My Attempt At Homesteading

Today I'm talking with Jennifer at My Attempt At Homesteading.

 

Muck Boots 

Calendars.Com

If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment. Or just buy me a coffee 

https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes

00:00
You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters and topics adjacent. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. Today I'm talking with Jennifer at My Attempt at Homesteading in Missouri. Good evening, Jennifer. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good. What's the weather like in Missouri today? Very warm. Yeah, here too. It's 81. I think you guys are hotter than we are though.

00:29
Yeah, we've we've been in the  90s for the past week or so. Oh  I'm in Minnesota We had  four or five days of that a week or so ago and it was disgusting. I hated every second of it  Okay, so  I hate saying this because people get kind of  Miffed that we talked before the interview before before I started recording  You were saying you're a little bit nervous because you're new at this and I was trying to say but the connection was bad

00:58
that you are exactly the kind of person I want to talk with because  the beginners are the ones that give the people who haven't even started yet  hope. So  tell me about yourself and your attempt at homesteading.

01:12
Um, well, so I am a mother of two. my youngest just graduated last year. So, um, he still lives at home, but he's in, he's in college, so he's kind of doing his own thing. Um, my oldest, she just moved out earlier this year. Um, so it was one of those things that.

01:39
You know, my kids are kind of grown up and doing their own thing. And I kind of didn't know what to do with myself.  So used to taking care of them and just,  you know, even though they were older, but them just being around and just, you know, doing stuff with them. And, you know, I kind of took a step back and realized that, you know, I was, you know, for so many years I'd been, you know, the band mom or the softball mom.

02:08
the karate mom or the track mom or, you know, all those things.  when I kind of slowed down for a minute, I realized that I didn't know who I was anymore because,  you know, they weren't doing those things anymore.  And  I realized I had, you know, no hobbies or anything like that because  my life had revolved around my kids for so many years.  So basically I needed something to do something to occupy my time.

02:38
So I don't know actually what specifically made me start looking at, you know, different things, but I think it was just one of those like on a whim, I was like, oh, this looks like fun. So I just started like looking at things and reading up on things and I started very simple, like.

03:06
looking up different homemade spice mixes.  And I just kind of started with that.  And  basically over the winter was kind of when I started  trying to dabble with different things and trying to see what kind of mixes and things I could make from scratch.  because  at that point I'd never canned anything.

03:35
Um, pressure canner scared me. I, you know, I thought I was going to blow up the house. So, um, it took me a couple months before I would even attempt to do that.  Um,  but yeah, I just started small and,  uh, mixes and that type of thing. Like,  uh, I had no idea. Like I was amazed, like, you know, brown sugar, you know, who even knew that that was sugar and molasses. Like I had no clue. I just thought brown sugar that it just.

04:05
came like this. didn't know that. I didn't know you, you know, mix things together to make brown sugar. So, you know, it's definitely been a learning process and it's definitely, you know, I've discovered so many things and still, you every day learning something new. But baby steps, you know, every day just, I mean, I'm constantly Googling things and trying to figure out, know.

04:34
How do I do this or how do I  turn this into something or how do I maximize? You know, if I have this ingredient, how do I, or this,  um,  you know, thing, how do I use up  the whole thing without any kind of waste? And, um, it's definitely been a fun process.  Um,  uh, I've definitely been using my family as guinea pigs.  Um, they've been there for.

05:04
some of my successes and definitely a lot of my not so much successes.  But it's been fun. Yeah. You're not alone. I didn't know that brown sugar was just white sugar and molasses mixed together either until I found out about it on Google.  And  I'm not going to lie, I'm still afraid of our pressure canner and our pressure canner is still practically brand new. We bought it three years ago.

05:33
My husband is not afraid of it. So when we're going to pressure can, he's the one that handles it. Because I just, every time I walk by that thing, I'm like, it's going to blow up. It's going to blow up.  So you're not alone. And we've been canning for four years now. So  we did the  water bath canning to begin with. And he was like,  we're going to do the pressure canner. And I was like,  And he's like, oh, yes, we are. I'm like, OK, fine. Fine. You're handling it. I want to do it. So.

06:02
So you are not alone in that, Jennifer, I promise you.  Yeah, I did. I definitely started with the water bath canning first, and then I kept seeing other things that I wanted to can.  But I kept reading that, you know, oh, well, this needs a pressure canner.  So,  you know, too many things needed to be pressure canned. So I was like, OK, I'm going to have to eventually learn how to do this.

06:32
Definitely the first several times, you know, I was, I probably looked ridiculous because, you know, decked out in like long sleeves and oven mitt, you know, cause I just knew it was going to like explode on me or something, you know, know, head turn, know, reaching as far,  you know, as I could to put the  valve thing on it. But, but yeah.  But it didn't explode.

07:02
Not, not yet. We're here, but it's still a little daunting. Yeah. And I don't want to sound trite or silly, but we are capable of doing big things and overcoming fear is a big thing and you're working on it. So proud of you. also I feel like women are always told that we're not supposed to do big

07:30
hard things we're supposed to let the men do them. And that's bullshit. We can do it too. Oh yeah.  We can do just as much if not more than guys can do. Yeah, especially when we're 25  and aren't afraid of anything.  I'm 55 now. I'm like, no, you can deal with the pressure canter, honey. I'm all good with that.  Okay. So are you urban, suburban, or rural?

07:59
We're suburban, so you know, we live in a very populated area. We have a pretty good size backyard. They did just pass,  I would say within the last...

08:17
within the past year,  they did say that we could have chickens,  which  intrigues me.  I, it's something that the thought of it sounds really fun, but chickens just low keys kind of scare me. So I don't know. Like I love the thought of having fresh eggs and I would love to have that, but

08:47
I don't know, just the beaks and the feet and the flapping wings just kind of scare me. So I just don't know. I mean, that's another one of those fears that I just, I'm gonna have to overcome one day, I think, but maybe one day.

09:03
Okay, for future reference, and I'm not saying you need to go get chickens today, but for future reference, if you want chickens,  there is a breed called  Issa Brown. They used to be Issa Red, I S as in Sam A Brown. And they're really gentle. They're really friendly. They only get to be about seven pounds full grown. And they give an egg a day if you have light in the coop in the wintertime. And

09:33
I didn't want chickens either. I mean, I did, but I didn't. And we got four when we lived in town, in a small town. And they were great. They're quiet. They do this, I laid an egg call and it's crazy.  I can't replicate it.  I can do a hell of a rooster crow, but I can't do the I laid an egg call.  And  they talk to each other. It's like listening to a babbling brook. It's very sweet.

10:00
So if you're looking for ones that aren't aggressive and like to be held and picked up and don't freak out, those are the ones you might want to look into. Okay. Yeah. I'll have to check that out because I just, yeah, they just kind of scare me.  it's funny because my parents actually have chickens, but they didn't start raising chickens until after I had moved out of the house. So my sister's

10:27
kind of grew up with them  and so they're used to them but I'm not used to them so that's not something I was used to being around so even now when I go over there  I don't want to go into the chicken pen and play with the  chickens.  Well they're not bunnies they're chickens. Bunnies are fun to pet chickens are not fun to pet.  Yeah but I would love to have the eggs one day so like I said it's just

10:56
It's one of those fears that I think I'm going to have to figure out one of these days, but  I'm still working on the canning stuff. you know, one, one thing at a time. Yes.  Baby steps.  Start small, think big. That's what I, what I keep hearing. Start small, think big. So you're, we're well on your way to being a homesteader. promise.  Um, do you have any gardens at all? Any gardening space?  Um, we do.

11:23
So actually we have We have like an indoor indoor garden and we have an outdoor garden  Surprisingly enough our indoor garden was actually doing better than our outdoor garden We actually started a lot of plants inside and then we kind of just let them go

11:46
And we had, cause we do have a lot of space downstairs and we have a whole room that we had set up with grow lights and everything. And I mean, we had cucumbers growing. I had picked like, I think five or six good sized cucumbers before we transplanted it outside. But yeah, we had cucumber plants growing. We had peppers. We had a tomato plant growing. All of our herbs and stuff.

12:16
going inside. I had started a luffa plant just because it sounded fun. So yeah, we had actually quite a bit going inside. We took them outside. I think it kind of shocked them. I don't think they were very happy with us when we did that. So it took a little bit for it to, I don't know, I guess acclimate to the outside, but they're starting to come around.

12:45
You know, the tomatoes are starting to produce  the cucumbers. We've gotten a couple off of it since  it's been outside.  So yeah, they're starting, it's starting to, it's starting to come around.  Is this your first time doing a garden?  No, we have done it in the past, but we hadn't really  started a lot inside.

13:12
We usually would just  plant them outside. We usually would just buy the plants and then just plant them outside.  So this is our first time  starting them inside and then  bringing them outside.  So that part was new for us.  Good job. It's a trick. When you start stuff inside, you have to kind of harden the plants off before you put them out in the garden.

13:37
We've been gardening for 20 years and my husband completely forgot about hardening off the tomato plants because he started them in the heated greenhouse. And so our tomato  plants almost died when we put them outside.  He came in like two days after he planted them, he said,  it's a good thing we still have tomato plants in the greenhouse. And I said, what ate our tomatoes? And he said, nothing. He said, I completely forgot. You're supposed to harden them off. He said, they're all brown. I was like, oh no.

14:06
So even someone who's been doing it for 20 years can screw it up too, if that helps at all.  Yeah, we do have, um, this is our first year. We're starting to get some strawberries. Nice.  We do have strawberry plants. We've tried those for several years and, um, we would try those and just like planters and,  uh, you know, we'd get a few  like during the season and then they would always die off and then.

14:36
We had read that if you plant them in the ground, they would come back. So we had planted some, but not realizing that  like the first year they don't really produce. So I was really disappointed that first year. But  now this is the first year that we're actually starting to get some actually produced. So it's been several years in the making, you several years of just trial and error, but I think this will be the year that we actually might get.

15:06
you know, at least a good, you know, handful, probably not enough to, you know, have a, you know, a big batch of strawberry jelly or anything like that. But, you know, maybe a good basket full or so.

15:25
More than just one bite maybe. It will be the best tasting strawberry you've ever had in your life. Yeah, we have gotten a couple already and yes, were very good. I always say grow it yourself. Every freaking time, yes, absolutely. And that's why we do this.

15:51
The other thing that I will say to you and I will say to listeners is that patience is like the key quality or  as another word for it,  quality that people who are growing things need to have because  we planted asparagus crowns here four springs ago. It took until this spring to actually get enough asparagus picked from our  bed to have like three sides.

16:20
of asparagus with three meals. So patience is a virtue and  I didn't used to be very patient.  am  now  and thank God because we put those crowns and I was like, yes, asparagus. And I was like, crap, it's going to be three years before we get any.  Yeah.  And I've heard that and  I need to, I need to just plant some, but that's why I have it. Cause I'm like, oh, it's going to be three years. But if I had just done that, you know,

16:50
A couple years ago, we may have already had some by now, but every time I think about it, I'm like, oh, we won't even get any this year. It'll still be another, you know, three years, but I need to just do it though. Yeah. There's a saying about when's the best time to plant a tree a hundred years ago. When's the next best time to plant a tree yet now. And it's the same thing with asparagus. When's the best time to plant asparagus? Five years ago. When's the next best time? Right now. Yeah.

17:20
And if you're gonna do it,  look on Google or ask someone who knows. I don't know if you're supposed to put them in in the spring or the fall. We put them in in the spring. So you'll have to ask somebody who knows more than I do about that one.

17:37
Yeah, we did. I did say too, like we have a, we have a small garden. So, you know, I mean, enough to kind of get a few things here and there, but nothing like huge. I did say, you know, we may be just supporting some of our local, you know, our local farmers or some of our local, you know, um,

18:04
What are they like produce stands that type of thing like  at the farmers market? Yeah  Absolutely, and if your garden really produces I bet there's somebody who has laying hens who has extra eggs and you can trade your produce for eggs Then you don't have to get any hens  Yeah, there you go  Because  as I'm always saying on the podcast if you're not gonna grow it or produce it

18:32
Find someone local who is growing it and producing it and barter or give them your hard earned money because they're earning it.  Because a local economy is a good economy. Yes.  And I'm saying that to you, but I'm also saying it to anybody listening to the podcast. Anyone who isn't finding their local growers and producers right now  needs to be.  Absolutely.

19:02
and there's a lot of reasons for that and I'm not going to get into it but just take my word for it. Go find out who makes things or grows things and get to know them  and support them because they're going to be really important over the next year or two. Yes, which is probably why I should be making a bigger garden but...

19:22
You are starting out and you are learning things and you're doing a great job. Don't  do not sound like you're beating yourself up. You have nothing to beat yourself up about.  So I saw canning jars on your Instagram page and you said that you've been canning. So what have you tried your hand at canning?

19:43
Um,  so  I've done a few different types of jellies.  Um, I've done different, different types of beans.  Um, I've done like,  um, like the different broths, like chicken broth, beef broth, vegetable broth,  um, which actually those come in, those come in handy and those definitely taste way better than, you know,

20:13
store, store bought.  So much so too that, you know, my daughter, she'd even, she had called me and said, you know, hey, if I,  if I say this chicken carcass, will you,  will you make me some, some chicken broth? I was like,  yeah, that's sure. That's fine.  So she had saved like leftover chicken, chicken bones and stuff that they had had from, you know, a chicken that she had cut up and

20:43
stuck it in the freezer just so I would make her some homemade chicken broth also. I love that. That's awesome. That's fantastic that she asked you because  my daughter lives in Florida and I live in Minnesota, so nothing like that is going to happen here. But when she lived in Minneapolis and was not far from home, she would

21:09
she would come to visit and we would send her home with bags of tomatoes and cucumbers because she was vegetarian. I don't think she was vegan. I think she was vegetarian. And she always let me know  whether she called or she messaged that they were the best tomatoes and cucumbers ever because they were from our garden. So I love that your daughter asked you to do that. That's fantastic.  Yeah.

21:33
Yeah, we've been trying to make a lot of things as much as as much as we can just trying to find different substitutes for trying to make things  more homemade if we can trying to cut out a lot of the process things  like my son, you know, he he's a sucker for those frozen

22:00
Timmy Changas that you can get from Walmart. And so I started making them for him.  I  made his refried beans homemade and I made his tortillas homemade and wrapped them all up and  shaped them and froze them for him and stuck them in the freezer so he could have them homemade. And  for him to tell me that they taste way better than the store bought ones,  that just...

22:29
makes you just feel  like all that time and effort is worth it because they're appreciative of it  and you know that they're getting way better quality stuff than  the frozen stuff that they're getting from the store.  Yes, and on top of that, they're getting the love that you add to the things that you make and that's what makes it special.

22:55
Yeah, and sometimes some extra garlic too because sometimes I go a little overboard with the garlic.  Yup, and if you're anything like me, a couple swear words thrown in too.  Yeah, maybe a few here and there.  Yeah, and that leads me to my next question. Did I see that you've tried making sourdough bread or was that just  regular bread?  Oh, yes, I've tried.

23:19
I've  made some sourdough bread and I think that's one of those things that I've said that I don't know that I'm going to be a sourdough baker.  It's it's one of those things that comes and goes and every time I think I got it, it just,  I don't know, it's just like, nope, try again. So I was like, I don't think I'm ever gonna be one of those people that is going to have, you know, a sourdough  bakery or a little

23:49
you know, job sourdough bread stand, because I just can't seem to get the hang of it. So, and  I'm definitely not consistent enough to want to try to sell it. I'm just going to keep feeding it to my family.  They're just going to like it.  Yeah, there was a reason I asked. I have two sourdough starters on my counter downstairs that I need to feed when I'm done talking with you.  And I pulled them out of the fridge yesterday because they're established. And I was like,

24:19
I really want to keep doing this because it's so much time involved in actually making the bread itself and I'm busy the only day I have where I have hours just to screw around with it is Sundays and I looked at my husband and I said  Sundays from for the next four Sundays I need the entire day without you guys in the kitchen under my feet

24:44
And he was like, why? I said, because if I'm going to do this sourdough thing, it's going to have to be Sundays because Monday through Friday, I'm doing podcast interviews and I can't walk away from the process to go do that. And he was like, how many hours you need? said, eight. He said, he said, we can be out of the kitchen for eight hours. I said, okay. I said,

25:09
I don't really  mind if you don't want me to do it. said, cause it's a lot of work for a couple loaves of bread. I said, but I said,  those loaves of bread cost me about 50 cents each. And the loaves of bread at the store, even the yucky store brand ones are about $2 a loaf. said, so  you've got the yay or the nay here. Do you want me to try doing it? And he was like, yeah. He said that first loaf tasted really good. I was like, okay.  And I'm never going to be the fancy sourdough bread lady. I don't care.

25:39
I want a loaf of bread that tastes good. That's all I want.  Yeah.  So. I'm figuring out how I just, I don't know. Like sometimes they'll come out good and sometimes they won't. And I just can't figure out like why they do sometimes and why they don't. Well, I saw something on the sourdough for beginners Facebook group that said that you want the  internal temperature.

26:08
of the bread to be like 218 degrees and I have an electric thermometer that I could actually check that with but I didn't know until the first loaf was made  and my first loaf came out dense because I under proofed it and I under cooked it by about five minutes. So now that I know I need to let it proof longer and I know the internal temperature it's supposed to be maybe the next one will turn out a little fluffier. Maybe. Yeah.  But.

26:37
It's kind of putsy. It's kind of meticulous. And I really do love the zen  of it, like the process, but I don't love how much time it takes.  Yeah, it's, I mean,  I do like the fact that, you know, the sourdough is easier to digest and doesn't give you as much, like doesn't seem to give as much bloating and that type of stuff. And, you know, that great, but

27:07
for  us,  know, the yeast type breads, like the homemade yeast breads and stuff, they taste just as good and they're just as,  well, they're quicker for me. And  for me, I usually get better,  more consistent results. I will still try sourdough bread,  but yeah,  that's just one of those things I just  haven't been able to figure out quite yet.

27:37
It's practice and I just started mine like a month and a half ago and that's why I'm like, oh sourdough, yeah, I'm going through that now too.

27:48
I did make a ginger bug though and that, like, you know, that's the whole fermentation thing and everything and like that was way easier. So I don't know why sourdough didn't work out, but the ginger bug was way easier. So  I don't know anything about that. you tell me what that is? Yeah. So that's, that's where you take like the water and you add sugar and fresh ginger. And basically it, it ferments also, it makes like bubbles and then you add it to.

28:17
You can add it to like juices and that type of thing. And it basically gives you like, um,  the fizz. So you can make like your own, um, kind of fizzy drinks and you can,  know, your own  homemade sodas and that type of thing, but it's. You know, healthier and more, um, kind of like a probiotic type drinks. Cause it's again, easier for your,  um, for digestion and that type of thing. Um, so.

28:47
You know, I just,  found a recipe that somebody had shared for making their own homemade Dr. Pepper, because I stopped drinking a lot of sodas, but they had been trying  to replicate the taste of Dr. Pepper. So I just made some of that and I'm going to add my ginger bug to it and try  to make like a healthier version for  Dr. Pepper's without, you know.

29:17
without drinking the normal sugary version of it, I guess.  See, you're new to homesteading and you just taught me something I didn't even know about. So thank you for that.  And there's, well, I mean, and there's probably 50 million other things though that I haven't even come across yet because every time like people post so many different things that.

29:44
Like every time I get on and look at recipes and stuff, people are always coming up with all kinds of neat things. that's, that I think is the fun thing about people sharing all their different recipes and things that they've tried. Um, and you can tweak them however you want, you know, you know, as far as like food allergies or that type of thing or, but that's been, that's been the fun thing too, is just trying the different things. Oh, absolutely. And.

30:14
I love that the reason you got into this is because you basically needed a project because your kids didn't need you as much as they used to because I started the podcast for the same reason  two years ago.

30:28
Yeah, I needed a hobby.  I realized  I didn't have any hobbies.  Yep.  I started the podcast because my youngest was going to be moving out. He's the youngest of four. And I was like, I need a project because I'm not going through emptiness syndrome  without a project because all I will do is cry. And so I was like, I'm going start a podcast. That'll be a good project. I know nothing about it.  and they say that, I'm going to screw this up.  Men.

30:57
have midlife crisis and they buy a sports car and they get a young girlfriend.  Women have midlife crisis and they take on a new project or they start a business.

31:09
Yeah, I believe it. We just, we just find more stuff to keep us busier.  Yeah. And cost less money and maybe be a little more productive. So I kind of like our version better.  All right, Jennifer, this was great. I tried to these to half an hour. We're there.  People can find you on Instagram  at myattempt at homesteading. that right? Yes. Are you on Facebook at all?

31:38
Yes,  but I don't really have a homesteading account on Facebook though. Okay, all right, cool.  Thank you so much for your time and as always people can find me at atinyhomesteadpodcast.com.  Jennifer, I hope you have a really good night. Thank you, you too. Bye. Bye.