BLB Farms

Today I'm talking with Bobbi at BLB Farms. You can follow on Facebook as well.

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00:00
You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters, and topics adjacent. I'm your host, Mary Lewis.  A Tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Homegrown Collective, a free-to-use farm-to-table platform emphasizing local connections with ability to sell online, buy, sell, trade in local garden groups, and help us grow a new food system.  You can find them at homegrowncollective.org. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe.

00:29
share it with a friend, or leave a comment. Thank you. A tiny homestead podcast is sponsored by Homegrown Collective, a free to use farm to table platform, emphasizing local connections with ability to sell online, buy, sell, trade in local garden groups and help us grow a new food system.  You can find them at homegrowncollective.org. Today I'm talking with Bobby at BLB Farms. And Bobby, what does BLB stand for?

00:53
Butcher's lazy bee farm and depending on who you talk to myself or my husband is who the lazy bee is. Oh Okay, I get it Yeah, we don't swear on the podcast so lazy be is perfect Thank you for explaining that you're in Texas and What's the weather like in Texas right now? Well, we just got over having two tornadoes come through

01:21
One was three miles and one was about eight miles from us. So it's nice and beautiful and sunshiny right now, so we'll take it.  Yeah, I'm really glad it was three miles and 10 miles away because I would be very sad if I wasn't talking to you right now. Thank you. We would be very sad too. We lucked out. We didn't have any damage this time around.  Last couple of years,  we have really bad straight line winds here. So it makes farming very difficult.

01:50
Yeah, I'm in Minnesota. We have tornadoes here too. Luckily, I've never actually seen one in the over... Oh my God. I don't know how many years I've been here since 1991. So over 30 years, I think? Never seen a tornado, but I have seen the sky look really scary and like it could turn and I don't love it. So, and for those who don't know, I talk about the weather at beginning of the episodes because it's my way of expressing my esteem for the person I'm talking to.

02:20
So the weather in Minnesota today is sunny and it's supposed to hit 70 degrees this afternoon.  Yay.  And no tornadoes that I know of. we're set. So all right, Bobby, tell me about yourself and what you guys do at BLB Farms.  I am a  47 year old housewife  and farmer,  chief cook and bottle wash.  And I have three children.  My youngest is 18.

02:49
oldest is 27. So we kind of spread them out there a little bit. But I found out very early that I wanted to do farming. was raised with farmers. So I already had a good background. And we just kind of, you know, rolled with it from there. Okay. So have you always been farming?

03:18
Yes,  we were raised,  we grew all of our produce.  My mother,  we did chickens. We processed our own chickens.  We had friends that done their own meat chickens. So  that was the extent of the animals  that I grew up with. But as far as vegetables, fruits, anything like that, that we could grow, we did so. And my mother preserved them.

03:47
via  freezing  or  dehydrating or even  canning, pressure canning or water bath.  I think that's a beautiful way to grow up. It was.  I took it for granted.  And then when, because I was raised between my mother and my father had gotten a divorce and  we had moved to Alaska when I was three. So up there things were very expensive.

04:16
So if you have a good ground somewhere where you can actually do some of your own produce, it's best to do that.  And so  when we moved back to Texas,  I was lost because that's what we done. And it was cheaper down here, so we got the routine of just going to the store.  So I had to come kind of full circle back to  the way I was raised.

04:44
I feel like that happens to a lot of us.  When I was growing up, I grew up in Maine. My parents had an acre of land  on  a block. So you would drive down a mile  into the woods and there was a block. You drive down, hang a left, come back out around on that same one mile lane again.  my dad put in a garden, oh my goodness, I think the first year that we lived there in

05:14
Oh, moved in the summer of 76, so must've been 77. He put in a big garden and he had a garden every year until I moved out and I was six when we moved in there and I moved out at almost 19. And so I watched my dad and my mom garden. And then when I moved out, I moved into the city and lived in cities or suburbs until, oh, can't think.

05:42
1999 maybe? And then  moved in with my husband and we were in a little tiny town and we didn't have a big lot. We had a tenth of an acre lot with a house and a four car garage on it.  And my husband  hadn't thought of doing any gardening at all. And then we got some  hand-me-down plants from his mom, some irises and lilies. Nice. We put those in and they did great. And I was like, hey, we have the backyard that's just gross.

06:11
weeds and grass, we could dig that up and put in some topsoil loam, and we could have food producing plants back there. And he was all for it. And that's where the bug started. That's when he loves gardening. And then a little over four years ago, we moved to a 3.1 acre homestead with a house and a pole barn and a useless garage and a woodshed. And he now has a 100 by 150 foot

06:38
farm to market garden every summer. Nice.  So  I really  wasn't  into any of this until  his mom gave us those plants. And then I was like, hey, gardening is kind of fun.  Yeah, it is. It's the best therapy you can ever have.  Sunshine and dirt underneath your feet.  You can be grounded. And it's very good for the soul and the body.

07:08
Yes, and one of the best smells on earth is fresh turned  good dirt.  Yes,  yes it is. That and shucking corn. Oh my god, I love the smell of shucking corn. Yes.  And it's amazing.  I made some dilly beans yesterday. I was canning  and the smell of fresh green beans.  I was remembering all the times we snapped

07:36
beans to get ready to can them for my mom.  It just brought back so many memories and you forget about those smells and then something will just trigger them and you're like, oh, that's the best smell right there. That's how you know you're doing good again.  absolutely. Now, how long is Texas's growing season? Because here in Minnesota,  we don't put anything in the ground until May 15th and we're pretty much done with outside growing.

08:05
by end of September if we're lucky? Well, last year  we went from March to November, middle of November, which is very unusual. Usually we've done had a good heart frost that shut everything down.  But we were still shelling peas in the pea sheller  the second week of November.  It was very mild  and we took advantage of

08:32
every day we could possibly get out of it.  So we do have some wild weather.  So we kind of just  play with whatever we can.  I'll start indoor seeds sometimes November, December to get them ready for the greenhouse for the following  January, February, depending on what I need to be growing,  what's being requested.

09:01
Um, sometimes it's not until January or February that I start the seeds. So, um, if you have a greenhouse, you can go all year.  Um, but if you don't and you strictly are doing in-ground, then you know, March for the cold weather stuff,  um, to probably October is usually when our shutoff is.  Okay. So you've got  three months more.

09:30
than we do basically.  And my husband, I'm lucky if I get him to wait until February 15th to start seedlings in the house. Oh, I know it's hard. It's so hard. Uh huh. Yeah, we've got, he just repotted  yesterday.

09:48
Let me think Swiss chard and kale  and romaine lettuce and butter crunch lettuce that was in the little tiny seedling trays. Nice.  He just repotted those and took them out to our hard sided greenhouse because he looked at the forecast and he said they're cold weather crops. said it would have to get to minus 20 to kill them.  And I was like, okay. And he had, he has a whole bunch of tomato seedlings and basil seedlings.  said, do not go to the greenhouse.

10:18
He also has peppers. would be surprised how hearty tomatoes and petunias are.  They can take some pretty good cold and it'll keep them from bolting and just growing super fast and getting really leggy.  It kind of controls them. If you kind of use the weather, the cool weather  to  help you grow, sometimes it's beneficial. Yeah, I'm scared.

10:47
But they're only like two week old seedlings. They're only about an inch tall. Oh yeah. No, no, not that young. So I basically, he's the gardener and I try to defer to him on what he wants to do. But I said, I said, please do not take the tomatoes, the peppers or the basil babies out. I said, because I will literally sob for a week if they die. And he said, I don't want to see you cry for a week. said, no, you don't. really don't. So they stayed inside. They're all safe on the table.

11:17
They're going to keep growing inside for another at least two weeks, maybe a month. And then the water greenhouse and then  May 15th, God willing the creek don't rise.  They'll be in the garden itself.  we're very excited about this because I don't know if you've listened to any of the episodes of my podcast, but all I've done for the last six months is bitch about the summer last summer. Cause we had a terrible growing season here. Really?  See ours  surprised us because we did have that.

11:45
110 degree weather there in July and August  and it was short-lived though.  So we didn't suffer unduly.  So we got a break in it and we, my okra,  I had to replant it because the spring started out really bad. We had torrential rains, it was washing everything out and then it went straight into the heat.

12:10
Yeah, it was, it was not a good year here last year. We probably lost about $5,000 on produce that we could have been selling.  Had our art not been soup for too long. So yeah, it was, uh, it was painful and sad. And, uh, we're really looking forward to this year because we've looked at the long range forecast.  We have looked at the farmer's almanac long range forecast, and it doesn't look like we're going to need to build an art in May. that's  Thank goodness.

12:38
I'm telling you it was bad and the baby plants look good. So we're we're really kind of we're kind of doing the rain dance But only the grow dance for the plants. I don't want rain. No rain dancing here, right? Not like last year. It was insane See that was the way we had last year for last is what done it to us I was in the same boat you were in it was miserable. We had a snowstorm. It was just awful

13:08
Yeah, it was nuts. I don't know what Mother Nature was thinking last year, but I hope that she's thinking something much better this year. Okay, so I saw that you have  chicks for sale. Yes,  yes. Are those laying hen chicks? Yes.  We take their eggs and we incubate them.  We have everybody segregated, so we have...

13:35
the roosters that are supposed to be with the hens that are like, you know, Brahma's light,  the lights with the lights and the buffs with the buffs. And  we have some Jersey Giants, which we did get some crosses with them, but I don't think the eggs are going to hatch because we had lost electricity for three days with that spasm. I think we've lost those, but  it's part of farming. happens.

14:05
It does. It really does. You're not, preaching to the choir. Everybody who's listening to this podcast, who's in the  homesteading, farming, ranching realm understands exactly what you're saying.  Yeah.  It can be so amazing and it can be so  heartbreaking sometimes. Yes. I always say heartbreaking.  But there's a balance and if you can find the balance, you're doing okay. Yes.  Some years are better than others. It's just kind of the

14:35
you know, to Mother Nature, really. mean, there's some things we can control and there's some things we cannot. Yeah. All we can do is set up the best,  I want a word and it's not there,  the best growing situation we can, whether it's an animal or a plant,  and then just pray that everything else works. Yes. So what else do you have on your farm?  We started doing wholesale growing first.

15:05
And we were doing vegetables and hanging baskets.  And then I started meeting a bunch of farmers  and  everybody was talking about having problems selling their produce. They were having masses amounts left over that they were just dumping  because they couldn't find good farmers markets or people to buy their.

15:34
you know, bigger than a farmer's market normally, but they're not big enough to attract Walmart or Albertsons or Safeway or some, you know, one of these big places to sell. So  we started a farmer's market here on our property  because we were having problems getting approval in town for one. had tried for years and then I tried and  it just wasn't working.  So,

16:03
We started the farmers market and we are doing amazing with it.  We keep  the emission free  to set up or  just enough to cover the porter potties, know, something like that. So everybody, we're coming together in a group and attracting people to come shop with us. And we're doing better as a group than we would singly.  So  we added that.

16:32
We're adding a, we added the farm store this year.  Almost got the interior of it done. It's a little 16 by 40 building. We'll have electricity and coolers that we can, in the freezer, we can keep produce longer.  Cause I've been running with ice chests in the back of my little GMC train  to and from other farmers and the farmers markets and  trying to keep things cooled off and.

17:02
I think I need to buy an ice machine too because I've been supporting Dollar General in their ice. Uh huh. Yup. So, but we just kind of let everything  fall into place where it calls us to. I mean, we see a need and we just kind of go with it.  Um, and kind of come together as a group to help others.  Um, a middle gentleman that he was farming peas.

17:30
And just, he's an older gentleman and just couldn't get the peas sold. And so when I met him, he was like, can you, are you interested in buying some peas? And I was like, absolutely.  So he  stumbled on a miracle because he grows some old fashioned stuff that I didn't think anybody grew anymore. Some little lady cream peas and they're so good. And so we just started.

17:59
making friends and networking together and just adding stuff here and there. It's amazing what happens when a group of comes together and has a plan, huh? Yes. I mean, you just about be able to move mountain.  It's really been something to watch and see how everybody blooms together. Not just one person. It's not just one person being greedy or

18:26
suffering, you know, we all come in and pitch in and then we can  all get raised up. We can  all, you know, make our living  at a decent rate. You know, it's not,  don't know how else to explain it. It's just, it's really nice to see other people enjoying what they do  and being able to make a living at it. Yeah.

18:53
It's too bad that not everybody in the world could do that because it would be a much happier world, I think. And I'm not being a smart ass. I really do wish that people would find their calling and be able to make it support them for their whole life, you know? Yes. Yes. A lot less stress, lot less bickering. People just doing what they love and just being happy. Yeah.

19:19
And happy goes a long freaking way. really does for me. I  am,  I'm  going to say this. am an  oldest, oldest child. am the oldest of my three siblings and  I was raised to be really independent, almost too independent. My parents outdid themselves, I think. And I think that they were sorry about that when I hit about 12 years old, but that's another story.

19:46
The hardest thing for me is to ask for help because I don't want to bother anybody. I don't want to put anybody out. I don't want to take from someone if they don't have something to give freely.  And I've been having a hard time with the podcast because I really would like the podcast to be more than a hobby. And so I've been trying to figure out how to make the podcast make a little bit of money.

20:12
I finally realized that people don't quite understand what sponsorship means, but they understand advertising.  And so I've been offering like a little shout out at the beginning  of every episode.  When I can talk, it's really good.  And, you know, for a little bit of money, I just say, here's a shout out to whatever business is what they do. You can find them on Facebook and at their website, whatever that is. And I felt really weird about.

20:41
Asking people if they wanted to do it and I've made $30 in the last five days because people were like yes I want to do that and I was like, whoa, really? Really? Okay, cool. And I felt so I don't know just anxious about asking I'm having I'm doing the same thing with the porta potties on the farmers markets because I was trying to keep it free but

21:09
$140 for two porta potties coming out of the store account. It hurts. It doesn't sound like much, but it hurts. That's every month.  So yes,  I can feel exactly where you're coming from.  It's,  it's so dumb because you  are providing your land as a place to have the, the farmer's market.  And that's commendable. That is amazing.

21:39
And like, I don't see any reason why the people who want to sell at the farmers market can't kick in five bucks. You know? mean, right. It's not a big ask and you're providing a service that  I know the  one of the big farmers markets here in Minnesota. Just to be there. It's like a thousand dollars for  the summer.  That's a lot of money. Yeah, it is. It's a crazy amount of money.

22:08
So I'm not saying that I should be asking, you know, $2,000 for a 15 second, hi, this is who these people are, go visit their stuff. I'm saying that sometimes you can ask and sometimes you will get a yes. I just always expect a no. I got you. So I was very excited to know that people like the podcast and want to be featured and enjoy it and want to support it. It was very...

22:37
I don't know, it was very satisfying to know that people actually like it. It was good to find that out.

22:44
So, and you're finding out that people want to be at  your  farmer's market. I don't know what is wrong with me. cannot get words to come out today. So anyway, yeah, if you have a dream  and  you're afraid of pursuing it,  don't be afraid. Just  try. I mean, the worst that's going to happen is people say no.  even if they do.

23:10
It might  just not be, it might be a not right now kind of deal.  But there's somebody out there that'll say yes.  Yeah, and it's gotta be the right situation.  know,  if I messaged, I don't know,  a jewelry store and said, you wanna have me shout out your business for five bucks? They would be like, no, because jewelry has nothing to do with homesteading. And they would be absolutely right.  Right.

23:39
So it has to be the right circumstances, the right people, the right timing.

23:45
And always do your research.  I  always tell, we always have some new people that are starting. They love to come to ours.  Cause we're so laid back. We don't have a lot of rules. So I tell them, I'm like, talk to your customers.  If there's somebody in front of you, that's your potential customer.  Use your time wisely with that person. Talk to them, find out what they enjoy, what they love.

24:14
Don't just sit there and look at them.  Greet them.  They're people. They want to talk to you. They want to know about you. They want to know about your story.  don't use your time wisely. Always learn. Be ready to evolve. Add things. Take things away. Some things will work perfectly and other things is just a little bit too  no. So you just need to work it.

24:42
Absolutely. And this is why my husband does the farmer's market and I do a podcast  because he's so good at just getting people to laugh  and I'm,  you're going to think this is really dumb. I'm actually really shy.  I have no problem with the podcast format because I don't have to be in a room with somebody. I'm good. I'm good this way. get that. My husband  is quiet. He's not a people talker.

25:12
I  am, I have ADHD. I'm severe at a time where we didn't, I grew up with, we didn't know what that was. I was just the chase the boys and talk too much in class and stayed in trouble and  that was me. So he's always like, no, you can sit there at the farmer's market. You got it. You're good. Yeah.  And honestly, I think it's a talent.

25:37
I listen to the stories when my husband comes home from the farmers market about what went on and what was said and who said what, about our stuff or the vendors are chatting with each other.  He's so energized. He's so high on it.  I listen and I laugh and I make notes on things that we could do or not do.  When he's done, like,  I'm so glad you do the farmers market. It's so good for you.

26:04
And he's like, I'm so glad I do the farmer's market. It's so good for the community. And I'm like, yeah, it is. It is. And I understand exactly your, your take on him because that's,  I do the same thing. He does the same thing for me as well.  Um, and  it's,  I do,  it's wonderful seeing your friends, new customers,  um, somebody that's been sick that you've

26:31
prayed for  and they're out walking around, you know,  and you're happy to see them. It's a genuine feeling  of getting to know everybody  and  meet new people and seeing the new babies and grand babies and  it's just a  ray of sunshine. I mean, it's just wonderful. It's good for the soul.

26:57
Well, the way it feels to me is like the town socials back in the 1800s. Oh  yeah. When people used to come and bring food and they'd have a dance and they'd all just hang out and talk and  drink whatever they had to drink and eat some food and the  teenagers would go out and dance and then sneak off to make out and you know, stuff.  To cook up recipes and... Yeah. And  I feel like the...

27:22
The farmer's market these days is about as close to that as you get unless you're a part of a church. Yes. Absolutely. And you get fresh vegetables too. Well, sure. And craft stuff and goodies like cookies and cakes and things. And I'm a big fan of brownies. So my husband brings home a brownie. He's good for a week. He's in my good graces for a week. And then he comes home with another one and I'm like, okay, we're good for another week.

27:53
We had a new vendor,  this first farmers market opening.  He's a young autistic gentleman  and  young teenager  and he makes some amazing cookies.  Oh, and his parents  are  supporting him  and letting him live his best life. And it was great to see him. He'll come up, shake your hand and talk to you.

28:21
tell you his ideas of what he's wanting to plan and it was really refreshing to have him. We always get excited when we have young people that get involved with the farmers markets and we love seeing the 4-8 and the ag, rabbits and chickens and goats and you name it. We want to know. We follow him on Facebook.

28:50
We cheer them on when they're winning or if they don't win, we still cheer them on. So it's just a huge community. mean, we just, they need support and I'm glad these kids, young kids are getting involved with this. And it's really something to see. I was really proud to have him out. Awesome. I love that. Our son goes to the farmers market with his dad. He's 23 now.

29:20
And he went almost every time two summers ago now.  And then he was like, I got stuff to do. I can go, you know, to every one out of four.  And my husband was like, that's okay. And that  last, that was last summer, summer before when our kid decided he didn't want to go to every single Saturday.  people would come up to my husband and be like, where's your kid? Yeah.

29:47
because the kid's really good at talking to people too and he's very polite, he's very kind. So I get what you're saying. It's actually really good for kids to be involved in that stuff because they learn how to function in a way. Because our schools aren't teaching them anything like that anymore. Unless they do have an ag. I'm not sure they ever did. We, well in the south,

30:14
Um, we had Ag programs.  Um, we would show the animals.  Um, they taught you how to butcher, um, all that good stuff. But also we had growing programs where they would show you how to raise your tomatoes, plant them,  and eventually harvest.  Um, we had the home ec that taught us how to cook and quilt and  all that good stuff. um, my kids didn't have that.

30:44
I'm so jealous. I'm a Yankee girl. grew up in Maine and the North and we didn't have that kind of stuff. We had a home ec, but it was not,  it was not in depth. It was a very surfacey kind of home ec class. Oh, wow.  Um, we even used to get our hunter's education, um, as part of a school program, um, where we would have youth,  um, hunting trips that we could go on, but  they've since discontinued that now as well. Huh.

31:13
Okay. Well, you had many more resources at your fingertips than I did in school. And I'm really glad that you did.  I would have jumped on a lot of that stuff if we'd had it.  Um,  so the one thing I want to say before I cut you loose, try to keep these to half an hour  is if you're going to be part of a farmer's market, like you're going to be a vendor.  One of the things that we did is we made business cards and business cards are kind of old fashioned, but

31:40
people take business cards off the table because they want to know if they need something that they like that you make,  if they can get hold of you.  And the other thing I've done is I've made a QR code and I've blown it up and my husband tapes it to the table  and people can use the QR code on, you know, user phones and that goes directly to our website. So those are the two ways that we get it so that people can find us.  I love that.

32:08
I haven't done the QR codes, but we do the business cards,  which we're in a small community. They usually just message, hey, I'm on my way. I'm okay.  So that's usually how we get  a heads up. that, and that's fine with us. We don't mind.  I'm here all the time, just about, unless I'm out doing deliveries. So.

32:30
Yeah. And the other thing that's really good at a farmer's market, if you can afford the cost of it, is to have a banner that has the name of your business on it.  Because if people see it enough times, it sticks in their head. Yes. So,  hint.  The banners. And another thing I would add to that is make sure that your banner and your card, your logos, they all match. Yes. Because it'll get confusing to them. They think they've seen three different

32:59
businesses when it's only just one. And sometimes that's hard.  It's just something, a goal to work towards. Yeah, it is really hard to come up with a logo.  It's always going to be difficult unless it just pops into your head and you're like, that's it. That's the one. And then you got to figure out how you're going to create the logo because do you have somebody create it for you?  Do you draw it? Do you do it on the computer? How do you do it if you're not an artist?

33:28
Right. A lot of times there's programs that will  allow you,  like a Pies app is an app and there's a free side to it. And then there is also  a  pay to use it by the year. If you get really in depth with it, cause I do all my own advertising for the posters on the farmer's market.  And  I do not, they don't pay me to say that. That's just the one.

33:57
I know people use Canva.  There's others, but they have little programs in there you can actually design your own for free. mean, so you don't have to spend a lot.  Yeah. And the other thing, my  friend that I worked for for like six years, she was in PR and marketing.  She was always telling me that I was too, I don't remember what the word was, but I want to say esoteric when I would think of naming names for things.

34:23
Because I would, I have a really weird brain. have all kinds of associations when I think of a word, like there's all kinds of words that go with it. Like if I think apple, there's the apple we eat, there's the apple computer, there's all kinds of things you can do with apple. And she would be like, it needs to be obvious. It can't be 16 layers down, Mary. Yes. Right. Oh yeah. So when I was trying to come up with a logo for a tiny homestead,

34:53
for our place,  I was like, I just need a little farmhouse with two little potted plants on the sides of the steps that go up the door of the farmhouse and a couple of chickens.  And I ran that by my husband and he said,  that's perfect. That's not 16 layers deep. And I went, uh-huh. Thanks, honey.  It's kind of making fun of me,  but  either way, keep it simple, you know, and,  and keep it the same. Don't, don't change it every year because people do get confused.

35:22
Yes, they will. All right, Bobby, I have loved this conversation. didn't know it was going to be about the farmers market, so I'm kind of glad it was. Well, thank you for having us. This is the first one we've ever done. So I was excited. I was like, yay, somebody asked me to be on their podcast. I love talking to people like you because you're so bubbly and full of information and all you want to do is chat. And that's what I need. I love these conversations.

35:52
Thank you so much for your time, Bobbi. Have a great day.  Thank you, you too. Bye-bye.