Today I'm talking with Kim at Alpine View Farm.

A Tiny Homestead Podcast is sponsored by Homegrowncollective.org.

Muck Boots

Calendars.Com

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
You're listening to A Tiny Homestead, the podcast comprised entirely of conversations with homesteaders, cottage food producers, and crafters, and topics adjacent. I'm your host, Mary Lewis. A Tiny Homestead podcast is sponsored by Homegrown Collective, a free-to-use farm-to-table platform emphasizing local connections with ability to sell online, buy, sell, trade in local garden groups, and help us grow a new food system. You can find them at homegrowncollective.org.

00:28
Today I'm talking with Kim at Alpine View Farm in California. Good morning, Kim. How are you? Good morning, Mary. I'm fine. How are you? I'm good. How's California this morning? How's the weather? Pretty good. Can't complain. It's a little warm, but it could be a lot worse. Yeah, the weather this year has been much better than last spring and summer, but it's still been kind of weird. I'm in Minnesota. It's a beautiful, sunny, relatively cool day.

00:57
I'm kind of tickled with that. Yeah, for sure. All right. So tell me about yourself and what you do at Alpine View Farm. Well, we moved to the country about eight years ago and I quickly fell in love with the homesteading lifestyle. I've always called myself a country girl at heart, but this is the first time I've ever lived in a country. So I, uh,

01:26
I guess I was foreshadowing my future without even realizing it. But we just love it here and we, you know, started a garden and then we started with five chickens and now we're up to 36. So, you know, that chicken math kicked in pretty fast. And then I learned how to can and I learned how to make sourdough bread. And so that

01:55
has evolved into a little business where I have a micro bakery. And so I'm just really enjoying this new part of my life. Nice. What else do you make for your micro bakery? I focus mainly on sourdough sandwich bread, and I also make these really fun pull apart wreaths. And that's our focus in terms of the bakery at this time.

02:24
Awesome. So where do you sell your baked goods? Well, we started off just selling from the farm and then this year we've expanded. We sell at this really cute general store in a little town near us. And then last month we just started selling at a local farmers market. Nice. Awesome.

02:51
So I don't want to be nosy, but I'm going to ask the question, how much do you sell your sourdough loaves Oh, for the bread. So we sell our loaves for $7 and we sell the pull apart rolls for $10. And I've been told by customers, it's too cheap. But we wanted to try to keep things, you know, manageable for people.

03:21
You know, times have been really tight for so many people and, um, you know, we just want to make a little bit of money for ourselves, but also make our products really sellable to everybody. Awesome. The reason that I asked so pointedly, sorry, is that a loaf of name brand bread at the store, like Pepperidge farm or whatever.

03:49
is going for seven to eight dollars a loaf right now. So you are absolutely reasonable and your product is better. So I think you're doing a good thing. I know we have our bread contain six ingredients and we use all organic ingredients. And you know, a lot of people don't realize this, but a lot of the bread that's sold in the store that's labeled as sourdough

04:17
not actually sourdough. They're using yeast and something to make it flavored like sourdough, but they're not even using a sourdough starter. So it's not the fermented food that's such a health benefit for us. Isn't it amazing what major companies get away with but we small home bakers have to label everything specifically? Oh, I know it's so

04:47
difficult to get everything on a cottage food label. And not to mention the fees involved to be able to sell the products and even we have to get in California, an egg license to sell our eggs. You know, I just kind of laugh and shake my head because I'm thinking, do you know how many eggs I need to sell to cover this or?

05:13
Do you know how many loaves of bread I need to sell to cover this cost? Yeah, it just, doesn't seem fair. And I'm not implying that life is fair, but it just doesn't seem right, you know? Yeah, it actually feels like they're trying to push out the small farmer or the small producer.

05:37
um, not help them succeed. But I'm hopeful that there's going to be some positive changes in the future along those lines. Yes. And as long as we small producers continue to fight and to work and to produce good things, we'll probably win the battle at some point. Yes. I hope. In fact, a funny story, I have some tomatoes coming in, so I was going to add

06:04
those last weekend to our things that we're selling at the farmers market. And you know, this is new to me, the market. And so somebody who helps organize asked me, well, do you have a permit? And I said, no. So I need to this week, contact our agricultural department and get a permit to be able to sell tomatoes and other fruits and veggies.

06:33
But the good news is, is this one is not supposed to have a feet. Good. Good. Do you have a farm stand at your farm? You know, I don't. And that's kind of been a dream of mine. But I shifted that dream because our road is a dead end road. And so we're not going to be getting the traffic I think that is needed to make a farm stand succeed. So when the farmers market

07:02
came up, an opportunity came up to sell at the farmers market. At first I was really resistant because my husband and I, we both work full time, we're high school teachers in the county. And so, you know, that's kind of a lot to take that weekly commitment on. But I came around to it and just, like I said, shifted that goal from the farm stand

07:31
to the farmers market. And I think that was a really good move.

07:37
For sure. How big is your garden, Kim? Well, we do raised beds because we have a really big gopher and mole problem in the area. so we started off with a pretty large horseshoe shaped bed. And then we have since added water troughs to expand the garden.

08:05
Last year we started from chicks for the first time when we expanded our chicken operation. And so we used the water troughs as brooders and then we poked holes in them and, you know, leveled them out and put them in the garden to expand the garden. we have a pretty, pretty good area for gardening. I'd say we have about

08:35
ten raised beds of varying sizes, but it's really beautiful and in the future we're going to expand as well. Awesome. And you're in California so you can grow year-round, yes? Pretty much. We have a really long growing season for spring and summer. And what's really neat is we live on a hill.

09:02
And it's almost like we have our own microclimate, I've noticed. And so even through the winter, we have a lot of things that still flower and we hardly ever get any fog or frost. So I can pretty much put my spring and summer veggies in the raised beds about April 1st. know, obviously I track the weather and then we're

09:29
still hauling in tomatoes the end of October. Okay, so I have a very specific question about tomatoes. There are two different kinds of tomato plants. are determinate and there are indeterminate. Determinate means that the plant has a limited life cycle and it will die when it's done producing. Indeterminate will keep producing until it gets frosted or gets dug out. So

09:57
In California, if you plant an indeterminate tomato, it will just continue to grow until it's too cold for it to grow? Yes. In fact, last year we had fresh tomatoes for Christmas dinner. I am so jealous. I know. Now, they weren't still on the vine in December, but I had picked them green. I transferred everything out of the

10:26
summer garden and wanted to start the fall garden. So I picked them, I think early November when they were green and then just let them ripen on a counter. And yeah, that was really special. Yeah. A fresh tomato from your garden for Christmas dinner is fabulous. That doesn't happen here. It's too cold. Although, although I think my husband still has tomato plants in the greenhouse and hope

10:56
Hopefully the greenhouse will stay warm enough so that we can have fresh tomatoes through November and maybe we might eat out a good one for December, but I doubt it. Well, I hope you get the best outcome on that. Yeah, me too. I just, I love bruschetta. I don't know if you know what that is. It's a, it's an appetizer at restaurants basically. And about January.

11:26
We buy tomatoes from the store from a company that is in Minnesota that does greenhouse tomatoes and they do a really good job. They taste like a tomato. It's really lovely, but it's never gonna taste like tomatoes that we get in July and August from our garden.

11:45
So that's nice. Yeah, that's one of the things that we sell and can can and sell the brachetta You have do you still have your dog Claire? Still have what i'm sorry your dog claire. Oh, yes, we have our dogs. We have two cattle dogs Okay, I was gonna ask you what kind of dog claire is because I was looking at your instagram page and she's beautiful Thank you. Yeah, she is

12:15
So special.

12:18
Yes, she got bit by a rattlesnake. that correct? Yes, she did. A few weeks ago, she cornered a rattlesnake and got bit, I think, twice. But fortunately, she was fine. I took her to the emergency vet and they checked all of her vitals and they looked good. And then, you know, I thought we were going to have to get the anti-venom.

12:47
Um, and the vet said she could probably just do fine with Benadryl. And so he gave her a shot of Benadryl and then I, um, excuse me, for a few days followed up with, um, giving her Benadryl in a pill form and she healed really well. Um, the antivenom, I didn't know this is $1,500.

13:16
Oh, Ben had drove a lot less. Yeah, I definitely would have paid that. She's worth it. You know, I would have worked another year to keep this dog alive, but I'm glad we didn't have to do that. And I really appreciated our vet explaining things and going the more reasonable route because it was absolutely fine for her. Is she a small dog?

13:45
She's kind of medium. She's about 40 to 45 pounds. Okay. The reason I ask is we have a mini Australian Shepherd or an Australian Shepherd who is a small dog. She's like 35 pounds. And I would have thought that it would have been the opposite, that the Benadryl wouldn't have worked because on a smaller body the venom would take them down. But I guess that's not how that works.

14:15
Well, you know, this vet, he's been in the business for decades, definitely in his retirement years, but still working. And he said that, you know, he really doesn't see dogs die of rattlesnake bites unless they're really small or unless the snake hits on a major vein. Yeah.

14:45
So that was reassuring. Yeah, I'm really glad that she's okay because I wanted to ask about her because she's so gorgeous. And I was like, please let her still be alive because I don't want us to cry on the podcast again. Right. Well, and then last night she cornered another snake. Oh, and you know, when I first saw her and the snake, I thought it was a rattler.

15:15
and I ran to get my husband to help. then by the time we found the snake, had crawled under one of the garden beds. It didn't look like a rattlesnake upon closer inspection. But regardless, Bella did not learn her lesson. And she's just, she's all cattle dog. So I kind of figured that's the way she would be.

15:43
because she's just going to protect even if it is going to cost her. So it's one of the more difficult parts of living here, the rattlesnakes.

16:00
Yes, we don't have any poisonous. Well, we do. have timber rattlers in Minnesota, but they're not anywhere near where we live. And I am so thankful, Kim, because if a snake bit my dog, I would be, and if she died, I would be a disaster. Like the podcast would be on hold for a month because I would not be able to do it. Just, all I would do is cry. I know. I just, when she first got bit that first time, I just,

16:29
thought I was going to lose her at first because she was showing signs of distress. And I didn't realize that rattlesnake bites were so survivable for most dogs. So I was just really terrified. But yeah, I feel the same way.

16:55
has my whole heart this dog. She's a rescue. She's just the best dog we've ever owned in our entire lives. So she's just really special. huh. Our dog is not a rescue, but we got her when she was a day shy of eight weeks old and she's the first puppy we've ever gotten and raised like in the whole adult lives that my husband and I have shared together. And so there's this real, I don't know,

17:24
pride and satisfaction and the fact that we didn't ruin this dog. We've actually made her a really good dog. So I love her with my whole heart too. And I talk about her so much on the podcast and I'm sure that people are tired of it, but it's just such a huge piece of my life. Like I didn't have a puppy that was mine when I was a kid or a teenager. So I've gotten to experience this as a fully fledged adult.

17:53
It's very much like having a kid. Yeah, our other cattle dog, we got him as a puppy. We had tried to get Bella a friend through the shelter and we visited a couple of dogs with her and she did not want anything to do with them. It was so funny. And so we figured, okay, we need to get a male and we need to get a puppy. And there is something really special about raising a dog from a puppy like Bosco.

18:23
He, have you ever heard that expression, someday you're going to have somebody in your life who looks at you like you're the world and it's probably going to be a dog. Yes. That's Bosco. He adores me. It's the cutest thing. So they've become good friends and that's worked out really well for our family. Yes. And every farm needs a dog.

18:51
I swear to God it's true. Oh yeah. Almost every single place I've, every single person I've talked to on the podcast in over 18 months that has a ranch, a farm or a homestead has at least one dog, if not six. Oh yeah. They are loyal companions and our dogs take guarding the homestead very seriously from whether that be people or a predator.

19:19
They are definitely working dogs and take that to heart. Another animal I think every homestead needs is a barn cat. We've tried a couple of times to get barn cats and it just hasn't worked out. But recently, a couple months ago, we adopted a barn cat from a lady who was moving across country.

19:47
little guy is a stone cold killer, I tell you. He is bringing us home his prizes almost on a nightly basis. And you know, if you live in the country, and especially if you have chickens, you're going to get rodents. There's just no way around it. And so he has just been worth his weight in gold. Yes, we have two male barn cats and they earn their keep every single day in exactly the same way you're talking about.

20:16
I do want to go back to Maggie, my dog, for a second. The one predator that Maggie does not understand as a predator is a possum. look so much like cats that she thinks is a cat and she loves cats. Oh, how funny. We had a possum in our yard and she literally did the pose where they put their head down and wag their back and like, you want to play with me? To the possum. I was like, oh no, no, we don't play with possums. That's not a good idea.

20:46
No, that is cute. She doesn't understand that a possum is not a cat, but she does understand that a raccoon is not a cat. Oh good, because they're not as nice as possums. No, no, no, you don't want a dog tangling with a raccoon. Even if your dog has had its rabies shot, raccoons will rip up a dog. Oh boy, yeah. We try really hard to not have raccoons on the property.

21:15
Well, you know, what's funny is we did not see a raccoon until just this last year. And we thought that was so curious because we had seen all kinds of other predators and signs of other predators and we have game cams and we had never picked up a raccoon in seven years. And then just recently we've spotted a couple. So, yeah.

21:43
They look cute, but they're not cute. I was going to say I have a love-hate relationship with raccoons. They're so beautiful, but they will tear up your shit. They will injure your animals. They do carry rabies. mean, not every single raccoon has rabies, but they are known carriers. And the last thing you want to do is mess with a raccoon and end up with rabies. Yeah, definitely.

22:11
So what's your plan for your farm? Is it where you want it? Do you have plans to expand it? What's the story on that? Well, at this point, think I'm really content with the growth that we've had this year. It is definitely keeping me a little too busy, which is a good thing. I'm definitely not complaining. We're selling at the farmers markets, like I said, and then the general store.

22:40
We also make wine jelly for a local winery. And then we are going to be selling some of our jams, jellies, and apple butters at a farm stand near us. That's a really, really loved and popular organic farm stand. So that's exciting. But for future, we do have a couple of areas of growth that we would like to do.

23:10
Of course, always expanding the gardens. We'd like to expand our flowers and start selling those on a little bit larger scale. We've connected with a local nursery, or I'm sorry, not nursery, a flower shop that's interested in purchasing from local producers. And then probably in a couple of years, we want to start dairy goats.

23:39
Yeah, I'm excited about that. Cool. You're going to have to come back and tell me about that six months after you get Dairy Goats because that's an adventure and a half and I can't wait to hear all about it. So what do you grow for flowers or what are you planning on growing for flowers? This year I'm growing a lot of zinnias and cosmos. Those are a couple of my favorites. I love them because not only are they beautiful and good for pollinators,

24:08
but they have a longer base life than a lot of flowers I found. And some new ones I'm loving this year are asters. Those are doing really well and we have a few different varieties and colors. And then for a filler, I also am growing flocks this year and that has been a really nice one too, long base life and just really beautiful. In fact, when we...

24:36
have bouquets at the farmer's market, people really look at that fox and ask about it. They're not used to seeing that, I guess. So those are some of the newer ones we've been doing and really happy with. Nice. And then the obvious question that I didn't ask 25 minutes ago is, you have any citrus trees growing on your property?

25:02
Yeah, we do some dwarf citrus in half-boiled murals and those have been doing really well. We've been focusing on lemons and limes and they've just produced really well for us. they get big? The actual fruits, do they get big?

25:24
Yeah, they don't. They stay short and they're not too wide either. But this little tree that I would say is only as big as maybe a really good sized shrub produces a lot of fruit. Nice. And the other question I have is do you guys grow avocados? Because I freaking love avocados, but I

25:53
I don't eat them often enough because they're kind of expensive. All right. I know. I love them too. And they're so good for you. We don't grow avocados.

26:06
I looked into that and I don't think the climate or the zone was quite right up here. that would be a real winner if you could grow avocados.

26:21
Yes, my daughter lives in Florida and she's basically house sitting on a semi-permanent basis for her mother-in-law. And her mother-in-law has avocado trees, bushes, whatever they're called. And she was telling me that she was able to go out and just pick avocados whenever she wanted them. And I was like, I am so jealous.

26:43
That is nice form of payment right there. Yeah, I wish we could grow avocados in Minnesota in my yard because I would be doing it every year. You know, one of the things that I recently discovered as a nice alternative to buying fresh avocados, especially when they're really pricey in the grocery stores, is Costco has this organic avocado mash or

27:11
Also, they have a guacamole that they sell. And so it's a really great price because it's Costco and it lasts a long time. It comes in three different containers, the package. So it's a good way to get that avocado fix and the nutrition when it's a little harder to find avocados at a good price. wonder if Sam's Club has the same thing. will have to look. Maybe. Maybe.

27:42
All right, so Kim, thank you so much for your time today. try to keep these to half an hour. Where can people find you online? We are on Facebook, Alpine View Farm, and also on Instagram at Alpine View Farm. Awesome. I hope that you get to have your dream come true about the Dairy Goats, because I think you'll really enjoy it. Thank you. As always, people can find me at AtinyHomesteadPodcast.com.

28:10
Thanks for coming.

28:14
Have a great day. Thank you so much.