Mulberry Hill Microfarm

Today I'm talking with Lara at Mulberry Hill Microfarm.

 

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00:00 You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. Today I'm talking with Lara  at Mulberry Hill Microfarm.  Good morning, Lara. How are you? Good morning. I'm fantastic. Thank you so much for inviting me to chat with you guys. I appreciate that. Oh, you're welcome. I'm so happy when people say yes, because without you, I don't have a podcast.

00:29 That just helps.  Where are you located, Laura? I'm in Northwest Arkansas  in a tiny little bump in the road called Evansville. Okay, how's the weather there this morning? Hot.  Hot and very sticky.  Actually, for us, it's been a fairly mild summer.  We've had a lot of rain.

00:56 And typically this time of year, we're sitting at 97, 98 degrees. Sometimes we're over a hundred. And really it's just been this week that we're getting into  the nineties  solidly.  And for us,  that's a nice break. Yes, we're having a break today too. It's supposed to only be 71 degrees for the high and it's supposed to rain all day.

01:25 Oh, that sounds  heavenly. Yeah, I think there's probably a short nap in my future this afternoon because this is very good sleeping weather. Oh, excellent.  Be bold. Make it a long nap.  I can't. I've got too much to do, but I might crawl into a book for a few minutes and see if my eyes close. We'll see what happens.  That's what happens when you get over 40 years old. You realize that naps are a gift.  Right. Remember when we used to fight those?

01:54 Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah. Now that was silly.  Now I now I want them badly. Yes.  Yeah. Okay. So tell me about yourself and what you  Well,  I've been an educator  for almost 20 years now,  and I think that's something that's run  in  the family when we get together for  holidays and reunions. It feels more like.

02:20 teacher professional development as much as it does,  just seeing each other and catching up on family news.  But there's also been  a strong presence for conservation in our family.  My  grandfather  worked  in  Southeast  Arkansas  conservation efforts.

02:46 Water purity, he did a lot for Felsenthal Wildlife Preserve in South Arkansas to work with them and make sure that chicken plants weren't dumping water into the system and  things like that. And so  they were avid hunters and fishermen on the Saline River  for a very long time.

03:11 And so  even though I wasn't terribly close to my grandparents, there was still that  thread  that was always present  about conservation efforts  and ecosystem health  and whatnot. And I think I carried that with me for a long time,  kind of dormant.  There were marriages, there were children, there was the career in education that was very successful, but there was always this sort of

03:41 little nagging in the back of my soul that said, a little land, just a few trees here and there, just a few birds here and there. And so I started that journey kind of late in life. I did not start until I was 48. I am 52 now and I am loving it.

04:05 I feel like there is a fulfil