The Kelley Family Homestead

Today I'm talking with Megan at The Kelley Family Homestead.

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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. Today I'm talking with Megan at the Kelley Family Homestead in Connecticut.

00:30
Good morning, Megan. How are you? Good. How are you? Oh, I'm great. Is it beautiful in Connecticut today?  No, it's raining today.  I'm sorry. It is gorgeous here in Minnesota.  Oh, nice.  Last weekend was beautiful. It's the first Memorial Day weekend we've had in years where all three days were just stellar. And I thought for sure it would rain this weekend. It's really nice out today too.  I have no idea why Mother Nature is being nice, but I'm very good with it.

00:58
The running joke right now in New England is it's the weekend because it's raining.  It's only nice during the weekdays. The weekend, we've been getting rain for like a month straight.  You are having the spring that we had last year.  And  my parents live in Maine. I just spoke with them this morning and  my mom was like, so how's the weather there? I said, it's sunny and 57 degrees. She's like,  I'm happy for you. I said, you sound really not happy for me.

01:27
that is pouring here in Maine this morning again. was like, oh great. Yeah, everything's wet this morning. So yeah,  I'm sorry to hear that and I'm sure you don't actually need any more water from what they've been telling me. It's been bad.  it's all right. It's filling up the rain barrels. So we're good.  Good. Okay.  All right. So tell me about yourself and what you do at the Kelly family homestead.

01:59
Well, I'm a mom of three.  I am  very interested in native plants  and growing my own food.  So we moved into our house about nine years ago in the fall and the next spring I was basically ripping up the grass to grow gardens as soon as possible.  We put in over 15 fruit trees, berry bushes, grapevines.

02:26
garden plots for annual vegetables and things. And it's just been kind of growing ever since. And a couple years ago, I just decided to go for it and planted a ton of seeds. And everything sprouted even though they were like super old. So that was kind of the beginning of the farm stand. I was just growing my surplus vegetables and putting them out there. The vegetable plants and

02:54
That did really well. So the following year I started adding native plants  and  cuttings of my grapevines and some of the  berry bushes that I grow. And that did really well. So this year is the third year of the farm stand and it is even bigger. We've got a lot more bushes and trees.  I mean, it's just a little roadside stand at the end of my driveway for right now, but the plan is to eventually get a piece of property and make it like a full on nursery and

03:24
do the whole thing.  But it's a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun. I really enjoy gardening. I really enjoy propagating.  It's always fun to see what works and what doesn't.  And my kids like to help out, and it's just been awesome.  Fabulous.  You are in an urban setting, according to your website. Is that right? We're on a third of an acre.

03:53
Yeah. Where are you in Connecticut? I'm in Enfield, right on the Massachusetts line.  Okay. So question for you is if you are in an urban environment,  did you have to get any permit, any permits from the city to have the farm stand or did they, were they not even bothered by it?

04:16
Um, I checked with the city before I started and as long as my farm stand is under 200 square feet and is mobile, I'm good to go.  Um, I did have to get a nursery license from the state.  Um,  um, you know, pesticide or a pest  thing, know, license to say that I, I'm making sure that my plants are not, you know, carrying any pests that I'm selling and that I'm, you know, any starts that I get from anybody else, I'm making sure that they're.

04:45
equally certified and  have their  pest light prevention  inspection done.  And everybody I buy from sends me their copy of their certificate.  I've been working with the... the re-go ahead. Yeah, go ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead. You've been working with me.

05:10
The North Central Conservation District, I bought some  seedling trees from them this year. And then I also bought  from the New Hampshire State Nursery,  some seedling plants from them as well as some natives.  Just because my property is so small, I can't always grow everything. So the plan is to buy in a little bit of  starter plants, plant some on my property to create a basic stock plant or a couple stock plants.

05:39
and then buy in what I just don't have room for like big evergreens and things like that.

05:46
Okay. The reason I asked is because every single state and  sometimes every single city has different laws about what you can do within city limits. And  I know this because we used to live in a small town and we were within city limits and  we would never have been able to have a farm stand where we used to live because  we had a 35 foot by I think a hundred foot, a hundred foot lot.  and it was 30.

06:15
five feet  wide. Like if you were standing in front of the house, it was 35 feet from left to right. And there was nowhere to put a farm stand and they never would have let us put it on  Boulevard, even though I would have loved to have done that.  The joy of getting a bigger property and getting outside of city limits is that counties really don't give a flying fig what you do. Other than if you're going to put up a permanent building.

06:44
If you in our, in our County in Minnesota, we had to  pay a $50 setback fee is what they called it  to put in our farm stand and to put in our hard sided greenhouse. so a hundred bucks total.  And I was very happy to give the County my money to have a farm stand and a hard sided greenhouse. Yeah.  So,  um,

07:10
So I was looking at your Facebook page and your website and you are growing a metric but ton of stuff on  an acre. Yeah, we really are.  So tell me what you're growing. You said you have fruit trees. What kind of fruit? We have peaches, plums, apples, pears, quince and pawpaw.  And there's a bunch of different varieties of each.  And then for berry bushes, we've got red and black raspberries, cherry bushes, blueberries, aronia, serviceberry.

07:40
gooseberry, red, black and white currants and elderberries. And then this year we just put in blackberries  and then we've got strawberries, rhubarb, asparagus. We've got a couple of different varieties of grapes.  And then we've got chickens and quail also.  So we're packed in.  What's that? How are your chickens doing? They're doing well. They're doing well. They're, they're all, you know.

08:07
goofy varieties. We've got a Polish with a big pom-pom hairdo and we've got a silky little fluff ball. then we, we've got one of each kind.  Um, and they're just, they keep us busy and entertained and  they're a lot of fun. My kids love them.  Good.  Um, I, we lost a chicken last night to a predator.  chickens are very much in the front of my mind this morning. Yeah. Um,  we, we had 26 chickens yesterday.

08:37
We now have 25.  My husband went out to put them in the coop last night and one of them was he didn't, he couldn't find her and he thought that she might've gone under the coop. Well, we've left them outside in the run overnight. Lots of times before they've been fine. And he went out there this morning and that chicken died a very not great death.  was in pieces. What's really weird is that we have never.

09:06
lost a chicken in the little over four and half years we've lived here  to a predator. This is the first time.  I figure that's pretty good odds. think that's not bad.  So, but we're missing one of our chickens. Literally we're missing her because she's gone and we're missing her because we kind of like our chickens. They've been keeping us in really good eggs. Yeah. So that's my story from the homestead this morning. Yay.

09:34
Yeah, we don't let ours free range as much anymore because we have a family of fox that moved into our neighborhood a few years ago and they are just very active. Every morning I see them running past my front yard with a squirrel in their mouth.  just, you know, I'm not mad they're here. You know, there's not a lot of habitat left for animals and we have some really great neighbors who let them, you know, are happy to let them have their den in the back of their property and do their thing.

10:02
Um, but I don't want to lose my chickens either. So they're only out when I'm out and you know, that's just how it is for now. Yeah. I, I was just dumbfounded when my husband came in and said, we are down a chicken. said, um, what? He said, yeah. He said, and it was a predator this time. I literally didn't know what to say. I mean, we've had chickens die for no apparent reason, but never have we had a predator tear one apart. So yeah.

10:30
That was a new thing and I was proud of myself. I didn't cry at a dead animal on my property this time. was just like, shit happens. It's okay. It's all right. It's part of farming. Yeah. But he and the kid will be shoring up the, the coop fence or the run fence today and putting stuff around the coop so they can't get underneath it. Cause he thinks she went under there last night. So that'll be fixing.

10:58
things today because that's part of home studying. You're always doing something, whether it's fixing something, building something or baking something.  Which leads me to my next question with all the produce that you're growing. Are you canning,  raising, preserving?  absolutely. Well, my strategy has changed a bit. I am only trying to grow what I'm low on because I have more pickles in my pantry right now than I can possibly ever eat.

11:25
I did a ton of pickles and relish and pickle lily and all kinds of  pickle related things. And this year I am actually having to buy in tomato sauce because I just straight up ran out.  So  it's a big tomato year for me.  And that's kind of how  I'm running my garden  from now on is just whatever I'm low on is what I'm growing so that I don't run out and I just adjust accordingly each year. we do applesauce, pear sauce.

11:53
Um, we do apple pie filling. do, uh, tomato sauces and,  um, chili starter. Chili base  is a fun one. do pickled beets, which are delicious.  Um, cowboy candy is a big one. I use a lot of that.  Um,  I don't know if you've ever tried it, but it is absolutely amazing. It's pickled  candy, jalapenos. So they're like sweet and spicy. It's a really nice burger topping.  Um,  all right. I can't do.

12:22
Jalapeno is because I have an allergy to capsaicin.  Oh no.  Uh huh. Just developed like two years ago. I'm so mad about this because I used to love chili. I've not had chili in two years. I miss it so much. Oh, I bet. That stinks.  Yep. So no, capsaicin can't do it. It makes my lips go numb.  Oh yeah. It makes my fingertips tingle, which is really weird.

12:51
And if I eat too much of it, my throat starts to close up. And when that happened, I was like, yeah, I'm done. No more. Yeah. For sure. No more. like breathing. Breathing is really important. I don't blame you. OK. But I do love pickled beets. They're the only way I can eat beets. So pickled beets are great.

13:16
Same. That's the only way will eat them is pickled.  Do they taste like dirt to you if they're just fresh?

13:27
Yeah.  Yeah. I can't quite get past that.  Yeah, I can't either. My mom would grow beets every year and she's like, you have to try this. It's so good. She'd hand me a slice that was just sliced from a fresh beet.  I'm like, no, it tastes like dirt. She's like, no, that's just because it's been a dirt. I'm like, no, the whole beet tastes like dirt to me.  So she has never understood that because she loves beets. I don't get it.

13:57
Yeah, I mean do a lot of roasting vegetables and I don't know I'll try again this year and see maybe like if I season it and roast it I don't know but  I just can't seem to get find a way I like it other than pickled so  Yeah, thank God for pickling things because otherwise there's things that I would never eat  So is canning new to you or did you do it with your your mom or grandma growing up?

14:24
I am self-taught.  YouTube Academy  and I do a lot of learning from fellow homesteaders on YouTube.  I am not a rebel canner, but I  definitely can as much as I can find safe and approved recipes for.  And I just, mean, everything, it means it stinks to put all that effort in and then have something go to waste. So  if I can can it, I will. just started learning pressure canning this last fall.

14:52
It was a little scary and I'm still kind of figuring out, you know, the timing of everything. So it doesn't feel like it takes all stinking day, but  putting up beans and having having beans ready to go was a big one for me because like I have loads of dry beans, but I don't always remember to soak them.  So having them hand and ready to go has been awesome.  Nice. Okay. Well, we did not can until we moved.

15:20
the new house. We moved to the new house in August of 2020.  And the reason we didn't can at the old house is because we had no air conditioning and it was really... told my mom, I've told this story a bunch of times, my mom canned in Maine in the summer  with no AC and  no breeze through the house. it would be horribly sweaty and hot in there.  have bad memories of it. I did not love it. So I didn't want to can.

15:47
And then we here, we now have central air and we use it because it gets really hot in July and August in Minnesota.  And my husband asked me two or three summers ago now, he said,  can we finally try canning? And I was like, I guess so. said, but I don't know how to do it because I always left the house when my mom did it. There's so many great videos on YouTube,  like Three Rivers Homestead  and...

16:15
You know, 1870s homestead. mean, there's so many great YouTubers that teach it and it's just been so beneficial for me to make sure I have food put up and I'm not losing my stuff I work so hard on. Now I just have to fight the birds for my blueberries. Yes, I understand completely. My husband's grandma and mom actually canned a lot and so he actually knew how to can.

16:44
That's awesome. I said,  okay, you, get us started because I'm going to screw it up because I don't know what I'm doing.  He can the most beautiful tomato sauce. mean, we had 90 pint jars in the nice in the closet.  And, um, the first thing I've first and only thing I've ever canned on my own is pickles because they're really easy. Yeah. So yeah, it's doable. You just got to get past the

17:13
Either the hate of it because I hated the process. I hated being around it growing up.  I had to like that aside and be like, okay, it's not going to make the walls sweat. It's okay.  So  everything worked out great. We just used our last jar of  San Marzano tomato sauce  last weekend.  It's gone.  Yes.

17:40
very sad that it's gone because it was fabulous.  we have over 150 tomato plants in the garden right now and  a lot of those tomatoes are going to get canned here. Yeah, for sure.

17:55
So  what else was I going to ask you? I can't remember.  I did it again, Megan. I blank. All right. So did you go through the whole shortage of canning jars thing a couple of years ago in Connecticut? A little bit.  I had a harder time finding lids, to be honest.  I already had quite a few from beforehand, so it wasn't too bad for me.

18:24
But like I ended up having to can things in sizes I wouldn't normally use  just so that I could make sure I could still put stuff up.  But yeah, I kind of, I kind of stocked up when I saw them and just made sure that I  grabbed what I could use.  Like I do my cowboy candy and teeny tiny little like half ounce or  a quarter pint size jars because it's just me that eats it.

18:50
So like that worked out for me to do the smaller sizes on some stuff that I knew it was only going to be for me anyways.  My kids are not a big fan of spicy yet.  But like applesauce I can do a big jars and you know there's a bunch of stuff I could do in big jars so that was okay but like the pint jars were just really hard to find for a little bit.  Yeah we had a hell of a time I think it was three years ago.

19:18
Finding the jelly jar size jars. Oh yeah. And it was just awful. And we ended up picking up some at like Goodwill  and yard sales because you couldn't buy them new at the store. didn't have them.  Um, one of the, one of the best things about canning and I, now that we've done it, I'm actually excited to do it  is that  once you get the supplies, you can reuse  all.

19:47
supplies other than the metal flat lids.  And so  if anyone wants to get into canning, it's going to cost you a little bit to start out, but  the jars are reusable. The canner is reusable.  You don't have to buy the supply every year.  if anybody wants to get into it, I really do.

20:12
I really do say go for it because you  can screw it  up. Yeah, can screw it up.  But  if you screw it up, you learn from it. Right. I mean, I have things that I put in my pantry and, you know, six months later I found out it was a bad seal. And then you just toss that one jar and you keep going. But like definitely use your network, like reach out to friends and family on Facebook or whatever you use for your social network.

20:40
you know, I'm looking to get into canning. Does anybody or their  grandparents or whoever, are they getting rid of anything? Cause there's a lot of older canners that just don't have the time and energy to do it anymore and want to give it to someone who's interested.

20:56
Yes, exactly. My mom is 78 and she still cans.  She enlists my 81 year old dad's  to help lift out the jars from the hot water because he's  stronger than she is and she knows it.  Plus,  they are so in love. They're so in love to this day, Megan. They've been together for over 50 years. That's amazing.

21:25
How do you still like each other?  I've asked both of them and they both, they're just like, oh, don't get me wrong. The other one drives me crazy, but oh, my life would not be the same without them. That's so good. Yeah. Excellent. Excellent example of a good marriage, a strong marriage. So  love those two to death.  Um, so I have, I have a crazy question. What's your neighbors?

21:53
think of what you've done with your property?  That is a very good question.  There's kind of  a mix, I think. I have  one neighbor, two houses down, who is, you know, they mow their lawn in stripes  just so every, you know, every week. And like a lot of the neighbors on my street are very like, they have their yard sprayed for whatever regularly. And then I have other people who come down, they're like, we love your yard. It looks so amazing. We love what you're doing. We love the whole concept.

22:22
And so it's kind of a mix. Like there's, there's some people who are just so pro perfectly manicured lawn and like, you know,  maybe that's all they know. I don't know, but  I just, I just try and spread the word about what I'm doing. And I've got, you know, my little milkweed for monarch sign out there and I've got, you know, my sign that says this is a pollinator garden and anybody who walks by that wants to talk while I'm out working or wants to shoot me a message on Facebook. Like I am happy to answer questions.

22:53
Like I will tell you all the benefits of not sending your leaves off to, you know, the transfer station in the fall. Like why is it better to keep them on your property? I'll tell you all about that. I'll tell you all, all about why it's better to have  more than just grass in your lawn. Like let the weeds grow, let the other other things grow in with your grass. It's okay. It's super beneficial to all the insects and wildlife that need it.

23:16
It's better for your soil. You don't have to put as much input into your lawn to try and keep it looking nice. If you just let other things grow that want to grow there.  Um, so it just kind of depends. mean, I describe my yard as fern gully because it's just, it's so like big and wild and awesome.  And you know, like there's defined gardens, but it's definitely very lush and very green and very like full of things. But like, I don't have to put out bird feeders. They know to come.

23:45
Like they know where to be. And like, don't have to worry about like encouraging bees to my property. They're here because I've got all the plants they want. And you know, like when people ask questions, well, what do I do to get rid of this bee? I'm like, well, that bee's not really hurting anything. But if, you know, if that,  um,  what do call them? My, now I'm blanking. The carpenter bee, you know, like they're not really hurting anything and they don't sting. But if you don't want them, you know,

24:13
burrowing in that particular fence post, fill a brown paper bag with some newspaper, tie it shut at the top and hang it nearby. And they'll think a wasp has moved in and they'll move out. You're not spraying them, you're not contaminating your environment, but you're encouraging that particular carpenter bee to move somewhere else instead.  There's just so many different things that people just don't know what they don't know. And I know more than I realize I know because I'm such a  webinar junkie and  I'm always wanting to learn more.

24:42
So like, just, you you ask me questions and I'll, the answer will show up in my brain because I remember it from somewhere. So that's kind of what I do. And if you're like me, if you don't know the answer to the question, you're like, I am going to have to look that up. Yeah, I will find out for you for sure.  Absolutely.  So  how,  terrible at asking questions this morning, clearly.

25:10
the people who come and buy stuff from your farm stand. Did they visit with you? Did they say, is great? Did they ask you questions too? Yeah, absolutely. This morning, actually, I just had a Boy Scout stop by. They're working on an eagle project to put in a garden at a local farm, and they were looking for natives. And we had a whole discussion for a good 20 minutes about what plants are native, how big they grow, what they do, who they benefit.

25:38
If I'm outside when they're there,  I do a self-serve farm stand. So if I'm outside, they're welcome to ask questions, but  people shoot me messages all the time on my business page and ask me questions there. If I'm not, I do have a day job in addition to the farm stand. So I'm not always outside, but I try to be out as much as I can.  so I try to be as available as I can because I love answering questions and I love encouraging people to put more natives in their yard. And  we need every  square inch we can get.

26:08
such a developed country at this point. Like there's not a lot of woodland left. There's not a lot of wildlife corridor left. There's not enough, a lot of, you know, pollinator plants like milkweed, especially is just gone because there's just not enough of it. And we'd rather grass on the sides of our highway for some reason. And that just makes no sense.  If it, if it makes you feel any better, we have milkweed growing in our ditch out front of our house right now.

26:37
And we have monarchs in our yard from  end of June until August. That's awesome. I just went to a lecture on Wednesday actually about monarchs and they were talking about, you know, different things and you can do for your property and to encourage them to visit and, you know, spacing out your milkweed so it's not all in one spot because they tend to do more egg laying if there's more patches of milkweed throughout your property.

27:03
you know, when to prune it, you can actually prune your milkweed partway through the season, depending on where you're located and have younger, fresher leaves for them to  munch on because they do prefer the younger,  milkweed leaves. I mean, I'm here in Connecticut and we don't get our monarchs until August. And by August, the milkweed is kind of done for the season.  So they're talking about, you know, pruning it back in maybe July. And that way, by the time  the monarchs show up, they've got, you know, fresh new shoots.

27:33
It's not already going to  Do what we can for the monarchs because they need, they need the help.  Yeah. We have to protect them.  One of the most beautiful butterflies we have here is a swallowtail something and it's a black and white butterfly, it has  bright blue circles on the bottom of its back, its bottom wings.  Gorgeous.

27:59
most beautiful butterfly I've ever seen in my life. was so taken with it. First time I saw one, I had to go look it up. Yeah. They're so pretty. And it's so silly because you you see a butterfly, you're like, yeah, that's great. And you go on with your day, but butterflies are pollinators. are. They are. We need them. So I try to keep this to half an hour, Megan, and we're at like 28 minutes. So

28:25
I know you're going to be doing farmers markets in July and August. that correct? Yeah, I actually have my first one  this weekend on Sunday and then  most weekends throughout the summer.  I'll be there.  There's a few that I can't do,  but for the most part, and I keep it on my website, whatever  markets I am going to be at, but my farm stand is open every day  at my property. So it's 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day. You can stop by and...

28:54
chat with me or pick up plants or whatever.  Okay, and where can people find you online?  On Facebook, I am the Kelley family homestead.  Same thing for my website.  I have  a slowly growing  TikTok and YouTube  of the same name. I'm trying to put out more  informational videos for people who are interested in learning more about native gardening and  growing native plants and their benefits.

29:23
still a little shy on that front, but I'm overcoming that. Okay, the Kelleyfamilyhomestead.com is your website, right? Yes. Yep. All right. Awesome. And you guys can find Kelly in all the places she just said. And if you're in Connecticut, in Enfield, go buy stuff from the farm stand and see where she's going to be at the farmer's markets. Because if you buy from Kelly, you are supporting her, which means that she can support you.

29:52
Absolutely.  All right, Kelly, thank you so much for your time today. I appreciate it. And as always, you guys can find me at ATinyHomesteadPodcast.com.  Have a great weekend, Kelly. I'm Megan, sorry. That's all right. Thank you. too. All right. Bye.  Bye.