Hart Farmstead

A Tiny Homestead

Today I'm talking with Salina at Hart Farmstead.

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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 Salina at Hart Farmstead LLC. Good morning, Salina, how are you? I'm good, how are you? I'm good, bet it's not snowing where you are. No ma'am, I think it's actually like in the low 50s so far.

00:29
Well, I'm mildly jealous but not really. It is snowing here in Minnesota this morning. Oh, I bet it's beautiful. It really is and I would be perturbed except that last winter we only got like maybe six inches total for the whole winter and we've probably gotten about four this morning. So I'm very excited to see white stuff falling from the sky. That is awesome. We haven't had snow here and

00:58
Almost three years until two weeks ago, we got like a little dusting. That's the first side of snow we've seen in three years. Wow. Okay. So you're in North Carolina. Where in North Carolina? We're in like the central area in North Carolina, just south of Winston-Salem. Okay. Cool. I just talked to a lady, uh, today's Thursday yesterday, who was from East North Carolina, and I don't remember where, but E-N-C is part of their.

01:28
their business name. Okay. So, I get to talk to two people from North Carolina in 24 hours, it's kind of great. That's awesome. Yeah, so tell me about yourself and what you guys do. So, we have been homesteading for over a decade now. I was raised by my grandparents who grew everything and or hunted everything for our food.

01:57
My Nana did a lot of preserving, whether it was dehydrating, pressure cannon or water bath cannon. So I got to kind of be hand in hand with that growing up as a kid. My dad and my grandfather both enjoyed hunting about anything that you could hunt. So I've eaten most different types of wild game. When I met my husband in 2009, he is a farmer.

02:26
He does a lot of small grains. And I moved here a couple counties away when we got married. It used to be a dairy farm that started back in 1947. And they sold the dairy cows when he was five years old and his dad changed over to run in strictly beef cows at that point. When we got together, being able to live on a farm kind of...

02:56
really pulled me to continue what I grew up doing, whether it was hunting or raising our food. So we have a really big garden, and I started with just that, but then over the years it has expelled to three really big gardens, multiple raised beds. We have a variety of animals. And about two years ago, we started milking our first dairy cow. It was supposed to...

03:24
only be like for our family's milk. And we had my best friend who was currently buying raw milk down in the central part of the county. And so she started coming and getting some from us. And now we have 10 dairy cows. We currently are milking six. So our biggest thing now is raw milk products.

03:52
and we still have beef cows. So I keep a lot of their beef fat and I render it into tallow and I make a variety of products and then some other organic clean products that I've used for years and people started asking me for them. And so we've just kind of continued to grow in that aspect. And then I've added, you know, I do the sourdough and the kombucha.

04:22
and all the good fermenting. My husband calls them my science experiments. They are spread out around our home. We joined the Homestead community with Homesteaders of America about five years ago and started going to their conferences in Virginia every year. And we really have enjoyed meeting new folks that have the same passion as we do.

04:52
And, you know, even though it's a state away, so many of my close friends and our family have grown to want to learn more, especially when COVID hit. When COVID hit, people started to reach out and they're like, hey, can you teach me how to can, can you teach me how to grow vegetables? And it's just continued to grow over the last few years.

05:20
people wanting that knowledge of knowing where their food comes from, what's in their products that their family has in their home. And it's just kind of always been my passion and it's really all that I've ever known. We do both work off of our farmstead though with goals to eventually at least have me home probably in the next year or so.

05:47
Um, running the, the farmstead with a little store. Um, you know, we, we have found our niche and we have found what truly brings us joy and, uh, the dairy cows are just a whole different level of happiness that I didn't even know that I had. Um, and so we just, uh, we continue to want to learn anything that we can. Um, not just

06:15
for offering what we have to folks, but for our family. So it's been a big reward to share what we know with people. And we butchered some chickens recently with some friends. I'm growing some more pasture chickens for my best friend who's never gotten to do this before. And she does more like a apothecary side of things. And I do more of the gardening and the livestock.

06:46
So that's kind of the quick gist about what we do. And with what we, our jobs off of the farmstead, I am a landscaper. I have a horticulture degree that I earn later in life. And so that really helps my job, but it also helps me what I do here in doing things more organic and safer for my family.

07:14
Yes. Okay. Wow. You are deep in the trenches of homesteading. I love it. And if we don't have, we don't have livestock because we don't have room to have them right now. We have three acres, but we don't have any place for critters to graze. So if we did, and if we had a dairy cow, my husband would have a hell of a time pulling me away from that critter because I love cows.

07:43
He would be coming to find me wherever the cow was and he would find me hugging the cow probably nine hours out of the day. Absolutely. I love cows. I think cows are beautiful and they're not beautiful in the same way as like a horse, but they're just, they're so pretty. Their eyes just, they make me happy. Yes. And we have a couple that...

08:09
All of our cows are super friendly. They love to be loved on. And they weren't all that way when they came here. So it's been a lot of time of many hours out there, loving on them, getting them used to being, because a lot of them came from like commercial dairies. One of them I raised from a bottle. So I'm all she knows. So she thinks she is like a dog and not a cow. But their personalities are just amazing and they are beautiful.

08:38
And their eyes, there's two of them, that when you look into their eyes, they're just like old souls. And you can just see their happiness and their passion. Like, it's hard to explain, but it's soothing, just to look deep into their eyes and see their personalities and their hearts. Yeah, and I think the only thing that is close to that feeling is when you have babies. Like when you have your first baby

09:08
They really look into your eyes and you just fall. You just fall in forever and that's it. And cows' eyes are like that too and it's a really weird analogy to make, but it's the closest I've come. It's pretty, you're pretty correct there. Yeah, I have three kids that I birthed and I have a stepson. And my last baby is a boy. He's...

09:35
He's not a baby anymore. He's only 23 at the end of this month. But he was born really, really fast. I got to the hospital at 10 minutes to seven and he was born at 712. So 22 minutes. Wow. And the doctor wasn't there. The nurse helped me birth him and she didn't even have time to break down the bed in the hospital. So basically he was born onto the bed.

10:02
I sat up immediately because it was so fast and so easy. I felt fine. And I sat up because he was laying between my knees. And he was wide awake, eyes wide open, and just looked at me. And I just, I have never had that experience in my life, even though I've had two other babies. The other two, they were taken away from me right away because they had swallowed the

10:32
but it was one of the most beautiful moments of my life and I always remember it. So there's something really important about connection with another being. Absolutely. So that's my story about my kid. So I have to tell you, I was looking at your Facebook page and your Instagram page and you have a video of one of your dogs.

11:01
And you have the background music as that's just my baby dog. I love that. I saw that like last year and I have a dog I love too. And my parents also have a dog they love. And I sent them the clip of whatever it was that had that background song. And my dad called me. He's like, that's the dumbest thing, but it's so funny.

11:27
I was like, yeah, he says, I'm gonna be singing that's just my baby dog for a month. I said, thank you so much for the earworm and I was like, you're welcome. So I knew we were gonna be fast buddies on the podcast because you had that as your background music for that video. Yes. And to think how fast from since I had video that she's grown and you know, she's full grown now. But when I'm playing with her out in the yard, sometimes I still sing that because

11:55
It is pretty catchy. But when she was a puppy, she was, she just had a hilarious personality from day one and she doesn't come in the house, but I wish she would because her personality, it's, it was amazing. She would walk herself with her leash and you know, that was supposed to be our son's oldest dog, but you know, every, every one of them ends up becoming mom's dog.

12:22
Yeah, I wish that that song had been out when we got our dog. She's a little over four years old now. And had that song been out when she was a puppy, oh my God, I would've been singing it to her all the time. Cause she was silly too. So it worked out great. But either way, I had a good giggle when I saw that you had it and I was like, Oh, I love her already. Um, okay. So you are.

12:49
You are like born and steeped in homesteading from the sounds of it. Yes ma'am. Is it weird to you when people aren't in homesteading? Yes, because some people that I meet that aren't into homesteading, I feel like they look at me like, what is this lady talking about?

13:18
I'm like, man, they'll start asking questions and they want to know more. And then a year later I received text messages with, we went down that rabbit hole. So I love it. I'll actually really do like meeting folks that don't have that background because they quickly get very intrigued by it. And I like being able to guide them and help them to grow into their own journey with it. And

13:44
probably 90% of them end up doing some scale, even if it's just backyard gardening, you know. Everybody has to start somewhere and that gives them their happiness and their feeling of they're producing their own food with what they have available to them. So it's quite rewarding. Yes, I understand. And the other thing that I have found in what I've learned about homesteading over the last...

14:12
20 years learning about it, doing it, is I know stuff that I don't realize that I know. A friend of mine has a very shady patch in her yard and she was like, I'm trying to figure out what I should put there because I want some kind of ground cover, but it's really shady. And I said, well, did you try hostas? And she's like, I'm so sick of hostas. And I said, okay. I said, what about wild violets?

14:39
And she said, wild violets will grow in the shade. And I said, yeah, they grow in the woods all over Minnesota. I said, and I'm sure somebody you know probably has a patch. They'd be happy to split. And they spread like wildfire. I said, do you want to walk over whatever the ground cover is? And she said, no. And I said, well, with violets, you can walk on them. They won't die. You know, you may crush the blooms, but they won't die. She was like, I'm going to do that.

15:08
I didn't even think about the fact that the reason I know this is because my husband's mother gave us some violets from her little patch of woods from her old house when she moved and we put them in and they just grow anywhere. Right. And I was like, wow, I know more than I think I know. This is kind of great. Oh, it is. I'm kind of like that with, my favorite one is Dandelions.

15:37
And that's where it comes into, it's like at work where with being a landscaper and I work on state grounds, you know, when we are, we have to spray out pre-emergent to keep weeds from coming through in the grass on campus. And it breaks my heart because, you know, you're getting rid of all the dandelions that I could go pick the blooms and go home and make me some jelly. But yeah.

16:04
Or, you know, I can make sabs with them. There's so many different things you can do with them. And people are like, how do you know this stuff? And I was like, it's just stuff that you learn over time. It's a weed. And I'm like, no, technically, you know, the, the definition of the term weed is anything planted where it's not supposed to be, I said, so grass is technically a weed as well, you know, so some people don't, they don't get that, but I love knowing little things like that.

16:30
Yeah, and I'm glad you brought up dandelions because I read in two different places. Don't quote me. I don't know if it's true. That some woman brought dandelions over from Britain to America. Dandelions are not native to America, apparently. And the reason she brought them is because they're considered flowers over there, and she really loved them, and she brought some with her. That's interesting. Supposedly.

16:58
I've read it in two different places. I need to read it in about three more before I believe it. But, but I kind of hope it's true because people are like dandelions suck. And I'm like, no, no, no. Dandelion leaves are great in salad if they're, you know, fresh brand new, almost baby dandelion leaves, they're yummy. You can eat them. You can make coffee, a coffee substitute out of the roots. And it's really good. Dandelion tea is really yummy. And like you said, you can make jellies out of it. So.

17:28
They're not, they're not like the scourge of plants or anything.

17:35
No, and I would probably, I would like to look more into where they came from like that because I could see that being true because over there, things that we consider weeds and stuff here are something they use every day in their life over there because they live, you know, over in Europe, they live a completely clean lifestyle. You know, there's stuff there.

18:01
foods cleaner, their products are cleaner, they don't have all the fillers and fake stuff and they love teas and using herbs and I think that's pretty cool. Me too and I'm one of those weird people who absolutely loves coffee but I also love herbal teas. And when people are like coffee or tea, I'm like, what do you mean? And they're like, what do you like better? And I'm like, I don't like either better. I like both.

18:30
Yeah. And I'm like, you're weird. And I'm like, yes, yes, I am. I'm very proud of being weird. Absolutely. And that is okay. Yep. My favorite tea on earth is mint chamomile with honey in it. That sounds good. Just thinking about it. It's really good if you're trying to get some sleep because the chamomile definitely will make you drowsy. It works great. So, okay. So you said you have animals. What do

19:00
We have meat chickens and we have lane hens. We have dairy goats. I have Nubians. I used to have Nigerian dwarfs, but I recently changed over to Nubians in the last year, year and a half. We have beef cows, dairy cows. Let's see, we have guineas. We did have ducks. We no longer have ducks.

19:30
They are messy, but I did love baking with their eggs. They would 100% make cornbread rise, your cakes rise better. We have pigs, we raise pigs. We normally grow out our hogs about four to six months at a time and butcher them for our family. And then we do offer it some to friends and other family members.

19:59
Um, we had quail. We recently got rid of our quail. Um, it just wasn't suitable. And that's one thing when you go down the homestead path, you know, there's some people that prefer chickens over quail or quail over chickens. Um, some prefer ducks and they all have a different reason for being on the homestead. Um, some people prefer sheep over goats. I prefer goats over sheep, you know. Um.

20:28
But we have a variety of things. We still have, we have donkeys and we still have a horse. We used to ride horses quite a bit before we started farming so heavily that we really just don't have the time to ride anymore. Um, and when our children were young, you know, they would ride some. And then, um, we just, we kept one. She's like 20 now. Um, but that's the variety. I don't think I missed anything.

20:56
We did have rabbits. We had some meat rabbits. That was a trial and error. One thing that we realized we would prefer chicken over the rabbits. Yes, us too. We did the same thing. And what I want to say about what you just said about all those animals is number one, when you have to say um, and stop and think, when you're listing off your animals, you have many, many animals. And number two, when, when you try something new,

21:24
on the homestead and it's not working for you, you don't have to keep doing it. You can change your mind. It is totally okay to be like, rabbits are not really working for us. Maybe we don't continue to raise rabbits. Absolutely. Or goats or sheep or whatever it is because all you're doing is shorting yourself and continuing to do something that isn't working. I agree 100%.

21:52
You know, and some folks are like, 100% it's gotta be rabbits. I'm like, hey, whatever works for your homestead or your farm and your family is the way that each individual needs to be able to go through. You know, and we tried these different things and some worked and some didn't. It was fun. You know, it was fun to learn because it gave us different experiences that when we have friends that ask us.

22:21
different questions or for guidance. You know, some, they actually raise quail to release into the wild for hunting purposes around here. And I think it's cool, you know, we'll be at the milk barn and they'll fly in and land on the ground and you know, that's cool and unique to watch. But it's what works for them. And so we've actually gone out there and butchered some quail with them and brought some home to eat. But it just wasn't something suitable for.

22:51
for our farms, Ted. So it's been fun to learn and try new things. Yes, for anyone who doesn't know, quail are really small little birds and they're really pretty. So if you ever, you're saying that they'll come in and visit basically. And they're adorable. I don't wanna raise them, because I've heard horror stories about what a pain in the butt they are to raise, but they're really pretty.

23:21
They're smaller than a chickadee, I think. And they have little peeps, right? You know, they just do a little tiny call. Yes. And it's a pretty cool sound too. Yeah. And it's, you know, when we actually, when we started with Quail, we had gotten some eggs from a friend and hatched them in our incubator. And it was more like an experiment for our boys. Yeah. And they are so tea tiny when they hatch.

23:48
I mean, probably the tiniest animal I think I've ever held. I mean, they are just like the size of a quarter. And to watch them grow through their stages and raise their own, you know, and start having the eggs for you. And it was quite interesting, but they are, they're really small. They're really pretty. And I think it's fun to see their different colors, their different markings. And for them to feel comfortable enough to come around is, it's pretty cool. We had a.

24:18
A white one, I think she was all white, that we released ours out whenever we realized, you know, this just wasn't working. We released ours out because we knew there was so many around here that they would be able to be on their own. And this white one continued to follow us in the yard. It was almost like a puppy and she didn't want to leave. Something eventually ate her because we never saw her again.

24:44
But every time you went outside, she would come within a foot of you and she'd follow you wherever you went. It was, it was a pretty cool experience. That's so cool. Um, okay. So we've got like about five more minutes where we hit 30 minutes and I try to keep these 30 minutes. So because you have been doing this kind of stuff basically your whole life, what would you tell somebody who is just looking into getting started in Homestead?

25:13
I would tell them to find somebody in there, if they aren't local to me, I would tell them to find somebody local to them and try to find a community where you can have your hands-on experience. But I would tell them to start small, start with one thing at a time. And resources such as books, YouTube videos, social media accounts.

25:42
That is how I continue to grow all these years. You know, I didn't do social media, especially like not Instagram, until a few years ago. And you know, that's how we stumbled upon several different homesteaders all across the world. And you get to learn different things, but the biggest thing is to start with one task. But continue to want to grow your knowledge.

26:10
and having somebody local to you to be a mentor, it's a big help because it does take community. I also feel like when you have a community and folks that have the same knowledge that you can help learn from one another, they bring different things to the table. Some may grow plants better, some may raise chickens better, you know, and in that if you can't do that on your home set at the

26:39
You can barter what you are doing with those people to still get those products that you need for your family, even if you can't raise them. So even if you live in an apartment, you can still raise your own things best you can and what you can't do there, find somebody local that you can trust and in your community support by buying their items and being able to still have that on your table.

27:09
Yes, and in doing that, you make connections with people who might become mentors. And mentors are so important. The thing that I have learned about having mentors is that it brings your frustration level down by 50% because you can always call them and be like, what am I doing wrong? Before it becomes, I don't want to do this because I suck at it. You know? Absolutely. You know, when you start something new, especially with the homestead.

27:39
You know, everybody's gonna have heirs, we're humans. You know, we're gonna try things and it doesn't work. And if you have somebody that can help you with that, you know, they have tips and tricks and you learn along the way so that you're still gaining your knowledge, not just from your hands-on experience, but having those folks that can help and guide you. And a lot of these homesteaders that I have met at like the conferences, for example,

28:07
and following them. I actually have reached out to a few of them if I learned something from one of their speeches or one of their posts and I have questions because we all live in different areas and everything's going to grow different or produce different. Even all the way to sourdough, how you keep your house, the humidity levels, everybody's places are different and there's so many different folks out there that can help you answer those questions to figure out.

28:35
why something isn't working properly to help you succeed, to be able to continue wanting what you do because if you fail, you're not gonna wanna continue to grow. So don't give up is the biggest thing. Exactly. And the other thing is that if you do get to the point where you are so frustrated that you want to stop, it's okay to stop. Stopping is not necessarily giving up. Stopping is taking a break.

29:02
But if it's something that you really, really wanted to learn how to do and you wanted to learn how to do it right, you can always come back to it and try it again. And stepping away from things gives your brain a chance to think without really thinking about thinking, if that makes sense. And so it's not giving up, it's taking a break. If you don't ever come back to it, then you've given it up. And if that's a conscious choice, that's way cool.

29:29
But if you're just giving up because you're frustrated, that's not, you don't have to be in that forever. Right, take a step back and regroup. Mm-hmm, exactly. All right, Selena, thank you so much for your time today. I really enjoyed our conversation. Yes ma'am, thank you so much for having me. Yeah, thank you so much, have a great day. You too. All right, bye. Bye.