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00:00
This is Mary Lewis at A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a comment. Thank you. Today I'm talking with Peer at Finney's Farm. Good afternoon, Peer. How are you? I'm doing well, thank you. How are you? I'm good. I'm so curious to hear the story on what you're doing because you have a lot going on there. So tell me about yourself and what you do.

00:29
Well, I yeah, I do have a lot going on. We started this project. Couple years ago I was I've always been into horticulture and and just plant biology and stuff and actually went to school for it. But about three years ago, two or three years ago, I was diagnosed with some

00:59
issues which were health related to other, you know, environmental things. So I spent a lot of time really researching just growing food, consumption of food, the things that are in the air, the soil that were contaminating, and my, to go back a ways, my

01:27
education was in sustainable food and farming, although I went off on a different career for 30 years. So about two years ago when I was diagnosed and had to change diets and change everything I did, and I kind of backed away and semi-retired, but I can't sit still. So we decided to, I'm on two and a half acres here, and we decided to

01:56
kind of start doing it ourselves, homesteading to a degree, mostly food. And kind of ended up here where I said, again, I'm a busy body, so it was like, let's try this. Let's try a co-op. Let's try garden-ready plants. Let's try a CSA. So that's kind of what brought me to where I am right now.

02:27
really trying to kickstart it and get things out there so I can help other people just localized, you know, so. Yeah, and you're in Mankato, Minnesota, right? Correct. Okay, so do you go to the farmers market in Mankato? I go to the farmers market, as a vendor, you mean? Yeah. We will be this year, so yeah, I haven't in the past, but the person I partner with,

02:57
has had experience at the farmers market and doing that kind of stuff. So I'm kind of working with somebody else on that portion. So.

03:11
Very nice. I hear great things about that farmers market. So I wish it is. Yeah, it's good. Yeah. A lot of good ones around here. You know, we're Mankato. I'm not sure where you're from and what, but Mankato is very, um, agricultural. So it kind of, it kind of brings two sides to what I'm doing because I'm surrounded by monoculture and

03:37
you know, no matter what you try and do when they're spraying pesticides, it gets in the air. And, you know, so it's there. I'm just surrounded by things. So it's kind of tricky. And we, you know, are trying to find different ways to make sure that everything that comes out of our garden is healthy and pest free and chemical free and all that. So.

04:02
I understand. I'm in Le Sueur, Minnesota, so I'm about half an hour northeast of you. Yeah, sure, sure. Yeah, my husband actually works in Mankato. Okay. Yeah, and we are surrounded by corn fields and soybean fields, so I feel your pain on the pesticides spraying. Right. Because we grow a fairly hefty garden as well. And we try really hard to use organic practices,

04:31
you have drift, you can't be organic. So exactly. And that's one of the things that I'm not going to brand label myself as, you know, because it just, it's too difficult in this area where you and I are just because of the drift and everything. But, um, but you can do what you can do. And that's what I'm trying to bring some people. Yep. Exactly. Um, so I was looking at your website, which is beautiful, by the way.

05:00
And I saw the online co-op and marketplace tab and it says, it says vendor information, and then it says project Green Haven, and then it says community garden benefits. Is project Green Haven yours or is that just an example that you put on there? Well, it is, it is something, it was basically my kind of final paper thesis.

05:30
when I was at the University of Massachusetts. And I kept it all these years. So I'm in my 50s, went to school a long time ago, but went back in like 2015 to kind of continue my education with, like I said, sustainable food and farming. That was one of my things. So I put it up there. And I don't know where I'm gonna go with it, Mary.

05:59
But I just, I spent so much time on just researching it and finding ways that people can live healthier lives and embrace the environment and be stewards of the land. And so, so to answer your question, I don't really know where I would go with it. I wish somebody would.

06:27
know, a developer would say, hey, that's a good idea. Let's take it to place. But I just kind of put it up there to see what kind of response I get. Yeah. And I didn't go to college, so I didn't have to write a thesis about anything. Thank goodness, because it seems like an awful lot of time and energy that I probably wouldn't have wanted to put in. But I know that when people write theses, or thesai, or whatever the plural is, they really don't ever necessarily do anything

06:56
body of work. It just is a thing that you do to get your degree. And so I think it's great that you put it up because you're allowing people to learn from what you learn. Right. I appreciate that. And again, it was, you know, a lot of time spent just researching. This was really probably, I want to say 10, 12 years before we, I mean, people were conscious of what was going on.

07:25
with the food that we were taking in and stuff, but the way to live it was not really there 10 or 12 years ago. I mean, you did have some people, but it's becoming more and more just relevant around us. So yeah, I was kind of proud of that paper just because it was a long time ago and I thought I was ahead of the curve and kind of looking at that. So again, put it up there just to kind of see what kind of feedback I'd get.

07:54
And maybe someday when the time is right, I can go out and present it to somebody. So, but that's, that's kind of what project Green Haven's all about. Okay. It's actually using the wind and basically permaculture, you know, the sun, all that kind of stuff and regenerative agriculture to, you know, live together with.

08:23
you know, what we have on Earth here, you know. So, yep. Well, maybe you can turn your thesis into a book. Maybe that's a good idea. I might, I might have to look into that. You've already done half the work. You might as well go further and turn into a book and then you can actually make some money from it. Um, okay. So you guys also offer a CSA and is that just in the summer or do you offer things for the winter too? Um, we are.

08:53
So I've lived in Mankato for two years and when I was living north of the suburbs I had a small one. You know I only had about 15 people. So this is going to be new down here to us. I already have some clients but I'm hoping to get like 25. So this would be new.

09:22
going into next winter, I'm not sure what we would offer. And, but potentially it would be an off season type CSA as well. But again, trying to just bring people foods and gifts and, you know, healthy things, including, you know, soaps, honey, all that kind of thing. So it, it's just starting, Mary. So

09:49
At this point, I don't have an answer for you. We're not doing it this winter, but that might change next year. Okay. Cool. I am really excited that you're offering a CSA because we did it for two years in a row and we did not offer it this past summer because people were hesitant to lay out the money at the beginning of the season, not having a guarantee that there would be anything to show for it.

10:19
And we're really glad that we decided not to offer a CSA this summer because our gardens did not do well because of all the rain this spring. So we are right in the middle of trying to decide whether we want to offer one next year or not because we're real concerned that the weather patterns are going to be the same next spring and summer as they were this past. Very well could be. And that does, you know, I mean.

10:48
with the customer at risk and the farmer as well. But yeah, it's one of those kind of risk reward things. And I get what you're saying as far as people kind of hesitant because, oh, 400 bucks, what if there's a drought? What if there's too much rain? And I'm getting two tomatoes and an apple.

11:15
an apple, my basket each week, you know, so I'm hoping we have a better, better spring summer because this will be our first attempt at it. And like I said, I did it up north and it was real fun because you meet a lot of people that, you know, just are on the same page as you and really kind of understanding the last questions and stuff. So, so it's

11:45
through and out of semi retirement to do something that's passionate to me. I love talking to people about it. I love, you know, I don't know everything, but what I can explain to a customer about, you know, why you should do a CSA or why you might want to, um, change your garden patterns or habits and your food and stuff. So, so it'll be, it'll be interesting and hopefully we'll have success. We're not looking for a time. We're just looking for.

12:14
like 25 people to ge...

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