Episodes

  • Natures Farmacy

    Natures Farmacy
    May 1 2026
    Today I'm talking with Joe and Jessica at Natures Farmacy. A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. A tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Jessica and Joe at Natures Farmacy in Alabama. Good morning, guys. How are you? Good morning. How are you? I'm good. How's the weather in Alabama this morning? 00:55 It's a little overcast. It rained yesterday and a lot last night. So overcast, warm. Plants are happy. I bet. I bet they are. It is a beautiful sunny morning here in Minnesota and there's a very light breeze and everything has greened up beautifully. And tomorrow is May 1st. Yay. 01:22 Very excited because May 15th is the date that we plant our seedlings. So we only have to wait 15 and a half more days. Awesome. So tell me a little bit about yourselves and what you do. OK, so uh we're Nature's Pharmacy. We are a micro farm here in Summerdale. um We grow all kinds of fruits and vegetables. um We're basically on 1.7 acres and we're trying to pack in as much 01:52 ah produce and fruit as we can on this. It's not tiny, but it's not big either on this piece of land. And ah we use organic growing practices. We set up at the markets. ah We have five kids. We homeschool them. So we're here all the time. That is a lot of little people in your life. We have two that are big people now and we actually just became grandparents. 02:22 from one of them. So that's really cool. She's a month old now. Jessica, you look amazing to be a grandma. saw your videos on Facebook and I was like, wow, she can't be more than 25. guess. Oh, thank you. It's the veggies. Yeah, absolutely. Are the kids involved in the... They're involved in the berry picking and eating. Yeah, it's hard to keep fruit on the trees and... 02:51 on the vines, ah but I'm guilty of that too. I love to get out here and pick berries and eat fruit. It's really awesome to be able to have that experience and for our kids to have that experience running up and down the rows picking, whether it's fresh carrots or blackberries, plums, peaches. I'm so glad that we get to do that for them. They do help though. They are oldest, not our oldest, but the oldest living here. He's 13. ah 03:20 He helps us with harvesting and packaging and getting stuff ready for the market. He helps us set up at the market. The girls help some too. They'll come out when we're planting and want to poke a few seeds in the ground. We don't force it. So if they want to help, they do. Nice. You're growing budding entrepreneurs while you grow your gardens and your fruit trees. Actually, our 13 year old has his own mushroom operation. I mean, I'm sorry. 03:49 Worm casting. Worm casting operation. Which could lead to mushroom growing. Well, we do grow mushrooms. So, yeah, that's definitely something that, you know, if he wanted to get into that, he could. We grow Shiitake mushrooms and we'll grow other mushrooms as well, like wine cap. But yeah, so he's he's farming worms and collecting castings and he sets his little worm castings up at the market and he 04:17 He sells worm casting, so it's really cool. He's pretty much staying sold out too. And the girls are trying to get into crickets. They did just recently order their first batch of crickets. They want to be able to grow those, whether it's for like people that have lizards or feeding their chickens or even bait. Yeah, fishing. I love it. You guys have been an excellent example for your little people and your big people. Thank you. 04:47 I wish everybody could be that kind of example because we'd have a much better world in about 10 years. Well, I think more people are waking up and moving towards, you know, going back to homesteading and I say a simpler life, but sometimes it's not simpler. mean, there's a lot of work involved, but I see ...
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    32 mins
  • Forsythia Farms

    Forsythia Farms
    Apr 29 2026
    Today I'm talking with Casey at Forsythia Farms. A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. That tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Casey at Forsythia Farms in New Jersey. Good morning, Casey. How are you? Good morning. I am well. How are you? I'm good. You said it's a beautiful day there in New Jersey? 00:55 It is. It's nice and sunny and it's going to be almost 70, I think, today. It rained all weekend, so we're due for some sunshine. Well, congratulations on having a great spring day because I am in Minnesota and I can hear the rain falling on our tin roof outside my bedroom window. Oh, my goodness. And it's supposed to rain all day and I think we're supposed to get thunderstorms too. So we are getting what my grandpa would have called 01:23 poor man's fertilizer for our garden. Oh my goodness. You guys get some heavy storms out that way, don't you? Um, we get... I have never experienced nor seen a tornado in the over 30 years I've lived in Minnesota. Well, that's good. But we definitely get some high winds. We have had our power go out because of lightning strikes, stuff like that. 01:52 Minor things like I'm scared to death of tornadoes like I don't ever want to Ever want to see one and I sure as heck don't want to have one come through my door yard. I would pass on that Yeah, I understand But no the weather has been unseasonably warm this spring our Lilac bushes are leafed out our maple tree is leafed out Everything is leafed out. I could do a list. It would take ten minutes, but it's very exciting 02:22 because we're ready, we're ready for this long, long winter to be over. It is, has been such a long winter. I know we started getting some good like sprouts and whatnot, but I know some farms around here are actually dealing with issues because it froze again. We were under a freeze warning last week. So I know there's some like fruit farmers that are concerned because it, you know, 02:50 usually doesn't typically freeze as bad at this point in April. So they're seeing, some are seeing some detrimental like loss with some of their plants, which is really upsetting. We're supposed to have freezing temps tomorrow night, think, there's tomorrow night, Wednesday night, Thursday night, maybe. And I am so thankful that our apple trees are leafed out, but they're not budded out yet. They're not blooming. Okay. 03:19 because I really want apples and if it freezes there will be no apples this fall for us on our property. yeah, yeah, we have an apple tree and a peach tree, they're, I'm not expecting fruit from them for like another couple of years because we just planted them. So anywhere from three to five years, depending on what the, uh, the variety is. Yeah. Honey crisp. I don't remember what peach variety it is, but we have honey crisps crisps. 03:47 crisps, there we go, that we put in, I think, two or three falls ago. And we're hoping with everything we have that they actually bloom this year and that we might get one or two, because they take a while and they were baby trees. So we'll see what happens. So tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do at Forsythia Farms. So we are first generation homesteaders or farmers, whichever 04:15 term you prefer to use. We are more on the animal side. I will say I don't have much of a green thumb. um I can do like we have our fruit trees, we have some berry bushes. um But as far as like plants, I'm really bad with the gardening aspect. My husband is actually better with that. I am the animal person. So we have a lot of chickens, we have some turkeys. 04:43 We have goats and a pony and horses, and obviously they have cats and dogs as well. I am a certified veterinary technician by trade, so to say. So I've always been around animals and always wanted to have...
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    36 mins
  • In The Thick Of It with Clear Creek Ranch Mom

    In The Thick Of It with Clear Creek Ranch Mom
    Apr 27 2026
    Today I'm talking with Leah at Clear Creek Ranch Mom . A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. That tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Leah Peterson from Clear Creek Ranch Mom in Nebraska. And she also happens to be my fabulous co-host on Grit and Grace in the Heartland Women in Agriculture. Good, um, well afternoon. It's noon now. 00:58 It's high noon. It is high noon. What's for lunch besides I have a birthday cake in my kitchen, but not much else going on yet. I don't know. I might nuke a couple waffles and put some real maple syrup on them. That sounds delightful. It kind of does. So Leah's been on the show, like, I think it's been five times now. And then she became my co-host on the other podcast. 01:26 Leah posted a photo on her Facebook page of a cowhide from a calf and was talking about why they have that. And I thought that it would be interesting for my listeners to know what was going on with that. So Leah, do you want to tell me about that? I can. I always say that raising livestock teaches little people so many life lessons that are applicable. 01:55 you know, in all parts of your life and will be for all time. And so as a child, um my first memories, some of the harder memories from calving season was honestly learning about the miracle of adoption right through my own eyes, watching it in the cowherd. 02:18 It's a practice as old as time. It's evolved and changed over time and many people are still advocates for this method of helping a cow adopt a new baby and other people have moved on to try different things. But we're still kind of old school here and we subscribed to what we call the no fail method. It is hard. It's kind of yucky. um But it works. And so when we have a cow, 02:46 who has lost her calf for whatever reason and she's in milk. We can take another calf, say a twin for instance, or a calf whose mama doesn't have enough milk, and we call it grafting, grafting a calf onto the mama. And it's very interesting when you look at different breeding programs, different breeds, there are different traits that rise to the surface as being most usual for that particular breed. When I was with 03:16 Derek Josie out at TDF Honest, he raises pure red Jersey cows for milk. And those ones do not have the maternal trait of desiring to have a baby. They have their baby and happily will let you take it and he won't even ball for it. There's nothing wrong with that. That's how the Jersey cows live. Our beef cattle want to raise a baby. 03:40 I want to be careful in describing that though, because it's not, I don't want you to think, I don't want listeners to think that it's some emotional bond. It is a physiological response. It's biologically the way they are bred and how they live. And that is that those hormones that kick in when they have given birth and they start producing milk, they desire to have a baby. And so when we have a baby in need, 04:10 What we will do is we will skin the hide off of the deceased baby. So she's lost her baby, it was stillborn, it died, whatever the reasons might be. We will skin that hide off of her baby and we'll make what we call a calf coat and we will adhere that calf coat on to her presumptively to be adopted baby. Do you tie it on to them? 04:38 Yeah, so you can use a variety of methods. We use sometimes some glue to help hold it on and then we use baling twine and tie it so that it kind of starts at the back of the neck and goes down their back, truly like a superhero cape, I guess you could call it, and tied it on. And then you can do some other things. You can apply some scents to mask the smell because again, 05:06 The emotional connection between a mama and a calf is not what you think it is. They identify their ...
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    45 mins
  • The Tiny Life with Ryan Mitchell

    The Tiny Life with Ryan Mitchell
    Apr 24 2026
    Today I'm talking with Ryan at The Tiny Life. Ryan's newest book - Living Off Grid: 50 Steps to Unplug, Become Self-Sufficient, and Build the Homestead of Your Dreams A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. A tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Ryan Mitchell at the Tiny Life in the Carolinas. Good afternoon, Ryan. How are you? Good. Thanks for having me. Oh, you're welcome. I'm so thrilled to get a chance to talk to you because I had 00:58 Sent an email to you, I think a year and a half ago, and I didn't hear anything back. And then your person, because you have people, I don't have people. Yeah, there's a few of us. Your person emailed me and reached out and I was like, yes, finally I get to talk to you. Yeah. All right. So how is the weather where you are? It's good. Yeah. So I'm located in the, I say the Carolinas. So we are, my tiny house is in 01:27 North Carolina and we moved on to a homestead about a little less than a year ago. ah And then I live with my girlfriend in South Carolina. And so we're kind of gearing up the homestead to make the transition over to that. So that's why I kind of say, you know, I have one foot in both places right now as we make that transition. How far is it from where your girlfriend is to the tiny home? About 30 minutes. 01:55 Oh, so close. You're real. Yeah. Yeah. And I was living, you know, obviously full time in the tiny house when I met her. And then, you know, when we decided that uh we were going to, you know, continue the relationship and it kind of went to the next level and everything that I was probably moving in with her because she had her two dogs, a Liz, two lizards, a spider and a 02:22 a snake, that was not going to fit into the tiny house at all. has a full house of critters. It sure does. Well, I'm in Minnesota and I'm going to tell you right now, it's hotter than I would like it to be for April 22nd. Yes, yes. It is, I think it's 77 outside right now. And thank God there's a breeze because if there wasn't, it would be disgusting already because Minnesota is really weird. You would think that 77 would just feel good. 02:52 It doesn't, it feels hot in April. 02:57 So, but at least it's not snowing. Yeah. Cause it could be doing that too. And I'd rather have this than snow cause I'm over it. It was a very, it was a very moderate winter, but it seemed like a very long winter. I'm good on snow for the season. Um, so I have a quick question about where your, um, your tiny house is located. Is, is stuff has, has stuff been greened up for you? 03:26 for weeks now because you're so far south. 03:30 Sorry, ask that question one more time. Has stuff been green up? how are the trees leaving out? Yeah, like in the last two weeks, things have really kind of taken off. You know, we've had some warmer days, some really nice days, like low humidity, which is not typical for us. So yeah, things are starting to green up. We just had our last frost date a couple days ago. So, you know, we're busy in the garden and things like that. m Get ready for spring and summer. 04:00 We have another month before our last frost date. But that doesn't stop the greenhouse from getting planted. That's true. Yeah, we have that benefit of long growing seasons. if you're really on the spot, can sometimes cram two rounds of crops. And if you're choosing shorter varieties that 04:28 you know, take a little bit less time to come to maturity. then, you know, during the winter, you have quite a few options if you have a greenhouse or you're going to do, you know, low tunnels or something like that. Mm hmm. Yep. We're starting a brand new to us variety of watermelon this year. We've never done it before. It's called a mini me and personal size watermelon. It's got a 60 day maturity. 04...
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    33 mins
  • Bauer Family Farms

    Bauer Family Farms
    Apr 22 2026
    Today I'm talking with Leah at Bauer Family Farms. A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. That tiny homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Leah Bauer at Bauer Family Farms in Faribault, Minnesota. Good afternoon, Leah. How are you? Doing well. I got most of my chores out of the way, so I'm... 00:56 sitting pretty with a nice coffee in my house and ready to chit chat about farm life. Good. And normally I would say, how's the weather? But you and I both know it is a gloriously beautiful day in Minnesota today. Compared to yesterday, yes. Yeah. And Saturday, Saturday, we got snow in the morning. Right. It was enough to to build up on the grass where we were at. We're we just had unhooked our our plow and everything and got it put away for the 01:26 spring, which those couple of 80 degree days really, really had me going for a second there. Yeah. And I just said that wrong Sunday. It was yesterday morning. I'm not quite with it. Oh, you're right. Yeah. It was yesterday morning because I was up at five and at 515, I went out on the porch with my coffee and looked outside and I was like, I will be damned. It's snowing big white feathery flakes. Right. Which is not what you want to see once you've already had what? Five 80 degree days? Yeah. 01:55 Yeah, it's spring in Minnesota. Doesn't know what it's doing. Oh, it's coming. It's all going to be okay. Our rhubarb is leafing. Our tree line is leafing. My peonies are up. They haven't budded yet. Thank God, because they'd be useless if they had, because the snow would have killed them. We have um tulips up with buds on them. They haven't opened yet. um 02:24 The tree has not bloomed yet. The apple trees have not bloomed yet. So that's good news too. We have about 500 cloves of garlic planted that are, I think like eight inches tall already. Wow. I know I'm so excited. We started, I think in 2023, we planted 80 cloves from a neighbor and the plan was to just multiply it, you know, cause garlic is 02:50 It's one of those things that if you plant one, then you usually get five to eight cloves back at the end of the season. Oh yeah. And so started with 80 and then replanted everything. And now we've got 500. So when we harvest, we should have 3000 or 4000 cloves to plant again at the end of this year. I am so jealous because we can't grow garlic here to save our lives. The dirt's too heavy, too black. You have more of a clay soil. 03:20 Yes. Yes, we do. That sucks. Garlic likes soft soil, kind of a loamy almost so that it has room to expand. Yeah, I asked my husband if we should just put in a raised bed and, you know, make the soil what the garlic would like. And he said, yeah, we could do that. And we haven't done it yet. It's easy to to get all of the dreams together. 03:47 But then once it actually comes to putting the supplies together, that's a different story. Well, we're just not sure that we need to grow garlic because lots of people grow garlic in Minnesota. And he really loves growing tomatoes, so he puts all his focus on tomatoes. 04:06 I think it was 2024 that we did a ton of tomatoes and I still have some in the freezer. We just, we don't need a ton of them. And some other family in Wasika actually grows a greenhouse load of them. So they cover us for that and we're going to stick with garlic, I think. It's lot of fun. Yeah. And garlic is like God's gift to cooking. So keep growing garlic, please. 04:35 Yes, absolutely. We're hoping to put it in the farm stand if we get any smaller heads that aren't suitable for planting at the end of this year. Yes. So we kind of jumped the gun here. How about you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you came to be farming and what you do? Right. So we just kind of started up the farm and the farm ...
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    38 mins
  • Homesteading with BeckyJ

    Homesteading with BeckyJ
    Apr 21 2026
    Today I'm talking with Becky at Homesteading with BeckyJ. A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Greenbush Twins. A tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Becky at Homesteading with Becky J in Oregon. How are you this morning, Becky? I am fabulous. How about you? I'm good. What's the weather doing in Oregon? 00:57 We're actually really overcast today. 01:02 Is it raining or is it just overcast? Just overcast. It looks like it wants to try, but nothing's happening. Yeah. And rain is not, it's not anything unusual in Oregon or Washington state. So I'm sure you're ready for it to sprinkle whenever, right? Yeah. Well, and I'm in Eastern Oregon. So we actually, lot of the storms tend to go around us. We're usually pretty dry. So yeah, we definitely take all the rain that we can get. 01:30 Yeah, I'm in Minnesota. It is yet another really lovely morning. It's the reason I sound weird about that is because this winter has been the longest, grayest, wettest we've had in probably four years. Oh, geez. But the sun is coming in the bedroom window. There's no wind and it's just really pretty outside. I'm like, hmm, another good morning. Yay. So. ah 01:59 I have to tell you when I saw the name of your page, Homesteading with Becky J, for some reason it made me think of a pop star and I can't for the life of me think of who it is right now. But I was like, that sounds like a rock star homesteader. I want to talk to her. Easy to remember then. Yes. So tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do. Well, I am 37 years old. have 02:28 Three children, a whole full-fledged homestead now. I literally have animals all over, but it was not like that. You know, six, seven years ago, I was living in a trailer park. So, I mean, we made some major changes for the better, obviously. There was a lot of work to get here, but... 02:51 Still grilling. So when you were in the trailer park, were you already like practicing homesteading skills though? you already learning? I mean, I've always been a meal prepper, baker, cooker. So I kind of had that going for me, but honestly, no. And I wish that I would have been practicing some of these basic skills. You know, like I could have been gardening on my porch. I could have been utilizing container gardening or 03:19 you know, worm composting or learning how to sow, but I was so oblivious to all of it. And I guess I just thought that like the property had to come first. So I'm a big advocate for people. Like it doesn't matter where you're at. Like you can literally do this anywhere. And I wish I would have started sooner, you know? Well, I would say, okay, listener, you heard it here first, but I say it all the time. So, okay, listener, you're hearing it again. Learn to cook, grow a plant, learn to 03:49 crochet or sew, just learn some basic skills of do-it-yourself things because that way you're not caught flat-footed. Yeah. Yup. 04:01 Okay, so when did you move into, when did you acquire your land? We have been here about seven years now. it just slowly but surely we started getting some animals and the first year I tried to garden it was a complete flop because I didn't know what I was doing. That's okay, at least you tried. Yeah. 04:31 Yep. Okay. So tried gardening. Yeah. The people that had lived here before us, she had a big, big garden and I know them personally. So like I seen what it looked like in full bloom and everything that she had been growing. like, Oh, I could totally do that. And so of course I just planted everything in the ground with no idea of like weed control or how I was going to water or anything. And then of course, 04:58 everything started sprouting. It looked fabulous, but then I couldn't tell what were like weeds and what were the plants. By the time it was big enough for me...
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    34 mins
  • Morning Sun Homestead

    Morning Sun Homestead
    Apr 15 2026
    Today I'm talking with Maryann at Morning Sun Homestead. A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:28 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Green Bush Twins. That Tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Green Bush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Mary Ann at Morning Sun Homestead in West Virginia. Good morning, Mary Ann. How are you? We're doing well. Thank you for having us on your podcast. 00:55 Oh, you're welcome. Thank you for taking the time. I appreciate it. I was just going to close Facebook, your Facebook page because it was still open. Do you have an Australian Shepherd? We actually have two of them puppies. We got them the first weekend in January. Two males. One is Remington, one's Winchester and we love them. They are wonderful dogs. 01:21 Yeah, I happen to see the always on guard even if it's watching a pesky cat post and I was like that looks just like my Maggie because we have one too. 01:32 We are in the process of trying to train them to herd cows and chickens. uh One is more relaxed. He likes just to stay on the porch and watch, but the other one has the instinct and the drive to really herd. So we have to watch him a lot. He's very good about keeping the chickens across the fence where they belong, but he likes to nip a little bit. And that is okay for a cow, but a chicken is much more tender. So we're working on that right now. 02:04 I wish you all the luck in the world with that. Our Maggie doesn't really have a farm job. Her job is watchdogging for the home. And uh the thing we've learned in the five years we've had her is that she is not a dog that knows how to fetch. She loves to chase things, but if we say bring it back, she will not bring it back. 02:28 That sounds very familiar. Yup. And are yours full size Australian Shepherds or are they the smaller ones? 02:39 They are full size. Once they're grown, they'll be full size. Okay, Maggie's a small standard. weighs like 36 pounds. 02:53 Okay, so how is the weather in West Virginia this morning? It is sunny and cold in Minnesota. 03:01 We are supposed to have 78 degrees today. We had rain last night, a thunderstorm moved through. It rained really, really hard. Then this morning it was 52 degrees and we had a little bit more rain. It stopped, a few more showers. Right now it's 66. We're supposed to have 78. But this is a roller coaster. We've had some nice weather and now tonight it is supposed to be 37 and tomorrow we're supposed to have snow. 03:30 And then it's supposed to shoot back up to the 50s, 60s. And then next week on Tuesday, we are supposed to have 17 at night. So we are just up and down with the weather. But this is a small taste of spring and we want to get out and do all kinds of things, but we have a lot of mud, which is okay because we needed the moisture. We are very dry. So that worked out to get more rain. um We're really anxious for spring to come when you have warm days like this and you get out and you're able to work a little bit. And then 03:58 you have snow again. So that's a let down, but we are on a roller coaster ride. Yeah, we're supposed to get a little bit of snow every day through Sunday this week here. And I'm like, okay, um, I guess I can handle it because hopefully it'll be the last of it for the winter. Hopefully. Um, so tell me a little bit about yourself and morning sun homestead. 04:28 So my husband and I, um well when we got married of course we ate like everyone else. You know, was fast food and quick dinners and things like that. And then over time once we had our children we realized that that wasn't the life we wanted to continue. So we started to dig in and um grow in our own food. And we have branched off from that and now we do our own meats. You know, of course we have our own eggs. The girls are a tremendous help. 04:58 They all are on the bandwagon with us, so to speak. So it really helps to ...
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    27 mins
  • Faithful Harvest MN

    Faithful Harvest MN
    Apr 13 2026
    Today I'm talking with Abigail and Christian at Faithful Harvest MN. A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company. https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/ https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/ www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes 00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. At Green Bush Twins and Company, we believe in the power of creativity, imagination, and art to bring people together. Our mission is to inspire connection across all ages, encouraging understanding, individuality, and a true sense of belonging. We're building more than a brand. We're growing a mindful community rooted in kindness, intention, and shared purpose. 00:29 At our core, it's about real people sharing real stories, ideas, and products that make everyday life more meaningful. If you believe in living with purpose and supporting brands that care, you'll feel right at home with Green Bush Twins. That tiny homestead podcast is sponsored by Green Bush Twins and Company. Today I'm talking with Abigail and Christian at Faithful Harvest Minnesota in Dexter, Minnesota. Good afternoon, guys. How are you? Good. How are you doing? Good. 00:54 So I'm in LaSore, Minnesota and it's overcast here and it's like 57 degrees. Is that what it's doing where you are? Yeah, it's about that here. It's really windy today, but the sun is out. So we're happy about it. Yeah, the sun is not out here. It's kind of great. Oh. 01:15 But that's okay, because at least it's warm and it's not snowing. Finally, yeah. You get all cooked up over the winter and then finally like the nice days, you just want to break out and do clean everything all at once. 01:33 Oh yes, my husband spent most of Easter day outside and he was either riding the tractor and watering chickens or he was in the greenhouse planting seeds. yeah, perfect timing to start doing this stuff. It gets exciting when the weather finally starts getting nice and itching to get outside and get all that stuff done. Absolutely. So do you guys consider yourselves homesteaders or farmers? 02:01 Uh, we consider ourselves homesteaders, um, just because whenever I think of farm, I kind of think of the large scale industrial farming and our homestead is very small batch and homemade and we have it smaller right now. yeah. Okay. So tell me a little bit about yourself and what you do as homesteaders. Yeah. So, um, I'm right now I'm an ER nurse, um, and I'm 02:31 part time with that right now. And uh that's kind of a new transition for me personally. And we've been doing the homestead for about four years now. And uh recently over the last year, we've gotten much more into the business side of the homestead and just starting to share what we do on the homestead and our daily life and everything. So that's kind of where we're at right now and what we do. 03:01 I'm just spending a lot more time doing stuff for marketing and just getting ready for the planting season here. Yeah. When starting the homestead, I do have a drywall business. 03:21 other than doing the homestead. 03:26 so you both have outside income. 03:30 Yeah, yeah, we both have our jobs outside of this. And then, you know, we're considering this a really fun job. The homestead is the job you want to be doing. The other two jobs are the jobby jobs. Yeah, exactly. The goal is to maybe one day we both do this full time and that's kind of our long term dream one day. But for now, just paying the bills with that and then in our free time we... 03:59 do everything we can for the homestead just to be out there and just working together on it. sounds very familiar after talking with people over 500 episodes in the last two and a half years. You're not alone in that guys. That's how it's done. So did you always want to be homesteaders? Were you raised by people who grew things? How did it work? Yeah. on 04:27 My side, I did grow up on a small hobby farm is what we called it. And my parents just raised cows, pigs, and sometimes chickens just to feed the family and some friends. And my mom always had a garden growing up. So it's kind of been in my blood. And when we finally got together and we've been, Christian and I have been together for five years and just got married last year. And in that five years we've 04:54 learned a lot about each other that we both would love to get back to our roots of making things homemade and growing our own things, growing our own produce and livestock and just being able to be self-sustaining more. And that was kind of our biggest goal. So I do have a background in farming, I guess, but I learned a lot more in the last five years of ...
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    30 mins