October 2, 2025 • 35 mins
We bring our St. Louis friends to Farm Camp to work harvest, laugh through a grain spill, build a duck run, and explore how tech, grit, and community shape real food. City and country meet through bees, gardens, drones, and the joy of doing hard things together.
• who Anita and Paul are and why they came
• grain cart learning curve and golden shovel moment
• urban farming attempts with deer, chickens, and backyard bees
• honey stories, safety, and the gift economy of food
• the grounding calm of gardens and canning
• what most people miss about the food supply chain
• autosteer, machine sync, and trust in automation
• drones, fine droplets, and crop health efficiency
• storage bags as a harvest pressure valve
• generational shifts from horses to GPS rows
• real local markets versus resold produce
• live-chicken adventure and lessons on meat and family
• duck run carpentry, mistakes, and laughter
• greenhouse tour, herbs, tomatoes, and giant sweet potatoes
• why time on the farm resets our mood and focus
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:15):
The Farmer's Greatest Asset Podcast.
We believe the Farm's GreatestAsset is the Farmer.
Their knowledge, experience,mind, and health.
SPEAKER_01 (00:37):
Well, welcome to the podcast.
I'm Jesse.
SPEAKER_04 (00:40):
And I'm Dr.
Leah.
SPEAKER_01 (00:42):
Well, today is Farm Camp Edition.
Who do we have with us, babe?
SPEAKER_04 (00:50):
We have my great friends from St.
Louis, Anita and Paul Schnapp.
This is their second year atFarm Camp.
And not my last.
Sorry, you're stuck with us.
You're stuck with us.
And we're so happy to have themhere.
So welcome, guys.
SPEAKER_02 (01:06):
Thanks.
Good morning.
SPEAKER_04 (01:09):
Tell our audience a little bit about you guys.
SPEAKER_02 (01:13):
And yeah, we live in St.
Louis.
Most of us born and raisedthere.
And and uh I had a career incoal, and now we run an indoor
cycling studio and do a littlework on the side to import meat
into the US.
So busy all the time.
SPEAKER_03 (01:36):
And I'm uh No Leah from way back in residency days.
So I am a practicing OBGYN inSt.
Louis with all kinds of otherside hobbies.
So yeah, and and coming up tofarm camp for the second year in
a row is amazing because it'sjust a break at something
different and kind of I don'tknow.
(01:58):
Just getting back to the earth.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (02:01):
And and we do have four adult children.
SPEAKER_03 (02:05):
Oh, yeah, we do have them, don't we?
Oh, she says we left them.
We I thought we left them all athome this week.
That's okay.
It's a break.
It's a break.
Right.
Yeah.
All right.
We do have four children.
SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Yeah, we've got that's our that's how we show
started.
SPEAKER_03 (02:20):
Yeah.
We love them very much.
Sorry, guys, didn't mean toleave you out.
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
Uh well, we do really like having you here just
because we enjoy you guys.
But Paul has been a big helpdriving the grain cart.
Last year I even let you drivethe combine.
SPEAKER_02 (02:37):
The grain cart is more challenging.
And I appreciate the the combinelast year, but I feel more
productive, more helpful withthe grain cart.
Sure.
SPEAKER_03 (02:48):
What happened yesterday in the grain cart,
Paul?
SPEAKER_05 (02:50):
Oh shit.
SPEAKER_02 (02:51):
Anita had to bring it up, didn't she?
SPEAKER_03 (02:54):
Well, when you've done it long enough, it's bound
to happen.
SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
It's going to happen.
SPEAKER_03 (02:59):
And I should not say a word because I would not even
attempt to drive the grain cartbecause I know my driving
skills.
SPEAKER_01 (03:04):
So Paul gets the golden shovel award.
SPEAKER_02 (03:07):
Yeah, and I will say that this example is an example
of what I think you two gothrough every day.
On you have a piece of equipmentthat doesn't work as you plan,
and you have to figure out whyand then how to get it back into
its design use.
SPEAKER_01 (03:26):
And that's why the grain spilled yesterday.
Paul was loading one of thesemis and spilled some corn on
the ground.
And on our farm, we made a rulebecause it happens every single
year.
You spill corn, you're buyingrounds.
But for farm camp, I guess it'sthe golden shovel award.
(03:47):
So we get a shovel some cornthis morning.
unknown (03:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (03:50):
So that I just move the combine closer so I don't
have to walk it back.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
Right.
Oh, shoot.
It's bound to happen.
And it's not the first time ithas ever happened and will not
be the last.
I promise you that.
SPEAKER_04 (04:06):
So you guys are urban farmers.
Uh so why don't you telleverybody a little bit about
your urban farming adventures?
SPEAKER_03 (04:16):
Um, so for years I had a vegetable garden, and in
St.
Louis we have a huge deerpopulation.
They are out of control littlejerk faces.
Um, and after the third year ofthem demolishing, I demolishing
my garden, um, I gave up onthat.
Um, and then we had chickens fora while, and then circle of life
(04:38):
um kind of took care of that.
And by the time somebody besidesus had a Sunday chicken dinner,
we were starting to travel alittle bit more.
And so we decided not to replacethe chickens.
I miss them dearly, butpracticality is well, you got to
help out with them here.
Yes, yes, but our currentfarming project is more pauls.
SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
Yeah, so we have two to four hives, beehives in our
apiary in the backyard.
And and it it's a challengebecause these bees, they've got
a lot of natural things thatwant to kill them.
And it's a challenge because I'mallergic to bees, so trying to
keep from being stung is uh Ididn't know that's like this is
(05:24):
an interesting hobby for someonewho's allergic to bees.
SPEAKER_01 (05:27):
Oh, you want to kill yourself with your own hobby.
SPEAKER_03 (05:30):
We didn't know he was allergic to bees until after
he had the bees.
Now, I will say he's gotten alittle bit better about it, but
I instituted a rule that beforehe goes out to the beehives, he
needs to take a claritin.
Now, I do have a slight medicalbase, so he might know what I'm
talking about.
Right.
But he goes out to the bees, andI have to ask him, Did you take
(05:51):
your claritin?
And sometimes the answer is yes.
SPEAKER_02 (05:53):
And sometimes it's no.
So it's um it's a nice, it it'sdelicious.
The honey is delicious.
It it doesn't um we have plentyof people who enjoy it in the
really in St.
Louis and in Iowa and Georgia.
So yeah, it we friends have it'snice to it's really enjoyable to
(06:17):
give honey just as a welcomingsuggestion.
SPEAKER_04 (06:21):
Oh well, we appreciate when you bring it to
us.
We love it.
SPEAKER_03 (06:24):
So he went to visit some friends in New York a
couple years ago and was talkingto them about the honey and
decided to ship them some.
He couldn't take it becauseflying, he didn't check.
So he is gonna make darn surethat the honey does not get
jostled, broken, anything intransit.
I could see where this is goingearly.
I don't know if you can.
(06:44):
This is hilarious.
So he gets a gets a nice box, hesprays some foam insulation that
hardens, sprays it in, andsticks two honey jars in it,
lets it dry, and then sprays asecond coat on top.
So the box gets chipped.
Susie calls us and says, Um, I'massuming this is honey, but I
(07:07):
can't get through the packaging.
unknown (07:10):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (07:11):
How did she finally get into it?
SPEAKER_02 (07:13):
I told her there are two in there.
She got one out, and then Isaid, There's another one in
there.
SPEAKER_03 (07:20):
But they were they were safe, but they were very
appreciative.
So, yes, our honey has gone allover.
SPEAKER_02 (07:25):
Yeah, the spray foam is uh pretty solid once it's
drawn as well protected forsure.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_04 (07:31):
I can send some packaging materials home with
all right.
I can send some boxes and somepackaging materials home with
you.
SPEAKER_03 (07:39):
So if we're flying anywhere and taking honey to
people, he will put the honey,he'll wrap it in a pair of socks
and then stick it in a pair ofshoes to make sure that it's
that it's welcome.
He's he's protective.
It is delicious honey.
And the bees are fascinating.
Yeah, they are.
They're really cool to watch.
And I've learned a ton aboutbees.
SPEAKER_02 (08:00):
Yeah, they have a they actually have a society.
Everybody has a job, their jobschange as they age.
And uh the the best story onthat is that the males are
usually useless.
Yeah, so they're don't they doteafter the queen?
SPEAKER_04 (08:17):
I mean, really, like I think humans should maybe
model this behavior.
Yeah, no, the females do that.
SPEAKER_02 (08:24):
So the the males they fly up, they mate and die
immediately, and and that is ohdon't don't model that.
That is the extent of theirvalue in the hive.
unknown (08:35):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:36):
I'm gonna I'm gonna say that you two have a lot more
value than that.
Yes, you very much do.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_05 (08:41):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (08:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (08:43):
So that it's it's enjoyable to see, you know, it's
it smells delicious back there.
Oh yeah.
You can smell the honey in thein in late July, and the bees
are always active, and it's it'sa pleasurable little hobby.
SPEAKER_04 (08:59):
So do you you guys have a pool too.
So do you keep how do you keepthem away from that?
Like do they use another watersource?
SPEAKER_02 (09:06):
There's we do have a big pot of water back there, and
they have they're really not aproblem with the pool.
They're close, the they're closeto the pool, and it's not a
problem.
SPEAKER_04 (09:16):
That's probably my biggest concern with the Liam
setup.
SPEAKER_03 (09:20):
So we have a bucket of water in the back and we put
corks in it because that waythey can land on the corks.
Sure.
Which so for years I would savecorks from our wine bottles.
I was like, why am I savingthese?
Why am I saving these?
And I was like, oh, who knew?
That's why I was saving them.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (09:35):
See you.
It's like saving wood.
The two by fours.
Right.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
That came back to get you, didn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (09:45):
Yeah.
I gave you credit yesterday andnow, yeah.
Okay, that that makes up for theme talking about your growth.
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (09:53):
That's funny.
Uh so coming up to farm camp, Iguess what last year, what was
your biggest surprise or whatdid you really enjoy the most, I
guess?
SPEAKER_03 (10:05):
So personally for me, I loved being out in Leah's
vegetable garden and having myhands back in the vegetables and
my feet in it's it truly isgrounding, which sounds cheesy
to have, you know, to have yourfeet in the ground.
It it is grounding.
It brings you back to nature andwhat's important, and that we
really are all, you know, we'reall the same.
(10:28):
Um, and so having my my feet inthe ground and my hands on those
plants, and then your handssmell like tomatoes.
And so that was amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (10:36):
Last year you guys canned a lot of tomatoes and
other stuff, did a lot ofgardening.
SPEAKER_03 (10:42):
Yeah, yeah.
Pumpkin and tomatoes we did lastyear when she was here.
Yeah.
So that was, I think, the mostwell, and spending time with you
guys, obviously.
But as far as specific farm campactivities, just being back in a
vegetable garden was amazing forme.
SPEAKER_01 (10:55):
Awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
Yeah.
And what I the value I got outof it was I enjoyed that Henry
was able to take a weekend offand do what he wanted to do.
And then, of course, runningequipment.
I've I've never ran equipmentlike that.
So Henry did a great job ofgiving me on-the-job training
and then taking over for youknow for the rest of the day and
(11:20):
a little bit on Sunday, and andthen driving home, we're like,
man, that's nobody really knowswhat goes into our food supply.
This is a hard job.
And uh 85% of the country livesin the city, and they just they
think it they think they can goto the sh you know, the grocery
(11:41):
store is where their food comesfrom.
Right.
So they don't understand whatwhat everybody goes through just
to produce uh the conveniencethat they that we have in the
city.
SPEAKER_01 (11:53):
That's why I appreciate having you guys here.
I like to educate or can I sharemy favorite fact that I learned?
SPEAKER_03 (12:01):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I love I love that I know thatyou can't dry soybeans with heat
because the oil is toocombustible and they will
spontaneously ignite.
SPEAKER_01 (12:11):
There's too high oil content.
SPEAKER_03 (12:14):
Corn does not have his high oil count intent, and
so that gets dried with heat.
And it's an interesting fact,it's not an amazing fact.
It's but the fact that I knowthat I love the fact that I know
that.
SPEAKER_01 (12:25):
I suppose you can dry them with heat, but it's a
bad idea in my in my book.
So I know people have tried itand they've caught on fire.
So don't do that.
Yeah, don't do it.
SPEAKER_02 (12:36):
Well, as our since our kids are now adults, we're
trying to be more social athome.
And she brings this story up allthis hard stuff.
SPEAKER_05 (12:45):
Now just wait.
SPEAKER_02 (12:46):
She's gonna tell a story of you spilling corn for
the next year.
It's her opening line.
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (12:54):
Did you know?
I'm waiting for it to come up ona trivia night.
Some at some point it will comeup on a trivia night.
SPEAKER_01 (13:00):
Right?
Yeah, that's awesome.
Well, again, I appreciate youguys coming here.
And I don't let just anybody runthe grain cart, and I trusted
you to do it, and you've done afantastic job.
SPEAKER_02 (13:12):
Thank you.
It it's uh it's challenging anda little stressful on unloading
because we're there's a lotthere.
It's a big tractor and graincart, and yeah, it's uh 50,
60,000 pounds of of material.
SPEAKER_01 (13:28):
And that's not even filling it.
Yeah, I try to keep it so it'sjust a truckload every time.
Because I can see the scale nowin my in the combine, so I'm
just trying to send you withwhat the truck needs.
Because that thing will hold1300 bushel, which is 75,000
plus pounds.
SPEAKER_02 (13:47):
That's a lot.
So again, it was it it's enjoyit's uh it feels good to be able
to.
I know this is a stressfulseason for you, part of the
year, so it feels good to addtwo more sets of hands and we
appreciate it.
We do give some you know someextra time to their kids and uh
(14:08):
to you too.
SPEAKER_04 (14:09):
We appreciate you guys coming and having some
friends to talk to.
And oh my word, Leah and Ilaughed so much yesterday.
SPEAKER_03 (14:19):
We just had a good time.
SPEAKER_04 (14:21):
We did working on the chicken coop.
It well, I guess the coop isducks.
The coop is built.
We are working on the runportion of the coop.
Yes.
How many OBG WANs does it taketo build?
SPEAKER_03 (14:33):
Apparently just two, because we got that done.
SPEAKER_01 (14:36):
With precise measuring of two 10 centimeters.
SPEAKER_03 (14:40):
Right.
It has 10 centimeters, it's alla crapshoot.
SPEAKER_04 (14:44):
But oh shoot, I we laughed, we did laugh hard.
And um, we're probably going torepeat that again today.
SPEAKER_03 (14:52):
So so for this year, my takeaway from Farm Camp is
that ducks are disgusting.
SPEAKER_04 (14:57):
Yeah, they're just they are gross and stinky.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:01):
Just a smaller version of a goose.
They just yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (15:04):
They're they're actually more different from
chickens, and I guess they'rewaterfowl, so that makes sense.
SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
Yeah, the the duck eggs better be well worth it.
SPEAKER_04 (15:13):
Amazing.
Or Jesse's like, or we'll beeating duck.
SPEAKER_01 (15:16):
We'll eat duck.
I don't know.
Lucy duck.
SPEAKER_04 (15:18):
Lucy's not gonna be down with that.
SPEAKER_01 (15:22):
Yeah, that'll be a rough day.
But circle of life as ithappens.
Circle of life, right?
SPEAKER_04 (15:30):
Circle of life.
Yeah, the eggs will be amazing,I'm sure.
SPEAKER_01 (15:33):
I'm sure they will.
Time will tell.
So, do you guys have any burningquestions or anything that you
want to ask us?
SPEAKER_03 (15:40):
I don't know.
I I also like the amount oftechnology that you use is
amazing.
And how long have you beenfarming?
On this farm, I guess.
SPEAKER_01 (15:52):
Back full-time farming.
18 years after I went to collegeand had a job job.
SPEAKER_03 (15:59):
Because this isn't a job job.
Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01 (16:02):
So back full-time basically 18 years.
SPEAKER_03 (16:05):
So, how much of the technology that you use now is
new to you in in that timeversus was started?
SPEAKER_01 (16:12):
Oh man.
Well, I come back from communitycollege to farm in 99, and that
was auto steer was just brandnew.
So from that time in the last 26years, you know, we've gone from
no auto steer to now I cancontrol the whole grain cart
tractor from the combine.
(16:33):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (16:34):
But I would say the majority of the farms in this
area don't use it's catching on.
SPEAKER_01 (16:39):
There's a few guys around here I know.
Like we've been using it for theday it came out and I could put
it on.
We demoed it.
Uh so funny story on that.
We demoed it, and that was rightwhen Leah was the first time she
ever got in a grain cart.
And I didn't tell her that wehad that capability and made her
(17:01):
learn how to drive it justmanually.
SPEAKER_02 (17:07):
Well, the equipment broke for two offloads, so I did
have to do it manually.
SPEAKER_01 (17:12):
It wouldn't connect the last couple loads we did
there.
SPEAKER_03 (17:16):
So just because I would have had no idea about
this, the way it works now, thegrain cart gets within a certain
distance, and you can kind of oneach of our screens, his screen
and the tractor, and my screenand the combine, it's there's an
orange box.
SPEAKER_02 (17:29):
And once that tractor is in that orange box,
the orange box follows thecombine, and then the grain cart
driver just presses a button andyou can feel it engage and it
and move to the position, andthen he'll move it back and
forth.
SPEAKER_03 (17:44):
Yes, yeah.
So then you're controlling thegreen cart, which makes it a lot
easier for a novice to step in.
unknown (17:51):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (17:51):
But all I can think about when you talk about that
is the Space Invaders game wherethat tractor beam comes down
from the enemy ship and capture.
SPEAKER_01 (17:59):
Yeah, it's similar.
It is, yeah.
So she didn't know we had themachine sync capability, and it
was a struggle for most of themorning.
Oh, and then sometime in theafternoon I said, hit that
button on the armrest.
And I don't even remember whatit cost.
It was subsc a subscription, youknow, and then a you know, an
(18:22):
antenna and just minor stuff.
And she's like, I don't carewhat it cost, we're getting
that.
SPEAKER_04 (18:28):
If you want me back out here in this tractor, you're
getting that.
SPEAKER_01 (18:31):
Right.
And I I won't run without itanymore.
I can get the grain cart fullerbecause I can move them back and
forth, side to side, without thecombine, you know, because I'll
drive five mile an hour rightnow.
So without it, the combine wouldhave to slow, slow down or speed
up.
So then you're just kind ofchanging the flow of everything
(18:52):
inside.
So now I can just hit a buttonand get that grain cart plumb
full.
So my cousin, who farms allaround us, they don't run it.
They also run theirs on anarticulated four-wheel drive
tractor, so it turnsdifferently.
But my uncle hates it.
They tried it this year and hesaid, just take it off.
I hate it.
I don't want it.
SPEAKER_04 (19:12):
Really?
SPEAKER_01 (19:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:14):
Well, you it is hard not to grab the steering wheel,
right?
Because it's like, and he, youknow, it it jostles the tractor
around, um, especially if whenyou go through waterways, and
you have to like I have toalmost sit on my hands sometimes
because you're like, Whoa, it'shard to not be.
SPEAKER_01 (19:31):
I can see you and they hit the button, you're
like, should I grab it?
Should I not grab it?
I want to grab it, but I knowI'm not supposed to.
SPEAKER_02 (19:40):
My fear is that it you think you're connected and
you're not right.
The green car just slams intothe combine.
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (19:49):
So that's we would not be invited back to four.
SPEAKER_04 (19:54):
Right.
We would not be here next yearif you do all the time.
Paul might be helping withconstruction then.
SPEAKER_01 (20:00):
Yeah.
So when we have a 40-foot beanhead on, we have put an
extension on auger, but we werelike really close.
The front dual on the tractorwas really close to that head.
And I can remember when my uncleran it, he'd just sit there and
stare at that head and drive,and he'd be all over the place.
And now we have that, and it'sjust you don't have to worry
(20:20):
about it, really.
SPEAKER_03 (20:21):
Yeah.
Well, it just takes one oneperson in control of two
vehicles versus two.
It yeah, it just makes sense.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (20:28):
But just in this year, your technology you have
two changes that we know of.
One is the the bags for storingproduct.
Yep.
And that relieves relievesconstraint on the silos and
gives you more flexibility onwhen you move it.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (20:46):
We don't have to haul it to town and pay storage
there and then sit in line attown.
Um, because elevators just tendto get busy and it's slow going.
SPEAKER_02 (20:56):
And then the the other technology that we haven't
seen but talked about is thedrone and using the drone to
fertilize and fungicide.
SPEAKER_01 (21:06):
Yeah.
That is a fun little thing.
SPEAKER_02 (21:09):
The year.
SPEAKER_00 (21:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:10):
I tend to pick up new technology soon, or I like
to stay ahead of it.
SPEAKER_04 (21:16):
It's probably more like our lean conditioning.
Like we like to improve inefficiency.
SPEAKER_01 (21:22):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (21:22):
Any way we can be cost effective and more
efficient.
SPEAKER_01 (21:26):
So the drone is maybe a little slower process.
Paul and I kind of talked aboutit last night, but the
efficiency of the fertilizer isso much better because the drone
is more or less built to makethat fertilizer into such a
small particle, then the plantcan actually absorb it.
Um, if you're just out therespraying like with a regular
(21:47):
nozzle, you're just kind ofdrenching it, and it's the
plant's not able to absorb itbecause it's got to go through
all those stomata right pores,you know, just those that out of
out of biology.
SPEAKER_04 (21:57):
Yeah, there's my biology degree coming.
Woo, that felt good.
SPEAKER_01 (22:02):
But you gotta get it a small particle to get into the
plant.
That is one thing that the dronehas done for us, but also we can
spray all our own fungicide too.
Um, so when you run a ground rigout there, you're running corn
over.
But the drone just flies overtop.
SPEAKER_02 (22:18):
It doesn't damage the plant.
SPEAKER_01 (22:19):
Yeah, we tend to pick up technology pretty quick
around here.
Like I said, we come home.
I come home from college andauto steer was brand new, and I
was like, we're doing it.
And dad was scared of it.
So we also farmed some riverground uh bottom ground.
I can remember mom, she used todo a lot of tractor driving,
tillage.
And I said, Mom, just get inhere, and I showed her and I
(22:41):
said, just hit the button, it'lldrive you straight.
All you gotta do is turn to youknow, on your end rows and go
back the other way and hit it.
And she was just terrified.
She's like, What if it takes meto the river?
She was scared it would justdrive her straight, and it
would, but she just turned thethe wheel, you know, so it was
Yeah.
Things have come a long way in26 years.
SPEAKER_03 (23:03):
Yeah.
And I imagine, and this may bestereotypical, but I imagine
farmers of generations beforeyou are we're doing it this way
because it's how we've alwaysdone it.
Right.
That's just it.
It's how we how we've alwaysdone it.
So there's no discussion.
SPEAKER_01 (23:20):
So her grandpa, oh man, even when he was 90, I
would like to sit and talk tohim and be like, Jim, like, how
did you farm?
Because he started with horses.
You know, my grandpa died when Iwas four or five, so I didn't
get a chance to, you know, havethose conversations.
But he would talk about farmingwith a horse, and rows were 38
(23:40):
inches apart because the horsecould walk down between 38 inch
rows.
The corn, they would just findthe best looking ears and save
those ears to plant next year.
It was just fun talking to themand hearing how they did it, and
it has changed.
SPEAKER_03 (23:56):
Oh, significantly.
I guess autosteer in those dayswas you did the typical carrot
on a stick and put it in frontof your horse.
SPEAKER_01 (24:05):
Right, go straight, of course.
SPEAKER_04 (24:07):
They also could live off of a family could live off
of less than a hundred acres.
unknown (24:13):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (24:13):
And they raised all their own food.
Like they had a milk everybodyhad a milk cow and chickens, and
they would raise all their ownfood.
Huge gardens, all the canning.
And that was back in an agewhere nine, you know, ninety
percent of America's populationwere farmers.
Now one percent.
(24:33):
It's just a different world.
It is a different world, but Ithink we're hopefully swinging
back a little bit more to themiddle.
SPEAKER_01 (24:42):
People raising their own food.
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (24:43):
Yeah.
There's there are definitelymoves to, you know, more and
more apiaries and people havinguh, you know, some rooftop
gardens or different a lot moreum herbs, I think are it's which
is an easy way to get into ifyou're in the city or you know,
we're even suburban.
Herbs are a great way to startand can make a huge difference.
(25:05):
And maybe with that, or cherrytomato plants that you can grow
in a pot.
Definitely I know more peoplewho are doing that now in St.
Louis.
So hopefully it'll spark a movetowards maybe healthier eating
and fresher foods and or atleast buy from a local farmer,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (25:21):
Right.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (25:22):
Get to know your farmer, support farmers.
Yeah.
I think that that is the totaldisconnect.
You know, there are small farmsthat grow vegetables around the
St.
Louis area that go to farmersmarkets, and I think people like
to go and get produce from them.
But we've gone to severalfarmers markets in St.
Louis.
Yeah.
(25:42):
The more people start buyingfrom smaller farmers, the more
smaller farmers will startproducing more.
It's a lot of work if nobody'sgonna buy it, right?
So the more support you can havefor a local farmer, the better
we all will be, the healthier weall will be.
SPEAKER_03 (26:00):
So we have um Seulard Market in St.
Louis, which is not it's billedas a farmer's market.
We've been the last time thelast time it was.
Yeah, they have and they're justimporting.
Yeah.
And and so it's the exact samebag of green beans that I can
buy at my grocery store thatcomes from I don't even know
(26:23):
where.
Right.
There are some local, you know,but then there's also a lot of
touristy stuff.
But but definitely there's likeTower Grove, um, park has a more
realistic farmers market, andKirkwood Farmers Market is a lot
of local.
Um, so we do have them.
It's but Sioux Lard Market,which I'm sure originally was
(26:45):
truly a farmer's market, is nowI think we made a trip to St.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
Louis to try to look at all the different from
Soulard Market, and we're like,holy moly, this isn't yeah,
yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:56):
It's I mean, it's a it's an interesting thing to
see.
SPEAKER_01 (26:59):
It's yeah, it's neat.
SPEAKER_03 (27:00):
It's yeah, but it's I'll tell you a funny story
about Soulard Farmers Market.
Years ago, before we had our ownchickens, Joe, our son, and Paul
went on a Boy Scout campingtrip, and it was Boy Scouts from
all over uh St.
Louis, different troops.
Um, and the goal was they had toget on the metro, figure out
(27:25):
their dinner, and cook theirdinner somehow.
So one troop went down toSeulard and bought live chickens
and butchered the chickens andcooked them up.
So Joe thought this was cool andhe wanted to do this.
I'm like, all right, we we cando this.
So we go down to Soulard, we buytwo chickens, these fluffy big
(27:47):
chickens.
I'm like, ooh, they're they'rebig.
This is gonna be great.
We're gonna have two chickens.
We bring them home.
Grace, who is now 23, was mad.
She was mad, this is terrible.
How can you do this?
I'm not eating dinner tonight.
Did she have a problem withchicken otherwise?
SPEAKER_04 (28:05):
No, not at all.
SPEAKER_03 (28:06):
Not at all.
So um Sophie and Lucy wereinvested in figuring out how
this whole thing was gonna go.
And Joe had done his researchand he knew what we were doing.
Mr.
Funny Man over here, his bigcontribution is Ozark Mountain
Daredevil's chicken train song.
Chicken train.
Running all day.
So he is playing this from thespeakers in the house while we
(28:29):
are down in the backyard.
And Joe has read that the bestway to do this is to hang them
by their feet, butcher them, letall the blood drain out.
Like, okay, we can do this.
So I have them hanging by theirfeet.
One of them escapes, is running,you know, frantically running
free.
SPEAKER_02 (28:49):
That's when chicken train started.
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (28:54):
So we we capture that one again.
We butcher the chickens, itsmells to high heaven.
We do the whole, you know,defeathering them.
We defeather them.
And I'm like, ooh, these bigfluffy chickens are not so big.
It was all feather.
We got probably enough meat offof these two chickens to feed
(29:16):
maybe two of us.
I mean, they were scrawny,scrawny, scrawny.
SPEAKER_01 (29:22):
Well, Grace didn't have to eat the chicken, did
she?
SPEAKER_03 (29:25):
Did she have chicken nuggets?
Chicken nuggets.
Right.
So I end up going to the grocerystore and buying chicken anyway.
Grace still is not going to eatany chicken.
I was like, Grace, this is thesame chicken.
We all weezy.
I'm not eating it.
I think she maybe didn't eatmeat for a week or something.
SPEAKER_02 (29:43):
They all had their moment of being vegetarians.
SPEAKER_03 (29:46):
Yeah, not all.
Just Joe Joe.
Fairy girls.
I don't think Sophie ever did.
Sophie and Sophie enjoys some.
Yeah.
Now they're all back to eating,you know, regular meat.
Protein.
That's awesome.
Um So yeah, the the butcher ourown chicken experience was
hilarious and makes for again agreat party story.
(30:08):
But um not so successful on interms of making dinner.
SPEAKER_04 (30:12):
So I have to tell you, like I've never butchered a
chicken.
SPEAKER_01 (30:15):
So I don't want to do it ever again.
SPEAKER_03 (30:18):
So I don't I don't feel like I need to, but I'm
just happy that I've had a farmexperience that you have not.
SPEAKER_04 (30:24):
Oh you probably have quite a few of them.
SPEAKER_03 (30:26):
I don't know.
I've I've never had bees.
Yeah.
I was so impressed yesterdaywith our carpentry.
Like you were like mad carpenterwith the saw.
Like I'm not touching that saw.
And then the grinder.
I you yeah.
I was I have never donecarpentry.
SPEAKER_04 (30:40):
I was well, I can't call what I have done carpentry.
I think it would be an insult tocarpenters.
I know how to like screw twopieces of wood together.
Um, but if you do recall, wewere at the end hammering the
fencing into the wood.
I was like, screw it.
(31:02):
She's like, I guess that's oneway to get it done.
Barb wife style.
I was like, I'm over it.
SPEAKER_03 (31:11):
We have we have not gone out yet this morning to
make sure it's still standing.
SPEAKER_04 (31:15):
Yeah, right.
Well, yeah.
There was no way that wasmoving.
It has a lot of screws in it.
We ran a we might have to make aMenards run.
SPEAKER_01 (31:30):
That's a lot of screws.
SPEAKER_04 (31:33):
Oh, but we are going to build some more walls today.
Yes, we are.
And now we have the plan.
I think we're gonna be likeboom, boom, boom.
We're gonna be like skilledsurgeons in the OR.
Oh wait, are we supposed to beskilled surgeons?
Oh, wait, we are skilledsurgeons.
unknown (31:52):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (31:56):
Oh man.
Yeah, it's been fun.
But yeah, the grinder was a newexperience for me.
Today it might be a handsaw.
So we'll see.
SPEAKER_01 (32:05):
Oh, a circular saw.
Circular saw, yeah.
Bordless circular saw.
Hopefully, we have all ourfingers by the end of the day.
SPEAKER_04 (32:12):
Oh, yeah, of little faith.
SPEAKER_01 (32:14):
Oh, I have full faith in you guys.
SPEAKER_04 (32:16):
So yeah, it'll be a fun time.
Well, and like we need to go outand tour the weed.
Yes.
The weed greenhouse.
SPEAKER_01 (32:25):
Guard house greenhouse full of everything.
SPEAKER_04 (32:28):
Grass.
SPEAKER_01 (32:28):
Sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes.
Oh.
Sweet potatoes.
Monster sweet potatoes.
SPEAKER_04 (32:32):
We'll dig some up.
You guys can take some home.
You're gonna be like, all right,uh, we'll save this one for when
the whole family's here.
SPEAKER_01 (32:39):
This is a basketball size.
SPEAKER_04 (32:41):
I can't believe you don't like sweet potatoes,
Jesse.
SPEAKER_01 (32:43):
I don't.
I just it's I don't know if it'sthe sweetness and it's supposed
to be a potato.
I just don't care for them.
SPEAKER_03 (32:50):
They're so healthy.
SPEAKER_01 (32:51):
I know.
Or should.
But can't do it.
I don't like tomatoes either.
SPEAKER_04 (32:57):
He does not.
SPEAKER_01 (32:58):
But I eat bruschetta.
I mean, it's I just don't likeyou know, a big slice of tomato.
SPEAKER_03 (33:04):
I love tomatoes in any form.
SPEAKER_04 (33:06):
We can pick some more today.
You can take some.
There's lots of herbs out there.
Well, Schnapps, thank you somuch for coming back to farm
camp.
SPEAKER_03 (33:14):
You're stuck.
I'm telling you, you are stuckwith us.
SPEAKER_01 (33:17):
No, we love it.
It's like I said, I like havingpeople here so I can inform,
educate, let people see.
And we take it back to St.
Louis and talk about it, andit's good.
unknown (33:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (33:28):
I share, I share my soybean fact.
Every chance I get.
We're gonna have to find youanother fun fact from the farm.
So I will say last year when Iwent back to work on Monday, my
partners, because we have likean open workspace, so there's
four of us that sit by aboutlunchtime, they were like, Oh my
(33:50):
word, we are sending you to farmcamp like twice a year.
You are in the best mood.
I it just good, it just was sogood to see you guys.
But to again, to just get backto earth.
Get back to earth.
Yeah, it's good.
SPEAKER_04 (34:05):
Well, I hope after our construction this time, you
feel you might be.
I maybe we need to doconstruction barefoot or
something.
I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (34:12):
I feel like I feel like Bob the Builder.
unknown (34:14):
Oh Bob the Builder.
SPEAKER_04 (34:18):
Oh, was Joe a fan of the Builder?
Very much so.
Very much so.
So, Joe, if you're listening,your mom is now Bob the Builder.
I am.
Well, can you do it?
Yes, we can.
We're gonna that's gonna be ourmotto today.
We are so cheesy.
(34:39):
Corny.
We're corny.
That was funny, Lisa Leah.
So much fun.
SPEAKER_02 (34:47):
You might want to consider measure twice and cut
once.
SPEAKER_03 (34:50):
I said that yesterday at one point.
SPEAKER_04 (34:52):
Well, we kind of did that.
SPEAKER_01 (34:54):
That is like rule number one from the.
SPEAKER_04 (34:55):
And then I started writing the measurements on my
hands.
I was like, well shit, I said 82and 38, but why did I cut it at
81 and 38s?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (35:09):
Yep.
Measure twice, cut once.
That's good advice, Paul.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (35:12):
There's lots of lumber.
We can use those little piecesto make more little pieces.
SPEAKER_02 (35:20):
Well, we appreciate, we certainly enjoy coming out
here and helping out and youknow, just seeing a part of the
world that we we are not uhwe're not exposed to.
SPEAKER_04 (35:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (35:31):
Well, we love having we don't want it to be drive by
country anymore or fly overcountry, right?
That's where your food comesfrom.
SPEAKER_04 (35:38):
Yeah.
All right.
So with that, we have to have agood day.
Yeah.
Have a great day.
Bye.
The Farmer's Greatest Asset Podcast.
We believe the Farm's GreatestAsset is the Farmer.
Their knowledge, experience,mind, and health.
SPEAKER_01 (00:37):
Well, welcome to the podcast.
I'm Jesse.
SPEAKER_04 (00:40):
And I'm Dr.
Leah.
SPEAKER_01 (00:42):
Well, today is Farm Camp Edition.
Who do we have with us, babe?
SPEAKER_04 (00:50):
We have my great friends from St.
Louis, Anita and Paul Schnapp.
This is their second year atFarm Camp.
And not my last.
Sorry, you're stuck with us.
You're stuck with us.
And we're so happy to have themhere.
So welcome, guys.
SPEAKER_02 (01:06):
Thanks.
Good morning.
SPEAKER_04 (01:09):
Tell our audience a little bit about you guys.
SPEAKER_02 (01:13):
And yeah, we live in St.
Louis.
Most of us born and raisedthere.
And and uh I had a career incoal, and now we run an indoor
cycling studio and do a littlework on the side to import meat
into the US.
So busy all the time.
SPEAKER_03 (01:36):
And I'm uh No Leah from way back in residency days.
So I am a practicing OBGYN inSt.
Louis with all kinds of otherside hobbies.
So yeah, and and coming up tofarm camp for the second year in
a row is amazing because it'sjust a break at something
different and kind of I don'tknow.
(01:58):
Just getting back to the earth.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (02:01):
And and we do have four adult children.
SPEAKER_03 (02:05):
Oh, yeah, we do have them, don't we?
Oh, she says we left them.
We I thought we left them all athome this week.
That's okay.
It's a break.
It's a break.
Right.
Yeah.
All right.
We do have four children.
SPEAKER_02 (02:18):
Yeah, we've got that's our that's how we show
started.
SPEAKER_03 (02:20):
Yeah.
We love them very much.
Sorry, guys, didn't mean toleave you out.
SPEAKER_01 (02:26):
Uh well, we do really like having you here just
because we enjoy you guys.
But Paul has been a big helpdriving the grain cart.
Last year I even let you drivethe combine.
SPEAKER_02 (02:37):
The grain cart is more challenging.
And I appreciate the the combinelast year, but I feel more
productive, more helpful withthe grain cart.
Sure.
SPEAKER_03 (02:48):
What happened yesterday in the grain cart,
Paul?
SPEAKER_05 (02:50):
Oh shit.
SPEAKER_02 (02:51):
Anita had to bring it up, didn't she?
SPEAKER_03 (02:54):
Well, when you've done it long enough, it's bound
to happen.
SPEAKER_01 (02:58):
It's going to happen.
SPEAKER_03 (02:59):
And I should not say a word because I would not even
attempt to drive the grain cartbecause I know my driving
skills.
SPEAKER_01 (03:04):
So Paul gets the golden shovel award.
SPEAKER_02 (03:07):
Yeah, and I will say that this example is an example
of what I think you two gothrough every day.
On you have a piece of equipmentthat doesn't work as you plan,
and you have to figure out whyand then how to get it back into
its design use.
SPEAKER_01 (03:26):
And that's why the grain spilled yesterday.
Paul was loading one of thesemis and spilled some corn on
the ground.
And on our farm, we made a rulebecause it happens every single
year.
You spill corn, you're buyingrounds.
But for farm camp, I guess it'sthe golden shovel award.
(03:47):
So we get a shovel some cornthis morning.
unknown (03:50):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (03:50):
So that I just move the combine closer so I don't
have to walk it back.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (03:57):
Right.
Oh, shoot.
It's bound to happen.
And it's not the first time ithas ever happened and will not
be the last.
I promise you that.
SPEAKER_04 (04:06):
So you guys are urban farmers.
Uh so why don't you telleverybody a little bit about
your urban farming adventures?
SPEAKER_03 (04:16):
Um, so for years I had a vegetable garden, and in
St.
Louis we have a huge deerpopulation.
They are out of control littlejerk faces.
Um, and after the third year ofthem demolishing, I demolishing
my garden, um, I gave up onthat.
Um, and then we had chickens fora while, and then circle of life
(04:38):
um kind of took care of that.
And by the time somebody besidesus had a Sunday chicken dinner,
we were starting to travel alittle bit more.
And so we decided not to replacethe chickens.
I miss them dearly, butpracticality is well, you got to
help out with them here.
Yes, yes, but our currentfarming project is more pauls.
SPEAKER_02 (05:00):
Yeah, so we have two to four hives, beehives in our
apiary in the backyard.
And and it it's a challengebecause these bees, they've got
a lot of natural things thatwant to kill them.
And it's a challenge because I'mallergic to bees, so trying to
keep from being stung is uh Ididn't know that's like this is
(05:24):
an interesting hobby for someonewho's allergic to bees.
SPEAKER_01 (05:27):
Oh, you want to kill yourself with your own hobby.
SPEAKER_03 (05:30):
We didn't know he was allergic to bees until after
he had the bees.
Now, I will say he's gotten alittle bit better about it, but
I instituted a rule that beforehe goes out to the beehives, he
needs to take a claritin.
Now, I do have a slight medicalbase, so he might know what I'm
talking about.
Right.
But he goes out to the bees, andI have to ask him, Did you take
(05:51):
your claritin?
And sometimes the answer is yes.
SPEAKER_02 (05:53):
And sometimes it's no.
So it's um it's a nice, it it'sdelicious.
The honey is delicious.
It it doesn't um we have plentyof people who enjoy it in the
really in St.
Louis and in Iowa and Georgia.
So yeah, it we friends have it'snice to it's really enjoyable to
(06:17):
give honey just as a welcomingsuggestion.
SPEAKER_04 (06:21):
Oh well, we appreciate when you bring it to
us.
We love it.
SPEAKER_03 (06:24):
So he went to visit some friends in New York a
couple years ago and was talkingto them about the honey and
decided to ship them some.
He couldn't take it becauseflying, he didn't check.
So he is gonna make darn surethat the honey does not get
jostled, broken, anything intransit.
I could see where this is goingearly.
I don't know if you can.
(06:44):
This is hilarious.
So he gets a gets a nice box, hesprays some foam insulation that
hardens, sprays it in, andsticks two honey jars in it,
lets it dry, and then sprays asecond coat on top.
So the box gets chipped.
Susie calls us and says, Um, I'massuming this is honey, but I
(07:07):
can't get through the packaging.
unknown (07:10):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (07:11):
How did she finally get into it?
SPEAKER_02 (07:13):
I told her there are two in there.
She got one out, and then Isaid, There's another one in
there.
SPEAKER_03 (07:20):
But they were they were safe, but they were very
appreciative.
So, yes, our honey has gone allover.
SPEAKER_02 (07:25):
Yeah, the spray foam is uh pretty solid once it's
drawn as well protected forsure.
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_04 (07:31):
I can send some packaging materials home with
all right.
I can send some boxes and somepackaging materials home with
you.
SPEAKER_03 (07:39):
So if we're flying anywhere and taking honey to
people, he will put the honey,he'll wrap it in a pair of socks
and then stick it in a pair ofshoes to make sure that it's
that it's welcome.
He's he's protective.
It is delicious honey.
And the bees are fascinating.
Yeah, they are.
They're really cool to watch.
And I've learned a ton aboutbees.
SPEAKER_02 (08:00):
Yeah, they have a they actually have a society.
Everybody has a job, their jobschange as they age.
And uh the the best story onthat is that the males are
usually useless.
Yeah, so they're don't they doteafter the queen?
SPEAKER_04 (08:17):
I mean, really, like I think humans should maybe
model this behavior.
Yeah, no, the females do that.
SPEAKER_02 (08:24):
So the the males they fly up, they mate and die
immediately, and and that is ohdon't don't model that.
That is the extent of theirvalue in the hive.
unknown (08:35):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (08:36):
I'm gonna I'm gonna say that you two have a lot more
value than that.
Yes, you very much do.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_05 (08:41):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (08:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (08:43):
So that it's it's enjoyable to see, you know, it's
it smells delicious back there.
Oh yeah.
You can smell the honey in thein in late July, and the bees
are always active, and it's it'sa pleasurable little hobby.
SPEAKER_04 (08:59):
So do you you guys have a pool too.
So do you keep how do you keepthem away from that?
Like do they use another watersource?
SPEAKER_02 (09:06):
There's we do have a big pot of water back there, and
they have they're really not aproblem with the pool.
They're close, the they're closeto the pool, and it's not a
problem.
SPEAKER_04 (09:16):
That's probably my biggest concern with the Liam
setup.
SPEAKER_03 (09:20):
So we have a bucket of water in the back and we put
corks in it because that waythey can land on the corks.
Sure.
Which so for years I would savecorks from our wine bottles.
I was like, why am I savingthese?
Why am I saving these?
And I was like, oh, who knew?
That's why I was saving them.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (09:35):
See you.
It's like saving wood.
The two by fours.
Right.
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (09:43):
That came back to get you, didn't it?
SPEAKER_03 (09:45):
Yeah.
I gave you credit yesterday andnow, yeah.
Okay, that that makes up for theme talking about your growth.
Right, right.
SPEAKER_01 (09:53):
That's funny.
Uh so coming up to farm camp, Iguess what last year, what was
your biggest surprise or whatdid you really enjoy the most, I
guess?
SPEAKER_03 (10:05):
So personally for me, I loved being out in Leah's
vegetable garden and having myhands back in the vegetables and
my feet in it's it truly isgrounding, which sounds cheesy
to have, you know, to have yourfeet in the ground.
It it is grounding.
It brings you back to nature andwhat's important, and that we
really are all, you know, we'reall the same.
(10:28):
Um, and so having my my feet inthe ground and my hands on those
plants, and then your handssmell like tomatoes.
And so that was amazing.
SPEAKER_01 (10:36):
Last year you guys canned a lot of tomatoes and
other stuff, did a lot ofgardening.
SPEAKER_03 (10:42):
Yeah, yeah.
Pumpkin and tomatoes we did lastyear when she was here.
Yeah.
So that was, I think, the mostwell, and spending time with you
guys, obviously.
But as far as specific farm campactivities, just being back in a
vegetable garden was amazing forme.
SPEAKER_01 (10:55):
Awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (10:56):
Yeah.
And what I the value I got outof it was I enjoyed that Henry
was able to take a weekend offand do what he wanted to do.
And then, of course, runningequipment.
I've I've never ran equipmentlike that.
So Henry did a great job ofgiving me on-the-job training
and then taking over for youknow for the rest of the day and
(11:20):
a little bit on Sunday, and andthen driving home, we're like,
man, that's nobody really knowswhat goes into our food supply.
This is a hard job.
And uh 85% of the country livesin the city, and they just they
think it they think they can goto the sh you know, the grocery
(11:41):
store is where their food comesfrom.
Right.
So they don't understand whatwhat everybody goes through just
to produce uh the conveniencethat they that we have in the
city.
SPEAKER_01 (11:53):
That's why I appreciate having you guys here.
I like to educate or can I sharemy favorite fact that I learned?
SPEAKER_03 (12:01):
Absolutely.
Absolutely.
I love I love that I know thatyou can't dry soybeans with heat
because the oil is toocombustible and they will
spontaneously ignite.
SPEAKER_01 (12:11):
There's too high oil content.
SPEAKER_03 (12:14):
Corn does not have his high oil count intent, and
so that gets dried with heat.
And it's an interesting fact,it's not an amazing fact.
It's but the fact that I knowthat I love the fact that I know
that.
SPEAKER_01 (12:25):
I suppose you can dry them with heat, but it's a
bad idea in my in my book.
So I know people have tried itand they've caught on fire.
So don't do that.
Yeah, don't do it.
SPEAKER_02 (12:36):
Well, as our since our kids are now adults, we're
trying to be more social athome.
And she brings this story up allthis hard stuff.
SPEAKER_05 (12:45):
Now just wait.
SPEAKER_02 (12:46):
She's gonna tell a story of you spilling corn for
the next year.
It's her opening line.
SPEAKER_01 (12:53):
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (12:54):
Did you know?
I'm waiting for it to come up ona trivia night.
Some at some point it will comeup on a trivia night.
SPEAKER_01 (13:00):
Right?
Yeah, that's awesome.
Well, again, I appreciate youguys coming here.
And I don't let just anybody runthe grain cart, and I trusted
you to do it, and you've done afantastic job.
SPEAKER_02 (13:12):
Thank you.
It it's uh it's challenging anda little stressful on unloading
because we're there's a lotthere.
It's a big tractor and graincart, and yeah, it's uh 50,
60,000 pounds of of material.
SPEAKER_01 (13:28):
And that's not even filling it.
Yeah, I try to keep it so it'sjust a truckload every time.
Because I can see the scale nowin my in the combine, so I'm
just trying to send you withwhat the truck needs.
Because that thing will hold1300 bushel, which is 75,000
plus pounds.
SPEAKER_02 (13:47):
That's a lot.
So again, it was it it's enjoyit's uh it feels good to be able
to.
I know this is a stressfulseason for you, part of the
year, so it feels good to addtwo more sets of hands and we
appreciate it.
We do give some you know someextra time to their kids and uh
(14:08):
to you too.
SPEAKER_04 (14:09):
We appreciate you guys coming and having some
friends to talk to.
And oh my word, Leah and Ilaughed so much yesterday.
SPEAKER_03 (14:19):
We just had a good time.
SPEAKER_04 (14:21):
We did working on the chicken coop.
It well, I guess the coop isducks.
The coop is built.
We are working on the runportion of the coop.
Yes.
How many OBG WANs does it taketo build?
SPEAKER_03 (14:33):
Apparently just two, because we got that done.
SPEAKER_01 (14:36):
With precise measuring of two 10 centimeters.
SPEAKER_03 (14:40):
Right.
It has 10 centimeters, it's alla crapshoot.
SPEAKER_04 (14:44):
But oh shoot, I we laughed, we did laugh hard.
And um, we're probably going torepeat that again today.
SPEAKER_03 (14:52):
So so for this year, my takeaway from Farm Camp is
that ducks are disgusting.
SPEAKER_04 (14:57):
Yeah, they're just they are gross and stinky.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:01):
Just a smaller version of a goose.
They just yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (15:04):
They're they're actually more different from
chickens, and I guess they'rewaterfowl, so that makes sense.
SPEAKER_01 (15:10):
Yeah, the the duck eggs better be well worth it.
SPEAKER_04 (15:13):
Amazing.
Or Jesse's like, or we'll beeating duck.
SPEAKER_01 (15:16):
We'll eat duck.
I don't know.
Lucy duck.
SPEAKER_04 (15:18):
Lucy's not gonna be down with that.
SPEAKER_01 (15:22):
Yeah, that'll be a rough day.
But circle of life as ithappens.
Circle of life, right?
SPEAKER_04 (15:30):
Circle of life.
Yeah, the eggs will be amazing,I'm sure.
SPEAKER_01 (15:33):
I'm sure they will.
Time will tell.
So, do you guys have any burningquestions or anything that you
want to ask us?
SPEAKER_03 (15:40):
I don't know.
I I also like the amount oftechnology that you use is
amazing.
And how long have you beenfarming?
On this farm, I guess.
SPEAKER_01 (15:52):
Back full-time farming.
18 years after I went to collegeand had a job job.
SPEAKER_03 (15:59):
Because this isn't a job job.
Yeah, right.
SPEAKER_01 (16:02):
So back full-time basically 18 years.
SPEAKER_03 (16:05):
So, how much of the technology that you use now is
new to you in in that timeversus was started?
SPEAKER_01 (16:12):
Oh man.
Well, I come back from communitycollege to farm in 99, and that
was auto steer was just brandnew.
So from that time in the last 26years, you know, we've gone from
no auto steer to now I cancontrol the whole grain cart
tractor from the combine.
(16:33):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (16:34):
But I would say the majority of the farms in this
area don't use it's catching on.
SPEAKER_01 (16:39):
There's a few guys around here I know.
Like we've been using it for theday it came out and I could put
it on.
We demoed it.
Uh so funny story on that.
We demoed it, and that was rightwhen Leah was the first time she
ever got in a grain cart.
And I didn't tell her that wehad that capability and made her
(17:01):
learn how to drive it justmanually.
SPEAKER_02 (17:07):
Well, the equipment broke for two offloads, so I did
have to do it manually.
SPEAKER_01 (17:12):
It wouldn't connect the last couple loads we did
there.
SPEAKER_03 (17:16):
So just because I would have had no idea about
this, the way it works now, thegrain cart gets within a certain
distance, and you can kind of oneach of our screens, his screen
and the tractor, and my screenand the combine, it's there's an
orange box.
SPEAKER_02 (17:29):
And once that tractor is in that orange box,
the orange box follows thecombine, and then the grain cart
driver just presses a button andyou can feel it engage and it
and move to the position, andthen he'll move it back and
forth.
SPEAKER_03 (17:44):
Yes, yeah.
So then you're controlling thegreen cart, which makes it a lot
easier for a novice to step in.
unknown (17:51):
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (17:51):
But all I can think about when you talk about that
is the Space Invaders game wherethat tractor beam comes down
from the enemy ship and capture.
SPEAKER_01 (17:59):
Yeah, it's similar.
It is, yeah.
So she didn't know we had themachine sync capability, and it
was a struggle for most of themorning.
Oh, and then sometime in theafternoon I said, hit that
button on the armrest.
And I don't even remember whatit cost.
It was subsc a subscription, youknow, and then a you know, an
(18:22):
antenna and just minor stuff.
And she's like, I don't carewhat it cost, we're getting
that.
SPEAKER_04 (18:28):
If you want me back out here in this tractor, you're
getting that.
SPEAKER_01 (18:31):
Right.
And I I won't run without itanymore.
I can get the grain cart fullerbecause I can move them back and
forth, side to side, without thecombine, you know, because I'll
drive five mile an hour rightnow.
So without it, the combine wouldhave to slow, slow down or speed
up.
So then you're just kind ofchanging the flow of everything
(18:52):
inside.
So now I can just hit a buttonand get that grain cart plumb
full.
So my cousin, who farms allaround us, they don't run it.
They also run theirs on anarticulated four-wheel drive
tractor, so it turnsdifferently.
But my uncle hates it.
They tried it this year and hesaid, just take it off.
I hate it.
I don't want it.
SPEAKER_04 (19:12):
Really?
SPEAKER_01 (19:13):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (19:14):
Well, you it is hard not to grab the steering wheel,
right?
Because it's like, and he, youknow, it it jostles the tractor
around, um, especially if whenyou go through waterways, and
you have to like I have toalmost sit on my hands sometimes
because you're like, Whoa, it'shard to not be.
SPEAKER_01 (19:31):
I can see you and they hit the button, you're
like, should I grab it?
Should I not grab it?
I want to grab it, but I knowI'm not supposed to.
SPEAKER_02 (19:40):
My fear is that it you think you're connected and
you're not right.
The green car just slams intothe combine.
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (19:49):
So that's we would not be invited back to four.
SPEAKER_04 (19:54):
Right.
We would not be here next yearif you do all the time.
Paul might be helping withconstruction then.
SPEAKER_01 (20:00):
Yeah.
So when we have a 40-foot beanhead on, we have put an
extension on auger, but we werelike really close.
The front dual on the tractorwas really close to that head.
And I can remember when my uncleran it, he'd just sit there and
stare at that head and drive,and he'd be all over the place.
And now we have that, and it'sjust you don't have to worry
(20:20):
about it, really.
SPEAKER_03 (20:21):
Yeah.
Well, it just takes one oneperson in control of two
vehicles versus two.
It yeah, it just makes sense.
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (20:28):
But just in this year, your technology you have
two changes that we know of.
One is the the bags for storingproduct.
Yep.
And that relieves relievesconstraint on the silos and
gives you more flexibility onwhen you move it.
Right.
SPEAKER_01 (20:46):
We don't have to haul it to town and pay storage
there and then sit in line attown.
Um, because elevators just tendto get busy and it's slow going.
SPEAKER_02 (20:56):
And then the the other technology that we haven't
seen but talked about is thedrone and using the drone to
fertilize and fungicide.
SPEAKER_01 (21:06):
Yeah.
That is a fun little thing.
SPEAKER_02 (21:09):
The year.
SPEAKER_00 (21:10):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (21:10):
I tend to pick up new technology soon, or I like
to stay ahead of it.
SPEAKER_04 (21:16):
It's probably more like our lean conditioning.
Like we like to improve inefficiency.
SPEAKER_01 (21:22):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (21:22):
Any way we can be cost effective and more
efficient.
SPEAKER_01 (21:26):
So the drone is maybe a little slower process.
Paul and I kind of talked aboutit last night, but the
efficiency of the fertilizer isso much better because the drone
is more or less built to makethat fertilizer into such a
small particle, then the plantcan actually absorb it.
Um, if you're just out therespraying like with a regular
(21:47):
nozzle, you're just kind ofdrenching it, and it's the
plant's not able to absorb itbecause it's got to go through
all those stomata right pores,you know, just those that out of
out of biology.
SPEAKER_04 (21:57):
Yeah, there's my biology degree coming.
Woo, that felt good.
SPEAKER_01 (22:02):
But you gotta get it a small particle to get into the
plant.
That is one thing that the dronehas done for us, but also we can
spray all our own fungicide too.
Um, so when you run a ground rigout there, you're running corn
over.
But the drone just flies overtop.
SPEAKER_02 (22:18):
It doesn't damage the plant.
SPEAKER_01 (22:19):
Yeah, we tend to pick up technology pretty quick
around here.
Like I said, we come home.
I come home from college andauto steer was brand new, and I
was like, we're doing it.
And dad was scared of it.
So we also farmed some riverground uh bottom ground.
I can remember mom, she used todo a lot of tractor driving,
tillage.
And I said, Mom, just get inhere, and I showed her and I
(22:41):
said, just hit the button, it'lldrive you straight.
All you gotta do is turn to youknow, on your end rows and go
back the other way and hit it.
And she was just terrified.
She's like, What if it takes meto the river?
She was scared it would justdrive her straight, and it
would, but she just turned thethe wheel, you know, so it was
Yeah.
Things have come a long way in26 years.
SPEAKER_03 (23:03):
Yeah.
And I imagine, and this may bestereotypical, but I imagine
farmers of generations beforeyou are we're doing it this way
because it's how we've alwaysdone it.
Right.
That's just it.
It's how we how we've alwaysdone it.
So there's no discussion.
SPEAKER_01 (23:20):
So her grandpa, oh man, even when he was 90, I
would like to sit and talk tohim and be like, Jim, like, how
did you farm?
Because he started with horses.
You know, my grandpa died when Iwas four or five, so I didn't
get a chance to, you know, havethose conversations.
But he would talk about farmingwith a horse, and rows were 38
(23:40):
inches apart because the horsecould walk down between 38 inch
rows.
The corn, they would just findthe best looking ears and save
those ears to plant next year.
It was just fun talking to themand hearing how they did it, and
it has changed.
SPEAKER_03 (23:56):
Oh, significantly.
I guess autosteer in those dayswas you did the typical carrot
on a stick and put it in frontof your horse.
SPEAKER_01 (24:05):
Right, go straight, of course.
SPEAKER_04 (24:07):
They also could live off of a family could live off
of less than a hundred acres.
unknown (24:13):
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (24:13):
And they raised all their own food.
Like they had a milk everybodyhad a milk cow and chickens, and
they would raise all their ownfood.
Huge gardens, all the canning.
And that was back in an agewhere nine, you know, ninety
percent of America's populationwere farmers.
Now one percent.
(24:33):
It's just a different world.
It is a different world, but Ithink we're hopefully swinging
back a little bit more to themiddle.
SPEAKER_01 (24:42):
People raising their own food.
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (24:43):
Yeah.
There's there are definitelymoves to, you know, more and
more apiaries and people havinguh, you know, some rooftop
gardens or different a lot moreum herbs, I think are it's which
is an easy way to get into ifyou're in the city or you know,
we're even suburban.
Herbs are a great way to startand can make a huge difference.
(25:05):
And maybe with that, or cherrytomato plants that you can grow
in a pot.
Definitely I know more peoplewho are doing that now in St.
Louis.
So hopefully it'll spark a movetowards maybe healthier eating
and fresher foods and or atleast buy from a local farmer,
right?
SPEAKER_01 (25:21):
Right.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (25:22):
Get to know your farmer, support farmers.
Yeah.
I think that that is the totaldisconnect.
You know, there are small farmsthat grow vegetables around the
St.
Louis area that go to farmersmarkets, and I think people like
to go and get produce from them.
But we've gone to severalfarmers markets in St.
Louis.
Yeah.
(25:42):
The more people start buyingfrom smaller farmers, the more
smaller farmers will startproducing more.
It's a lot of work if nobody'sgonna buy it, right?
So the more support you can havefor a local farmer, the better
we all will be, the healthier weall will be.
SPEAKER_03 (26:00):
So we have um Seulard Market in St.
Louis, which is not it's billedas a farmer's market.
We've been the last time thelast time it was.
Yeah, they have and they're justimporting.
Yeah.
And and so it's the exact samebag of green beans that I can
buy at my grocery store thatcomes from I don't even know
(26:23):
where.
Right.
There are some local, you know,but then there's also a lot of
touristy stuff.
But but definitely there's likeTower Grove, um, park has a more
realistic farmers market, andKirkwood Farmers Market is a lot
of local.
Um, so we do have them.
It's but Sioux Lard Market,which I'm sure originally was
(26:45):
truly a farmer's market, is nowI think we made a trip to St.
SPEAKER_01 (26:48):
Louis to try to look at all the different from
Soulard Market, and we're like,holy moly, this isn't yeah,
yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (26:56):
It's I mean, it's a it's an interesting thing to
see.
SPEAKER_01 (26:59):
It's yeah, it's neat.
SPEAKER_03 (27:00):
It's yeah, but it's I'll tell you a funny story
about Soulard Farmers Market.
Years ago, before we had our ownchickens, Joe, our son, and Paul
went on a Boy Scout campingtrip, and it was Boy Scouts from
all over uh St.
Louis, different troops.
Um, and the goal was they had toget on the metro, figure out
(27:25):
their dinner, and cook theirdinner somehow.
So one troop went down toSeulard and bought live chickens
and butchered the chickens andcooked them up.
So Joe thought this was cool andhe wanted to do this.
I'm like, all right, we we cando this.
So we go down to Soulard, we buytwo chickens, these fluffy big
(27:47):
chickens.
I'm like, ooh, they're they'rebig.
This is gonna be great.
We're gonna have two chickens.
We bring them home.
Grace, who is now 23, was mad.
She was mad, this is terrible.
How can you do this?
I'm not eating dinner tonight.
Did she have a problem withchicken otherwise?
SPEAKER_04 (28:05):
No, not at all.
SPEAKER_03 (28:06):
Not at all.
So um Sophie and Lucy wereinvested in figuring out how
this whole thing was gonna go.
And Joe had done his researchand he knew what we were doing.
Mr.
Funny Man over here, his bigcontribution is Ozark Mountain
Daredevil's chicken train song.
Chicken train.
Running all day.
So he is playing this from thespeakers in the house while we
(28:29):
are down in the backyard.
And Joe has read that the bestway to do this is to hang them
by their feet, butcher them, letall the blood drain out.
Like, okay, we can do this.
So I have them hanging by theirfeet.
One of them escapes, is running,you know, frantically running
free.
SPEAKER_02 (28:49):
That's when chicken train started.
Right.
SPEAKER_03 (28:54):
So we we capture that one again.
We butcher the chickens, itsmells to high heaven.
We do the whole, you know,defeathering them.
We defeather them.
And I'm like, ooh, these bigfluffy chickens are not so big.
It was all feather.
We got probably enough meat offof these two chickens to feed
(29:16):
maybe two of us.
I mean, they were scrawny,scrawny, scrawny.
SPEAKER_01 (29:22):
Well, Grace didn't have to eat the chicken, did
she?
SPEAKER_03 (29:25):
Did she have chicken nuggets?
Chicken nuggets.
Right.
So I end up going to the grocerystore and buying chicken anyway.
Grace still is not going to eatany chicken.
I was like, Grace, this is thesame chicken.
We all weezy.
I'm not eating it.
I think she maybe didn't eatmeat for a week or something.
SPEAKER_02 (29:43):
They all had their moment of being vegetarians.
SPEAKER_03 (29:46):
Yeah, not all.
Just Joe Joe.
Fairy girls.
I don't think Sophie ever did.
Sophie and Sophie enjoys some.
Yeah.
Now they're all back to eating,you know, regular meat.
Protein.
That's awesome.
Um So yeah, the the butcher ourown chicken experience was
hilarious and makes for again agreat party story.
(30:08):
But um not so successful on interms of making dinner.
SPEAKER_04 (30:12):
So I have to tell you, like I've never butchered a
chicken.
SPEAKER_01 (30:15):
So I don't want to do it ever again.
SPEAKER_03 (30:18):
So I don't I don't feel like I need to, but I'm
just happy that I've had a farmexperience that you have not.
SPEAKER_04 (30:24):
Oh you probably have quite a few of them.
SPEAKER_03 (30:26):
I don't know.
I've I've never had bees.
Yeah.
I was so impressed yesterdaywith our carpentry.
Like you were like mad carpenterwith the saw.
Like I'm not touching that saw.
And then the grinder.
I you yeah.
I was I have never donecarpentry.
SPEAKER_04 (30:40):
I was well, I can't call what I have done carpentry.
I think it would be an insult tocarpenters.
I know how to like screw twopieces of wood together.
Um, but if you do recall, wewere at the end hammering the
fencing into the wood.
I was like, screw it.
(31:02):
She's like, I guess that's oneway to get it done.
Barb wife style.
I was like, I'm over it.
SPEAKER_03 (31:11):
We have we have not gone out yet this morning to
make sure it's still standing.
SPEAKER_04 (31:15):
Yeah, right.
Well, yeah.
There was no way that wasmoving.
It has a lot of screws in it.
We ran a we might have to make aMenards run.
SPEAKER_01 (31:30):
That's a lot of screws.
SPEAKER_04 (31:33):
Oh, but we are going to build some more walls today.
Yes, we are.
And now we have the plan.
I think we're gonna be likeboom, boom, boom.
We're gonna be like skilledsurgeons in the OR.
Oh wait, are we supposed to beskilled surgeons?
Oh, wait, we are skilledsurgeons.
unknown (31:52):
Okay.
SPEAKER_04 (31:56):
Oh man.
Yeah, it's been fun.
But yeah, the grinder was a newexperience for me.
Today it might be a handsaw.
So we'll see.
SPEAKER_01 (32:05):
Oh, a circular saw.
Circular saw, yeah.
Bordless circular saw.
Hopefully, we have all ourfingers by the end of the day.
SPEAKER_04 (32:12):
Oh, yeah, of little faith.
SPEAKER_01 (32:14):
Oh, I have full faith in you guys.
SPEAKER_04 (32:16):
So yeah, it'll be a fun time.
Well, and like we need to go outand tour the weed.
Yes.
The weed greenhouse.
SPEAKER_01 (32:25):
Guard house greenhouse full of everything.
SPEAKER_04 (32:28):
Grass.
SPEAKER_01 (32:28):
Sweet potatoes.
Sweet potatoes.
Oh.
Sweet potatoes.
Monster sweet potatoes.
SPEAKER_04 (32:32):
We'll dig some up.
You guys can take some home.
You're gonna be like, all right,uh, we'll save this one for when
the whole family's here.
SPEAKER_01 (32:39):
This is a basketball size.
SPEAKER_04 (32:41):
I can't believe you don't like sweet potatoes,
Jesse.
SPEAKER_01 (32:43):
I don't.
I just it's I don't know if it'sthe sweetness and it's supposed
to be a potato.
I just don't care for them.
SPEAKER_03 (32:50):
They're so healthy.
SPEAKER_01 (32:51):
I know.
Or should.
But can't do it.
I don't like tomatoes either.
SPEAKER_04 (32:57):
He does not.
SPEAKER_01 (32:58):
But I eat bruschetta.
I mean, it's I just don't likeyou know, a big slice of tomato.
SPEAKER_03 (33:04):
I love tomatoes in any form.
SPEAKER_04 (33:06):
We can pick some more today.
You can take some.
There's lots of herbs out there.
Well, Schnapps, thank you somuch for coming back to farm
camp.
SPEAKER_03 (33:14):
You're stuck.
I'm telling you, you are stuckwith us.
SPEAKER_01 (33:17):
No, we love it.
It's like I said, I like havingpeople here so I can inform,
educate, let people see.
And we take it back to St.
Louis and talk about it, andit's good.
unknown (33:28):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (33:28):
I share, I share my soybean fact.
Every chance I get.
We're gonna have to find youanother fun fact from the farm.
So I will say last year when Iwent back to work on Monday, my
partners, because we have likean open workspace, so there's
four of us that sit by aboutlunchtime, they were like, Oh my
(33:50):
word, we are sending you to farmcamp like twice a year.
You are in the best mood.
I it just good, it just was sogood to see you guys.
But to again, to just get backto earth.
Get back to earth.
Yeah, it's good.
SPEAKER_04 (34:05):
Well, I hope after our construction this time, you
feel you might be.
I maybe we need to doconstruction barefoot or
something.
I don't know.
SPEAKER_03 (34:12):
I feel like I feel like Bob the Builder.
unknown (34:14):
Oh Bob the Builder.
SPEAKER_04 (34:18):
Oh, was Joe a fan of the Builder?
Very much so.
Very much so.
So, Joe, if you're listening,your mom is now Bob the Builder.
I am.
Well, can you do it?
Yes, we can.
We're gonna that's gonna be ourmotto today.
We are so cheesy.
(34:39):
Corny.
We're corny.
That was funny, Lisa Leah.
So much fun.
SPEAKER_02 (34:47):
You might want to consider measure twice and cut
once.
SPEAKER_03 (34:50):
I said that yesterday at one point.
SPEAKER_04 (34:52):
Well, we kind of did that.
SPEAKER_01 (34:54):
That is like rule number one from the.
SPEAKER_04 (34:55):
And then I started writing the measurements on my
hands.
I was like, well shit, I said 82and 38, but why did I cut it at
81 and 38s?
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (35:09):
Yep.
Measure twice, cut once.
That's good advice, Paul.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (35:12):
There's lots of lumber.
We can use those little piecesto make more little pieces.
SPEAKER_02 (35:20):
Well, we appreciate, we certainly enjoy coming out
here and helping out and youknow, just seeing a part of the
world that we we are not uhwe're not exposed to.
SPEAKER_04 (35:31):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (35:31):
Well, we love having we don't want it to be drive by
country anymore or fly overcountry, right?
That's where your food comesfrom.
SPEAKER_04 (35:38):
Yeah.
All right.
So with that, we have to have agood day.
Yeah.
Have a great day.
Bye.
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