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A Tiny Homestead | Wave AI Podcast Notes

Podcast

A Tiny Homestead

Hosted by Mary E Lewis · EN

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

48episodes

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Rusted Gates Farm
2w ago00:34:28Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Connie at Rusted Gates 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 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 Connie at Rusted Gates, uh, farm? Farm? think it's farm. Yeah. Pennsylvania. Good afternoon, Connie. How are you? Good morning. I'm doing well. Good. How's the weather there? Rainy, but we need it. I think almost everybody in the United States needs some rain right now. 00:30 Yep, they sure do. Other than us, we've had we had half an inch two days ago and it's been cloudy for the last three days. And I'm like, you know, sunshine, you could come back out any time now. There's baby plants in the garden that need you. Yes, there are. It's so cute. look out my living room window and there's a big old garden right out the window across the driveway and it's all good, rich, black dirt. 01:00 And then there's these little green baby plants in there and I'm like, oh man, this is my favorite part. Watching everything just in finally after a long winter. Yep. When you finally, everything starts finally waking up. Trees have their leaves and all the plants are flowering. It's a pretty time of year. I freaking love spring. I love fall more than I love spring because fall is the, uh 01:28 the reaping of what we planted in the spring. So I like fall because we're eating squashes and the last of the tomatoes and um pumpkin pie and all those good things that we associate with fall. Okay. So your last name is Gates. So is that why it's rusted Gates farm? Yes, it is. And why rusted Gates? Well, ah 01:56 We had a daughter and her nickname was Rusty. Cute. I love that. Yeah. So, yeah, so that's why we name it Rusty. Sweet. Very sweet. Okay. So your main thing that you do at Rusty Gates Farm is fainting goats. And I want to hear all about that. Yeah, about 15 years ago, I got started in it. 02:20 Yeah, but what else is there anything else that you do on the farm as well as the goats? We have an assortment of animals. To run down the list, we started with silky chickens. We got a couple of ceramas, chickens, couple of Polish chickens, a couple of golden phoenixes. We got ducks. We got bunnies. We got a we got a sepastra bull goose and a hubby. 02:50 Sterling, we named him Sterling and uh and Hope is the other one and Hope's a little famous. She is used in this uh photographers as a prop and a lot of the kids put up pictures. So she's been a prop in a couple of uh the photo shoots. Hope is a goose? Yep, Hope is a goose. Okay. 03:18 And she's almost 13 years old. So I'm not sure how long she's going to be around, but she's 13 now. So she's getting up there in age. That sounds like a very long life for poultry. Yeah, it is. We have a couple of turkeys. We have a zebu cow that originated over in Africa. How did you get that? 03:41 Um, there was a breeder in Bedford County that we did. I wanted Highlands and I couldn't afford a Highland. I really wanted a miniature Highland, but like I said, that, was a no go for the price tag. So we settled on the Zeeboot because it was a much more reasonable price range for someone that's on social security. Yeah. The Zeeboos are the ones with the hump. 04:06 in their backs. Yes. They look like almost like the Brahmans, except they don't have the long ears and their hump's not quite as big and their miniature size. Nice. All right. And his name is Seb. We have two ponies, Louie and Chunky Charlie. And Louie I use for pony rides for his birthday parties. And we have a little donkey and he's kind of famous in our community too, because 04:34 He goes to church with us quite a bit. His name is Festus. um Festus has been in a couple Christmas plays at Celebration Community Church. And then at Easter time, went and he was in, they had a special program for the kids about, and they took each day of Jesus' life in the last week of him being on earth. And they had a different station for that. 05:02 Festus was of course the first one because Jesus rode on in on the back of a donkey into Jerusalem and kids lay pumped down and pumps down in front of him and he walked over him. Have fun. Yeah, and an interesting fact about donkeys while we're on donkeys is Festus has a cross on his back. He has a dark stripe down his back and a dark stripe over his shoulders. So it makes a 05:32 cross. So that was kind of a blessing from Jesus for carrying him on Palm Sunday. And pretty much all Mediterranean donkeys have that cross. I was gonna say not all donkey breeds have that, but that specific breed does. the Mediterranean donkey stew. Funny. So yes, so that's his claim to fame. And then we have all kinds of pigeons, all different breeds. um 06:00 And I think that's about it. So why do you have pigeons? That's my husband's hobby. OK. That's something that he's always been fascinated with. And so that's what we have. We have homers and we have some that are called Birmingham rollers. They're really cool because when they catch an airdrift that goes up, they roll in the sky. 06:26 and then they catch another drift and they go way high and then they roll. It's really fun to watch them. Yeah, birds are so interesting. Like, I don't want one in my house. I never want a pet bird. And we have chickens and I really don't enjoy touching the chickens, but I absolutely enjoy having the eggs from the chickens. Of course, they're good and fresh that way. 06:53 Yeah, I think that birds belong outside. I really enjoy watching them. I don't want to be up close. are kind of messy and dirty. Yeah, I don't want to be up close But not as dirty as ducks. Ducks are the worst. So I hear. I don't have ducks. My friend does. And she's actually selling her duck eggs in our farm stand again this year for the second year. Oh, well, they're very good for you. Yeah. And I just, I'm like, I don't want ducks. I'm good. Chickens is more than enough. 07:23 Well, you get more chickens for eggs. Chickens lay eggs for a longer period of time than ducks do. Ducks have a very short laying cycle. They do. And it was funny because her ducks stopped back last fall and we had a few people asking where the duck eggs were. And I was like, you clearly don't know anything about ducks. And I didn't say that because that would be rude. And I was like, they don't lay past. 07:50 Yeah, end of September 1st of October when the daylight gets short, they don't hmm. So and now they're back and everybody's like, yay, duck eggs are back. I'm like, yeah, because the sunlight is now back. Yeah, because all of agriculture is influenced by weather and daylight. That's right. We need to get people back into this. I swear, it's part of the reason I do this podcast and my other one, because people need to know. 08:19 how the cycles work and how nature works and that eggs don't come from the store, they come from chicken butt. Yes, yes, it's interesting. We're so far removed and it's so sad and it took such a short amount of time. One generation, it's all it took. Yeah, it's nuts. I refuse to be removed. I will not be removed from where my food comes from. 08:48 because I was raised by, well, I wasn't raised by grandparents, but I had grandparents who had gardens and my parents had a big garden and my parents hunted. They heated their house with wood, with a wood stove. So I know a lot about gardening and I know a lot about hauling wood. And I refuse to let people remain in their little bubbles of the grocery store is where food originates and that's where we get it. 09:15 Or you turn on the switch and you have heat. That too. Yeah. Yeah. So what's still is a little bit more work. Yes. If you do it right, your wood should warm you four times. The saying is three, but it's actually four because you got to cut the tree when you sweat, when you cut a tree, you have to cut up the fallen tree. You have to. You have to split the wood and then you have to move the wood to wherever it's going to be stored. So that's four times. ...
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H&H Homestead
2w ago00:33:06Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Ashley at H&H Homestead. You can also follow on Facebook. 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 I'm 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 Ashley at H &H Homestead in Texas. Good morning, Ashley. How are you? Good. How are you? I'm good. I haven't actually recorded an episode for A Tiny Homestead in over a week because people have been busy. Oh, it is that time, especially down here. And we're planting everything. 00:28 We've had some stuff going for weeks, so I can imagine everybody's kind of really getting into it right now. Yeah, it's that time of year and I go through the same thing in the fall when everybody's harvesting and I go through the same thing at Christmas and New Year's because everybody's busy with family. Oh, for sure. So I'm very happy you had time to talk with me today. Yeah, absolutely. How is the weather in Texas this morning? 00:53 It is so sunny and nice. I went out and watered everything as early as I possibly could because I know we're supposed to get to 100 today. So I wanted to make sure, you know, I was out there before it got super hot. Oh, I was cringing at the fact that we're supposed to have like 84 for a high on Friday. 100 would kill me right now. See, you're in Minnesota, right? Yes. Yeah, I just I feel you just you just acclimate to where you are because I used to. 01:20 I mean, I've been to Minnesota several times. I used to live in Alaska and I am such a warm weather person now. I just, I really don't like being cold. So it's like, you just get used to where you're at and then, you know, go to somewhere opposite and it really throws you. Uh-huh. I would rather, this is going to sound really stupid because I do not enjoy deep winter, but I would rather deal with cold because I can throw on more layers of clothes. If it's hot, I can't get any more naked than naked. 01:50 Just extra fans, extra fans. I have her, like not even just the cold. I have not had to shovel snow in years and I love that. Yep. One of the things I used to do when I was a kid, cause I grew up in Maine and Maine is very, very, very humid in July and August. And I would get, I would get headaches when it was hot. And so I would, I would literally come in the house, go on the bathroom, strip down, get in a cold, cold, cold shower. Yeah. So that my hair was wet. 02:19 And then I would dry my hair just enough so that it wasn't dripping. And that cold hair on my neck would keep me cooler. Yeah. Yeah, that's smart. But I just, hate being hot. Hot is my least favorite state of being. Well, see, there has to be, you know, opposites in people. Otherwise we'd all be in Minnesota or we'd all be in Texas. So it's a good thing that there's a mix. It would be a very boring world if everybody was the same. Yes. And my podcast would put people to sleep. 02:49 So, all right, so why is it H and H Homestead? Well, so our last name is Huff. so there's two of us, me my husband, but then our boys names are also both start with H. So either way you look at it, there's just H's all around. So we went with H and H. Oh, I love it. That's amazing. That's great. And like way to be original, mom. Well, you know, I had to keep with the, you know, I don't know, R being our last name. 03:18 Hough or, you know, Hank and Hogan Hough. And then they have the same middle initial as well. So everyone's got the same, you know, just that way everything stays the same. You don't get one thing personalized. Technically it goes for everybody, you know. Fabulous. That's really great. So what do you do at H &H Homestead? A little bit of everything. So we're kind of new to this. So 03:40 And I blame my oldest son for getting us started in this because he brought home the chickens from his first grade class. And this is kind of what started the whole thing is, um, his first grade class hatched these chickens for, you know, studying the, life cycle of animals. Right. And they had these seven adorable little chickens and then summer rolled around and nobody necessarily wanted to take them. So of course I volunteered. So we started with chickens and then from there. 04:08 I was like, well, my chickens need some neighbors out there. They look a little, they look a little sad. then, then we got quail and then I did a greenhouse and now I have dozens of raised garden beds and now we have bunnies and we just got chukkers. And so I'll probably like everyone else's. Um, you're just always adding something and always doing the next thing on your homestead. Yeah. It's one of the best things about it. I don't know what a chukker is. They're a little, little game birds. They're called chukker partridge. They're a little bit bigger than a quail. Um, 04:37 brown, they've got a little black ring around their neck. My husband used to hunt them um growing up and now we're just going have an easier way to do that because we'll just walk out to the backyard. Don't have to hunt, just have to acquire. Exactly. So chicken math quickly led to homosteading math is what you're telling me. Yes it did. With of course a side of sourdough because that has to come with it too. Yeah I wasn't going to talk about sourdough today but you brought it up. 05:06 I have sourdough starter in my fridge. It's been in my fridge for a month because I made it and it was doing great and I was like, I'm not going to make bread right now. So I stocked the jar in my fridge and I really haven't looked at it since. And because you said it, now when I go downstairs, I'm going to have to take it out and make sure it's not dead. I have never put mine in the fridge. I know people do that. I've just never... I've always been afraid that that's going to kill it. 05:36 So I probably, you know, I make as many discard recipes that I do actual bread, just because I'm like, I gotta do something to keep it going. Yeah. My husband, part of the reason I got stuck in the fridge is because my husband makes yeast breads and he's really good at it. Yeah. And therefore three or four weekends in a row, he had made four loaves of yeast bread every weekend. So we had bread that was already made in the freezer and I was like, eh. 06:03 I'm not even going to attempt to make the third loaf of my life of sourdough right now. So I put it in the fridge and I guess as long as it doesn't have orange or pink mold on it, it's still viable. think so. I think it just gets that layer of stuff on top and you pour it off and then... Yep. And just add some more stuff to it. So I got to check that today and I honestly don't want to because that means that... I didn't mean to just add to your to-do list. 06:31 My to-do list today is basically the podcast recording with you, but I really should check. really should. uh So do you have land or are you an urban homesteader? We have about an acre, just a little over an acre. And I mean, technically we're within city limits, here we're very, I mean, we could walk and we're outside of it. We're so close to the edge. So like we don't have a ton of space, but eh I feel like really maximize. 07:00 the area that we have. have everything kind of right next to each other, not super spread out. Definitely still have room for more animals. I've been telling my husband I want goats or I want pigs or I want something else. And so far he is not super on board yet. Doesn't seem to have a problem if I add any type of birds that I want. But as soon as it has four legs, then it's more of a discussion. Is it because he's afraid he'll get more invested in a four-legged critter because they don't have feathers? 07:28 Maybe I mean, he grew up with this kind of stuff, right? He, you know, showed pigs he had all this kind of stuff. So it's not as new to him as it is to me and the boys. So I think he's just, you know, maybe not as excited about doing it again, per se. He did say that about the bunnies when we first got the bunnies, because we were given the...
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Rud Ridge LLC
4w ago00:29:59Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Ruth at Rud Ridge LLC. You can also follow on Facebook. 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. Today I'm talking with Ruth at Rud Ridge LLC in Wisconsin. Good morning, Ruth. How are you? Good morning. I'm fantastic. How are you? I'm good. Is the weather beautiful in Wisconsin today? Because it is gorgeous in Minnesota. 00:22 It's one of those Wisconsin days where you're not sure if 60 degrees is going to feel like 40 degrees or 60 degrees is going to feel like 80 degrees. So, uh, it's beautiful. I'll take it. Uh, but it's a little chilly out there for this time of year. Yeah. May has turned out to be more like April and April was more like May here. So I don't know. Mother nature is just a fickle. Which W I C H let's put it that way this year. 00:49 As long as my husband can get the corn in the ground today and the other crops planted, I will be very happy. Yes, yes, because corn needs time. So it can be knee high by the 4th of July, as they say. You've got it. They just planted the field that surrounds our property yesterday, day before yesterday, and they're doing soybeans this year. It's been corn for three years in a row. I'm so thankful it's soybeans this year. 01:17 little bit of change. Yeah, we actually had some ice on the duck ponds this morning, which was not normal for me. So, no, our outside um water supply, I don't know what they're called. It's the it would in the old days, it would have been the well where you had to pump the water out. And it's not you just lift the handle and it's like a spigot. Yeah, yeah, it's been frozen the last three mornings. And my husband's like, 01:45 I'm going to have to fill up a five gallon pail of water and take it out to chickens. I'm like, good luck with that because that's heavy. So yeah, it's been weird, but I hear that this is the last cold week, supposedly until fall. We will see. Weather, man. I don't know. So tell me a little bit about yourself and what you guys do at Red Ridge LLC. So Red Ridge originally started with rabbits. em 02:13 Excuse me, specifically, Rex, not many rabbits. We started with rabbits because we lived in town on half an acre. ah children and I began with raising rabbits for meat and show. And we relocated to another property outside of town and have expanded into crop farming and we will be adding beef hopefully later this year. So we are all around a family homestead. My husband is a seventh. 02:42 generation farmer here in Wisconsin. So we are looking to continue that with the eighth generation that would be our children. Nice. um I have a question about the Rex rabbit. Rex rabbits are the ones that look like velvet, right? Yes, they are. They um are kind of generally considered a commercial breed, larger in scale. They have a versatility where their their pelts are 03:11 utilized in a lot of garment making and such. very, very soft. Once you feel Rex rabbit fur, nothing else feels quite like it in density and softness. And they really are a joy to raise and watch thrive in our homestead. friend of mine had one and it was like 03:36 like a chocolatey, a light chocolate brown one, but she had black eyeliner around her eyes. And I fell in love with that rabbit. She was friendly and she was the softest animal I have ever petted in my whole life. Yes, absolutely. And we specifically have always focused on temperament of our stock. They are handled quite a bit from the day they are born. We do routine nest box checks. We're always hands on. 04:05 Um, you know, making sure that they're growing well, um, everybody's alive in the nest that they are used to being handled, that moms are used to us handling them. So it kind of really sets them up for, um, a thriving of their social personality in that aspect. But you know, you pointed out they can be really sweet and kind. Yes. I mean, I think that rabbits make excellent pets as long as you, as long as they are socialized to being handled. Yes. Well, and you know, 04:35 Certainly historically in America, rabbits have been utilized for meat. It's not quite as common as it once was um in either the country or our region specifically to have rabbits as meat. But I think it's an important point for people or families who want to be a little more self-sustainable, to be able to be involved in their own personal food chain, whether it be for themselves or for their pets. We do supply. 05:05 Some people rabbit meat for their pets, um dogs and cats, sometimes snakes. I think that people can care for their livestock and rabbits can be a part of livestock while also being kind of that cute and cuddly at the same time. It's an interesting dynamic to try to uh explain to people that are looking to begin on a homesteading journey. 05:34 Yes, you don't just have to have meat chickens, you can have meat rabbits as well. Yes. Rabbit meat actually is considered one of the healthiest and easily digestible proteins that's available to people to consume. um I know that, again, people have to kind of get past the fact that it's their own um animal they would be harvesting, and it's not presented in a package these days. 06:04 Every single animal that we consume kind of looks the same on a grocery store shelf. They're all basically in the same size packages. They're in the same sort of presentation. But rabbit meat from a health standpoint personally can really give people a solid boost into their nutrition. And I keep hearing that if all you ate was was rabbit for your meat source. 06:32 that that doesn't go well because they don't have a lot of fat on them? So that is more geared to wild game rabbit. Okay. Um, while within the meat itself, there's not like a lot of marbling like you would see in, um, beef or in pork. Um, you will find when you harvest domestic rabbits that they do have a certain amount of fat content within them. Okay. That being said, 07:01 There's no one ever that's really consuming solely rabbit in their diet, you know in this day and age if you understand where I'm coming so it would be really really difficult to be so Exclusively relying upon rabbit meat that you would find yourself deficient, you know in in nutrient Okay, so it's 07:26 I wanted to bring it up because people keep telling me this and I'm like, I don't think anybody's just going to eat rabbit, number one. And number two, we had rabbits for a while and when we butchered them, they had fat on them. It's very much akin to um the old wives tale that if you touch a rabbit or you touch a nest from a rabbit that the mom will abandon that nest. It's kind of the same in the same vein that there may have been a 07:55 grain of truth into, you know, exclusively utilizing rabbit being poor for your health. You obviously need a well-rounded diet that somehow that translated into people believing that rabbit starvation is an issue when you're utilizing rabbit meat and that it's just not the case. you. That's I was hoping you would clear that up for me. Absolutely. And you know far more about rabbits than I do. We did it. We did not. 08:25 do well at it and we don't raise rabbits anymore. I'm sorry to hear that because we really define them to be a positive impact in our life. We had dumb bunnies. They did not know how to procreate and we had the right genders or sexes or whatever. They just didn't make babies. I believe people have found that there is the saying of, you know, breeding like rabbits that particularly when you want them to, they may not. 08:54 uh It can be a little bit of an art and a science. uh There are things such as the rabbit's over consumption of a pelleted feed that can lead them to be a little heavier in fat that would limit their ability to get pregnant. There can be other environmental stressors or factors that can make it a little more difficult than it may seem on the surface to kind...
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Little Willow Homestead
May 400:30:34Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Jessica at Little Willow Homestead. You can also follow on Facebook. A Tiny Homestead Podcast 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. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. A tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Jessica at Little Willow Homestead in Idaho. Good afternoon, Jessica. How are you? Good. How are you? A little dumb today. I'm not going to lie. It's all right. 00:59 Maybe both of our brain cells together will accomplish something. Maybe. I think it's allergies. It's very sunny here in Minnesota and there's a light breeze and I think all the things that are really starting to bloom are just ruining my brain. But my husband sent me photos of the apple trees that are blooming today. So I'm very excited. Our apple trees never do very well in 01:29 end of April, 1st of May, because we get these big wind storms or we get thunderstorms and the blossoms get blown off. uh And I'm just, the weather's supposed to be good for the next five days. So I'm praying that the weather is good for the next five days. So we get apples on the trees on the far side of the property that we've never gotten apples from in the five years we've been here. Hey, we can pray. That's awesome. Yes. So I think the allergies are kicking my butt. 01:59 And I got a really quick thing I want to share with you and listener. um I went out on my porch and looked out the window and one of our chickens was over by our useless garage. We don't use it for anything. It's ready to fall down. And we have this one chicken who escapes the run every day. And I decided that her name is Hopper because she hops the fence. 02:24 I have a few of those and uh one of them, she is ultra determined. She's a coffee agger and she loves to jump the fence and lay in this one particular spot. But I know it's going to be there every day, so I go and collect it every day. Yeah, I don't think the chickens are actually laying outside of the coop, but this one just has to go explore after she lays her egg in the nesting box. 02:55 She's a little crazy. She's a little free spirit. She is and she looks so fat. I know if I went out there and picked her up, she probably only weighs about three and a half pounds. She's so feathered out that she just looks round. I love it. So I want to talk about the coffee agar thing, but first, would you tell me a little bit about yourself and about your homestead? Oh my goodness, where do I start? 03:24 So I really want to share with you the why why we moved out here to begin with. Yes. um So we we kind of homesteaded a little bit before in our hometown, which is a little tiny town in Idaho. And I don't know, I just that was back in 2009. And I got chickens. I had a ton of chickens. I was doing meat birds, taught my kids how to process meat birds and all the things. And my daughter 03:54 My youngest of, we call her the youngest of the first batch. was the youngest of our five. She was really struggling in school. And so we made the decision because she was the only one at home that we would um sell our house, move to a different town and get her into the best school in the area that worked well with children on an IEP. And so we sold our house, moved into a subdivision, stayed there for four years. 04:21 During that time we did foster care and then we adopted our daughter. Well that daughter the daughter that we moved there for graduated from high school and a month later we put our house on the market and and we had our daughter that we adopted from a foster kiddo she had asked us to take her and and and raise her and so we wanted to give her a life away from the city teacher where her food came from and just 04:50 for me to be able to homeschool her and, you know, just teach her all the things, you know, things maybe that I didn't learn and just, I don't know, I just really wanted to raise her out in the country. I felt really strongly about it. And I had this like idea that you move out into the country, far out into the country, because we do, we live 30 minutes away from anything, a gas station, anything. And so you have this like mindset, at least I did. 05:19 that you move out into the country and things are gonna be slow and peaceful and serene and all the things. And that's not what it's been like for us being out here. It's actually been really, really hard. When I first got here, we got chickens right away, of course. And then I started to raise meat birds and what have you. And then... 05:47 Shortly after that, um that daughter was 19 years old, was actually convinced to go into uh Washington state, get on a plane and fly into Washington state and she uh was trafficked while she was there, she was sold. And so this whole time I'm thinking like, it was supposed to be easier being out here, but things seem to be getting harder. And I um struggled with um being diagnosed with lupus after that. 06:17 And then really having a hard time with breeding my birds and trying to take care of my daughter, struggling with lupus. But my husband was so amazingly, like, patient and loving. And he saw this desire in me to do this. And so he would step in when I couldn't. so we just really learned to work together as a team. em you know, we were doing really well. We were 06:47 building our business, creating the rainbow eggs and what have you. And while I was doing that, I came across that really deep dark brown color. And I was like, I know how I can make that, but what am I gonna call it? Because it needs to be something different. And so I looked and looked and I'm a coffee drinker. So I was like- 07:12 I love coffee and I have like coffee signs, have a coffee bar, like all the coffee things, right? And it just hit me one day, it was like coffee agar. And then I felt like God was like, go look it up and make sure, know, dot all your I's and cross all your T's, make sure that it's not being used in commerce. And it wasn't, I couldn't find it anywhere. It's just like, this is awesome, this is so cool. So I actually had the name for it before I ever even had the color, which I thought was funny. 07:42 pretty cool. And then I got the color that like six months later, as soon as I figured out like how to do it, I got that color and hence that's where the coffee acres came from. And so we were, we just started to breed like those colors and whatnot and things were going well. We were selling to a local like feed store, our birds and stuff. And it was like literally in the height of like hatching season, you know, it was the end of April and I got a phone call. 08:11 at six o'clock in the morning on April 26th that my son had overdosed and died of a fentanyl overdose. And I was completely wrecked. when was this? This was five years ago, April 26th, 2021. And I told my husband, I couldn't catch my breath for one. And it felt like I was getting kicked in the gut daily. And I told him, said, I can't, I can't do this anymore. I can't, I can't breathe. 08:41 I'm going to cry. 08:45 said, want to sell everything. I don't want to do this. um And so I started to list things and he said, you're not selling the incubators and you're not selling ...
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Natures Farmacy
May 100:32:22Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Joe and Jessica at Natures Farmacy. A Tiny Homestead Podcast 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. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. A tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Jessica and Joe at Natures Farmacy in Alabama. Good morning, guys. How are you? Good morning. How are you? I'm good. How's the weather in Alabama this morning? 00:55 It's a little overcast. It rained yesterday and a lot last night. So overcast, warm. Plants are happy. I bet. I bet they are. It is a beautiful sunny morning here in Minnesota and there's a very light breeze and everything has greened up beautifully. And tomorrow is May 1st. Yay. 01:22 Very excited because May 15th is the date that we plant our seedlings. So we only have to wait 15 and a half more days. Awesome. So tell me a little bit about yourselves and what you do. OK, so uh we're Nature's Pharmacy. We are a micro farm here in Summerdale. um We grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables. um We're basically on 1.7 acres and we're trying to pack in as much 01:52 ah produce and fruit as we can on this. It's not tiny, but it's not big either on this piece of land. And ah we use organic growing practices. We set up at the markets. ah We have five kids. We homeschool them. So we're here all the time. That is a lot of little people in your life. We have two that are big people now and we actually just became grandparents. 02:22 from one of them. So that's really cool. She's a month old now. Jessica, you look amazing to be a grandma. saw your videos on Facebook and I was like, wow, she can't be more than 25. guess. Oh, thank you. It's the veggies. Yeah, absolutely. Are the kids involved in the... They're involved in the berry picking and eating. Yeah, it's hard to keep fruit on the trees and... 02:51 on the vines, ah but I'm guilty of that too. I love to get out here and pick berries and eat fruit. It's really awesome to be able to have that experience and for our kids to have that experience running up and down the rows picking, whether it's fresh carrots or blackberries, plums, peaches. I'm so glad that we get to do that for them. They do help though. They are oldest, not our oldest, but the oldest living here. He's 13. ah 03:20 He helps us with harvesting and packaging and getting stuff ready for the market. He helps us set up at the market. The girls help some too. They'll come out when we're planting and want to poke a few seeds in the ground. We don't force it. So if they want to help, they do. Nice. You're growing budding entrepreneurs while you grow your gardens and your fruit trees. Actually, our 13 year old has his own mushroom operation. I mean, I'm sorry. 03:49 Worm casting. Worm casting operation. Which could lead to mushroom growing. Well, we do grow mushrooms. So, yeah, that's definitely something that, you know, if he wanted to get into that, he could. We grow Shiitake mushrooms and we'll grow other mushrooms as well, like wine cap. But yeah, so he's he's farming worms and collecting castings and he sets his little worm castings up at the market and he 04:17 He sells worm casting, so it's really cool. He's pretty much staying sold out too. And the girls are trying to get into crickets. They did just recently order their first batch of crickets. They want to be able to grow those, whether it's for like people that have lizards or feeding their chickens or even bait. Yeah, fishing. I love it. You guys have been an excellent example for your little people and your big people. Thank you. 04:47 I wish everybody could be that kind of example because we'd have a much better world in about 10 years. Well, I think more people are waking up and moving towards, you know, going back to homesteading and I say a simpler life, but sometimes it's not simpler. mean, there's a lot of work involved, but I see more and more people all the time. Seems like they're waking up and trying to. 05:15 disconnect from the system and become more self-sufficient. So. Yeah, as I've said on this podcast a bunch of times, I didn't know that homesteading was anything weird or different. my parents lived on an acre in Maine when they were raising me and my siblings and they grew a garden and they heated their house with wood and my dad split wood by hand with a splitting mall and an axe. 05:44 And we helped him haul wood over to the basement and chucked it downstairs and moved it from one corner of the other to stack it for the winter. We didn't know that that was not what everybody did. And I can remember walking into a house for the first time where they didn't have a wood stove in their house. And I was like, don't you guys freeze in the wintertime? I think I was 10 and the dad of the family was like, what are you talking about? We have electricity. 06:15 We kind of grew up the opposite. Okay, yeah. Yeah, like we grew up on the TV dinners and the plopped in front of the TV and you know, just we didn't know people lived like you lived. Yeah. Yeah, we grew up completely different. But later in life, we, you know, started to realize that that's not the way we wanted to live anymore. So 06:43 We wanted to start growing. We got a piece of property in Summerdale, started our first garden about 13, 14 years ago and just fell in love with growing and with the idea of being able to provide people with food. so from there we just expanded on that idea and have continued to grow our farm. And, you know, we still want to expand. uh It's a work in progress for sure. Building new beds all the time and 07:12 planting more crops. 07:16 Yeah, do I explain this? We have a hard sided greenhouse that is permanent, but we had a, a, I want to call it a high tunnel, but it's not one of the big ones, but that style of greenhouse, we had one up and the plastic ripped over the winter. That whole thing came down yesterday. Cause we're not going to use it this summer. And I was like, I'm kind of, I'm going to miss that little bubble out there. My husband looked at me and he said, what? 07:45 And I said, the greenhouse you took down today. Yeah. It's been part of the landscape for two years. And I it's going to look weird having a hole in there, you know? Yeah, for sure. We love our greenhouse. That's actually where we're sitting right now. It's actually become like a second living space or actually maybe this is the main living space and the house is kind of secondary living space. yeah, we have Thanksgiving out here. if you know, the big kids come over and bring the family then. 08:15 We have dinner out here. It's really nice. That is so sweet. I love that. And is it warm in Alabama at Thanksgiving time? Sometimes. Most of the time. Yeah, it's very warm. We usually have to have the sides up and sometimes fan going. Yeah, we couldn't do that here. It would be very cold to be eating Thanksgiving dinner in our greenhouse. Yeah. Yeah, most of time it's warm, but like two years ago we had snow. So 08:45 That was kind of unexpected. Bet it was pretty. It was. We actually played in the snow. I don't even think I came inside for two days. I'm just out here walking around in the snow. It's something we don't get to see very often. Did you eat the snow? Cause I would have. No, I did n...
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Forsythia Farms
Apr 2900:35:43Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Casey at Forsythia Farms. A Tiny Homestead Podcast 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. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. That tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Casey at Forsythia Farms in New Jersey. Good morning, Casey. How are you? Good morning. I am well. How are you? I'm good. You said it's a beautiful day there in New Jersey? 00:55 It is. It's nice and sunny and it's going to be almost 70, I think, today. It rained all weekend, so we're due for some sunshine. Well, congratulations on having a great spring day because I am in Minnesota and I can hear the rain falling on our tin roof outside my bedroom window. Oh, my goodness. And it's supposed to rain all day and I think we're supposed to get thunderstorms too. So we are getting what my grandpa would have called 01:23 poor man's fertilizer for our garden. Oh my goodness. You guys get some heavy storms out that way, don't you? Um, we get... I have never experienced nor seen a tornado in the over 30 years I've lived in Minnesota. Well, that's good. But we definitely get some high winds. We have had our power go out because of lightning strikes, stuff like that. 01:52 Minor things like I'm scared to death of tornadoes like I don't ever want to Ever want to see one and I sure as heck don't want to have one come through my door yard. I would pass on that Yeah, I understand But no the weather has been unseasonably warm this spring our Lilac bushes are leafed out our maple tree is leafed out Everything is leafed out. I could do a list. It would take ten minutes, but it's very exciting 02:22 because we're ready, we're ready for this long, long winter to be over. It is, has been such a long winter. I know we started getting some good like sprouts and whatnot, but I know some farms around here are actually dealing with issues because it froze again. We were under a freeze warning last week. So I know there's some like fruit farmers that are concerned because it, you know, 02:50 usually doesn't typically freeze as bad at this point in April. So they're seeing, some are seeing some detrimental like loss with some of their plants, which is really upsetting. We're supposed to have freezing temps tomorrow night, think, there's tomorrow night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, maybe. And I am so thankful that our apple trees are leafed out, but they're not budded out yet. They're not blooming. Okay. 03:19 because I really want apples and if it freezes there will be no apples this fall for us on our property. yeah, yeah, we have an apple tree and a peach tree, they're, I'm not expecting fruit from them for like another couple of years because we just planted them. So anywhere from three to five years, depending on what the, uh, the variety is. Yeah. Honey crisp. I don't remember what peach variety it is, but we have honey crisps crisps. 03:47 crisps, there we go, that we put in, I think, two or three falls ago. And we're hoping with everything we have that they actually bloom this year and that we might get one or two, because they take a while and they were baby trees. So we'll see what happens. So tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do at Forsythia Farms. So we are first generation homesteaders or farmers, whichever 04:15 term you prefer to use. We are more on the animal side. I will say I don't have much of a green thumb. um I can do like we have our fruit trees, we have some berry bushes. um But as far as like plants, I'm really bad with the gardening aspect. My husband is actually better with that. I am the animal person. So we have a lot of chickens, we have some turkeys. 04:43 We have goats and a pony and horses, and obviously they have cats and dogs as well. I am a certified veterinary technician by trade, so to say. So I've always been around animals and always wanted to have animals. I think I've wanted chickens my entire life. So we moved to New Jersey in 2023, because we were actually originally from Pennsylvania. 05:12 And we moved to Southern New Jersey to have some more land so we could start on our little farm that we have always dreamed of. And it has grown. It definitely has grown. Chicken meth is real. It sure is. We started with four in 2022 and now we have over 100 turkeys. they're definitely the gateway to the rest of the animals. 05:41 Chicken math got you real good. It did. It did. It went from chickens to goats and then to turkeys and then to horses. And if we had enough land, we would probably have a cow, but we don't. I wish we had a cow. I wish we had enough land for a cow. And we do not. We have three acres and there's no grazing area for an animal that big. So we are just not going to do a cow. 06:10 It's not happening. Yeah, we have about three acres as well. my we have grazing areas on some parts of our land, but a lot of it is wooded and trails. um But our neighbors have. Big like yards and stuff in the my horse, Chai, she'll go over and mow their lawn is what they say, but. The many that I have can't have fresh grass, so they're mostly on a dry lot, which is one of the reasons why. 06:39 brought them here as opposed to boarding them because he can't really have grass to begin with. So us not having a ton of grazing isn't a huge uh deal for the two of them, but definitely not enough for a cow. Yeah. Yeah. They eat a lot. And the other thing that I hadn't really considered until I was listening to you talk is even if we had a cow, we would have to have her bread to have to give her a milk because we don't have 07:06 If you don't have a cap to get things started, it's not gonna, it's not gonna work. Right. And, um, the other thing is, is that a full-size cow gives a lot of milk and we don't have anywhere to keep that right now. Right. That's exactly it. We've run into that problem a couple of times. Um, with the chickens, we just had like in the spring and summer, so many eggs. So many. 07:36 Eggs, yes, yes. I think at the highest number we had 36 or 40 chickens and we have a farm stand on our property and we would sell the eggs and we were still overrun with eggs with that many chickens. So we're down to a very reasonable 14 chickens. There you go. just, we free range um and unfortunately, you know, the circle of life, there are predators here so we do lose a few. um 08:06 Especially during this time, we're mostly ground predators are our issue. Foxes to be exact. We do have some hawks, but foxes tend to be our big issue. So around this time, I don't love to let them free range. I always, it's part of the reason why I like to have a lot because if we do lose some, now we have established a clientele that like order eggs from us. And some people get upwards of like 10 dozen at a time. 08:36 So I like to keep a certain number just so we can keep up with demand now. But in the winter, I at least have enough to fill that demand. Whereas my older ladies might stop laying, I always have younger ladies that are still going. Yes. Thank God for the younger ladies and the older ladies. Yeah. And when I let them live out their days, however long, I still have a couple of my originals from 2022. 09:06 And I have, I do breed for like olive aggers. So I have some of thos...
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In The Thick Of It with Clear Creek Ranch Mom
Apr 2700:44:32Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Leah at Clear Creek Ranch Mom . A Tiny Homestead Podcast 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. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. That tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Leah Peterson from Clear Creek Ranch Mom in Nebraska. And she also happens to be my fabulous co-host on Grit and Grace in the Heartland Women in Agriculture. Good, um, well afternoon. It's noon now. 00:58 It's high noon. It is high noon. What's for lunch besides I have a birthday cake in my kitchen, but not much else going on yet. I don't know. I might nuke a couple waffles and put some real maple syrup on them. That sounds delightful. It kind of does. So Leah's been on the show, like, I think it's been five times now. And then she became my co-host on the other podcast. 01:26 Leah posted a photo on her Facebook page of a cowhide from a calf and was talking about why they have that. And I thought that it would be interesting for my listeners to know what was going on with that. So Leah, do you want to tell me about that? I can. I always say that raising livestock teaches little people so many life lessons that are applicable. 01:55 you know, in all parts of your life and will be for all time. And so as a child, um my first memories, some of the harder memories from calving season was honestly learning about the miracle of adoption right through my own eyes, watching it in the cowherd. 02:18 It's a practice as old as time. It's evolved and changed over time and many people are still advocates for this method of helping a cow adopt a new baby and other people have moved on to try different things. But we're still kind of old school here and we subscribed to what we call the no fail method. It is hard. It's kind of yucky. um But it works. And so when we have a cow, 02:46 who has lost her calf for whatever reason and she's in milk. We can take another calf, say a twin for instance, or a calf whose mama doesn't have enough milk, and we call it grafting, grafting a calf onto the mama. And it's very interesting when you look at different breeding programs, different breeds, there are different traits that rise to the surface as being most usual for that particular breed. When I was with 03:16 Derek Josie out at TDF Honest, he raises pure red Jersey cows for milk. And those ones do not have the maternal trait of desiring to have a baby. They have their baby and happily will let you take it and he won't even ball for it. There's nothing wrong with that. That's how the Jersey cows live. Our beef cattle want to raise a baby. 03:40 I want to be careful in describing that though, because it's not, I don't want you to think, I don't want listeners to think that it's some emotional bond. It is a physiological response. It's biologically the way they are bred and how they live. And that is that those hormones that kick in when they have given birth and they start producing milk, they desire to have a baby. And so when we have a baby in need, 04:10 What we will do is we will skin the hide off of the deceased baby. So she's lost her baby, it was stillborn, it died, whatever the reasons might be. We will skin that hide off of her baby and we'll make what we call a calf coat and we will adhere that calf coat on to her presumptively to be adopted baby. Do you tie it on to them? 04:38 Yeah, so you can use a variety of methods. We use sometimes some glue to help hold it on and then we use baling twine and tie it so that it kind of starts at the back of the neck and goes down their back, truly like a superhero cape, I guess you could call it, and tied it on. And then you can do some other things. You can apply some scents to mask the smell because again, 05:06 The emotional connection between a mama and a calf is not what you think it is. They identify their calves by sound, which is truly amazing. They can find their baby in a group of 500 by their sound. I think there is probably a measure of recognition. Hard to say how complicated that is because I'm like, all little black baby calves, for instance, look the same to me. um And I can't remember if cows see in color or not, but it's definitely by scent. 05:35 And so if you can mask their original smell and make it smell like their baby, they are way more likely to uh accept it straight away. Now, depending on the cow, depending on the breed, I have seen it go like snap of a finger, this is my baby now, and I have seen times where it'll take 48 hours, but I've never seen it not work. 06:00 You love what you do because you just told a very hard story and your voice sounded so satisfied telling it. It is. It's something I'm passionate about because it helps elevate more understanding about ranchers and not just ranchers because I know this method can be used with uh other animals. 06:29 and trying to help them adopt babies that aren't theirs. SAKE, it happened all on its own or with a little help from humans. It happens a lot. I'm passionate about it. And it's so satisfying because while you see videos and photos of little girls and boys feeding bottles to baby calves, yes, it can be done. Yes, it's a good chore. Yes, it's rewarding. 06:54 but there is nobody that feeds a baby calf like the cow herself. It's just the way nature intended it to be. In beef cattle, not talking about veal calves and those in dairies and whatnot, but for beef cattle, it is the best outcome. And it's so satisfying when after a day together, being confined together that you can turn them out. And we call it traveling pairs. You see them travel together as one. 07:23 back into the wild, so to speak, and feel so relieved and satisfied that you have helped them mother up and that baby is going to be cared for until it's weaned. I love it. See, this is why I wanted you to tell the story because I knew you'd tell it in a way that everybody would get it. um So what happens to that calf hide once the calf is grafted? Well, usually it's sort of, it's 07:48 just like any piece of leather, right? It withers eventually and they'll shed it. Sometimes we'll cut it off. It's very smelly, you can imagine, a couple days and uh it'll wither away and eventually then the scavengers will pick it up and disappear with it. Okay, cool. Thank you for telling the story. I always feel weird asking you this stuff because I am a novice. Like I am, I know nothing. 08:16 about any of this. And I'm so curious and I'm like, Lea knows the answer. I'm going to ask her. And it's so fascinating because again, it depends on the maternal traits in different cattle breeds and what your breeding programs are. But I'm out watching our first calf heifers, right? These are their first babies. And in their first year being mothers, these heifers are like, I don't know, they're energetic teenagers and they're all about everyone's baby. They'll let anybody's baby. 08:43 nurse and so we call them the little robbers. These babies are out there bebopping around. They don't care who's utter they're going to. It's that second year when she has her second calf that she generally, again, depending on the breed, is more interested in just having her baby nurse and kick away at somebody else t...
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The Tiny Life with Ryan Mitchell
Apr 2400:33:14Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Ryan at The Tiny Life. Ryan's newest book - Living Off Grid: 50 Steps to Unplug, Become Self-Sufficient, and Build the Homestead of Your Dreams A Tiny Homestead Podcast 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. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. A tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Ryan Mitchell at the Tiny Life in the Carolinas. Good afternoon, Ryan. How are you? Good. Thanks for having me. Oh, you're welcome. I'm so thrilled to get a chance to talk to you because I had 00:58 Sent an email to you, I think a year and a half ago, and I didn't hear anything back. And then your person, because you have people, I don't have people. Yeah, there's a few of us. Your person emailed me and reached out and I was like, yes, finally I get to talk to you. Yeah. All right. So how is the weather where you are? It's good. Yeah. So I'm located in the, I say the Carolinas. So we are, my tiny house is in 01:27 North Carolina and we moved on to a homestead about a little less than a year ago. ah And then I live with my girlfriend in South Carolina. And so we're kind of gearing up the homestead to make the transition over to that. So that's why I kind of say, you know, I have one foot in both places right now as we make that transition. How far is it from where your girlfriend is to the tiny home? About 30 minutes. 01:55 Oh, so close. You're real. Yeah. Yeah. And I was living, you know, obviously full time in the tiny house when I met her. And then, you know, when we decided that uh we were going to, you know, continue the relationship and it kind of went to the next level and everything that I was probably moving in with her because she had her two dogs, a Liz, two lizards, a spider and a 02:22 a snake, that was not going to fit into the tiny house at all. has a full house of critters. It sure does. Well, I'm in Minnesota and I'm going to tell you right now, it's hotter than I would like it to be for April 22nd. Yes, yes. It is, I think it's 77 outside right now. And thank God there's a breeze because if there wasn't, it would be disgusting already because Minnesota is really weird. You would think that 77 would just feel good. 02:52 It doesn't, it feels hot in April. 02:57 So, but at least it's not snowing. Yeah. Cause it could be doing that too. And I'd rather have this than snow cause I'm over it. It was a very, it was a very moderate winter, but it seemed like a very long winter. I'm good on snow for the season. Um, so I have a quick question about where your, um, your tiny house is located. Is, is stuff has, has stuff been greened up for you? 03:26 for weeks now because you're so far south. 03:30 Sorry, ask that question one more time. Has stuff been green up? how are the trees leaving out? Yeah, like in the last two weeks, things have really kind of taken off. You know, we've had some warmer days, some really nice days, like low humidity, which is not typical for us. So yeah, things are starting to green up. We just had our last frost date a couple days ago. So, you know, we're busy in the garden and things like that. m Get ready for spring and summer. 04:00 We have another month before our last frost date. But that doesn't stop the greenhouse from getting planted. That's true. Yeah, we have that benefit of long growing seasons. if you're really on the spot, can sometimes cram two rounds of crops. And if you're choosing shorter varieties that 04:28 you know, take a little bit less time to come to maturity. then, you know, during the winter, you have quite a few options if you have a greenhouse or you're going to do, you know, low tunnels or something like that. Mm hmm. Yep. We're starting a brand new to us variety of watermelon this year. We've never done it before. It's called a mini me and personal size watermelon. It's got a 60 day maturity. 04:58 Wow. Time frame. And my husband planted them, I want to say two weekends ago. And we have sprouts already and I'm so excited to see how these do because growing the big watermelons in Minnesota does not work very well because our growing season is so short. Yeah. Yeah. So hoping to have watermelons in end of June, first part of July. 05:26 Excited so excited because I love love love watermelon and if they do well I want to grow a bunch of them again next year so we can sell them at the first farmers market in June. We'll plan. I've never had much luck with any melons because the squirrels always get at them before they're ready and it always seems like I'm like, okay, I'm gonna pick it one more day and we one more day on the vine and then I'll pick it and then that night something gets every time. 05:53 Huh, we, it's weird, we don't have a lot of squirrels on our property. I don't know why, I think I've seen two in five years. Oh wow. So they just, don't think they have a food source that is a natural food source for them, so they just don't live here. And we're surrounded by corn fields and soybean fields and alfalfa fields, and I don't think that squirrels are very happy with that, so. 06:22 All right, so tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do, Ryan. Sure. So my name is Ryan Mitchell. I run the tiny life dot com and we focus on a simple living in kind of three different lenses. The first one is tiny houses. So, you know, small homes. uh Typically for one person, you're looking at two to three hundred square feet. 06:47 You know for a family, a small family, you might be looking at thousand, fifteen hundred, just depending on your needs, things like that. Then minimalism, which is basically, you know, thinking intentionally about the way that you live and your interaction with consumerism, what you buy, and just, you know, making sure that the things you own don't start to own you and just being, you know, kind of crafting that intentional life around what's important to you. 07:16 And the last one is home setting home setting, obviously, you know, very familiar to you. Uh, and that's a, a newer kind of park tour or website we've been doing for about two years now. Uh, but it's not new to me. I've been, you know, growing food, chickens, quails, bees, you, you name it, um, for at least a decade, um, if not more. Uh, so. 07:42 Yeah, we kind of focus on those three topics at the website. um, you know, why I'm speaking to you today is because we have a new book coming out. It's called living off the grid, 50 steps to unplug, become self-sufficient and build the home set of your dreams. And that basically was the book that I wish I had when I was kind of, uh, you know, going through my own journey, uh, with a lot of like practical steps, uh, of how to think about how to develop a plan. 08:12 how to make a homestead that's right for you, and not just kind of adopting someone else's pre-packaged plan of or definition of what it means to be a homesteader. So yeah, that's kind of a little bit about me and our background. Awesome. So I have to ask you, how do you define homesteading? And I will tell you how I define it first, and then you can tell me if you think it's accurate. I think that homesteading is a lifestyle choice 08:...
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Bauer Family Farms
Apr 2200:38:20Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Leah at Bauer Family Farms. A Tiny Homestead Podcast 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. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. That tiny homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Leah Bauer at Bauer Family Farms in Faribault, Minnesota. Good afternoon, Leah. How are you? Doing well. I got most of my chores out of the way, so I'm... 00:56 sitting pretty with a nice coffee in my house and ready to chit chat about farm life. Good. And normally I would say, how's the weather? But you and I both know it is a gloriously beautiful day in Minnesota today. Compared to yesterday, yes. Yeah. And Saturday, Saturday, we got snow in the morning. Right. It was enough to to build up on the grass where we were at. We're we just had unhooked our our plow and everything and got it put away for the 01:26 spring, which those couple of 80 degree days really, really had me going for a second there. Yeah. And I just said that wrong Sunday. It was yesterday morning. I'm not quite with it. Oh, you're right. Yeah. It was yesterday morning because I was up at five and at 515, I went out on the porch with my coffee and looked outside and I was like, I will be damned. It's snowing big white feathery flakes. Right. Which is not what you want to see once you've already had what? Five 80 degree days? Yeah. 01:55 Yeah, it's spring in Minnesota. Doesn't know what it's doing. Oh, it's coming. It's all going to be okay. Our rhubarb is leafing. Our tree line is leafing. My peonies are up. They haven't budded yet. Thank God, because they'd be useless if they had, because the snow would have killed them. We have um tulips up with buds on them. They haven't opened yet. um 02:24 The tree has not bloomed yet. The apple trees have not bloomed yet. So that's good news too. We have about 500 cloves of garlic planted that are, I think like eight inches tall already. Wow. I know I'm so excited. We started, I think in 2023, we planted 80 cloves from a neighbor and the plan was to just multiply it, you know, cause garlic is 02:50 It's one of those things that if you plant one, then you usually get five to eight cloves back at the end of the season. Oh yeah. And so started with 80 and then replanted everything. And now we've got 500. So when we harvest, we should have 3000 or 4000 cloves to plant again at the end of this year. I am so jealous because we can't grow garlic here to save our lives. The dirt's too heavy, too black. You have more of a clay soil. 03:20 Yes. Yes, we do. That sucks. Garlic likes soft soil, kind of a loamy almost so that it has room to expand. Yeah, I asked my husband if we should just put in a raised bed and, you know, make the soil what the garlic would like. And he said, yeah, we could do that. And we haven't done it yet. It's easy to to get all of the dreams together. 03:47 But then once it actually comes to putting the supplies together, that's a different story. Well, we're just not sure that we need to grow garlic because lots of people grow garlic in Minnesota. And he really loves growing tomatoes, so he puts all his focus on tomatoes. 04:06 I think it was 2024 that we did a ton of tomatoes and I still have some in the freezer. We just, we don't need a ton of them. And some other family in Wasika actually grows a greenhouse load of them. So they cover us for that and we're going to stick with garlic, I think. It's lot of fun. Yeah. And garlic is like God's gift to cooking. So keep growing garlic, please. 04:35 Yes, absolutely. We're hoping to put it in the farm stand if we get any smaller heads that aren't suitable for planting at the end of this year. Yes. So we kind of jumped the gun here. How about you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you came to be farming and what you do? Right. So we just kind of started up the farm and the farm page this year, but I do have a rural 05:05 background and grew up out in the country. Always had chickens when I was younger, but never really cattle or any other types of poultry or pork. ah So we're just really getting into it again, after a few years hiatus and jumping in with both feet, you know, starting chickens again, I have about 125 egg laying chickens. 05:34 Very nice. And I have six New Zealand doe rabbits and one buck. And we're hoping to get some quail eggs in the incubator soon, along with hopefully doing cut flowers for the farm stand and lots of vegetables. I love a big garden and I do a lot of canning myself. And so most of it's for my own shelves. But I'm hoping to get my cottage license here soon and I'll be able to sell my canned goods. 06:04 Yes, do that. Cause I think it's still free. Oh yeah. To get the cottage license. It's I've from the women around me that have applied and gotten approved. said that the process is fairly easy. It's super easy. have to renew mine and basically the website has a bunch of information you read through it. And then there's a quiz. It's like 10 questions and you have to get seven or eight correct. Right. 06:33 I mean, it almost sounds too easy. Anybody could do it, but maybe that's the point. Yes. Yes. And the thing is, if you don't love to cook, you're not going to bother to get your cottage registration. So I think it's fine. But yes, we we have a farm stand on our place too. And my intention over the next month or so is to start cooking some start cooking, start baking some cookies and get them packaged up and out there because 06:59 People are stopping in for eggs anyway. And if there's like a little box of six cookies out there for eight bucks, maybe they'll buy them. Who knows? Oh yeah. I'm pretty terrible at the impulse buys. And so that would get me a hundred percent. Yes. And my cookies are way better than store-bought cookies. I promise. That rings true for, I think, at least 99 % of farm goods. 07:27 Why buy it in the store when your neighbor can make it and you can barter for it or... And it doesn't have preservatives in it. You're right. Exactly. Five ingredients compared to a paragraph. Yes. And thank God for that because the labels would be impossible to create. So our neighbor, um the lady that I do the farm stand with, her name is Summer and her cottage name is Summer Flowers. It's kind of a play on words. 07:57 Cute. so she does all of the cottage baking and she is incredible at it. I mean, she's she truly has a gift. I'm looking at uh jalapeno cheddar and cinnamon raisin loaves right now that I snagged from the weekend. And so she does a lot of the cottage baking and I am going to supply cut flowers, fresh produce and farm fresh eggs at the farm stand. So it's kind of a 08:27 oh co-operation with the farm stand. But it's been a lot of fun so far. We've only been open, I think, three weekends now on Saturdays and Sundays. Nice. So do you get a lot of traffic in there? Yes. They have a gorgeous property and it's a little brick building that I think used to be like a pump house or a garden shed or something, but it was repurposed beautifully into what the farm stand is now. 08:56 but lots of, uh, not nitpicking, but we'll change little things about it as the season goes. Yes. You'll have to re revamp it as the season goes. Right. Fresh pangy, um, so...
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Homesteading with BeckyJ
Apr 2100:34:13Tap to summarize
Today I'm talking with Becky at Homesteading with BeckyJ. A Tiny Homestead Podcast 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. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. A tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Becky at Homesteading with Becky J in Oregon. How are you this morning, Becky? I am fabulous. How about you? I'm good. What's the weather doing in Oregon? 00:57 We're actually really overcast today. 01:02 Is it raining or is it just overcast? Just overcast. It looks like it wants to try, but nothing's happening. Yeah. And rain is not, it's not anything unusual in Oregon or Washington state. So I'm sure you're ready for it to sprinkle whenever, right? Yeah. Well, and I'm in Eastern Oregon. So we actually, lot of the storms tend to go around us. We're usually pretty dry. So yeah, we definitely take all the rain that we can get. 01:30 Yeah, I'm in Minnesota. It is yet another really lovely morning. It's the reason I sound weird about that is because this winter has been the longest, grayest, wettest we've had in probably four years. Oh, geez. But the sun is coming in the bedroom window. There's no wind and it's just really pretty outside. I'm like, hmm, another good morning. Yay. So. ah 01:59 I have to tell you when I saw the name of your page, Homesteading with Becky J, for some reason it made me think of a pop star and I can't for the life of me think of who it is right now. But I was like, that sounds like a rock star homesteader. I want to talk to her. Easy to remember then. Yes. So tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do. Well, I am 37 years old. have 02:28 Three children, a whole full-fledged homestead now. I literally have animals all over, but it was not like that. You know, six, seven years ago, I was living in a trailer park. So, I mean, we made some major changes for the better, obviously. There was a lot of work to get here, but... 02:51 Still grilling. So when you were in the trailer park, were you already like practicing homesteading skills though? you already learning? I mean, I've always been a meal prepper, baker, cooker. So I kind of had that going for me, but honestly, no. And I wish that I would have been practicing some of these basic skills. You know, like I could have been gardening on my porch. I could have been utilizing container gardening or 03:19 you know, worm composting or learning how to sow, but I was so oblivious to all of it. And I guess I just thought that like the property had to come first. So I'm a big advocate for people. Like it doesn't matter where you're at. Like you can literally do this anywhere. And I wish I would have started sooner, you know? Well, I would say, okay, listener, you heard it here first, but I say it all the time. So, okay, listener, you're hearing it again. Learn to cook, grow a plant, learn to 03:49 crochet or sew, just learn some basic skills of do-it-yourself things because that way you're not caught flat-footed. Yeah. Yup. 04:01 Okay, so when did you move into, when did you acquire your land? We have been here about seven years now. it just slowly but surely we started getting some animals and the first year I tried to garden it was a complete flop because I didn't know what I was doing. That's okay, at least you tried. Yeah. 04:31 Yep. Okay. So tried gardening. Yeah. The people that had lived here before us, she had a big, big garden and I know them personally. So like I seen what it looked like in full bloom and everything that she had been growing. like, Oh, I could totally do that. And so of course I just planted everything in the ground with no idea of like weed control or how I was going to water or anything. And then of course, 04:58 everything started sprouting. It looked fabulous, but then I couldn't tell what were like weeds and what were the plants. By the time it was big enough for me to tell, I'm like, oh yeah, I'm not pulling all these. I just gave up. I just let it grow wild that year. I'm like, yeah, no. Did you get anything out of it though, even though it was crowded? Some lettuce. 05:26 I did get some lettuce, but that was about it. Well, it's better than nothing. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. It's definitely a learning lesson. Are you plant, are you, so have you gotten better at gardening over the years? Oh yes. I now know like what works for me and because I do work full time still. So I definitely have to have some major systems in place in order for me to make it work growing as much as I do. Um, 05:53 but I have some weed barriers down. have an automatic watering system now. I grow certain things in raised beds, certain things in the ground. And so I have a system now. Yeah. Systems are really very, very, I would could say very a hundred times. It wouldn't be enough important to making a homestead run where you don't feel like you're putting out fires all the time. Definitely. Yup. And you said you have animals. So what do you have for animals and what animal did you get first? 06:23 Um, so funny enough, we got cows first, which seems backwards in my head. Yeah. But there, we already had a fence pasture and my husband always wanted cows, you know, raise our own beef. And we started with cows and that also obviously was a learning experience. Um, the first cow we had his name was Houdini given for a very good reason, because even though it was a fenced pasture, the fence needed some work. 06:52 And so he got out constantly. So I don't know how many times I, we had to walk that guy home. Like he would end up at the neighbors, you know, half a mile down the road and someone else's pasture. And it was like, oh my gosh, this animal is huge. I'm going to get ran over. And I got chickens and chickens obviously were a little bit easier to manage. Yeah. They say chickens are the gateway animal for homesteaders. Cows is not. 07:21 Cows is not the animal they say is the gateway animal. Yeah. Really quick. I'm going to jump in our neighbors to our west, our Northwest. They have cows and they have at least one donkey. And we've lived here. We've lived here for a little over five years and I keep, I keep waiting to get up in the morning and find a cow or a donkey in my yard and they've never shown up. So they must have really good fences. And what's really dumb, Becky is that 07:51 I would not be terribly offended if I woke up to a cow or a donkey standing in my yard. It would be definitely has their own personalities. Yeah. As long as I could get hold of the owner and say, you need to come get your critter because I can't do it. I would be fine with it. Cause I think that we don't have livestock here. We have chickens, we have a dog, we have barn cats. And I 08:18 We have three acres. We don't have enough room for anybody to graze and feeding livestock right now is real expensive if you're not grazing them. Yeah. So the idea of waking up to a cow or a donkey in my yard would be highly entertaining once. Yeah. Let me just visit. Okay. Like babysit them a couple hours, maybe once a week and then take them back. Yeah. Their beautiful dog came over one day and she's, I think her name is shy or sky. 08:48 And she's the red golden retriever. Like she's not the yellow golden. She's the red...
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