Fairview Farms: Second Harvest

Today I'm talking with Kathryn at Fairview Farms: Second Harvest. 

This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company.

https://www.homesteadliving.com/subscribe/ref/41/

https://homesteadliving.com/the-old-fashioned-on-purpose-planner/ref/41/

www.patreon.com/atinyhomestead

If you'd like to support me in growing this podcast, like, share, subscribe or leave a comment.

Or just buy me a coffee 

https://buymeacoffee.com/lewismaryes

00:00 listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. This episode is sponsored by Greenbush Twins & Company, where creativity and community grow hand in hand. Just like a thriving garden or a well-loved homestead, the best things are built with care, purpose, and heart. Through thoughtful design, storytelling, and handcrafted goods, they're helping people celebrate a simpler or meaningful way of living. Learn more at Greenbush Twins & Company.

00:28 Today I'm talking with Kathryn at Fairview Farms, second harvest in Michigan,  which is only two states away from me.  Good afternoon, Kathryn, how are you? I am doing well, how are you? I'm good. Is it hot in Michigan? Because it's a little better here in Minnesota now.  Very hot, very humid.  I'm hoping that it goes away soon. um I looked at the long-term forecast for where I am in southwestern Minnesota.

00:55 And it looks like it's gonna be in the 80s for the next at least seven days. Yes, that's gonna be us too. Which is better than 95 with a tropical dew point. I'm okay with it. But yeah, I don't know what it was like for you on Monday morning this week. But I got up at five, stepped out on my porch with my coffee and there's a window into the porch. It's a closed in porch. And it was like stepping into a steam bath. And that was 5 a.m.

01:24 I was like, oh, today is going to suck lemons. And it did. It was really useful.  And then it got better over the course of the week. And as I'm talking, I can tell that my voice is not what it usually is. So listener, I'm sorry if I sound like I'm dying. I'm not dying. have wicked allergies today.  So Kathryn,  I would love it if you would tell me a little bit about yourself  and your place, because I looked at your

01:53 pinned post on Facebook and there is some real history there. Yes. um So  I  live in Rochester Hills, Michigan,  and we purchased a historic home in Rochester Hills District.  It is 179 years old  and we purchased it from a family that has lived here since 1975. And  during his time living here, he obtained and researched

02:22 a lot of history on the home in the area and was able to pass that to us when we purchased the home. So we have a lot of personal letters and personal stories that we can share and a lot of hidden treasures inside of the home. The home is wonderful. It's a four square and we have a lot of original architecture in the home. it really neat.

02:52 Our piece of property in Rochester is almost two acres currently, but it was a farm of almost 780 acres uh back in the late 1800s.  And this farm itself  did raise cattle for uh beef and dairy, and then also it had chickens  and did produce.

03:16 And I decided living here, really what brought me in was the history of the home, the old home. I really wanted to love the old bones and be the next loving family here. And then I decided, I think I need, I think I need to love the land too. You know, I have two acres here in the middle of the city and that's something very rare around here. And I wanted to,

03:43 put something back into it.  love to grow my own food.  I love to can.  I'm a do it yourself-er, so I like to um demo things and refurbish things.  I myself have a degree in education  and I have homeschooled my kids  and just kind of really enjoy doing the homesteading portion of life and um going in all natural.

04:13 option  and doing things a little bit differently than how society, some of society is going forward  with how busy life is today. So I'm trying to pull, pull back a little bit and relax a little more in life. So  I thought this would be a great project.  am  so impressed, so excited for you because history is so freaking cool. I hated it when I was in school because history in school is about dates and places. There's no stories.  Right.

04:43 I love the stories in history. that's,  and that you're trying to help your community is just so amazing. Right, right. I definitely want to give back. I know that there's a lot of people in our area locally that are from here or have lived here for a good portion of their life. And,  you know, running this new page that I have, I've realized like how many people truly are still here and still value.

05:10 the idea of what I plan to do and I feel like a lot of local support is huge. um And  I have also  decided to try to join the Historical Society  so that I can figure out how to be supportive in other historical areas of Rochester Hills. So I'm very excited and  hopeful that the community has my back in some of the small projects and ideas that I have.

05:40 Very nice.  Michigan is a fairly hefty size state. Where are you in Michigan? So I am about an hour north of Detroit, so I'm barely sitting up in the thumb. OK, cool, because Michigan is shaped like a mitten for people who don't know. um I was listening to somebody talk about Michigan the other day, and they said that if someone says, where are you in Michigan, they hold up their hand and they point on their hand.

06:10 where they are because it gives a good  representation because Michigan is shaped like a mitten. Yep. That's exactly how we all do it. Yep. I didn't know that. I  don't think I've ever actually been into Michigan or up into Michigan. um Anyone who's listened to podcast long enough knows that I grew up in Maine and I live in Minnesota now and I do not like airplanes. So anytime I'm traveling from Minnesota to Maine, we road trip.

06:41 And I have gone the northern route, as we call it, and we go through, we get very close to Michigan because we go way up into Pennsylvania to get to New York. And so I haven't actually been into Michigan, but I hear that it is absolutely beautiful. And I think I should probably add it to my bucket list for before I die. I agree.

07:10 If it's anything like Minnesota and Wisconsin, I'm sure it's worth the trip. Yes, I'm not too familiar with Minnesota, but I am Wisconsin and it's just beautiful land. em There's a lot of opportunity here as far as different things to do, whether it be mountains or water,  or you know, there's just, there's a lot and the weather's really great during the summer. Some of the best summers em are up here in Michigan, I feel like out of everywhere I've lived in this country. So.

07:38 And really good cherries and a pretty decent football team. I will say that a pretty decent football team and great cherries.  See, I can say a pretty decent football team because I don't have any allegiance to the Vikings because I didn't grow up in Minnesota. That would be very true. Yes. If I grew up in Minnesota, I probably wouldn't be allowed to say that because they would be like, you're a traitor.  Yes.  And honestly, Maine doesn't have a football team. So.

08:07 So the biggest football team is Boston and right this second, ah Patriots. Oh, okay. Patriots is the team that we would half-ass root for in my household because  my family wasn't really a sports  family. Thanksgiving, Christmas, in the afternoon, after dinner, there'd be football on the TV, but it was more background noise. Nobody was glued to the TV set.

08:36 But yeah, the Patriots have done pretty well and the Packers have done better than the Vikings for quite a while, which is very sad.  And that's about as close as I get to sports, religion or politics. So there you go. uh So do you have critters on your land? um I do have critters.  So  right now, I mean, I have  the household pets, but  we have

09:05 chickens. We have seven chickens currently. um And that's all that our Sydney ordinance will allow us to have. But in the past, em living outside of the city, I've had goats and pheasants and ducks and different things like that. So I'm very familiar with farming animals. But right now we just have the chickens and that's what the city allows.  That is craziness. You have two acres and you can only have chickens.

09:30 right. And I think it's because the farmland that originally was attached to this house is all now,  you know, it's neighborhoods, it's developments. And,  you know, if I was to bring a donkey in in the middle of my two acres,  I'm sure some of my neighbors wouldn't love that so much. So  I'm sure that's why I don't get to have more than chickens.  That is so sad. Our neighbors who are about a quarter mile away from us have a donkey and they have a cow.

09:59 in the mornings as the sun comes up, the donkey and the cow are kind of talking to each other. So you hear the donkey bray and you hear the cow low and it's so cool.  I guess I get it if you're a city person and you hear that, it would probably be irritating, but I kind of really love it.  So what are your house pets? Do you have cats and dogs?

10:24 I do. have two dogs. have an English Springer Spaniel and then a miniature Schnauzer. have two cats and then we have a miniature lop-eared bunny. So that's about it. Does the bunny have the run of the house by any chance? No, it has the run of upstairs. Very sassy bunny, very small and in charge.

10:54 quite the personality in that one.  my sister has a rabbit and it has the run of the house. And I guess uses a litter box. Yep, ours does too.  Yeah, she told me about this years ago with the first rabbit she had and I was like, what do mean it's not the cage? And she said, Lynn, and Lynn is my nickname.  She said,  rabbits can be can be  litter box trained just like cats. oh

11:23 And I was like, are you kidding? And she said, no, she said, he just goes in and jumps in the box and does his business and hops back out. Yep. Actually rabbits will  use the restroom where they eat. So to litter train them, oftentimes you'll put their hay in their litter box. And so they'll go in there with their food and use the restroom at the same time. So how convenient.  It's a  less mess.  Oh yeah, for sure.

11:53 Um, so  I got to know how did you break your ankle? told me you broke your ankle. I did. So I,  um,  own a boat and we were taking it out to the lake  and I was coming up to a dock and was going to hop over  onto the dock and I just, I landed wrong on my left ankle and it just, it kind of snapped.  Um,  and then got right back on the boat and went to the emergency room. So.

12:23 Geez, I'm so sorry. Does that like ruin your summer?  Well, I feel like it does, yes, because the type of injury that I have, um it could be about 12 weeks before I'm able to safely just stand on it. um And I know here in Michigan, our summer, which we wait  all year to have,  you know, will be about four good months. And so

12:53 I feel like I've just lost my summer, but I'm going to make the best of it and  just kind of keep working with my foot and,  and hope that, you know, I can make it stronger, faster. So we'll, we'll see how this goes, but I'm definitely a mover type person. So I don't stop even I think the day after I broke it, I was doing dishes and laundry. it's, I just don't, don't stop. Yeah. Are you on crutches? Um, I have those too, but I got, I ended up getting a really neat scooter.

13:22 So the scooter makes me zoom through the house. I need to get a little bell on it so people know I'm coming. Yeah.  Yup. Absolutely. Can you use the scooter outside or is it just inside?  Nope. I can use it outside. Okay. So your summer isn't completely ruined because it's not like you're stuck sitting  all day. Correct. Yeah. I mean, I plan to go back to my daytime job em on Monday and we'll see how that goes. But

13:51 We're going to attempt the boat tomorrow, so I'm hoping that I can safely get on and off the boat so we can watch the fireworks over the water.  hope you can. I really hope you can eke out some real enjoyment tomorrow.  too.  Did I see that you're growing a garden? Yes. So I currently have a smaller garden.  It was prior to me coming up with the idea of um the Fairview Farm second harvest, but currently I am growing

14:20 corn  and  tomatoes, peppers, Brussels sprouts, broccoli.  I have raspberries, blueberries and strawberries. um And then I've got some squash going. ah We started our orchard. So  on the property when we originally purchased it, we found out that there are two apple trees. They've got to be about 100 to 120 years old and they produce thousands  of beautiful apples.

14:49 Um,  and then it also came with a peach tree, some of the best peaches I've ever had in my life. And I don't even like peaches.  And, um, we planted cherries and plums and also a lime tree this year. So we plan to extend  the orchard and the garden will probably make up about,  um,  over a quarter of an acre of land alone. So we'll be doing that project next year.

15:18 I didn't know you could grow limes in the northern tier states. Well, we're going to we're going to try it out. um It's still alive,  but not much growth, but it's actually a lime tree. So um it can get about 15 to 20 feet tall. So I'm assuming maybe it's a slow growing. So we'll we'll see what happens with it. But it's it's been um alive and well, looks healthy for the last three months. It's been in the ground. So we'll see what happens with it.

15:45 I want to know, I'm going to follow your Facebook page until it doesn't exist anymore just to see how the lime tree does.  Yes, yes, yes. We planted a couple of cold hardy peach trees here a couple years ago and we didn't get any peaches last year because the couple that were on there, the deer got them before we could. But the year before that,  there were 12 peaches on one of those two trees and we got to have six of the peaches.

16:12 didn't realize that we actually did have deer in the area because we never see them.  my husband went out to pick the other six and they were gone. Deer got them. it's so awesome that we can grow peaches in northern tier states where it gets minus 20 to minus 30 below in the wintertime.  Right. Right. I agree. oh I always thought that it was Georgia and Florida and that was it. em

16:42 Fruit trees are so satisfying. It takes forever for them to get established. But boy, once they're going and they're producing, it is fabulous. Yes, I agree. We're very excited. So um I'm guessing that the plan is that you're going to be supplying food to your community. But does that mean

17:11 like through food shelves and selling  or one or the other? um So I really wanted to keep it a close-knit community um when it comes to being able to sell the produce. So  I will be doing my own farm stand. So I live right off of a main road and there is a  walking path that travels right in front of my historical home. So a lot of people are out there running or biking, walking their dogs and

17:39 I really just want to give back to the people local that want to come and visit the home. And  I might do a couple of farmers markets or, you know, local pickup, even straight from the orchard, but nothing, any,  nothing big.  I don't want to go too big. I really just want to focus on, keeping it very local. So. Well, either way you're going to be helping. And right now everybody needs a little help. Yes. um

18:08 At the risk of jinxing it, our tomato plants, our over 190 tomato plants  are looking  really good out in the garden. Yes. And uh we'll be selling those at the farmer's market and in our farm stand this year, but we're going to be overrun with tomatoes. So I'm quite sure that my husband will be taking bushels down to  local farm, to the local  food shelf for the people.  Because we're not going to be able to use them all. No, yes, that's wonderful.

18:38 Yes.  I can't eat enough tomatoes to get through what we're going to have.  Right, right. I have a lot going this season as well, and I know that I'm not I'm not going to eat them all as quickly as they are ready to be, you know, pulled from the vine. So that's not a bad idea at all to be able to get back to a local shelter or food bank or something like that that can utilize them. So that's a great idea.

19:06 Yeah, I just don't want them to go to waste. The work that my husband puts into this garden, I want that stuff to go to people who need it. um And the reason I'm even talking about this is last year and the year before our garden suffered badly from heavy rain in all of May and into June. So this is the first year in two years that we've had a really good garden going. That's really good.

19:32 That would be my house pet Maggie barking her head off.

19:38 Um, so how you said, you said that your home is a four or something. What is it? It's called a four square. What does that mean? Yep. So back in the day they would make the homes pretty simple when they were farm houses, especially. Um, so it would just be two levels and it would be a complete rectangle. And what kind of fits inside is all that they get. their, um, rooms are very tiny. Um,

20:07 They didn't have any bathrooms back then. They had the outhouse and then um kitchens were very, very tiny.  We still have the  location or the original fireplace um for the wood burning stove. That's all they actually have in this house. They don't have any fireplaces, but four square just means it's basically a perfect little itty bitty rectangle. Okay. And  how many square feet is it? Do you know?

20:34 So this house over the years has had some extensions done to it. So it's, it's 3000 square feet now, not including the basement. Um, but I would say that the original four square was probably about.

20:50 12 to 1400 square feet and that's the top and bottom or first and second floor. Okay. And how many bedrooms did it have originally? you know? Yes. So originally it had three, three bedrooms. And then it had one, like one closet.  Most of the bedrooms didn't have closets in them. So there was a hallway closet and then a dining

21:18 Was it two bedrooms up and one bedroom down? Correct. I think I live in a four square house. Oh, ours is about a little over 1400 square feet. It was built in the early 1900s. Oh, and it has two bedrooms upstairs. Good size bedrooms, but just two. And then the downstairs has a really big open kitchen, a fairly

21:48 Yeah, fairly small living room, but it also had a bedroom off of that living room. And when they remodeled it, they opened up that bedroom to be included in the living room. So it used to be one bedroom downstairs and two bedrooms upstairs, and it was a little about 1400 square feet. So  I might be in that kind of layout. Yes, I bet so. Yep. And it's completely remodeled. So you would never know that it was built in the early  1900s. It's really pretty.  Right, right.

22:18 I'm going to shoot my dog.  She doesn't usually bark this long.  Her  dad is outside and I think somebody's at the farm stand looking at  produce. She's losing her mind. She wants to be out there.  Even if she was out there, she'd be scared. She's afraid of strangers. she's just going to bark and that's fine. That's why we got her. I sound like I'm complaining about her all the time on the podcast.

22:45 we got her to be a watchdog because we live in the middle of cornfields and soybean fields and our nearest neighbors are quarter to half a mile away. Right. And so I want to know when somebody shows up. Thing is, we got her two years before I even had an inkling that I was going to start a podcast.  Oh, right. Well, so.  Good job.  Yeah, she does a very good job at doing her job.  Do you have kids?

23:13 I do. I have four children. My oldest is 21. I have a 19 year old girl, an 18 year old girl and a 14 year old boy. Okay. So that's, that's a good range. I bet you were terribly busy in their younger years. Yes. Younger years were, I don't know how I survived, but I did. It's a lot more calm now, but

23:42 all great kids and  all doing great things in their lives so far.  we're pretty proud, proud parents. And like I shared before, I homeschooled them when they were younger. So I was with them all the time.  I thoroughly enjoyed that. got my degree because I was homeschooling them. So now that they're older, I run a childcare center local to me as the director of the building.

24:11 So  that's what I do with my day job.  On, I think it's going to sound crazy.  I think that if you have the privilege of being home with your kids, they actually teach you more than than you teach them.  I agree. I agree very much so. And  my children taught me to slow down a little bit.  I was just going to say number one at the top of the list is patience. Right.

24:40 Because when you've got four kids, if you're not patient, no one is going to survive that situation. Right, right. I raised four as well. My oldest is a girl. She's 36 and the other three are boys and the youngest is 24. He'll be 25 in December. So yeah, it's. I always felt like people judged me when they saw me out with four kids and.

25:07 At the point that they were all older, they weren't little anymore,  I was like, yeah, judge me, go ahead. Look at these beautiful functioning grownup kids. That's right.  Behold what I have done for the world.  Yes,  I feel the same. It's a lot of work and it's a lot of joy. And if you're lucky, it's very little sadness. Right. Right.

25:37 So  are they into the whole  being at the farm and are they into the history of it and are they into what you're trying to do? ah They  are  to an extent. I think they know that it's like the thing that I love the most. They share in my excitement of things. So when things start growing, they're  very excited to hear what I have to say. uh My youngest will help me.

26:07 um with the chickens he loves when we get new baby chicks and he'll take care of them and collect eggs and I  definitely think that they support what I do and I know that I love it so much but I think they're off kind of you know doing their thing I would  say that not any of them  would follow in my footsteps.  Well they may surprise you. They might.

26:34 I've talked to a lot of people on this podcast who were like, I'm getting out of here. I'm moving as far away as I can. I'm going to have a career totally opposite of what I've been raised in. And then they find themselves going back home and being very into what their parents were into. Right, right. I am hoping that some things will pass off to them, you know, when they, when they realize the value behind it and the reason why, but.

27:00 They're still young yet. And one of them is going to college for psychology and the other ones in the military.  um, you know, they're just, they're busy finding their ways, but maybe one day they'll, they'll come back with a, a few things of, yep, mom, were right.  They will. I know they will. I've had a couple of mine do that to me already. And Michigan is one of the most beautiful States in,  the, contiguous States. So they'll be back to visit no matter what.

27:29 Yes, I sure hope so.  Yep. So I think that's all I've got for you, Catherine. I try to keep this to half an hour.  So where can people find you?  So I have a Facebook page and Instagram page. You can locate me at Fairview Farms Second Harvest  and it's located in Rochester Hills, Michigan. uh Or you can contact me via email and that's going to be fairviewfarms.secondharvest.gmail.com.

27:57 I will put that in the show notes because people sometimes are listening to this when their hands are full.  So I will,  I'll make sure it's in the show notes if somebody wants to get to you.  Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. As always, people can find me at atinyhomesteadpodcast.com. Kathryn, I hope you have a wonderful July 4th weekend. Yes, you as well. Thank you for having me. Thank you. All right. Bye bye.