Because what you're doing in your home is way more important than what's happening at the White House.

Like, so you are making a bigger impact by the choices that you're making in your home.

The food that you're feeding your children, the conversations that you're having, the, uh, choice to, um, homeschool, home, educate, or, you know, af even if you can't, like just come around the dinner table at night, um, and have the conversations.

That's more important, building your children up in that next generation.

So I think just putting the trust in who's the next president gonna be and just waiting for the economy to turn turnaround.

No, 'cause you can be doing that now with connecting with people in your community, like the local saw mill, the local baker, the local, you know, um, the farmer down the road that maybe grows grain.

Uh, and, and connecting and making those connections.

That's gonna be a bigger impact.

That was Sarah Stutzman, and you are listening to the Regenerative Journey.

Good day.

I'm your host, Charlie Arnt, an eighth generational Australian regenerative farmer.

And in this podcast series, I'll be diving deep and exploring my guests unique perspectives on the world so you can apply their experience and knowledge to cultivate your own transition to a more regenerative way of life.

Welcome to the Regenerative Journey with your host, Charlie Arnet.

Okay, welcome back to the Regenerative Journey and welcome to our office.

Uh, it's winter.

No, it's not winter, it's actually October, but it feels like winter.

It's been a bit rainy and very windy and cold.

Today.

I've got my jumper on, uh, the dog's huddled up on the floor here.

I've even had a heater on in the office.

Uh, for those who are watching.

Can see a bit of mayhem behind me there on the wall.

Um, however, this is all about Sarah Stutzman.

She is an amazing homesteader, homemaker, homeschooler in Lancaster County in Pennsylvania, and the states we saw, um, caught up with Sarah, uh, midway through our tour of the States last year in July.

Um, I came across her on Instagram, I think it was, and I can't remember how, but absolutely fascinating how she's has essentially turned, created a business from what she loves doing, which is a wonderful thing to do, of course.

Um, and 10, 11 years ago, she just started teaching.

People around her kitchen table, how to, you know, bake bread and cheese and all sorts of cool stuff.

Um, she's totally across the whole home setting.

Um, scene.

Uh, she's fantastic.

We had such a lovely chat about what's important to her family, health, food, her garden's amazing, um, orchards and, uh, 3.5 acres there.

They've got an amazing old barn, um, and vegetables and so on.

Such a hive of activity in such a small, um, in such a small area, but a real credit to her and her family for doing amazing things there with food and education and, and health and so on.

Um, really loved our time with Sarah there.

Uh, it was brief, but, but, but very memorable.

We're on the way through, um, a couple hours with her and her family, and I just have to, um, uh, say thank you Sarah, and I hope you all enjoy this episode of the Regenerative Journey.

Uh, as much as I enjoyed.

Recording this interview with Sarah Stutzman.

Sarah Stutzman, not St.

Stutzman.

Correct.

Even though we're here Stutzman.

'cause your husband's from West, I believe.

That's right.

Welcome to the Regina Journey and welcome to your, where are we?

Where this room is?

Your, is it office?

This is the multipurpose room.

It's the, but the mud room, I call it my office.

Mm-hmm.

But it's kind of the every all purpose room.

It's a lovely, um, your, um, backdrop there.

Thanks.

Thanks.

And I'm sweating like a Yeah, it's hot here.

Yeah, it's pretty, it's hot here.

So you're used to it.

Yeah.

Um, tell me Sarah, and so, um, lovely to be here.

We, I think when I put the call outs a month ago to any, any, anyone and everyone mm-hmm.

To, um, I'm, I'm heading to the States.

Mm-hmm.

I might actually can't, I'm trying to think who it was.

Who?

Oh, my friend Corrine.

Yeah, that uh, she tagged me.

Yeah.

'cause she's in Australia.

Ah, cool.

Yeah.

And she went.

Check her out.

Yeah.

And here we are.

Yeah.

So this is awesome.

So I'm so excited.

Thank you for coming here.

And Pleasure.

Yeah, pleasure.

It's, it's, this is the fifth interview for the, for the month.

Mm-hmm.

Um, I interviewed Paul, check, do you know Paul?

Check?

You follow him?

Mm-hmm.

He's just a polymath.

Um, he's a phrase.

I'm gonna take some notes.

Do that.

Take notes.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Um, Paul, check, he's amazing.

Mm-hmm.

He's all about past life staff, um, reincarnation, Paul check, um, energetics.

Mm-hmm.

Human health nutrition all over.

And Sarah Glover is an Aussie chef who's now living in la mm-hmm.

And then Will Harris, of course.

Mm-hmm.

Oak pastures.

Mm-hmm.

Have you been down there?

No.

No.

Just prepare for the humidity.

Okay.

But my, I have a cousin that lives down there, so I'm thinking, okay, if I travel down, I will have to make a trip.

Do you need to?

It's, it's, it's wonderful.

Yeah.

Just a lovely community at Bluffton.

Mm-hmm.

And then, um, I was trying to do a southern accent all the time, and he was going, that is the worst.

Accent I've ever, I can't even do it now 'cause I'm not there when I'm there.

I'm in, I'm in the zone.

Okay.

He says it's the worst one he's ever heard.

Um, he sounds like I was constipated.

Well, my oldest, like I said, she was so bummed she could have missed you.

'cause her, she missed you.

'cause her favorite accent is Australian accent.

Yeah.

She, uh, she watches man from Snowy River, that movie.

Oh yeah.

Are you familiar?

Yeah, totally.

She, yes.

She's like, oh man.

But, um, there was movement at the station for the Worder passed around.

The cult from Got Away.

That's the first two lines of the Banjo Patterson poem That they, that they did make, that they made the movie.

Yeah.

She, is she familiar with the poem?

I don't think so, because it, because because the 'cause Banjo Patterson.

Mm-hmm.

Ab Patterson, um, who lived not far from where I live in Australia.

Mm-hmm.

In, oh, this is gonna test me.

1880 or something.

He, 80 90, it might've been.

He wrote.

Poetry.

Okay.

Australian poetry.

And one of his better known or best known poems is the Man from Snow River.

Okay.

Which was then turned into a film.

Yes.

But his poetry is wonderful.

Okay.

I'll have her look into that because there are books there.

There are, there are.

She's a reader.

Oh really?

Oh yeah.

Oh, it's cool.

Yeah.

Lordie Uhhuh spotted a book in an op shop.

Yeah.

I'm not sure what you call him.

He Brick aback Shop.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, at Christmas and gave it to me for Christmas.

And it's his, all, his, um, it was the, anyway, it's not his, all his stuff, but it's most of his poetry.

Okay.

Beautiful.

I have her look into that because she watches.

The movie over and over again.

Both of 'em.

Both of 'em, yeah.

Both.

Yeah.

The second one wasn't quite as good.

Yeah.

No.

Because it was like, oh, let's just do a sequel.

Yeah.

Um, how do we get on that off tangent?

Uh, accents.

Accents.

Accents.

Yes.

And then, so you were at Will Harris and then you were just dad and then at Joel.

Mm-hmm.

It's Polyface.

So I had a few hours of him yesterday to farm tour and interviewing.

Yeah.

And then, and you were saying how Oh, you are not worthy.

What?

That's so not the case.

Like you're gonna these big like parts and well known people.

No, no, no.

This is awesome because it's lovely that I dunno much about you and I tend not to do research on people.

Okay.

I did a little bit.

Mm-hmm.

Um, but I love to discover as we go, you know?

Yeah.

And so here we are.

So I'd love you to be here.

We have a, we've had a look around the, um, your garden.

Yes.

We've looked at, um, Casio mm-hmm.

The jersey Yep.

Carol.

Mm-hmm.

And fruit and veggies and all sorts of lovely things.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And bee and the bees and all things.

We, we decided that like, let's have more gardens so we don't have to mow as much.

That's our, that's our thing.

Is that still a thing?

Because you said you, you were saying before that you're not sort of eating as many veggies.

We don't, but yeah.

Our goal is to maybe grow some more, raise more animals.

Raise more animals, get a bit cow poo out there and eat.

Yeah.

Or move sheep.

Sheep.

Yeah.

I think sheep would be perfect.

You eat, you'd eat them.

Eat you'd eat them.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do you eat?

Do eat.

Oh, I, yeah.

I love it.

It's one of my favorite.

Okay.

One of my favorite meats over beef, I have to say.

Oh.

Just 'cause it has, um, just I think more flavor.

Yeah.

And it's easy, easy to kill and easy to prepare yourself.

And simple cuts.

Okay.

So we're gonna, we just ordered one from a farmer.

Uh, they follow a lot of the, um, Joel skeleton style farming mm-hmm.

Down the road from us.

And that's what I love having, like now these farmers that are popping up, that are doing this regenerative farming and, um, these, these practices that are, that are aligning to us.

'cause when we started, we had to do this on our own because it was Amish and Mennonite and we're like.

Nah, no one's really farming and doing anything like this.

And where do we get our meat that's not in the, you know, from the grocery store.

Um, so we just ordered a lamb that'll be ready in September.

So Is it, is, is that lamb coming from around here?

Yeah.

It's just like maybe 10 miles down the road and we'll bring it home.

We'll butcher it ourselves and yeah.

See how it goes.

That's fantastic.

Yeah.

And then, we'll, I wanna experiment first.

I wanna experiment with like, the cuts of meat and cooking with it before I dive into, you know, buying a few for here, having some there.

Yeah.

And look cheap, reasonably easy to maintain.

Easy than goats for sure.

Mm-hmm.

Because sheep won't browse like goats will, they won't eat everything like goats will.

And they probably, with some simple fencing, you're probably have more chance of keeping them in, in Yeah, I was, yeah.

Do you do, um, so I, I'm gonna do the portable fencing.

Yeah.

Like move them around, because I think that's just easier for us because we have such a small.

Farm three and a half acres.

Mm.

Then we can move them and they can mow for us, and then we can Oh.

Totally.

Have meat, you know?

Totally.

Oh, that makes perfect sense.

Yeah.

The thing is you just probably don't wanna leave me in one spot for too long, otherwise I'll just, yeah.

Ble.

Okay.

Okay.

Um, so we've covered a lot, haven't we, um, already.

Tell me, what is it to kind of, what is it, how, how important or how does it feel to be here, uh, in your, in your space with your somewhat, you know, autonomous life with, you know, a space that you can grow food.

Mm-hmm.

Have your bees mm-hmm.

Have your family.

'cause I'm trying to get, give the listeners and the viewers a sense of sort of where we are.

You don't have to like, name every plant, whatever, but just, yeah.

Like, it's, it's, it's clearly it was an important thing to, for you to do at some point.

It was.

So like how we got here?

Is that what you're asking?

Yeah, well pretty much how we got here.

Well maybe frame, maybe just start by framing up what we are looking at and what, what's actually here.

Okay.

Let's do that.

Yeah.

And then I'll take you back to day one.

Okay.

Sarah hitting the ground.

Yeah.

First day of life, we'll go, we'll go back to that.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, yeah.

We, we are gonna get that granular, ah, I'm gonna get that deep.

Okay.

So let's start with what we are looking at and sort of set the scene for people as to what, what's what's here and what you've actually developed here.

Oh, right, okay.

Yes, yes.

Um, how many, how many years ago did you, did you arrive here?

So we, uh, moved in here 11 years ago.

Would've been May of 11 years ago.

And we looked at so many properties we rented for a while, our first homestead.

And, um, and I looked at so many places and my husband's like, Nope, nope, nope.

And we got to this place and it just felt like, it wasn't this like aha moment where I thought it was gonna be like butterflies and roses.

It just felt like this piece inside of me, you know?

And, um, and a couple, it was a for sale by owner property, which was such a blessing because property around us.

Is extremely expensive in our area and even just increasing in value.

Um, so to be able to own a piece of land in the county that we live in is just incredible.

So then we just started developing, like I was sharing, we put the peach orchard in right away.

Um, the garden was down in the front where the asparagus is, and so we moved the garden up top and just learning new, like learning the soil was extremely difficult, you know?

And then we went to wood chip gardening because we heard about it and learned about it, and I was like, there is no way that anything is gonna grow in wood chips.

And it, it did.

And I was like, this is amazing.

It was the first amazing garden we had, but we kept our, our garden down in the bottom there.

Like we have asparagus.

I mean, there was asparagus there from the previous owners.

Um, so we just kept that there and we allowed it to, we, we.

We put more asparagus in.

I feel like that was an experimental, like that part of the garden is definitely experimental and I, I have plans for new plans for it next year.

Um, it gets pretty wet down there.

Mm-hmm.

So we run our chicken that's right by the road.

Right?

Yeah.

We run our chi, our meat birds down there sometimes in that open area where it gets a little soggy.

Yeah.

Um, have you got any birds on at manna?

Have you got meat birds?

No.

No.

We actually just do one round of meat birds now.

Yeah.

Because I often, I'm a, I'm a hoarder of food.

Are you like that?

Do you hoard food at all?

Yeah, like I, I'm like, I'm not gonna have enough.

I wanna make sure I have enough in the freezer from my family.

And so I pull out chickens from two years ago and my husband is like, um, we just butchered chickens.

Like I'm not butchering anymore.

So, yeah.

Um, so we're just, we do 50 at a time.

Ah, do you do like Joel style?

Mm-hmm.

The tractors and we pull 'em every day.

Yeah.

And my middle child, she has taken over that operation and um, so you do 50 in one go?

Yeah.

Do you store 'em all at one go?

We do, and then they all go on the, you've got a big freezer, right?

Yeah, we have multiple freezers.

That's, that's a lot of birds.

Yeah, it is.

Well, and uh, one year we did a hundred at a time.

Wow.

And I think that's why I'm like, just catching up.

And I think next season, next summer we may have to do a hundred or maybe even 75.

So we did a round in the spring, and then we did another round at the end of spring.

Yeah.

So here we have a season where we could do, so I do, uh, we raise freedom ranger color yields.

Are you familiar with those?

No.

That sound exciting.

So they're the meat bird.

They're a particular, they're a me bird variety.

Yeah.

They're not the big white Cornish cross.

I know Joel raises those, and a lot of people do because they're fast growing and they're, I think six to eight weeks grow out.

But we found that they don't do well in the heat for us here, and they sit by their feeder and just eat and eat.

And so the color yields are awesome.

And the hatchery is just like 15 minutes down the road and I can pick 'em up.

I don't have to like, you know, have them shipped in.

And, um, and they grow, I think it takes 12 weeks.

12, 12 weeks.

But they're happy birds.

And when you move their pen, you can hear 'em click, click like eating, and they, and they're happy to grow, eat a feed of the grass.

Oh yeah.

And they do the, do the foraging.

Yeah.

Cool.

Yeah.

Oh wow.

Yeah.

So meat birds, this year we, um, we don't have pigs this year.

We.

Found a, a grower that will raise them for us.

And it's about the same price.

So Oh, as in you, you're happy to get the finished product from there?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Right.

Well, so we have, um, we have a mobile butcher around us.

Oh, awesome.

Do you have anything like that?

Yeah, we do.

Okay.

Yep.

Best.

Yeah, it is awesome.

So they don't actually butcher, they just come out, do the kill gut, clean up the animal, and then take it back to the butcher shop and process it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then they'll pack it.

And then pack it, yeah.

And what, what, what sort of animals have they done for you?

So they've done our pigs.

My brother-in-law raises a steer, and so he goes out to do the steer.

Mm-hmm.

But he's getting rid of the pig operation this year, so we're like, we're gonna have to load pigs on a trailer and that's not fun.

Um, and so he also raises.

Pigs.

He does the woodlock pigs.

Oh, fantastic.

So why not?

Yeah, she's, yeah.

That's great.

Well, again, it's as long as you know where it's from and it's kind of, you know, all done mm-hmm.

To your high standards.

Yeah.

So I imagine you've got three and a half acres here.

Mm-hmm.

Having a designated pig area.

Mm-hmm.

That'd be pretty messy.

And you know, they bog things up and they root round and carry on.

Yeah.

So it wasn't actually, you don't funs your neighbors going, you are goddamn pigs.

Yes.

No, no.

They actually, in the corn, in GMO corn, that is a funny story.

We, when we first got pigs here, we raised pigs on his parents' property.

Um, when we first got started, that first year homesteading, we dove in.

We had chickens, we had a, um, a Holstein steer.

We had pigs.

Uh Oh, here.

No, this was at his, his parents' property had the.

His, um, his mom and dad.

When you say his, as in Oh, my husband.

Husband.

Sorry.

Yep.

Now what's his name?

Brooke.

My husband's name is Brooke.

Brooke?

Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Cool.

Yeah.

I wanna get to him 'cause he's doing some cool stuff.

Oh yeah, yeah, yeah.

I was just telling you, uh, yeah, he's a taxidermist.

Yeah.

And, uh, does some really amazing stuff, uh, as far as like animal artistry and, um, so that's what he, he does full time and then he's the, the farmer here.

He, yeah.

Farmer Mr.

Fix it.

Yep.

Pretty much Mr.

Stone Wall builder, right?

Yeah.

Shelf builder and everything.

Yeah.

Cool.

He said, well, he is dad and he always comes home and he says, I'm not fixing one more thing.

'cause he's always fixing something.

Do you always have a big list for of things, things to do?

I've learned not to make lists for him.

That was a big no-no.

So what, how do you use, like, leave a note with one big note?

Well, we make a list together.

Usually on a Sunday or a Saturday we'll get together and we'll like, you know, we sit on the porch and have coffee and he's like, okay, what needs to be done?

And we make a long list of things that need to be done for week.

For the, for the week.

Mm-hmm.

And then we can just check it off.

So we do it together.

Yeah.

Cool.

Because I've learned that if I make the list for him, then I get in trouble because.

He's gotta agree.

Yeah.

And it's gotta be eye to eye.

Okay.

I'm accountable.

Mm-hmm.

Yeah, that's a good idea.

Yeah, it's a nice way to do it.

Yeah.

It works out really well.

And then we get the children involved too, so we're like, Hey, what, what do you guys need done?

And we all pitch together.

They have a family, bit of a family.

Pow Wow.

That's cool.

Because they're older now and they can, uh, they help out and they all have their little rolls.

Like I said, Hannah was doing the chickens for a while and we butcher, we butcher all together.

Um, and even the pigs for a while, we were butchering the pigs together.

But then we let that to a butcher because we were wasting a lot of the hams, the, the bacon, the things that could be smoked, you know?

Okay.

By the end of the day, we're like, we're done.

We're gonna put it in a freezer and we'll get to it.

And then we wasted a lot of food.

And that you don't wanna waste it when you're, you know, it's hard work and you've done it and you experimented and you, yeah, okay.

Yeah, yeah.

You tick the box, not so to tick the box as in well, you know, that it's like, okay, I know what it's like and we know how to do it.

I mean, my husband, my husband's a hunter, so he know we process our own deer and so Cool.

Yeah.

But yeah, with that first pig we bought, we brought here, we brought one pig home.

We had the wire super hot up top, and uh, we had a couple strands.

We're like, oh, he's good.

Came down and we heard the big squeal and we went up and he wasn't there.

Oh, he'd just gone, he got out like that.

They screamed before they hit the bar.

Yes.

He was out and they chased him all throughout the community here.

And um, and I think there was a Facebook post that went out and I met new neighbors.

Um, they went across the main road.

He went across, across the main road.

I think he was gone for a week.

And finally our neighbors up the road, uh, that's how I met them.

They're like, is anyone missing a pig?

And I guess someone tagged me on Facebook and I was like, yes, that's us.

And so our neighbors chased, like ran him down till he was so tired and he couldn't like, move anymore.

Yeah.

And we got him home.

So yeah.

Classy.

And then he, he went into the freezer eventually.

He did.

Eventually we put him in the barn.

Uh, we put him down where he would've lots of, after he recovered lots of, um, electric and high tinsel fencing so that he wouldn't escape.

Mm.

Classic.

Yeah.

I know Joel, he, um, he trains his for a couple of weeks.

Oh.

And I think he trains them.

And we might do a similar thing.

They train them.

So that if they do escape, they don't escape.

Escape.

Yes.

You know, they somehow we up some sort of thing.

Yeah.

Um.

And what else?

So you got you and you've got, um, orchards, you, you, you planted some, um, what were these ones here again?

So we have peach trees, peach trees, mostly peach.

We had some apricot, we planted some cherry.

Some of those didn't make it.

Um, cherries Are cherries a bit temperamental?

They are.

And um, lots of elderberry bushes.

Yeah.

That have just taken off and multiplied.

Oh great.

And it's great because that is something now that I usually teach a class on that you know, how to harvest elder berries and how to put them in the freezer, how to make syrup and um, it's a big shindi.

It's like a big party when all the women come together and we just kind of, you know, bag 'em up.

And what about the men?

They get men doing that sort?

Well, I don't get many men to my classes.

How rude Sometimes I know it's mostly women.

Is it your idea?

What does your advertising look like?

Is it Well, women welcome.

And just men of us not into that sort of thing.

I guess it's not sometimes the wine making class.

I had a wine making class that I had some men come to.

It's raining.

Perfect.

We need that.

It hasn't rained yet.

You, it hasn't rained yesterday, right?

It did rain a little bit.

Yeah.

It's been really dry here.

Really hot.

Um, that'll cool things down here.

It will.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Um, so, peaches.

Yes.

Um, cherries.

You've got blueberries.

Blueberries.

Blueberries and pears.

And the pears and the blueberries were here.

Um, yeah.

And how much stuff, how much stuff aren't, or are you buying then?

Like, I don't know.

Do you buy, I mean, you can't grow rice here.

No.

Wheat.

Oh, wheat.

Wheat.

I've, I think my grocery bill is usually cheese or raw milk from our farmer.

Sometimes meat, but not a lot of meat.

Um, yeah, not a lot of meat.

Mostly milk, like mostly dairy and then some fruit.

Because you saw our peach trees, they don't really have much, many peaches on 'em.

So that ebbs and flows.

And I think, I think Joel talks about this too, like one season you'll have a bumper crop of cucumbers and one year it's tomatoes and it just ebbs and flows and you know, sometimes like our blackberry bushes died, like, and I think that's with farming and homesteading, you just have to roll with the punches and, and be appreciative of what you have in the season.

Totally.

And be grateful for it.

You know, I'm sure this garden's gonna be grateful for this rain.

Oh yeah.

This rain right now.

Absolutely.

Um, so and what about the milk?

So, so do you, have you done, 'cause MAD's you met before.

Yeah.

She was wondering about your, you know, cheese and stuff.

Yeah.

Do you ever get raw milk and then like turn it into, um Oh.

Bini or do any sort of value add for the milk?

Yeah, I do.

I mean, when we, did you make cheeses?

When we had, when our cow was in, uh, was in full.

That was so fun.

That summer it was hot and we were making cheese, but we had so much fun.

My daughters and I, and we were making, Parmesan was our favorite.

So making you made parm?

Yeah.

Really?

Yeah.

Oh, Lula's gonna love that.

Oh my gosh.

She, she like eats it like Yeah.

A rat.

Oh yeah.

She just loves it.

Yeah.

Really.

And par, like homemade Parmesan cheese is so much better.

Really.

And the cool thing about parm is, you know, when you're ha when you have raw milk, you're always like, okay, what do I do with the cream?

Do I keep it on the milk or do I skim it off and make butter and sour cream, and all those yummy things.

Mm-hmm.

With Parmesan cheese, you, it's skim milk, so you can still take, so you use that milk?

Yeah.

You take the cream off and what's left over.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Which is the, so you can take the cream and make the butter and the sour cream and all the yummy things.

You can use that one.

And then use the skim milk for, do you make a big, um, wheel, or how big, how big wheel do you have?

It was a six pound wheel, so it's probably, I would say six inches bread and butter plate on the size.

Yeah, I would say so.

Really a small one is about like a dessert plate.

Right.

Do you have a recipe for that?

Um, I use Ricky Carroll.

Are you familiar with Ricky Carroll?

She's up in Massachusetts, I believe.

Right.

Her book is called Home Cheese Making.

Yeah.

Okay.

I have used her 'cause I started making cheese when I was, oh gosh.

That was like 15 years ago.

We didn't have our own dairy.

We didn't even have our own dairy cow, but I was so infatuated.

I'm like a cheese lover.

Do you love cheese?

Oh, oh my gosh.

Right.

If a, if a doctor said to me, you have to stop eating cheese or he will dial, so, yeah, exactly.

I'd like be crying and like, well, I did have to, I had to give up, like my, my youngest daughter was, she could not tolerate any dairy, so I had to give up dairy for a while and I was like, this is is, but I'll do anything for you.

Tragedy.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, but, wow.

Um, yeah, so.

Yes.

Uh, but now when I buy it, I don't make like rounds of cheese because now I can, I can find raw cheese around us.

Yeah, and I was sharing that with you like earlier, that I think it's so amazing.

When we started, we were doing all the things because we couldn't find pastured meat.

We couldn't find, you know, the raw cheese.

I was actually going to a dairy that his mom took me to at milking time, opened the tank and would get my milk, and now there's more and more dairies that are actually bottling milk and have a certificate to you to sell it to the public.

Before that, it was all like, okay, we're, you know, the honor system, put your money in the coffee can and don't tell anyone.

Right?

Don't tell many people.

Because it's legal in Pennsylvania where we're at, not all states.

It's legal, it's raw milk is legal here.

Illegal.

Illegal, illegal.

Legal.

Legal, legal.

Legal.

Like you're allowed to sell it.

But you had to, you have to have a, um, like the certificate.

Yeah.

You have to have, you know, you have to be checked by the state.

Yeah.

And it can only be milk, it can't be the cream, it can't be the yogurt.

Um, that kind of thing.

And so, so is it really legal, you know, if you still have to have a Yeah, it's it's still regulated, isn't it?

It's regulated, yeah.

Whereas some states it's Pet Milk, you can sell it as Pet Milk.

And so you, we bought a bottle of Pet Milk the other day.

Did you?

Where was that at?

That was at White Oak Pastures.

And it's okay.

I've seen bottles of calf milk.

Mm-hmm.

Okay.

It's like, it's ambiguous, but it's reason, it's carf, you know, either feed it to a calf or it's, it's the milk of that a calf has to drink.

Yeah.

You know, so that makes sense.

Or there's one in Australia called Cleopatra's bath milk for cosmetic use only.

Okay.

Which is the only use I, I always bathe in milk all the time.

All the time.

When I'm a little itchy sometimes my complexion.

Yeah.

So good.

That's why your complexion is, yeah, that's it.

Yeah.

A bit milky.

Um, how do we get the milk?

Oh geez.

Food.

Oh, cheese.

Yes.

Yes.

Cheese and food.

And so, yeah.

So my grocery bill is mostly, um, dairy products and some fresh fruits.

Yeah.

And vegetables.

And I, I'm a sucker for farm stands.

I'm a sucker for them.

Yeah.

My husband's like, why are you going to farm stands?

We grow all of this.

I'm like, I know, but I love the cute little farm stands and the people and, and we're all supporting each other.

Yeah.

And maybe they've got a different type of ill and tomato, you, you guys aren't growing.

Yeah.

Or I dunno, some things can be a bit outta season, I guess.

Right.

As well.

Or your peaches might have done well this year.

Right, exactly.

And yeah.

And going back to like creating your community, you know, when we were starting, we didn't have this and I felt like we had to do a lot on our own, but we loved it and we fell in love with just like, learning.

And we're like, oh, those green beans are ours.

What else can we grow?

You know, and what else can we can?

And.

And now it's like, oh, I'm okay releasing.

Like, I'm gonna buy a bushel of peaches from this farmer that's raising them organically.

Or I'm gonna get my brick of organic cheese, your raw cheese, you know, from this farmer.

And I love that.

I can support, we can support each other and I don't have to rely solely on me and I can do other fun things like get cheap, you know, and learn, I reckon.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

Um, hang on, I'll just make a note of that.

Mm-hmm.

Um, so let's go back to day one.

Sarah appeared somewhere.

Yeah.

Where did you appear?

Not far from here or long way from here.

Oh no.

I'm like, I grew up 30 minutes north of here.

Really?

Yeah.

My husband's from, he's from this area I'm sharing.

He, his, uh, his grandfather was an organic farmer in this county, like the first of like.

First of many organic farmers.

So how long what, what, what, what timeframe are we talking about?

His, his grandfather.

So that's, so that was in the eighties or eighties?

Eighties.

Your eighties, but you No, um, your husband's grandfather.

Mm-hmm.

In terms of organic farming?

Organic farming I think was like seventies.

I believe his story was, he did start out as, you know, the commercial?

Yeah.

Using all the sprays, but he had a lot of respiratory issues and just had that funny taste in his mouth and was like, what is this?

Mm, I'm not.

So he went a different way.

And that was around here?

No.

Yeah.

It's just right around here.

Yeah.

And that was our first homestead that we lived on.

He had passed away.

I never got to meet him, unfortunately.

Um, but he had passed away and the farm was sold to a family friend.

No one in the family took over farming.

Um, I think there were, there's a few that do have like some produce stands and stuff that are still in that, you know, they have their own gardens and that love of gardening.

But no one took over the farm.

Uh, so it's like, uh, Mennonite the plain community now that have it.

And so the farmhouse, or it wasn't even a farmhouse, it was a modular 'cause the farmhouse burnt down.

And so the modular came up for rent.

And my husband moved in and then we got married on that.

On the, on the same farm?

On the farm, yeah.

Oh, that's cool.

Yeah, it was really cool.

'cause it was just a separate, you know, they farmed the land, but the farmhouse they just rented or the modular they rented out.

Did he, did he remember being there as a kid and everything?

Oh my word.

Yeah.

Yeah, absolutely.

And yeah, so it was just, it was so great and we had to run outta the place and we could, we had two big gardens.

We had one in the back and then, uh, I came home one day and he had the front yard tilled up.

Um, and we had chickens and like I said, we didn't have pigs there.

We had chickens and meat birds.

Um, and then we had a baby and we just dove right in.

It was so much fun, you know.

So, going back to, so we get a sense of, um, where that urge to Homestead came from.

Mm-hmm.

Um, born 20 minutes away.

Mm-hmm.

And I, yeah, go ahead.

Yeah.

So what, what was in, into what sort of situation?

Not on a farm or on a farm?

No, not on a farm.

Not on a farm.

I actually grew up, yeah, kind of.

I grew up on a Christmas tree farm, an exotic animal, and Christmas tree farm, my exotic animal.

It was, yeah, it was crazy.

Like, like not a zoo?

No, my, um, I, my parents got married at the age of five.

My, my parents were asked by my great aunt and uncle to come and manage this big property that they bought, and we lived in the barn that was renovated and my parents managed the Christmas tree farm and my dad worked full, full time.

Um, and then my aunt and uncle started, or my great aunt, uncle, like, started in this.

They had this love for like exotic animals.

So I grew up with elk and camp.

That's camels.

We love, we we love barking doors.

Okay.

Sorry.

That's fine.

Um, elk and camel and, um, oh my word.

Fainting goats and pygmy goats and, oh, I've seen videos of them.

Did you see?

Oh, those are the first, yeah.

You scare 'em and they just fall over.

Why is that?

Why is that?

There's a, that's a defense mag.

Yeah.

I think a defense mentioned is that kinetic thing, like there's like a line of fainting goats.

Yeah.

What a classic.

It's crazy.

And was this place open to the public or was it private thing?

It was open to the public.

So every Christmas or like starting in November, uh, people would come out and tag their tree and then when it was time they would come out and cut their Christmas tree.

We had a big barn that had all kinds of crafts in and we had wagon rides.

'cause my one uncle had, um, Clydesdale's and Cool.

It was, it was quite an experience growing up.

So people literally go to a tree and go, I want you Yeah.

In six weeks time.

Yeah.

They tag it and then how they chop 'em down.

Oh, we had sauce.

Yeah.

Oh, they, they, they, they get us.

They would travel it down.

Yeah.

So pick it on the tree or, or we had, you know, helpers that were hired on the farm that would go out and cut it for you.

Do it for them.

Mm-hmm.

But I don't know how they remembered which, where their tree was.

'cause have you ever, do you, like how do you celebrate?

We just don't get it.

We just get it.

Well we generally, when we're at home and on our farm mm-hmm.

We just go and chop down a little, um, pine tree.

Okay.

Because we've got sort of rows of pine trees in different stages of Yeah.

Maturity because they were planted years ago.

Okay.

In the little sees are coming.

Yeah.

So we just do that.

Or we have just got small eucalypt or branches.

Mm-hmm.

Or willow.

Bits of willow.

'cause at that time and Christmas we are summer.

Yeah.

So willows are big and weepy and whatever.

Okay.

Um, yeah.

But no, no, I've never actually gone and got my own tree from a farm.

Yeah, so it's a thing like you, there's Christmas tree farms.

I know.

I'd rather go out into the woods and just chop one down just instead of go, it's so commercial, you know?

Yeah, totally.

It's so commercial and it was, it was really commercial.

We had the hot dogs and the hot, hot cocoa and, and then at 12, uh, we moved, my parents moved because my mom had, uh, my sister.

And it was just a lot.

It was a lot to take care of.

And so, um, we moved into a development and it was just like shock.

Urban, urban, suburban situation.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And you seemed like in the same sort of home.

It was very close by.

Yeah.

Um, but yeah, so that was a different kind of childhood.

So I went from like living like vicariously, like free and just being able to ride my bike and do whatever I wanted to.

Um, my mom had a little garden.

My mom didn't can a whole lot, but a little garden.

And then they had a little garden growing up too, just tomatoes.

But then I asked my dad, can I extend the garden?

You know, I just had this love for just herbal medicine and essential oils and natural healing and all of that.

And so then when I met my husband and we, um.

That first year we, I was sharing, we watched Food Inc.

It's so cliche that one documentary and it was like, where is our food coming from?

'cause I was pregnant and I was like, where's our food coming from?

Um, and we were kind of like, he grew up really crunchy.

His mom was very, like I say, crunchy, like organic and watched what we ate.

And so I didn't have to struggle with him at all with like, okay, we're gonna eat this way now.

Like we are on the same page.

You were, did you do, did you meet like in the aisle at Macro Foods or something?

Or how did It was a blind date and I was like, oh.

Oh was it?

Yeah, it was a total blind date.

Really?

So some friends set you up?

Yes.

Did they?

It was actually his mom and a, a friend of my sister's.

Oh, classic.

Did they think these guys are a bit crunchy together?

So, I think so.

We'll just see how they go.

I don't know how funny, he had my phone number for six months and I was like, what were you waiting for?

He was a hunter.

He was never gonna get married.

And then I guess he just, he was married to the wild.

He was, he was married to the, to his rifle.

He was.

He was, yeah.

Wow.

Wow.

So classic.

Yeah.

And uh, that's just how it started.

I don't, I don't know.

And what about, so, so, so, so what about from, from in schooling?

Did you, did you pursue subjects at school, which were a bit, um, a bit that way?

Or were you gonna, were you thinking in, I know you caught what, what do you call secondary schools from when you're a third college?

College, college university.

No, I actually, I, I didn't know what I wanted to be for the rest of my life.

Who does at the age of 18.

Right.

I think it's silly.

And then very few verbal.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And then that's, yeah.

And then so I was like, I'll be a teacher.

'cause I love teaching people, I love children.

I love teaching, I love education.

So I went to be a teacher.

Nothing, like, nothing on my radar.

But I don't think, I was like, I love my parents.

They're amazing.

But I grew up in that generation where.

You go to highs, you go to, you know, school, public school, then you go to college.

Mm.

But there's no, like, okay, where's, what are your gifts?

What are you talented at?

And you know, I, I love that I get to homeschool now and see my children's giftings and like, move them in that direction.

Um, kindly gently, you know, 'cause they're teens and tweens, um, and they're still figuring things out.

But I had no one, even though like my, I, my love was for, I loved the dirt.

I loved growing things.

I loved natural medicine.

Um, but I don't think I made a mistake going to college to be a teacher because I'm right back where I wanna be.

You know, my love of growing food and, um, healing our family naturally and, and just doing things unconventionally, you know?

Um, so no, my training was not in any of this, any of it.

And actually when we first started growing our own food, homesteading wasn't even a term.

I think I watched.

Justin Rhodes, like we were doing exactly what they were doing at that same time, you know, and I watched his first video and I was like, Hey, we're doing that same thing.

So there's term homestead.

Like we didn't even, we just dove in and, and now it's such a popular thing and I'm a little salty about it, but I'm all set.

It's salty.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I dunno.

In why I think that ro like homesteading is romanticized to a point where it doesn't show the ugly side of the hard work, like the a hundred degree weather where you have to be out picking tomatoes in your, in your greenhouse or, um, the death of animals, the, you know, the, the ebbs and flows of the growing season.

Like it's been super dry here.

And what do you do when the weld runs dry?

Mm.

You know?

So where, where are people picking up?

The, getting the impression, what, how, what, how is it portrayed?

That?

And I, I don't disagree at all.

Mm-hmm.

Um, WW homesteading is.

Uh, is maybe not such a big thing in Australia.

Okay.

And maybe it's called something else.

Mm-hmm.

Maybe it's just like organic living or whatever else.

Yeah.

But, um, I dunno that it's this bigger movement over there.

Okay.

But what, what, what is it, what medium I guess is it Instagram?

Is it, is it websites?

Is there particular people?

You don't have to name them of course, but Right.

Like giving the impressions all beer and Skittles and lovely and nothing goes wrong and you can feed the world and it's just Yeah.

Fluffy.

I think it's, um, I think it's a combination.

I think it's a lot of Instagram you have.

'cause Instagram, which I love Instagram, I've met some amazing people.

But you're getting the highlight reel.

You're getting the, the highlight story and you're not getting the everyday behind the scenes.

Behind the scenes.

Um, you know, we got some, we got some riff for, you have those animal activists out there that are like, why are you raising.

How could you raise your animals and eat your own animals?

How could you raise pets and eat your pets?

I'm like, no, they're not pets.

They're, I'm raising them ethically and humanely and they're giving us love.

We're giving them love back.

You know, like it is this full circle.

And I think we just really have a disconnect between, um, taking a life and the life that that's, it's gonna give to us.

Um, we're afraid of death and what that looks like.

We've become so disconnected to our food system.

Like I'm getting goosebumps because it's so convenient.

We've been sold out to convenience and materialism, right?

We want it all.

So we want the homestead, right?

We want the homestead with the beautiful animals, the beautiful white farmhouse or whatever, you know, whatever you wanna live in.

The acreage, the beauty of it, but we don't want the hardship of it.

We.

And so, because the hardship is like, that doesn't sell books or sell right?

The story.

Mm-hmm.

No.

And so going back to like just connection to the earth and connection to our, just our ancestry.

Like just, this is what our ancestors did.

Right.

And I don't, you can put all the terms to it.

You can put all the, the different, you know, new catchy phrases.

But this is what our ancestors did.

And I talked to some of my friends that also farm and they have lots of children.

And I, one in particular, she's like, she gets so upset.

I'm like, she's like, this is what our grandparents did.

This is what our great grandparents did.

Why does it have to be so romanticized?

Why can't this just be right what we do?

Yeah.

What can't be normal?

Well, it's normal for many of us.

Mm-hmm.

Um, but I guess.

There's to get people on the team.

I guess it's, it is, I'm not supporting that by any means.

Yeah, yeah.

But I'm just thinking the, the psychology of it.

Mm-hmm.

You know, you're not gonna say, Hey, you should try home sitting.

Yeah.

It's really fucking hard.

Yeah.

And shit's gonna die, and you're gonna bloody wonder what you're doing and the whole time.

But it's worth doing.

Yeah.

Because 'cause great-great-great grandma used to do it.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Like, that's not gonna sell.

Right?

Absolutely.

No.

So I guess we know why.

Yeah.

But it's a pity that, that maybe it's, um, it's, it's headed down that, that way.

Yeah.

And I guess at the end of the day, like people, people are gonna find that out, aren't they?

Yeah.

And if they're upset and they're, they're like, oh, it was tricked.

It's like, well, yeah, you weren't really, you just maybe didn't do the homework.

Right, exactly.

And I, I think people aren't, they're afraid of, they're afraid of death.

They're afraid to fail.

And that comes with, with homesteading, that comes with this, like, that comes with life in general.

Right.

Um, you know, my husband and I.

We learned a lot on our own.

We made a lot of mistakes, but we had so much fun doing it.

Like we look back at some of the, the things we did and we're, and we laugh about it now.

I can't even think of any off the top of my head.

You know, we laugh about it, but then it was just like, oh, you know, it was frustrating.

But that's what builds you.

That's the grit.

That's the, that's what I think.

That's what builds your character and that's what bonds you as a family too.

Um, but people come to my classes and they want that hands-on experience because they wanna know that they're, that, oh, I'm, I'm doing this, correct.

Oh, I'm, you know, they don't wanna make a mistake and they want that person next to them guiding them.

Um, we didn't have that, you know, I wish we did because, I'm sorry.

You go, well, we didn't have that generation, we didn't have, like, my parents didn't really.

They weren't doing, they didn't raise their own food.

His parents weren't either, like they, his grandparents grew vegetables.

Right.

But not animals.

So we had to, we had to learn a lot, but it was fine.

But if you hadn't had the, the failures and the hardships mm-hmm.

Um, you wouldn't be probably as good as a homestead as you are.

You know what I mean?

Like, like it's challenges and the trials and tribulations and the lessons you learn and you know, it's only a mistake if you do it twice.

Yeah.

You know, that sort of, you know, that, that, that is, I mean, that's like you said.

Oh yeah.

Isn't that life, you know, if we all sort of follow a prescription Yeah.

You know, like you take having classes here and showing people how to do it.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I trust that they go home and they kind of adapt it to their situation.

You know, their, their zucchinis aren't gonna be the same as your zucchini always.

You know, that sort of thing.

Or they're like, but they come back to me and they're like, oh, it's really that simple.

I'm like, yes.

Our brain tells us that.

It's gonna be hard to protect us.

Right.

That's just the psychology of it.

Like that's, our brain tells us this is gonna be too hard.

And we say, okay, this is gonna be too hard.

We're gonna have to give this much time.

It's gonna be frustrating.

Mm-hmm.

And then when we actually do something, we're like, oh, that wasn't that hard.

You know?

Like, and it's new too.

Yeah.

So they're gonna, they're sort of like apprehensive.

Mm-hmm.

Um, I guess, or, you know, it's, and it probably would take them twice as long to do the first time.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

And then they, and so that's, that's great feedback you get, you know?

Yeah, it is.

It's nice to hear that because that's what people do come to class for.

They're taking that learning curve off.

Because yes, you can go to YouTube, you can go to Instagram, you can go any social media platform, right?

Um, and you can learn something.

But when, and not just that, but you're coming together as a community, so you're building that community because when you're gathered together, I'm like, let's bring back the potlucks.

Let's bring back the ice ice cream socials.

Let's bring back just in-person learning around a table with grandmothers and aunts, and.

You know, the butchering that the butchering used to be done, it was like a Saturday event, right?

Like all the men would go down there, everyone and they'd butcher, and the women would be up cooking in the kitchen.

And, um, it was a ritual.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And like, that's what I crave and that's what I crave for people to experience and to come back to.

But if they can't, it's awesome that there's farms around us that they can go and they could, you know, visit.

If it's an open door, it's, it's the next best thing to do themselves.

Yeah.

Isn't it?

Oh, absolutely.

And those, I mean, they're really healthy rituals too, aren't mm-hmm.

Aren't they?

Like the, the coming together may, maybe it's to turn all the extra tomatoes into passato.

Yeah.

And all the, you know, whoever does that.

Mm-hmm.

And the boys are out there.

Yeah.

Make with a pig and making.

Salami or whatever it is.

Whatever the ritual is, you know, again, that was back in many, um, generations ago was a normal thing.

And what, and, and a lovely healthy community-based rituals.

I mean, what are we, we, if we took them out of our lives mm-hmm.

And for many people, they aren't, were never in their lives.

Right.

What, what healthy rituals do they have?

You know?

Yeah.

I, I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't, I don't know.

'cause that's what I think.

Well, what would I do?

I'd just be, 'cause sometimes when my girls get bored, I'm like, okay, what are we gonna do?

What is there to do?

I'm like, okay, well we can go hiking, we can go, I, I think nature right away.

But then I'm like, oh, we can go shopping.

We can go, you know, get new clothes.

And I, is it the vacations that, you know, these rituals have been replaced with pleasure stuff?

Stuff?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And it leaves us empty in void.

And we look at the rituals as like, Ooh, I don't know if I could ever do that.

And I thought the same thing.

Ooh, I don't know if I could ever eviscerate a chicken.

Ugh.

But now I'm like, oh, why I do it?

It's like, and I actually look forward to our family chicken butchering day as gross.

It is.

As it is.

But I think it's because we all do it together.

We raise those chickens, we butcher them together, we cook them, we eat them.

And it's this whole circle that, that brings so much satisfaction.

And so, yeah.

Anyone that's listening, I encourage you just get your hands in.

Like, don't be afraid.

Go on, kill a chicken, do it.

Just go kill chicken.

Like, and also literally you just said hand, like the hands, the hands in our, um, a little sort of segue mm-hmm.

In a, in the biodynamic workshops that Hamish Mackay and I run.

Mm-hmm.

Um, our two day ones we talk about in many cultures, the head is buried separate to the body.

Hmm.

And that is because of the belief essentially that the, the, the body, excuse me.

Mm-hmm.

Um, the body becomes the head in, in your next life.

Okay.

So what the body does in this life somewhat determines the activities of, and the thinking I should say.

Yeah.

In the next life.

Okay.

So you take that back down to children Uhhuh, which is kind of where we start navigating the world and Yeah.

And, and, and find our gifts, hopefully encouraged by parents and friends.

Yeah.

And case in point, you know, killing chickens.

Um, so I'll rephrase that.

Preparing chickens, you know, because there's different d ways you can there calling chickens.

Yeah.

You're calling chickens, you know, making passata.

Yeah.

Um, uh, making, using your hands to do woodwork or construction, all those, you, those creative things, it's all about being green.

Creative with your hands.

Yeah.

And being purposeful.

And if we, if we sort of look at that, um, cultural belief of the body becomes the head in the next life, like Yeah.

For a child who's not, or a person who hasn't done that in their life mm-hmm.

That becomes the thinking in the next life.

Yeah.

You know, I'm not sure if you do into, um, reincarnation something, it doesn't matter if you are or not.

Yeah.

But, but that, you know, that's again, it's another motivation that I have.

Okay.

To make sure my children.

Have those rituals of creation.

Mm-hmm.

And, you know, it might be financially beneficial down the track 'cause they make stuff and they sell it.

Yeah.

It may be just the pleasure of making something mm-hmm.

The pleasure of having something that is there in perpetuity.

Like, you know, your husband's done the rock wall.

Yeah.

You know, and many other things.

Yeah.

It's like that is a, that's, that's, that's a style or, or a, um, reflection of, of, of, of creativity and, and yeah.

Because it's the connection.

Homeschool, uh, uh, home.

Home, sorry, home setting is as well, you know?

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

On staff.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

Because you have to be, and I think like, you know, um, oh, when you're homesteading too, you can't have all the bells and whistles like, oh, I dream of having that barn beautiful.

You know, beautifully renovated.

I dream of a lot of things on this farm.

But unless you have a lot of money or have come into a lot of money, then it's just not possible.

And you have to work with your hands.

You have to be creative to be able to take something from the junkyard, you know, and make it into a goat shelter or what have you, you know?

And, and I always say homesteaders are hoarders because there's usually piles of things.

I might need that.

Exactly.

I only gone buy one.

Yeah.

It, it irritates me sometimes I'm like, get rid of that junk pile.

But that pile of steel back there has built so many things.

My dining room or my kitchen island, the cow shelter up top.

Um, the drywall that was sitting in this garage here, I cussed my husband out.

I was like, get that drywall outta here.

It's just taking up space.

And now it's like, actually, yeah, he got rid of it.

It's up on the wall and we renovated, that's our classroom.

So, you know, we have these piles of things because we may need them.

Mm-hmm.

And you don't just go buy new.

You know, that's not practical.

Definitely not.

And, and your daughters see that, right?

Mm-hmm.

I mean, you can go to the extreme and be a complete hoarder and it's like, oh my God, this is just too much.

Yeah.

But your, your girls seeing your resourcefulness.

Mm-hmm.

They see dad go and make something out of the stuff that was sitting in a pile for a year.

Mm-hmm.

Like that, that, that's, that's, you know, I would suggest is a, is a good influence, you know?

Yeah.

That's like, oh, okay.

It's not, you know, they, they don't sort of end up in the, in the throwout sort of world, world, the throw outs and, you know, that culture of, oh, it's, yeah, it'll be odd.

I'll just go and buy another one.

I mean, and that's just, that's, that's that regenerative spirit too, that resourcefulness, that, you know, waste, not whatnot.

Right.

We don't wanna waste, um, food.

We don't wanna waste, we just don't wanna throw away things.

Right.

We, and, and why would I wanna spend my money on something that's gonna break.

Right.

Why can't I just build it or find an antique that'll last for years to come?

You know?

I mean, it's an antique 'cause it's lasted that long anyway.

Yeah, exactly.

So they're generally always, it always does.

Yeah.

Feel better.

And even just having like you, your shelves and your pantry there mm-hmm.

Massive big slabs.

Mm-hmm.

I mean, what a wonderful resource that is that you use that, who knows, one day you might go, oh my God, there's a table in there.

Yeah.

I swap 'em out with something else.

And, and we've done stuff like that too, you know, and, and being able to, uh, we're referencing, so my pantry, we um, we cuddle.

It's an awesome pan.

Say it's an awesome pantry, dream pantry.

It's like this European, I just, I'm like, it's my European pantry with the rock wall.

And um, but that was a project that we did and that was being resourceful.

And uh, but we cut a hole in the wall and, uh, to a corridor that met the garage.

And one side is like a supply closet for classes and one side is our pantry.

And, um, and my husband, we were debating on what kind of shelving we wanted to get.

And my husband's like, I'm just gonna go to the saw mill.

So then again, you're staying within your community.

You are mm-hmm.

Um, supporting that local, that local guy.

Right.

So instead of going to the big box stores, which we have like, it's called Lowe's, home Depot, those kinds of things, and just buying, you know, a piece of lumber that could be bowed, it might not, it might have imperfections.

Um, and here we got what we wanted and we supported someone in our community that's.

Staying local.

It looks cool.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's awesome.

These shelves are heavier than the stuff that's on, and we had extra then, so then the shelves that are, um, in our kitchen, we just plain down and took the live edge off and made our shelves for our cups and knick-knacks and stuff in the kitchen.

This episode of the Regenerative Journey is brought to you by the Nutrition Academy.

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I wanna get back to gifs.

Mm-hmm.

Um, how do you, so, so you, you're a trained teacher, like, is that Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay.

Mm-hmm.

So, and you mentioned there before, I can't remember quite the context about, um.

Finding your, I think you referenced your daughter's gifts or people's gifts.

Mm-hmm.

I guess as a teacher Yeah.

Of other ki kids, you know, that's a, that's a big responsibility, isn't it?

Mm-hmm.

Like how do you, how do you identify?

There may not be one single answer to this, of course, but, you know, how do you identify children's gifts?

And then what do you do, what do you do about it in a, in a classroom situation?

'cause I guess in a home, home situation, it's, you encourage it.

But when you see, not even kids that you'd say, oh, you are gifted, but like, oh yeah, there's something about you.

There's some Yeah.

Thing.

Mm.

Can it be frustrating?

Can it be, can it be, that's why I left teaching, because it was, I was in the inner city for nine years, so this is in a big, big city.

Is it?

It's not big, but it would be considered a city, you know?

Yeah.

Where you have more of the.

Poverty or the low income.

Okay.

Um, and some more behavioral issues.

But then you have those, those students that were like gems that were the sweetest.

And my first day of teaching, um, I had a door that exited out to the playground and I was thrown in.

It was October, our school start in, um, August here, and I was hired in October to come in.

So a new teacher.

I took over the old teacher and I had this little boy that just was not happy.

And he and his, this is first grade, darted out the back door.

And I'm this like, I grew up rural, right.

You know, I did grow up in a development, it was like a country bumpkin school.

I was like, what do I do you mean he bolted?

He bolted.

Like he ran out the door.

He ended up being like, he's gone.

You teach, I'm gone.

He ended up being like my favorite student.

I see.

He was a sweetheart.

I just, um, but.

So I left because obviously we had, we had a, a second child and I said we agreed that I would stay home when our second child was born.

I always wanted to be a stay at home mom, be home with my babies, raise them.

I dreamed of a property like this ever since I was like 12.

This is what I wanted.

I knew what I wanted.

And, um, and teaching was really difficult because you had to stay with standards.

You know what, you know, it was all data, it was all test scores.

It was how they, it was because of funding, right?

So the higher test scores, the better funding you get as a school.

Yeah.

And so that's not how I was taught in college and that's not how I, it was hard to teach because I saw these children that really needed someone to pull their gifts out.

You know, oh, you're very artistic.

Let's do a project here.

But I wasn't allowed to, you know, my hands were tied.

And so there's some really amazing teachers out there, and I taught with some great teachers.

I don't know if could ever go back again.

I sometimes consider it, but I love homeschooling my children.

And So three daughters?

Yes.

And you, you, you homeschooled all of them through their education kind of thing?

No.

No.

So COVID was that year.

I think like many, I don't know, but it's just Is that when it started, that's when it started.

My children, my oldest was asking to come home.

Yeah.

Um, she's a great student.

She had friends, but living on a farm like this and having to leave it, why would you want to Mm, you know, leave for a whole day, leave your animals, leave, like climbing trees and just that, that play.

Um, and so when COVID hit and we had to do like the online learning and march, um, I was like, no way.

We're not online learning.

We're not doing this, and I'm not sending you back next year.

Like, I could hear like God say, Nope, I've finally been like putting that call on your heart and it, you're, you're teaching.

I was like, okay.

So it was, we had to unschool because I was trained as a teacher.

And all of them except my youngest.

My youngest was in private school for kindergarten.

We always do private school for pre-K and kindergarten, and then they go to public school, which our public school is amazing.

Awesome teachers.

Um, so sorry.

So private.

Oh.

Because I often get 'em mixed up with the UK and Australia.

So private.

So private kindergarten, you like lower?

Yeah.

So is that um, not government spon?

That's not government spon.

Yeah.

'cause it was a, yeah, the public is is a government Australia because it was like, um, Australia.

Yeah.

So it was a okay with you, uh, Christian school.

So it was a religious Sure.

So it was separate from state?

Yeah.

With, yeah.

So that we, yes, they went there pre-K, kindergarten and then public school.

And so Sawyer, our youngest had, uh, like half a year of kindergarten, she didn't even get to ride the school bus 'cause I took her to school.

She didn't have that experience.

Um, so she's pretty much been the one that I've been homeschooling since the beginning.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Tell me, tell me about COVID.

Um.

Because, oh, so one of the repercussions obviously was, um, homeschooling.

Mm-hmm.

Started, I know that a lot, many parents I understand, certainly in Australia, they consider homeschooling because as the children were sent home with homework for months on end, and they actually got to see the crap they were learning.

Mm-hmm.

And kind of like, you know, your teachers are teaching this rubbish.

They went, no, this is not Okay.

Something I want to Okay.

I wanna sort of support, so the, the homeschooling, um, exploded.

Yeah.

In a Australia.

So I say that's a positive.

I look for the positives that came out of COVID.

Um, my children were learning, you know, it was basic math and it wasn't anything like too extreme, extreme like there is today.

Yeah.

You know, um, it was basic stuff, but it was.

I didn't want them masked.

Yeah.

I didn't wanna have them do that.

Um, and so that was a no.

What was the, what was the JAB policy for schools?

Or did you have teachers who had to be jabbed to go, to go to, to be a teacher?

Not sure about that.

I know, that's a good question.

Um, I know here in our state it's not mandatory.

Are not mandatory even though they make it, even, even in the COVID, like in the thick of COVID.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Really?

Yeah, because you can get the religious exemption.

Yeah.

Ah, or what would that, what, what sort or philosophical exemption?

And all I say is this just does, I do not believe in, um, it's like a one sentence thing and they let me alone really, I don't believe in, um, vaccinations for my children.

Um, it, those events, our, our beliefs, and that's all I say, you know, in Australia.

Mm-hmm.

You might, you may be aware of this, the police force, the nursing fraternity mm-hmm.

Teachers, the fire firies mm-hmm.

All have to get jammed.

Really all had to Well, all the medical Yeah.

All people lose their job.

Yeah.

There was, um, they took the teachers, teachers, teachers, I dunno.

And you, and you know what the, the, the irony is it's the best teachers who left.

Huh?

Because, because I mean, I, I hate to say it, but I'm gonna say it.

Yeah.

'cause the, the, the teachers who were awake mm-hmm.

To that and had the interest of the children at heart and their health and the whole thing.

Yeah.

And they're aware of all this bullshit.

Yeah.

They're the ones that left.

Mm-hmm.

And they left and they, they lost the education system.

Oh, yeah.

Lost it was the, it was the, it was the cleverest.

I'm not sure if it was, well, who knows?

It was a cleverest filter and cult They could have done Yes.

To leave all the Yeah.

Yeah.

Teachers that went, oh, that's a good idea.

Yeah.

You know, so I know.

So you bailed.

So, so I, I bailed and I, I, I look for the positive through it all.

And through the positive.

You have the rise in homeschooling.

Mm-hmm.

You have the rise of people that have been awake to what is happening.

Um, there for a while had a lot of anxiety, a lot of like, 'cause my eyes were open, you know, even though we were already like crunchy and stuff, but just crunch.

Little crunchy.

You never heard that term?

Crunchy?

Oh yeah.

What was the other one?

His head salty.

Oh, I was salty.

And a little like, I don't know, rubs me the wrong way.

I dunno.

Crunchy.

Thats funny.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So you were already that.

Yeah.

But just like, why would, our mom was like, why would our government do that to us?

Like, I, I question because I like to think of everything as perfect and.

I don't know.

I'm a dreamer and I'm like, why would, I don't like to look the evil of the world, you know?

And I still tend not to, but my eyes were open to evil and, and the things, and, um, and even going on, you know, the things, everything that's going on now with the, the election and, you know, the, the election year.

Um, I want, I wanna get to that.

Think it's election.

Yeah, go ahead.

You can ask.

No, no, no.

I'll admit.

But no, it's something that came up with Joel yesterday is mm-hmm.

Um, 'cause he's, I guess he's homesteading, you know, on a different scale, a different kind of whole structure, of course, but mm-hmm.

You know, we, we got to that point of, um, you know, and COVID was a real catalyst for so many mm-hmm.

Things good and bad.

Mm-hmm.

But you know, when someone has to depend on someone they don't trust.

That's not a very good situation to be in.

Yeah.

And as parents and people who, in the workforce or just citizens of the country who are told to trust a government.

Yeah.

And within that, different departments like out, you know, I can only reference Australia Health Department.

I mean, what I saw over here, your health department wasn't any, wasn't any better.

Ugh.

Then, you know, like, oh, trust this, you know, they get this thing and you'll be sweet and you'll, and if you don't, you're gonna kill people.

Mm-hmm.

Um, that, and then now the.

You know, the, the curtain has been drawn back.

Mm-hmm.

And there can't be much trust left, I wouldn't imagine with the general populace.

Mm-hmm.

Some will never see that.

They'll always look through their glasses.

Yeah.

It was all fine.

But you know, that's a pretty horrible place for people to be.

Yeah.

Because you still see people wearing masks and I'm like, uh, why are you wearing a mask by yourself in a car?

You know, like the interesting thing, a lot of, a lot of the people I see wearing masks are some of the most unhealthy people you've ever meet.

Yeah.

It's like, okay, so you're wearing a mask for your health.

Yes.

And that's easy to do.

Like, oh, I'm healthy and I'll stop myself getting whatever, but I'm still gonna eat it.

Donut.

Pick a box or what's that thing?

What's that thing?

What's that?

Um, burger in a box.

What is it?

Up and go.

Oh.

In and out.

In and out.

We don't have that here on the East coast, which, or any McDonald's.

That's probably McDonald's.

That's, yeah.

Yeah.

But like that, that's where, because they clearly doing that 'cause just the size of people.

Yeah.

And they're wa literally waddling around in a mask.

Yeah.

But I think I go back and I'm like, wow, you, our eyes are open to like all of the, the, um, the conditioning that had to happen up until that point in COVID, right.

Of people were so blind and so just led astray that they just trusted.

And that's where we were sold out.

We just sold ourselves to, you know, we didn't wanna do the hard work that grandpa did on the farm.

You know, we would go into the city and get a good job or, um, you know, I think things are, hopefully they're turning right or people's eyes are open that.

Um, I don't wanna trust, like I did because I was led astray.

You know?

I trusted and I was led astray.

Um, now, like honestly, I don't, I don't really follow, I don't have, I don't, the only thing I get, the only news I get is if I follow someone on Instagram and I'm like, eh, okay, scroll.

I don't wanna put my eyes to the evil.

I don't wanna put my eyes to that because that just makes me anxious.

It makes me mad.

It makes like, like what?

What do, what do you mean?

Um, well, okay, so just recently, the, or even even through COVID, like the back and forth, the arguing, I had enough of that within family, right?

Ah, right.

Yeah.

Um, taking sides in the last, you know, the last thing, the assassination attempt.

And I'm like that.

I just, I look at it and I look at the, it's just a bunch of clowns.

Mm.

And like, it is such a show to me.

It is a show.

Um, and I don't know what to believe.

And when we put our trust in government or in a president to fix things, it's taking responsibility off of us.

Because what you're doing in your home is way more important than what's happening at the White House.

Like, so you are making a bigger impact by the choices that you're making in your home.

The food that you're feeding your children, the conversations that you're having, the, uh, choice to, um, homeschool, home, educate, or you know, af even if you can't, like just come around the dinner table at night, um, and have the conversations that's more important.

Changing your, you know, building your children up in that next generation.

So I think just putting the trust in who's the next president gonna be and just waiting for the economy to turn around.

No, 'cause you can be doing that now with connecting with.

People in your community, like the local saw mill, the local baker, the local, you know, um, the farmer down the road that maybe grows grain.

Uh, and, and connecting and making those connections, that's gonna be a bigger impact.

Yeah.

That's awesome.

And even just that, you know, creating your own, you know, that community currency, whether it's like they've got grain, you've got cucumbers.

Yeah.

Swap 'em over, but hang on, I'll come and teach you how to pickle the cucumbers.

Yeah.

And you can help me make bread or whatever.

You know, those, those, I mean, that is the, that is the, that is the, the fabric of, you know, of, of a community.

Mm-hmm.

And you know, just again, blowing that out to the world.

Joel said something was great yesterday.

He said, there is no such thing as a global problem.

Yeah.

Right.

Like, we can fix any.

Global problem.

Yeah.

Locally there.

This pesky fly.

No, that's okay.

I'm so used to it.

I'm, I'm know, I'm, I always think, is it, is it a drone?

It probably could be.

Could be.

I know, right?

Just like spying my mind.

This is where my mind goes now through COVID and all the things that A fly drone.

Yeah.

Probably going past and like, had the, the sonar out going beep, beep, beep, government and it's flown in here somehow it's smashed through.

It's like drilled through your fly screen and it's like, now we're on the radar.

Now we're on the radar talking.

We probably already were.

Oh, this.

Yeah.

Um, and he said, you know, and I always reference from a farmer's farming point of view and climate change and all that sort of stuff, you know, we're methane, you guys call it methane.

We call methane.

But the whole methane thing, you know, that's just got heads on it.

But that's another conversation.

But as an example of, okay, farmers.

And there cows, farts and burps are killing the planet.

Mm-hmm.

We've gotta eat less meat and we've gotta eat more veggies and whatever else.

And we've now, we've gotta find out, you know, draw down the carbon and Yeah.

The methane and stop all this terrible stuff happening.

But what happened when Buffalo roamed the poll, you know, like, said that Yeah, I know.

That's exactly what Joel and I said, and he, you know, the rough numbers I have is there, there were 300 million bison alone.

Wow.

Forget the elk.

Mm-hmm.

And the Yeah.

Bloody moose and all those things.

Mm-hmm.

There were 300 million bison in North America, let's just say 400 years ago, three or 400 years ago before they were exterminated.

Yeah.

On purpose.

On purpose.

Yeah.

So the, and, and then Gil said, well, on the, on the earth 500 years ago, there was more biology mm-hmm.

Than there is now.

Oh yeah.

You know?

Oh yeah.

All of the creatures who are fighting and burping and doing all that sort of stuff.

Yeah.

There's less than 300 million as I understand cattle bovine in North America.

Mm-hmm.

So if we just look at bison and bovine, like the domesticated cow.

Yeah.

There's actually less.

But even if they, even if they were faring and bing the same amount, you know, bison to a cow.

Yeah.

Um, there's no net change, but we are making such a hullabaloo about I know.

Extracting it, you know, so, but we're seeding the sky and now Yeah.

Like, we're gonna block out the sun.

I mean, there's so many ridiculous, ridiculous things about it.

But back to, you know, farmers are often blamed, or, or in the very least, you know, fingers point out saying you are responsible to fix it because you, you, you started it, so you've gotta go and do all these things.

Mm-hmm.

Um, most of which the people who are pointing the finger don't even understand anyway, like sequestering carbon and grazing and that sort of stuff.

Yeah.

But it's a big responsibility for pharma to, you know, say you gotta save the planet.

Yeah.

By doing these other things, you know?

Yeah.

And often the mechanical, you know, I've always said, you can't fix a fix.

I mean, even if, even if we were to agree that there's a, there is a problem.

Mm-hmm.

And you know, in my view, that's questionable.

Yeah.

Uh, exactly how that's come about.

But you can't fix a biological problem with mechanics.

Right.

Like, forget that.

Yeah.

But where point fingers are pointed and I say, forget the planet.

Just worry about your, your patch.

Right.

Even if up or 5,000 acres.

Yeah.

What, or even an acre.

Just an acre.

The food that you can grow and you think about what, what would it look like if everyone grew a garden?

Everyone had a garden.

Even if you were like in the city and had a balcony with just maybe a tomato plant.

You know, like what would it look like if we all took responsibility for the food that we eat instead of.

Going, you can go to the grocery store.

Oh, I forgot a tomato at the grocery store.

I'm gonna run down the road.

Right.

And get one.

It's just food is so easily accessible.

Mm-hmm.

And I think we point fingers because we're scared.

There's, there's fear.

When fear comes into place, we wanna blame.

Right.

It's not my problem.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's yours.

Um, don't blame me.

Uh, and so deflected, yeah.

I think it was Joel.

Was it Joel or someone else?

I, I'm not sure actually.

Might have been an experiment.

Uh, um, I might butcher the, all the facts, but certainly in the country, in a city somewhere I might think might be Europe.

They gave so a city, you know, maybe size city.

They gave everyone like four or five chickens.

Yeah.

I think that was Joel.

Was it Joel?

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I'm not sure if it had actually happened or he, he's done the maths on it.

Yeah.

And how much food would be, um, saved.

Mm-hmm.

If that happened.

Mm-hmm.

I'm pretty sure they did do a bit of an experiment on it.

Yeah.

So all this food didn't go to land landfill.

Mm-hmm.

Kids had something to do.

They had chores.

Yep.

And they had food 'cause they had eggs.

And he taught a whole lot of different things, you know, and he learned not to waste.

Like, when you grow your own food, you know, it's like, Ooh, that went to waste and not gonna waste that.

Or, or you have pigs and it's like, okay, you feel comfortable with that slop going to the pigs, you know, because it's this whole full circle.

Yeah.

Because it'll come back around.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

Um, the pigs gonna convert it to something he's actually actually useful.

Right.

Uh, talking about chores, um, I was reminded yesterday speaking to him about, um, uh, a child psychologist that, uh, listened to some time ago.

Mm-hmm.

And the interviewer said, what's, what do the kids need?

What do they need?

What do the kids, you know?

Yeah.

And the, and the persons, the psychologist said only two things.

Love and chores.

Yeah.

Yeah.

That's what I need.

Well, it gives that the chores give them purpose.

Totally.

So love and purpose and through those chores.

Right.

They have purpose.

Totally.

And they're not bored.

And so, but sometimes boredom, I'm like, it's okay to be bored.

That's when creativity comes out, you know?

Yeah.

And I see my kids speaking.

I, having said that, I always say, say when, when one of my kids very rarely say I'm bored.

I say, only boring people get bored.

Go and find something.

That's great.

That's good.

Go and find something to do.

Um, I want to get to, I'm also conscious of the time.

Oh yeah.

'cause this is awesome.

Um, tell me about, I'm always, I'm always fascinated about, um, now being in, in, in the us it's not my first time in the US but it's the first time podcasting and really diving deep into areas and people's lives and whatever.

Do you know much about the Civil War around here?

Oh, I don't, I'm not a history buff.

Not too much.

No.

No, but yeah.

Next question.

Uh, no, I just always fascinating 'cause I know I forgot to ask Joel about it actually ran outta time.

But, um, when I intro, when I interviewed, um, did I ask Will Harris, I can't remember now, but he told us a fair bit of history down there.

But I been trying to track down a copy of Benjamin Franklin bio biography called the First American 'cause, you know, he was, um, well, I'm not sure what involvement he had in the Civil War.

Mm-hmm.

Certainly Abraham Lincoln was, 'cause he was, yeah, he was the leader of the north the union.

Is it the Unionist?

Mm-hmm.

Who the, the northern guys and the Southern Confederate.

Yes.

Is that, was that it?

I'm pretty sure you're a school teacher.

You should know that.

I didn't teach that.

I taught history.

I taught kindergarten at first grade and second grade.

I didn't, I didn't get that high.

That's why.

But when we were in Georgia, we were driving to wheels.

We were, we went through some towns.

I can't even.

You?

No, it wasn't euphoria.

It would sound like euphoria, but it wasn't.

Oh, there's some weird names.

Yeah.

Yeah.

But, but it was a, um, in the Civil War, the, the hou, the amazing houses there, the stately homes.

Mm-hmm.

I guess they're all cotton owners and whatever else.

Mm-hmm.

They weren't destroyed, like many of the towns houses were on as the guys up north March South.

Yeah.

Because they were end of the telegraph line and they were, they were able to, some guys who heard the news on the Telegra Telegraph to say the war's over, you know?

Okay.

The south, south was, um, surrendered.

Yeah.

So they rode up to Road North to meet the guys coming south.

Yeah.

And said, whoa, whoa, whoa.

It's finished.

Okay.

So stopped burning, and then they kind of, yeah.

It was fascinating.

I just love, you know, I feel like we have, like, I could definitely take.

An entire year into living history.

Mm.

Because we have so many landmarks here.

Totally.

I mean, I mean, I we're sitting in your house, which is, what is it?

18, 18 70.

So that's kind of old in Australian terms.

Yeah.

And then Giles house is 1790.

That's with all those, yeah.

Um, chestnut beans and everything.

Mm-hmm.

Mm-hmm.

And then I kept on saying, oh, that's right.

I saw on the way here I saw like Iron Works or mining.

There was sort of historical signage.

Mm-hmm.

About that.

Yeah.

Was this a mining area?

Yeah, it was.

We have a, we have a little mining town above us.

It was called Cornwall.

And all the little houses are so adorable in there.

Oh, kidding.

Um, I don't know much about the mining.

Town though.

Mm.

You know, but I should, I should just do living history one year.

You should.

You're you're encouraging me.

I know.

What is that A course?

Is that a course, is it No, you just, where you just do Oh, you just do dive instead of, you just take, um, you would just visit places, local, historic places.

How's this?

What if you were to find some of the, um, old recipes of the homestead?

I mean, there weren't homesteaders that was normal back then.

It was like everyone's homestead back then.

Yeah.

Well we have the, um, foxfire books.

Do you know what those are?

Fox Fire?

I'll have to show those to you.

No, I think if there's a community who was in Tennessee Fox Fire, and so there's the whole series of these books really, and it, you know, teaches you how to butcher a hog or to make, um, wine or.

You know, planting by the moon.

Really?

And so we have some of the books that, and they quite, they all written went hundreds of years ago.

Uh, it was probably in the early 19 hundreds, I believe.

Really?

Yeah.

But yeah, my husband encourages me that to do that too.

He's like, what?

What happened to the old recipes that were just handed down that were not, that were verbally handed down?

I was like, yeah, that'd be cool.

That is cool.

'cause it, you're like, you, you, like, you're tasting the past, or you are.

Yeah.

I mean, some of the ingredients you probably couldn't even find anymore.

I, I, I imagine.

No, I, well, I don't know because I feel, I think I cook pretty close still.

My grandmother's like flour, lard, and salt.

I had this old, it's called a Hoosier.

Um, and it was just this cabinet that would be in like an old homestead because they didn't have cabinets.

Right.

So the bottom was your, where you keep your dishes and then the top, well, it would be like a counter and it was like an enamel piece that would pull out, right?

Mm.

And then.

There'd be like another small cabinet.

It had a flour grinder.

Like a, A mill.

Really?

Yeah.

All on the one on the one side.

Oh, that's cool.

The other side would be like where your cups would go, but there was like this grocery list that you could just move over the peg.

Oh, salt.

And it was all simple ingredients.

It was like rubbing alcohol, salt, sugar, flour.

Yeah, sugar flour.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Uh, lard, blue soap.

I forget what they called that blue soap.

Yeah.

It was really simple.

So I don't think that the ingredients would be that different.

No, no.

But that'd be awesome.

Yeah.

And then that's a, I mean, whether you could find local recipes from Old Granny Smith from down the road here that used to do that.

I do have some cookbooks that are like old, like from around here.

Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

Really?

There you go.

There's your next thing.

Now talking about courses, I want you to tell us and listeners and viewers about.

All your, everything you offer, like you, 'cause we are looking across there.

Mm-hmm.

Your little school, little workshop space.

Mm-hmm.

What are you teaching?

How do people find you?

Okay.

Where do they go?

Like all that sort of c Sure thing.

Yeah.

So we started teaching classes, uh, when I, okay.

So going back, okay.

This is gonna be a little long.

That's okay.

Um, going back to the beginning.

Someone's coming.

Little white car.

Is that Brooke?

Is it?

Oh, maybe.

What time is it?

Oh yeah, that's my husband.

He's home from work.

Yeah.

Cool.

Oh yeah, you get to meet him.

Cool.

Um, is he gonna bring back like a taxi?

Sometimes He does, maybe sometimes he does bring work home for the weekends, but it's what, Wednesday?

Tuesday?

Yeah.

So, no.

Um, going back when we started, all I craved was like sitting with like a grandma or like someone that was doing this, like, teach me how to can teach me to do this.

I didn't have that.

So then when we moved here, I saw our barn.

I was like, oh, cooking classes, canning classes, let's do this.

And so I just started teaching our friends around the dining room table, like cheese making, like mozzarella, ricotta, those simple things.

Um, and then I was, you know, shushing everyone outta the house around dinner time, like, get outta the house.

I have people coming over.

I'm teaching a class.

And then that's when we built the classroom.

So that was about seven years ago in September.

So in September coming up, that'll be seven years.

So I offer my, my popular one is sourdough bread, which became popular in, you know, COVID.

Um, but I, it taught me, it took me forever to learn sourdough bread.

And so I wanna take the, like, take the hardness out of like making the bread.

It's not that hard.

Right.

Um, so make it simple.

So fermenting, canning, um, just some seminar styles like wine making.

I just did a wine making class, wine making, making.

So that was so fun.

So, so what people bring gr you have grapes?

No, it was, that was more seminar.

So what I'm doing now, because a lot of my classes are really hands-on, it's like three hour classes where they're learning, they're, they're getting their hands into what they're making and they go home with the supplies and the recipes.

But those are high ticket dollar things, right.

And so, um, you know, the economy's changing, people's time commitments are changing.

Mm-hmm.

So we're working with that and I'm doing a little bit more seminar where you come and I demonstrate this is what you need, here's your supplies, those kinds of things.

Um, and so it changes seasonally and it's usually a once and done class.

You know, like wine.

I'm not probably gonna teach that again.

Maybe more.

So.

How'd you do that?

How'd you do that?

Um, you can cut this out.

Hey.

Hello Brooke.

How are you?

Good.

I was hoping you were gonna bring a taxi derm leopard home or something like that.

Well, you have one with a shop.

You do.

They're gonna stop in, I think on the way.

What's the name of the very famous English taxidermist from a couple hundred years ago who used to do some like amazing I have a, his book.

Yeah, yeah.

He had a double barrel name.

Like a, like a hyphenated It was a Smith, was it?

Yeah, something like that.

Joseph, not Joseph Smith or something.

He was well famous for his, they're in the London Museum and all sort of cool stuff.

Awesome.

There you go.

Did that interrupt?

Did, yeah, we're just finishing.

No, you did, but it's good.

Good.

You're good.

That's good.

We'll be finish here in just a second.

So stage.

Um, so.

Um, yeah.

So classes.

Classes, yeah.

So the wine making class.

So then it's just like, they come and they get a list of supplies to take that.

Like, okay, what do I need and how do I do this?

Um, so it's just more visual and they can ask questions.

Okay.

In person.

And then they have my contact information too.

Like they can text me throughout the, you know, the time where, you know, they're making something and maybe, so what that, are they literally gonna go on the list?

Is like, go get some grapes?

Mm-hmm.

Squash them.

Well, no, I have a, like a recipe, like they'll have a recipe book that they go home with.

Yeah.

But then I have a list of like, okay, a car, a uh, a hydrometer, you're gonna need, um, you know, they the wine yeast and here's the ingredients that you add that and here's what they do.

Yeah.

That, um, what else am I teaching?

Um, doing like just a flower, like how to grow a flower garden.

Mm.

Planning your next year's flower garden.

A homestead tour.

Um, so some fun things this year.

That I'm doing and changing things up.

Like, okay, we're trying it on Monday night, we're gonna try one on a Wednesday night.

So trying different times because you can never No, you can never.

So the perfect night.

Yeah.

Someone always doesn't work out for the timing.

How many people, well, you know, you, I mean you Yeah.

Teach classes.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I can fit like eight people in here.

Yeah.

Cool.

Max.

Um, I would love it to be larger, but then I'm thinking, no, I think small and intimate is intimate.

Yeah.

Is kind of better.

They get good value then, you know.

It does.

Yeah.

And it's just, and I think that's where I really wanna, like, I wanted to get that barn done and when we had the, the answer was no.

When our state said, no, you can't do that, and local township said, no, you can't do that.

I was like, okay.

Maybe that's the answer.

To stay small.

And really it, it would, it would cost a lot to, to upgrade that to what you'd like to do.

Right.

Well, we need a septic system in and, um, because we don't have the acreage to do what we want to do, um, then we can't really renovate the barn to its fullest potential.

Now it needs upgrades and we'll do that, but it won't be able to host classes.

Not, not yet.

Not yet.

So you're doing virtual stuff as well, like, like online stuff?

Yeah.

Yeah.

I am.

I have, it's called the Greenhouse course.

It's like a membership.

So I have a lot of people from Instagram that are like, are you gonna teach this virtually?

Are you gonna teach this virtually?

So I have a space on my website and it's really basic, like super basic.

Because you know, when you go to YouTube and you're like, oh, I wanna learn how to do this, and then you're scrolling and you're like, why am I here?

Right.

Yeah.

Or you go to Instagram or Facebook or wherever these platforms and you're like, why did I come here?

Um, and so the greenhouse membership is literally, I have a space and like each month you learn one skill a month.

So it's like this month is fermenting.

Oh, cool.

And it's just basic videos with the recipe.

Mm.

Um, so either record them all.

Mm-hmm.

It's on the or you release 'em every month and you one every month.

That's cool.

Yeah.

And they're short videos, so it's not like me teaching this class where it's gonna be like, you know, three hours.

Yeah.

It's like short and condensed and you can follow it, you know, step by step.

You can go rewind.

Um, and then you have the recipes and stuff to you, so That's so cool.

Yeah.

So then you're not like on YouTube.

So when's, so when's the book coming out?

I asked you before I know.

Um, I write a book.

I have notes in my journal.

I just have to be brave to do it.

Is it anywhere?

Uh, is that it?

And what's that?

Bible planner journal.

Oh, nice.

Yeah.

That's like my, that's your life.

That's my life.

It goes with me everywhere.

So that's a well used Bible, isn't it?

It is.

How many times have you read through that?

I mean, not sort of thing you read probably front to back.

I read it.

You've had it for a while.

Just 'cause you are My maiden name is, yeah.

Maid names are on there.

So at least how many years?

17.

No.

Am I 20?

Oh goodness.

How old am I?

I think I've had it for probably 25 years.

Yeah.

Cool.

I read it back to front to back once.

Really?

Yeah.

It took me three years.

That's big, isn't it?

It's huge.

Yeah.

Um, I hate to say my, my first experience with the Bible generally was at primary school.

So when I was Yeah.

Eight to 12 years old.

Okay.

And I was, I went to a boarding school.

Okay.

Um, when I was eight.

And we used to, I hate to say, tear the pages outta the back and use it for cigarette paper.

Oh no.

And smoke.

We find stuff to smoke.

No, no.

At the age of eight?

Nah, no.

Probably nine or 10.

Was I, we left it a couple years.

It was eights a bit young.

We'll wait till next year.

Okay.

No, that's not, uh, it was just that our, our, our, our Bible experience was, you know, enforced.

It wasn't like a natural kind of thing.

It wasn't a natural thing.

Yeah.

A school sort of enforced kind of thing.

So we thought the best thing for it was to smoke.

Uh, I can't remember what we wish to wrap up in the pa or pine needles and, and other things.

Um, so we wanna leave it now 'cause I'm more also conscious you've got a class tonight.

Oh, I do.

Yeah.

And we're gonna have a two minute break.

Okay.

And then wanna come back and do a little quick q and a.

Okay.

For our subscribers, we've just launched our subscriber model.

Which is like, it's like $5 a month or $60, or no, $50 for the year or something.

Okay.

And then people get, um, they get the Q and As that we do.

Mm-hmm.

Um, they get chunks out of the, in interviews that are, that are just for subscribers, get discounts to some Airbnb, um, house in, um, in Australia.

And also our Biome workshops, which this is probably really not attractive for overseas people, but hopefully the other things.

And we also do webinars.

So we're gonna get back from the habit of doing once a month.

We have a webinar for an hour with previous guests.

Oh, awesome.

So I might hit you up to get our timing right.

That's about the timing.

Yeah.

The timing.

My time.

Your time.

Yeah.

I've interviewed, uh, I've been on a podcast, um, with someone in Australia.

Oh really?

Yeah.

Uh, black.

Black Barn.

Oh, black Barn Farm.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Awesome.

Katie and, uh, Katie from the, oh, let me look them up.

There's so many.

Do you know who I mean?

Black Barn.

Mm-hmm.

Black Barn.

Black.

Yeah.

I, I interviewed, um, oh, when was that?

Uh, yeah.

Jade and, yeah.

Jade and Charlie.

And Charlie.

Yeah.

Charlie Flowers.

Jade.

Uh, so Jade and Katie.

Katie from the south, twin Katie from the, they're, uh, co-host.

Oh yeah, yeah, right.

Yeah, of course.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

They're awesome.

Yeah.

So I was like waking up really early in the morning and they were just going to bed.

Oh, really?

Because I thought we're like 15 hours behind you guys or something.

Mm-hmm.

No, we're 15 hours in front you guys, right?

Yes.

Forgetting I'm in the stage.

Hey, let's leave it there.

Awesome.

Sarah.

So good.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

That was exactly.

Yes.

Oh, and where they can find me.

I didn't share that.

Oh yeah, no, do that, do it, do it.

Um, yeah.

Uh, so well folk revival.com.

So all my socials are well folk revival and Yep.

I'm excited to see you all.

And you're on the gram, you're on Facebook.

Yep.

Facebook, all those things.

Are you on Twitter and all those things?

No.

Nah, I, no, I tried to do like TikTok and I'm on YouTube.

I try to put a YouTube video out.

Just all the things.

But you, you probably do, your videos you put on Instagram are great.

You probably just put 'em together or run with it on YouTube.

Yeah.

But starting to do that too.

So this linked up on YouTube.

Yep.

Um, that was delicious.

Your mint.

Oh, thanks Tea.

Mint tea.

We call it meadow tea here, but looks like we, but it was, it wasn't.

It's not.

She Go make sure you don't wean a jar, then get it mixed up.

Uh, okay.

Let's have a break.

You're in therapy.

No, it's delicious.

We.

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