We talk with Meredith Bernard about living in an area where all your neighbors have four legs and sharing that with the world, one person at a time through her YouTube channel. Get the audio, see photos, video, show notes, etc on this episode at Cows, Cast Iron and a Camera: A Visit with This Farm Wife Meredith Bernard.
Transcript created via AI & unedited
43:44
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
farm, people, feel, friends, grow, sweet potato, sharing, steak, cook, watch, husband, skillet, person, hear, sheep, video, talk, chicken, youtube, love
SPEAKERS
Janice Person – Grounded by the Farm, Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife,
Grounded by the Farm 00:03
Food is more than just what’s on our plate. It’s the places where it’s grown. It’s the people who grow it and so much more. Join me, Janice person, your host on grounded by the farm every other week as we talk about the foods we love. Alright, in this episode of grounded by the farm, we’re in North Carolina, but it’s a strange part of North Carolina, even though I’ve traveled the states so much. This is really close to Virginia, and I was in Virginia and I’m like, wait a minute, I’m leaving this town and I’m going that way. I wonder if Meredith Barnard who goes by this farm wife on YouTube and Instagram and all the things I’m like, am I going close to her and she was nice enough to reply. And so I’m visiting Meredith today and I have had a load of fun. I had gotten to meet the kids and her husband and wow, I I’ve even seen the cast iron skillet slab and in person. Welcome. Here, I think you’re probably the directions you gave me were more farmi fan I’ve gotten in a while. So it involved churches, gravel, roads, cattle gates. I think, you know, you didn’t mention like a burned down schoolhouse or something, which was one of them when you’re in. I got but it’s you don’t live on an interstate or nearby. You’re pretty much out with your family and people in your community.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 01:30
Yeah, we’re pretty rural at well, I feel like we’re rural, but we’re not. We kind of got the best of both worlds because I can begin the grocery store in less than 10 minutes. But then again, all the neighbors I can see have four legs, which I like. So I like to be well, like all my neighbors have four legs. And that’s my favorite kind of neighbor. I mean, people are people are fine, too. But cows are better.
Grounded by the Farm 01:52
So people who may not be familiar with your channels may not know you’re talking about the four legged cat. Oh, yeah, cow. It’s not sheep or goats or something
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 02:02
now, which we do have two sheep pet sheep, which I’d be happy to stick in your car and like
Grounded by the Farm 02:08
I did get pictures of the sheep making themselves fully available of the plants up by the
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 02:14
house. Yes. I love my chameleon Cherie.
Grounded by the Farm 02:16
So are those pets now and Cherie, are those for the kids for learning projects or just because you wanted cheap
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 02:23
because they want to cheap. Yeah. Mom didn’t get a say. Austin. My daughter asked for that and her daddy obliged. So a friend that does that trained our border collies, he raises sheep, and uses them to train her dogs on to and then he just raises them and sells them. So he had to he had some bottle, some twins that that needed a home. So we got we got them back in March and April. And they were adults. And they were super cute. We had him in the house and diapers, you know, on the couch asleep. They were precious. And then and then they they grew up a little bit and then they started eating all the things that I didn’t want them to eat and drink their millions all over my porch. Yeah, yeah, I tried. They like moms, and they like pumpkins and they like
Grounded by the Farm 03:18
so you may need to set some boundaries for those.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 03:21
I’ve thought of all the people say well just pin them on like, well, I don’t want to keep them in a pin all the time either. So they’re in a big pin night just to try to make sure coyotes don’t get them. Yeah. So I’ve been googling life expectancy of she owe me I love it. I love it. They’re, they’re fun.
Grounded by the Farm 03:43
Well, one of the things I wanted to talk to you about is how did you how did you get to do a video because it’s, it’s weird. When I drove up, I felt like I had all I have been here a million times because like I’m like, Oh yeah, I remember that from the videos. I remember that. Then you know you were nice enough to introduce me to a family and I feel like I know them and and I know in reality i i see snippets, right? So how did you decide to do video? You’ve got a beautiful eye for photography. Oh, thank
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 04:15
you. Well, that’s I mean, that’s kind of where it started actually with photography. And so I was in corporate sales for 10 years old whoreson livestock feed. And then we had our children and they were small and I was on the road more and more and it was just all these demands and it just really felt the pole to come home. And that was a very hard decision to make but only needed one person support and that was my husband and I had it he said you know you have to change your your What did he say your wants and your needs. You have to flip them probably. But we can do it. You can do it if that’s what you want to do. So that’s what I did and there really wasn’t a Plan B definitely didn’t include a UT but not, that was not in the plan. So it was some photography on the side. And then which I’d started that business. And it was growing. And I realized, you know that that was something I enjoyed doing, and that maybe we can at least help pay some grocery bills with that, maybe yeah. And I did, I started doing weddings and doing some newborn stuff. And, and then I also started writing and blogging. And that was something new to me. So it was like, when I quit my corporate job, I just really found that there was this opportunity to kind of tap into some passions that I didn’t really knew I had. Yeah. And that was fun. And it was like a whole different outlet. And so when I started writing, it was like a way for me to kind of share what I was learning on the farm. Because now that I was home more, I was having an opportunity to really step up and help him more, we don’t have hired help. So it’s just him. And myself and our kids that are now old enough to help more, but at the time, they weren’t. So in all of that, like, there’s not, honestly not hardly a day that goes by around here that, you know, I’m not learning something new or doing something new, or, you know, an opportunity arises to learn something new. So, finding that I was able to kind of start sharing that from both photography and writing, they just kind of married well together. And then I still felt like there was something. I did that for a couple years and started sharing more online, like kind of we met on Twitter. Yeah, kind of, now, don’t look for me on Twitter, I’m really not there anymore. I’m kind of like, moved here and there and found my happy spots. And so now that’s YouTube, and Instagram and Facebook. So anyway, I felt like there was something more but I just wasn’t really sure what it was. And I had a couple friends like really encouraged me to try the YouTube thing to try video. And there really wasn’t many people at that time kind of doing that from a farming person, right? Especially, um, you know, from a woman’s perspective, so I did I try. I did like two short videos. And then I was like, No, this is weird. I felt much I was much more comfortable writing and kind of curate what I was putting out. You can just turn it around. Yeah, like, I just never felt like I was
Grounded by the Farm 07:19
gonna have a bad hair day. Nobody knows we have to worry about that.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 07:23
Which obviously I don’t anymore either. Throw up, whatever. That’s why I’m always in a hat. But um, that’s why I’m glad we’re not.
Grounded by the Farm 07:34
Yeah, we’re not doing video.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 07:36
Watch my hair today. And I don’t have an on anyway. Sorry, I chase rabbits a lot. Other recent videos not good sometimes. So I did a couple and I just wasn’t really sure about it. And then I let it lay for a whole year. And then I went to it was actually conference, a farm her conference, their first conference out in I love her Margie and I knew it was in Iowa. Yeah. moinmoin. Yeah. It’s the only time I’ve ever been there. I’d love to go back and actually be able to two or more the countryside. But yeah, the city was great. We had fun. And I remember coming home from that conference and really feeling encouraged and inspired to kind of maybe try it again. This just the talks, I just kind of left with this thing. Like, I knew that I felt like there was something more but then I wasn’t really sure what it was. And I had some friends still encouraging me to, like, try that or like, I really think you should do this. Like I think you you’re you’re better at this than maybe you think you are and I’m like I don’t know. I came home and a couple months later, I just started doing it again. And I started doing it much more consistently. Yeah, it’s just one of those things. The more you do it, the more comfortable you get. And I honestly just feel like I like when I when I’m videoing myself, I just feel like I’m talking like to you, you know, like just one other person because it’s just my phone. Right? Yeah. And it’s like I don’t think about talking to possibly 100,000 people that might watch that video. You know, I don’t think about it that way if I did then I probably would put it down and
Grounded by the Farm 09:09
I think that people that watch you feel that way and they feel like this, this personal connection, but it is still kind of like you know there’s a step removed in the personal connection right so you don’t always know who but has that connection to you. Right? Yeah, and that can be which is like me knowing your children when I got here it feels it feels awkward to me to it’s kind of like like they’re 3d now. But so how did you How have you gone about doing this and doing it consistently because I think that’s probably one of the things that you’re known for. Right like on YouTube. You can’t do a video this month and then not do when three months down the line right and then two in a row real quick and then like wait another month.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 10:00
It had really a miracle. Just thinking about this the other day, because I’m I can be so like, as a person I can be kind of wishy washy about stuff are really good at starting something gung ho about it. And then like, like, oh, no, I’m not gonna do that I’m gonna do something else. I feel like my whole life has been that way. How about like one chapters? Like, yeah, another, but um, I mean, it’s just something that I think part of it is the fact that it’s that I enjoy doing it. Yeah. Right. So if it was a true, like, if it felt like, I wouldn’t say work, it’s definitely work. It’s hard work. Anybody that does is doing that. Like, it’s it takes time. And it takes effort. But I enjoy sitting down to edit. Like, it’s not, I don’t feel like it’s a chore. Right? Fairly. Right. So, and it’s just a matter of, and because I don’t I have to make things as easy as I can for me to like, do them. So I don’t use a lot of fancy equipment. Like I’m not trudging around with a lot of 3d cameras. I use my phone. I yeah, in my back pocket. It works for me. Yeah, I know, a lot of other people do things differently. And that’s fine. Whatever works for you. Well, yeah, I mean, I’m proof that you can use your phone, just use your phone, and you can have a channel and
Grounded by the Farm 11:23
there are some farmers that have the cool drone footage. And
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 11:28
now and my son’s I’m like, that’s your baby. And I’ve let him learn that. And he’s done great with it, and we pull it out and use it every now and then we’re doing something that yarns using it. And I’ll throw that in there. And people do love that. And so I’ll give them that when I can. Luckily, it’s not something I had to try to figure out on my own or take around with me. And because since it’s just me and my husband, when we’re out doing things like it just wouldn’t be feasible for me to have,
Grounded by the Farm 11:57
okay, wait a minute, batteries in the drone.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 12:01
Nope, I put this tripod here, let me do this and do that. And it that just doesn’t work for me. So I think for me, the key to being consistent is the fact that it doesn’t feel like so much of a chore, I enjoy it. And I try to keep it as easy as possible to be able to do on a regular basis and get video footage every day and then sit down and either. Ideally, I would sit down and edit a little bit every day. I don’t always do better when I do instead of leaving it all to do at the same time, you know, on day three, or whatever, because I try to keep them coming out every three to four days. And then I mean, then that’ll that’ll change to ever win or probably win. Yeah, slow down a little bit. People get really tired of just seeing mud and fading. I said trust me, I do too. But this is what we’re doing. And it truly is a slog. It’s just our daily life.
Grounded by the Farm 12:52
Yeah, sometimes farming gets a little bit monotonous. Like you have to feed the animals got to feed the animals
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 12:59
every day, same thing. Don’t try to throw something else in there when I can or recipe or something. That’s yeah, I’ll try to cook more this one or I mean, show more of it a little thing. So
Grounded by the Farm 13:13
So you’ve slowly incorporate you said, Wesley, your son is now doing some drones. And I remember early on maybe the family wasn’t shown as much, right? So I assume you made choices, or they made choices and stuff that allow how do you how do you work that out? Like if Yeah, like if kids say I don’t, I don’t want to be, I don’t want you to shoot pictures of me. Right?
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 13:35
Well, and that’s one big reason I didn’t show a lot of my husband and my children in the beginning. Because they weren’t so sure. My husband didn’t love having the phone, you know, up in his face. When he’s working on a piece of equipment, I show up, how’s it going? And then bleep bleep bleep it out. But it’s just part of it. But he’s definitely come around. I think. Yes. The fact that it’s helping support our family now is a thing, but then also just I think, hearing from viewers and meeting people Yeah, that watch and, you know, hearing them talk about it and how much they’ve learned and enjoy watching. I think that you know, hearing that validation from other people besides just me telling me here’s a meets people in real life that are really following us and enjoy what we’re showing and sharing. I think that’s made a difference too. And, and my son has come come around. I didn’t I mean, he really didn’t like me showing him very much so I just did it. You know, if you were like, where’s Wesley I’m like, if I’m gonna if he doesn’t really want to be on there. I’m not gonna make him right. I mean, my girl is definitely more animated and likes being in front of the camera more.
Grounded by the Farm 14:54
Yeah, I’m gonna show some video of her dragging me around in the four wheeler. Yes. She
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 15:00
She likes to give the to introduce you to the to the horses.
Grounded by the Farm 15:05
They’re beautiful horses, I can tell why she’s proud of them. Right. And it really is such a beautiful area with the rolling hills. I think people think this is what a farm is supposed to look like. But reality is, but yeah, because you got beautiful rolling hills. You got woods here and pastures there. And then you have these old buildings that have probably been here since like the state was founded. falling apart, right? It’s a picturesque idea of farming. Do you only show the picturesque ideal?
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 15:36
No. And I think, no, I don’t. And I think most people that have followed me for a while, that’s, that’s what I hear people say that they enjoy is being taken along for the good, the bad, and hard and the, you know, everything that goes along with it, because I try very hard. I mean, showing what happens day to day, you’re gonna see the good and the bad and we struggle. We’ve had a lot of struggles. I met somebody at a event last weekend. And he said, he came up and he said, Are we we were away, and these people follow us. And he came up and said, Hi, watch your YouTube. He said y’all really have a hard time. Not always. I was like, Yo, we have lately we have had some struggles lately. But I mean, I want to share that. I don’t want to, I don’t want to sugarcoat it because I think, you know, TV and the movies does an ad romanticize ranching and farming and yes, there are days that are just like awesome. And right now with its calving, like that’s my favorite scene, the the new life and hit the ground and everything that comes with that. But there’s also, there’s so much hard, there’s, you know, we’ve had flooding in the past couple years. And we we run a lot of old equipment. So we’re constantly dealing with things breaking down and not being able to get what we need. And I know that it’s not just us I know people with new equipment faced the same issue in different issues. In fact, my husband swears having older equipments better, because at least he can work on it. And it’s not a computer.
Grounded by the Farm 17:09
But he sounds like my dad. Yeah.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 17:12
Everybody does things different. And that’s fine. But yeah, I think I think it’s good to be able to share. And that’s what I hear from people too is that people maybe that don’t have any background at all with farming or ranching and then being able to I just got an email this morning, I was reading from somebody saying how much he enjoyed just being able to see kind of have a better picture of where their food comes from their said they have a much better appreciation every time they go to the grocery store and buy meat because they know like what goes into it. And that makes me feel good. Like that’s okay, good. That’s
Grounded by the Farm 17:46
fine, Jared, it’s meets. Maybe it’s out there
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 17:54
it’s in the chain supply somewhere. So like hearing things like that are what keeps me going to keep continuing because you get being online, you get I get plenty of negative comments and negative emails and stuff. Not Not a ton. But of course, they’re just the ones that kind of stick in my craw.
Grounded by the Farm 18:12
And, you know, I heard something that says we we let those things take up like 90% more space than the compliments. Oh, yeah. So, so it’s easy to focus on and right. And YouTube. Ooh, sometimes. Yeah. There’s, I mean, I had a recent video of my nephew playing in middle school band, and Whoa, did that bring out trolls Right? Like, I mean, it was a personal video for a family that when they will see him and it’s like, Oh, guys, stop it. It’s a child playing an instrument, please. It’s the whole band. Give him a break. But so I’m sure you’ve had a little bit of that. But it probably helps that there are a decent number of other farmers out here doing some of the same thing. So you’re not like don’t feel so one the one pony show, right?
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 19:05
No. And I know I’ve got friends who’ve got who who have gotten and get way worse. You know, like friends a dairy farm. I feel like they get the Yeah. raked over the coals so often and by activist and people just with a different agenda out there. So knock on wood. Yeah. And fortunate to not have a lot of that. Yeah, you know, to deal with Yeah, and I’m just to the point anymore, where I’m really tried to let that kind of stuff go anyway, and just focus on the ones that are there for the right reasons. And there’s a delete button and a block button and I’m not afraid to use them anymore. Or I just ignore it, you know, and that’s just really ugly. Yeah. And I don’t want the rest of the world having to run across that or sometimes I think of it from the eyes of my children. And I’m like, if they were on here scrolling and they saw this comment, you know what, I really want them reading this. Well,
Grounded by the Farm 19:58
I try and think about what my grandma My mother or my mother be embarrassed if they saw me commenting on something. And like that is a good, you know, because sometimes all of us feel a little extra feisty or something, you know, or we think we really feel misunderstood or whatever. And, you know, maybe, but tell me about some of the other people that you follow on YouTube, some of the other farmers and stuff. There’s so many people on things so I’m sure you’re going to miss somebody. So we’ll make that the, you know, but no,
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 20:28
I will. Because, honestly, some of my best friends youtube and, and hardly I don’t ever watch. They know. Like we’re so busy trying to create our own content. Yeah, up with our own stuff. Yeah, I miss a lot. In fact, Austin has to keep me updated a lot of times. One of my best friends is Sandy Brock.
Grounded by the Farm 20:46
I love her. Yeah, so you get to watch. She’s right. sheepishly
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 20:51
Megan, she’s up in Ontario. Yeah. I’m gonna get up there one day these borders get right. Like, why did that happen? I really want to get up there and meet her. But awesome loves watching her and so she’ll she’ll watch her before she goes to bed on time. The show I’m telling Did you see this? I’m like, no.
Grounded by the Farm 21:11
It’s a saga.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 21:12
Yeah, I know. And she’s been a great support for me too. Like, just having somebody else that’s, that gets what I go through. Yeah, what you know, just putting ourselves out there in this way. Because there can be those days that are really hard or that you just question it all and you’re like, I just maybe it’s time to just so she could we kind of go back and forth and keep each other. Yeah, each other. And I really, I wouldn’t, I probably still wouldn’t be here doing this if it wasn’t her. And I just love her. So there Sandy and I’ve got friends out in Nebraska. Natalie Kevork. She’s Yeah, channel she’s growing and doing well. Yeah. And Tara, I mean, Taryn. Drilling. Taryn did she’s in brass. She’s in Nebraska. Yeah. Yeah. I know. I used to say drilling. And I’m pretty sure it’s drilling, not Dreiling. I love you, Taryn. If you’re streaming, she’s a faith family. And be Yeah, have met and then other friend Tara Coronado is out in California. She had a beaver vineyards. She’s cool, because she’s got her own vineyard and first generation vineyard, but she also farms with her dad, who’s nice, though, how many generations anyway? So like, those are kind of my core, trying to think yeah, the regular on a regular basis.
Grounded by the Farm 22:39
And part of it is so funny, because then on Instagram, you interact with a lot more post and comment on a lot more things. Because you, you know, it’s so easy to go through the feed real quickly in between things. But you know, YouTube, you can, you could start watching survice channel and then like, have so many hours go away? Yeah, where you’ve just been watching the same doctor.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 23:01
Yeah. And I didn’t even mention any of course, there’s other big channels. You’ve got
Grounded by the Farm 23:05
Zack there, guys. Giving the girls some prompts today, maybe I’ll just write a separate post on YouTube channels and share a bunch of this.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 23:15
Yeah, and I’ve got a chance I had a chance not last year, but the year before last before all the before the see where we were still able to like go out and do stuff to to meet up at a couple different farms. Yes, with several of the YouTubers, and that was super fun. And they’re just, it was just really cool to meet in person. Right? See, like, Yeah, they really are awesome. Well, offline, too.
Grounded by the Farm 23:39
It’s so funny how social media makes it easy to find people that do think similar to you, or people that are very different, like so, you know, like, being able to watch farmers is really unique to a lot of people I grew up with, because I’m total city girl, right? So seeing what happens on farm. But on the other hand, all day people will go in and watch something that’s in their industry too. So you probably have a following that’s really mixture of people who know what you’re doing and understand it all. And then people who either don’t at all. No, I do. I do.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 24:14
I’d love to know exactly. I need to try to do some kind of poll sometime. Thought about that. To just know, I know, I’ve got a lot of people that either had either do farm or maybe kosher. Either grew up Yeah, farm or had a grandparent that PharmD or something like that. Right. So some of it I hear a lot, you know, it’s like kind of nostalgic, it takes them back to those memories and those those times of childhood. Yeah, I hear that a lot. And then yes, there’s also the ones like I was mentioning earlier that say, you know, I have no experience with this at all, and you’re just given me a whole different appreciation for this way of life, right food comes from and all that goes into it. So, I mean, I remember somebody, email me this was several years ago. When I first started, but they were like up in New York City, and he said, I don’t even know how I found your channel, and I really don’t know why I’m watching it, but I’m really hooked. And I’m an apartment in New York City. I’ve never been on a farm. But I feel like I have now. Thank you for teaching me. That’s really cool.
Grounded by the Farm 25:17
It’s pretty cool. It is pretty cool. Yeah, as somebody who’s lived in New York, I know how far it is to be away from farming sometimes when you’re there. But there are also people who live in New York that have farm experiences sometimes, but they’re fewer and further between right and a crowd that deep.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 25:36
Yeah. And I’ve never been there. I would like to say that before I died think I think I was meant to be an interesting video. You can go with me
Grounded by the Farm 25:55
taking a show on Broadway and go into Little Italy or Chinatown or something.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 26:02
Yeah, I think Austin would like that, too. Yeah, I bet she would.
Grounded by the Farm 26:08
I love it. Now one of the things that you do that not everybody does his you cook a lot. And you show some of that. And you said in the winner you’ll show more cooking? Probably. So so it seems like cast iron.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 26:21
Yeah, I’ve grown to love my guest starring.
Grounded by the Farm 26:25
On though right now there are three skillets sitting on the stove that are all cast are different sizes. And then above it, there’s probably another six or so she’s even got the tiny little skillet that my mother always used to, to, to melt butter when we were doing popcorn or something my mom was tiny skillets for that one our kids. So how did you I really owe
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 26:49
that that to my husband. I um, I never like cooked with that before. And when I met him, he had a couple of skillets you know, that were handed down from his mom. And that’s what he used. And so I just started using it. And the more I used it, the more I realized I could use it for and the more I loved it and I ended up getting rid of all my stainless is that for the pots. I mean you don’t pull water and that’s a no no visible water. But um, it’s what I use for everything. And I realized I just love the versatility and you can put it in the oven. And it’s you know, I love having my shiny grease skillet. So he they get used every day and they get grazed and clean after I use them every time and then been able to like the more I talk about it and show people online and people come in and saying well, I’ve got this old one that I haven’t used in years or never it was my grandma’s and then they start using it. Yeah, send me photos. And I’m like,
Grounded by the Farm 27:44
Well, I recovered one I had one not too long ago that had some rust on it and stuff. Yeah. Well, he found in some of my one of my grandmother’s that yeah, one a box that came home from her house. And nobody really ever went through that box somehow I don’t know. But anyway, mom says please take this one home. And it was a little bit of a project but you know, some baking soda and stuff. I mean, you look online and Yeah, remember food and wine or somebody had a real step by step. Here’s how you good Yep. Here’s how you recover it.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 28:15
Like I don’t really know, Lauren Lauren says, like, sanded some down. Yeah. Or he’s done some of that and then refired it and so I’ve never actually had to take one from like really bad. Yeah, back to me. I just keep them. I just use them and keep them clean. Yeah, well, graced and loved and used and I just love them. I don’t know. It’s kind of nostalgic to I think the cook
Grounded by the Farm 28:38
would so. So since you have beef cattle. And you have cast iron, your perfect combination. How do you fix a steak in cast iron
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 28:47
steak and I will give him credit for that too. I hope he listens to this. He says I never give him enough credit. So he told me that one too. Yeah, so that’s like, that’s my thing cooking the steak in the cast iron and obviously people have been doing it for years but I had never done it and I didn’t know it was the thing because I didn’t grow up eating steak that way right? I didn’t grow up eating steak right but
Grounded by the Farm 29:09
I remember Sorry dad. You didn’t know are well done
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 29:13
on the grill and oh man.
Grounded by the Farm 29:16
You get a good sear on it on both sides.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 29:19
Yeah, yeah, I don’t do anything fancy. I just use a lot of butter and season it and I guess kind of medium high heat. I just flipped out try to just flip it once though. So I click on on one side and then my husband he’s real good. He can do the whole he tried to teach me y’all can’t see me but like where you push your
Grounded by the Farm 29:41
like when you do your sunscreen when you’ve been in the sun too long and you’re checking to see Yeah, she’s doing it on her face at
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 29:50
your nose you touch your cheek and you touch your other party yeah cheek and but I don’t even do it anymore. I just when I see some red coming through which a lot of people It’s blood. It’s not blood, what’s called myoglobin. Um, yeah. So when I see that, then I flip it when I see that again. I take it off, but we like ours. Rare, rare, medium rare. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember the first time I ever had steak cooked that way. Was it some friends, friends of our family, and this is funny story. The power had gone off. And so our neighbor he was like, he was like a grandfather to me. He was grilling them. And if I had seen how rare it was, I wouldn’t have eaten them. But after I ate it, and tasted it I was like, this is the best thing I’ve ever had and then realize that it just wasn’t well done.
Grounded by the Farm 30:43
So the flavors are different. Yeah, if you haven’t and we’re resting Yeah, yeah, mine Gotcha.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 30:49
Novaes a one salt that’s a no no around here. Yeah, I grew up eating a one didn’t know any different. We’re on a well
Grounded by the Farm 30:56
done steak. You need it. Exactly.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 31:00
So now I don’t have any of that in here anymore. And my granny always put ketchup on her steak and the few times that she had steak with us we just had to let it go. Let it go. It’s grainy. It’s okay. Yeah, but yeah, this is kind of funny joke
Grounded by the Farm 31:17
My father thought if you touch the grill with the steak it may have been overdone. Oh gosh, like you know, it was bad it was bad. So you know so we’ve learned a lot are scared I can’t be healthy. You do need to cook it enough just to know yeah warm
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 31:39
Yeah. Exactly. Warm.
Grounded by the Farm 31:42
So what are some of the other things you’re you’re you’re known for in your space? I don’t think you’re known for sweets data muffins.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 31:50
No, that’s a new one.
Grounded by the Farm 31:51
It’s gonna be here so gonna
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 31:53
be on my video.
Grounded by the Farm 31:54
Is it? Yeah,
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 31:55
I think it is. I’d videoed it we’ll see how it turned out. They turn out good though.
Grounded by the Farm 31:59
Did you like to play around and try new things that’s good.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 32:02
Yeah, and sweet potatoes are kind of a they’re like a staple in North Carolina where the yes producer sweet potatoes in the country are number one number one in
Grounded by the Farm 32:13
Louisiana and you guys fight for it. I think I interviewed a sweet potato farmer last year and he was in Louisiana so we did discuss it but it was back and forth over whether sweet potatoes and yams and marketing between the two states it seems like there’s okay
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 32:30
it’s their big deal by here and I’ve worked with the sweet potato commission some this was not this was just me on my own but so I’d kind of played around doing some different things with them the past couple years and then I just got a hankering for something folly, like some kind of sweet something. And then I looked up recipe and tweaked it. Not much. Pretty much goes on tasted fine. Anyway. Sweet potato muffins. Those are pretty good. I don’t know. I do cornbread. That’s something I’ve done a lot because that’s something we do on the skillet, too. Yeah. Cornbread steak. I mean, pretty much everything I cook is B because that’s what’s in our freezer. So if I cook chicken I get fussed at because he tells me he’s on chicken rancher. chicken farmer.
Grounded by the Farm 33:15
We talked to a chicken farmer for the same series like so I talked to somebody up in Harrisonburg, Lauren Arbogast, they have chicken and cattle, so it’s okay.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 33:25
I’d like to meet her. That’s fun. Yeah, so we don’t have chickens. So I literally don’t, I really don’t know how to cook chicken. A lot of people think that’s funny. They’re like, everybody cooks chicken. I don’t I don’t cook chicken. I have fried it a couple of times. It turned out okay. I just don’t know what to do with chicken and doesn’t matter. I have beef. So that’s so that’s what
Grounded by the Farm 33:48
it comes in. In bulk. Yes.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 33:50
Yeah, we we raise out like, I don’t know, about 15 or so. And so right off the farm once a year. It’s so good. It really is. I mean, I
Grounded by the Farm 34:02
I say good stuff goes to the grocery store. But yes, yeah, it’s good.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 34:07
It’s just and maybe just knowing maybe it’s just a little more special to know that we raised it and that it every day
Grounded by the Farm 34:15
that you had to check in the pasture.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 34:20
Yeah, yeah. Some people would
Grounded by the Farm 34:22
think that weird. My brother, my brother names the animals on his farm. He has a smaller farm, but he named them based on food so kids don’t think about it. So my niece named sheep they’re sage. Oh, okay. She you know, she knows she loves sage but eventually you eat sage. Yeah,
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 34:43
yeah, um, I don’t. It’s that’s parts never really bothered me. I try not to. We really try not to think about it very much. Or think about it that way. Now we do have we typically have one or two bottle calves every year it turns out and so those get names And the kids can get kind of attached to them. But um,
Grounded by the Farm 35:03
I think we’ve discussed bottle caps for people before where it’s a calf that for one reason or another, the mother cannot really nurse and so you need to feed with a bottle. A
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 35:14
lot of times it might be a twin and she’ll only take one of them. Yeah. Have enough milk to nurse one. Yeah. Or I mean, last year, year before last we had, I mean, a cow that just died and she had birth, but then after that she died or so for any various reasons. Yeah. It seems like usually for us. It’s twin. Yeah, that needs to be fed. So and Austin’s hoping for one, but they have to be fed twice a day, three times a day in the beginning. Yes. And she’s she promises she’s gonna do all of it this year, the app and so we’ll see. Yeah,
Grounded by the Farm 35:45
that’s, that’s funny. Well, let’s get back to the overall topic. Okay, stop this in a little bit. But how to make it fun for yourself or to be yourself like you find your right people. Right.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 35:57
Yeah. I mean, I think that’s the biggest thing is just being true to yourself. Yeah. And not trying to copy or be somebody else. Just be yourself. I think. You know, we’ve all got, we’ve all got a story. We’ve all got a story to tell. And it’s best to just tell your story your way. Yeah. There’s room. There’s room at the pain trial for everybody. Exactly. I mean, there really is. And I think sometimes, especially, especially as women, I feel like we kind of get into this comparison game. And, you know, and we know that
Grounded by the Farm 36:32
working for somebody else, right? Yeah, it’s easy to say, well, well, can I can I do that? Right? Because you see it working? It’s a little, it feels risky to go out on your own? And, and yes, I’m different from everybody else. But it’s also why it’s I guess so rewarding,
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 36:49
right? Yeah, for sure. I think just being able to, to, to put yourself out there period is scary. I mean, I still struggle with that every time I post something, especially if, like on Instagram or blog posts or something where I’m maybe being a little more vulnerable, or sharing something. Like it’s hard to hit publish, it’s hard sometimes to hit publish, when I’m doing my uploading my videos like I get nervous as so get nervous. Yeah, like it’s pre published. So I know it’s coming out at four o’clock. And then it’ll be like four sitting, I’m like, oh, gosh, I forgot I’d posted a video. Let me go look. And it’s like, it’s like, I still get scared to go look at the comments or see if anybody’s watching. I still expect nobody to watch it. Right? I don’t know, I think that’s just part of it, though. But the more we do it, the more comfortable you get. And as long as you’re being true to yourself, then, you know, as long as I feel like, as long as I know, I’m putting out what’s true for us and what I feel comfortable showing. And I know that there’s somebody out there as long as you know, you felt like you’re doing, there’s somebody out there that’s going to take something positive away from it and possibly learn something or be encouraged by it. And then you gotta let the negativity or the fear of yeah, maybe not even something that’s even going to happen. Yeah, you know, that’s why I get a lot of people messaged me saying I want to do what you’re doing. But I’m really scared. I don’t think I can handle the negative comments, I get that I get that message a lot. And I’m like, delete block.
Grounded by the Farm 38:24
What? You just got to let that go. But I can, I can leave one really nasty comment, and then they don’t get to come back. Exactly.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 38:31
It’s such a small percentage of what you’re actually going to get. And just like we were saying to you not learning to not let that be the biggest have the loudest voice or the loudest say and just being mean yourself and putting yourself out there. And if somebody is truly like, I don’t think it’s for everybody, of course. So I think sometimes when I talk about everybody, you know, we should tell our story should tell our story. Well, maybe I mean, some people if you’re not comfortable doing it. You don’t have to because there’s a lot of people that are right. I’ve talked about that in a talk before. Yeah,
Grounded by the Farm 39:05
if you want to challenge yourself to do it. That’s one thing. But if it’s something that’s truly uncomfortable that you’re afraid of, you don’t have to make yourself do something on a regular basis that you know, uncomfortable.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 39:18
I just feel like sometimes we you and I I’m afraid maybe I’ve been guilty of that like saying everybody’s voice matters. Yes, it does. Everybody’s story matters. Yes, it does. We should all be sharing our story. Yeah. If that’s what you want to
Grounded by the Farm 39:31
- And sometimes sharing your story means talking to the friends when you’re at the sideline of a soccer game with your kids doesn’t mean you have to have a YouTube channel with 100,000 followers. Right, right. Right, right.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 39:42
We’ve all got away. Everybody has a circle of influence. Yeah, right. You’re right. So whether that’s family friends, yeah. Acquaintances, people. Yeah, exactly. Standing next to somebody at the grocery store. Yeah, you know, I mean, all those things matter. But yes, if you have an inkling of an idea that something you want to try them, I mean the, what’s the worst that can happen? This is when I was in sales, this was always the thing our boss would tell it like when you have to go ask for the sale? What’s the worst that can happen? They can say no. Well, what’s the worst that can happen? By putting yourself out there? Like, really? But my husband I said is, is there somebody is something going to eat you is something trying to eat you. Like, if I get really worried about something, he’s just gonna let that go. It either you learn from it and move on and you realize, if you do it and you like doing it, then that’s something you want to keep, then you can decide to do more. Exactly. Or pivot and try something different. Right? Right and good at pivoting. I’m a professional painter
Grounded by the Farm 40:45
right now. Everybody’s been pivoting for the last year and a half or so everybody feels like they’re full time visitors. Right? Like,
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 40:54
okay, we’re going this way. No, no, we’re gonna try this. I mean, but that’s how you learn. And that’s how you grow. Yeah, I think yeah, pushing, definitely pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones is how we grow.
Grounded by the Farm 41:05
Yeah. Just not pushing yourself off of the track into some other existence.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 41:11
Right, right. Sandy online. doing your own thing.
Grounded by the Farm 41:15
I do love I do love to challenge myself do something some, you know that I’m a little bit afraid of right and stuff because it does lead to growth, and otherwise you get pretty stagnant. And that’s right. Boring.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 41:26
I’m kind of right there with some things too. I was talking to you about trying to get you to help me with. I feel like I’m supposed to be doing maybe anyway. Yeah,
Grounded by the Farm 41:34
no, but it’s it’s all of us have those things. Probably. If you’re not you’re way overconfident somewhere along the line, right. Like, confidence is great, right? But at a certain point, it becomes crazy. Right? That’s true. So all right. Well, let’s remind them where to find you on YouTube. Okay, yeah.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 41:52
This farm wife so it’s not the or that this, this? This and you can find me at this farm wife.com. And I mean, from there you can be on all the channels, whatever channel you like. But yeah, you can you can find me. I made the mistake of google myself one time.
Grounded by the Farm 42:12
There’s a lot of me out there. People are searching for scary and and you have shirts that share the love of butter and
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 42:22
online store. Yeah, this so that’s all on my website. And yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Hey, y’all. It’s perfect butter. Hey, farming cows, all that kind of stuff. We’re all we’re all loving. Where?
Grounded by the Farm 42:40
Exactly. Thanks so much for taking time out. Yeah, it’s so fun to get here.
Meredith Bernard – This Farm Wife 42:49
We’re glad you found this finally.
Grounded by the Farm 42:53
And that brings us to the close of another episode of grounded by the farm. I’m Janice, thank you so much for spending your time with us. I hope that as you listen to our show, and you think about some of these farmers that we’re talking to and some of the foods they grow, you connect that back on conversations over dinner as we all begin to meet up with more friends and family. We hope that you’d take a chance to say, hey, you know, I learned this by listening to a podcast called grounded by the farm. Get your friends and family to listen. If they don’t know how to access our podcast, direct them to the website grounded by the farm calm or look it up in your favorite app. Make sure you’ve hit subscribe. Thanks so much. We’ll talk to you again in two weeks.
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