Streamwater Farm

A Tiny Homestead

Today I'm talking with Dedra at Streamwater Farm. You can follow on Facebook as well.

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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 Dedra at, I have to look up the name of your place, Streamwater Farm. Good morning, Dedra, how are you? Good morning, I'm great, how are you doing? I'm good, except that I cannot remember the name of people's places to save my life most days. Well, there's a bunch of them.

00:29
Yeah, and they're all interesting. So, all right. Well, tell me about yourself. You're in Mississippi. I am. I'm in South Mississippi. I'm actually just a County above the Louisiana line. So we are way down here and, um, my husband and I, we moved here about eight years ago. We were living in the Jackson area of Mississippi before then I am a nurse and we were working up there and we kind of just wanted to slow her lifestyle. So we, um,

00:54
We made it down here and we're closer to family, we're closer to friends and just started our homesteading adventure, actually started our homesteading adventure while we still lived in the city, but moved down here and just expanded. So that's what we're doing here. I homeschool my kids and stay home full time and all the good things, so it's fun. Awesome. We started our homesteading adventures when we lived in town, in the small town that we lived in. Before we moved to the place we live in now.

01:24
four years ago. And we had a 850 square foot house, four kids, three bedroom house, and it was on a 10th of an acre lot. Yeah. That's less than what we had. We had a fourth of an acre in the city. Yeah. And we had a decent garden. We fed ourselves and then neighbors. And sometimes we even had enough to donate to the local food shelf, which was awesome. That is cool.

01:50
The kids would go pick whatever they wanted out of the garden when it was in season and just eat it and they did They loved sugar snap peas Those are hard to grow down here. We have to Actually, this is the time of year We can grow them right before our frost because they do not like the heat so sugar snap peas are kind of a delicacy down here Yeah, and the kids loved them because they tasted like candy. So great Yeah, but then the kids all

02:19
moved out except for one, the youngest one still lives here. And we came into some money through some tragedies. We lost two parent figures, which sucked. But they were kind enough to leave us some fundage. And we were like, the best use of that fundage is to live our lives while we're alive. And we bought a 3.1 acre property with a home and a big old pole barn, which is a storage unit, really.

02:46
And so we did a whole lot of homesteading skills when we lived at the old place. So we felt very ready to step into a bigger arena, I guess. Right. Oh yeah. Like, I mean, I'm all for like one of my favorite things to tell. I just want to encourage everybody that I can to do what you can where you are. And I mean, because I mean, some of my favorite memories are that sweet little garden in that backyard in the city. Like it was just such a sweet time of learning and really figuring out what we wanted to do.

03:16
And so I love like, I love hearing people. I was talking to someone the other day who had listened to my podcast and she's a friend of mine and she used to live in the country and she's had to move to city limits. She's got kids in the school system and things like that. And she was like, you know, I thought I was going to wait until I, um, my kids graduated and I was able to move to my land to get chickens. But you know what? After listening, I think I'm going to just go ahead and do it now. I was like, do it now. Life is too short. Like, you know, yeah, there's some things you can't accomplish, maybe where you are, but there's so much you can do.

03:45
And it made me so happy because I was like, yes girl, do it. Just, just fill that side yard up with some chickens and make you a garden. It's going to be just fine. Jump in the pool. Yeah. Um, I mean, I'm going to apologize right off the bat. My dog is losing her mind because they are harvesting the cornfield across the street from us and she, she hates the big equipment. Right. Like she'll bark at a car if it comes in the driveway, but if they're just driving down the road, she's fine.

04:14
but the big equipment she just does not appreciate it. So she's downstairs yipping and I can hear her. So I don't know what's gonna come through on the recording. I don't hear her actually. So we're good. Okay, good. I have a dog in here with me too. And if she barks, you will absolutely hear her and I apologize ahead of time. That's totally fine because honestly.

04:34
This podcast is real life. It's real time. It's not live streamed, but it's real time. Right, right. And I don't edit out the dog. I don't edit out the trash truck rumbling when it pulls on the driveway because it's just me and where I live. Life, life is real. Yep. So, so I was telling you before we started recording, I was binge listening to your podcast, which is Ink and Overalls. Yes, Ink and Overalls.

05:02
I was binging it this morning because I didn't realize you had a podcast until last night and it was too late to start listening to it last night. And people, you got to go listen to Nudra's podcast. It is so full of great information. Like she puts me to shame. Oh, thank you. That's so sweet. I appreciate it. I've had a lot of fun. It's an adventure that's just getting off the ground and very out of my comfort zone, but I'm having a lot of fun. I really am. I love sharing and talking about home settings. So

05:30
It's just kind of second nature. It just makes sense to do it. Well, I will make sure to put the link in the show notes because if I'm entertained, I'm sure other people will be too. And is it ink and overalls because you have tattoos? It is. It's ink and overalls because we played around with a couple of other ideas. I, um, there's a man from church actually who has a media group and he kind of asked me to come on board and do this and get, you know, it was something I probably wouldn't have agreed to otherwise, but we had a couple of names we were playing around with and.

05:59
you know, ink and overalls, it's kind of something I came up with because I felt like it really embodied who I am. I'm very authentic. Yes, I have tattoos. They're a big part of my story because I didn't even get my first tattoos until I was well over 30 and I have four kids. And it's just kind of been a journey of like, you know, really becoming who I feel like I always was but being comfortable to be that person. And I feel like that's something that I, you know, I try my best to bring to the table is authenticity and

06:27
just being original and not being afraid to be who you are. You know, and I just want everybody to feel at home when they're listening, and I just want everybody to feel welcome. Fantastic. My daughter has a bunch of tattoos, and every single one of them is inspired by an event or a story in her life. Is that how you choose your tattoos? Well, my first tattoo was a set of arrows. I have four kids, and so I did, I was like, just gonna get one, you know, these small arrows on my forearm to represent my children.

06:56
And I got that and then I immediately booked my next appointment because I absolutely loved it. And from there, honestly, I have one that is a stack of books because I love to read and then I'm working on my right side is I'm working on a sleeve and it's really mostly just beautiful garden, like outdoor nature stuff that I enjoy. It's not really, I'm not.

07:19
I'm kind of, I have an amazing artist and I'm kind of like, hey, what do you want to do today? Because I trust him and he knows my style and I'm really just going for, I just want beauty. I just want beautiful things. And so I have a, I've got to be a honeybee and some flowers. I have a chicken and some strawberries and I just added a watermelon. So just all kinds of fun, you know, things that make me think of the garden and make me think of my homestead. So that is so cute. I love it. Okay. So, so since you mentioned bees and chickens and stuff,

07:48
What do you do at the homestead or the farm? Oh yeah. We have got, um, we have chickens, obviously that's the gateway drug, right? Everybody's got chickens. Um, but I have dairy goats, um, that I milk and I make soaps and, um, shampoo bars, things like that. And of course we drink it. And I have, um, I have a honey we have. We just actually did our first harvest and harvested three gallons of honey a few weeks ago, um, from that. So I've got a honey be high. We've got gardens. I have pigs. I've got a couple of pigs that are.

08:17
pets that are um they're cooney cooney is how i say it i heard it said a lot of different ways but that i actually inherited from a dear dear friend of mine who passed away and they will be here until their day's end because they're just pets and then i also have a breeder pair of birkshire's pigs which are hopefully you know they're the start of a hopefully a production of you know meat pigs for people around here like i would love to be able to provide local people with shares of

08:47
probably well over 70% of our own protein, you know, meat from the farm through our pigs and meat chicken. So that's what we do. I wanted to work in honey in this conversation because I discovered a while ago that you gotta be real careful about where you buy your honey because some of the honey they sell at the grocery store and say it's 100% honey, it's not. No, it's not. It's gross.

09:16
It is it's I mean they really are able because of food labeling You know restrictions and stuff not really being what they probably should be I mean, it's really easy for them to put something on the shelves that kind of disguises itself as a good product You know which that's with just about everything But honey in particular is really easy to find adulterated honey I guess you could say that's been changed, you know, like things that it may not contain what you think it does So, I mean, you know, I do order when we don't have our

09:45
when our hives, you know, aren't, I've had a couple of hives that left me. So I've just really had my first successful harvest. So in the meantime, I do use a lot of honey and I try to get it locally, or I do order from Azure standard, they sell by the gallon, so I have to buy it by the gallon, I'm feeding four children and I use a lot of honey, but.

10:07
But yeah, it's something that you definitely, if you can go local with it, that's definitely the best way to go. For many reasons, health reasons, and for being sure of what you're getting. Yeah, I bought honey a little, well, a month or so ago because we were out, and I actually ordered some from Amazon. I will never do that again. I read everything on the listing on Amazon, and got it, and poured it into the oats for the granola.

10:36
and it poured out really fast and I was like, this is not real honey. Mm-hmm. I know it's not. It's like something's not right here. Yeah. And I know it's probably not going to kill us so I did use it because we can't afford to waste. And as soon as that, I mean, I don't think it's all used yet. I think there's still probably a quarter to half a bottle left and it's probably going to go in the trash because I don't love it. And so we've gone back to getting our honey from Sam's Club because Sam's Club's honey is actually honey.

11:06
honey. Yeah, they do. They have a good, I mean a pretty good product there. Like is it the one with the orange label on it? I think it's like a height. Yes, I think so. Yeah. And it pours really slow and it's really sticky and it tastes exactly like the honey we get from our local guy. He just doesn't have any right now. Yeah, you can taste the difference. You really can. Yeah. So people read the labels and even when you read the labels, sometimes you might get duped. I did. And I didn't think I could get duped on that stuff anymore.

11:36
Yeah, it's easy to do because they've got lots of ways of loopholeing their way into good branding and marketing. They can find a way to make it seem like it's something that's not.

11:50
Yeah, I was more than a little pissed off about this honey that I got from Amazon. I'm not going to lie. Yeah, I mean, honey, especially honey, any honey you get, I mean, even the nasty cheap stuff is expensive. So yeah, I mean, you spend your money and it's usually a key ingredient if you're using it. I mean, I use it in coffee and stuff too, but when I'm baking, I mean, it's a big part of that. So I mean, you don't want, you know, it's like, I consider it a positive thing when you have a good quality honey. You're adding this, you know.

12:19
positive thing to your recipe. My dog is snoring. I don't know if you can hear her. No, I can't. She is snoring like a man and she's right beside me. So if you hear something, it's not me, it's my dog. Oh yeah, I can hear just a little bass there. Yep, that's her. That's adorable. I'm okay with that. She's sleeping really good. She is. She's a good napper. She's a level expert napper for sure. Uh-huh.

12:48
We just culled our chickens because they were getting lazy and we were getting like three eggs a day from nine chickens and we were like, okay, we're done. They're older. It's time. And we're going to get new chickens in the spring from friends that have really good chickens. And so I'm down to my last dozen, last dozen of our chicken eggs. And I'm like, crap, we're going to have to actually buy eggs from the store.

13:17
The wall of shame for a homesteader. Yeah. And I said that to my husband the other day and he's like, no, no, no, we're not. I said, are we just going to go eggless for the winter? And he said, no, Elaine at the farmer's market, she sells eggs all year round. Yeah. He says she lives just outside of, just on the other side of town. And I was like, Oh, so we're not going to have to get eggs from the grocery store. And he said, I hope not. Right. Once you're used to the good ones, it's really hard.

13:46
Yeah, so we have a secret source and she's not actually a secret. She's been selling eggs forever at the farmers market. She's fantastic So I was very relieved to know that we weren't gonna have to buy the not as good eggs at the store Oh, yeah, no, it's the walk of shame I've had to bomb even when I've been feeding chickens before and I really taught real ugly to him when I get home I'm like, do y'all know what I just had to do I just had to go in there and buy eggs and make the walk of shame for a chicken lady and then come home and feed y'all

14:15
lazy things. So I know sometimes it works out that way. Yeah it's crazy. I mean it's really weird. Our summer was was hard with the garden. We didn't we did not have a great garden this year because the weather was just terrible here in Minnesota in the spring. And now we don't have chickens and we tried raising rabbits and that did not go well so we stopped doing that two years ago. So we are literally a chickenless failed garden homestead this year.

14:45
And I'm like, I was laying in bed the other night, just frustrated beyond recognition, just playing over and over in my head, why are we doing this? Yeah. We could be living on an acre lot outside of town. We could have a nice little garden. We could still have chickens and it wouldn't be as much crazy. So I'm just laying there, just playing on my head. And I'm like, I can't keep doing this. It's a mindset thing. I have to get out of this loop.

15:15
And I finally went, the reason we're doing this is because we get to have quiet and we get to have fresh air and we get to have our dog. We love our dog. And I ran all the reasons why we're doing it through my head beyond the fact that we wanted to have a big garden. And we did. We still do. It'll be okay next year. And we want to have chickens and we'll have chickens again next year. And I finally got myself out of that horrible negative loop. And

15:41
listening to your podcast this morning, your first six episodes are basically all about why. Yep. And I was like, I think that maybe somebody is trying to tell me something. There you go. I mean, because it is so important. I mean, because it doesn't make sense, right? I mean, and I say that in one of the podcasts, I'm like, you know, it doesn't make sense to choose the hard work to do the thing that's off the beating path sometimes. It's like, why am I doing this? Because

16:08
I mean, you know, it's like, it was just about, you know, you can source food at a farmer's market. Like you're going to get your eggs from there, but like what makes the difference between, like what makes us step out from being the person at the farmer's market, which is amazing, you know, buying the eggs versus the person who's producing those eggs. And it's like, the why isn't so important. And you have to reevaluate that just like you did, because like, you know, it changes as you change. And, and you're so right. Like, I mean, I do it all the time. My garden looks a shambles right now. And I'm like,

16:37
I don't even know if I can ever make it pretty again, but it'll come around, but that's a really good time to reflect whenever you're kind of in between with seasons and everything, to really reflect on why you do it and then just start again with renewed passion and renewed ambition toward your goal again and just reevaluate all that. Yeah, and once I got past the loop.

17:01
I was like, I'm so dumb. We have a greenhouse that we're getting ready to have heat in for the winter. We're going to have a little indoor garden all winter long. Yeah, that's awesome. And then I was like, oh, you just get caught up in the negative thoughts and it's hard to break them loose. Yeah. And with a homestead, you know, one thing that's really cool about it, honestly, is how it does ties to seasons. And so it cycles with the seasons. And so, you know,

17:31
One good thing though is if you look at it one way you can say, you know, there's always it's always coming back around, right? We've got another chance. We've got another spring to raise chicks We have another you know, another spring does to start seeds and get in the garden because it keeps coming back around We've got another chance and I just love that about it It's just like a renewal like every season is a renewal like there's a new opportunity in winter Oh, let's reflect on what we can do. Let's grow in the greenhouse. Let's

17:55
you know, let's think about next year, let's get excited. And then in spring, let's put boots on the ground, let's get this done. And I love that cycle because it's just, I think it's healthy for us really to be tied to, I think we're supposed to be tied to the seasons. And we live in such a world that's, you know, like a such a microwave society where we don't think about when we're climate controlled all the time, right? So it's, you know, it's a totally different perspective.

18:19
when the things you do every day are tied to the weather and the seasons and the rhythm of that. And I think it's a really cool thing. I think it's deep within us to want to do that, but it's hard sometimes to find that and homesteading offers that. Oh, for sure. And one of the reasons we wanted to get out of town is so that we could actually see the sky at night. Oh yeah. Even in a small town, there's so much light pollution. Oh yeah.

18:45
And I saw the Northern Lights for the first time in my life this summer because we live where there's hardly any light pollution and it was amazing. And it's up there. I just I fully feel like it's there for us to see. We need to see those things because it does something to us. It reminds us of how little we are, how small we are, and how big the universe is and how like I don't know it's just a beautiful thing. I think it's being tied to nature is just something.

19:13
I just believe it's deeply rooted within us. And I think when we return to that, by being able to see the sky at night, to something that simple, you know, it changes kinda, I think it starts to reprogram our brains a little bit to slow down and notice things. Yes, and one of the other things that we really noticed when we moved here is that we can hear coyotes barking and yipping and howling at night, and they don't come on the property because Maggie the dog.

19:39
is all over the property so they know there's a dog here and they don't they don't want a hard hunt if they can if they can do an easy hunt they will do that first. Are you in my brain? I'm just wondering why I literally just recorded a predator episode yesterday and I say the exact same thing yeah I was talking about how like

19:59
you know, if you make it a harder target, then you're less likely to have issues because, you know, the more you use your place and the more you're there, they don't, they don't want, like you said, they want easy. They don't want to have to work too hard for a meal. Right. Exactly. You're in my brain. Well, at least I know what I'm actually talking about. So that's good to know. Um, and while we're talking about predators and keeping, keeping critters off your property that you don't want on your property, um,

20:26
I'm going to say something probably gross that most people who don't live in the country don't know about. I know what you're going to say. If you have deer trying to eat your garden, because we try not to put up a fence in the garden, it just makes it harder to take care of. If you have deer that want to eat your garden, and if you have a tree line where they're coming in from, all you have to do is send the boys in the family out to pee in the trees. I knew exactly what you were going to say before you said it. The deer don't like it.

20:56
They do not like the human side and that's as human as it gets. Yeah. And I mean, that's an easy predator control, right? I mean, that's an easy way to protect your garden right there. Yeah. My husband and my son have gone out and peed in the tree line on purpose. And I'm just like, oh my God, I can't believe this is our life. It's like, I can't believe this is on the chore list, but go get it done. Cause it needs to happen. Yeah. Go, go pee in the trees please today. Do that. And sometimes it doesn't work. Um, we planted peach trees, two of them.

21:26
What? Hold on just a second. Yeah. Yeah, baby, just go. Sorry, my mom was here to pick up. Okay. Okay, I'm here now, sorry. No, that's fine. I can edit out stuff, it's fine. So anyway, we planted two peach trees last year in Minnesota. They're the winter hardy ones. And one of them grew tall, one of them grew peaches.

21:54
We had like 14 peaches on one of the trees this year and my husband brought in six and I got to try one and then they were gone because they were so good, Kyle and Cameron ate them. Yeah, that's fruit for you right there. Uh huh. And he said there were six more on the tree and I was like, cool, you're going to pick them tomorrow. And he said, yeah. He went out the next morning and they were gone. The deer ate them. Oh no. So the deer got a really nice treat. They got a really nice treat, yeah.

22:24
But we were very excited that the tree actually produced. And these were like bigger than baseball sized peaches. That's really impressive. So next year, maybe we'll have enough to make a small batch of peach jam. And that would be amazing. Right, that's exciting. That's really exciting. I've not had much luck with fruit trees. That is something that has remained elusive to me at the moment. I've not been able to nurture one to maturity.

22:53
as much as I've tried. It's just not been my thing. We have fig trees. They actually, they had something wrong with them and they kind of died back. And I cut them back about a year ago and they're coming back really nicely. But yeah, we've got some fig trees, we've got some blueberry bushes, but I've tried planting a couple of trees. I mostly tried actually at our old place. And so here it's just, I can't figure out a good place to do it, to really start. Cause we have a lot of shade.

23:22
And the one area that I can think of that would probably be good for some fruit trees, we kind of drive through there sometimes if we need to get to the garden to unload dirt or whatever. And so I'm kind of afraid to like, you know, I'm hesitant to take that space up. So it's kind of right now a matter of finding the perfect spot. Yeah, we planted cherry trees last year too, and they did not produce a single cherry. They barely bloomed because they were too busy, you know, growing, getting established. So we're

23:51
Hoping with everything in us that next year we will have some it might be the year. Yeah, and they're so beautiful That's cool. And they're so yummy I've never had a fresh cherry off. Oh good lord, ma'am. Never had one I don't like cherries like just in general if I get one like on milkshake or something I don't like that, but I've heard that fresh cherries are just a remarkable thing. They're amazing They are delicious. We made cherry

24:19
Cherry jam cherry jelly. I don't know a couple years ago. We bought a couple flats of The sweet dark cherries the black cherries From from the fruit truck fruit truck. I think it's I think it's my fruit truck.com. I think it's the business And they brought them in from michigan and oh my sweet. Jesus. They were amazing and That jam or jelly whatever we made was gone that first winter. That's how much we liked it

24:48
Yeah, that sounds really good. That sounds like it would be kind of tart and sweet at the same time and probably really, really good. Yep. And the other thing that we've done, we have black raspberry or yeah, wild black raspberries on our tree line. And we tried making black raspberry jelly and one of the batches did not set up. So it became black raspberry syrup. I've done that. I've labeled things as syrup that were supposed to be jelly before I've done that and used it. Yeah.

25:18
Yeah and that stuff on top of vanilla ice cream or on pancakes, amazing. Yeah I've done it with strawberry the same with strawberries. I'm like you know what this was a happy accident because it's a wonderful thing to use as a syrup. It really works well. Oh absolutely and I'm certainly not going to throw it away if there's nothing wrong with it it will get used. Absolutely. So anyway uh what else um so you were saying do what you can with what you have where you are. I say that all the time. Yes.

25:48
And I know that you're doing it because I listened to your podcast this morning. And so, so if I know what you said, but not everybody else has listened to your podcast. So if you're a beginner getting into this homesteading lifestyle stuff, what is the first thing you would tell somebody? The first thing I would tell somebody is to not be afraid to try and not be afraid to learn like.

26:14
I think on my home studying skills episode, I talked about it and I was like, I think, you know, the desire to learn and the willingness to try are two things that everybody can carry with them. Those are like, if you gain those skills, you can use them in every aspect of your life, right? So, you know, I say start where you are. I mean, I said start in the kitchen, if nothing else, most of us have a kitchen, even if we can't have a garden right now. And you know, if we don't have a kitchen, we know somebody who does, so start learning. Start learning how to cook a whole chicken. Start learning how to, you know, how to can things,

26:44
Make a homemade cobbler from some fresh fruit that you get from the farmers market with us in season. Just wherever you can, just start. And don't put off doing what you can because you think it has to look a certain way or it should be a certain way because perfect is never going to come. Perfect is not coming and we have today. We don't always, we're not guaranteed years down the road. So start now. Start learning what you can, where you're at. And you know.

27:14
while you're in the waiting room, turn into a classroom. And that's a quote from Jessica Sowers, and I love her to pieces with Roots and Refuge Farm. She's got some great books and everything. And that's one thing she says, and it has resonated with me for years because that is absolutely what we learned while we were getting started. And it's something I continue to tell people, like, please turn your waiting room into a classroom. Don't just sit and twiddle your thumbs. Like,

27:39
Even if it's just reading about it and learning about what you might want to do someday and setting goals and thinking about that Why you know why you want to do this and where you're gonna head in the next just just get out and do what you can Where you're at? Yeah, and and I was just thinking while you were answering my question I can't tell you how many times my husband and I have gone to a farmers market or the place where we buy apples or whatever and we'll get talking with

28:08
the vendors or with the owners. And they know us, we've been doing this for a while. And they're like, so what have you done so far on the homestead, what's new, what's happening? And we get talking with them and before we know it, there's like three people around us who aren't part of this asking questions. Yeah. And of course we're gonna answer them because we love what we do and we've learned a lot along the way and we've had.

28:35
successes and we've had failures and there's just always stories. And it's no big surprise that I started this podcast because I've been doing this for the last 20 years in one way or another. It just hasn't been a podcast. Yeah. I mean, I think it's amazing how you really do learn so much. Like people hear you talking and they're like, what are you saying you do? Or what do you, you know, and that's like, I love the community that you can get from.

29:03
just talking to because so many people want to try something different. They want to slow down. They want to learn how to grow things. They want to learn how to take care of chickens. They want to learn these things, but it's like, where do you, some of them are like, where do you start? Especially if you want raised, you know that doing any of that. And, you know, especially sometimes when Instagram is not our friend and makes it look like, Oh, well yeah, you can do it if you have a two story farmhouse on 20 acres that has a perfect picket fence. And

29:31
you know, and it has to look a certain way. And so they hesitate. It's like they're just kind of spinning their wheels, you know, behind the start line because they've got it in their brains that everything has to align a certain way to get started. And you know, the truth about homesteading is that a lot of times you're using what you have, like you're like pulling together stuff to make stuff work on your feet whenever, oh, I need to separate these goats away from, you know, the babies away from their moms today. Oh, I gotta make a shelter for them real quick. And

30:00
you start to, you accumulate a junk pile. I don't know if you have one, maybe it's a South Mississippi thing, but. No, we have a junk pile. You're gonna have a junk pile to pull from. And the thing is, one thing I like to say too, is it doesn't have to be beautiful to other people. If it gets you one step closer to your goals and what you wanna do with your life and what's gonna, the worthy work you wanna put your hands to, then it's beautiful. It's gorgeous, it's amazing. Just go for it and do it.

30:28
It doesn't have to look a certain way. Just, you know, and ask the questions. Don't be afraid to, you know, look crazy because I've been doing it. You know, you said you've been doing it 20 years. I mean, I've been at this for right at 11 as far, you know, I was raised working in the garden with my daddy, but not doing anything with the animals or anything like that. But I can tell you right now, there's plenty I still don't know. I'm never gonna pretend to know something I don't, but I have screwed up a lot. So I can sometimes direct you in the right direction and like, I want to tell you what I do know.

30:56
And I want to learn from whoever can teach me new things. You know, you got to keep that learning, that learning mindset. You know, also, I feel like that's so important with homesteading. I feel like that's something a lot of people need. Like we stretch ourselves, right? We're always learning new things. So that community, you can all learn from each other. It's really a cool thing. Yeah. I try to make friends with people who know more than I do so that I can, I can borrow from, from their knowledge. And, and it's always fun because.

31:23
When I was growing up, I was the girl that the teacher sent the kids that were having trouble with the lesson to. To help them figure out the math problem or help them with their reading. And I really felt like I paid my dues on being the one who was helping on teaching. And now I want to learn more from people. Yeah, there's, I mean, I think there's like, but I feel like it kind of, it's kind of a give and take, you know? I mean, you.

31:53
because you do have things to share. And sometimes it's like, I can't, I'm not gonna be able to teach you about, rotationally grazing cattle, because I've never done it before. But so I wanna learn all I can about that. But it's at the same time, I'm like, but if you need some help, learn how to raise some meat birds, I can help you out. And like, we just kind of got that give and take. Yeah, learning is, I love being around people who know more than I do. I love it, because I love to sit back and just take it all in, right? But.

32:19
At the same time, there's a whole bunch of people online who need what knowledge we do have to maybe spur them onward so that they can learn more. Yep, exactly. And the thing about everything is not perfect and pretty. When we decided we were gonna look for land with a house on it four and a half years ago, five years ago, whatever it's been now, I had this picture in my head of the pretty farmhouse with the wraparound porch

32:49
the already established fruit trees and stuff. You know, I had this vision. And I knew when I had that vision, that probably wasn't gonna be what we actually ended up with. And I was okay with that. The house that we, the property we bought had hostas for flowers. It had nothing else. And I don't know if you know what hostas are, I assume you do. Oh, I know, yeah.

33:17
They're like the last vestige of summer here in Minnesota, that when the hostas start blooming, you better start getting things ready for winter, really, because it can snow in September here. That's right. So when I saw the hostas and I saw that there were no rose bushes, there were no fruit trees, there was nothing, I was like, okay, this is going to be an uphill climb. And the house itself on the inside.

33:47
is gorgeous. They remodeled the entire inside of the house. I fell in love with it the minute I walked in. The outside is beige siding. It has a silver tin roof and it doesn't look like the pretty clapboard white farmhouse that I was dreaming of. And first thing I said to my husband after we actually moved in was, when can we paint the house?

34:13
And he said, why would we paint sighting? And I said, because this beige is so nondescript, it's making me crazy. Right. And he said, I kind of like that it's nondescript. I said, why? And he said, because no one really notices it. We're kind of in the middle of nowhere here, honey. And I went, oh, yeah, OK, fine. He said, what color would you paint it? And I said, barn red. He was like, we're not doing that. I said, oh, OK, fine.

34:43
I said, so are we going to get plants to put in so there's flowers in the springtime? And he said, yes, we are. I said, are we going to get fruit trees? And he said, yes, we are. I said, so this place will look kind of like my vision in like 10 years. He says, yeah. And it's starting to really look like my vision now and it's only been four years. So we're getting somewhere. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, you know, it's, it's an amazing thing to think about. I mean, you know, I'm.

35:11
it would be amazing if we could all just, you know, go out right now and buy that picture. Perfect thing we have in our brains, you know, but, um, that's usually not the cards for most of us and that's okay. But like, I mean, I'll be honest with you. I've got a chicken coop that is like a, I mean, is gorgeous. I mean, my husband built it for me. It's, it's white. It's got a big barn door on it. It's like stained. It's gorgeous, but I'm not a lie. Look, it does not look white 90% of the time because it gets dirty.

35:41
And that's life and that's real life. And you know, it's just my, my house where we are actually used to be an old dairy farm. And whenever they, one thing I didn't know when we bought the place was whenever they decided that it was no longer going to serve that purpose, they dug lots of holes and buried lots of things that were part of the dairy farm. And so you never know when you're going to hit concrete or what we know when glass is going to wash up. It's a mess. But, um, we have a, there's a cinder block barn.

36:10
in the very middle of my backyard. Now that would not appeal to most people. It is an eyesore, but at the same time that was infrastructure that was already on the property we were able to start using for goats and for storing feed and things like that when we moved here. And so it didn't look the way I wanted it to in my brain, but at the same time I looked at it as a blessing because it was saving me from having to put up that extra infrastructure. And so my house is the same way. It does not look

36:40
you know, envisioned it. But, you know, I feel being put here was not an accident. And so, you know, I'm doing the best I can with what I have and making it as close to what I want it to be as I can. And knowing that it doesn't always have to be perfect to be good. Yeah, I feel like dreams are what give us the inspiration to go after the thing we want, but they won't. But the thing that you get when you go after the thing you want may not be what you saw in the dream itself.

37:08
Oh yeah, and I think you have to keep in mind, I think that that's one place though, that dreams and your ideal, you know, what you have in mind can get in your way sometimes. Like I said before about getting started, if you're waiting for that perfect dream, you know, to come, you gotta, sometimes you gotta give your dreams, you know, you gotta, you gotta give them wings, you gotta give them feet, right? They can't just, you know, knowing things in your brain and doing them are two different things. And yeah, I mean, we all wish we had.

37:36
XYZ as far as especially on homesteads and farms and we all want the the grazing ground for you know plenty of cattle and all these things and dairy cow and But you know sometimes that's not the cards and it doesn't mean that your story is not awesome It doesn't mean that your dreams aren't being reached It's just they may look a little different than that original picture And like you said if you use those dreams as fuel to spur you toward as close You know as close as you can get to that that's very

38:03
useful thing, but I think sometimes it can be a negative thing if you let those dreams turn into something that you hang on to in spite of what you have right in front of you. Right exactly and I'm going to share a little story about our greenhouse which will illustrate your point perfectly and then I'm going to let you go because we've been talking for like 38 minutes. When we dreamed about having a greenhouse, my husband and I had very different pictures about greenhouses.

38:30
He was thinking like high tunnel style greenhouse. Right. I was thinking like pretty hard sided greenhouse with the old windows that people don't need anymore as the glass. And this very eclectic hard sided greenhouse that was one of a kind. That was my picture in my head. And I kept trying to explain my idea to him. And he was like, that's going to be really hard.

38:57
And I didn't know how hard it was going to be because I saw all these beautiful greenhouses online that people had paid. And he was like, you don't understand. You got to seal those edges of those window frames together with something. So the cold air doesn't get in the cracks and da da da. I was like, okay, so that's not going to happen. And I must have looked sad and he was like, the purpose of a green house is to shield, protect, and keep warm.

39:26
the plants you're growing in it. He said, the purpose of a greenhouse is not to look like a fairy tale. And I said, thank you for reminding me. And I said, so how are we gonna do this? He said, we're gonna start with high tunnels. And I said, okay. And then I watched one get blown over with seedlings in it. And I was like, high tunnels don't work on the prairie because the wind takes them over. So I applied for a grant last year for a greenhouse.

39:56
we got the grant. Oh, that's exciting. And it was a decent amount of money. And I said, hun, can we please do a hard-sided greenhouse so that it doesn't get blown over? I can't cry my eyes out every spring or every summer when it blows over. And he said, exactly, that's what we're going to do. I said, okay. So the greenhouse got built this May. And it is basically wood and tin and polycarbonate.

40:25
panels for the light to go through. So that's what is what passes for the glass for the greenhouse. It's 40 feet by 30 feet maybe. Wow! And I am in love with this thing. I really wanted an eclectic fairy tale greenhouse but this this very rudimentary functional greenhouse makes my heart sing.

40:53
The lady from the county stopped by the other day. We live in Sibley County. She stopped by because she is the assessor for new construction here. And I stepped out on the porch and the window was open. I was like, hi, how can I help you? And she said, I'm here because of your greenhouse. And I cocked my head and said, what do you need? And she said, I just need measurements. She said, it looks great. And I said, thank you.

41:19
She said, I have to tell you, she said, I drive by your place every day because I work at this place, so I have to go by here. And I was like, okay. She said, I am so impressed with your stewardship of the land since you bought it. Oh, that's awesome. I almost cried. I would cry. Yeah, that's amazing. And I said, well, we're not doing a heck of a lot, really. We're growing a garden and we have chickens. And she said, Mary.

41:47
And she knew my name from the application for the permit for the greenhouse. She said, Mary, she said, you guys have made this a functioning farm and a home. She said, and it is clear that you love what you're doing. And I was like, we do. Oh my goodness. That's so encouraging. I love that. So it was really neat. Cause usually if an assessor shows up, you're like, Oh no, it's going to be a money thing. No, it was not a money thing. That's so cool. That's encouraging. That's really neat. We all need that some days.

42:17
Yep, and then I asked her if she needed any kittens because we have five barn kittens right now. She was like, oh no, no, no, no. I was like, well, I tried. And she said, well, if we needed kittens, I know where to go. She said, if I know anybody who's looking for kittens, I will send them your way. I said, thank you so much. So you can have this beautiful picture in your brain of what you want things to look like when they're finished. And sometimes they don't look anything like the picture in your brain.

42:46
but they are functional, they work, they're amazing, and it still looks good. Yeah, well, I mean, it's like, you know, really, if you had the luxury of being shown the future and you were like, okay, you can have this homestead, this farm in your brain, or this life in your brain, or you can have this one for real. Like, what are you gonna choose? You know, like, it's like, you can think this and have it, you know, keep it in your brain forever, this perfect house, or you can, you know,

43:16
go here where you can be planted and you can grow something beautiful from something that may not look like your fantasy, but what would you choose? I mean, you're probably going to choose what's the actual concrete thing that's there, like over what's in your brain. So you can sit here and think about it for the rest of your life, or you can have this and make it the best that you can. Uh-huh, exactly. And...

43:44
The biggest thing I have found with homesteaders and farmers in this year or so that I've been doing the podcast is the fact that homesteaders and farmers are ingenious and they make things work and they are so curious about how things work and they are masters at finding resources. Well, I think it's a resilient spirit, right? I think that's like the origin of that the whole homestead idea.

44:13
even if you take it back to its origin, right? Like you got this, I mean, resilience, we're just, we're supposed to be resilient people because we're like, we are doing something off the beaten path and you do become resourceful. You do learn to do so many cool things because there's nobody else to do it. You gotta be the one to do it, you know? And it's a cool thing. It's a cool journey. I think it's, like I said, I think it stretches people and I think it gives us all something that challenge that we need a lot of times.

44:40
Yeah, and I would love to get into the community aspect of this, but you covered it in your podcast better than I possibly could, and I'm running out of time. So if you guys want to understand the community part, you got to check the show notes and go see GoToInc and overalls because Dedra talks about community and how that works with the homesteading community, and it's awesome. Thank you. So that's all I got.

45:05
Thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate it. You are so welcome. I enjoyed talking to you. I'm sorry for in my mouth too much. Oh, no, no, you were great. I just, I've got things I gotta get done today too. So, all right. Thank you. Have a great day. Thank you too. Bye.