone.  I just looked at my farmer's almanac wall calendar and daylight savings time is March 8th.  So we only have a few more weeks until literally a month, literally a month from today.  Yep. So 07:10 Yeah, I know me too. I was like, yay, more light in the evening. It's so sad that we have to wait until March. like really winter is just, I know winter is a season of rest, but some of us don't get to do that. And then it's just miserable. Absolutely. I just had a thought and it went bye bye. Cause that's what happens. Um, I'm very excited to know that, uh, 07:39 daylight savings time switch is only a month away because that means that good,  spring weather is only two months away.  Yeah. It's just, you know, it's like  there are no holidays. So we're like March 8th, come on, come on, come on, March 8th.  You know, never push the  time to move as quickly as this last month for sure. Yes. And I figure 08:04 In Minnesota, we have March Madness, which is the hockey tournaments, I think. oh is it? It's not  baseball? Baseball? I can't remember. It's hockey or basketball.  It might be both. Who knows? I'm not a girl. Don't take sports information from us, peeps. Yeah, I am not a sports fanatic at all. 08:25 What I do know is that March, because of the tournaments that are going on, is always terrible for weather because of course it would be because people are traveling in for the tournament. Well, it's like that in between, right?  You're waiting for spring and you're so anxious for spring, but winter's like, eh, I'm just going to hang out a little bit longer. Just going to throw a little crap your way. Yeah, yeah. And it's always March. It's always the worst month. February's okay. I can deal with February, but March is the worst. 08:55 Cause everybody's so excited about this tournament thing.  And I'm like, yeah, good luck driving in that three feet of snow we're probably going to get. 09:05 Oh,  it's so  yeah, it's like going out with a bang. The last hurrah.  Yes, it is. then I'm like, okay, it's going to be peonies season soon. So I'm all for it.  let's get back to the whole grounded in Maine and you live in Virginia now.  When I first interviewed you two years ago, I think it was you were in Maine. I was in Maine. And then you got divorced and then you moved to Virginia.  Yeah. 09:36 It's for the people who don't know it is kind of a pain in the butt  to change the name of a podcast. Yeah.  So  I don't blame you for not changing it. Plus I  know when we last talked, you had mentioned that you were trying to get back to New England. So how is that? Is that anywhere on the horizon?  Um,  well, I mean, I would love it to be on the horizon. I really don't want to do another summer here in Virginia. Yeah.  Um, 10:04 So my goal is to get back there in some form by like May. I don't have any big things happening though. My house has been on the, on the real estate market since July and no one, no one has even like looked at it, which is sad. But, um, you know, my realtor says it's just really expensive, but at the, at the same time, like I put $25,000 in solar panels on this house. And so. 10:34 the electric bill,  except for this month b

    39 min

  5. FEB 6

    Open Road Ranch

    Today I'm talking with Julie at Open Road Ranch. You can also follow on Facebook. The Old Farmer's Almanac www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead Muck Boots  Calendars.Com 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. Today I'm talking with Julie at Open Road Ranch in Wisconsin. Good morning, Julie. How are you? Good morning, Mary. I'm wonderful. Thank you. How are you? I'm good. How's the weather there?  Sunny and beautiful. It's so nice to see the sun.  Oh, we had that  yesterday and the day before. Right now it is inco... 00:28 incredibly overcast in Minnesota, but it's warm. Yes. It's nice, isn't it?  Oh my God. This last two weeks of  like living in the Arctic tundra.  Yeah. I had forgotten how terrible a more than a couple days stint of those temperatures is. Yes. I woke up on like the 13th day and thought to myself, if this doesn't break soon, I don't know what I'm going to do. 00:56 Yes, we just need like a day of sun to remind us or just a windless day or something just to hang on. Yeah, I grew up on the East Coast and I remember the song, the  song Oklahoma, where the wind comes rolling off the prairie. Yeah. And I had no concept of that because my house was surrounded by trees. The wind didn't roll across the prairie because there was no prairie. I moved to Minnesota and I learned real quick about wind rolling off the prairie. 01:25 Oh yeah, I just saw the other day  someone said the quote, it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the wind, said every farmer ever.  Yeah, absolutely.  It's just crazy. And I open every podcast with How's the Weather? Because I just feel like we're all in ag and it's important to talk about the weather. Oh yeah. I used to work office jobs and I worked in a basement office with no windows and weather was just, I'd never even thought about it. It could be light out, could be 01:54 night, could be raining. It just didn't really have any effect on my life whatsoever. Now it's everything. Yeah, absolutely. It literally is everything. okay, I don't do a lot of the outside work. My husband is the outside guy. I do a lot of the cooking and the cleaning inside. And even I pay really close attention to the weather because I'm like, I saw it's going to snow tomorrow. Are you set to plow the driveway? 02:22 Or I saw it's going to be minus 40 windchill three nights from now. Are the chickens going to survive in their coop?  And he's like, you never really paid attention to this before we moved to Homestead. I said, no, I didn't because I had no reason to pay attention to it. Yeah, you're so into your lives, you know, your animals.  It totally changes your perspective and the way that you live your life. And I kind of love it.  Yes. 02:50 All right, so tell me all about yourself and what you do. um I  am a first generation farmer. I'm a very new farmer. This is our second year in farming. um So all very new, um very new small business owner. um Just learning as I go.  We have a small farm in Greenbush, Wisconsin, um is five rented acres of family land. So Tony's folks live up the road and 03:19 our crop farmers corn, soybeans and wheat  and they very generously um are renting us five acres to start our farm here and they're very helpful with their farming knowledge and experience just up the road and so it's because of them that we're able to farm and so we have five acres here  and looking at right out the window in our backyard we have pasture raised hogs, uh have uh pasture raised sheep and we have some chickens that aren't  doing much of anything right now it's mostly for us m 03:48 but I did get three eggs the other day, so that's exciting.  we sell our pasture-raised um pork and lamb.  And  I also make lard products with lard from our pasture-raised hogs  because one of my missions when I first began was uh education and also to use as much of the animal as possible. So I dabbled in  trying to  tan sheepskin hides that didn't go very far,  make dog treats out of the organ meats, just different creative ways  because these animals give us such a gift. 04:17 you know I hate to see you go in the trash when especially our ancestors you know  would be you know grateful for the whole gift and use as much of it as possible and they needed to use as much of it as possible  but I hope to still  tap into a little bit of that so ah we use the lard from our pasture raised hogs to create um bombs, dish soap, shampoo bars,  things like that because lard is just incredible for us and  so I also feel strongly about educating people about  the wonder of  those 04:46 what are often considered waste products that are so wonderful for us and such a gift. Awesome. Tell me about lard dish soap, because I have not heard those words in the same sentence before. Yeah,  me neither until recently. And I had been making lard bombs for about a year and I thought, well, what else can I do  with this lard?  Because the bombs were going really well and I thought there must be some other things um that our ancestors used lard for that we can use it for. Because it's just full of vitamins and minerals and such healing properties. 05:16 uh You would not think that lard would clean dishes. You're often trying get lard off of your dishes, so I didn't really believe it either. ah We mix the  lard with lye and  some lemon. That's your degreaser. It's really pure and simple. ah It's just a uh dish soap bar, so it takes some getting used to, but you just use a sponge or a scrub. 05:41 You just get it wet and then you use it like you'd use  dish soap and it works wonderfully and it's clean and pure. It's not full of... um One of the reasons I started this is because laundry soap and  lotions and  shampoo bars and all those things, they're just full of so many chemicals. And I know people, myself included, are looking for clean things to put on their body and use in their homes.  And so it's just pure and simple, non-toxic.  So that's another reason I started making them. 06:10 Nice. Okay.  The reason I was so confused is because I always think of liquid dish soap. I didn't think of a soap bar dish soap. So  I didn't know you could use lard for dish soap. I am going to have to look up a recipe and maybe try that. Because we make, we make cold process lye soap here for  baths and showers and  love it.  Like all of our kids grew up using these bars of soap since we started making  them 15 years ago.  And, uh, 06:39 My youngest asked me the other day, said, can I have like four bars of that soap? I said, yes, you can.  Well, they last so long and they're so versatile.  And yeah, they're just wonderful. Yeah.  I have a daughter and three sons. The daughter is the oldest.  The oldest of the boys lives in Nebraska. And he also had asked for some soaps to take home with them a couple of years ago when he visited. 07:05 And he and his wife are now making their own cold processed Lysol. That's wonderful. It's such a good feeling to be able to do that. It's such a skill. So excited that the things that we tried to teach them really did sink in and sunk in enough that they want to do it too. Yeah. It does work. It does work. If you model good things for your kids and you make it fun, they'll probably want to do it too. 07:32 Yes, it's quite different than just telling someone to do something when they see you doing it and enjoying it and what can come from it. Then it's quite different than just telling someone very much so. Yeah. And I always say this when I bring up the soaps. The reason we started making cold process lye soap is because store bought soap makes my skin itch like crazy.  And I had bought a beautiful um honey oat bar soap. 08:00 from a lady that has been making them for years. And I just loved it so much, the way it smelled, that I was like, oh, I can't wait to take a shower with this. And I used that entire bar, went back to store, bought soap, and my skin was itchy, but the whole time I used the bar I from her, my skin was really nice. And I said to my husband, I said, can we please try making cold processed lye soap? Because I can't afford to spend $7 a bar. 08:29 uh It's a stretch for the budget back then.  And he said, let's look up how to make it. And we did, and he made a batch and it was unscented and we loved it. And we gave a couple bars to people to try to see what they thought. And they were like, can you make a lemon scented one?  Can you make a lavender scented one?  And then we got into the essential oils and it was just, it was so fun. 08:53 to learn all the things and all the properties and why lavender is so good,  why lemon is so good.  And we still do it now. So I just, always rave about the cold process Lysol because yes, it has some things to be careful of,  but  once you've made a couple of batches and you know your process, it's one of the simplest ways  to improve your life. Yes. You get so many out of a batch. 09:22 You get like eight or 10 bars and so much more cost effective. And um yeah, you have to be careful with the lie, but like anything, it's a skill that you learn. then, you you use safety and you get the hang of it. And then, you know, you get this cost effective product that, you know, saves you money. You can share with family and friends. It's really wonderful. And it's  satisfying, you know, you. 09:46 You make that soap, you use that soap, and I don't know about you, but I just get this bubble of happiness in my chest that we can do this, that we did this, that we use it, that it's good for us. Yeah, my first bar of soap, I couldn't believe it. There was no soap there, and then I made soap. It's somethi

    34 min

  6. FEB 2

    Ranch Wife Marketing

    Today I'm talking with Alisha at Ranch Wife Marketing. You can also follow on Facebook. www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead Muck Boots  Calendars.Com 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. Today I'm talking with Alicia at Ranch Wife Marketing in North Dakota. Good afternoon.  How are you? I'm doing good. How are you doing?  I'm good. How's the weather in South Dakota this afternoon? 00:22 North Dakota, um but it is getting better. We did have a negative 50 wind chills just a day or two ago, but now we're at least above zero. So for us, we can finally go back out in a sweatshirt. Nice. Did I say South Dakota? I swear my brain is not working today. You did. It's okay.  Oh, North Dakota, the one above South Dakota. Jeez. uh In Minnesota today, it is really cold. 00:50 I am looking out my bedroom window at uh the tin roof of the bedroom next to me  and the snow is all sparkly in the sunshine. It's really beautiful, but it's too cold.  Oh yes, I get it. We don't get a ton of snow, not as much as Minnesota.  I was born and raised there, so I know how much snow falls there. We're a little drier,  so we don't have em as much snow, but we do have a little dusting currently. 01:17 Just out of curiosity, where are you in North Dakota? I'm actually on the  North Dakota-South Dakota border. I live about 20 miles from South Dakota. um We live on the Standing Rock  Sioux Reservation um in a small, tiny town called Selfridge. Okay, cool.  Well, for the people who are following along on the podcast about my barn cats, um 01:46 We had a stray barn cat show up here a month ago maybe, and she has been kind of hiding out. She'll come and eat every other day.  And we have three kittens that we got a couple months ago. They're about five months old.  And  today is the first day that I have seen her, seen the stray hanging out with the other kittens in the dog house in the sunshine on the hay bales. And I think she's probably around the same age as the three kittens.  So, 02:14 That was the banner moment of my day was seeing this beautiful tortoiseshell stray cat hanging out with the kittens.  Oh, that's amazing. We have plenty of cats around here, um both indoor and outdoor. I love seeing all the kittens as they grow up in the summer. Yeah, it's really fun. And this cat showed up out of nowhere. I was like, why is there another cat? We don't have six cats.  We have five. 02:42 and my husband happened to get a photo of her and I was like, Oh, I hope she sticks around because she's beautiful. And from my local listeners, we have tons of chicken eggs in our farm stand. Farm stand is heated so the eggs don't freeze and we have lots of eggs in the farm stand for sale every day. So if anybody needs eggs, come on by. And that's it for my updates for my house, my homestead. Alicia, you are 03:11 farmer, but you're also a marketer. So can we talk about both? Yeah. So if my husband listens in, he's going to cringe because we're actually ranchers. worries. Some people call it cattle farming. Some people call it ranching. It's all about where you are in the world. But yeah, so we have a cow-calf ranch. We run about 500 mama cows. 03:37 about 200 heifers. We breed some bulls and sell some bulls as well. And we also have a quarter horse operation. So we have about a hundred horses. We run about a 65 to 75 mare brood band and have about six stallions. So that's kind of our ranch side. Wow. That's a lot. 04:02 Yes. Yeah, it is a larger  ranch. as much as I'd love to do the homesteading thing and like have the garden and all the other little animals,  we have plenty going on that my husband's always like, no,  you don't need to add more to our plate.  Yeah, I wish that my husband understood that concept. He's always like, I want to try this. I want to try that. And I'm like,  I think we need to get good at the first couple of things before we add more in. 04:30 I know. I really want chickens because I love fresh chicken eggs. And he's just like, just go across to our cousins. They have chickens. Honestly, it's easier if you just get them from somebody else. It really is. um We have 18 chickens  and  keeping chickens is not hard. I'm not saying don't get chickens. I'm not telling anyone to not ever get chickens because it's not that hard, but you have to make sure that you have bedding in the wintertime. If you live in a winter state, a Northern tier state, 05:00 And you have to clean out their coop at least once a month, if not twice a month in the warmer months because it gets stinky and that's not a fun environment for them to live in. So if you don't want to deal with chicken poop, don't get chickens.  Yeah, that's definitely a thing. I have had to babysit the chickens across the  way a few times and they are a little bit of work. I think they'd be so fun and my sons, they love the chickens. 05:30 Yeah,  I love watching the chickens. I just don't love going in the coop in August when it's been a really hot day and the coop needs to be cleaned.  And I have to hold my breath for the whole time and they're getting eggs, you know, it's very stinky.  But they are they are gorgeous. Even the most, I don't know, plain Jane chicken like we have, we have the ISA Browns. They're just a reddish brown chicken.  They're really pretty, too. So  I don't know. Chickens are great, but 06:00 I think that you probably have a very nice setup with your cousins across the way to get eggs from. Yeah. Yeah, it definitely does work.  And there's other people in our community that do eggs as well. m I hear one of your kitties in the background.  Yeah. Yeah. Whenever I'm at my desk, she has to be right here with me and she is a old girl. So she likes to complain. Does she help you type? 06:26 She would love to sit right on the laptop the entire time if I let her. Something about the warmth of it. Yeah, we don't have any indoor cats anymore, but we have a dog and she barks in the background. Probably  one out of every three recordings I do.  And sometimes I edit her out and other times just leave her in because we live on a homestead. There's going to be animal noises. Oh no. Yeah, exactly. I have my dogs right beside me too. And if she heard a noise that sounded like a knock, 06:54 She would be extremely loud.  huh. Yeah. Maggie's like that too. The trash truck pulls in the driveway and she loses her mind for the entire time.  I'm like, you know, even if you caught the truck, there was, there's not anything you could do about it. So just stop  and she won't until it pulls out of the driveway. She will not stop barking. And as it's pulling out of the driveway, she does this raw, raw, raw, like, yeah, get out of here. Exactly. sounds. m 07:24 It's very, very funny.  So, um tell me how you got into this marketing thing, because I looked at your website and I know the story, but the listener doesn't know the story. Okay. So, um I originally got into it by doing it for  the ranch. So, my husband is a fourth generation rancher and  we have the Quarter Horse Program, which is where it mainly started and 07:51 They always sold locally and by word of mouth, they got it out and kind of were selling their horses for the last,  they started in like  the mid 1900s. So it's been a long  family operation. And in, you know, 2012, 2014 ish when  Facebook came out,  we started using Facebook to market the horses. And that's kind of when the program blew up. 08:20 We don't do any  modern day bloodlines. We don't show our quarter horses. They're just ranch bred horses.  And when we were able to show them off online using social media and the internet and a website and all the things, um we started selling them all across the U S and now we have even started selling them overseas. 08:45 And when I was working for the farm service agency, before I had my, well, up until right after I had my son, I was always talking with the farmers, the ranchers, the stay at home ranch wives that had smaller businesses or the little businesses in town. And they always struggled to market their stuff. 09:11 like further than just going to the local elevator or the local sale barn or just farmers markets and things like that, especially in such a small rural community where we live. And it was hard to, for them to make side hustles or side businesses really work in such a small community. And they just, you know, always were at awe. Like, how do you guys sell your horses? You know, so 09:39 to so many states and now you've even shipped them overseas or how are you getting your cattle to be hitting the top of the sale barns every time you guys bring them to the  sale barn and most of the time we sell right off the ranch private treaty  because we're able to market and get a good deal where we don't need to take them to a sale barn and give up that commission.  so  kind of, yeah, questions kept coming up and people asking advice and that kind of 10:09 made me want to help people do it  the way that we're doing it. So  I built the business, quit my full-time corporate job with the Farm  Service Agency and started doing this full-time alongside moming and ranching. Yeah, and that moming job is the most important one of the three. Yes. Now we have two boys and it's been uh such a blessing to  not worry about going back to work with my second. 10:39 Yeah,  I imagine it probably has been. I did not ever have a job when my babies were babies, like from the minute they were born until they were at least two and a half.  having the privilege to be a full-time focused mother  is one of the joys of my life. raised three that I birthed and one bonu

    34 min

  7. JAN 28

    Santa's Crew LLC

    Today I'm talking with Sara at Santa's Crew LLC. Sara and her dad raise reindeer!   www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead Muck Boots  Calendars.Com 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. Today I'm talking with Sarah at Santa's Crew LLC in Wisconsin. Good morning, Sarah. How are you? Good and good morning.  How's the weather in Wisconsin this morning? Because it's damn cold in Minnesota.  It's very cold here as well.  Getting through it.  Yeah. um 00:29 I know we shouldn't complain because we had a very long, extended, beautiful fall, but spring can't come soon enough, honestly. Yeah, I don't mind cold weather, but when it's like way, way in the negatives and it causes things to break or have issues, then it's like, okay, now it's maybe a little too cold. Yeah, I am prone to migraines. It runs in my family, and when the temperature drops like this and the air gets dry, 00:56 My head tries to hurt every morning when I get up and I'm like, spring's only a couple months away. I will survive it. Yeah. I would definitely be looking forward to it as well if I were you. Yeah. It's no fun getting up in the morning and you get that little twinge and you're like, okay, so am I going to be down for three days or is this just a few seconds of dry air bothering my nose causing sinus headache? 01:22 It's very frustrating, minor. There are worse things in the world. I'm not worried about it. I just don't enjoy it.  So um Sarah talked with me a week or so ago about their dairy farm  and she let it slip that she and her dad have a reindeer raising endeavor as well. And I was like,  oh, will you come back and talk to me about the reindeer? And she's back. So  how in the heck did you guys get involved in raising reindeer? 01:51 Right? It's not something you're, you know, not very common. uh But our neighbor used to have them.  And  I did go to one of these events one time and, know, it was a lot of fun. I did grow up on a dairy farm. So I grew up around animals and training animals  at, you know, going to the fair. So I was familiar with that.  And 02:12 we found out he was selling and my dad and I kind of talked. It was kind of spontaneous. It wasn't something like we planned. It was just kind of like the opportunity was there  and we're like, let's do it. So we kind of went in partnership. I was 17 at the time.  Um,  and  we started with  two baby calves  and kind of expand from there was a male and female. So they were calves. We showed them that first year. 02:40 And the following year they would be a breeding pair. So then we had to get another female, um, because during the holiday season is when the males are in rut. So you don't want to bring them out because they're very aggressive. So usually people will bring like females or steers. So then we kind of started with three animals within our first two years. And then, um, the third degree added another one. So then we had three females and kinda, oh um, 03:07 went with that and then we had three breeding females. But yeah,  we slowly built it. was, uh yeah, it's very fun. m Reindeer are different than  cattle in some ways. They have their similarities but their differences.  And growing up with dairy cattle, when I got the reindeer, I'm like, oh, reindeer are much quicker and  more nimble than  cows. But yeah, it's been a lot of fun. 03:34 And now we've been doing it since 2016, which is crazy to think that time's flying by that fast. do you have a big herd now? We're at eight right now,  which is a good size. I don't think we'll get  bigger than that um at all. We're pretty with the amount of space we have for them. It seems to work well.  It's enough  animals for like the holiday season. And then we do have some breeding females. 04:04 So we can kind of get calves. We'll keep a few every once in a while and sometimes we'll sell some to people who don't breed or want, you know, new genetics kind of thing. So other people who have reindeer or want to get into it. we had, let's see, last year we had two, but we were expecting four. We're hoping to have four. We had four breeding females. This year we have five that were in breeding. 04:34 with breeding bulls.  And we think the youngest one isn't bred because during the holiday season, we think she was in heat because the steer was kind of trying to jump on her. like,  oh, I think she's having a heat. I don't think that one's pregnant. So maybe we'll have four calves. Like, we'll see. um We'll just have to wait and see. How long is gestation for the babies?  Oh, two. 05:02 Why am I blanking on the exact? uh Let's see, October is typically when hours are bred and then they calve in springtime around April or May. Why? I'm blanking on the number of days right now though.  So like eight, nine months.  Yeah, yes. Yep. Around that. Okay. Awesome. And is it set in stone? They only have babies in the spring? Yes. Yep. Because rut. 05:32 For the males, always, usually the end of August is when it kind of starts.  So it kind of starts around there.  And then they drop their antlers in December or January, which means rut season is done. But we pull the females out of the breeding pen in October because if they get bred any later than that, then they're calving. 05:55 into like late spring and summer and it's really, you know, warm for the baby calves. They usually don't do as well  when it's that warm.  Once they get older, they're really good with like the warmer weather, but it's just the baby calves seem to take it harder, you know, in their first few weeks. So we just don't want to have any late late calves. So we just pull them in October. oh Okay.  I have so many questions for you because I out and did some reading on reindeer this morning and 06:24 Reindeer and caribou are not the same animal. They are cousins. Yes. And reindeer come from Siberia area, right? Yes. Yep. Across seas. They're native over there where caribou are native to North America. Okay. So how did reindeer get to the United States? Do you know? Yes. So, I guess I'll kind of go back and kind of tell people that 06:53 I go to so many events and people say that they're the same thing and they will argue with me and that they think that I'm just  lying, I guess, at like Chris said, that I'm like, am not. are completely like, they're separate animals, but they are close cousins.  They are the same species, but different subspecies. um Because even like national geographic or prominent zoos in the US will wrongly classify these animals, which is kind of why I think. 07:20 people get confused because you can research it and get different things. But they have done research  on the migration patterns of the two of them. they are close cousins, but they are different animals. And reindeer domesticated  have been domesticated where caribou aren't. So  some people will kind of make the comparison. 07:44 to kind of make it a little easier to kind of understand it as like wolves and dogs, like they're close related, one's domesticated. I guess it's kind of a way to put it in perspective in that way. yeah, so reindeer first arrived in Alaska in 1892 by a boat, obviously, because they weren't. 08:10 Unlike Caribou, they were already here because Caribou basically used the land bridge to kind of come over here and then you know, that's how that worked and they were shipped from Siberia. So you're right there. And they ended up having their peak population here for 640,000 of them around the 1930s, but they say there's only roughly 20,000 of them that are in Alaska today. 08:38 I'm not sure we're in Canada. I know there's some hers in Canada, but I don't know exactly what the numbers are over there. Okay.  And  I'm going to be bouncing all over the place because stuff's going to pop in from what I read this morning.  You and your dad raise reindeer to  take them to Christmas things or have people come see them at Christmas, right? Yeah. We travel with them  to all different places. We're in Wisconsin, so we... 09:06 basically stay in Wisconsin because there's enough events to fill the mid November through Christmas. It's a very short window to kind of get to all these places and jam pack it all in. So we do a lot of traveling with them and we do two teams. We started with one trailer and we travel with two at a time because they're herd animals.  they like to be with another one, seem to do better that way. And so we travel with two of them. We bring a whole display pen. We set it all up. 09:34 get, you know,  I'm in there with the, with the reindeer on a, uh, with a lead rope and, know, I'm able to kind of, you know, talk to people, educate them, and they can kind of take photos with the reindeer as well.  Um, and then we just, we added a second team a few years ago because there was just so many  people wanting the same dates.  And so now we travel with two teams on some of the days. So, um 10:00 four animals out at once and my dad will take one team and I'll take the other if we happen to have like double bookings that way. Um, but we will not add a third team. That would be really chaotic and a lot. we're, we're going to kind of two teams is good enough. Okay. And have you guys trained the reindeer to pull a sleigh yet? Not yet, but we have one that we are  hoping  to or working with. Um, it's a steer. 10:27 So he doesn't have the testosterone like an intact bowl, so he won't go into rut or anything like that. And he's like a big puppy.  Your steer is kind of like, you know, even in cattle, your steers are very, very calm, nonchalant.  And he's  bigger than two in size.  And I think he'll be

    36 min

  8. JAN 23

    Cole Canyon Farm - The Impact of Having A Coach

    Today I'm talking with Morgan at Cole Canyon Farm. Learn about how having a coach can change your perspective.   www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead Muck Boots  Calendars.Com 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. Today I'm talking with Morgan at Cole Canyon farm in Montana  for like the fifth time, I think. Good morning, Morgan. How are you? Good morning. Good morning. Yeah.  What a journey this has been um from Groovy Grazers to Cole Canyon farm to more surprises. feel like 00:26 We have so many pivots you've had to cover, so I can understand why we've been  on quite a bit.  Well, you're also really listenable and you're really fun and I like you so much, so you make it a joy to talk with you. ah Morgan has been,  I don't know how to say it, she found herself a coach. Yeah. And I wanted to talk with Morgan about how that is changing things for her because  I feel like coaches give us perspective. 00:53 That we need that our friends give us so tell me about how that's going Yeah, so we talked a little bit about the last episode. I was like alright. I just did this crazy thing I signed up for a coach, I've never signed up for a coach. I've actually never spent I Would say probably more than two three hundred dollars on continued education for myself, and this is thousands of dollars But it's really important that you invest in yourself just as much as much as you invest in your property right so 01:23 um I do some silver and gold stuff with a friend  and her name is Diane Graber. She has a homesteading thing that she just launched. So I'm going to have you talk to her about Mary because her and her husband have been doing this for well over a decade. Like,  yeah. So  she's coming out into her homesteading area as I was coming into my set, you know, my,  golden silver era. Like I was just learning about it. Right.  And she. 01:52 came into my life about a year ago and she was helping coach me and that was really great, but I just had a lot going on. We covered a lot of what was going on in 2025, know, just lots of pivots changes. And she asked me about, I don't know, two weeks before the class, she was like, hey, jump onto this class, just say yes. It'll change your, change your whole world. I've worked with this woman before in previous adventures that we've done. 02:21 And she's a great person I just reconnected with her after 15 years. So was like, all right, cool. Like I'm, I love meeting people. That's how Mary and I met. If people don't know, she just messaged me on Facebook. Like I love talking to people. So it was one of those things where I was like, fine, I'll jump on. I don't have a problem. It's free, right? Like for me, income  is lower in the winter time. It's kind of a squeeze here in Montana.  And 02:49 So being free was great. It was something I could commit to.  I got on  and a coach is a vibe. Let me tell you, like you  will not vibe with every coach. You will not like what some coaches say. You will think that it doesn't fit your niche, whatever, be it right. Like coaches are, they attract their vibrational group is what I'm gonna say. Like, sorry. uh 03:18 the wind's bad here, you're going to attract the people that need to be around you. So somehow I landed up, landed in this class and I was listening to it and it was about being a millionaire. And I was like, well, don't, I'm not just try, I don't strive to be a millionaire. And it's not that I think that it's unhumble to be a millionaire. It's just like, for me, 250 K a year would be life-changing enough, let alone 500 K in a year, you know, so. 03:46 For me, was like, all right, I may not vibe with as much the millionaire side of this, but  I can get through the whole breakthrough concept of it. So I think there's a lot of like shame around having coaches or being open about having coaches. But there's a reason why in corporate America there's bosses and those bosses have supervisors and supervisors have supervisors. It's a checks and balance because like you were saying, Mary, it's a perspective. 04:16 So I got on, Melanie talked, it was two days. I really liked what she said. I had some really big breakthroughs about throwing spaghetti on the wall. I've said that here on this show before. If you've heard me talk on here before, I've talked about how we love throwing spaghetti at walls. We don't  anymore. And all  throwing spaghetti at the wall does is it either gets butter on the wall or it gets spaghetti sauce on the wall and it makes a mess. Correct. Yeah. So like... 04:43 In the past, was like, I'm just, and I was real honest about it. Like I didn't try and tell anyone we had every, you know, my ducks were not in a pond and we all knew that they were like in everyone's property. Um,  and so  Melanie was like, girlfriend, like you got a lot of potential. You got to lead with your feminine side.  I  grew up  in a home with a first generation American as a mother from Iraq.  And my dad is a Marine. 05:13 So  there was no sugarcoating involved in my household. And so I speak sometimes from the masculine side of life. And sometimes people don't vibrate with that. And she's not saying that you have to be, know, whatever weird version we think women and men should be. It's just to say, you know, she was just saying like, you got a lot to say, use a softer voice, you know, like use my good storytelling voice and I'll capture a lot of people. And like you said earlier,  I have fun talking on these podcasts as much as I do. 05:42 um hearing what people think about my storytelling. My son loves when I tell stories. So, you know, it just naturally makes sense that this would be a calling for me. And, you know, she was like, just kind of pull yourself back in. And had I not done this coaching, to be honest with you, I wouldn't have written my mini gardening guide already. I wouldn't have completed also my full gardening course that I'll be selling this year. 06:12 I wouldn't be getting set up for a website so then I could actually get help because I was paying for Wix and I was paying for the $50 a month program.  And that was great, but I had to do all the work. spent,  Mary, I spent like four or five hours a night, some nights, for weeks on end trying to get Wix to operate the way I wanted it to.  And it's still not operating correctly for Groovy Grazers. 06:39 Yeah, I'm working on the one for the other podcast right now, the Grit and Grace and the Heartland  Agriculture podcast.  And I'm trying to get the social media buttons to work on the theme that I chose and it's not working. I'm probably going to have to look at a different theme. I do it through WordPress.  once you get your website built the way you want it to be, it's plug and play. It's easy. You just update it. But getting them built is a pain in the butt. 07:08 Yeah, which by the way, I'm just gonna blurb in if any of the listeners on this show have not listened to the new one. You gotta go. You should be like running to your search button right now getting that in. Hopefully Mary will link the link below for it. like, yes, you should. Absolutely. Because  I yeah, my son even listened to it with me. Like he was like, Mom, this is great. And like he loves the fact that 2026 is the year of women's agriculture, like 07:37 you know, especially being first generation farmers. that, that was something that you also had completed. So you can understand we're kind of in the same process of like getting something up and going and people don't realize how many hours you put behind this. So all it took, and you're going to be just floored. It took Melanie a 30 minute session with me. That was it.  That's all it takes. Like, 08:05 you don't have to pay for hours and hours and hours of coaching. I'm taking a course that is self-paced and there's like, you know, twice a month Zooms  where we can all meet together. You can watch a replay and I jump on the Zooms because I think it's really important to be present and plugged into what I'm doing, especially if I'm spending a few thousand dollars on it, that it's got to be priority at that point. Or then I feel like I wasted, you know, my own money and 08:33 that came included with it. to,  I am going to get more like one-on-one sessions with her because it was very minimal information that I gave Melanie, cause this is just like an introductory one-on-one, but she told me that  my whole goal has been  since doing  Groovy Grazers was to teach because I find that that's my passion. 09:02 and what I love to do the most.  being able to teach, but just not in my area, but all over and then creating a community, I've have probably been on the soapbox more times than I can count about community being so important and what we do. And so being able to create that was really kind of seamless for me after she explained that I needed to get a Facebook group going, which I did, Built From Dirt Facebook group. 09:29 We have over 400 members and as Melanie said on the master class a few days ago, like we have active members and it's because I'm not just blasting people with just like, I'm not just trying to sell them something. Like I want to build a community and that is my honest mission in doing built from dirt farm school is having a place that we can all bounce. 09:54 bounce off of each other, but then also help elevate each other's businesses because most people that are in the ag industry, like as we all know, you can't have every single type of livestock and excel in any of them. You've got to really kind of hone in on one. So most ag businesses were all kind of like just a few small streaml

    32 min
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5
out of 5
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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
    405
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Copyright 2023 All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    A Tiny Homestead

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