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Episode 6: Interview with Carissa - A Year in Review
266 Plays2 years ago
How was the past year on the homestead? Carissa reflects on the past year including discussion about things that went well and challenges along the way.
Checkout Littlewayhomestead.com for more details and information about Little Way Farm and Homestead.
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Transcript
Podcast's New Direction and Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Before we get into the episode today, we want to address the updated name of the podcast. You may have noticed that we hadn't updated a post in the last week or so. We have decided to connect the podcast more clearly with Little Way Farm and Homestead. This change will allow us to expand our conversations regarding regenerative agriculture, homesteading, and Catholic culture in the home.
00:00:19
Speaker
We have an awesome lineup of conversations, interviews, and more coming soon. If you're interested in learning more, check out littlewayhomestead.com. And now for today's episode, an updated introduction.
Year in Review: Carissa's Farm Experience
00:00:33
Speaker
Welcome to the Little Way Farm and Homestead Podcast. Little Way Farm and Homestead is a regenerative and educational farm in southeastern Indiana. Motivated by the Catholic faith, we strive to inspire, encourage, and support the development of homesteads and small scale farms in faith and virtue. I'm Matthew. And I'm Carissa. We're excited for you to join us on the podcast.
00:00:56
Speaker
Welcome to another episode of the podcast. This is going to be an interesting conversation. We're going to, over the next two weeks, actually flip a little bit of the script. Instead of talking about a particular topic, we're going to do interviews simply between Carissa and I. Today, I'm going to be interviewing Carissa, and we'll be talking about her experiences on the farm and the homestead over the past year as we've become more acquainted with this lifestyle, and maybe provide some reflections as to what we'll be doing in the next year. Sound good? Yep.
00:01:24
Speaker
Well, let's get it started.
Achieving Food Self-Sufficiency: Challenges and Successes
00:01:25
Speaker
So to begin, what has been the most exciting thing that you have recognized as you look back over the past year on the farm and the homestead? So last year when we were talking about preparing for the upcoming year, what we were going to be doing on the farm and the homestead, I remember having a conversation with you where I was saying something along the lines of,
00:01:48
Speaker
I was hoping that one day we would be able to provide like 80% of our own family's food needs and maybe outsource 20% but I came into the year having a lot of health issues and just being a fresh mom to a third baby and with the move and the remodel of the house there was just a lot
00:02:13
Speaker
on my plate and I didn't want to set too high of expectations to just add to my stress levels because I really needed to figure out how to bring those under control. So
00:02:24
Speaker
I said, this is something I'd like to work towards, but this coming year, let's just try to meet a lot of our family's food needs. And with the expectation of working up towards 80, 20 or 90, 10, it was something like that. Looking back at least over the last spring and summer, I think that we actually kind of met that goal unintentionally. So part of that is that I stopped
00:02:53
Speaker
outsourcing a lot of our foods and started just making meals out of what we had, which is what we were growing and raising ourselves. So it wasn't necessarily that we have grown and raised all of the food that we like to eat or that I
00:03:09
Speaker
typically make meals out of, but I just kind of changed my approach to cooking in the kitchen and I started making more meals out of what we had. So I think it is actually really exciting. Every time we've been able to sit down at the table and be like, wow, all of this came from the farm except for the onions or whatever it was that might not have grown well for us this year or that we didn't grow ourselves.
00:03:33
Speaker
Yeah, that's interesting. I noticed that over the last maybe just few weeks even is I think we looked around and we said, you know, we're not really going to the grocery store as much. But what was interesting is that it didn't become so much of a goal at some point is maybe how I don't know if that resonates with you.
00:03:49
Speaker
I mean, it is a goal, but it just naturally occurred over time. And I don't know that I even noticed that slow gradual increase towards taking things from the farm, whether it's eggs, meat, produce, whatever it is, and incorporating it into the food until at some point we did start looking around and realize, hey, most of this food came from the farm. And in fact, most of the food that looks like is going to be included in the next few meals is coming from the farm and the homestead.
00:04:16
Speaker
I will say that I did not tackle food preparation and storage the best, so I know that'll change a little bit as we go out of the growing season and into the winter. But we're still planting for the fall, and I know we'll still have things. Our potatoes and garlic will last us through the winter.
00:04:36
Speaker
Hopefully our meat will last us, our beef will last us most of the winter, but we might have to buy some more beef. We have become much higher consumers of beef now that we have been able to raise our own cattle. Definitely. Well, that's a good segment then to consider, you know, what are you most personally, what are you, what are you personally most proud of having accomplished, uh, throughout the last year on the farm and the homestead?
00:05:03
Speaker
Well, I think it goes similarly with that. I might have more than one answer for this. I think the ability to take the pressure off of myself for meal planning and pulling meals together and just being able to look at what I have available to me and make meals out of it.
Finding Rhythm and Spiritual Growth in Homesteading
00:05:24
Speaker
I'm not able to do quite as much versatility in our meals as I prefer. I just really enjoy cooking and I really enjoy eating and so I love being able to cook with versatility. So I haven't been able to do that as much but I am proud that I have not had pressure on myself to do that.
00:05:48
Speaker
and that I have felt the freedom and the ability to make meals out of what I have in front of me and not feeling like I don't have food to cook with. Similarly, not necessarily with food, but in finding a rhythm and finding order for our home and our family,
00:06:11
Speaker
I feel like for a long time it felt like I kept writing down plans for how to create rhythm, how to create order and I would get two steps in and then I would either forget about it or life would happen and I'd have to be give my attention elsewhere and I felt like I was never making progress in creating that order and those rhythms for our family but
00:06:37
Speaker
Now that we've come into the autumn season and I've started homeschooling for another year,
00:06:44
Speaker
and we're just looking ahead to the next year and preparing ahead, I'm starting to realize that even though I was only taking one or two steps at a time before things fell off and I had to come back to it a couple weeks later to do it all again, I can see how that actually still created progress for me and now I am able to find rhythm in our days. It's not
00:07:08
Speaker
It's not at all where I want it to be, but I can still feel it there I can feel that that small amount of work that I was doing over the last year Made progress for myself and that I have a new level to start on going into this next year
00:07:22
Speaker
I think that's part of where a lot of people though frankly get burned out from the homesteading lifestyle is that it becomes really difficult to recognize those incremental steps because there's always something on the to-do list where there's always someone who's a year or two years ahead of you and so it can become very difficult to maintain that focus and that energy because there's so much need for perseverance. Many people are what they would call first generation homesteading or first generation farming meaning
00:07:47
Speaker
This isn't something that they inherited or something that they grew up doing. And so the amount of skills that they have to learn or the tools that they need to purchase or even just the discipline that they need to kind of capitalize on is so absent to people.
00:08:02
Speaker
that it can become very defeating to not recognize the incremental steps in progress that you're taking on but also that the children are learning right now and it is normal to them and that can become hard for people. So it's exciting to hear that you see that and recognize that because I think that that kind of makes it easier to reflect back on and be joyful and happy about the work that was put in.
00:08:25
Speaker
Yeah, it actually makes me think about this lesson that I've read about. I really enjoy reading from Charlotte Mason to inspire my approach to homeschooling, but also my approach to mothering in life. And when she talks about habit training for our children, she talks about it being similar to taking a wheelbarrow down a path. And she says that
00:08:48
Speaker
at first you're it's just like the even road you have to keep going and it can be hard and wobbly but the more you take the same path you start to create this like a ditch where the wheel always goes and it just goes into its groove and it becomes easier and then before you know it you have this path that you just put the wheelbarrow in and then you walk and it stays in place and i think that that's what i've kind of been feeling and experiencing as i'm
00:09:18
Speaker
training myself in habits and rhythms is that I am feeling that ditch making its way and it feels a little less wobbly and it's just exciting to feel the progress of that and to know that once I get one rhythm and one area ordered in our home and in our homestead then I can move on to the next one and I have that understanding that
00:09:43
Speaker
It's going to feel wobbly and not super sturdy at first. And there's harder work at the beginning, but once you've continued down that path, it becomes easier and more well-worn and just feels part of your natural life. Right. That's a great point. Great analogy. What, if anything, has been particularly difficult or do you look back and think I could have done maybe a little bit better at that or maybe focus a little bit harder on that that you wish you would have done?
00:10:12
Speaker
Well, that is a loaded question. I think this last year has been very challenging and particularly for myself, both spiritually and physically and every way that it can be. It's been very challenging and
00:10:29
Speaker
a lot of it I even in the moment have been able to look at and say man I could have done that so much better looking at all of it having an understanding that I I could have done better but I am gonna continue and I am gonna get better I'm committing to
00:10:48
Speaker
facing however I didn't do things well. I think that in every aspect, in mothering, in keeping and ordering our home, in participating in farm chores, I feel like I didn't have a lot of extra energy and mental space to give to that.
00:11:07
Speaker
I do feel like in some ways I'm finding my own little ways to get out and take care of certain farm chores. I would like to participate more hopefully in the coming years with gardening and helping to keep the animals in good health. I'd like to grow a medicine cabinet for our family and for the animals and
00:11:31
Speaker
There's just so much ahead of me that I know I haven't been able to take on this past year, but I am excited to learn more and to take on those responsibilities in the future.
00:11:43
Speaker
No, I think, I think it's really important that we talk about the things that didn't go well and the things that are hard for us, both as, you know, the farm work and the homestead work as a couple and as a unit here. But I think it's also really important to recognize just the individual challenges that we all have. Because, well, as I asked you that question, I was thinking about what it is for me, and maybe I'll hold on to that till the next episode.
00:12:07
Speaker
but there's definitely things that I didn't realize were difficult for me because maybe the opportunity to experience that challenge just hasn't been a part of my life. And now that we're out here and there's so many more demands and so many very unique demands in ways that you never really would think about the mental demand and the spiritual demand from a homestead is probably
00:12:29
Speaker
It is very understated by people who are often homesteading. It just doesn't get the attention I think that it deserves because the physical aspect is the physical aspect. It's hard. It's really difficult, but it's the discipline. It's the virtue development. It's the maintaining a cool, collected head. It's prudence. It's maintaining a spiritual life.
00:12:52
Speaker
It is so easy to get caught up in the farm in the homestead portion and neglect everything else because it always seems that there's always demands at all times and that it doesn't really end. And so yeah, I think it's really good to talk about that and bring those things up for people because it can hopefully.
00:13:12
Speaker
be a source of consolation that we're all struggling and we're all doing our best, hopefully, or we should be doing our best. And there's a lot ahead of us and there's progress to be made and those incremental steps
Family Roles and Skills in Homesteading
00:13:24
Speaker
we talked about earlier can be a source of inspiration and encouragement.
00:13:29
Speaker
Yeah, I'd actually like to add that the main thing that I think I didn't do well in and I felt particularly challenged in in this last year was in whatever way surrendering and allowing God to work through me.
00:13:47
Speaker
because there was a lot as I looked forward into what this year was going to hold that felt completely impossible to me and I had no idea where I was going to find the energy and the fortitude to take on what we have in the last year. And while looking back I can say I really felt like God wanted me to learn the lesson of
00:14:11
Speaker
looking to him and not to my own strength. I can't completely put to words what he's shown me in that but I do feel like everything I was able to do and accomplish in the last year was because of him and not because of my own strength. So that is something that I think is an important lesson that spiritually I needed to learn in the last year and I think I'm trying to go into this next year really being able to do that more.
00:14:38
Speaker
Right. The homestead is so often created as or thought of as this idea that it's all of the animal enterprises, the gardening, the neat, clean rows, the wood chips around and you know, chopping of wood and all of that stuff. But really none of it matters if the home portion isn't functioning well.
00:14:59
Speaker
I think that's a distinction that often has to be made. And the person largely kept not just the home, but the homestead itself running has been you throughout the last year. Without you, my harvesting of the food from the farm and the homestead probably would not have gotten put to great use because often I'm not that good at making sure that we all eat, but you are.
00:15:26
Speaker
or at making sure that our basic needs are taken care of, but you remind me of that, or that we need to be tempered or prudent or whatever it is, and you remind me of that. I think that it's really important that everyone recognizes in a marriage and on the homestead there are roles that everyone fulfills, and in the family there's roles everybody fulfills.
00:15:48
Speaker
and they all work together to create this remarkable experience and journey and life. And it's so important that we are aware of that and that if anyone is not doing their job or their role correctly or with virtue or in the pursuit of heaven, then it all doesn't work as well together. So I love you and I thank you for all of the hard work that you've put in over the last year because yeah, this wouldn't work without you.
00:16:15
Speaker
Well thank you. I think that it's probably important to address that when what I'm thinking when I say that is that I'm thinking I haven't done a lot because the outside work the taking care of the land and the animals is what is newer to our family and the move out here and the stuff that I have done is for the most part a lot that I have been working on
00:16:50
Speaker
the roles that the the woman can take care of in the family and in the homestead are something that's important no matter where you are and there's skills that I've been building in the home even before we got here so it is it does feel like I didn't take on as much new as you did even though this is a completely new home to us and there was a lot that was new but
00:17:11
Speaker
even before we were here, but that's probably just an important reminder that
00:17:17
Speaker
Yeah, I think that there's a lot in the home and keeping the home that is the same, whether you're on a lot of land or in an apartment or a home in the suburbs.
Adventures with the Dairy Cow
00:17:28
Speaker
Well, let's switch over to what I have set up as not a lightning round of questions, but quite a few questions that I think will be fun. Okay. So lightning slash not so fast lightning round, which animal enterprise on the farm or homestead has been your favorite or most enjoyable over the last year?
00:17:49
Speaker
I feel like you probably know this, but it's definitely the dairy cow. I did not get to take on her work as much as I would prefer. She ended up liking you a little bit more than me and it just didn't work into my rhythms that I've been working on. But that is something that I would really enjoy to take on more responsibility for in the future as we grow that and maybe get a new cow.
00:18:16
Speaker
We should investigate that too, whether a dairy cow like that typically takes preference of one person over another. I don't know if that's the case. It does seem that that's what happened almost inadvertently, but we should look into that.
00:18:29
Speaker
Well, something that I didn't realize is that I don't think I have nearly the strength that you have or the endurance, especially in my current season of life. And I think that you were milking her a lot quicker than I was. And like, you know, she doesn't like to sit around, especially once she's run out of her snack that she has and wait to be milked. And so I think that that was probably a big part of it with her.
00:18:56
Speaker
Yeah. I didn't realize how physically exhausting milking a dairy cow by hand was. I'm not sure that that normally comes up. I don't know that that's normal. In fact, maybe it could just be us. I think it is. I've heard some people on different podcasts and stuff talk about it. And I, I think it is more physically demanding than a lot of people expect.
00:19:17
Speaker
Yeah. It's the fine muscle movements that have not been created yet. Hopefully over time we'll get better. Um, do you feel more drawn to the farm side of what we do or the homesteading side of what we do?
00:19:30
Speaker
Definitely the homesteading side. I don't think that I am the most business minded. I think I'm very communal minded and focused and I feel that comes a lot more naturally to me with the homesteading side being able to serve and prepare for my family and then being able to welcome other families in. I definitely think the homesteading comes a little more naturally to me and is what I enjoy a little bit more.
00:19:55
Speaker
Do you have a particular experience or something on the homestead side of this that you most enjoy or brings you the most joy?
00:20:02
Speaker
Yes, I think, I don't know if this is obvious from what I've said in this episode and other episodes, but I really love the kitchen. I love being able to source really good food. And I definitely think that the food has been more enjoyable this year as we've been able to raise it and grow it ourselves. And I really love being able to have other people over and feed them what we've put our time and energy into.
Culinary Joys and Farm Fresh Ingredients
00:20:32
Speaker
Do you have a particular ingredient that's been harvested from the farm that you have found to be the most different in your cooking here as opposed to if you bought it somewhere else?
00:20:41
Speaker
Well, I think that eggs definitely have, they're definitely better fresh off of the farm. That is something before we moved here that we didn't have chickens, but we did source our eggs from friends that were raising chickens and from local farms. So that was something that I had started using more of before we moved here.
00:21:03
Speaker
I like the feeling of being able to pull from our own milk and not having the store bought milk. I don't know that it makes the biggest difference in flavor, but I definitely feel like we have a lot more cream and that makes it a little more enjoyable to cook with and just have the thicker cream and flavor. We didn't grow a lot of seasoning this year.
00:21:28
Speaker
and i've always or herbs i'm sorry that's what seasoning comes from we didn't grow a lot and it's something that's always been a little intimidating to me because it seems like a lot of work to grow it and then figure out how to dry it and then figure out how to store it and i've only heard i've just heard from some people that they haven't been able to figure it out so it always just seemed like something
00:21:52
Speaker
that was intimidating to take on. But we grew a lot of dill, which is probably because you love dill. I very much love dill. But I found just cutting the dill and bringing it in the house and leaving it in a basket for a couple of days, it dried really nicely. And then I was able to cook with it and use it in my pickles that I made. And that surprised, like to me, that was a lot simpler. I don't know if that's like the best way to dry out your,
00:22:20
Speaker
herbs, but it worked for me and I think that the flavor was really good from that. Right. You know what else was really interesting herb wise that we did grow was cinnamon basil. Oh, that smelled so good.
00:22:33
Speaker
I don't think we used it for anything, but it smelled amazing. I did. I used it for some flower arrangements because it did flower. We kind of forgot, I guess, that we grew it and didn't realize it was out there. I completely forgot about it. I don't even think I realized that we had it out there until we were harvesting some melons and thinking, what is that smell?
00:22:54
Speaker
Yeah, it smelled great and then the flowers were really pretty and so I just added it to some flower arrangements and it kind of made them smell nice in the room and I would like to try growing that again so I could try drying it and using it next year. Definitely. So what's your favorite meal that you've made that is mostly sourced from the farm or the homestead? Favorite meal? Hmm.
00:23:19
Speaker
That's hard. I mean, the easiest meals for me to make are breakfast meals because we have so much eggs and milk. I learned how to make Dutch babies, which our kids are not the biggest fans of, but I think you and I enjoy them a lot. That is, I mean, since it has a lot of eggs in it and then milk, I guess that's mostly sourced from the farm. I don't know. Do you have a favorite that I've made?
00:23:46
Speaker
I really enjoy beef roast in the crock pot now more than I think I ever have before, even the Barbacoa style. Yeah, that's true. I like it because that's something that I've never cooked much of, but we have a lot of roasts. I started just throwing the roast in and seasoning it with what I have.
00:24:08
Speaker
And I found that it's actually really easy because then we can pull from it. You can add like shredded roast to your eggs for breakfast. You can, we can make tortillas and make them into tacos, or I can make buns and make them into sandwiches. It was just really easy to throw into any meal for any time of the day. Definitely. What animal group has been the funniest to you and their behaviors on the farm?
00:24:34
Speaker
I definitely think the chickens were interesting to watch and just see them grow and how they interact with each other. I also have really enjoyed baby cows, calves. I think that they are so cute and funny, and I had no idea that calves can be so playful, especially when there's a little group of them. They love to run around and wrestle and just prance around the fields with
Reflections on the Season and Future Plans
00:25:02
Speaker
each other. It's so cute. I had no idea that they did that.
00:25:04
Speaker
Me either. I thought cows were always in just cattle in general. Just these very slow moving, grazing, always animals. Sometimes they lay down. Yeah. No, the babies are absolutely hilarious. They're so playful. It's funny, our neighbor has a large herd of cattle across the street from us, so we get to observe them a lot.
00:25:24
Speaker
And it's just funny that the calves will actually see us or the kids or the dogs across the street and they start running around and prancing just because they see us and like it makes them want to play even if they can't get to us. I just think it's so cute. I think at one point there was a group of those cattle that would line up and watch the chickens too.
00:25:43
Speaker
Yes, you're right. They're looking across the road at the chickens and just staring at them. Yes, they have, I think, appreciated the growth of animals and just life that we have added across the street from their view. Which season has been your favorite?
00:26:02
Speaker
I'm really enjoying this autumn. It's fun because it gives me this anticipation of the winter, which I've grown to really enjoy the winter in my adult life. I know that you haven't, but I've never really anticipated it like I have this year.
00:26:23
Speaker
So I've always enjoyed autumn there's I love the cool weather and there's a lot of activities to go out and do but I have enjoyed that aspect and just being able to come to the end of your growing season and kind of be proud of all the work that you put in and everything you were able to accomplish the the past year and having that vision to be able to look forward to the next year and just think about all the things the new things that you can take on and
00:26:53
Speaker
areas that you want to improve on the farm. I don't know, I really enjoyed, it's kind of like a reflecting season as well as an anticipatory season and I am really enjoying it right now. Do you have a funny story from the homestead that you can share?
00:27:09
Speaker
The first one that comes to mind, I don't know if it's funny to you, but it was, it was pretty comical watching you try to catch cows a few times this year. This was our first year trying to catch cattle and we had no idea.
00:27:29
Speaker
what we were doing and the final day of catching the cows. Matthew had quite the experience which was I think a lot scarier on his side but I was driving the getaway car and so it was just a lot funnier for me to watch.
00:27:48
Speaker
If that is your immediate story, I think we should consider that maybe as an episode in the future because it's a long story. It is. It's a long story. There's a lot that happened. It took a couple months.
00:28:04
Speaker
Maybe it was one month, one or two months leading up to it. And I did get a serious injury in the beginning. I forgot about that. Oh, okay. We should make, this'll be a whole story. We'll come back to this. Catching cows. Catching cows. Okay.
Cherishing Family and Homestead Moments
00:28:21
Speaker
Last one I have on here. Do you have a most cherished memory from the farm or the homestead over the past year?
00:28:28
Speaker
Well, like I've said, this was a very hard year for me personally. I hope and I think that it was a lot more enjoyable for you and the kids and for me it was very much of like going through a fire and being refined in a lot of ways.
00:28:47
Speaker
I have had a lot of moments where I'm able to just stop and be present and see the life that my children are being able to live right now and seeing you have the energy and the passion that you do for the homestead and for the farm and just being able to witness those things in all of you has been such a gift for me to experience.
00:29:14
Speaker
It's been a remarkable year. It's been very difficult. There's so much to celebrate though. And there's a lot more coming, I'm sure. Yeah. And the good thing is I'm actually really excited for the next year, which I didn't know if I would feel that way. Um, back in January, thinking about everything that was coming this year, I was really afraid of how much work it was going to be and how challenging it was going to be. But.
00:29:40
Speaker
Even though it was a lot of work and it was very hard, I am actually very excited for next year and for all the years to come and everything we have planned and are excited to tackle
Conclusion and Future Excitement
00:29:53
Speaker
here.
00:29:53
Speaker
I think that was really neat to take time and hear your perspective about the farm and the homestead from the past year. It's really easy to just kind of move through the motions ultimately because each day there's so many tasks and so many responsibilities. You've got homeschooling going on and we've got meal planning and cooking and taking care of animals and finding somewhere in there where we can actually enjoy one another's presence and have a good conversation.
00:30:20
Speaker
We have to fit in prayer life and spiritual expectations. There's so much going on and I really appreciate you taking time to talk about some of those things because one, it's fun for us as we do this podcast, but two, for many people out there, these are the type of conversations I think that ultimately bring good perspective to why we're homesteading and why we're seeking to build out this farm business.
00:30:45
Speaker
And this is also really good foreshadowing to some of the other conversations that are about to be released through this podcast. Yeah, I agree. I'm really excited for what we have prepared coming next. You've done a great job this year. Thanks. Well, that's a great place to end then. And we really thank you for joining us again on another episode of the Little Way Farm and Homestead Podcast.