Graham Fam Farm LLC

A Tiny Homestead

Today I'm talking with Janae at Graham Fam Farm LLC. 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 Janae at Gram Fam Farm LLC. Good morning, Janae. Good morning. How are you, Mary? I'm great. I'm so excited to talk with you. Tell me about yourself and what you guys do.

00:25
Well, great. Thanks for having me. I'm so excited to be here. So I started Gram Fam Farm. Let's see. We officially started about 10 years ago, but we got our company up and running about three years ago. And we grow weeds, what people would call them, and use them for medicinal purposes. So we like to forage and gather and grow our own medicinal plants. And we use them to make all sorts of herbal products and like to teach people about natural holistic

00:53
healing and living and how they can use the plants growing all around them to make medicine for them and their family. Awesome. You are exactly the person I want to talk to today. I know a little bit about like essential oils. Like I know that when I have a migraine, if I open up my bottle of lavender essential oil and smell it, it takes the edge off the pain of a migraine. I know that clove oil can help with tooth pain, like toothache pain.

01:23
I know that mints can help with joint pain, but that's about all I really know. So are you a certified herbalist? Is that correct? So certifications are, I'm not certified and certifications are kind of wonky. A lot of people will claim that they're certified and it allows them more credibility in the industry, but there actually isn't just a standard certification for herbalists. So a lot of herbalists that tend to say they're certified, it may mean nothing.

01:51
So I have experience of 10 years with it. I'm a first-generation herbalist, but I am definitely not certified through any group or anything like that. Okay. I was wondering if certified meant anything because I'm going to say this and I really don't want anybody to come down on me about it, but probably we'll have a hard time with it. I know that when we sell our essential oil blends at the farmers market, we have to label them with what oils we use.

02:22
and we have to name whatever the thing is. I have like something I use for bug repellent and we call it bug off because it's funny, but we're not allowed to say what the oils are good for because the FDA frowns upon that. And so here's where I get confused because there are companies that sell herbal

02:51
things to help with ailments and they're allowed to say what it's for. So why can't I do it or why can't you do it that way but companies can? Do you know? Well, the FDA hasn't hit them yet. Pretty much you're not supposed to make any sort of claim at all about the viability of herbal products or what herbal products are used to cure, I'm doing air quotes, right? Or heal, I'm doing air quotes. You're not supposed to do any of that.

03:21
You can say, it is recommended for this and we recommend it for this. And that's where herbalists like to err on the side of because, I mean, we're not doctors. And so I like to make it very clear, I'm not a doctor. I'm an herbalist. This is an herbal recommendation. This is what I recommend to clients. Recommend is one of the best things, but one of the best terms you can use when you're talking about the benefits of herbal medicine. But as soon as the FDA gets a hold of it, they like to kick out anything natural, unfortunately.

03:52
Yeah, and it's so silly because we did this a long time ago. Yeah, we've forgotten. A lot of people have forgotten about it. The truth's been hidden, you know, and I think it would kill, I don't think it would kill the pharmaceutical industry. Yes. And it's unfortunate that we as human beings pay so much money for manmade things and corrupted things. When I can go out to my garden, pick mint.

04:22
and steep it in a sweet almond oil or an olive oil or a coconut oil, put it on my ankle that is sore because I twisted it, which is not true. I did not twist my ankle. I'm saying if I did. And it will actually help take away some of the ache. Yeah, because it's a hardcore anti-inflammatory. It's the same thing with dandelion. The root is used as an anti-cancer. The astringent properties of it alone are amazing. Same thing with red clover. Red clover is a blood cleanser.

04:50
These things are recommended to treat things like cancer, which actually doesn't need to be cut out of your body, despite what doctors claim herbalists don't think that that's recommended at all. In fact, your body can take care of it itself. It just needs to be given the right conditions to then be able to heal itself. These are a lot of, call them folklore, whatever you will, but these are a lot of remedies that have been used for generations to take away a lot of ailments. People either forgotten about them or they've been intentionally hidden.

05:19
And unfortunately, it's to make money. It's frustrating. And that's the mildest word I can use at the moment on this podcast. Um, so how did you get into this, Janaye? Well, you know, um, when my first son was very young, even right before he, he was born when I was pregnant, I just didn't like, I started looking into a lot of stuff, going down a lot of rabbit holes and I didn't like any of the products that were available on the market as prenatals.

05:46
I was just not a fan of them. They had a lot of crap in there. And so as my kids started to pop out, right, and grow, I started to look into the different sort of alternative treatments and alternative therapies. And it started out honestly, besides the prenatals, with diaper rash bomb. I mean, I was so sick of, I was a working mom at that time. I was in law school and I was so sick of what they were putting on my kiddo at daycare. And I just, I hated it. And so I created my own, you know, diaper rash bomb and I said, put this on him, you know.

06:16
It's got all the good stuff in there without all the bad. And I, I created it out of necessity because I couldn't find anything on the market as a working mom that I trusted. I didn't know anyone who was using herbal products at that time. Um, and so I just was like, you know what, I need to create my own. And so I started to dabble at first and just create the products that me and my family required. Sunscreen was another one that we definitely required. Um, and an alternative sunscreen. And so I just.

06:42
started off out of necessity and eventually it grew into something more and became bigger and bigger and I had people started off with family, hey, can I get some of that? Hey, can you give me this as a birthday present or a Christmas present? And then eventually I started to sell the things that I made and it just kind of blossomed from there. Okay. Yeah. We made, we tried making some sunblock or whatever last year, have never made it before, found a what I thought would work recipe, tweaked it a titch.

07:11
and put it in like little lip balm tubes. Yeah. So it's more like a salve than a lotion. And a couple of the vendors at the farmers market that we know, we asked them if they would try it and let us know how it works. It worked for us, but we wanted other people to try it. And the lady that is one of the organizers for the farmers market came back a week later and said, do you have more? Cause she was using it on her kids. And

07:38
It wasn't stinky. It wasn't oily. It actually stayed on their skin and it cut the sunburn down by half. And I didn't expect it to completely block sunburn, you know, totally. But I figured if she was smart, like most people are with their kids, she would not have them out in the burning sun all day. It is a deterrent is not a cure for sunburn. And she loved it. And I have to get some more to her probably next weekend.

08:08
So you can make this stuff, you can acquire the ingredients, you can forage for it, you can buy it, you can create a thing, and it does work. Yeah, yeah. I mean, moderation is key, right? In everything. Too much of anything is bad for you. Too much water will kill you, right? Same thing with sun. And so people are like, oh, you know, I was outside for 12 hours, you know, and this didn't work. Well,

08:32
yeah, you were outside way too long. Why don't you put on some clothing over the area that's getting exposed to the sun for that amount of time? And it's the same thing with herbal products. It's the same thing with any product you have. Too much of anything is a bad thing. And so you have to be smart. You have to be logical and you have to be reasonable about it. But there are really good natural ingredients that can be used to block a lot of the harmful UV rays when you are out there for a shorter period of time. And if you reapply, it's going to, like you said, block up to half.

09:00
Um, yeah, we've come up with a really good blend. We sell it online. We teach people how to make it for free on YouTube. We do YouTube videos, TikTok videos. We teach others how to make our products for free. And, you know, that's the thing is people say, you know, I can't believe online you're charging $60 for a tincture. Well, I had to grow the plants myself. Then I had to dry them myself. Then I had to steep it for four to six weeks, at least six weeks, I usually say. And then I had to strain it, bottle it, put a label on it. And, and I'm kind of a one band show here, right? Me and my family. So.

09:29
It's worth the money you pay for the natural ingredients you get out of it. And it'll, it'll work a long time. I mean, people don't even bat an eyelash about paying hundreds of dollars for, you know, pharmaceutical, it's going to last them for 30 days, but they won't pay 60 bucks for a tincture that's going to last them 30 to 90 days. So it's, I think people need to, um, come to a realization of what it takes to make natural products, you know, not on this large scale, uh, conglomerate like a Walmart, but you know, with small individual.

09:58
sole proprietors or LLCs making these products. And look, the information's coming to you for free on how you can make them yourself. But if you want to buy ours, then you know it's handmade. And there's something to be said about a handmade product that you can guarantee where the ingredients are coming from. Yes, and handmade always takes more time than a factory will. Definitely, and it's better product. You know, it's a higher end product. We can guarantee it. We're physically looking at it. You know, we are making sure that it is what we expect it to be.

10:29
Yes. And for anybody listening, if you want to find Janaye's products, type in Gram Fam Farm on Google because her stuff will come up everywhere. I did it this morning. Awesome. Yeah. I typed in your business name and I was like, wow, it's two pages in and I'm still seeing Janaye's label or company or whatever. I was like, wow, your Google algorithm is fantastic.

10:58
Thank you. We've been working on it for a long time. Maybe it definitely was not that way two years ago. Yeah. Yep. So I have a question about herbalist versus nutritionist because herbs are fantastic. I'm actually quite sad right now because my herb garden is non-existent at this moment. It got tilled in because my husband decided that he wanted to move it.

11:28
And we didn't have anywhere to put any cuttings from the herbs over the winter because I live in Minnesota and it's cold here and I don't have enough natural light to keep them going in the house right now. So my herb garden is kaput. I think there's basil and thyme in the greenhouse that just went up. And that's it. But I know that herbs have many, many stellar qualities for the body, whether it's eating them or using them in topical things or whatever.

11:58
Do fruits and vegetables, like cherries are supposed to be good for your joints. Spinach is supposed to be good for iron. Do fruits and vegetables count in this herbalist thing or is that more a nutritionist thing? Yeah, I mean, definitely. You want to make sure the quality of your products always a big deal, but we like to say we're naturalists and I am an herbalist. So you're supposed to be getting all your vitamins and minerals from food.

12:26
A lot of people like to say, oh, if you're not drinking quality water, we love distilled water because it pulls out toxins in the body and you're supposed to be eating good enough food where your vitamins and minerals are coming from the food you eat. So if you live an overall healthy lifestyle, then that lifestyle includes fruits and vegetables, whole foods, fresh foods, and a lot of which can be herbs because there's a lot of culinary, you know, there's some herbalists that just practice medicinal culinary.

12:53
art and only focus on the herbs you can eat in the culinary palette. We focus on a bit more and go into tincture and salve and infusions and decoction, different things like that. But I mean, you're supposed to use them all hand in hand. A lot of what we eat and what we know as food today is not actually food. We've grown up with it thinking that it's food, but it's not. A lot of it's just crap.

13:19
products and it's causing our body to be crappy, unfortunately, and not allowing it to work properly. So I mean, if you take the herbal idea to heart, then you should be eating healthy foods along with that and trying to stay... It's very funny. We hear a lot of the time, don't eat frozen foods or stay away from sugar. It really is important. You really are what you eat. And a lot of people wouldn't require...

13:45
the herbal products that we sell for these cleanses and for these detoxifiers if they were eating properly, if they were eating better food. You'd be surprised at how much breath work goes into a healthy body as well, just what oxygen does to the cells and how it can replenish the body. And I mean, you've got flax seed that has natural collagen in it. So I think that when you look at herbalism or when you look at naturalism and you look at all of these Ayurveda, right?

14:13
all of these different alternative healing practices, they really all go hand in hand. And basically what it is, is it's trying to get people back to that natural living idea where, you know, you're not grabbing for food that's been in the freezer and it's got all these preservatives in it. You know, you're not grabbing for just like boxed mac and cheese. And it's not to say we don't have that. I've got two kids. I've got a nine-year-old and a seven-year-old. So I go there just as much as others do too. But the idea is to get your body used to eating.

14:42
natural holistic foods as often as possible. And you'll notice that your body can reset itself. Your body can heal itself. It can reset itself. It can be as healthy as you'll allow it to be. And a lot of that is the environment in which you're in. A lot of people don't even think about the products they're putting on their body and in their hair and in your deodorant and your toothpaste, your hair sprays. There's a lot of crap in there that's not allowing your body to ever reset.

15:10
and thrive and get back to this natural state of well-being. Because your body is naturally supposed to be in a state of well-being. Yes, and makeup too is part of that that list you just made. Definitely. Definitely. Makeup has so much crap in there and people wonder, Janaye, why is your skin so nice? Well, I don't put makeup on it. I don't put a lot of crap on it. And over time, your skin will start to reset itself. What they've got going on in these

15:39
is really harming your skin and making you look less attractive when you take it off, which makes you want to use it even more. If you're caught up in that cycle of, oh, I'm just trying to look as beautiful as I can. Well, as soon as you take that stuff off, it's already done so much detriment to your skin that your skin looks worse every time you use it, unfortunately. So give yourself, give your skin room to breathe and it'll go back to a state of balance. Yeah, absolutely. And I can remember...

16:07
When I was in my early 20s, I went home to visit my family. And my sister is not even a year young. No, she's 15 months younger than I am. And she was never without a full face of makeup, ever. And I mean everything. Every layer she could put on, it was on. And she came out of the shower in her bathrobe, no makeup, no nothing. And I was like, my God, you are so beautiful without makeup.

16:37
And she was, she was gorgeous. And she's like, no, I'm not. And I said, no, you really are. And she couldn't, she couldn't see it. Right, right. It gets you into a numbing state. It's almost like you can never be pretty enough if you start going down that makeup route, you know? People don't get used to the moles and marks they naturally have on their skin, you know? And they start to...

17:02
get this really disoriented perception on what beauty actually is. And that's what happens when you start to go down that rabbit hole. I mean, hey, I was there. I definitely was there. I was an NFL cheerleader for a long time and I know what that's like to just be caked and caked in makeup. I grew up a dancer. I was caked and caked in makeup. And when I had my daughter and I started to think about, you know, she's so pretty. Why would I want her to think that she needs makeup to be beautiful? It made me think, well, then I need to stop wearing makeup every day.

17:33
because she's just gonna start looking into what I'm doing and looking at my example. And I was thinking, why do I wear makeup? And it really is a self-confidence thing. We've gotta be confident in ourselves in order to make that change and then allow others to see the natural beauty that resides in every one of us. Yes, and honestly, if you use a lip balm that is made from natural ingredients, like from a local maker, if you have one, like you and like me.

18:03
And if you use, I think it's cherry juice that will give like a pink to your cheekbones. Yes. And I don't know what you would use for eyeliner or mascara if you wanted it, or eyeshadow if you wanted it. But honestly, just having that little pink in your cheeks and the shine on your lips, that brightens you up, but you're not layering a bunch of stuff on your skin. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it's...

18:28
It's shocking what you can do if you just add some oil. Like almond oil is one of the best things. Jojoba oil, it's actually very close to our natural oil on our face. It's spelled J-O-J-O-B-A. It's one of the best ones you can use. And if you'll get yourself normal vitamin D from the sun, you'll find that your body naturally has that peak in your cheeks, right? You go outside and you'll naturally get that. And I think a lot of people underestimate exercise as well. If you will allow your body to create endorphins, it will bring that subtle color.

18:57
to your skin in those certain areas. And that's where they first even got the idea of makeup. It's because people that were naturally healthy and working out and doing all of these different things, they naturally just have this glow about them. And that's your body's endorphins. And that's like collagen you're getting from food. That's not your body being so toxic and then just adding crap on there to try to make that. Your body will naturally look like that. And we all...

19:21
People don't believe it. They're just like, oh yeah, well naturally you're pretty. No, no, I work to be as healthy as possible. And when you're a healthy person, you start to exude beauty. It's just a natural thing that starts to come to you because your body's naturally created to do that. And your skin, when it has its elasticity that you naturally are able to allow it to maintain because you're not doing things to your body that provide literally reduced elasticity, which is what happens when you put it on a lot of makeup.

19:49
and allow your skin to breathe, these things naturally come about. You'll be shocked. I was shocked as well when I was allowing my skin to heal and allowing, seeing what I actually looked like without makeup for six straight months. That was a very real shock to me. I was like, oh my gosh, my skin is just better. My elasticity is better, right? You eat a plum and it's just, that helps with your elasticity and your collagen. Same thing with like blackberries and blueberries. If people would naturally eat these foods you're supposed to eat,

20:18
then they'll see their skin and their body perk up. Yes, and natural foods taste good. I love plums. Yeah. And I love blackberries. Yeah, it's shocking. You know, our palates have really been taken over.

20:35
by conglomerations, unfortunately. They've been taken over by them. And when you start to actually give your palate, you know, balsamic and just different tastes in spicy foods, a lot of spicy foods are super healthy when it comes to cancer, like cayenne and different things like that, that actually breaks up these blockages in your lymphatic system. And that's really where cancer starts. It's your body's, this is an herbalist, this is an herbalist for you, not a doctor again, but it's your body's defense system. It's really just trying to protect the organs from what it sees as toxic.

21:04
parts, toxicities coming in through your body and a lot of it's from the products people are using and the crap people are drinking.

21:12
Yeah. Yeah. So you guys have a big event coming up. Yes. In July. Yes. Yes. Roots and Remedies. Roots and Remedies 2024. It's been a dream of mine for a long time. I'm so, so stoked to see it coming together. It's a big herbal holistic retreat. We started off with nine professionals coming in. We now have 11 professionals coming in, some of which are doctors. We've got herbalists, we've got Ayurvedic healers, we've got

21:42
Reiki masters actually, it's very cool. Sound bowl therapy, sound healing, we've got a drum circle. I mean, I literally tried to pull in every alternative healer I could around this area that had any sort of reputation and get them all in one place to be able to answer questions about natural living, alternative healing options. Just kind of give Missouri.

22:06
And we've now actually expanded it to virtual tickets as well, just with all the interest. But give everyone an idea of how easy it is and all the different options that are available to be more natural and allow your body to be in that state of calmness so then it's able to reset itself. I'm very excited about it. Uh-huh. I saw one of your videos where you were in a car.

22:31
lately, I think, and you had just gotten word that someone is going to be at this event that you were so excited about. Yeah, yeah, I was so stoked. Dr. Soren is going to be there. Dr. Sergi Soren, he's really known for Ayurvedic healing and Ayurvedic medicine around Missouri. He actually has traveled all over the world, especially the United States, and I was stoked to see that he's going to be coming. His father was also supposed to be there. I had learned about that.

22:57
first, but he actually can't. But Dr. Sergius-Oren's gonna be there. I'm so excited. He just brings a lot of clout to this event. He's just very well known. So did you just reach out and ask if he would come or did he hear about it and approach you? Yeah, so before I started, first I wanted to start it off as just an herbal retreat. And then I thought, you know, why don't we bring in alternate.

23:23
alternative healers of different types. And so I reached out to Dr. Soren. I'd already heard about him and known his clout in the industry. And he was very, very excited. I was very stoked by his reaction to my request to have him come. And it's just exciting because Missouri is such this little hotspot. A lot of people are moving into this area from the coasts. And so it's starting to just be this more almost like up and coming natural alternative healing.

23:50
hotspot like Mecca if you will and I'm excited to be a part of that and on the forefront of it. I am super excited for you and I'm going to tell you exactly why. You did the big ask. The big ask is scary. It is scary to reach out and ask for something you really really want knowing that it could be a note. Yep. Yep. That's exactly it. Yep. I'm going to tell everybody

24:20
a bucket list thing or something you want to do or someone you want to talk to, ask the worst that you're going to get is no. Definitely. I mean, you've got to be your number one biggest fan first, right? And you've got to be confident enough in yourself and in your skill set to be able to ask. And that was something I struggled with for a long time is I felt...

24:45
not reputable. And maybe it was because I didn't have the certification, right? I didn't go to a school for it and get their certification for it. I'm doing kind of robot arms with it, you know, because I think people think of that with our traditional schooling method. It's like, well, if you don't go to some kind of school, or if you don't have some sort of paper certificate, you're really a nobody. That's not how it is. That's not how it is with herbalism at all. A ton of it is experience of others and learning from that experience and going to those that have practiced it for such a long time and learning from their skill set.

25:14
and ensuring of course proper identification of plants, but it doesn't require schooling in order to do that. You know? Yeah.

25:25
Yep. The reason that I was so emphatic about Do The Big Ask is because I just started this podcast back in August last year. Not knowing what I was doing, not a clue how to do this, figured it out on the fly. It's now June of 2024. So I started August of 2023. And back a few months ago, I emailed Polyface Farm.

25:52
and was like, I would love to have someone from Polyphase Farm chat with me on my podcast about what you're doing. And I didn't necessarily think that I would have Joel Saliton talking with me. I thought maybe he had a marketing person or a promotions person that would do that. Got an email back directly from Joel saying he would be honored and delighted to be a guest on my podcast. And he was, and it's already released. It's like 10 episodes back at least now. And I was just dumbfounded that he said yes.

26:21
because that was a huge confidence thing for me, because I was like, he's never gonna wanna talk to me. I'm nobody, just like you were just talking about. Yeah, I think that one, that's awesome. Congratulations, Joel's great. I think that everyone in this alternative sphere, in this alternative atmosphere, that's trying to get people almost woken up, right? Shake them out of their cyclical habit of just doing what...

26:47
media tells them to do, they're all really excited to give a voice to this area, right? And tell people, look, you don't have to follow the traditional route that everyone else is. In fact, the life expectancy is declining. So if you keep following that, it's almost like, where are we going? And so when you actually reach out to these alternative practitioners or people that are doing it differently, they're more than happy to give a voice to this area and bring

27:15
attention to it because really what it needs is attention. You know, you've got all the information there now. You just need to get the word out. And that can be difficult on social media, right? They silence a lot of things, a lot of things that I do violate, quote unquote, community guidelines. And I, you know, I've had a lot of people say, when you get it back, it's amazing what they say to you. They say like, you know, there's a certain set of facts that we all agreed are true. It's almost like what? And if you go outside those certain set of facts, it's hard to down, can you please?

27:44
It's hard to get that information out there. And it's great to see that people want to spread that information. If you have some sort of pedestal where you can get that information out there, they love to be on that. And they love to just tell people about how easy it is to make these little small changes. Yeah. And it's all about little tiny baby steps. It really is. I didn't know anything about anything. Thirty years ago, I just I had a daughter and I was like, wow,

28:14
my child is going to have a better life than I did. And I'm not knocking my family or my parents. My parents raised me really well. They had a garden. My mom cooked from scratch, the whole bit. But you want your children to have better than you had, if that's possible. And just started learning things, just off and on. Like, how does this work? What could be better? How do I do it? And now I'm 54 and running a podcast, or producing a podcast that...

28:44
teaches people things about all kinds of things, like growing gardens, like growing animals, like using herbs for bettering your health, like all the things that I've talked to people about in the last 70-something episodes I've done since last August. And it's not even just about sharing it with the listeners. Part of the reason I do this is because I want to know. Yes?

29:11
So when people like you say yes, I'm like, oh my God, I'm so excited because she knows things I don't know. Well, that's, I mean, that's what the community is all about, right? It's about creating, bringing people together that have these different skill sets and have these different expertises that they've spent all this time like cultivating these knowledge, these different knowledge bases and then bringing them to the people and having us all figured out together because I mean, there's strength in numbers, right? And we've heard that forever, but there really is strength in numbers.

29:40
The more of us that are awake and aware of the possibilities on how we can live, that's a little different, then the stronger this movement's going to get, the stronger it's going to be because then we come together and we create almost this like alternative community and that's where like the bartering system and different things come in. I mean, this world we're living in is absolutely crazy. I think that it's brought a lot of people to homesteading and to natural living and animal husbandry and all these different things that, I don't know, seemed a little...

30:09
backwoods for some people back in the day, you know, when I was first doing it, or like preppers, that stigma of preppers. Well, now, you know, it's really become a reality with like war and different things happening. And so I think that it's allowed the movement to get stronger and get gain more credibility. And people are really thinking, wait, this is actually a better way to live. This does allow me more freedom. And it's not an anarchic idea or tearing down anything that already exists. It's just really a shifting away from that.

30:38
opening up these new possibilities. And so I think that that's what shocks people most often is it's like, no, these are all your other options. Oh my gosh, I have other options. Oh, that's fantastic. You know, and it just gives people self empowerment and power and self sustainability and freedom. Honestly,

31:07
I do not want grocery stores to go away. Our garden is not even fully planted yet because it's been raining here in Minnesota mostly every day for the last three weeks. The garden was soup two weekends ago. It was a mess. And so we have some stuff in, but not nearly enough. And I'm not quite sure that we're going to be canning as many things as we did last summer, this summer. So.

31:34
I'm really happy that the grocery store does exist. I'm really happy that farmers markets are available because we're probably going to end up buying stuff at our farmers market where we sell things this year because some of the things may not grow. It's just so wet. So I guess what I'm saying is there's a place for almost everything. It's just a matter of finding where you fit in the spaces you want to be in, I think.

32:00
Yeah, definitely. Right. And there's a there's a perfect timing for everything as well. Right. Like divine timing. And as these alternative avenues open up more and become more popular and available to those that are interested in them, it will get easier to source locally and to find these local outlets. If you will. You know, when you are running low and your garden isn't, you know, performing as well as you'd hoped. Right. And your potato harvest gets all messed up. There's there's all these different what ifs. But when you get

32:29
a solid group of individuals either around you or within your reach who also have similar resources available to them, then it gets a lot easier to be able to obtain the natural products you want to obtain. A lot easier and just, it's exciting. I never thought we'd be here. Let me be honest with you. I never thought we'd be here. I never thought that we would be growing Grand Fan Farm into something when I first started it out. I didn't even know it was going to be called Grand Fan Farm, but it's exciting.

32:57
It's exciting to see the movement. It's exciting to see that these natural products work. It makes you feel so powerful when you know that you can create literal medicine, you know, that fights like joint pain, right? And arthritis, people that have dealt with that forever, just little hacks that you had no information on to begin with, like popping knuckles. I love, love, love, love.

33:21
breaking down old wives' tales. I love that. It's one of my favorite things to do when people are like, oh, one of them, for example, is like popping your knuckles. You know, you're supposed to pop your knuckles, actually. You're supposed to pop all the things in your body that will pop and it keeps the buildup from occurring and keeps people from having surgeries, unnecessary surgeries and limited mobility. You're supposed to move your body around and just little tiny habits that if you can get worked into that younger generation.

33:47
then that will get worked into the next generation and the next and then we'll pretty soon be able to just dispel a lot of these myths, if you will, or old wives tales that somehow got started and just continue on and keep us going down the wrong direction, unfortunately. It is so funny that you bring up cracking knuckles. My son does it all the time, so loudly. It sounds like 22 gunshots, like the caliber 22. Oh yeah. And he does it.

34:16
He does it and I look over and he looks at me and grins and does it again. And I'm like, yeah, I'm going to ignore this because it's, it's a creepy sound. I don't love it. It's first. And he just keeps doing it until I'm like, could you please, I think you've done it enough, please stop. And then he does it two more times and then giggles and stops. I'm like, and you're right. It doesn't do any damage. It's fine, but it just drives me crazy. And he does it just to, just to get me, which is okay. Um, the other thing, the other thing that I love about.

34:45
making things is when someone comes to you and says, I bought your product or a friend gave me your product or I tried a sample and I love it and it actually helped me. That makes me so happy when it happens for us. Definitely, definitely. Because you're almost like, I don't know, every time someone says it, I just get more and more stoked. You already know it works, but...

35:12
Then the fact that it works again for somebody and again for somebody and again for somebody, it's just like, let's go. It's such an exciting feeling and you feel that you gave them a lifetime skill, right? Especially when they learn it. I love when people will come to my classes and learn stuff. That's one of my favorite things. You know that I love when my products work for people and most of my customers are recurring customers that have told their friends and family and that's always exciting. But I love when they learn it on their own and people are like, why do you teach them that? Because then they're not going to buy your products.

35:41
Well, that's not really the point. The point is to spread herbal medicine, right? And to spread the knowledge of alternative healing practices and alternative living. And it just, it makes the collective better, you know? And so I love when my products work for people and it makes me excited because I know I've got a good product out there on the market, but I absolutely am thrilled when someone learns it. I had a lady email me the other day, she was a secretary to local school, and she said to me, you know, I attended your class, you know, a few months back.

36:11
I made a tincture for my husband's joint pain and, or no, I'm sorry, it was his high blood pressure and she made a tincture for that. And she has seen his high blood pressure, his blood pressure go down and he is normal out and is completely normal now. And that for me is the ultimate win. It's because I've empowered someone to be able to take control of their health and their family's health into their own hands. Like that's so huge. And I just can't imagine the impact. If it impacted her enough.

36:39
to be able to reach out to me via email and send me a long email, then I know it's made her feel incredibly worthy of controlling her own health and her life, in fact, because it really does ripple out from there. I think a lot of people feel enslaved, enslaved to the system, enslaved to the system of medicine and pharmaceuticals and doctors. People listen to what their doctor says without ever questioning it most of the time. And I say this all the time, there's idiots in every profession.

37:09
And that's no disrespect, it's reality. I'm a lawyer by trade. There's idiots in every profession and we really need to take it upon ourselves to question these experts and to question those who have received knowledge about medicine and different things. We really need to question it and hold them accountable. Because if we're not holding people accountable, people get lax, you know, and people get lazy. And then we become enslaved to a system where we've got the highest infant mortality rate in the, of all.

37:37
countries in our system. So that's kind of where we are. And so when I see people getting more empowered, then they're going to start questioning what their doctor says, right? And that's not to say, you know, if you're acute injuries, you break your arm, don't go to the doctor. Doctors are necessary, just like grocery stores that we talked about earlier. But for these chronic conditions, I mean, to continue these same things over and over again, just shoving ourselves full of pharmaceuticals that are just leading to, you know, pharma cocktails that are just people into just...

38:06
all sorts of messes, I think that we need to take a step back and question, hey, maybe I should look at my lifestyle choices, right? Maybe I should look at the foods I eat. And doctors can only repeat it so many times, like you need to eat healthier. You need to drink water. Well, maybe we should focus on that more rather than focus on prescribing these quick fixes, if you will, that kind of mask the issue rather than get to the bottom of what's really happening and dispel it altogether.

38:36
questions of everything. I don't think my parents meant to do this, but they did. And when I became a mom, I have three children that were born of my body, and I have one that wasn't. I have a stepchild. And they're all grown. And when they were little, if they needed to go to urgent care or the emergency room, I would go with them. And I would ask questions. If the nurse said we're gonna do this, I would say why.

39:04
or if the doctor said we're gonna do this, I would say, why? And they would tell me and I would be like, I don't know that that's necessary at this juncture. And I'll give an example here in a minute. But a lot of the time when you question the medical staff, the first thing they ask you is, do you have a background in medicine? No, no, I do not. But what I do know is if you take a child to the emergency room,

39:33
because they are exhibiting what might be appendicitis, but might just be gas. You don't really need to start an IV the second they get there. And the doctor wanted, the nurse wanted to start an IV. And I said, until you guys decide that he needs to go in for surgery, could you not put a needle in his arm? And she was like, well, the doctor recommended. And I said, I understand. But as this child's mother,

40:03
I know that sometimes germs get on sterile things that go into a body and then cause infection. I said, I would just soon he not get a staph infection because you guys think he might need to go into surgery in three hours or it might be gas. He might pass it and we might just go home. And she said, do you have a background in medicine? And I said, no, I do not. But I'm his mother. I am the last say. So is it going to cause any issues?

40:33
to wait a little while and it's going to take you all of two seconds to put an IV in his arm. Right. If it is necessary. Yeah. And she was like, well, we can wait. And I said, yes, please wait. Do not do this procedure on him now. I do not give you my permission. And she looked at me like I was crazy.

40:59
As human beings, we have the right to say no to a medical procedure that we're not comfortable with or that isn't imminently needed. And I don't know that people know that. Yeah. Well, you know, a lot of scare tactics come out with that, right? The doctrine of whatever, Pinterest, where the state can be your, you know, take over your parental rights and different things like that. It's amazing. The fear that has been...

41:29
instilled in everyone and made questioning a thing of the past, right? You're questioning your doctor. That is such a sad thing to see. Fear is one of the lowest vibrations, and I get into the spiritual side as well with all that. But they use fear quite often to keep people from doing what could be a really good thing for them and their family because they want people to go along with the get-go, right? Go along with the norm, don't question it. And that's why we are where we are in the United States, unfortunately, right? That's where we're at.

41:59
And I think that it's such a powerful thing for people that still question, for people to question, you know, why is this necessary? Why that? Tell me why. Why is one of the best in questions you can ask? I love the why. I love that because people are all so different. There's no one size fits all. Anything. Nothing. Even in the herbal world, nothing. There's herbs that will work for one people and then they won't work for another.

42:23
That's just life. Our bodies are very different things. It depends on the toxicities that built up in us. It depends on where we are in our progression. It depends on what we're eating every day. There's lots of different reasons as to why something would work for somebody but not for another. And bless you. And one of the main things that I don't like about traditional medicine is that they try to prescribe and do the one size fits all approach, you know, and it just doesn't work. It's been shown not to work and they just can't catch up. I feel like they're actually very archaic.

42:52
And so behind, and so if you think about that, and you think about how often these medications are not working or how many lawsuits have come out due to the medication or the vaccines or et cetera, et cetera, you do start to think, well, then why can't I question? Why is it that I can't question? And maybe it's because when you start to question, you'll figure out that you don't really need that. And you'll figure out that you don't actually need to go to that person anymore, right? And they'll lose a client. So...

43:17
I think that questioning is one of the best things we can do, and it's one of the best ways to protect your children. And I think that if you're not questioning, you're really not doing your due diligence in raising your child and making sure that what's happening to them is the thing that's supposed to happen to them, the best thing that should happen to them. It's just maybe the only answer you've been given at that time. Yes, absolutely. And the resolution to the story I was telling is that he only had a gas bubble that was just making his stomach hurt. So go figure.

43:45
Thank God it wasn't appendicitis. He was only like eight or nine at the time. And appendicitis is not typically something that happens to young children. It does, but it doesn't happen often. And I knew that too. So, but he was totally fine. And he is a strapping young adult lad now. So everything worked out. But yes, I mean, I think that questioning only leads to knowledge and knowledge only leads to

44:14
knowing more and needing to know more. That's what I think. Yeah, I one of my sayings that I have is the more you know, the more you can become. Yes. And that's just something that I thought of when I was first trying to figure out what was right, you know, and the truth, I call it, because I think there is an underlying truth within everything, and eventually people find it and then it takes them down a really cool path in life. But as you're trying to find that, you know, it's important to question. It's really, really, really important question. And it's fun.

44:44
It is, it's very fun. And if you were like me, I used to drive my parents crazy because they'd tell me something and I'd be like, why, how, tell me more. Right. Exactly. I still drive my dad crazy. I call him up and I'm like, you know, that thing you mentioned 20 years ago. And he's like, no. And I say, it was this thing we were talking about in a refresh his memory. And he's like, I think I remember it. And I say, I want to revisit that because I found out some things and he's like, are you kidding me?

45:14
Like, no, not kidding you, I asked you 20 years ago about this and you said, I don't know, go ask your mom. I didn't ask my mom, I asked Google the other day and found out I want to share it. And he just laughs. He thinks it's so funny. Yeah. I mean, that keeps the generation expanding in the right direction, right? And if we always are looking backwards to what they've done all the time, we just repeat things or regurgitate information because that's how it's always been done and no one's ever...

45:38
looking to see if there's a better way to do it or if that way is correct or if that way is harming us or anything like that, that we don't progress as a people, right? I mean, people thought Einstein was a freaking nut. People thought Tesla was a freaking nut during their time, you know? And that's what happens with progress, right? Those of us who are on the forefront of progress, we look crazy to everyone else. And it is what it is. I accept it 100% because...

46:03
it's going to be different when true change happens, right? It's going to look weird. It's going to look strange when true change occurs, but that shouldn't deter you from making progress forward in that direction, right? And I think that a lot of people really worry about what others think about them, and they worry way too much about being accepted by others. And the truth of the matter is, is who cares, right? And I made a video about this recently, and because it really, as long as you think what you're doing,

46:31
is good for you. You think your family is on the right path of health, right? And you're not intentionally harming another and you think you're a good person. I mean, in the end, it doesn't really matter if you're accepted by the masses or not. Usually what the masses is doing is a pretty stupid. Yeah. And other people's behavior has more to do with them than it will ever have to do with you. That's the thing I always come back to. 100%. 100%. Right? We all create our own lives and

47:00
their insecurities will cause them to react very negatively to anything that's usually new. So, you know, you let them go through it and you just keep chugging along on your path of natural holistic self-sustainability, self-sufficiency, freedom path, and I would encourage you to go that way. Yes, I would encourage anyone to just pursue the things that work for them. That's what I think people should do.

47:25
We didn't know we were going to be living on a three acre lot, growing a humongous farm to market garden and growing things in a greenhouse and having eggs every day from our own chickens that we take care of in their little coop and in their little run. Didn't know we were going to have a dog. And that's what happened three, four years ago. And never been happier than to pick my own produce out of our own garden.

47:53
that I know what went into the dirt or soil. I know what we put on the plants. I know that it's good for us. Yeah, definitely. I mean, the simpler life leads to the happier life, right? And I think that we overcomplicate things. They try to take our time from us a lot, right? With these regular nine to five jobs and all the sports and all the extracurricular. And the biggest thing that people can allow themselves is time to just sit and think.

48:23
just time to sit and ponder and think. And that's one thing that I love about, you know, self-sufficiency and having a garden and growing your own is you get that time to just be in silence. I, when I was first starting off on the whole journey, I got advice from a friend to just allow meditation to happen in your car. And how does that happen? Well, you shut off all the music and people don't really understand how their mind gets entertained so quickly with just the music that's on and doesn't, doesn't allow it to really be calm and think.

48:52
And so when you allow your mind to that time to think, you'll be shocked at the ideas and thoughts that come to your mind. And this generation is one that's really losing ideas. We're losing that ability to create and think on our own without prompts from others, you know, or without being led in one direction or be given like the instructions, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, that they're losing that thinking ability and that idea creation ability. And when we lose that, that's a loss of society. That's a loss of humanism.

49:22
And I think that that's one thing I like to fight against the most is, no, my kiddo, you're not going to watch TV all day. No, you're not going to sit there and listen to music all day. Not to mention the content and the type of music they're listening to. That's one thing too, but just shutting it off altogether. Right? And no, go play. And I think that the greatest thinkers of our time came from a time when they had a lot of downtime.

49:46
You know, and downtime leads to great ideas. And so I think that the more you can allow yourself downtime and not feel bad about it and not be like, oh, I got it, got it, got it, got it. There's always gonna be a gotta, right? There's always gonna be stuff to do, always. And so you really need to carve that space out. And like I said, I started off in the car, just no music on in the car and just sitting there and thinking. And a lot of people say to me, cause meditation is something we're doing, the roots and remedies, you know, just teaching people how to meditate. People are like, what is meditating? It's literally thinking.

50:13
You're just sitting there and letting your thoughts come to you. And the more people will allow themselves this free space to think about whatever it is and to really just kind of monitor your thoughts and then get into cool, higher thinkers like Neville Goddard and just different stuff like that, the greater we will become as a people. And then that leads to, oh, now I am interested in this herbal route, right? Now I am interested in growing my own garden. Now I am interested in taking animal husbandry to a new level. And that is what really sparks the next generation of thought and thinkers.

50:44
Yes. Hey, music. I love music. I absolutely love music. And for me, when I'm trying to chew on something, I put on classical music that has no words. Because that way, I'm not distracted by lyrics. And that really helps me settle in and think through a problem or write something that I need to get out on paper or on the computer. Do you know why? Huh? Do you know why? I.

51:13
sort of do, but tell me. So it's because a lot of that was played at 432 Hertz. So 432 Hertz, it allows your mind to think better and your synapses to connect faster. And classical music was all created in that way. They don't tell us that. And there's a lot of artists you can listen to that they play their songs at 432 Hertz, like Coldplay, but all classical music was 432 Hertz. And that's the perks of the gods, right? It allows your mind to work a lot better, more efficient.

51:42
Yeah, I didn't know the details, but I knew that classical music had something very, very special to it that lets your brain work better, more productively, more efficiently. So I always have music on in the car when I drive, mainly because I hate to drive. I get anxious about driving. So I always have some kind of music on. And if it's a really stressful drive I've never taken before.

52:11
I'm probably going to be listening to stuff with lyrics because it does distract me from my anxiety. If it's a drive I've taken a billion times before and I need to think through something, it's probably going to be classical music. The other thing I was going to say is when someone throws an idea at me that I'm not sure about yet, I always, always say, let me sleep on it. I need one night to process through sleep before I answer your question or say yes or no.

52:41
And I actually did that the other day. Someone said, I would really like to come back on your podcast because I have other things that I would love to talk to you about. And I said, that sounds great. Let me sleep on it. Went to bed, slept great, got up and I was like, I need to start another channel. Yeah. She's a master gardener. So, so soon, probably in the next two weeks is going to be a new podcast that I am producing.

53:08
She and I will be co-hosting it and it's going to be called Mary and the Master Gardener. We are so lit up about this. I talked to her yesterday and we recorded the first episode, the introductory episode. It's going to be great and she is brilliant at what she does. And had I not slept on it, I think that my answer would have been, I have too much going on right now. I don't know how I can work this in. No.

53:36
But then I slept on it. I was like, it's only a couple of episodes a week. I have time for that. So if you're working on something that you're not sure of, sleep on it. Because sleep is sort of like meditation as well. Definitely, definitely. The subconscious mind figures out lots of issues and problem solves a lot while we're sleeping. So definitely. Yeah, it's amazing how good food and good sleep seem to fix many, many things.

54:04
It's so

54:32
Yeah, the thing I've really noticed since I turned 50 is I say, why not a lot? In the best possible way. Why not? Why not try that? And for the most part, it's working out. I mean, there have been some things that I've gone, why not? Well, let's try. And they haven't worked, but it wasn't the end of the world when it didn't work. And it led to other things working better. That's right. We're always learning, right? We're.

54:59
We're beings that are experiencing. And so just because something doesn't work, well, you learned what doesn't work, right? I went, oh, I didn't learn anything. It was the wrong path. Well, now you know what not to do, you know? And hopefully that's not how you learn every lesson because that would be a horrible life in existence if you always had to go through experience on what not to do and learn that lesson that way. I mean, you can learn from others, but some of them are required, you know? Some of those lessons you have to learn that way and really trusting your intuition and trusting that, you know, this does work out. Somehow, some way this works out and this was the path I was supposed to go down.

55:28
Yeah, exactly. All right, Janae, we've been talking for almost an hour. I knew this would go long, because I was so excited to talk to you. I appreciate you and your time and your thoughts and what you're doing. And I can't wait to see in July how your event goes, because it looks really fantastic.

55:48
Thank you so much. I'm really, really stoked about it. Just thankful to even be in this spot. And so I'm really excited about the event and I'm excited to just see what happens with it, you know, what it blossoms into. We already have some fantastic people coming and I'm so excited for all the people that have purchased tickets. It's going very well. I'm very, very happy and thankful. So thank you for having me. Yes. And before I actually let you go, are you going to have tickets available up until the day of the event or is it a limited number?

56:17
We are having available till the end unless until we sell out. So we're selling out a hundred is all I'm going to take. Um, and until we get to that number, tickets will be available the entire time. And what about the virtual part? Virtual is unlimited. So you guys will, they'll be able to purchase tickets up and until the day. And even once it started, I'll still have the virtual tickets available. Some people are just purchasing virtual for one day, but hit us up. We're happy to work with anyone who has like a alternative strategy they would like with ticketing. Okay.

56:46
Then when I really, I'll try to get this released in the next, not this week, but next week so that people will know about it and I will put all the links to stuff so that they can go sign up. Awesome. Thank you. Yeah. Check out our website, gramfanfarm.com. That's the best way to purchase tickets. The rest, Eventbrite and things, they're a little higher because there's extra fees with those vendors. So the cheapest tickets you'll find are on our website. And then there's a route 30 will get you 30% off too. So check that out. Awesome.

57:14
All right, Janae, thank you again. Have a great day. Thanks, Mary, you too. Bye-bye.