1KHO 564: The Backyard Homestead You Can Actually Do (Even with an HOA) | Laura Cox, Cox Homestead

Summary

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The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast – Episode Summary

Podcast Title: The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast
Network: That Sounds Fun Network
Episode: 1KHO 564: The Backyard Homestead You Can Actually Do (Even with an HOA)
Guest: Laura Cox, Cox Homestead
Host: Ginny Yurich
Date: September 4, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this enlightening episode, host Ginny Yurich sits down with Laura Cox of Cox Homestead to explore accessible homesteading—even for those living in suburban neighborhoods or under HOA restrictions. Laura breaks down the basics and benefits of raising meat rabbits, sheep, and gardening in small spaces, with a strong focus on encouraging families to reclaim their connection to food, land, and self-sufficiency. The episode is packed with actionable tips, comedic asides, and motivational stories that demystify backyard homesteading.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Meeting at the Homestead Festival – Building Community

[01:32–04:49]

• Ginny and Laura recount meeting at a Homestead Festival, emphasizing the welcoming, collaborative spirit of the homesteading community.
• Homesteading doesn’t require expertise or rural roots—everyone starts somewhere.

2. The Purpose and Mission of Cox Homestead

[04:49–06:49]

• Laura's drive is to normalize homesteading, focus on education, and reconnect people with where food comes from.

  “Part of my goal is to normalize the things that we do. It was normal 100 years ago. Why is it so strange now?” – Laura [04:50]

• Origin story: Transitioned from a theater major in Indiana to a hands-in-the-dirt educator and homesteader, seeing it as "a dream come true."

3. Time vs. Money: The True Cost of Good Food

[06:49–07:59]

• Discussion on the real costs of “organic” and “healthy” food, and how making or growing your own can be more affordable if you invest the time.

  "You prioritize what means the most to you.” – Laura [07:38]

4. Meat Rabbits: Unexpected Benefits, Easy Starts

[08:40–13:49; 19:42–39:13]

• Laura describes her initial reluctance and eventual deep dive into raising meat rabbits—even after having rabbits as pets growing up.
• Advantages of rabbits:
  • Affordable & space-efficient—work well even with small backyards and HOAs.
  • Multiple revenue streams: selling rabbit meat, bunnies as pets, breeding stock, agritourism, and “bunny berries” (rabbit manure) for gardeners.

    "You can sell their poop." – Ginny [09:50]

  • Rabbit manure is a "cold compost," meaning it can be added directly to gardens without waiting—unlike cow manure.
  • Laura introduces worm composting and how pairing worm bins with rabbit manure creates a fertile, low-maintenance closed loop.

5. Practical Homesteading: Breeding, Space, and Symbiosis

[19:42–25:49; 37:24–39:13]

• Explains the basics of rabbit breeding (bucks and does), typical production cycles, and logistical advantages—like planning litters around family vacations.

  “I can plan my vacations... There's a lot more, I guess I hate to use the word control, but really there is.” – Laura [38:59]

• Rabbits’ rapid reproduction (hence, "reproduce like rabbits") provides consistent protein and entrepreneurial opportunities for kids and families.
• Discusses challenges in commercializing rabbit meat in the U.S., such as finding USDA processors.

6. The Household Economics of Homesteading

[39:31–41:00]

• Laura feeds her family almost exclusively on meat from their own sheep, chickens, and rabbits, rarely purchasing meat from the store.

  “I’m not going to the store and buying meat. I’m going to the feed supply store to buy the feed. There's still cost, but I’m also able to profit off my cost.” – Laura [40:34]

• She diversifies income streams through processed livestock, live animal sales, agritourism, workshops, and farm experiences.

7. Sheep: Why, How, and the Hidden Benefits

[41:00–46:05]

• Reasons for choosing hair sheep: manageable size, parasite resistance, suitability for small acreage, and biblical symbolism of being a shepherd.

  “The symbolism... just getting in there and working with them has been such a beautiful process to see scripture come to life by being a shepherdess.” – Laura [42:01]

• Uses sheep for meat (lamb/mutton), sells live sheep, and is experimenting with dairy sheep (“golden milk”—nutritious, European-influenced).
• Rotational grazing keeps the land healthy and animals parasite-free.

8. Entrepreneurship from Necessity

[46:05–49:49]

• Laura started as an entrepreneur selling elderberry syrup kits to fund a doula for her VBAC birth, evolving into a broader line of health and seasoning products.

  "That's what birth—my entrepreneurship." – Laura [48:17]

• Emphasizes setting a clear, personal goal to overcome fear and inertia in starting a business.

9. Cut Flower Gardening – Joy, Not Just Profit

[52:09–55:50]

• Laura shares how she uses her cut-flower garden as both a personal joy and occasional income source—selling bouquets at her roadside stand and donating extras through church outreach.

  “Even if it’s not for profit, I want these flowers in my yard. So kind of like my hobby, you know, and if it pays a little, that’s wonderful, but if not, it still brings me joy.” – Laura [55:15]

• Discusses the emotional impact and community value of homegrown bouquets.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Normalizing Homesteading:
  “A lot of our mission and goal is ... normalizing educating people where their food comes from.” – Laura [04:49]

• On Practical Entrepreneurship:
  "I started selling elderberry syrup and exploded beyond what I could do in my home kitchen... That paid for my doula and has kind of been, like, in the back burner this whole time." – Laura [47:09]

• On Homesteading Struggles:
  “We have a struggling homestead, we’re awful at it... I want their poop for my garden, because now my garden is like, some of the stuff didn’t grow.” – Ginny [11:00]

• On Hands-on Learning:
  “You don’t really learn it until you do it. And then you have this whole set of skills...” – Ginny [22:04]

• On Joy in Simple Hobbies:
  “There was one year I didn’t hardly grow any, and I was just sad the whole season. And I said, I’m not going to do that again.” – Laura [55:14]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [01:32] – Meeting at the Homestead Festival, introduction to Laura
• [04:49] – Laura’s homesteading philosophy and mission
• [08:40] – Getting started with meat rabbits, overcoming mental hurdles
• [09:50] – Creative ways to make money with rabbits (poop sales, agritourism, photography)
• [11:28] – Benefits and differences of rabbit manure
• [13:49] – Basics of worm composting and its synergy with rabbits
• [19:26] – Deep dive into rabbit breeding, practical management
• [25:49] – Rabbits in American culture, processing/legal hurdles
• [29:24] – Nutritional comparison: rabbit vs. chicken
• [33:36] – Raising rabbits in small spaces, even with an HOA
• [41:15] – Why sheep? Hair sheep choices, grazing, and biblical meaning
• [46:05] – The backstory of Laura’s elderberry kit business
• [52:18] – Joy and approach to flower gardening, emotional and community impact
• [59:28] – Closing question: favorite childhood outdoor memory

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Resources & Contact

• Cox Homestead: cox-homestead.com
• Workshops, mentorships, elderberry kits, and seasoned salt available
• Etsy Shop: elderberry syrup kits, seasoned salt, gardening tools
• Upcoming Book: “Young Homesteader Series – Raising Rabbits” (anticipated 2026)

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Tone & Style

The tone of the episode is warm, lighthearted, and deeply practical, filled with humor and encouragement for those at every stage of the homesteading journey. Both Laura and Ginny emphasize that “perfection isn’t required”—the goal is simply to begin, experiment, and grow.

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This episode is essential listening for anyone curious about adding self-sufficiency, entrepreneurship, and joy to family life—even in unexpected places.

Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me. This is an honor and I am so excited to be here with you. You're doing great things.

[A]

Oh, thank you. Okay, so huge shout out. First of all, to Rory and Rebecca Feek. They put on this Homestead Festival, which is remarkable. I had not been to a Homestead Festival yet. It was my first one and I was just blown away. All the vendors, all these speakers and they did this such a nice thing. They had a speaker dinner, they the night before and the Kindred Farm came out and did these homemade pizzas. One of them had honey on it. I mean, it was just incredible. I love the Kindred Farm. They're like the best caterers in the whole world. Phenomenal. And they put on the speaker's dinner. Rory And Rebecca, and we got to meet in person, and you were so nice. I was nervous because I didn't know.

[B]

Anybody, but we knew you.

[A]

Well. Well, I mean, I'm not saying it in that way. I'm just like, I didn't have any friends there, and my family was supposed to come, but it changed last minute. And I think that's like a big part of life when you, like, walk into a room of people and you're like, well, some of these people have been to this festival before. They already know each other. And I did not know one person. And you and your friends were so kind to me.

[B]

Yeah, that was my first time doing anything like that, too. So they were. It was all new to me. So when you told me your name, and I was like, she pretends and I don't know who she is. I know who she is.

[A]

Well, then the funny thing, too is this is what I'm learning in my life, is then Emily came from really very crunchy. And then everyone was like, can you make sure you introduce me? And I met this family the other day that knew about 1,000 hours outside, you know, whatever. I don't ever care. It was a dumb idea. You know, people thought, I think it's a good idea, but people thought it was a dumb idea forever. I never had any expectation that I would go anywhere and anybody would know who I am. But I met this couple, and they knew about 1000 hours outside. We didn't really talk about it. And as I was. You're getting.

[B]

This is really funny.

[A]

As I was walking away, I overheard the husband say to the wife, maybe now we'll get to meet Emily. So my whole role has changed.

[B]

It's like, okay, well, if we meet her, then maybe we're on the path to meeting Emily. It happens to me. It can happen for you.

[A]

I was like, this is my new role in life. You know, I might be able to get you an opportunity to meet Emily and Jason. Anyway. So super funny. So we met at this. A homestead festival. We got to have dinner together, and I got to come to a portion of one of your sessions. There was like, crazy rain, and all the scheduling got mixed around a little bit where you were doing meat rabbits. So I would love. I just. I read this book called Durable Trades by Rory Groves. I met him at the festival, you know, and I think the homestead life, any part of it. Jill Winger says even cooking your own meals home, you know, home cooked meal is homesteading. It does so much for you. And we've really moved Away from that. There's so many components to it. And you are doing such a phenomenal job teaching people all different. Like you teach about gardening, you teach about meat rabbits, you teach about sheep, you teach about worm composting. Like, you take all of these different topics and you help people learn more about them. So I would love for you to give us your story. What's the background on Cox Homestead and how you ended up doing all of this?

[B]

Sure. I love that you mentioned how important all these things are to the average family. Because part of my goal is to normalize the things that we do. It was normal 100 years ago. Why is it so strange now? And so a lot of our movement and motivation behind what we do is to normalize homesteading, to normalize knowing where your food comes from to enjoy a home cooked meal, because that's what you're supposed to do, you know. And so a lot of our mission and goal is that right there. Normalizing this lifestyle, normalizing educating people where their food comes from. And this kind of came about, you know, the Lord is so creative in his ways of work. And I did not see meat rabbits as my main source of education and connecting with my community, but somehow he did. And so I've just said yes over and over again and here we are. And it honestly came out of a desire to raise my kids to the healthiest that I could, like to the best of my ability, with the best food options that I could. And we're, we're a one income household. And so shopping at the, the farmer's market every weekend and Whole Foods and all those things isn't necessarily an option for our budget. What we do have is time. And so we have used our time to then invest in our food by raising it ourselves and then giving back to our community by selling our food, but then more importantly, educating our community through that. And so not something I would have seen coming as a kid. You know, I grew up in rural Indiana, small hometown. I was a theater major, kind of a goober. Definitely dreamed of farming, but never realized that it could happen. And so this has been a dream come true for me because I love working with animals. I love working with earth and nature and being outside and the fact that the Lord's made it come full circle and a part of my everyday life is just really a dream come true.

[A]

What a thing. You know, I've thought about that a lot with the price of, you know, organic versus non organic. And I've always thought, well, if I make it myself, it's still. It's a little cheaper even. You know, it's like you could buy organic or you could, you know, organic loaf of bread or whatever, or you can make it. And, you know, if you're going to use the good ingredients, it ends up being a little bit cheaper. And, you know, it does take some time, but also you enjoy it. So it's a really interesting thing when we talk about time. People bring that up a lot and, you know, they talk about the cost of food and things and it's like, they're like, well, I don't have time to throw a sweet potato in the oven or whatever the situation is. But it's also like, you know, there's more value in it than just eating it. Yeah, you wash the potato, you poke it with a fork, you know, you knead the dough and it's a part of a good life.

[B]

Yeah. You prioritize what means the most to you. You know, you make time for. Means the most to you. And taking care of our body, you know, I view our body as the temple. And that's been a priority. You know, whether it be through movement, through good food, through vitamin D, outside, fresh air, those type of things, you make time for what's a priority to you? And so for us, food is. Is nutrition.

[A]

Yeah. It's just interesting because I think you could look at the time and be like, oh, the drudgery, you know, or I have to. But there's something about it. Whether it's cooking in the kitchen or growing your own garden, it, like, enhances your life and in a lot of ways beyond just the nutrition. So enhances your relationship. So I love that you do that. You say, my goal is to teach people that homesteading does not have to be complicated or out of reach, which is a big deal because a lot of people have no touch point with it at all and they're starting from scratch. So let's talk about the rabbits. Okay. This was an experience for me because you did a meat rabbits demonstration. I didn't get to see the whole thing, but I saw the beginning and they are very cute.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah. I had pet rabbits as a kid. And in fact, when my husband, when we first started homesteading, we were on a half acre and he said, well, why not? Why don't we get some meat rabbits? And I was like, absolutely not. I had those as pets as a kid. That is not. No, we're not doing that. Well, it's funny, again, I say how the Lord works. They just kept showing up everywhere about how sustainable they were and how they were a good source for small land and all this. And finally, after about two years, I was like, get the rabbits. It's your it. I'm just going to stay out of the way. If that's how you want to provide for our family, just do it, you know?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And he invited me then to go to the farm with him to get them. And I was like, well, I guess, you know, it be a family event. I'll just go ahead and go. Well, then we get there and he's like, you want to pick them out? And I said, well, if you don't care, then I guess I will, you know. So me and my little toddler at the time went up there and picked out a few different colors and brought these rabbits home. And within six months, I had taken over everything except for the processing. I was already selling poop. I was feeding them watermelon. I was doing all the care, breeding, all that. But I hadn't taken the step to process because I still wasn't there.

[A]

Wait a minute, back up. Okay. Because I know you do photography with your rabbits.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

People can come in and get photo sessions. People can come in, just hold the bunnies. And I thought that was really cool, Laura, because what you show just through your website is there are a lot of different ways to make money on a farm. You know, be creative. So let's add to the pot here. You can sell their poop.

[B]

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

[A]

Who buys rabbit poop?

[B]

Gardeners.

[A]

How do you sell it? In a bucket?

[B]

Yeah. Well, I. I fill up a five gallon bucket and then I dump it into an empty plastic feed sack.

[A]

What? How much is it? How much is one?

[B]

$10 a bag?

[A]

$10 for poop? Wait a minute. I'm in the wrong line of work.

[B]

It's. It's nice. It's nice. Wow.

[A]

Okay, wait. Okay, so I didn't realize. All right. I have a lot of questions, actually. Okay. Because we have a struggling homestead. We're awful at it. And we have these cows that we got now. We got them because they're cute and they have the long hair. They're called. I don't know what they're called, but they got this long shaggy hair and they've got horns, and even the girls have horns. So sometimes they get stuck in the feeder. Their heads do. And also they're super mangy because the field that they're in has a ton of weeds and they've got this long hair. So we apparently we got the wrong kind, you know, so there's a lot of homestead struggles. We should have gotten a different kind of cow. But now they're back there, and I want their poop for my garden, because now my garden is like, some of the stuff didn't grow. So I was like, I probably have to amend the soil, and I have no idea what I'm doing, but I think I could use the cow poop. So my husband's like, we should get rid of the cows. We got the wrong kind. And I was like, but I need the poop. But I could just get rabbit poop.

[B]

Amen. Yeah.

[A]

It would spread easier.

[B]

Yeah. And it's a cold compost, so you can use it immediately. What I'm pretty sure has to sit for a little bit.

[A]

You have to sit for a long time because it's hot and it can burn things. I don't even know what that means. Yeah, it's a cold compost. I've never even heard those words. Okay. So. Okay. Wow. How do you collect it?

[B]

I put buckets under their cage, and they. Rabbits are creatures of habit, and so they tend to go in the same spot all the time. Okay. Where they like to go. And then I go and set my bucket there and let them fill it up. And I sell grade A poop to the public, and that means minimal hay, minimal feed, debris, anything like that. And then I use grade B for myself. So that's like, if I give it them hay, I make sure and put that in a separate spot than where their poop goes so that the hay is not getting in their poop.

[A]

Why would there be a problem if there's hay in the poop?

[B]

The hay seeds, weed seeds.

[A]

Oh, okay. Well, then what do you do with that?

[B]

I put it in my garden. I don't care.

[A]

It doesn't matter. You don't care about this.

[B]

Also, I'll use it in my worm compost bins because the worms don't care about the seeds either. But some people I like.

[A]

Okay. All right. What do you do with the worm compost bins? What? What is a worm compost bin?

[B]

I use.

[A]

How did you learn all this?

[B]

I was a master gardener back about a decade ago, and we established worm compost bins. And I've had the same worms for a decade live in my garage.

[A]

Wait, wait.

[B]

Why their manure? Their manure is just as good as the rabbit manure. And in fact, their manure is even better if they've eaten the rabbit manure. So it's a beautiful, harmonious relationship between the two.

[A]

Okay, I need all the details. What does the bin look like?

[B]

It's like a tote. Rubbermaid tote.

[A]

Okay. And you have worms in there and dirt.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. There's two. Two totes stacked together.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And the tote that's stacked inside the other one has drainage holes so that the worms don't drown and so that their juice can flow out. And then you fill the worm bin with dried leaves, shredded papers, coffee grinds, minimal food scraps to begin with. Rabbit poop, eggshells, crushed eggshells. And then you create this environment for these worms to thrive and make you a bunch of worm castings. And then we harvest those to use in our garden as well.

[A]

Okay, how does that work?

[B]

The worm castings?

[A]

Well, how do you harvest it?

[B]

Oh. So I encourage. I either dig out all my worms. So worms will come to the top. If you put food on top, they'll all gravitate to the top. And you can then somehow move that. Move the worms off that way, or you can start digging in it, and the worms will naturally go down to the bottom, and then you can, like, scrape off their castings off the top. It looks like brownie batter, and you're just scraping it off and then putting it in your garden as you go. So how much do you get? A lot.

[A]

Like, I mean, is it, like, how many worms are there and how much brownie batter do you get?

[B]

And so what I love about the worm bins is that it is very low maintenance. I only feed those guys, like, twice a year. And I harvest what? Yeah, it's. They're a dream. And I think people that have trouble with them overthink it. Because I'm like, if you abandon them, they'll do their thing. You come back, you. You gather their poop, you feed them again twice a year, and they live in my garage all year long. You would never know. I host workshops and everything down there. You never smell them, Nothing like that. And so that would be a great option for you and your little garden situation and your kids. A worm compost bin. And then I. I take the castings out and refill it with all those things I mentioned, and then six months later, come back and do it again.

[A]

You are a remarkable woman.

[B]

Yeah, well, wow.

[A]

You've learned so much. People can go to cox-homestead.com because you have workshops and all sorts of information there, and I'll make sure. I'll put that link in the show notes. Time for some life talk. Life insurance talk. That is. If you're like, me, you probably have life insurance, but do you actually know how much you're paying for it or how much coverage you're getting? Odds are you might be paying too much for too little. And here's something not many people realize. If you only have life insurance through your job and you're suddenly laid off, you could be with nothing. That's why I'm heading to select quote. For over 40 years, Select Quote has helped more than 2 million Americans secure over $700 billion in coverage. They're not a one size fits all company. They work for you in just 15 minutes. Their licensed agents compare top rated policies tailored to your health and your budget and they do it for free. You can even get up to $2 million in same day coverage with no medical exam. And if you have pre existing conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes, Select Quote partners with companies that life insurance is never cheaper than it is today. Get the right life insurance for you for less and Save more than [e-mail] 1000 hours Save more than 50% on term life [e-mail] 1000 hours today to get started. That's SelectQuote.com 1000 hours hey friends, it's Jenny Erst from 1000 Hours. Outside it's 2025. Are you still feeding your kids like it's 2005? That's where nurture Life comes in. They're a game changing meal delivery service made just for babies and kids ages 10 months to 10 years and they are saving my sanity. Nurture Life meals are fresh, fully cooked and ready in just one minute. That means when my kids come home from homeschool co op starving and each one wants something different, I'm not scrambling. Last night we were on the go so my crew had spaghetti and meatballs and Mac and cheese meals they love that I actually feel good about. What I love most is that Nurture Life takes the stress out of feeding my kids on those days when schedules are hectic. No guesswork, no begging them to try veggies. It's all dietitian designed, allergy friendly and yes, I've even snuck a few bites myself. You choose from 50 rotating meals and snacks. Nurture Life does the cooking and everything arrives at your door chilled and ready to go. So head to nurture life.com 1000hours55 and use code 1000hours55 for 55 off your first order plus free shipping. Once again that's nurturelife.com 1000hours55 and make sure you use my promo code 1000hours55. Even if you aren't a parent with young kids, you might have parent friends who struggle with mealtime. Make sure to share our code so our show gets the credit. Remember, put your little ones first with healthy meals from Nurture Life. The other day, my lamp broke. It's my bedside lamp and I use it to read late into the night. Because I'm always preparing for this podcast. It broke. It actually won't turn off unless I unplug it. And so I needed to find a new lamp for my bedside. And my favorite place to go, of all places to go is Wayfair. Wayfair is a perfect place to go if your tableside lamp breaks. But it's also the perfect place to kick off your back to school and. And fall season prep. Everything comes so fast. And they have an amazing selection of things, from cozy bedding and linens to storage solutions for every room, they always have you covered. Plus their huge selection of outdoor items makes it easy to find just what we need to transition smoothly into the fall. Besides lamps and linens, they even have playsets. We have the most incredible playset in our backyard that we got from Wayfair about six years ago, and the kids still use it constantly. Whether you're refreshing your workspace with a new desk or making weeknight dinners a breeze with quality cookware, or Wayfair literally has it all. And with free fast and hassle free delivery, even on big stuff like sofas and dining tables, there is no better time to shop, get organized, refreshed, and back into routine for way less. Head over to Wayfair.com right now to shop all things home. That's Wayfair. W-A-Y-F-A-I-R.com Wayfair Every style, every home. So, okay, and then I'm backing up. Okay. So you could do the worm castings, which I've. I mean, I've kind of heard of. And I talked to this guy named David Montgomery. He's begun regenerative agriculture and like, talking about how we just. The fertilizers, like the, the chemical fertilizers just are trash. Like, they're not good for the roots. But if you want to amend your soil and I don't even know if I'm using the right wording, this should be a great way to do it.

[B]

Yeah, Absolutely. Yep.

[A]

Rabbit poop is cold composting or you feed it to the worms. Okay. All right. So backing up. We have gone down a rabbit hole, which is so Fitting for this conversation. Backing up. You were listing these things about the rabbits.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because you were like, okay. The conversation was you hadn't gotten to the processing of rabbits yet. You're like, you have these rabbits for six months. You said, I took over everything except for the harvesting. And then you started to list things off, which included selling poop. But there was something else.

[B]

Oh, I was doing the breeding.

[A]

Tell us more, Laura. Doing the breeding?

[B]

Well, you have to take the dough to the buck. You make the babies. They don't just do it on. I raise mine in cages.

[A]

They're called bucks.

[B]

Bucks and does. Yes.

[A]

Like deer.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Why is that? You wouldn't know Adam and Eve. All right, that's weird. I never have heard of that. I've never heard of. Does that exist? I'm trying to think if that exists with other animals. Where, like, it's the same name, but it's a completely different animal. So a deer is a buck and a doe, and rabbits are a buck in a doe. Is there anything else like that?

[B]

What's a goat called? I don't know. This is going to show my ignorance. I don't know, people.

[A]

Please email me if there's others because I can't think of another one. And that's really interesting that a buck and a doe is a deer, but also rabbits. Okay. So you have to take them to each other. So is the buck like in its own area? How many bucks are there?

[B]

You really just need one buck. Can service up to 10 does. I usually have one buck for every five does just to make sure I always have someone available when I need them. So you take the dough to the buck, you let them do their thing, and ideally, I look for three fall offs and then I'll do it again within eight hours to guarantee.

[A]

I don't know what that means.

[B]

What's a fall off? Oh, that is a breeding. That is where the buck mounts the dough and does his.

[A]

And then falls off.

[B]

Treasures. And he literally falls off. Yeah.

[A]

Okay, so if three fall offs happen.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

How in the world did you learn this? Isn't it weird? It's like you come out like I came out of normal school. I was like, you know, I could tell you that. You know about a parabola?

[B]

Well, only takes one, but we like to guarantee it with three.

[A]

Okay, so you learn about the fall offs.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

So you do that and you're dealing with the breeding, and they breed very rapidly. That's the thing about bunnies, right?

[B]

Well, if you have good stock. They do. Yes. I have Gotten some fancy stock and they're not as good, easy and cooperative as just your run of the mutt stock.

[A]

I have found what happens with the uncooperative ones.

[B]

I have to work really hard.

[A]

Oh, you know what this shows Laura, and this is like, to me, the coolest part of life. And this is a part of life that I didn't understand until now is really influenced by Joel Salatin. So it was cool that we were at that festival together with him. But what I didn't really understand, I was also influenced by this Sharon Lovejoy, is that you don't really learn it until you do it. And then you have this whole set of skills and you're like, well, people are asking me these dumb questions like, Ginny, who, like, doesn't know what fall off is, and it's like second nature to you, but it's because you've done it. So you're doing the breeding. So that is another way that you can make money with rabbits. Because I saw on your website you sell them.

[B]

Yep. Yes. Yeah, I do.

[A]

So how does that work?

[B]

People can buy them on my website or if it's my fancier rabbits, they have to contact me and we discuss the sale of it if it's a higher priced one.

[A]

So what's a fancier rabbit?

[B]

My French lops. We. We.

[A]

Okay. What makes them fancy?

[B]

They're. They are a more. More rare breed. They're not like super rare instinct rare, but they're not as common and they're pedigreed and they have taken me years to get going. And so they're just a more desirable show and pet breed. They're not your, like everyday meat rabbit. They're. They're a little bit fancier in that sense.

[A]

So is it amazing how many different types of things there are? I'm always amazed so many chickens. Like, I mean, I had no idea. No idea. I guess you should know because of dogs. But I was like, what, what are these chickens? They got fluffy things on their heads or, you know, I had no idea they make the different color eggs. I was like, I thought all eggs were white. So tell. Okay. You have a lot of different kinds of rabbits, including one that came from Poly Faiths. Daniel. Daniel's been doing rabbits since he was a kid.

[B]

Yes. Which makes me so excited about an opportunity I have coming up that is just for kids.

[A]

Tell us about it. Yeah.

[B]

So I actually just signed with a publisher to write a book for young homesteaders, a part of a young homesteader series. And I will be teaching young homesteaders in this book about raising rabbits and there are many benefits and how you can use them on the homestead and you can use them entrepreneurially and you can use them educationally. There's so many options with rabbits. And so Daniel, being a great inspiration for that, paid his way through college with rabbits. And so I would love to help other young kids fall in love with rabbits and their agriculture purposes as well as their agritourism purposes. And so I get opportunity to do that. So coming up soon, hopefully in 2026, I will have a book out for. For the young homesteaders in your life. And I'm also going to pair with it. This will speak your language, some homeschool curriculum questionings to go along with the book and to allow parents to use it for education purposes as well.

[A]

So exciting. Wow. And it's so neat that he has his own line. They're called Polyface Stock. These rabbits were line bred through intensive calling by Daniel Salton at Poly Face Farm. I mean, I've read, I've never talked to him about it, but like, Joel will talk about how, you know, by the time he was 10 or 11 or around then he's starting to do these rabbits and then the chicken tractor and then he's speaking about them. And so what an interesting thing. So overarching.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

You are painting this picture of there's not just one way. There are a lot of different ways to make money off of this one thing. There's also a lot of symbiosis with it because if you have the rabbits, then you can use their poop and you can use that to fertilize your garden or to feed the worm bin. So there's a going on here. What's interesting about this in particular? Maybe. I don't know if there's history or not. You know, I think everyone's used to eating chicken. It's in the grocery store. You can get it at Costco. I don't know if I've ever in my life seen rabbit in a store.

[B]

Yeah. So Americans have turned rabbits into pets. Originally, rabbits came to America on the ships with the early explorers as a quick protein source. And that's what they were known for for probably a couple centuries. And I would say in the last 70 to 100 years, they have really adapted to be more well known in the pet world because we, we're not as connected with our food. We don't have to raise our own food. We can go to the grocery and get it. And so there's this disconnect that's come in and that's when rabbits have like rose to the top in the pet world. They can make really good pets. They litter box train, they're self cleaning like a cat. So they have these pet qualities, but at the end of the day they are an agriculture animal that serves a need for meat and that's what we have them. So yes, they've been around forever and that's why we have them here. But the, the fight is also just against the pet world and the movement to not use them for that. And so you don't see them often on menus at places or in stores. There's one store in Knoxville, I've been able to find it. And if you find it on a menu somewhere, it's usually a high end or restaurant that's serving fancy local meals. Where I run into problems with that is getting into restaurants is I have to go through a USDA certified processor. The closest one is three hours away. So it just logically doesn't make sense to, you know, go through that route. And so there's just a lot of hoops and things you have to go through to get rabbit commercialized in America. It's different for every state. But I know my state and there's a lot of hang ups. Now I can sell it, I can sell up to, I think it's like 20,000 a year. Much like.

[A]

Wait, what?

[B]

Straight to consumer. I can sell those straight to consumer like that. But as far as going through a restaurant, a lot of restaurants require stuff to be usda. Yeah, sure. You're not seeing it on your menus because I call the USDA processes and there's like, there's no money for me to be made doing your rabbits. And I was like, will you hire me? Like, I'll do them myself.

[A]

Wow, What a catch 22.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What a catch 22 it is.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Because it was raised in everyone's backyard for so long that it didn't need to be commercialized. And when commercialization and USDA and that those came around, I mean it just wasn't on the menu, it wasn't there, it wasn't happening.

[A]

So yeah, this is so interesting. I mean, I have learned and I wouldn't have known this. We got, when we first got chickens and we lived in a neighborhood, but we had a little bit of property. So we, and there was no fences. So we get chickens, we get this coop. And I had no idea. Like chickens have pet qualities. I mean they, we named them, we had Six of them. And then our neighbor, two doors down, their dog got out and got our chickens, like, ripped the coop open. So, you know, I mean, everyone was devastated. I mean, we're all, like, sobbing. So it was an interesting thing. Like, you say rabbits have pet qualities, but so do chickens if you have the opportunity to be around them. And depending on your situation, so do goat. So do a lot of these things that we use for meat or milk or whatever the situation. So people are used to eating chicken. They're not, you know, probably not used to eating rabbit. I don't know if I've ever had it nutritionally. Can you compare? Can you compare? Like, this is about the size of a chicken. This is about the size of a rabbit. This is, you know, how much we need for a meal. This is what it tastes like.

[B]

Sure. Yes, I can do this. So your Cornish cross chicken is like your standard meat chicken. And you're gonna get anywhere from like, five to seven pounds on one of those guys. They're huge and very time sensitive on those guys. You have to process them around 8 weeks old or they will croak. Typically, if you're depending on how you're feeding it.

[A]

Yeah. Because they're growing so fast. Right. There's a big thing there. Yep. Okay. Because they've been bred to be that big. Yes. Oh, there's a lot of interesting things about breeding. And one of the books I read, this is. I'm. I'm also. This is on a tangent, but I read this book by Mark Schatzker called the Dorito Effect, and I did not realize that in all of the breeding processes, they never bred for flavor. And so he says that chicken used to taste completely different.

[B]

Interesting.

[A]

Yeah. It's only been for, like, you know, how fast can they grow and how easy are they to transport and how durable are they? I don't know if that's the right word, but no one bred for flavor.

[B]

That is so interesting. Well, because it takes on the flavor of whatever you put on it.

[A]

Yeah, but he said people used to just eat chicken. I mean, they hardly used any. If you said. If you look in the old cookbooks that are like a hundred years old, I mean, chicken was chicken. It actually had its own flavor. And there are people that would say it. I mean, it hasn't tasted the same for 60 years or something like that.

[B]

Wow. Well, I know we've harvested some old hens, and they definitely taste different than a meat bird, so.

[A]

Yeah. Yes, it is really interesting things. You wouldn't know. So The Cornish grasses are, you know, they're, they're big birds.

[B]

Yeah, they're big birds. The rabbits don't get as big as fast. Now some people claim that they get to life weight of five pounds at eight weeks. I have yet to see those in person. My five pound live weight is closer to 12 weeks or between 11 and 12 weeks and then process it dressed out about two and a half to three pounds. Okay, ideal. And so that would feed my family that's bone in weight, but that would feed my family easily a meal and then some.

[A]

Family four.

[B]

Family of four, yeah.

[A]

How old are your kids?

[B]

Ten and eight. Okay, so they are, they, they love my rabbit tenderloins though. If I do tenderloins or deboned like they'll, will, they'll, they'll put some down. They usually, if I do it that way, I need a couple rabbits probably. But I would say it, it would be about equivalent to, to two pounds of, of deboned meat. Easily one and a half, two pounds probably, if you're looking at it that way. And so there's not as much on a rabbit as a chicken. But the beauty of the rabbit is I can go out at any point its life from eight weeks to 16 weeks and harvest it. It's not going to die past the eight week mark because it's ate too much. They don't do that. What they do instead is they just put fat on. And so rabbit is naturally very lean. But per gram it's going to give you the most protein. It's higher than any other meat, higher than chicken and beef and even turkey like it is, is the highest per gram on the protein. And so it's a powerhouse. Now that being said, you'll start to hear these things. You can't live on rabbit alone and. No. Who wants to do that? You can't, right? Not me. Because it is so lean it doesn't have the fat that your body needs, but it is totally fine to use for meals and pair with other things. So yeah, we love it. I at first was a little nervous, anxious, didn't really want to do this, you know, but I slowly warmed up to the idea. I would get a little closer every time my husband would process and watch distance until finally I was there and I was like, let me do this. The Internet thinks I'm doing it already. It's time I really do it. So they're herbivores and so they're a lot cleaner than those chickens. They're not, not nearly as stinky as the Cornish crosses. They eat a pellet food which is alpha alpha based, which doesn't stink. Unlike chicken food is meat based, protein based. They're omnivores, they eat everything. And so you're you're feeding rabbits a a plant based diet versus a chicken is typically a, you know, meat based diet. And so the smell is way different. That's also what makes their poop a cold compost.

[A]

Oh.

[B]

So anyways, they're a lot cleaner as far as space goes. You can raise them on a lot less space. If you're wanting to finish them out on pasture like the Salatins do, then you would need some yard space. But you don't even have to do that. You can finish them out in cages in your garage and in your subdivision with an hoa. That is the beauty of these things. They make no noise, they have no odor unless you've not cleaned it in forever. They're so obtainable for people. In that sense, if you're wanting to have some ownership over your own meat, I say even over Quell, I think quail stink. But that's my opinion. And you know, that's they get often compared to Quell as well because of the small space that they need. Huh.

[A]

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[B]

Over.

[A]

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[B]

Yeah, I don't have to order them in the mail every time I want meat versus a chicken. You know, you gotta order those specialty bread, patent Cornish cross chicks. Yeah, I, I'm in charge of when they breed because I do cages. If you do colony, that's a whole nother scenario. And that colony is where you just put them all in the same space and let them do their own thing. A lot of people think that's a little bit more natural and more humane, but what they don't think through is that these rabbits are domesticated. They were brought here in cages and so that's all they know so sometimes colonies work out well, sometimes they don't. But with me cage raging, I can plan my vacations, but I just love this.

[A]

A cage or colony, like, I mean, it's all the things that you would have no idea with colony. Would there be an issue that, like, there ends up being breeding with, like, the next generation? Is it like, that could be a problem?

[B]

It could be, yeah. And sometimes the. As the older ones, the older babies might want to kill the younger babies. There's some interesting dynamics. Also, sometimes when a woman or a doe, I mean, a doe exposed to the man all the time, she doesn't want to lift for him, she doesn't want to breed. And so sometimes you have stubborn nose in that situation. Whereas when they're separated and you bring them back together on your own terms, they're a little bit more excited.

[A]

So this is like so parallel to real life.

[B]

It's like a soap opera.

[A]

It's like absence makes the heart grow fonder.

[B]

It does. It really does. So oftentimes if people message me and they're having problems with their colonies, I'll be like, separate them for a little bit. They'll get it together. So.

[A]

Wow. Okay, but I interrupted.

[B]

No, no, you're fine. We plan our breeding around our vacations, around when we're traveling and when we're doing things. And so there's a lot more. I guess I hate to use the word control, but really there is, you know, I can have more say on when the babies are coming.

[A]

And I mean, that's good.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

It can work around your life. So it can work with an hoa. So, you know, on a practical level, I know you said you got. You want to have a bunch of different kind of meat or different kinds of protein, but on a practical level, like, how much do you have a week?

[B]

A lot. So right now on our homestead, we are raising sheep, Cornish cross chickens and rabbits. And so that is about all the meat I eat. Occasionally we get some beef or pork from somewhere else, but for the most part, we are rotating those three.

[A]

Wow. It's an interesting thing. I talked to this woman named Mandy, and she has. Well, it's called Plandy Mandy. So it makes it so you don't really remember what her last name is. But anyway, it's called Plandi Mandy.

[B]

And she.

[A]

That's what she calls herself. And she is really big on, you know that sometimes you can't make more money, but in some ways you make more money if you spend less money, because you can. And hers surrounds food. She's like, if I can spend less money on food, then that frees up money to do other things that we want to do. And so how interesting that you rarely are buying meat, which I think in some instances is the most expensive part of the food bill.

[B]

Well, here's the thing is, I'm not going to the store and buying meat. I'm going to the feed supply store to buy the feed.

[A]

Yeah, true.

[B]

There's still cost, but I'm also able to profit off of my cost.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Through selling live rabbits, processed rabbits, agritourism.

[A]

Poop.

[B]

Poop. Yeah, poop. I call them bunny berries. I thought you might like.

[A]

Oh, that sure is adorable. And you do do other things. Like, you've got the bunny and farm experience and the photography. I mean, this is really fun.

[B]

Yes. Yeah.

[A]

Okay. All right. So then you do sheep. We don't have any sheep. You have hair sheep. All right, tell us. I'm gonna just have a lot of questions, but just an over. Why sheep? Why'd you pick sheep?

[B]

You know, in the Bible, they separate the sheep from the goats, right? Oh, I want to be with the sheep.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

No, that was. So we. We have five acres. That's the joke. Because everyone's like, why didn't you get goats? Why didn't you get goats? And I'm like, because they're out to kill themselves. You know, I don't want that in my. On my farm.

[A]

Why? They die quick. They do. I mean, you're like, they're alive one second, and then the next day they keel over. In fact, our oldest son was dating this girl, and she came over, and he was like, oh, I'm gonna show her the goats. And there was, like, a dead one out there. So he was like, that didn't go over too well. But they did. That's just what happens.

[B]

Yes.

[A]

They're there one second and gone the next. You don't even know what's coming.

[B]

Yeah. Okay.

[A]

So sheep are not quite like that, but ours. I've heard sheep are kind of dumb.

[B]

Oh, but they're very trainable.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

They're very trainable, our sheep. We do. So we have five acres, three and a half acres is. Which is fenced in. We didn't want to have to bush hog. So our objective was, how do we manage this land with animals? And my husband and I settled on sheep because it wasn't quite enough for cows. We felt like this land would get destroyed if we put cows on it. Just because they're larger size. They're larger Hoof print, that type of thing. And so we settled on sheep, which I also really have enjoyed just simply because of the biblical symbol, like the symbolism, and just getting in there and. And working with them has been such a beautiful process to see scripture come to life by being a shepherdess or a shepherd. And the hair sheep that we chose are very parasite resistant. They're very hardy. And that was another thing. We don't want to deal with medications, we don't want to deal with sick animals. Like, we paid money for good stock, put that on the land, because we didn't know anything about it. We never. Neither one had ever had sheep. And in fact, we didn't even have a fence. When we got our sheep, it was the first thing we ever did out of order. We were on a wait list, and they called and said, we have sheep for you. Someone else backed up, backed out, and we were like, oh, we thought we had.

[A]

Oh, there's a waiting list for sheep.

[B]

Well, for this breed there was.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And so we ended up turning a trampoline upside down, taking the. This jumpy thing off of it, and putting a fence on the trampoline. And we moved them in a trampoline for two months while my husband built the fence. So while they might be dumb, they were so trainable, they stayed in that trampoline. We moved them every day till the fence got done. And then now we have them in our pasture. I'm looking out ahead because I can see. See them. We. We. My husband rotates them rotational grazing. He moves them several times a week. And so they're get. Staying off of their manure, which is. Also keeps them healthier. It gives the land a rest. So then they're getting fresh grass every few days. And they've really taken care of our land. In fact, there's a few times a year we have to bush hog because we have more grass than what they can manage. But then in the winter, that's not the case. So I know there's a lot of people that are grass envy of where I'm at. Here in East Tennessee, we have lush l. Lush fields, and not. Not everywhere in the country is like that. So we have about. I think we probably have about 15, 16 heads out there right now of sheep.

[A]

Wow. Okay. So then you just eat lamb.

[B]

Yeah, Depending on if we process an older one. Oh, and I should mention, I also have a dairy sheep, and I'm getting another dairy sheep.

[A]

What I mean, this is the whole thing. Like. Well, it would make sense. Like, you can milk A goat. But no one really talks about milking sheep.

[B]

No, it's the golden milk too. It's the highest in fat and nutrition.

[A]

How do we not know any of this?

[B]

I don't know. It's European mostly. It's very popular in European countries. Same with rabbits. I guess I'm living in the wrong country. But.

[A]

That'S the moral of the story. So sheep milk is popular in other countries. And I never hear. You only ever hear about lamb meat.

[B]

Well, so it's lamb until they're two years. Well, some. The debate is like one year to two year, but then it. Once they're older, it's mutton. Have you ever heard of mutton?

[A]

I've heard of mutton, but it, I mean it, it makes it. The word itself makes it sound like it's not good.

[B]

I know, but if you pick it right, it's fine. It's totally fine.

[A]

Okay. I mean they should give it a new word.

[B]

They should.

[A]

I think that's probably why nobody eats it. It's called mutton.

[B]

Yeah, but lamb is more popular. Yeah, yeah.

[A]

Lamb, yeah. You hear about them? Mutton. I've heard that word, but I wouldn't have been able to pull it out of my head. I mean, that's incredible. Okay, so you do sheep as well. Are there other ways that you earn money from sheep? Like how you do with the bunnies?

[B]

So with the sheep, we sell live sheep which.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Pays for themselves that way. And then I do the agritourism. I do camp in the summer for kids and we have time with the sheep then. And then when I do tours here we go see the sheep. But as far as I'm not, I don't have. I'm not doing a bunch of wool or FR Fiber or anything like that. I am working on some sheep milk products. Not necessarily the milk itself, but some products from machine.

[A]

So interesting. You also do interns. People are interested in that. They got kids and they're kind of interested. You offer learning week, so that's on your website. One on one mentorship and hands on learning experiences. So you have four nights, five day intern in exchange for labor. So pretty cool. I mean, that's so cool. It's like a land and expand, right. The amount of things that you're doing and the amount of things that you know is so phenomenal.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Also you have an Etsy shop. I want to talk about this. So in the Etsy shop you sell the elderberry syrup kit, which I just think is. We've done it once or twice where we've got my midwife. You know, she knows where to get everything, so she'll have, like, the dried elderberries. And, you know, you boil it down, it's a really cool sensory experience. It smells good, but a kit, man, that makes it real easy.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. In fact, that's. That's how I became an entrepreneur, was with elderberry syrup. So that's a neat.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

So I had. I had a cesarean section with my firstborn, and I was going the whole birthing center, doing all the natural stuff. Well, I got to, like, 42 weeks and three days, and they were like, eviction notice.

[A]

I know. That is what they do. I got disqualified. That was the word they used. So you're disqualified now. Evicted. Yep.

[B]

Then they sent me to the big hospital, and the big hospital didn't want to babysit me, and so I ended up with a C section. Long story short, but the second time around, I was determined to have a vbac. And I told my husband, I'm going to need a doula. And he said, well, I told you, we are one income family. And he was like, well, I don't know where you're getting the money from that, but if you can find the money, go ahead, get your doula. And so I started selling elderberry syrup and exploded beyond what I could do in my home kitchen. And I really needed to either, you know, get a commercial kitchen or switch. And so I switched to the elderberry kit, and now I can all over. And that got paid for my doula and has kind of been, like, in the back burner this whole time. I. I have that little shop and with my regular customers that I am able to equip with supporting their immune system. And so a neat little story, but that's what birth. I would say my entrepreneurship. Before that, I was like, sewing bibs.

[A]

Wait, I love that you said birthed. Did you do that on purpose?

[B]

You know, no pun intended.

[A]

Okay. All right. I like that your birth birthed your entrepreneurship. Yes.

[B]

I was sewing little bandana bibs for babies because I thought they were the cutest thing, and people were buying them for their dogs.

[A]

That is a big thing, though. I mean, people are having less kids, and people have asked us sometimes, like, do you have 1000 hours outside products for dogs? I was like, we probably should get on that.

[B]

Yeah, they'll buy it. Don't worry.

[A]

That's really empowering that you started your entrepreneurship with a specific goal in mind. And I actually think that that is the way to do it, because if you don't know what you're doing, and it's really scary, but you want to do some entrepreneurship things, or you also think, well, who am I to be doing this? Or, you know, I almost even feel like sometimes I'm like, it's gonna sound really stupid, but like, does this feel selfish? Like, does anybody want to buy this thing that I'm making, you know, or I'm creating? But when, for me, when I change the purpose? So originally the reason we got into entrepreneurship was because I wanted to be able to have business experience for my kids. And the only way that we could do that is if we had our own business. And so when the purpose changed, like you talk about, I really want to have this be back. I really think a doula will be important. It changes the whole thing. What an interesting story that that's where you started. And then it like, I mean, it is, it's like this groundswell of all of these other things now that you know and you're speaking, it's really, really incredible. So the elderberry syrup kits are fantastic. Can you tell people, I mean, we're heading into the fall here and people need this.

[B]

They do. Especially if your kids go to school or co ops or anything where you're.

[A]

In, if they leave your home at all, you just take like a spoonful of it. It's like preventative. And then if you get sick, then you can use it as, you know, you can take a little bit more.

[B]

Yep. As treatment.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So my kits come with full instruction. It makes a pint and a half. You add your own local honey. So then you're getting the benefit. Benefits of your local honey too. Or if your child's under one, you can use maple syrup to sweeten it as well.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

Full instructions. You store it in the fridge. Or if you don't think you're going to use it right away, you can store it in the freezer and pull it out as you need it or as your illness might strike. Or I, for me, especially when my kids were little, I was a part of a MOPS group. And so like every time we went to mops, we got, we got the elderberry. Or every time we went to parents day out or whatever we were doing at the time, you know, throw it at them. And I'll be honest, my kids are 8 and 10 and they have only been on medication one time each.

[A]

Yes. Our kids haven't needed anything since 2011. I might tell you what, you get them outside and you do these natural Things, and it makes such a difference. Tell us also, you also sell a seasoned salt. So you say about 10 years ago, you did a cleansing diet that required you to avoid all sugars, preservatives, grains, and legumes. And it was really challenging to find seasonings that qualified for that. So can you talk about that little bit? Talk about that journey and what that did for you and then the seasoning salt that came out of it.

[B]

Yeah. So we did the whole 30. I don't know if you've heard of that. That was what we did. And I couldn't figure out a way to cook food with any seasoning unless it was salt and pepper, because everything had either rice or sugar or some sort of preservative in it. And so I created my own seasoned salt. And we would have people over for dinner. Quite often, they'd be like, what you use on this? What is this? You know, I'd be like, that's my seasoned salt. That's my seasoned salt. And so finally it just came about. Well, you need to sell it. And so I only make it, you know, a few times a year, and then put it up on my Etsy or offer it in person to those that. I mean, it's something sought out. You know, you have to want to not want those things in your food to enjoy it. But it's. It's a staple. I mean, I use it about every meal since then because it can be thrown in soup or anything, so.

[A]

Wow. Made with organic spices and pink Himalayan salt. So interesting to use it all the time.

[B]

I just love it.

[A]

You just have so, so many things that you're doing.

[B]

Doing.

[A]

Let's end with this, because this is what I'm kind of doing. But I'm not. I'm not doing it for, like, business. Although I'm like, I'm kind of intrigued. But you have a cut flower garden.

[B]

I do.

[A]

I would have thought, like, in years past. I got into it because I read this book by Sharon Lovejoy called Root Shoots, Buckets and Boots. And I was wanting to be a gardener, but I was really scared of it. And I was reading all these gardening books. I've told this story before, so it's kind of like, blah, blah, blah. But I was reading all these gardening books, and they were over my head. I'm like, I didn't even know what germination meant. I was like, I don't get this. And the rotation and the, you know, the companion planting. And I was like, I just don't really get it. And Then I read this book by Sharon Lovejoy. My midwife suggested it, Root Shoots, Buckets and Boots. And it's compelling. It's a book about gardening with kids, and it makes it so you're like, I really want that in my life, so I'm just going to do it. I want to have a garden of giants. And, you know, you have giant pumpkins or I want to have a moon garden.

[B]

Or.

[A]

Anyway, she has all these. It's like a whimsical, delightful book. I think every family would love to have a copy. Happy Root Shoots, Buckets and Boots. And in there she says, so these are the top 20 things to grow. And one of them was zinnias. And I was like, okay, so I'm not good at this. I'm starting, you know, radishes. I'm going to start with these easy things. And I did fall in love. They're so vibrant. They're so huge. Do. I was so out of the loop that I thought that one seed would give me one flower.

[B]

Oh, well, you were in for a treat with zinnias, huh?

[A]

Yes, yes. I mean, I thought maybe one flower. I was like, this one seed gives me like 50 flowers, and if I keep cutting, I get a new flower every single day. So it brought me way more joy than I ever could have imagined. And they're so much easier for me than any of the other things I've done. They're pretty. They're just easy. That's why I think Sharon Lovejoy had them in the book. So talk to us about what you do with your cut flower garden.

[B]

Sure. It is a point of joy for me. Honestly. I a few years and did the CSA and tried to push flower sales really, really hard, and I found that it was no longer a joy for me.

[A]

Me.

[B]

And I had to step back and say, okay, why am I growing flowers? I'm growing flowers because I love growing flowers. And so once I had got off of that high horse and set down that mindset, it's become a delight again, you know. And so I grow just a variety of annuals, which means you plant them and they come that year. And then I grow a lot of perennials, too, which you plant them and they come back year and year, year after year. And so I just have a nice little backyard collection of. Of flowers everywhere. And so I sell them on my little. I have a little produce and flower stand. I'll put some out there at my own terms when I'm feeling like it, you know, not as it's a no stress thing for me. And then I had, like, last weekend I had a bunnies and bouquet where people could come snuggle bunnies and make bouquets. And then this week, I have some church ladies coming to make bouquets. And they're having this, like, a little event event for the young women at church. And so they're just kind of a fun little point of joy on our homestead that there was one year I didn't hardly grow any, and I was just sad the whole season. And I said, I'm not going to do that again.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Even if it's not for profit, I want these flowers in my yard. And so kind of like my hobby, you know, and if it pays a little, that's wonderful, but if not, it still brings me joy. And so, yeah, that's where I've fallen with those flowers. And I've partnered with a lady at church that now takes some to shut in and widows and different things like that to be a blessing to them with my excess flowers. So I was feeling sad. Like, I put them out and maybe they wouldn't all sell. And then I was like, what do I do with these? And so then I was able to partner with someone to be able to bless them beyond. So it's nice.

[A]

I had this woman on, and she's with this organization that she started. It's called Growing Kindness, and it's just a nonprofit, and that's what they do. The whole purpose of it is to grow your own flowers, like homegrown flowers, and you give them away. And she just talked about, like, how powerful it was, that it's really different than getting something from, like, a Kroger, you know, where it comes in the plastic wrap. And obviously, flowers are always delightful and can bring a lot of joy. But she said there's something a little bit different when it's your homegrown ones. It doesn't feel quite as like you have to reciprocate. And she had this video of this woman. It was really touching. It was like this older woman, she was in a wheelchair. She, you know, she was in a nursing home home, an older woman. And through this Growing Kindness project, they'd brought her these flowers. And she said, I can't remember the last time someone gave me flowers that, like, makes me emotional. Like, at some point you get forgotten or you become a widow or like, your kids don't care or, like, you know, can you imagine, like, to be like, I can't remember the last time. So we did. We just don't have a Ton. But. But my youngest daughter was wanting to sell them out by the road and we had enough to make six. So then we set this whole thing up and it was such a pain. She's like really wanting to do it.

[B]

Also.

[A]

She wrote these really kind of silly comic books and she's like, people can come and buy flowers and while they're there, they can read my comic books. She's like, she said, I'll charge them 50 cents. I was like, good luck with that. Okay, read her comic books. But anyway, so we set up and it just, I mean, immediately started to downpour. So then we had to run. I mean, we were running with these flowers, but I was like, well, what could we do with them? And we didn't take them to the nursing home. But I thought about it.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

What a stupid story.

[B]

Well, no, you already shared that. You want. You started your business to teach your children some business opportunities. So there we go.

[A]

There we go. But I really did think. But then I was like, are these people going to think I'm weird?

[B]

Weird?

[A]

There's like an assisted living home up the road. But then she was like devastated that we got rained out and my husband was gone. And I was just like, I don't know. But I thought, well, wouldn't it be a nice thing to take this up to the assisted living or, or anywhere? You know that if you've got extra, then you can give. And flowers bring a lot of joy. I have had the same thing too. They feel frivolous, but they also are good for the pollinators.

[B]

Yeah, they are. Yeah. We have someone that put a hive on our farm. We don't have to, man. But then they, they get to enjoy the bees, you know, get to enjoy all plants and everything.

[A]

Wow, Laura, I am so intrigued by you. Oh. And I'm just, I'm just like, wow, you have learned all of these things and what an interesting thing that in part it grows out of need. And you know, I think that in life we would love to not have needs. We would love to just be fully self sufficient and you know, the, hopefully the one income to be is. Is more than enough. But the needs create opportunity for growth. And in your journey now, your circle intersects with so many others. And I just, I mean, I learned so much in this one hour conversation. So if people want to learn more, they can go to cox-homestead.com where you have all sorts of workshops. People can check out if any of this stuff is interesting to you. You also do consulting. I'll put a Link to your Etsy shop. Get your DIY elderberry syrup kit. Make it with your kids, kids. It'll be really fun. You can get seasoned salt if you want. All sorts of things that you offer. We always end our show with the same question. The question is, what's a favorite memory from your childhood? That was outside.

[B]

Riding my bike down the road to my neighbor's house to catch crawdads in her backyard.

[A]

Oh, yay for that. I love it. I love it. Childhood is amazing.

[B]

To visit a couple about a month ago, and there was a crawdad in my, my mom's little fish pond, and I was like, don't worry, I'll get it.

[A]

I have experience with this.

[B]

I know. I took my little selfie with the crawdad, and I was like, oh, it's like old times remembered. So.

[A]

Oh, I love it. Well, Laura is honored to meet you. I loved meeting you in person. If I'm ever again with you and Emily, I'll make sure that you connect. And you did.

[B]

You did. I know you did.

[A]

I know you did. That has become my second mission in life, so, so really appreciate you taking the time. I learned so much, and I know the listeners will as well. I learned a lot, but it also got my, you know, the wheels of my mind spinning of like, well, could I be doing different things or. So, for example, we have a pretty big pasture in the back with these cows, and it's been a source of contention just because they're not the right cows. And it's a pretty big field. So I've talked about, well, we could do a pumpkin patch back there, but I want the poop.

[B]

So.

[A]

What an interesting thing. I, I, I'm always, like, so slow with everything. I'm like, oh, there's other ways I could be doing that. And the cold compost is really interesting because then it's just a quick thing. You just throw it in the soil. Anyway, anyway, I'm fascinated. I'm so fascinated. I learned so much. Laura, thank you for being here.

[B]

Thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it. And ever you're in the Smokies, come see me.

[A]

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