Faith & Feathers Farm

A Tiny Homestead

Today I'm talking with Kayla at Faith & Feathers Farm about the homesteading life.

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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 Kayla at Faith and Feathers Farm. Good morning, Kayla. How are you? Good morning. How are things in North Carolina? It's been really rainy and kind of a...

00:27
We don't know if we're on the verge of coming in the summer or finishing spring. Yeah. This, this weather all over the world has been a little bit odd lately. It's okay. It's all going to level out. I think, I hope. All right. Tell me about yourself and faith and feathers farm. Okay. My name is Kayla, Kayla Creech, and we have a farm here in Eastern North Carolina on the coast and.

00:55
This come with a vision about five years ago, we started when my husband brought home six baby chicks from Tractor Supply. And I think the rest is history because that just started our love for poultry, for a farm in general. And we have just went with it. We started, like I said, five years ago, he brought the chicks home.

01:23
my children fell in love. At that time we were living in Alabama, a little small subdivision, and it was probably less than an acre. So that's one of the things I wanted to talk about today with people, it does not matter what size or how much land you live on or what you have, you can work with what you have, and that's what I love about farming. Amen, sister. You're preaching to the choir, that's what we did too. And...

01:52
Tractor Supply Company, we joke around here that it's evil because every time we go there, we come home with something we weren't going for. Yes, yes, yes. And so five years ago, we started with those baby chicks. Then the pandemic happened and everything kind of went into a scare or maybe where's our next food source gonna come from? Maybe we need to think of having something to rely on in case we can't get to the store.

02:22
We had no idea that, you know, which way it was going to go and kind of the unknown, not really fear, but just having a plan B and option in case you couldn't get to the store. How were you going to feed your family and what were you going to do? Mm-hmm. Yep. That's where the whole homesteading boom, craze, whatever you want to call it, seems to have started, the renewed interest in it. Yes. And so the pandemic happened, kind of jobs went on scare.

02:52
We weren't quite sure what we were gonna do and we decided to move back to North Carolina where we originally were born and raised. We did live four years in Alabama, like I said, and did farm there. We always had a garden, even if it was small, you know, just planting roots where you're at with what you have and kinda making it work is what my goal is in life. People say, oh, I can't garden. Yes, you can.

03:21
It doesn't matter if you've got a pot on a porch, a little small container bed, a kitchen window, whatever you have that you can put seeds in and start somewhere, wherever you're at. You don't have to start big and have a huge garden. No, you don't have to. You can have a little tiny raised bed and grow things because nature hates a vacuum.

03:48
If you provide the right conditions, nature is going to grow something. It's going to work out, isn't it? Yup. I love that you're saying all this because I have been saying this for over 20 years now. All the things you're saying. And people just assume because they see Instagram, they see YouTube, they see what the social media wants to project as far as what you've got to have and you do not have to have that to make it work, you know?

04:18
Yeah, and thank goodness there are people like you and people like me who are dispelling the myth because it is a myth. You can grow a potted basil plant to the size that you need it to be to be able to use that basil to cook with in your kitchen even. Absolutely. I started years ago Seed Starts and my husband, we were fortunate at a time, he did build us a greenhouse.

04:48
And believe it or not, I've had the best seed start in a milk jug, one gallon milk jug. So literally taking a milk jug and starting your seeds. You don't have to have anything fancy from what a lot of people think and once you get those seeds started, you know, it depends on if you want to direct sow or start your seeds ahead of time, but you can make it work. I have started plants in a milk jug.

05:13
almost making like a partial greenhouse with the lid and cutting it half open and starting your seeds. I've heard of people starting their seeds on their dryer in their laundry room using bread bags. Putting the seeds in egg cartons and putting that bread bag around the egg cartons and make a little ecosystem for those seeds to start in and using that bag

05:43
to act like a greenhouse, the bread bag. Yeah. That's what you have. Yeah, we used clear, I don't know how many gallon, but containers that had the clear lids too. We used those to start plants one year. Yeah, so when people approach us, we've had some friends say, oh, I can't grow that. I said, can you get a pot? Can you get a flower pot and we will make it work. If you don't have a big garden,

06:11
will start right there on your porch walking down your steps, just some kind of pot to put dirt and what you need into it to filter through and your seeds and we can make it work in the right conditions. Are you a teacher at heart, Kayla? I am. I've done it for 16 years and also I work in the medical field, but I always go back to teaching and being with the...

06:40
around children and not necessarily just children because you're not ever too old to learn something. So I'm 35 now and I will tell you I still learn something every day. I want to write a book one day but I haven't got that far yet with three kids because we have three kids and they keep us busy and plus the farm. But I would love to write a book about what I have learned in the past five years and how faith and feathers.

07:09
farm has come about and what I have learned as far as not necessarily just chickens but what I've learned on the way and to help other people to learn from the mistakes that I did if I could put that in someone else's hands or educate someone else along the way where they wouldn't have to learn the hard way because people they just think okay I'm gonna go get chickens.

07:34
It doesn't work that way. I tell everyone that you need to research the animal before you go buy it. And you need to set them up for success. You need to have everything that you can think of to bring them to your farm where you can be successful with that animal. Even if it is a plant, I mean, what does that plant need to grow? What does that animal need to grow? Are you gonna be able to provide it with, you know, protection?

08:02
I'm in rules if it's a guy we have guys we have chickens we have ducks we have pigs and we are a rescue farm so i didn't finish telling you that so what we are is a rescue farm our mission like i said five years ago was to start with those baby chicks and have a food source in case we were not able to accommodate you know food for our family if times got tough and we still don't know what tomorrow will bring

08:29
but only God knows that, but we can prepare ourself. It's not that you are scaring someone or wanting to put fear in someone, but to be educated, prepare yourself for what might happen. And so, started that little farm with those five chicks. We went from that to, and with life, you know, seasons change just like the weather. And our outlook on what we started with definitely has changed. And I'll tell you why.

08:59
We started with the chicks wanting a food source and I got into special breeds, special breed poultry. And I met so many people along the way and it was just a wonderful opportunity to do that. But I enjoyed so much. I got away from what I really started to farm for was enjoyment. It's a hobby.

09:26
I love just walking outside and watching my animals interact, interact me, interact with them, my children feed them, the eggs, and all of those fun things that you do on a farm. And with the collecting of the eggs, the ship them out, and you had this deadline, and all these chickens separated for certain breeds. It wasn't, I wasn't enjoying it anymore.

09:51
So about two years ago, we come up with a name. We had started farming five years ago, but we finally come up with a name. What was our intention? Well, first faith is always have faith in what you do, faith in God, feeling strong about what your intentions are, faith. And then feathers is we started with chickens, so that's why we got the feather part. And after that, my goal shifted and now we rescue animals.

10:20
We have a lot of military around our area that move in and get deployed elsewhere. They can't take their animals with them. People's health declines. They can't take care of their animals no more. Or, you know, with the way the world's gone, some people can't even feed their self. And hardly feed their animals. So we want to provide them a place where they know that they can call me. And I will give them a home. Sometimes they have a permanent home here.

10:48
Sometimes I give them a home long enough that there may be somebody else in the area that is searching for that animal Or I'll put out fillers like hey Kayla. Do you know anyone that has a donkey? I know you meet so many people on the way I'm really needing a mini donkey. So that is where our Hobbies have switched to and I could not be more happy at this part of my life I feel like I'm making a difference in people's life for one helping them

11:17
They can't move or get deployed because they're worried. They get attached to their animals. They are already worried about the move and then they don't want to worry about their animal going somewhere that they're not taken care of. So they know that they can entrust us. They see what we're about. I can go anywhere from three hours away rescuing a rabbit to an hour away rescuing a duck. So you never know where we're gonna end up but that is what we are.

11:46
are set on now is rescuing and rehoming animals, keeping some of them and also seeing what our future holds as far as our food source. We have never lost sight of that. We always keep things here that if something happened, we would have a food source, whether it was a garden, whether it was a meat rabbit, whether it was quail, chicken eggs, something that you can live off of. If you

12:13
can't sustain yourself and get to a grocery store or if our food system wants to fail us. Yeah, that's amazing that you're doing the rescue because we have a dog I love more than life itself and I can't imagine parting with her. But if something happened I would want somebody like you to take her and this is how much I love her every time I talk about losing her it makes me cry.

12:40
It's terrible. I'm so dumb. I should not be this attached to her, but I am. But you are and they are like family. So I mean, we have goats. We have learned so much along the way. Some animals need more care than others and we do have rescues that are handicapped. Yeah. I know that they need more help than what some other animals would. We do see a vet. I do all I can.

13:09
before I reach out to the vet, but when we reach out to the vet, we need help. And sometimes we have done all we can do and they have to reassure me of that. So this is where the medical field background comes into play. I am so fortunate and blessed that God has led me on a path of teaching to the medical field and now to farming because all of that has incorporated into our farm and people reach out to me all the time.

13:40
It's not doing well. What can we do? What do you suggest? Is there anything natural that I can give this animal to try first before I resort to a vet? So it really like I said, I would love one day to write a book and tell about our journey on how we've become fate the feathers farm and What we do and what we could do to help other people To save them the heartache of losing an animal if it's something that we could have prevented

14:09
if they were placed in, if it was placed in their hands, and every animal that leaves our farm, whether it was raised here, whether it was rescued, whatever the situation may be, when that animal leaves our farm, those owners now have a clear understanding of what this animal needs to be fed and what it needs to be taken care of because I want to set them up for success and the animal up for success. Yeah. Can I, I have not written a book.

14:39
But I know I've talked with a lot of people who have, and one of the things that they tell me is if you really feel called to write a book like you're talking about, if you can find 20 minutes a day to write down things in a journal and keep those journals, that would be a really good jumping off point for your book later so that you're not trying to just start it from scratch 10 years from now.

15:05
Absolutely, because you know sometimes we get that squirrel in our mind like, hey, we're on this subject like me talking to you. I just love people in general. So I'll be talking to you one thing and then this conversation gets switched. So definitely taking those thoughts at that time and writing them down too. So you don't forget. And also, you know, our time is limited, but I feel a calling to help people in a way.

15:32
I've actually learned a lot of natural recipes along our way that help with poultry and some of our animals to try before resorting to the vet. I'm not saying that they are a cure, but they definitely are a preventative and a way to help those animals and then if things get worse then you definitely could reach out to a vet in situations like that. And I really do think it helps to know what that animal needs.

15:59
If it is a goat, for instance, you know, goats were raised, I'm sure in the mountains and the hills, you know, and we don't have that here on Eastern North Carolina. Our farmland is flat. There's minerals. We're very, very deficient in selenium here. And so that is one of the things and minerals that the goats need. And you don't want to have to go to the vet every now and again to get a shot just because your soul is lacking minerals.

16:28
and the goat needs that type of mineral. So definitely making sure that you have minerals, loose minerals for goats. That the chicken has fresh water all the time and is not in stress. If they feel like a predator is around them, they will be less likely to lay eggs like they should every day to every other day. My mom asked me the other day, she said, Kayla, how do you know all this? You need to go to vet school. And it's not, it's just that I've...

16:55
prayed about it. God has blessed me with situations. He's put people into my life that have taught me and if I can teach someone else, I would love to do that. That is why I wanted, I was so excited when you reached out to me because it makes me feel good that people have the similar interests like us and want to do this. They want to Homestead.

17:24
other people want to try to do. And this is what the podcast is about. The podcast is about letting people learn vicariously through people who are doing whatever it is they're doing, whether it's farming or rescue or cooking from scratch and selling it or cooking from scratch and not selling it or making crafts. So I was more than happy to reach out and get you to talk with me. You were saying back

17:51
10 minutes ago that you really enjoy having the chance to just watch what you're building. Watch your chickens, watch your ducks, whatever. We have a five, well, they'll be five weeks old Saturday, five week old litter of seven barn kittens right now. Oh, wow. And they just came out of the pole barn last night and my dog has been through this once before we had a litter last fall. My dog loves the babies.

18:19
And she has, she knows there's, she's known there's babies in the barn, but she doesn't go in the barn. So she's been waiting and waiting for them to come out. She saw them last night and I watched her and I watched her ears perk up. I watched her go on, on point like they do. And her rear ends start to wiggle because she's a mini Australian shepherd. So she only has a nub in for a tail. And many Australian shepherds, Australian shepherds are known as wiggle butts.

18:48
She was wiggle button all over the place and waiting for those kittens to come introduce themselves. And this morning, now that she's been introduced, she has been just asking every 10 minutes to go outside because she thinks they're still out there. So watching that happen is one of the most amazing, funniest things I've ever seen because you would think that she would be like, eh, baby cats or whatever, but they're her babies.

19:16
Yeah, and it's life on the farm. Now there is hard days. I'm not gonna lie to you. People start out with farms and they get disappointed. You may go out one morning and that chicken or that goat or whatever you have on your homestead may not be thriving. It may not be doing good. And it kind of brings, we had a neighbor that had actually looked after our animals while we went on vacation and I do not vacate.

19:43
that much anymore that's the only thing about having a farm you have to find people that you trust to feed your animals when you're gone and I come back to a lot of death not necessarily something he had done in particularly but my own dogs had did it. They actually had attacked some of our chickens and because they were not put up at night and he didn't know that so sometimes things happen on the farm we don't understand why they happen there is heartache but there's

20:12
also times of joy, new birth, you having those kittens in the pole barn and just seeing the dog's reaction of anticipation of waiting for so long and then finally being able to go and enjoy them and spend time with them and if any of my days are stressful all you have to do, my husband gets he talks about me missing sometimes and he knows where to find me. I'll be outside talking with my animals. It is an awesome therapy.

20:41
I believe talking with your animals and getting out and enjoying nature is the type of therapy. Absolutely. I just talked to my dad this morning and he had a weird thing happen a couple weeks ago. One of his salivary glands got blocked and he got a nasty infection. He and my mom have a border collie dog. He was telling me this morning that she has been just the best caretaker. He said, now, your mama.

21:10
is the best caretaker for me. He said, but this dog, I swear, he said, ever since I got sick, she has been right by my side. He said, I've been taking her for walks this week and she has stuck right by me and she's never on a leash unless there's a reason for her to be. And he said, she has not been making him go find her or chase her. She's right there guarding him. Something's wrong. Yep. So yeah, he

21:35
And he said that when he was actually feeling terrible when he got home from the hospital because he spent a night in the hospital, she was right there by him and he was petting her and it just made him feel so much better. So yes, having animals is therapy. You may not think so, but it is. And they, they, um, just like a dog waiting for you to get home, they do not know the time that you had left them. How long it was? 30 minutes? 10 minutes?

22:01
Five hours they are just excited for and and wanting your acceptance and love So that is what I tell people all the time about having a farm If you can do all you can do not to let that animal down You've really got to be passionate about what you do and when you lose passion in it or when it's not it's time to shift But I have not lost passion in this and I will continue and our farm will reach out to animals that are in need but

22:29
just like that dog waiting on you at the door. It just wants your acceptance. It wants your love. It does not judge how you look, how you feel. It just wants your love. That's all it wants. Mm-hmm, absolutely. Okay, so you said you have three kids. Are they involved in the running of the farm? Yes, and we have two girls and a boy, and the two older girls are 12 and nine. One of them is a fashionista, Hoshi.

22:58
really more about what she's wearing going into the teenage phase, excited about that, but she still loves our animals. Now my middle daughter, she's out there day with eggs, picking the animals up and holding them. And my oldest daughter and husband, they have favorites on the farm. He's more of a duck and pig person, and I'm more of a chicken person. So we literally have an animal, I guess, for each person.

23:26
to love out here. So yes, they helped me so much on the farm. I couldn't do without them. And that is a lot that people don't know about having a farm or a homestead is the thing it takes. We have a lot of animals here. So the feeding, the cleaning, you know, closing up your pen at night, making sure everybody's in to prevent predators because we live in an area where there's nothing around us but fields. And so we face

23:54
almost every predator you can imagine, especially snakes right now. Snakes are in and foxes, it's time for the fox run and we are getting, missing a few guineas. So that's just, it's part of life. It is the life cycle. We don't want it to happen sometimes, but unfortunately it does. And so my family is very, very supportive and help as much as they can with the farm, whether it be feeding, caring for an animal, cleaning for an animal.

24:23
and just having patience with me because they know it takes a lot of time outside to caring for those animals and not as much time inside anymore. Yeah. You were saying about knowing what's involved in having an animal before you get an animal during the research. One of the things that I want to share with the listeners is that if you're going to get chickens, chickens eat a lot more feed than you think they would. Absolutely.

24:53
I had no idea. Or they call them little mini dinosaurs and they have a appetite. They literally will eat and eat as much as you feed them. They're not good self-regulators. No, no they are not. And I will tell you this also about, you know, learning the animal before you get it. I love going to tractor supply, especially during chick days because my husband said,

25:23
Because I have had to learn your different types of breeds of chickens. What? So when I meet someone, I'll see them there and they're looking at the chicks and I'm like, okay, what are you wanting? And my husband and my kids laugh at me every time, but I just love people and I want to help them. It's not that I'm trying to get in their business or tell them what to do, but you, you know, is it for me? Is it for a dual purpose chicken? Would you like a chicken just for show?

25:52
You're not going to want to get a silky and let and that be your meat source or your dual-purpose bird because in all in all they're in the Bantam variety. They're not going to lay as many eggs as what you say a Rhode Island red chicken would every year. So their requirements are different. So you need to know that too about what you're getting versus going out there and just getting a chicken. There's a lot more that goes into it than just, hey, I'm going to get chickens and I'm going to feed them.

26:21
I'm gonna get an egg every day and it's gonna be so much cheaper than buying eggs at the grocery store. That is wrong. Definitely wrong, yes. The other thing that I want to say is you were saying that if your passion dies out for it, it's time to switch gears. Here's the thing about that. You're right. You're absolutely right. But the other thing is that in the beginning of any new thing.

26:50
People are evangelistic about the new thing, whether it's a new food or a new lifestyle or a new animal or whatever. They're focused on it entirely and they're excited about it. And then you have to come down from that high that you're on with the excitement because you can't maintain it, number one. And number two, things do go wrong and it does hurt.

27:19
and it will make you cry. And you have to learn how to balance your passion and the disappointment that will inevitably come when something goes wrong. The barn kittens that we have right now, I am purposely giving them a fairly wide berth because I don't want to get attached. Because barn kittens don't always survive on the farm. And it's not anything that we can or can't do. It's just that sometimes they don't thrive.

27:49
because they're outdoor animals. So they're adorable and I love them. But if a couple of them don't make it, I'm not gonna be nearly as destroyed as when the first barn cat that we got from the Humane Society got hit by a car and died. I was very upset about that. And I don't wanna feel like that again. So I'm admiring the kittens from afar. I have held them and kissed them and petted them twice now. And that's enough.

28:18
Because mom is doing a good job, these kittens don't need a second mom. Absolutely.

28:25
So that's what I wanted to say about that because it's really hard when you know something bad can happen, but you try and hard to have faith that it won't and then it does anyway. We have rescued goats. The mother died at a farm previously. They had done everything they could for that mom. Unfortunately, when you buy animals from an auction, you don't know what you're buying.

28:54
And so they did not know that the goat was pregnant. So she had two babies and we had a bottle baby at the time that did not have a friend. So we rescued the two bottle babies, not knowing much, except that the mom had died and they had tried to do everything they could. But when the mom went down on that farm, she was not able to feed them and do like she needed to, so us rescuing them, they were kind of.

29:21
malnourished from their mom passing at the other farm. The mom was wild so the owners were not able to intervene like they needed to and get a hold of the babies and care for them because of the way the mom's temperament was. And so when we rescued them, I had all these intentions of, you know, I was going to do this and I was going to do that and it was going to be wonderful.

29:49
And then that's why I was saying back at the previous comment about going out and some days are disappointing because when you go out, one of the babies was down that morning and the vet had to reassure me, you know, Hey, Kelly, you have tried everything. We know your intentions. You were wanting to nurse them back to health, but sometimes things are out of our hands and I lost that goat and it was nothing we had did. We had kept her three days. We were bottle feeding her, but

30:16
You can't, it is out of our hands sometimes, but just knowing that you've done all you can do, there isn't a reassurance in that, that I did seek out and try to get it help. I brought it here trying to get it more help and just doing the best that we can with what we have. Yeah, exactly. And I'm gonna put this out there. You can tell me whether you agree or disagree. I feel like when you are working with nature,

30:45
whether it's plants or animals or whatever. It gives you the highest highs and the lowest lows. No one who's working with nature needs to do drugs because you will be higher than a kite when things go well and you will be lower than low when they don't. Absolutely, 100% agree with that. Also, I will talk about nature taking its course. There is nothing better than letting a creature or an animal

31:14
do its own thing. It's got its own natural instinct. I can come in here and I can sit eggs in an incubator and I can hatch those baby chicks or those baby quail. And I can take care of it to 100% and they are reliant on me. But then I can go and take a broody hen and put eggs up under her or let her hatch her own clutch of eggs.

31:42
And watching that mom hatch those baby chicks will give you the most high, like you're talking about, whether it be plants, chickens or whatever. And just seeing those babies that she has got the instinct to know how to take care of from day one by helping. I did not know this, but they can actually help some of them hatch. You know, in an incubator you're not really supposed to help some hatch. Some people do.

32:09
Some people don't, they say only the strong ones survive and can get out of the shell. But in nature, the mom can actually help the baby chick hatch. And she knows exactly what to do. I have had such good hens before that I have hatched eggs myself or bought baby chicks from Tractor Supply and not even had to bring home and put under a heat lamp or a brooder plate because I would give them to an experienced mom.

32:37
And as soon as she's done her first initial cluck cluck or her noise that she does to call her babies, that chick knows what to do. And it amazes me every time how aseptive of that they are that they can just let nature take its course sometimes. Like what you're doing with the barn cats. Let mom and nature take its course and see how it goes.

33:02
Yeah, it's kind of amazing that we as humans really have no idea what we're doing with our first baby. Yes. I know when I got pregnant with my daughter, first child, I was 19. I was young and I had no idea what I was going to do. I mean, I knew what I was going to do. I was going to have a baby, but I had to get books and read up on what to expect when you're expecting and what happens.

33:28
what you do when you bring the baby home, because I knew you had to feed the baby. I understood that I had breasts and that I would breastfeed my baby if I could, and I did, and I loved it, and she loved it too, and she is 34 years old now. But I didn't know what I was doing, and I watched my barn cat have these babies last fall, not the latest litter, but the first litter, and I went out.

33:57
to check on her maybe three hours after those babies were born. And she's a very floofy cat. She's a very long haired cat. Her tail was completely soaked from all the water from the sacks. And she had those babies right up under her and they were nursing. And she looked completely blissed out. Like I don't know what just happened here, but I feel so good.

34:26
She was under a year old. So technically she was still a kitten herself. And she had six babies, never had had babies before and knew exactly what to do. Because it's all instinct. Isn't it is and I have people contact me, should I do this or should I do that? I was like, give it a little bit because you'll be shocked. A mom knows how long to sit on her eggs. Most chickens do.

34:54
Do they need to intervene? Do I need to do this? I was like let them sit it out give them a day or two They know when to come off of the nest if they if they might be waiting for a few more to hatch Even though they've got two under two baby chicks under their wing They may be knowing something we don't know that they need to sit just a little bit longer for those last few to hatch Mm-hmm. Just let nature like I said take its course because God created that animal and he he made everything perfect and they know

35:22
what they need to do to care for their self to a certain extent. Now do you need to supply them with clean water every day and food? Absolutely. But I have more chickens that would love to get out in free range and just enjoy the bugs and the nature and the grass that God created instead of me feeding them every minute. I'm so fortunate that my geese love to free range.

35:48
and that some of our chickens love to free range. Now, is there certain breeds that are there waiting at the food bowl like a dog every time you feed them? Absolutely. But just letting nature take its course and letting what is out there provide their nutrients for them. Yeah. And I feel like homesteaders and farmers and growers all know I was going somewhere with this, something you just said, and I just lost it. I feel like, oh, I know what it was.

36:17
We all need to work with nature as much as possible instead of trying to work against it or change the direction because it's never going to stay put long. With our rabbits this year, I'm trying something new, you know, like with the food system, we have no idea which way it's going to go. So being self sustainable is very important, whether it be, you know, I don't have anything against vegan if you want to grow your own plants, that's fine.

36:46
We do both here. We do meat and vegetables. And so having that source there is so important and me being able to now grow and know how to start seedlings and grow fruit food for my animals. That is important too. Um, what if, what if the feed store closes and you're not able to get feed anymore, um, just things like that. And I feel so blessed to be able to.

37:14
go out and grow lettuce and turnips or carrots for my rabbits. That's amazing when you can turn around and grow something with your own hands for your family or for your animals. That's a proud feeling. Mm-hmm. Absolutely it is. We are getting ready to get stuff planted here in a week or so, because I'm in Minnesota and it's still a little nippy for planting anything outside.

37:43
May 15th is usually the day that we're like, okay, we're safe to put seedlings in the ground now. Are you having cool nights still? Yeah. Cool night. Yep. Last night I think the low was 50. Oh yes. And we're in 80s and 80s to high 80s during the day and we are, you know, 55 to 65 at night. So it's time for us, um, with busy life sometimes we don't plant when we want to.

38:13
Me, I'm way behind this year. But you know, like I said, life has a season. Every season is different. There is some things I will tell you about, just like getting an animal. You need to know your soil. You need to know what your farm or homestead can grow. And sometimes that makes trial and error. When we first moved to this homestead, there had been nothing here that my dad and them had planted over the years was just soybeans.

38:41
So we knew soybeans would grow, but it's very sandy. But we could not get anything to grow except peppers. Now peppers love the sand. Peppers and our squash. But certain vegetables did not thrive unless we made raised beds and amended it with our own soil. And we love our rabbits because we are able to source our own fertilizer through their manure.

39:10
And that makes me also proud to have a whole system there of being able to grow the vegetable to feed the animal, but have their manure and what they have to actually grow what they eat to fertilize it. So that right there in a cycle of itself, that will make you proud. A full circle system, I love it.

39:34
All right, Kayla, on that note, we're at like almost 40 minutes and I try to keep these to half an hour, so I'm gonna let you go. Thank you so much for talking with me today. I really appreciate it. Yes, we absolutely enjoyed it so much. All right, have a great day. Thank you.