St. Croix Valley Hobby Farm

Today I'm talking with Andy and Becca at St. Croix Valley Hobby Farm.  You can follow on Facebook as well.

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00:00
This is Mary Lewis at A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. If you're enjoying this podcast, please like, subscribe, share it with a friend, or leave a comment. Thank you. Today I'm talking with Andy and Becca at St. Croix Valley Hobby Farm, and it's a revisit episode. I'm so excited. How are you guys? Good. Great. Great, Mary. Thanks for having us again. We're excited too.

00:27
For sure. And I didn't meet Becca last time, so it's really nice to hear your voice, Becca. Nice to meet you. Yeah, same. So what's new? What's been going on since I talked to you? Well, we've done over 20 shows across the metro this year from Islamic temples. We've been to Elko Speedway, residential birthday parties in Columbia Heights, Brooklyn parks all the way up to North Branch, retirement facilities around the metro. It's been just kind of a...

00:54
Amazing journey to be honest since the last time we talked. I was kind of fresh and new to it and new to the scene, but the animals have taught us a lot and the people that we've seen has just been incredible throughout the season. So right now we're kind of setting up for our Christmas display and getting that ready so that we can have people come to the farm for walk-ins for our Christmas setup. So really good on our side, but let's let Becca add some to that if she has anything to say.

01:22
Yeah, and it's been great. Our girls have helped out a lot. They're working in mission, helping with the animals. They do a lot of the traveling events also. So it's been fun to get them involved as well.

01:38
Awesome. So you guys have been over to Minnesota? Yeah, quite a few times. We did Elko Speedway in Minnesota. We've done a few churches, residential birthdays, Easter, Halloween. Fun. Just so I can catch the listeners up. You guys are in Osceola, Wisconsin, is that right? Yeah, just north of Somerset. So it's almost smack dab in the middle between Osceola and Somerset right off Wisconsin 35. So.

02:07
If you're heading north out of Somerset, you can't miss us. It's right off the road, big red barn, green roof, little small barnyard animals running around next to the road. Yeah. So, for you guys to go and bring the animals to Minnesota is not too far. I mean, I'm assuming it's not just a hop, skip, and a jump, but it's not like an eight-hour drive. Nope, not at all. And that was what was nice. Even Elko wasn't too bad. Nah, 35 mostly the whole way, 36 to 35.

02:36
Head down to Elko, hour and 35, hour and 40 minutes, I think it was. And that's typically what we like to do for the animals is keep it under a two hour drive for them. The onsite events are ranging from two to four hours. So give them an eight to 10 hour day. And most of them are just over a year old. So we like to try to keep it as short as we can for them, especially in the normal months. Yes, because stress and animals is a bad combination. Right. Yep.

03:05
Okay, so what animals do you have? Because I don't remember. I think you have many cows. We have four female alpacas. We got two, one micro high park heifer, one mini herford steer, and then seven Nigerian dwarf goats. We have a couple more on the way. Should be here to have some Christmas baby goats any day now. We have two pot belly pigs. We're working on a couple black faced sheep and some mini donkeys next, I think. So chickens, ducks.

03:34
couple how and lop rabbits that free range at your feet when you come in to check in they're kind on the check inside of the pen so when you enter the barn they're hopping around they have their own little tunnel that goes underneath the barn and outside into their pen outside so it's kind of unique to see that but a hamster teddy bear hamster that rounds it out about for now anyway okay my sister has a pet rabbit and and I can't remember its name right

04:04
She basically lets it run around the house like a cat and it uses a litter box. And I'm like, how in the heck did you train a rabbit to use a litter box? But he, I think it's a he, he's very sweet. He's a very sweet bunny. They're amazing. Yeah, ours are litter box trained, super friendly, super sweet. They're feet chasers, so it makes me nervous when people come in sometimes if they're not watching their feet, because they like to hop right up to people. They're definitely not afraid at all. They like attention. Super sweet, yeah.

04:32
I didn't believe that at first either. I've been around animals my whole life, but I didn't know you could do that with a rabbit. And since our team has done it, it's been one of the most loved family members that we have. They come right up to you in the mornings. They put their heads down. Like, they want attention. You scratch their cheeks and their ears, and they start kind of making noises, and they kick their little feet down sometimes. They just absolutely love it. So.

05:01
Great addition for sure. Yes, and for anybody who visits you guys, do you warn them that they're going to be right underfoot? And the reason I ask is because last night, my husband went out to do the evening chores, and it's minor, like closing up the greenhouse and checking that the barn door is locked and stuff. And we have two, I think they're 12-week-old barncats right now, kittens. And he literally kicked.

05:27
one of them in the head last night by accident because it was right under his feet and it was dark out and he didn't see it. It's fine. It's bouncing around this morning doing all the kitten things, but he was like, I might've hurt one of the kittens. And I said, well, I said, if you didn't hurt it and it's okay, maybe it will learn to not get under your feet. Maybe. Yeah. Hopefully. Sometimes. Because I think we've got a year and a half old kitty and he's still all over my feet and gets bumped around once in a while as you walk. And because I think it's just a natural thing.

05:56
you're moving along, going through your steps, and they're excited to see you, and they're by your feet. They don't know which direction you're gonna go next, and it happens, you know, so. We do encourage people, right when they come through the door, we have a sign about the rabbits. We don't allow anybody to pick them up. We try to tell them that immediately, so nobody does, because that's usually one of the first things they greet. So that's kind of nice, having it there by the door, as you can talk to them right away. Give them some boundaries, some guidelines, to make it a safe experience for everybody.

06:24
Yeah, usually typically if we're having an event or I know we're going to be busy, I'll just lock them in their cage and open up the top so people are still able to reach in and pet them. But then I don't have to worry about them slipping out the door underneath somebody's foot either. But that's the price you pay when they're super sweet and want attention all the time. Yes. And it's really hard to get animals to not be under your feet because they don't understand that is dangerous. The other thing I was going to say is... Yes, animals, all of them.

06:53
Yeah, the other thing I was going to say about rabbits is I'm really glad that there's signs that say don't pick up the rabbits. Rabbits are very lovely creatures and I love them. I do. But man, if they kick you, it hurts. I got kicked by my pet rabbit when I was a teenager and I still have the scar from where its claw punctured my chest and it's a little round circle.

07:17
of scar tissue from where it literally poked me in the skin. Those back legs get going and it's hard though. Yeah and that's what I remind you know little kids and you know it's not just for their safety, it's for yours too because they do their back legs they they can get you and it hurts. When I clip their nails I'm usually covered in scratches just holding them while my daughter clips their nails because you know they're strong and they're fast so yeah that's definitely number one. They're holding them on top of paver stones too.

07:46
So if they were to drop them, it would probably cause them injury and they are our pets and definitely adored and loved. So we don't want anybody to get hurt with them, but they do love cheek scratches and attention. Yeah. No animals going splat. Never. Okay. So tell me, like, I don't even know what to ask you guys because I don't know anything about what you're.

08:12
doing, I don't know about it personally. Well another thing we added was to kind of help with the flow, we'd have events throughout the summer during the month and there'd be 275 to 300 people that would attend them over a four to six hour period. At first with just the animals and the admission it was kind of overwhelming and you had a lot of people in the area and a little overwhelming for the animals as well. But now that we opened up a look and find out in the backside of the property there's about a two acre patch of woods.

08:41
We made a nice walking trail through it, seeded it down with grass. So people can come. It's a great hike, if anything. You get about a half a mile hike. You get a clipboard with a 41 item looking fine laminated sheet. Everything on that sheet is hidden from the forest floor, the forest canopy. Very challenging for all ages. We've had adults, we've had children out there, grandparents, a couple hours at a time trying to find every item. So that was fun. Um, very unique, different, uh, just like you're in a book.

09:11
but you're walking it through the trails, just looking for everything. And kind of a beautiful trail too. So kind of old farms, dead equipment and stuff that they had from back in the 30s, 40s that's been laying around, just kind of rotting away. There's an old pickup down there. Chevy Apache, I think Fleetside, I think it was, I'm not sure of the year, but you still see the grill and everything. So it's kind of unique. Once the fall comes around too, in October, we opened our first haunted trail this year too. So.

09:38
That was fun. We've seen over 100 people in a three-day period that we had that set up. It was more to initially get it going, make sure that there was interest and people enjoyed it. And I think we hit all goals on that. So we're excited to offer that next year. And a corn maze in between. We opened that up as early as we can. I think late July it was when we opened this year. It was still green, but it was nine to ten feet tall in spots and very fun, especially when it's green because it really fills in. So it kind of makes it really secluded out there.

10:08
It all flows together right into the looking fine and then right back to the animals. So admission with the animals is good all day too and you can come and go as much as you want so that helps out. Fawn, do you have like a cute stamp that you put on people's hands for when they come back? You know for now it's just kind of been the honest system and I hope that doesn't get abused too much and I think so far it's been working wonderfully and people have enjoyed.

10:33
kind of reasonable pricing and reasonable respect for one another in property without having to go overboard on it. But that might change someday and we'll have to get some sort of system. But for now, we're just kind of using the honor system and trusting that people still have some good in them. You know what you could do? You could get those bracelets, those silicone bracelets that people wear and have St. Croix Valley Hobby Farm on them.

10:59
that they put on when they get there. And then if they have to leave, they come back. And if they have the bracelet, they get to come back in. Because that would be really good advertising for you guys. Yeah, that's a great idea, Mary. Thank you. Better than the stamp, because the stamp washes off. But the bracelet, they get to keep as a souvenir. Right. Yep, and then there'll be advertisement the rest of the time they had it. Yeah, I think that'd be great. And they're not that expensive. So you could try that.

11:27
So when they do the look and find or the scavenger hunt, as I would call it, what kinds of things are they looking for? There's all kinds of items. Me and my nine-year-old found most of them. It was kind of a scavenger hunt and fun in itself, just finding all the stuff. We went to different flea markets, garage sales, spent maybe $0.25 to $0.50 on each object. There's a little rocking horse. There's a straw hat.

11:57
Saw blades, yeah, there's all kinds of stuff out there. I'm just random items. There's little wooden docks.

12:05
Fun!

12:08
Yeah, so it was really fun to put together too and we've heard a lot of great things about it. Okay, for the the haunted trail thing that you guys did for Halloween, did you have actors jump out in costumes or what did you do for that? Yeah, we had a couple actors in different positions because it kind of hugs along the edge of a cornfield too. So we used the cornfield as a position for an actor. We had kind of an area where a lot of the animatronics from

12:38
Spirit Halloween store. A lot of those were out there in the woods, so it was kind of unique because it's kind of a dark, ominous woods already to begin with. And then you add some clown animatronics and some fog and some strobe lights. And we've dug a few props in the ground. We had one spot where you had come to the trail in the woods where you had no choice but to enter two different doors. And of course, one said, not this door. And

13:07
glow in the dark paint and the other one said definitely not this door so you had a choice to make and you know just kind of building fear in people's imagination is is one of the keys I think to haunted trails and and less is more sometimes so we had a few actors one with a chainsaw kind of off in the back you always seem to have a chainsaw around a haunted trail and it helps out noise effects but yeah it was it was really unique and kind of

13:34
neat and it's self-guided too. You walk on your own, there's signage that goes all the way out through there so it gives people kind of a sense of being able to do things on their own again too and not have to be restricted and regulated so much. I love how you guys have taken this property and been so creative with it because I feel like lots of people buy land but they don't know what to do with it.

14:02
And you guys have made this something really fun that supports you and supports your community and gives people something really fun to enjoy doing. It seems the more that you put your mindset to thinking that that's what it's all about, the more you see the results. And I got to credit God. It's all I can ever say is I know it's bigger than me. I know it's bigger than all of us. And I think that all of us are working on something very special.

14:31
and someday we'll all see that. But for now, this little piece of heaven's right here and we love it every day. We honestly look at it and we're not sure how it even got here, because if you come and see it, there's a cattle tunnel that runs under the highway. We did most of the stuff by hand and thank you for all that, but I couldn't imagine if we had equipment, we had the resources like that to build, because I just want to build, I want to keep building. We have nothing but ideas. Just time.

15:01
Time and resources are the thing that limits a person or a family or group or whatever it is trying to do something. Yeah, and creativity is a huge blessing in trying to build things because sometimes there just isn't enough money and there isn't enough time. So if you can be resourceful and creative and maybe cut the time down or cut the expense down, you're ahead of the game. We are.

15:29
We put in a greenhouse this past spring and we're trying like crazy to figure out how to make it, keep it warm in the winter. We got two months longer growing season out of it. You know, this first year, which was great, but pretty much as soon as it got cold here, it's done. Our basil plants are toast, they're done. They can't handle anything lower than 40 degrees. So they're finished. Without a heater inside of it? Yep, yep. And we have strawberry plants out there and they had strawberries on them.

15:58
As of two days ago, right now I suspect they don't have anything because I think they froze. But what we did is we got the IBC totes and painted them black and put water in them back two months ago. And that was keeping it warm as long as we got sunny days. But the minute we have two or three cloudy days in a row and it's cold, they don't throw any heat because they're not absorbing any heat. So

16:24
We're in the middle of trying to figure out whether we want to put a small wood stove in there, which I really don't want to do because I really don't want that thing to catch fire because that would be bad. Or getting solar panels for the roof of it and getting some kind of heat producing thing and a fan to blow the heat around and doing it that way. And I think that's probably what we're going to do, I think. So resources are a big deal right now.

16:52
Yeah, that's and that, you know, and that's what we did a lot of stuff, where, however we could, um, creativity. I got the Mrs here. She is very creative, very artistic. Um, you know, idea wise and resourceful. I'm pretty good at that. Cause I worked a lot in the oil and gas industry for a lot of people that want us to be resourceful and coordinated a lot of things. So it ties things together a lot and helps, but yeah, definitely. Um, a lot of people will wait around for.

17:22
the money to show up or for the opportunity to be perfect and you got to just get up and go do it and find a way to make it work. A lot of people tell you you can't do things and I like how you guys keep on trying to find different ways to make it work because there definitely is and just because somebody says it can't work that way doesn't always necessarily mean that. They probably just heard that from the last guy and you just go out there and see if it works for you and maybe there's a different way around it and your greenhouse thing I don't...

17:50
I don't know if there's a way around that, but maybe if you didn't want the stove interior, you could always have an exterior one and maybe try doing some sort of return system with some hoses heating, water return system, you know, and maybe that would give it enough to keep it at least warm enough because it's as much as I love winter and some of the activities, man, that seeing the growth all die is always sad.

18:16
Yeah, and I mean, when we applied for the grant to get the money to build the greenhouse, part of the reasoning in my answers to the questions on the grant proposal, my answers were to extend the growing season into further into the fall and get a jump on growing bedding plants in the spring because we want to sell them to people who want them. So it's going to do those two things. It's perfect.

18:46
you know, end of November till March in there. Wouldn't it just be wonderful to be able to have that kind of activity all winter long, you know? Yeah, so we're trying to figure it out. But I was going to go back to your thing about perfection. Perfection is the enemy of inspiration. If you're trying to do something for the first time and you want it to be perfect, number one, it's not going to be perfect. And number two, that want for perfection is going to keep you.

19:14
from trying the thing that you're inspired to do. So I think that when people strive for perfection, that's great, but you can't let the picture stop you from trying in the first place. Yeah, and let me add a number three if you'd let me. Yeah. Nobody's gonna know anyway. Perfect is all that you know. Everybody else thinks it's already there.

19:41
Yes, because they don't know what's in your head. Thanks God. We've gotten so many times where we weren't 100% ready. And I looked and we were about to get stressed or worried. And I said, hey, nobody knows what we're at right now, 100% or 90%. That could be 100 to them. That's all they know. So just make it the best you can. Don't stress about little things. Everybody will enjoy it just as much because your 100% might be.

20:10
somebody else is 50 and they're going to think that's just as amazing as thing they've ever seen. So don't don't cut yourself short. Yes. And if you're doing something that other people aren't equipped to do, like you have all these amazing animals and you're sharing them with people, not everyone has that. So you're already 100 percent ahead because you have them and you get to share them. Yeah. And it's it's rewarding in itself seeing people come in.

20:39
You get a lot of grown men that were tough guys, or closed off, they come in just for the kids. And by the time they're leaving, the kids are saying, Dad, come on, we want to go, we're bored. And the dad's smiling and talking and wants to stay, so just seeing that. Or somebody that's been through a lot, they come and they get a few moments alone. You can see that they're just kind of healing to themselves with the animals off to the side. I've been there and you can tell what kind of moment they're in, so it's amazing.

21:08
Yes, what you guys are doing is a wonderful thing. So you both sound really happy. Like the minute you started talking, all I got was waves of happy coming through my headphones. Are you as happy as you sound? Some days. Yeah, I mean, we have three young daughters that keep us busy and on our toes. And we have one right here. This is Myla, she's nine. She's...

21:35
one of the girls that is responsible, most responsible for the look and find, helping everything. Do you want to say hi? Say hi, Mary. Hi Mary. Hi Myla. Good job helping out. Yeah. I think it's just a battle like anybody else. You know, the teen years they're, they've been a probably the most challenging for us and that really kind of sets the mood on the day if the teens are in a good mood. Um, otherwise just growing together. We're trying our best and

22:02
Ignoring the noise, that's one of the biggest things. If you want to be happy, ignore the noise. That's always going to be there. Just keep on focusing on what you're doing and be as happy as you can. Yes, because happy is better than sad. And I'm not saying you can't be sad. You need to feel your feelings. This has been a big thing in the episodes lately. I've been talking about feelings a lot. I don't know why. I think it might be just be the time of year, but.

22:31
but you have to feel your feelings and you have to deal with your feelings and then you move on. Well, that's the thing. Knowing how and when, you know, the importance of moving on too for you, your family, and now animals. And you can't have one without the other. It literally wouldn't exist. You'd never, you wouldn't know what sadness is without happiness. So you absolutely have to have the yang and the yang. Yep, for sure. And I, I

23:00
It's so weird. I feel like I should just start another podcast about feelings, but I'm not going to because I don't have time. They're not going anywhere. No, exactly. So it's Thanksgiving week. We are recording this the day before Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is tomorrow. And so what are, I mean, I know you're thankful for a lot of things. What's your top thing that you're thankful for?

23:25
I mean, the first thing that pops in my head is probably like the cliche thankful for, but it's for family for sure. Do you have anything to add? I'm just thankful to get a chance every day to show up and do anything I can to please God to be honest, even if it all shows up one day to be something else and it's all aliens living that kind of life.

23:52
living with God in your heart every day is probably the happiest thing for me. Some days I wake up early and I'm just happy that I woke up. I get another chance to do it and the present is probably the happiest place you can find yourself and enjoy it. Even if it's something that's not so enjoyable, try to observe it and to see it for what it is and take any lessons it's giving you.

24:20
and you'll still find happiness there even if it's something uncomfortable. But that's what I'm thankful for, free will, God's grace to let us be who we are. Like we tell the girls all the time, you just win each day. That's all you got to do. And that's kind of the key to happiness is just get through each day and take the next one as it comes. Myla, do you have anything you want to say that you're thankful for? I'm thankful for my kitty. Yeah. She's got a, she's got a little barn kitty, Casper. She's been wanting a cat for quite a while. So very nice.

24:50
or a little mouser. I'm thankful for my barn kitties too. I love my two kittens right now. And I love my male adult barn cat, except when he bats the kittens, he's mean. He does not like the kittens. And really thankful for my dog. But mostly I'm thankful for my family too. And for the fact that we live in the middle of corn fields, which means I don't have to listen to a bunch of cars go by all the time. And...

25:19
Thankful for you guys talking to me today and for all the people I've talked to in the last year or so I have released a hundred and ninety eight episodes since two August ago That's a lot of people I've talked to So I'm really thankful for the people who listen to this this crazy idea that I had to let you guys talk about what you do I'm really thankful that people like you take the time to talk with me and

25:47
It's just been an incredible ride in getting to know everybody. So, so thank you guys for taking the time chat with me today. Absolutely. Have a fantastic rest of your day. Have a happy Thanksgiving and hug you kids and pet all those critters for me. Yeah. Happy Thanksgiving. Take care. All right. Have a great day. You too. Thank you. Bye.