As we celebrate International Women’s Day, it occurred to me how many incredible women farmers are out here and reminding folks of these women who do amazing things every day, may help to break the bias that exists. Millions of women farm, growing food for their families, communities and for markets further afield.

We have featured quite a few women on the Grounded by the Farm Podcast and it seemed like a great time to pull together a list of a few of these incredible women we have featured. And I’m excited to will update this as the list grows.

Marybeth Feutz is Keeping Cattle Healthy & Producing Beef in Indiana – A 2-Part Show

Early March 2020, I had a conference in Indiana I was speaking at and took that opportunity to visit farmer and veterinarian, Marybeth Feutz, on her farm in the southern part of the state. We talked so much, that we ended up having to make it a two-part show! Marybeth and her husband John have cattle and work as veterinarians. She also has lots of great information on different cuts of beef and tips on how to enjoy those cuts, and thoughts on the impacts of beef on the environment.

So Many Kinds of Avocados with Mimi Avocado in California

When you go by Mimi Avocado, it’s no question what you grow on your farm! Many of us have been on the search for that perfect avocado, but avocado farmers like Mimi Holtz know what to look for and what impacts the tasty goodness we all crave. Listen as she shares insight on how the crop is grown, tips for delighting kids, favorite recipes, and some of the everyday ways the Holtz family enjoys avocados. You can even take a video tour of Mimi’s incredible avocado farm!

Breeding a Better Grasspea with Plant Scientist Dr. Priyanka Gupta

Meredith Bernard – Farmwife and YouTuber

Sitting down to talk with This Farm Wife Meredith Bernard was pretty much like sitting down with someone I had known forever. And my guess is thousands of people feel similarly since more than 100k have subscribed to her YouTube Channel.

Meredith & her husband Lawrence farm along the North Carolina – Virginia line. Although towns are close by, all their neighbors have four legs — mostly cattle, a few farm dogs, and a couple of sheep for the kids. They also plant a range of crops that are mostly used for the livestock — hay, barley, corn, corn for silage (harvest the whole plant, not just the grain), etc.

Lots of folks spend hours watching YouTube, and some of those folks like the escape from their house to check in on a farm. That’s where Meredith and her vlog come in. She gives subscribers a little slice of the “ordinarily extraordinary life” life lived on their family farm.

DeeDee Darden Carries on the Tradition of Salt Cured Virginia Hams

This interview with Virginia farmer and ham expert, DeeDee Darden takes place in Smithfield, Virginia where the family raises cotton & corn and maintains the family smokehouse where they salt cure hams the way it was done decades ago. She explains the almost year-long process of salt curing and smoking hams to get the color and taste that is so desirable. As well as some of the history around Virginia and Smithfield hams in particular.

DeeDee also shows us around the family’s farm, telling us about the fall visits by many school groups in the area. Hosting school groups provides a chance for children to learn about cotton (even checking out a cotton picker, playing in corn boxes, seeing various animals, taking a hayride, and picking out the perfect pumpkin in the field!

Jennie Schmidt Farms Tofu Soybeans, Wine Grapes, and More

I haven’t had many chances to sit down and talk to someone about growing tofu soybeans. We can check that off the list as the conversation with Jennifer “Jennie” Schmidt about her family’s Maryland farm allowed us a chance to talk about diversification, how they determine what to plant, and more.

In 2021, they grew corn, soybeans, tofu soybeans, wine grapes, and green beans for the fresh market. And a nephew is once again raising pigs on the farm. In the past, they have grown several other crops including processing tomatoes (tomatoes that will be cooked down for sauces, etc). Understanding how farmers choose what to plant and how it has to be organized, is the central topic in this episode.

And Still More Women Farmers…

• Trish McKeighen is farming pecans for her family’s candied pecan business
• Farm Wife, Val Wagner, supports her farming family on their cattle operation in North Dakota
• Natasha Nichols farms and builds community in the heart of Chicago’s South Side
• Michelle Jones grows wheat and teaches consumers about all the different types of wheat grown in the US.
• Rachel Syngo makes 4th of July celebrations exceptional with watermelons from her melon farm
• Learn about growing lentils from Shauna Ferguson Farver
• Amber Bristow grows cranberries with family in Wisconsin
• Dianne McComb has an egg farm up in Ontario, Canada
• Lesley Rae Kelley is farming canola for your fry pan
• Paula Hynes is an Irish dairy farmer who got the chance to spend time with Maasai in Kenya
• Dana Zucker didn’t start out as a farmer, but now she hosts farm stays on her small farm and B&B
• Patty Leonard also is in the agritainment business with her beautiful dairy farm just outside Washington, D.C.
• Lauren Arbogast raises chickens on her farm in Virginia
• Debbie Lyons-Blythe plans for future generations on her family’s Kansas ranch

The post Women Farmers Growing Food and Making History appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

After doing the podcast for a few years, we thought listeners would enjoy hearing updates on three popular episodes of Grounded by the Farm. So in this week’s episode, we touch base with three people we talked to some time ago about the latest happenings in their part of the world.

Here’s who we talked to and the background on each of them from previous episodes.

• Popcorn farmer Matt Helms about Ella & Ollie Popcorn the local, premium quality product the family is selling in online and in the St. Louis area as well. You may remember Matt from our first season, episode 102 Popcorn… family legacy and local future and we showed how they got high quality at Family-Owned Popcorn Farm Has Quality Focus.
• Community builder & urban farmer Natasha Nicholes tells us about how things are growing in Chicago with We Sow We Grow. Natasha talked with us about Building a Community Garden in Chicago and Online in episode 114.
• Tennessee Brew Works’ Christian Spears tells us about the craft beer with a farmer connection that took a medal in the Great American Beer Festival and how they are trying to expand. We talked in episode 107 Crafting a Beer that Has a Depth of Local Flavor & Connecting to Farmers to accompany episode 106 when we interviewed Brandon Whitt in Ever met a beer farmer? That malted barley has to start somewhere!. We followed up with him in episode 121, What 2020 is Like for Local Microbreweries & Restaurants (Bonus Episode).

Growing A Premium Popcorn Business

We first talked with Matt Helms about his family’s Ella & Ollie Popcorn business as it was in early stages. He showed us some big storage bins they had just put in and talked about how harvest had been good so they had a lot of popcorn.

As the first of our three popular episodes to update, Matt says the specialty stores in the St. Louis area have been great as have their online sales. They have expanded the number of places selling the popcorn AND they have expanded their product offerings too! Here’s how things have grown:

• The website and specialty markets have a full set of product offerings for popcorn aficionados. There are flavor-infused olive oils and seasonings to sprinkle on, as well as a microwaveable popper that I love so much I have been buying them for friends & family!
• Ella and Ollie popcorn is available in grocery stores for a couple of geographies — Dierbergs Markets in and around St. Louis and Central Markets in Texas.
• The number of varieties they are planted has expanded to five and that has allowed them to provide even more options. They now sell white popcorn on the website & through specialty shops, have movie theaters and gourmet shops all buying their popcorn and sharing the love of local!
• They’ve even started a popcorn lover’s club for folks who really enjoy keeping the good stuff around!

Growing Community In Chicago & Beyond

Natasha Nicholes and her family moved to the South Side of Chicago, into the West Pullman neighborhood and began creating community as they built a community garden.

The location of West Pullman is something that stands out and Natasha is anxious to expand the space available. Their first step is getting the current plots more efficiently organized. She thinks they can expand by a third or more from where they are by utilizing some of the knowledge she’s gained. But they also have a nearby property in their sights that would make a huge difference for in-person meetings, events, planning, etc.

Since we first talked, they have grown the virtual community extensively! Putting Natasha’s master gardener skills to work, but also pulling in a lot of other people who love gardening and have a particular depth of knowledge. She’s held two major virtual conferences helping more people understand some of the highs and lows of gardening, planning, etc and is now building year-round programming. For instance, she’s found experts in composting who are sharing knowledge in the weekly sessions they are setting up for the new subscription-based services for We Sow We Grow on Mighty Networks.

You can hear & see why it’s one of our three popular episodes, that yay at the end says it all! If you are interested in supporting the efforts to build gardening skills and a physical location on Chicago’s South Side, you can make donations to support We Sow We Grow.

Brewing the Best Beer with the Best Ingredients

Covid has thrown a few challenges at anyone in the hospitality and travel industries and Christian Spears says Tennessee Brew Works has certainly had them, but at this point, the team also has several things to celebrate.

First, Christian says, simply staying in business was the primary challenge and sadly many great craft breweries and restaurants were unable to survive. And while the TN Brew team was always amazing, there is a strengthened the sense of community and camaraderie now.

In 2021, the brewery received a major nod to the unique brews they connect back to farms as Farmer’s Beat took a medal at the Great American Beer Festival. It’s a unique offering the craft brewery works with Delvin Farms to get the beets for that and are looking forward to a butternut squash beer with that direct farmer connection in 2022.

The Nashville-based craft brewery is finally getting an expansion online. Spears says the supply chain difficulties have prolonged the expansion of the line but it is getting close now. That, combined with the increased demand for the product in the state, especially in east & middle Tennessee gives the team that excitement about what can come… and they are ready to go.

And if you want a great celebration in Nashville, with great beer and food, the TN Brew Works Instagram offers this tip.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tennessee Brew Works (@tnbrewworks)

Before You Go….

We’d love to know if you enjoyed the update on past episodes. It felt like a good idea, but we realize we may just want to update with two at a time. It is just too hard to do this in less than 15 minutes!

Also, we have some fun Grounded by the Farm stickers that we want to make available to some of our regular listeners / readers. To get one, just send us a request via the contact form including your name & mailing address!

The post Updates on Three Popular Episodes: Popcorn, Community Gardens & Beer Oh My! appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

As someone who loves an abundance of Asian cuisines, tofu may be on my plate or in my soup more than some Americans. But I haven’t had many chances to sit down and talk to someone about growing tofu soybeans. We can check that off the list as the conversation with Jennifer “Jennie” Schmidt about her family’s Maryland farm allowed us a chance to talk about diversification, how they determine what to plant, and more.

In 2021, they grew corn, soybeans, tofu soybeans, wine grapes and green beans for the fresh market. And a nephew is once again raising pigs on the farm. In the past they have grow several other crops including processing tomatoes (tomatoes that will be cooked down for sauces, etc). Understanding how farmers choose what to plant and how it has to be organized, is the central topic in this latest episode.

Note: An AI generated transcript of this episode is available at Talking Tofu with Jennie Schmidt.

Background on Schmidt Farms

Jennie’s family farm — she points out it was her husband’s family farm before she got so involved — is on the Delmarva Peninsula, the Eastern Shore. Her husband and his brother were running the farm for the most part.

Jennie, who trained as a registered dietitian and worked at a hospital as an RD, got involved in the farm with wine grapes. She ended up planting some and doing custom work with some wineries and others in the state for several years before her husband Hans was approached about a job in the state’s department of agriculture, working with conservation programs. Jennie laughs and says she told Hans he needed to work that job for the benefits and next thing she knew, she was partnering with her brother-in-law Alan in the farm’s day-to-day!

For generations, the Schmidts have been looking at various options for the farm. They had pigs for a while and later focused on crops. Now a nephew is choosing to get back into pork. Jennie says they look at a lot of factors when they consider what mix to have on the farm — labor is a piece for some crops, the ability to partner with others who can supply the unique equipment needed for crops is a big piece as well. And like every farm, Jennie looks at the crops adapted to the environment, weather and soils that they are in.

Grain (corn, soybeans and wheat) play a big part in the operation as the poultry farms nearby need feed. Jennie says it’s probably for some people to believe now, but her favorite job is driving the combine for harvest. She puts hours a day in the seat for weeks on end and while she welcomed me joining for a couple of hours, for weeks on end. She says not only does she get a great feel for the results of the year, but it gives her time to think, listen to books, etc. I was lucky enough to join her in the combine for a ride this fall, here’s the video.

Choosing What to Grow

Jennie said labor, equipment, and the environment all play different parts in the decision of what to plant. And of course, knowing perennial crops like grapes, the commitment is for many years.

In fact, Jennie gave us a laundry list of some of the considerations on what goes where on the farm and some of the realities that can impact the choices they have.

Growing Tofu Soybeans

As I mentioned, I’m a fan of Asian cuisine and find the growing of tofu soybeans so interesting I asked a lot of questions! How they began growing them intrigued me though. Jennie pointed immediately to the geography she’s in. DC, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York are all an easy drive and there are a number of companies specializing in Asian foods.

A group of farmers in the area formed a coop and went out seeking buyers when there was some question about the commitment to poultry in the area. The same equipment used for soybeans for grain can be used on these which was a great connection point. They also offer a high price for the crop. But alas, the market is only so big which means each farmer in the coop is given an allotment to plant rather than having endless opportunities to grow it. Jennie also mentions that harvest needs to be prioritized too as there can sometimes be some staining on soybeans and that is undesirable for tofu uses.

Growing Vegetables

As a registered dietitian, no doubt vegetable crops appeal to Jennie. They have planted tomatoes and green beans both in the hundreds of acres at a time. She points out that means harvesting several 18 wheelers full of either crop in a day. And which much of the crop management is easily done with irrigation that serves whatever is planted in the field, etc. The reality that specific planting and or harvesting equipment is needed means only planting the crops when contracts that also provide the expensive equipment and labor for the critical times. Planning allows farmers and the contractors to work together on timing so harvesting crews move from farm to farm.

Vegetable crops have rules that require the crop not be planted in the same field more than on a four year rotation, means long-term planning too! If you plant green beans in one field this year, you will be eligible to plant them there again in 4 years. Tomatoes have the same requirement. Limiting the likelihood of disease issues is the biggest reason for the requirement, which is a practice a lot of urban gardeners are familiar with!

Growing Wine Grapes

Growing grapes for wine is something that is a lot more common around the US now. Small acres are needed but the amount of labor required is high when it comes time to harvest. Jennie says they have expanded the vineyard and are growing several varietals. There are always more wineries interested she says, so the only limit is getting grapes harvested when needed. This was their biggest year ever and knowing there are some mechanized harvesters coming that will get tested, who knows what the future will do.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jennifer Schmidt (@dirtdietitian)

Growing Grain

The largest acreage on Schmidt Farms is in grain — both corn and soybeans. It has a really good market locally with the number of chicken farms in Delmarva. The family likes to rotate corn and soybeans as corn contributes great organic matter for the soil — ie the plant parts that don’t get harvested stay in the field and biodegrade creating something like compost for future crops. And as legumes, soybeans add nitrogen to the soil.

Planting Cover Crops

The Schmidts also plant cover crops on the farm. Cover crops help improve soils, they are not harvested so they add a lot of organic matter. Jennie said wheat is planted as a cover as are a mix of radishes, rye, etc. She shared a photo of one of the tillage radishes she pulled in the vineyard to show her Instagram followers. They have the deep root and as Jennie points out, they can help reduce compaction and make it easier for roots to grow unrestricted.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Jennifer Schmidt (@dirtdietitian)

Find Jennie Online

Jenni can be found on social media in several places:

• Instagram DirtDietitian
• Facebook The Foodie Farmer
• Twitter FarmGirlJen

The post Growing Tofu Soybeans, Grapes, Grain & More: The Planning It Takes to Be a Truly Diversified Farm appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Family farm transitions are tough to discuss. A lot gets wrapped into it…. not only are you talking about things like retirement or potential death of an older generation, but it means changes in how things are done, recognizing the contributions of younger generations. And many times all of this is wrapped up with generations of family legacy and how best to honor that.

It’s a conversation that farmers acknowledge is tough and some farmers want to farm until they die so the thought of handing over control before them is uncomfortable. But others focus on the outcome they want… successful operations for generations to come.

While Debbie Lyons-Blythe and her husband Duane are planning to be around for decades, they have also chosen to have this conversation openly with their five children, all of whom are now adults. Debbie was nice enough to discuss all of this with us. I think it provides those of us who’s families don’t farm a lot of insight into some of the generational family dynamics that it takes when planning for the future of a family farm.

And for Debbie, having a good farm transition, where expertise and relationships are built among their children, is the only way she thinks they can secure the ranch’s future.

Ranching on the Prairie

Debbie & Duane’s family have both been ranching in Kansas for generations. They are on the ranch Duane took over when his father died young. Immediately deciding to run an operation at 14 was a dive in and swim hard, but Duane felt compelled to continue the family’s legacy. While Duane’s farm transition to running the operation wasn’t ideal, he was able to keep the place going successfully. Later and Debbie & Duane started a family, they decided she’d be full-time on the ranch and Duane would keep the off-farm job to bring home a regular paycheck and keep insurance. They’ve evolved in several ways over the years.

Their operation is in the Flint Hills, which is an area of rolling hills in eastern Kansas. She says they have areas that have stayed in native grasses for generations and she gladly says she’s a grass farmer. Some of those grasses have taproots that go deeper than trees too! She said the earliest settlers in the area found the top soil was so thin that farming is only possible in a few areas, but that native grassland had fed healthy buffalo herds and cattle started being brought in.

The changes from one generation to the next can seem subtle to the outside, but managing risks and looking for returns to the ranch and the land are both paramount. Debbie says she & Duane moved from Hereford cattle to Angus, which may not sound like a big move to some, but the goal of genetic improvement that pays off for customers and the ranch both was reason to make the change. Now they are part of the Certified Angus Beef program so if you buy beef in a grocery store, it could be from their place! And the sons wanted to return to some of the crop production the family had been doing in the past on the land well-suited to that, so they’ve gotten back into growing wheat and things in the past few years as this farm transition takes shape.

We’ve All Seen Farm Transitions Gone Bad

If people in Hollywood wanted to create a reality TV show that would bring all the drama agriculture has to truly offer, I think farm transitions would be the thing to capture. You have fiercely independent people, finances, hopes, dreams, wills and blood, sweat and tears all on the line.

I’ve heard of older farmers who refused to discuss farm transitions even as their children neared early retirement ages among their peers in cities. And I’ve seen young farmers walk away from family operations moving across the country when they couldn’t get any communication because they felt the future was just too uncertain.

Knowing all of that, Debbie says she & Duane have tried to keep the conversation fairly open as their children grew from littles to the amazing adults they are today. All of the five children will own stakes in the land and will participate in some of the decisions but Debbie says those who have come back to live and work on the property will be earning a larger part of the stakes in the farming and ranch operations.

Debbie says communicating, helping each other know what hopes and dreams the rest of the family has is the best path for this farm transition. It’s not easy work, but knowing that all the family wants to see this generation be happy, have a chance to grow and honor the land…. that’s worth the effort it takes.

Of the five children all in their mid- to upper twenties, the three sons (Trent, Eric & Tyler) have all decided to return to the ranch while the two daughters (Meghan and Allie) have found their passions led to other careers. Four of the five have gotten married or engaged and you can see the crowd likes to be together in Eric & CeCe’s prairie wedding photo. It really captures the beauty and happiness of place.

From left to right: Tyler & Katie, Trenton & Brier, Eric & Cece, Debbie & Duane, Allie & Jeff, Meghan & Lance

Growing Multiple Businesses

The Blythe family is excited that several of the younger generation are choosing the ranching life. Debbie says balancing that excitement with the fiscal reality that the ranch has been supporting one household for decades and four households is a radical shift. Each of the households have to look for ways to build consistent income as well as to build equity in the ranch. Debbie says right now that means several off-ranch jobs and later may mean building additional businesses because it’s not as simple as buying a lot of land and adding more cattle.

The oldest son Trent was the first to come back to the ranch. He’s putting his degree in wildlife and outdoor enterprise management to use building an outfitter / pheasant hunting business called Level Creek Outfitters. Eric and Tyler moved back to the area more recently and are working full-time off the ranch while working the ranch evenings and weekends. They are also trying to find the right side hustles to help create income for their households.

A Look Around the Blythe Ranch

One of the the pieces I most love in getting to know farmers / ranchers is seeing the land they work. Debbie has done a few live videos and I pulled this one knowing you will enjoy getting to know her and the ranch dog Roo!

Finding the Blythes Online

So often listeners want to follow the farms/ranches we feature and Debbie like most others is active on social media and Instagram is her favorite channel. You can find her at @KidsCowsandGrass on Instagram and Facebook as Kids Cows & Grass / KS Cattle Ranch. She also has posted a range of content on the KidsCowsandGrass.com website over the years. She’s posted recipes like the best meat seasoning and tips for cooking prime rib, as well as how they train new cow hands on the ranch.

Trenton’s Level Creek Outfitters is on Instagram @levelcreekoutfitters and Facebook Level Creek Outfitters. The website goes deep on information from the types of hunts, licensing, costs and more — check out levelcreekoutfitters.com.

The post Family Farm Transitions Can Be Tough to Discuss, But Critical for Sustainability appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Having known Lauren Arbogast for a decade or so, I’ve had it on the list to visit her chicken farm for a long time. I knew I would find the right opportunity.

Little did I know that once I found a window with near perfect fall weather in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley; I would get the farm tour, a podcast episode recorded AND enjoy a local harvest festival all three!

Visiting a Chicken Farm

It’s strange to people I hadn’t ever been to a chicken farm. I mean, I’ve been to an egg farm like Dianne’s before and I’ve visited other who raise some broiler chickens but who’s farms had another primary focus. Having lived and traveled in the South so much, I’ve seen a lot of chicken houses from the outside and always wondered.

Lauren talks with us about chicken houses (I kept calling them barns out of habit!) explaining the family has several where they raise chicks from the day they break out of their shell til they are ready to be butchered and sent to grocery stores, and other customers.

Limiting access to the chicken houses are an important piece of biosecurity, which Lauren says is a big word that says they are focused on the chickens well-being and actively work to keep bacteria, diseases, etc from entering the barn. For my visit, that included a good scrub of bleach on the soles of shoes. You may remember Marcus Holtkotter talking about biosecurity in his pig barns in Germany and Dianne McComb talking about biosecurity for an egg farm.

The houses (you can see one in the video below) have systems that constantly monitor the temperature as well as food & water availability. An alarm can immediately alert the family to an issue. Even with the system there, people walk the barns several times a day doing visual checks of the chickens and systems.

Having a blend of generations, the Arbogasts have the benefit of both innovation and tradition. For instance, the family spent some of the time they were isolating due to the pandemic installing solar panels on their barns. They also look at ways to upcycle finding current uses for buildings that were no longer needed to something useful today and they get peanut hulls from farmers further south to use in the chicken houses.

She says they eat a lot of chicken too from my favorite — chicken biscuits for breakfast to the cast iron skillet full of chicken, veggies, carbs and yumminess that Lauren served for dinner.

A Harvest Festival Where You Meet the Meats

More frequently, I see farmers and small towns, doing neat festivals to get the community together. With the next generation of Arbogast kids starting their own meat market where the family sells beef, it seemed a great time to take people into the pasture to learn more about how beef is raised. And other farmers set up stalls with pumpkins, apples and flowers and some of the organizations put up tents to sell local favorites like apple dumplings!

The highlight for many was the hayride through the pasture talking about how the cattle are cared for, the way plants work with the environment and cattle as well as answer questions about the nice shacket she was wearing (which got a big laugh from Lauren).

Follow Lauren Online

Lauren enjoys sharing the farm’s story on social media. Give her a follow at lauren.arbogast on Instagram.

And the family’s meat shop can be found at:

• 5ameats.com
• 5A Meats on Instagram
• 5A Meats on Facebook

The post Visiting a Chicken Farm & Enjoying a Harvest Festival to Meet My Meats appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Sitting down to talk with This Farm Wife Meredith Bernard was pretty much like sitting down with someone I had known forever. In some ways, we have known each other for years via social media even before she had a YouTube channel really. But since that and Instagram really got going for This Farm Wife, I have this immediate connection to her farm, and her family.

Here’s our episode with Meredith:

A transcript generated with AI technology can be accessed here Meredith Bernard Talks About Farming & Her “This Farm Wife” YouTube Channel

Getting to Know Bernard Farms

Although towns are close by, with fences, woods & hills, it’s easy to feel far away from everything on Bernard Farms. Meredith laughs and says all her neighbors have four legs — mostly cattle, a few farm dogs and a couple of sheep the kids wanted. They plant a range of crops that are mostly used for the livestock — hay, barley, corn, corn for silage (harvest the whole plant, not just the grain), etc. but sell some into the markets too. In fact, just this week the family was seeding a barley field — highlights shared online of course.

(You may also like to give this episode on growing barley for beer & the bonus episode talking with the Tennessee brewery that sources directly from farmers when possible. They’ve even won at the Great American Beer Festival this year!)

Meredith worked in sales traveling and working in town for a while but as the family grew, she wanted to stay close to home a lot more. Her husband Lawrence had always run the farm solo and while they both knew she could be helpful, she also wanted to bring in an income so she started a photography business. Over time, that evolved into writing and eventually, she tried video as friends kept suggesting. She laughs saying she didn’t like it at all, but after going to a FarmHer conference in Iowa, she thought more about it and decided to see if she could make it work.

Now, YouTube and the things that have come with sharing her story online are contributing to the family’s budget. And they are capturing parts of their own farm story and letting others gain understanding on how things work. It’s just them on the farm, no hired hands and Meredith laughs thinking she may not have been really handy early on. But she’s learned lots and now the kids are able to lend a hand too. And with that, the family’s increasing willingness to participate, and all she’s learned, she’s been able to share stories that show the day

Don’t tell Lawrence, but meeting him was a highlight. He was almost an illusion in the early videos — you didn’t see him much but she was talking about what happened on the farm. He has been seen more often (sometimes looking like my family members who roll their eyes at the camera) and this fall there was an accident and seriously, it did my heart good to see him even if it was a brief visit while he and Wesley had lunch before getting back to Saturday chores.

While They Chored, We Toured

Since I got there midday, we visited a bit. I stuck to a couple of yummy sweet potato muffins (watch the video “Failed Tricks & Sweet Treats” below if you want the details & you may want to catch up on this Grounded by the Farm episode all about sweet potatoes!). And then we hopped in the four-wheeler and Austin and Meredith gave me a tour. Austin loved driving and happily let her mom hop out for gates.

I didn’t think about the sound of the engine being such a problem… should have mic’d Meredith! But I think you can get a feel for the place.

After the tour was when we sat down at the kitchen table to record the podcast and I sat in awe of the collection of cast iron pans. Once you watch a few of This Farm Wife videos, you find cast iron has a recurring role, so I shouldn’t have been surprised to see several, but I lost count! She gave me the tips to cook the perfect steak!

This Farm Wife on YouTube

Lots of folks spend hours watching YouTube, and some of those folks like the escape from their house to check in on a farm. That’s where Meredith and her vlog come in. She gives subscribers a little slice of the “ordinarily extraordinary life” life lived in their family farm. Here’s the vlog post from the week I stopped by. You’ll see there had been an awful lot happening and around 12:47 into the video, she tells folks she’s wanted some fall muffins & a friend is coming. But really you should watch the whole video.

In the podcast, I asked her about some of the other YouTubers that share farm stories that she loves. First to mind for me was Sandi Brock of Sheepishly Me in Canada, but Meredith gave a full list that includes Tara Coronado who talks wine grapes in California and like me enjoys seeing other farms and Terryn in Nebraska with Faith, Family and Beef. You can catch them and others on this list of farm YouTubers she has on her channel. I’d also add my friend Brian Scott of The Farmer’s Life on YouTube.

Follow Meredith aka “This Farm Wife” Online

Here are the links we mentioned for Meredith’s online presence.

• ThisFarmWife.com is her website and can help you find ALL THE THINGS!
• ThisFarmWifeShop.com is where you find all her puns & rural love on apparel, stickers, tea towels and more.
• Youtube is This Farm Wife Meredith Bernard.
• ThisFarmWife on Instagram

The post Cows, Cast Iron and a Camera:  A Visit with This Farm Wife Meredith Bernard  appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

With agritourism on the rise, there has been a lot of diversification of efforts and one niche is agritainment. That’s where the Leonard family found themselves after dealing with the challenges of urban sprawl and rising land prices and we talk with Patty Leonard about it in our latest episode of Grounded by the Farm. And it felt like this episode was a great followup to the recent conversation about farm stays!

Getting to Know the Family & Farm

Patty and her family have a long history of dairy farming. In fact, her grandparents were dairy farming in the area now consumed by Washington DC’s Dulles Airport until plans to build Dulles came together. That led the family to relocate to Warrenton, a small farm town on Virginia’s piedmont. But with the continued growth of the metro area, the Leonards faced rising land prices and looked for ways to diversify years ago.

Patty, who has always loved sharing the farm experience with families, found agritainment offered great potential though her first year fell flat as the country reeled from the 9-11 attacks and the second year found Northern Virginia residents sheltering out of fear of the DC sniper who shot several people in the communities nearby. But Patty and the family were convinced of the potential and kept putting in the work to get it to grow. She kept finding people wanted to know and be more connected to the source of their food. It definitely wasn’t easy, but looking at the farm today, there is a lot of joy going around for visitors and the family too!

Agritainment Brings Agriculture & Entertainment Together

When you talk about agritourism, there are always ways to learn about agriculture. As we talked with Dana, it was clear farm stays offer guests a chance to see and sometimes participate in farm chores, etc. But what Patty and family are doing seeks to be more entertaining while offering the chance to learn. For instance, they have a puppet show on site, but you will also pick up some facts about different protein sources. And she says it never ceases to amaze school groups and families how everyone of all ages enjoys the day at the farm.

Although the arm started with just a few elements focused on dairy & corn (it was even called Cows-n-Corn for years!) fall pumpkin picking and decorating came quickly as did the corn maze. Now they have grown added various seasonal activities for Christmas and Easter as well as a haunted maze for Halloween!  That growth and a shift from dairy farming led them to move locations to a farm they had that was better suited for the traffic agritainment can bring — it’s Maple Tree Farm VA. If you are in the area, you can even get photos with Santa taken on the farm!

Here’s a short video where you will see Patty talking about some of the fun they offer and some shots of my wandering around the farm — I narrowly avoided hundreds of school children!

You can find the transcript for this episode at Patty Leonard Talks Urban Sprawl & Resulting Impacts on a Family Farm (Episode 303 Grounded by the Farm Podcast Transcript)

The post Agritainment Ends Up the Happy Ending to Challenges with Urban Sprawl & Rising Land Prices appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Farm stays on Maryland’s Easter Shore may not be the first thing to come to mind when you think of Maryland or a vacation, but maybe they should. There is a lot of curiosity to be tapped there and I certainly enjoyed my visit!

(AI transcript of the episode available Agritourism & Farm Stays on Maryland’s Eastern Shore (Episode 302 Grounded by the Farm Podcast Transcript)

For decades, Dana Zucker says she was absolutely out of touch with how our food is grown, but curiosity and a passion for food kept getting her to ask questions. Now she and her husband David have entered the world of agritourism by purchasing Sugar Water Manor on the Minokin River on the Eastern Shore.

The farm of 70 acres struck Dana at first sight and she felt drawn to it and the idea of sharing what she’s learned over the years.

Learning About Agriculture

Dana has immersed herself in food and has found a range of experiences as she traveled to far away lands like China, Iceland and Spain learning about tea, sheep and wine. And found herself living in Omaha with the chance to really explore agriculture in Kansas where she learned about farmers and ranchers growing corn, soybeans, beef and pork too.

Looking around the Eastern Shore, Dana sees farmers growing those animals and feed crops as well as farmers growing pumpkins, fruits and vegetables. Her farming is small scale — the type of operation many of my friends dream of getting. Room for numerous raised beds, fruit trees, an apiary and lots of room for various animals. Dana is leveraging her curiosity to learn and share simultaneously — she laughs saying she can’t help but ask all the questions, continue digging into knowledge but understands she’s a rare breed. But she’s happy to share what she has learned or can do more work to better understand a topic is someone is interested.

Farm Stays & More

With two houses and a loft to offer guests, Dana and David have been sharing Sugar Water with a lot of visitors. As she tells us in the podcast, she’s helped children harvest their first fresh carrots and explained meat goats, ducks, and more as people greeted the combination of animals living in the farm’s barn & barnyard.

Dana says it is a great way to go beyond the casual conversation with a vendor at a farmers market, for people interested in knowing more. And more farmers are beginning to offer properties like this on Air BnB and other sites.

The farm stay at Sugar Manor comes with incredible breakfast service too! As well as access to paddleboards and kayaks. There are such amazing sunsets to be enjoyed with s’mores to be enjoyed! The video below gives you a feel for the place, as well as a bit of insight into the visit Dana and I made to the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and the research farm nearby.

Finding More Information

Learn more about Sugar Water Manor at:

• Sugar Water Manor’s website
• Sugar Water Manor on Instagram 
• Sugar Water Manor on Facebook 

Find Grounded by the Farm on social media at:

• Grounded by the Farm on Instagram
• Grounded by the Farm on Facebook
• Grounded by the Farm on Twitter
• Grounded by the Farm on LinkedIn

The post Hosting Farm Stays: A Love of Travel & Curiosity about Food Led Dana Zucker to Sugar Water Manor appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

Amazing Opportunity

It sounds like the run up to a great bar joke, but – have YOU heard the one about the Irish dairy farmer who went to Kenya to visit The Maasai tribe, to learn about culture, agriculture and life? That’s the experience we talk with Paula Hynes about and it is definitely no laughing matter. It is the focus of the most-recent episode of Grounded By The Farm!

I’ve known the Hynes family for years and one of the most interesting facets of their lives has comes from the time in 2017 that Paula was fortunate enough to spend time with members of The Maasai people. This interaction came to the Hynes family after they’d been awarded The Farmer of the Year title in Ireland, when they were invited thanks to a TV production company who were planning to film a three-part documentary series called “The Hardest Harvest” and definitely wanted women to participate.  The series focused on the transplantation of a fisherman, forester and of course – a dairy farmer which ended up being Paula into remote parts of Africa. (Maybe next time someone can visit Ugandan fish farmer Kaahwa Jean!)

Have you heard of the Maasai tribe? Find out more about them now with these five fascinating facts about the Maasai people.

An interesting note: Paula had never traveled anywhere on her own – nowhere not even around Ireland. Now she was preparing to hurdle towards the cradle of humankind to be in a documentary focusing on farming. Quite the segue from the rich green rolling mounds of tall grass in Ireland to raise  pedigreed holsteins, jerseys and Fleckvieh heifers collect milk to be sure.  Paula says that the choice to go was a “no brainer” but the reality is – there was so much to think about not only before going but after.

The experience was amazing, and came as a complete surprise to Paula.  She laughs saying she had so much to do to get ready that she didn’t have time to  Google what or where she was going and in hindsight, that clearly fostered the choice to go. As a focus in contrast you see – there are no paved roads. There are no bathrooms. There are no showers.

Extreme Drought in Kenya

If all of that wasn’t enough, the area was experiencing one of the most impactful droughts known to Kenyan history at the time. And the culture is very different. Whereas Paula and Peter work as a team of equals, the women of the Maasai tribe are treated much differently/lesser than most can imagine. There is a lot of water to be carried quite a distance and if a structure is to be built, the women will do that too.

And then there’s the wild animals. Hyenas. Elephants, and Zebra, oh my.

The living area was one large community that not only housed the people (men, women and AMAZING children), but all of the farm animals as well. The cows herding there would come into the compound at night to help stave off the likes of the wild animals. As Paula arrived she heard the glorious voices and music being generated by a loving people filled with rich history, culture and tradition as you can see in the video above.

Amazing Welcome, Tough Lessons

The people of the Maasai tribe welcomed Paula outright and gave her opportunities to contribute. Daily activities usually consisted of taking the cows grazing outside the small village (called a Boma) to allow them to feed the best they could inside of the sun-ravaged lands. Their “grass” looked very much like weeds, and 6-7 hours could easily be spent as the villagers guided the cattle to find more plots of grazable food. They provide on-going support for the Maasai rather than being a source of meat.

This video is something we discuss in the episode… Understand it includes sensitive visuals that may upset some, however, it’s an important piece of the story for the Maasai people who depend on cattle but rarely eat beef.

The differences with beautiful rain-fed pastures at home was beyond striking and animal care is vastly different. In Ireland, there are rarely health issues that lead to cattle deaths, but the experience Paula had with cows dying in Kenya struck her hard. In many cases, there were cattle that had to be helped up and even more that just dropped and couldn’t continue on.

When this happened, she realized that the Maasai tribe members knew that those cows – were destined to die. They were left to the elements and animals – which was an extraordinarily hard experience for Paula who understood the Maasai intensely valued the cattle but had so few choices compared to her farm at home. When water and food are in rare supply and can only be given to the cattle that are making a go of it. Sometimes there is no resource that will save them, and there are no tractors with which to lift them back to their feet. There is only time, and the sad, natural course of events to craft another day in Kenya, and that’s it.

A Chance to Prove Herself

The Maasai Chief had established a series of tasks for Paula, but – believe it or not, she didn’t actually meet the Chief for DAYS, until after Paula was already hip-deep in the experience. The morning tasks were given out each day and the Chief would watch from afar to see what Paula was doing to foster the tasks to completion.

The offering of a hunting knife to Paula caused one of the bits of strife during her experience. You see, only Masai tribesMEN are given this tool to do tasks. This was one of the many “firsts” that Paula was honored with during her journey. Another fine first was put in the books as Paul constructed her own mud hut with the women in the boma called a manyetta. She was able to achieve this after being given a machete with which to chop down the lumber to build the small rudimentary structure. Thankfully, these two tasks were able to quell any problems that the men and or women had with her and the rest of the time spent was beyond amazing.

The differences between a sage Kenyan community, and the ways of life on an Irish dairy farm are vast – but never too far to bridge when hope, knowledge, education and legacy are the ingredients swirling in a wonderful once-in-a-lifetime experience. Be sure to listen to this episode of The Grounded By The Farm Podcast to learn more about Paula’s extraordinary life lesson, adventure an be sure to connect with Paula via her Twitter account @paulahynes4 or Instagram at peterpaulahynes.

Ready to learn what Paula’s Maasai-name is and more importantly – what it MEANS? There’s only one way to find out! Listen to THIS EPISODE of Grounded By The Farm!

The post Getting a Whole New Perspective on Farming and on Life — An Irish Dairy Farmer Goes to Kenya! appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.

When it comes time to choose cooking oil, there are lots of choices. Canola oil is the easy choice for Lesley Rae Kelly and lots of other Canadians. See canola is uniquely Canadian as is Lesley! Her family grows canola on their farm and she loves the crop so much she created a blog called High Heels and Canola Fields.

Farming with Family

While her family has been farming wheat and barley for decades prior, The early 1990s provided the opportunity to try something new. Better crop rotation and a number of other factors made canola the perfect choice. They have been growing the oil seed crop ever since. Decades later it is the crop that Lesley connects to most deeply.

Lesley’s story doesn’t follow a straight line. She grew up on the farm but left for her education and worked in corporate marketing a while. Then as her  mom and dad decided to retire, Lesley and her husband decided to join her brother on the farm. The trio has even acquired their first property as farm owners.

Lesley’s marketing and communications background, project management and even experience managing people is really useful on the farm. And her willingness to help wherever needed has meant Lesley ends up driving equipment some times, and she definitely entertained us as she learned some of the ropes.

Working with five grown individuals, who are also family members, has been  an amazing opportunity to work outdoors with the people you Lesley loves, but – it’s taken a variety of conversations, many direct and sometimes uncomfortable to find the experience that propels the farm today. While Lesley is learning more about the equipment and physical processes on the farm, her focus is currently on the land and farm strategies that help structure the processes on the farm.

Tell Me About Canola

Canola is an oilseed like soybeans, sesame seeds and others. But it is a striking vision with beautiful blooms that are numerous and totally light up the prairies mid-season. Just look at this photo.

Canola was derived from a common crop in Europe called rapeseed. In fact, Farmer Tom in the UK grows some! Canadian scientists worked with rapeseed in the 1960s and 70s trying to improve it, the resulting product was canola. The changes they made not only improved the health qualities but eliminating some of the less desirable fats. As a result of this, more than 20 million acres of canola fields have been created and are currently being harvested in Canada by approximately 40,000 farmers..

One of the strangest facts about canola is that it’s directly related to something few would think would even be in the same family of vegetables — broccoli, kale, and all those others! While the bitter taste has been removed by plant breeding, what remains is what canola looks like as it grows. Are those baby cabbages? Nope! Those are canola plants preparing to bolt (grow tall)!. While the flavor and initial growth stages are remarkable, what is often seen (but never taken as canola plants) is the beautiful yellow fields it generates as it grows. Appearing as waving fields of yellow wonder, the canola fields are truly a sight to behold during the months of July when flying over Western Canada. Have you ever seen them? No problem! Be sure to visit Lesley’s Instagram profile to see the beauty of this Canadian staple with your own eyes!

Are you familiar with the growth stages of canola? Find out more now by visiting the Canola Encyclopedia when it’s time to “bolt” on over to find the answers!

If you’ve ever seen plants pressed to extract oil, it’s an amazing process. Oil yields, depending on the type of plant vary, but the canola plant can yield up to 40% when being pressed! That’s a lot of magic out of a seed  so small. Be sure to check out an amazing look at the pressing process to learn more about how processors are currently churning out more than 200 tons of canola oil per day!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzRiRQzTWd0

Did you know that canola oil has a lighter taste and – has a lower smoke point? This makes it the perfect addition to cooking for the whole family no matter what you’re serving up!
Learn more about “smoke point” and why canola oil is a great choice when it’s time to chow down!

Tired of the same old salad dressing? Why not try substituting canola oil? It’s built for it, has a lighter taste and makes new flavors available inside of any recipe! Lesley swears by it and tells us a bit of lemon gets it done!

Focusing on Mental Health

While it’s something that’s been thought about over the decades, only recently has the focus of mental health and farming been presented as something vital.

Inside this episode, Lesley share a variety of factors that helped her family that continues to propel her effort and the future of being healthy mental in the farming industry. Her on-going efforts to advance awareness when it comes to farmers’ mental health is the focus of the Do More Ag Foundation.

When it’s all said and done, amplifying a family’s ability to communicate is incredibly vital in today’s challenging times. The process of having conversations, not unlike the one that we have with Lesley inside this episode of Grounded By The Farm, continues to build a foundation of healthy conversation that fosters hope, love and awareness of what people are feeling around you to better everyone involved.

Lesley talks about a full range of topics in her podcast, the What The Farm Podcast she cohosts with Rob Sharkey of The Shark Farmer. Be sure to tune in and interact regularly with her to learn more about what’s going on, and to help foster farming efforts!

The post Canola and Canada Are Inextricably Connected, Farmer Lesley Rae Kelly Tells Us Why & More appeared first on Grounded by the Farm.