Today I'm talking with Connor at La Terre Farms.

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00:00
You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company.

00:29
Today I'm talking with Connor at La Terre Farms in Mississippi. Good morning, Connor. How are you? Good morning. I'm good. Enjoying this breeze out here. So. Yeah. My first question is usually, how's the weather? So how is the weather in Mississippi today? Honestly, it's very nice. We've been in the hundreds, I think, the past month. So it's kind of nice to have a breeze out here. Would you believe that they're suggesting, and I use that term with a lot of hope, suggestion.

00:59
that it's going to be 104 here on Sunday in Minnesota. Oh my gosh. Yeah. Wow. Minnesota. Yeah. Yep. I'm praying that the forecast changes between now and then because I keep saying this. shouldn't keep saying it, but I'm going to anyway. I hate high summer. I hate being hot. I would rather it be minus 20 out because when you, you, when it's that cold, you can put on a whole

01:28
megaton of clothes and be warm. But when it's so super hot, you cannot be any more naked than naked. You know, that is very true. I must prefer cold weather too, honestly. So the springtime is my favorite summertime. I absolutely hate farming. Yeah, it's terrible. Yeah, I don't I hate saying that because summertime can be wonderful.

01:55
but not when we get these crazy swings in temperatures. Yeah, it's pretty crazy. Yeah. Now you were saying that that tropical storm is moving toward you or you're just getting some of the side effects of it. I think they're just getting, honestly, I have not kept up to date with it. My wife has. She keeps me sane. So she keeps up to date with everything. I just stay in here and look pretty, you know.

02:23
Well, that's a nice job to have and your stress levels probably stay a little bit lower because of it. Alrighty, so it's a beautiful day in Minnesota. It was 57 degrees at five o'clock this morning after a couple weeks of really muggy, really hot weather. So 57 felt like 27 and I was so happy to feel a little bit of a chill in the air. I was like, wow, that's novel.

02:52
It was it was lovely. I was drinking my coffee with the window open on the front porch and I was like, oh, that's good. And it's also sunny today and there's a slight breeze and it's just perfect July weather for Mary Evelyn. For me, this is great. It's going to start going back up tomorrow. So I'm going to enjoy today for all it is worth. I would love to hear a little bit about yourself and what you guys do at La Terre Farms. Yes, ma'am. So.

03:21
Um, around COVID, um, I had a, job. worked at a science museum and I was a tour guide. And by COVID, uh, we kind of had like a shutdown period, you know, just like everyone did. And so I started to hang out with mom and dad up here a lot, just cause we kind of isolate ourselves from everywhere. Um, and I just, you know, I just wanted to be with mom and dad, make sure they're okay. Um, you're a good son. I try. Um,

03:51
And so we were sitting on top of our barn at the time. Um, and I was just looking out and I'm like, man, this place is beautiful. Like, why aren't we doing anything up here? You know, like, yeah, it's family land and it's beautiful, but I really think I could do something. And fun fact, my grandpa is actually, was actually a farmer. So we have land in Tallulah, Louisiana and my great-grandpa was a

04:21
So it runs in the family. Now I'm not growing cotton or soybeans or any of the hard stuff. ah I'm sticking with flowers. But I just had like an inkling to start farming for some reason. just had like a, I wanted to do something on my own and thankfully mom was on board with me and now she's stuck with it so she can't escape. uh And so we just looked up the most profitable

04:51
crop to grow. And number one was lavender. Yeah. And then number two was cut flowers. And I was like, well, I'll be down. And so we started doing that. From the beginning, we didn't know what we were doing. So there's been a lot of trial and error, you know, a lot of failures, but honestly, that's the best teacher, you know, so. And so we sell the florist, we do events up here at the farm at the house and pavilion.

05:20
And we, we, uh, sell the New Orleans floors. sell the base and Lewis force I dell. So we, we never stop, honestly. That's awesome. have a question about your lavender. Oh, yeah. Do you, you, um, sell that to places that distill the oil? Um, so I honestly, in the summer, just in heat in general, in our zone, um, throughout the whole season.

05:50
The only lavender that I know of that can grow down here is Spanish lavender. Um, and I have tried to grow lavender. Uh, unfortunately it does not work out for me. So like, example, we're in Nucleus and Lizzy Anthus, which I grew this year. And I I saw your, your video of it. It's beautiful. Yeah. So I used to, uh, I gave it to the florist. That's why he kind of saw the.

06:20
the last bit of it. But I had heads three times that size. So it's very exciting because it's a really hard flower to grow. Yeah. And then ranunculus, same thing, I would love to grow that but each each state has their own zones are each, you know, state has their own zones. So we're zone nine B nine A, think. And so we can't grow ranunculus.

06:48
We're a 4B here in Minnesota, at least where I am. Yeah. Yeah. you probably could peonies and all that. Oh, darling. I have so many peonies. It's my favorite flower on earth. I have like 50, 50, I don't know. I don't want to say plants because they spread. I started out with about 20 and now I have at least 50 clumps of peony bushes.

07:18
along my driveway. And that's beautiful. Are you interested in the colors? Oh yeah. No, I honestly, love, I love peanuts too. So yeah, have yellow and baby pink and Hello Kitty pink. I don't know if you know what that is, but Hello Kitty is a popular little girl's thing. And this color is, is associated with Hello Kitty. So I call it Hello Kitty pink and

07:47
I have burgundy, have yellow, have coral, and I have white, like pure white. And every spring, Connor telling you, it gets to May 1st and I'm just looking at these peony shoots coming up. And I'm like, please don't get frosted. Cause if they get frosted, they do not bloom. The little buds just freeze and turn black. And this year we had hundreds of blooms. was so beautiful. You know, speaking of frosts.

08:17
You know, it's funny, people are like, man, I wish I could do what you do. You know, I wish I grow flowers and walk through the flowers and just enjoy the beautiful air. I'm like, do you understand what goes through on how to grow flowers? You know, it's truly, it's a very delicate situation with flowers, you know? And so like I have to constantly remind myself to keep going.

08:46
Cause like in the summertime, I ain't cranky. I'm like, I don't want to do this. I'm out here. I don't want to do it, but I'm out here. So I had to constantly remind myself like, man, I got a good life, you know, but once they start growing and once they start blooming, that's when I say I have a good life. Yeah. I am constantly saying on this podcast that growing produce or raising animals is a crap shoot.

09:14
It is a wonderful life, but you've got to be equipped to deal with highs and lows because it's not always in the middle. No, it's it never is. You know, actually we lost. Sorry, I'm just rambling here, but we lost. Let's see. So the big snowstorm that happened in Mississippi a couple of years back, definitely suffocated all of our flowers and we're like, oh my gosh, they were all black and we're like, oh, this is terrible.

09:44
And sure enough, snow is a great insulator for anything, honestly, but especially for flowers. they came up and like, were just gigantic. And I was like, oh my gosh, this is amazing. But any other time with just a normal frost, ice or anything, they're dead. So. frost is a different phenomena than snow. Yeah. uh

10:13
It's pretty humbling experience, but you know, I love what I do. And by the way, my grandpa was a farmer, so it's just in the blood. And I to hang out with my parents. So that was nice. Yeah. So you were saying that your mother is stuck with this now. I'm guessing your mom is totally fine with this. Oh yeah. No, she, uh, honestly, she keeps me going because, uh, she's always thinking about the next step. Whereas I, she calls me, uh,

10:43
was it, um, where I just walk around, I go at my own pace, which drives her nuts. Um, which is a very slow pace, by the way. And she's like, we gotta hurry up. And so she's thinking like 20 steps ahead ...