Waddle and Cluck

A Tiny Homestead

Today I'm talking with Lindsay at Waddle and Cluck. You can follow on Facebook as well. You can visit Nature Notes, as mentioned in the episode.

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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 Lindsay at Waddle and Cluck. Good morning, Lindsay, how are you? Good morning, I'm doing good, how are you? Good, wanted to make sure I pronounced the cluck with the C-L because it could have been misconstrued, and that would be really bad on my podcast.

00:28
Yes, it's Waddle and Cluck, an old English pub for birds. Oh, okay. Cool. I was going to ask you the story behind it. So is there an actual story behind it? Yes and no. We started off with chickens and ducks and so Waddle and Cluck. And I just, I thought it sounded like when I went to London and I was visiting some of the places around there.

00:56
I just like the way it sounded. So that's what we went with. Yeah. I feel like if you go to the UK, you can't throw a stone without hitting a pub. Is that about right? Yeah. Yes. I've never been, but every time I read a book about it or see a story about it, there's always a pub somewhere involved. So all right. So tell me about yourself and what you guys do. Well, we are a family of six. We're a blended family.

01:24
We have four kids, three boys and a girl ranging from 14 to 19. The oldest is in college. And we have a little hobby farm. So we have chickens, ducks, geese, guineas, quail, and turkeys. And we plan to expand that once we can finish off fencing.

01:52
I think fencing is the bane of existence for anyone who has animals. And then we also do a lot of gardening. I am also a business owner in addition to that. So we also, there's a couple of local markets around here, indoor markets that are geared towards local products that we sell eggs and baked goods and some handmade goods.

02:21
And so we do a lot of things. Yes. I was looking at your, uh, your Instagram page and your Facebook page. And I was like, does this woman ever actually sleep for more than an hour at a time? Yeah, three. Yeah. You know, it's, it's one of those things when you want to have your dream life. Um, you're willing to work harder for it.

02:51
Absolutely. And sometimes if you're lucky that dream life happens and you realize you don't have to keep pushing so hard, that's kind of what happened with us which was really nice because my husband and I are in our mid-50s and we worked really, really, really hard until we moved in here four years ago. And we still work hard but we're not quite as stressed about it as we used to be.

03:21
Yep. And you know, once you really get the hang of things and you get systems in place, it does become a lot easier to do all of the things. I am intensely organized and we have all of our farm stuff on a pretty good schedule. And so other than getting up at sunrise, things flow pretty smoothly around here.

03:50
Yes, and there is a huge benefit to getting up at sunrise. I have a kitchen sink that has a picture window above it. And so when I get up in the morning and get my coffee, I try to get up before the sun comes up because I didn't have the luxury, I guess, of seeing the sunrise from where we used to live. And now there's an open field out that window and it looks due east. And every morning if there's a sunrise, I get to see it and it just makes my day. It starts my day. So.

04:20
peacefully and beautifully that the rest of the day can't go wrong even though there's a chance it will. That's a great way to start your day. Our daughter is currently obsessed with sunsets. Every time there's a sunset, it's prettier than the last one and her phone is filled with pictures of sunsets.

04:45
So is mine because my husband does the same thing. He goes out in the morning if it's a pretty sunrise, he's taking six or seven pictures, and he's always out in the evening at sunset. It doesn't matter what time it is, but he's outside. So I have thousands of pictures of sunrises and sunsets in my phone. I told him we should make calendars every year. You should, you should. Yeah.

05:09
My thing is that in the house that we lived in before this one, there was no window in the kitchen. There was a window out the back door that was in, you know, it walked, it entered onto the kitchen, but it looked north. So you could not see a sunrise or sunset from the kitchen. And when I did dishes, I was looking at a blank wall. So I'm so incredibly thankful for having a window over my sink.

05:36
And that sounds really, really stupid and small, but it's not, it's huge to me. It is. And you know, there's, I have in my office here at the house, I have three big windows, or two big windows and then a window in the door. And then we have a window over the sink as well. So all day long, I can kind of look out over the pasture where the.

06:01
Birds are free roaming and see our fruit trees and see the birds and it really makes a difference in your mindset and in your thinking when you take time to really appreciate nature and appreciate the things that are less focused on being busy and achieving the end goal.

06:27
Yes, I think that things like that give us a reason to pause. And the world is so incredibly busy and driven right now that people miss those moments. They really do. And we had a similar situation to you guys in that we moved here about three years ago and the house that we lived in before was in a neighborhood.

06:55
Um, it was really not big enough for all of us. We were constantly right on top of each other. And now that we have room to sort of spread out and have space, both indoors and outdoors that we can call our own or to take those moments to really just be, it's made a big, huge difference, I think for everyone. Yeah.

07:24
And I don't want to get too far into this because I don't want to do a philosophy class on why calm and peace and quiet is good for you. But take my word for it, it really can be good for you. So why fowl? Why birds? You know, my husband grew up on a hobby farm with birds and things like that. And we love animals.

07:48
In addition to all the birds that we have, we also have five dogs and a saltwater fish tank. That was something that we were just naturally drawn to. We all really like to eat eggs. We figured that that was a really great place to start with our hobby farm because we felt confident there. We felt that.

08:18
You know, we were very good at taking care of animals. We had both done it for most of our lives, you know, with different types of animals. And we fully understood the care and the housing, the feed and all those things that they would need. Now our birds are strictly egg birds. So they're kind of like pets.

08:46
and get treated as such, they are spoiled rotten. I have one little chicken that, she was much littler than the other ones and so she wouldn't get her turn at the feed. And so I started feeding her out of my hand and now that she's full grown, she fully expects to be hand fed at every meal. So it's just, you know, there's a connection that

09:15
we feel with those animals and we enjoy spending time with them and learning their personalities and watching the dynamics and just enjoy spending time with them and laughing at them and with them. Yeah. I was told a long time ago that you can't train birds and you can't train cats and I don't believe it for a second.

09:42
Number one, you train your little bird to eat out of your hand, and she's very happy doing that. We have two barn kittens right now, and they like to jump up on the railing by the door to our house. And we have a porch, so we sit on a bench on the porch and look out, and there's a window. And the male kitten, who looks like a little lion, he's a long-haired yellow cat.

10:07
wants to jump up on the rail, the sill of the window, but if he does, he falls because it's real slippery and it's angled. And so he's fallen like three times. And I finally caught him getting ready to jump the other day and I said, no, really loudly at him. And he looked at who's going to do it. And I said, no. And he has not jumped since up on the window sill. So you can train a cat. It's possible.

10:35
trained birds. You know, I always joke that I will never have all my ducks in a row. Because trust me when I tell you that herding ducks is ridiculously difficult. We moved them from they had a home that they were living in that we had built. And then last year we expanded and gave them a bigger home. And it took

11:04
three days to train them to go to the new location. And so they're, it's so funny because they're kind of my signal now to know when to go out to secure all the birds at night because they will literally go stand right in front of the door to their shelter and then just line up and go in. So you absolutely can train them.

11:33
Um, we've never tried to train them doing tricks, but I have seen on Tik TOK, uh, people training chickens to do tricks similar to dogs. Um, we've never tried that, but certainly. You know, with forcing habit, um, they've learned, you know, they know where they're going to be fed. Um, they know where to go at night. They know, you know, where is safe and where is not safe on our property.

12:03
And so they definitely, they're a lot smarter than people give them credit for. I think animals are smarter than people sometimes. I think my dog is absolutely smarter than we are. She knows exactly when it's time for her routine, everything in her routine. She knows exactly when it starts. And if it doesn't happen, she gets really yippy and she doesn't bite, but she does this

12:32
Yes, it's time for that. You're right. She, she has an internal clock. It's amazing. Yes. So on every day, you know, we have, we have a three part system. You know, the birds get let out and fed in the morning and then they get, you know, fed and watered again in the afternoon and then put up in the evening. And in the afternoon, you know, they know the gate that I'm coming through and they know which bucket, you know, if I'm carrying the green bucket, they know. And they all gather.

13:01
at the gate at the appropriate feeding time. And they're ready. And then, you know, you spend 10 or 15 minutes trying not to step on birds because they want to be just right there with you when you have the food bucket. Yes. And honestly, what it is, is that food and kindness will get you really good results almost all the time. So that's how we're training our animals is with food and kindness.

13:31
Exactly, exactly. And that's why Biddy, you know, she's, she will walk next to me the whole time until we get to her designated feeding spot. And then she starts jumping and hopping. And if I don't get to her quick enough, she jumps up on the bucket. Yeah, it's really fun, but it's also very predictable. And what I didn't know before we had chickens is that

13:59
Animals as long as you you treat them well and you feed them things they like they're incredibly predictable And so are we as humans so it's a very symbiotic relationship that happens there Absolutely, and you know like I said we treat all of our animals as pets, but we also You know we do understand that they are wild animals all of our birds free range so while they are

14:27
safe and secure at night. They have free range of the property during the day. And, you know, giving them all of the things that they need, you know, food, water, shelter, and a good place to live where they can be safe and healthy and happy really goes a long way into fostering relationships.

14:57
those that are possible with these animals. My geese will not give me the time of day, and I just really want to pet their soft, fluffy feathers. But you know, it's important when you expand the type of animals that you have to realize that, you know, they're not always going to.

15:22
have the same relationship with you depending on the types of personalities of those birds. You know, we've had everything from ball pythons and and bearded dragons to guinea pigs and turtles and every animal has a different level of comfort with humans. And my geese are probably better guard dogs than my dogs. I believe it.

15:52
I believe it. Geese are scary, man. They will charge people and animals and just make tons of noise and whip their wings at the thing they're trying to get away. It's just, it's a frightening experience. It is. It is. And you know, our geese, we have African geese, not Canadian geese, but the area that I live in does have a lot of Canadian geese. And so they will...

16:20
They will come very close to me, but they will not. They just don't want to be pet. From time to time, we do have to catch them to check them over and make sure that they're healthy and their webbing on their feet is healthy and all of that. And they don't attack us in those instances, but we have a system for doing that.

16:47
where we do that at evening when they're going to roost. But yeah, I mean, and the guineas, they just don't wanna have anything to do with you either. They will just yell at you. But then, you know, the chickens are much more likely to form a relationship with you, especially if you go out and you sit and you spend time. My husband's mother, she still has, you know,

17:16
all kinds of animals at her farm and she'll go sit on the porch back there and her chickens will just come sit in her lap. Mm-hmm. Yup. And I love that, except that I don't want a chicken to sit in my lap. I've mentioned it before on the episodes. I hate the way the quills and their fur or their feathers feel. And so if I just brush my hand across the back of a chicken, that's fine. But you're never going to catch me sliding my fingers in their feathers because it just freaks me out. I don't like it.

17:45
Well, and it's real funny because, you know, I used to not kind of dig into their feathers and stuff like that. And with Biddy out there, I discovered that right up underneath her wings, if I rub her there, it makes her the happiest little chicken on the planet. And she does this little happy dance. Thank you. Oh, that's nice.

18:12
I think, you know, when you scratch a dog at their favorite spot and they do that kind of happy wiggle, she does the exact same thing. Yeah, my dog, her spot is her booty, booty scratches. And the thing that we always say when we do that is, that's the spot, that's the spot. And she just, I don't know, she does a wiggle and she...

18:34
She like arcs, or arches her neck back to look at us, like thank you, that's it. That's where you need to be right now. I think that's a requirement that when you scratch their favorite spot, you're supposed to say, that's the spot. But you know, just like you're supposed to say, oh, big stretch. Yes, the downward dog thing, yes. Yes, she does that all the time. And I'm like, doesn't that hurt?

18:59
Every time she does it, I say, doesn't that hurt? And she looks at me like, no, it's great. No, this is the best ever. This is lovely. Thank you. Yes. And then they do the one with their back legs too. I'm like, I would die. I would be broken. I don't know how you do that. And the other thing that I didn't know before we moved to our homestead, cause we'd never had a dog, is that dogs after they go potty outside will like kick.

19:29
the dirt back toward where they went to the bathroom. Yes. And so when she was a puppy, she started doing it. She's like, I don't know, nine weeks old and she did these kickies. And I was like, um, is she okay? And my husband was like, yeah, dogs do the same thing. Cats do. They try to cover their scent. I was like, I had no idea. I said, so not only will she do zoomies, she's going to do kickies. And he's like, yes, she's going to do kickies, honey. And.

19:58
So the reason I bring this up is what I found out yesterday. I was that many days old when I found this out yesterday that dogs have scent glands between their toes. And that's the other reason that they do it. Yes. So they're not just trying to cover what they left on the ground. They're trying to mark their territory too. I was like, huh, there is still something new to learn. Okay, good. So yes, animals are.

20:27
actually pretty complex creatures. And once you start paying attention to their habits and the things that they do and really taking a deep dive to learn about them, they're just absolutely fascinating. There's a gentleman who if you haven't visited the Waddle and Cluck yet, I highly recommend visiting our nature notes section. There's a gentleman here named

20:53
David and he's in his early 80s. We've been friends for about 15 years. He started writing a nature note for the local newspaper. I used to be the editor there. David is absolutely fascinating. He grew up in West Africa and then he moved to the United States and his property is

21:24
He is so fascinated by animals and wildlife and nature. And so in the paper stopped publishing his column, there's newspapers are dying. That's a whole different subject. They are. But the, you know, essentially the newspaper got bought, transferred to a larger

21:50
publication and they no longer wanted to publish the nature notes. And it was about the time that I was starting Waddle and Cluck, I said, well, come write for me. And so every week he sends me a brilliant look at some aspect of nature, and whether that be wildflowers or a certain kind of herb or, you know, a different animal.

22:19
and his insights and the things that he learns are just absolutely fascinating. And he spends a lot of time on his property trying to get pictures of all of these animals. So we have some amazing photography of the life cycle of a butterfly from a first person perspective. And it's just really fascinating because there are things that I will have never noticed.

22:48
And he sends in his nature note and, you know, we spend the rest of the day chatting back and forth as I'm outside looking for the things that he's seeing because we only live about a mile and a half apart. Yep. That's super cool. So is that on your website? Yes, it's on the website. It's one of the main headers. It's nature note. Okay, cool. I will point it out in the show notes so that people can go check out what he does.

23:18
because I think it's amazing that he's that old and doing his thing still, that's fantastic. Oh, he's still pushmo's. He has 20 acres and he spends a lot of time out there working on his property and they're not really homesteading anymore. They don't have animals. They do a little bit of gardening, but mostly he's just taking care of the property and enjoying his retirement with photography.

23:47
and learning more about nature. Very nice. Okay, well my dad is 81 and he still acts like he's 50. So it gives me hope that I might see 80. Maybe, we'll see what happens. So when I was looking at your Facebook page, it's a lot. There's a lot of stuff on your Facebook page. I feel like you have the same curiosity about life that I have. Do you have the got to know itis bug? Yes.

24:16
Yes, I also have the, I can do that, I just bug. Mm-hmm. Yep. I used to get teased all the time when I was in my teens. I don't know if you went through this. Because people would say something and I would say, what's that? Because I hadn't heard of it yet. And they would tell me and I would say, how does it work? And they would tell me and I would say, why does it work? And they were like, I am not spending the next six hours having a dissertation on this with you.

24:44
And I would look at them and say, but why? And I just would get teased about being the girl who wanted to know everything. Did you get that too? Yes, I did get that too. And then, you know, when I went to college and we would have social gatherings, you know, all the different activities and stuff that they plan and the dorms, you know, the get to know yous and all that. And I had made...

25:13
you know, new friend with my roommate, she would always say, well, if you're looking for Lindsay, you know, go find the philosophical discussion or the religious discussion or the politics discussion or the architectural discussion, she'll be, she'll be wherever people are talking about something serious. And still to this day, I probably read about, you know, 70 to 80 books a year. Me too. So

25:43
You know, I'm always trying to learn something new. I'm always trying something new. Um, you know, the last few weeks I've been learning to crochet. So my daughter set found these, uh, turtle costumes, turtle shell costumes on the internet and they were not inexpensive. And I looked at it and I thought, well, I could do that.

26:12
I've been trying to learn how to do that. I do the same thing in my kitchen. You know, I'll just pick up a spice one day and think, I can make that. Or, you know, I'll see a recipe on Instagram or TikTok and think, I can make that. You would not believe how many freaking things I have saved for recipes from Facebook in the, you know, where it says save this post. Yes.

26:41
I have like 18 recipes I've saved in the last week that I want to try this winter because they're all desserts and winter time is dessert time. It is. It very much is. And yeah, I'm, you know, I'm always trying to learn something new to develop a new skill, you know, and especially I think in today's world where things do move so fast and things have gotten more expensive.

27:11
Taking the time to break something down into its smaller pieces and then learning how to provide that on your own is amazing. There's nothing more satisfying, I think, than seeing something that you enjoy and then learning how to produce that for yourself. We love what we do.

27:40
not everybody in the house, but I love apple butter. And I've made, you know, so many things with apples throughout the year. And a couple of weeks ago, I thought it's fall. Apple butter sounds really good. I know how to make applesauce and I know how to make apple pies. You know, I know how to why can't I make apple butter? So, you know, I did some research and broke it down and figured it out. Uh-huh. And it's so much.

28:10
you know, less expensive than buying it already made at the store. And you don't have to have an apple tree, you know, in order to do that. It's cheaper to buy apples than it is to buy something that's already pre-made and pre-packaged. And, you know, one of the benefits to that too, is I know everything that went into it. So, absolutely. Yes, sister, you're singing my song.

28:36
It's funny you bring up apple butter because I hate apple butter mostly because my mom made a metric butt ton of it when we were kids. I like apple jelly. Apple jelly is okay, but apple butter, if I never see apple butter again, it'll be too soon. I understand that it's really good for you and I'm glad that you're learning to make it and I'm glad that you love it. I personally don't ever need to try it again. And see, that's the same way. That's the way I feel about apple juice.

29:06
My mother always, always gave us apple juice and now I just, I'm not a fan. Yup. But, I mean that can... What about cider? Do you like cider? I like hot cider sometimes when it's really cold. Okay. So it's not, it's just apple juice that you're like, I can't do it again. I just can't do it again. I had way too much of it. But you know, that applies for...

29:35
Just about anything, if you like, you know, strawberry jam, strawberry jelly, visit your local farmer's market, buy some strawberries or strawberries are extremely easy to grow. Oh, yeah. And you can grow them. You know, we, I grow my strawberries in the front yard in what used to be a flower bed. So, you know, it's, they're very easy to grow. Even if you don't have a lot of space. We actually

30:02
My sons and I, we started gardening for the first time when we were living in an apartment. And we put some pots on the balcony and grew some tomatoes and some bell peppers. So it's not really, I think one of the questions that people ask me all the time is, I really want to.

30:30
try homesteading, but I don't have a lot of space. I don't have the space to have chickens or ducks. I don't have a pond. I don't have definitely the space for turkeys. It really doesn't matter. You can start where you are and use the space that you have. If you don't have space for chickens, try quail. Quail are much quieter.

30:58
They take up a lot less space, like one square foot per bird. Try gardening in pots. There are all kinds of things that you can grow in pots. There are all kinds of ways that you can start to learn to make things from scratch, even if you're buying the pieces at the store, because you don't have the space to grow them. There's

31:26
there's all sorts of ways that you can homestead with very little space and with a whole lot of space and everywhere in between. Yes, and I feel like homesteading is a lifestyle. It's not about having land and having cows and horses. When we lived in our smaller house on our 10th of an acre lot, we had a small garden, we had flowers.

31:53
And we grew enough food to put some away for the winter for our four kids and my husband and myself. And we actually had enough to give to the neighbors. So you can start where you are with what you have. And I've done it. I know you've done it. And the other thing is you can grow herbs in your house. If you have a table that you can put a couple of pots on.

32:21
buy used or buy new, if you can get it on sale, a grow light, you can grow the most beautiful fresh herbs. We've done it. And they're great. They taste just as good as if they were grown outside. So there are things you can do inside as easily as you can outside. Absolutely. And, you know, if you don't have the space to grow larger vegetables, you know, look around and see if there is a farmer's market near you.

32:49
Yeah, the first time that I ever canned anything, I was not at a place where I was growing much yet, and I definitely wasn't growing enough to have things to save for later. But we would visit farmers markets and especially towards the end of the season for a fruit or a vegetable, we would buy in bulk and then we would eat what we could and can the rest.

33:19
and all you really need to can is a stove top. So, there's all sorts of ways that you can participate in a homesteading lifestyle and slow down and appreciate the fruits of your labor without having a whole lot of space. Homesteading, I think is one of those things that can very easily get out of hand and very easily become

33:49
extremely expensive and that's something that we've really had to consider, you know, now that we've moved to our forever home with the larger property is not trying to do all of the things all at once. And you know, just take them step by step. I've been blessed with a very handy husband. And so there's a lot of things that we've been able to, again, break down into smaller parts and build.

34:18
I mentioned earlier that our docs used to live in a different home and then we moved them. Their first shelter was built out of old pallets. And then we moved them to a larger shelter now that's a little bit more open, has some hard cloth on there so they're safe and secure. But they have lots of...

34:46
air and breeziness. And so, you know, it's not something that you have to think, oh, I need to make this very large investment. You know, all of those pallets we got by just calling around and asking if people had any pallets that we could come pick up. So, you know, as, as I think, you know, people I've, I've seen it said a whole bunch of times, I'm in my grandma era.

35:16
where younger people are learning some of these Techniques that weren't necessarily passed down to all of us I know and they weren't necessarily passed down to me, but my husband did learn a lot because he grew up more in that Lifestyle But you know just looking around you and thinking what are the areas where you would feel

35:44
satisfaction and accomplished if you were to learn that task. I try to learn something new every week and I think the first introduction that I had to homesteading was me and my boys, we were kind of on our own for a little while and money was tight and they had a sale on

36:14
washcloth yarn at Walmart. You get those little bundles of washcloth yarn. And I thought, you know, I will just pick up a couple of knitting needles and a few of these skeins of yarn and figure this out. And jumped on YouTube and learned how to make washcloths. And you know, that I think that was where I was bitten by the bug.

36:43
to really slow down and think about the creation of things and the way that I can participate in that versus just purchasing things and constantly sending money out. And especially for those of us that have jobs that don't necessarily produce a product, we're in.

37:11
the information sector or we're in the service sector, taking the time to actually produce something with your own hands, I think is very satisfying for a lot of people. I agree completely. And I totally understand what you were saying about what got you into this because when we really got into it is we're a blinded family too. And our kids were small.

37:39
And money was tight because we had four kids and it was one income. And that was a choice because we wanted one of us to be home with these kids to actually raise them ourselves. And so I learned to cook because cooking for six people is way less expensive than buying already made food for six people. Yes, it is. And once I got into that, I was like, Oh, I should learn to crochet. I should learn to sew. I should learn. And I learned a whole lot.

38:08
in the 20 years that we lived at the other house, which we raised the kids in. So yeah, it doesn't necessarily have to be lack of money that causes you to be like, oh, there's got to be a cheaper way to do this. But I feel like lack of money sometimes really is the thing that kicks people into this. Yes.

38:32
You know, with a lot of the people that I talk to, lack of money seems to be a prime motivator for learning how to do things less expensively. I think another thing that really kicks people off is health. Wanting to know where your food comes from and what is going into it.

38:56
Again, being able to cook for your family and provides me. I know if we go out to eat, it's a couple hundred dollars if we're going cheap. I can make a meal for six of us for 10 or 15 bucks. There's something so satisfying. I remember when I was first really learning how to cook properly.

39:25
My youngest son was pretty young at the time and he was obsessed with MasterChef. I made lamb. We had no idea what we were doing, but he had seen it on MasterChef. I thought, well, I've been learning to cook. I've been learning to put flavors together. Definitely don't think I can rise to

39:54
know, the level of master chef, but sure, let's try it. And so we bought a couple and cooked them up and he said, Mom, Gordon Ramsay would be proud of you. He would say yes. And, you know, from that point on, it was just like, yes, I definitely want to cook. And he still says stuff like that, even though he's a teenager. So, you know, there's definitely a satisfaction there when you learn how to do something well.

40:24
And then you're able to take those concepts that you've learned and apply them to other things. I think one of the most fun things that I do with Waddle and Cluck right now is coming up with new recipes because I'm always looking for ways to incorporate different flavors and ways to experience spices and things from around the world in ways that I can make in my own kitchen.

40:52
versus trying, you know, because I live in Oklahoma, we don't have an abundance of worldly flavors here. Right. So it's very fun to experiment with, you know, those different flavors and different ways of eating the same foods. Absolutely. And do your kids, are your kids cooks? Are they learning to cook too? Not necessarily.

41:22
There's been a couple of them that have gone through a phase where they've wanted to learn to cook, but they're all teenagers right now. I think friends is kind of the most important thing in their life right now. They all have expressed some sort of interest. At this point, they've been around long enough and they've been asked to cook.

41:50
to help enough times that if they get hungry, they can just go in the kitchen and make something. Okay, so they cook. They cook stuff. They're just not cooks. They're just not cooks. My stepson the other night, he saw something on TikTok that he wanted to try. So he went to Walmart and bought the ingredients and cooked it up. And you often wonder, did they learn that from me?

42:20
you know, did they learn that from seeing me do the same thing? And, and I hope that they did not just from TikTok, right? Um, but you know, he said it was, it was successful and it was great. So, you know, sometimes I think just, even if your kids aren't interested in what you're doing, they're still noticing and they're still paying attention and you're still teaching them skills, even if they're not right there next to you participating.

42:50
Oh yeah, because kids are sponges. They soak up everything they see and hear. It's a great way to teach them and it's a really great way for them to learn swear words too. Because that happens when you screw something up and you're grown up. You will definitely let fly a word you shouldn't have said in front of your kids. The reason I asked if they cook is because one of the rules in my house as my kids were growing up is that they couldn't move out until they could cook a dinner.

43:18
and a dessert that they would be proud to share with their friends. And all four of them, all four of them can and they really like cooking. So that was the rule in my house. Yeah, that's awesome. I definitely had rules like that, like at a certain point. And I think, you know, I still talk to people and they're amazed by this. You know, my kids do their own laundry. Yep. And, you know, they've, we've taught them.

43:47
all sorts of skills as they go on. My oldest, who is in college right now, I would tell him all the time, you would be amazed when you get to college, the number of people who aren't going to know how to clean something or wash dishes or do their laundry. He grew up in a house where we've expected participation, help with cleaning, help around the property, do your own laundry, things like that.

44:18
He called me a couple of weeks after he'd been at college and he was like, you know, you're absolutely right. He said, I've had to show no less than five people how to use the washing machine. Yep. It's crazy to me that that's true, but I believe it. Um, my stepson was actually in the Marines and he was so frustrated that there was no place for him to go cook. That.

44:44
He broke a couple little rules and actually cooked on base in his assigned living quarters with his coffee pot.

44:56
That was a no-no and he got away with it a couple of times, but you really shouldn't do that if you're in the Marines. They don't really appreciate it at all. And he also had a microwave, so he managed to do some things in the microwave that worked. But he was real happy to get out and be able to cook in a kitchen again because he really loves to cook. Yes. Well, and I think...

45:21
You know, dorms are evolving a little bit, at least in my son's college. They have an entire kitchen area. The dorm that he lived in last year, they had an entire kitchen area down on the first floor where pots and pans and everything were provided. And so they, you know, they would go down there and they would cook things. And

45:46
You know, he said it was kind of amazing the number of people that would kind of gather around and be like, Oh, you know, what are you making? What are you cooking? How are you doing that? Um, and he's in an apartment now. Um, but yeah, I mean, those are important skills to teach your kids before they. Fly the coop. Yeah. Yup. That's phenomenal. I had no idea that the colleges might be.

46:16
actually understanding that people would want to make food for their friends. That's great. Yeah. So I think that was really beneficial for them, especially because it's dorm food. When you go to the cafeteria and stuff is not always the best food and not always available at the time when you need it. So yeah, teaching those skills is essential. And

46:44
is that I'm still teaching myself skills all the time and always learning. That's something that I've talked to people quite a lot about with the homesteading lifestyle is they say, well, I don't know how to do all that stuff. That's fine. Take it one thing at a time. Just learn one skill. For every skill that you learn, it's going to help you learn the next skill.

47:14
And the next skill, and we're not always successful. Anybody who's ever planted anything knows that failure is part of the game. When you have animals, you're going to lose some. That's just the way that nature goes. And I think in addition to learning those practical skills, you're also learning resiliency. You're learning

47:44
you know, how to tackle failure. You're learning how to, you know, rise above and keep trying. You know, the first year that I planted carrots, it went just miserably wrong and they were about, you know, one inch long. They were not the best, you know, and so.

48:12
You start trying to figure out, okay, what went wrong? Well, the soil didn't have the proper nutrients. Okay, how do I fix that? What do I need to do? You know, and you just start developing more and more skills and you start to find ways to creatively get things done. You know, even at our old house where we didn't have a whole lot of space, we had compost piles.

48:42
that we fed all year long so that when it came time to plant, we had that rich, nutrient-dense compost to add to our garden bed. So just each little skill that you learn moves you forward so that you can continue to learn other skills, combine them, apply that knowledge.

49:10
You know, I don't think I've ever tackled quite as much failure in life as I have as a gardener. But you know, we're getting better at it every single time that we plant something. And our crops just get a little bit better and a little bit better. And you know, we're hoping that by this next spring, we will be at this new place producing enough for providing for all of our needs.

49:40
Yep, I think you'll definitely be there because you sound like you're absorbing every piece of knowledge you can get your hands on right now. So we've been talking for almost 50 minutes, so I'm gonna let you go, but I appreciate your time, Lindsay, so much. And I think as you start ending, every episode would do what you can with what you have where you are. Yes, absolutely. I think that's a great motto to have. Uh-huh.

50:08
All right, thank you again, Lindsay. Have a great day. Thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. Bye.