SharkFarmerXM's podcast
Emily Tweeten from Lewiston, MN 8-5-24
[Music] And walk up again in this shark farmer radio. Hey! I'm your host Rob Sharkey. We're in the studio today just outside of Bradford, Illinois. Studio powered by Bex Hybrid. What technology day is coming up in that? Yeah, we're going to be down in Effingham, Southern Illinois this week for their technologies there on Thursday. Yeah, going up to Minnesota tomorrow. We are. You are speaking at Farmfest. Oh, is that like a Willie Nelson thing? Not quite. But you are talking at 11 and at 1, so people can catch you twice. So that'll be fun. Doing it twice, huh? Doing it twice. Okay. They are continually delivering things here. The shed is going up. It's so excited. I mean, they've been working on the whole footprint of it here for weeks. Yeah. Well, over a hundred loads of dirt brought in. I would have never guessed even a quarter of that was going to be needed. Yeah. And they brought in the jack. They're lifting the roof and then they lift the whole building up and the walls come down as they do it. Fascinating. I can't wait to see this. This is FBI buildings that we're working with. And it's supposed to be Friday. Yes. They have not even dug a hole yet. They don't even have all the stuff here yet and they say they're going to raise it on Friday. Well, we had to be sure we were going to be here to be able to see our own barn raising. So, yeah, happening on Friday. Let's go up to a Lewiston, Minnesota. We're going to be talking with Emily tweeting. How you doing, Emily? I'm good. How are you guys? Doing pretty good. We're in a great state of Minnesota is Lewiston. Right on the southeast corner between Rochester and Winona. Oh, I don't know where Winona is, but she's my favorite writer. Not far away from Mother Mayo Clinic. Ah, okay. Is that where we're from originally? Yes. Okay. And you are your mom and author, a farmer, an artist and a cancer survivor. That's a boy. We only got a half hour to talk, Emily. You think we'll get it all? Probably not. Fifth generation dairy farmer. So, you grew up on a dairy farm? Yes, sir. Oh, my goodness. Tell us what that was like. That must have been a lot of hard work. Oh, it was. I mean, when I was growing up, we had about 350 cows, 300 cows. And, you know, I'm the oldest of three kids and we had to handle chores. We were always on a schedule. You know, somebody had to help milk cows, somebody had to feed calves, somebody had to scrape barns, all of the things. And, you know, as a farm kid, it's never really enjoyable. And many of us fought over who is going to have to do what. And we just, we didn't really enjoy it. But my dad would always say, you know, someday having just a fact of having the word farm kid on a resume is going to put you in a better place than some of your peers. That's what they all said. Yeah, that was just an excuse to make us work. Did you see that in some like national newspaper or something? That's what you're supposed to tell your farm kids because that's what we were told all the time. We're like, whatever. I don't know. I believe that. But, you know, now, now raising up our own kids. That's what we're saying with the even less of a percentage of the farmers that are out there that exist still today. I said, you know, I tell them, you know, we're like less than 1% anymore. And it really is going to matter that you're a farm kid. And then you grew up on a farm. Don't you hate it when your parents are right? I don't know if they're right. She's literally using it over on her kids. That's terrible. So your farm, it was started by your great grandma. Is that right? Yeah, yes. Yeah, my great grandma actually argued with my great grandfather to start this farm. And he didn't want to. And she said, we're going to do it started milking cows. And that's where my grandpa grew up. And the farm that I grew up is where my dad grew up. And, yeah, so it just started with her and we're still milking cows today. I wonder how one convinces her husband to buy a dairy. I mean, I was convinced to buy a horse, but that's a whole different ballgame. Oh, she was a strong woman. She really was. OK, and that's what she wanted. She wanted. So that led into, of course, you growing up on there. And I mean, so tell me like now, who's all involved in a dairy now? My mom and dad and my husband and I and our four kids. Mm hmm. Now your husband. So did he grow up on a farm too? Yeah, yep, he did. He grew up on a smaller dairy farm, went away to college, has six years of college under his belt for eggs. Business, science, technology, all of the ag industry, sort of basics, welding and that kind of thing. Just to be, you know, just to come here and do what we do now because we really do need all of those bits of education in order to make this entire farm run. Mm hmm. Where'd you meet him at? High school, actually, or high school sweethearts. Were you the only two dairy farming kids? No, we have a big farming community here in Lewiston and which is great because, you know, as, you know, we have friends in the industry and everybody kind of around here knows that we don't like go to weddings unless it's raining. You know, like there's just sort of this code of farming community around here. We do a lot of farming with our neighbors, so we collaborate on equipment uses and fields and all of that kind of stuff. We kind of all work together. So it's just, it's one really great big ag community here in Lewiston. Yeah. And they wouldn't get married during hunting season. That's exactly right. Or during the spring. That's right. Watch this common sense. Okay. All right, Emily, we do have to go to break today. We're talking with Emily Tweaton from Lewiston, Minnesota. We come back. We're going to talk about all sorts of stuff, including a gallon at a time. It's probably a milk reference, isn't it? Absolutely. Okay. Me and I love milk. I do too. And our son drinks a gallon of chocolate milk a day. Yeah, the expensive stuff, the glass bottle that overweight stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Two dollar deposit. We'll be back with Emily. After the break. This segment is brought to you by Common Ground. Are you looking for an easy way to buy, sell, or lease your land? Well, check out Common Ground where they connect landowners and farmers and hunters too, by the way. Go to commonground.io. That's commonground.io. Hey. Hey. Get it? Hey, looking for a good podcast tomorrow. Check on our podcast while we release Amy. Hey. Where is she from again? Well, she is from Scotland originally, which is really fantastic because they live in Canada and you're like, "That's not a Canadian accent." She's like, "Well, by way of Scotland, but by way of Australia too." Her husband's Australian and she's from Scotland. They looked at a globe and said, "There's the in-between mark and it's British Columbia." That's right. Like 10 hours each direction. And that's how they decided, which literally cracks me up. But she's a hoot. She's fantastic. She's a hippie. A little bit of a hippie, but you know, they were really into like communications. They get on these huge yachts and set up whole like satellite internet. Yeah, that was a job before they went to the farm. They were like satellite stuff. Oh my gosh. They were making a lot of money. They met each other on a yacht. Very romantic. Yeah. But yeah, farming now. Yeah. She's all into the regenerative and sustainable and I'd asked her, "Yeah, we kind of went back and forth on that stuff a little bit." We did. Yeah. And the reason a little waku. You can agree to disagree. Long time right, right? Today, we're talking with Emily tweeting from Lewiston, Minnesota. She's fifth generation dairy farmer there. We're talking about meeting her husband in high school. What year of high school, Emily? Let me think. It's probably our junior year. Okay. Gotcha. Tell me about what one gallon at a time is. Oh boy. One gallon at a time was started probably three years ago. Another farm wife came to me and was letting me know that she was out of her pocket. Taking money, buying fresh milk products, and taking it to our local food shelf. And she said, "You know, I could use some help. We don't make a lot of money. Milk and cows." And do you think we could do something with this? And I said, "Oh my gosh. Yeah, absolutely." So we put our heads together and we came up with one gallon at a time, which is this tiny little nonprofit where we accept funds and we take those funds and we purchase ourselves and deliver ourselves to our local food shelves, support our local backpack programs, which puts dairy products into the hands of youth during the school year and during the summer months. And then also there's food for family events that we support with our dairy products. Okay. Is that like just going to like the Lewiston area? So a local deal? Yeah. Yep. So we support as many local food shelves and programs that we are able to do with the funds that we get in. So tell me what that was like the very first time you walk in with milk because I can't say that a lot of food pantries probably keep much that is perishable, like you'd have to figure out refrigeration. Was everybody really excited to get fresh local milk? Yeah. And actually that was one of the reasons we decided to start taking it to events like our food for family events because there was a large provider that was bringing them milk, but it was close to expired and it was not tasting well. And that was one of the issues that we were having was that the, you know, as a consumer and especially young consumers, we were not happy that they were receiving milk that was close to expiration. They were doing the best they could, but as dairy farmers, we wanted people to have really good fresh tasting dairy products, which is why we decided to start up the nonprofit and just take things into our own hands because we knew what was best and we knew how to get our hands on the freshest product possible from our local dairies here. And just really support the need to get a really good fresh tasting product into a young and just general public consumers hands. Gotcha. Now, is that separate from Hardy Soul? It is. Yes. Yep. It sort of operates underneath Hardy Soul, but it is a separate entity, yes. Okay. So what's Hardy Soul? So Hardy Soul is the platform that I share on, which includes our YouTube channel, a blog, and social media presence. We share about our farm story, Hardy recipes, and our handmade home there. What specifically makes it recipe Hardy? It can feed a large, hungry crew. Oh, I had like to have beets or something in it, you know? Anything from your garden, you know, could be considered Hardy, yes. Yeah, it is hard sometimes, especially with the farming and large gatherings. I know, like in spring and fall, when there needs to be a lot of food and needs to be timely and refreshing to everybody, it can be a challenge. Absolutely. Yeah. My grandma actually, you know, we grew up with my grandma serving field meals to the people who were, you know, bailing hay and bringing in the harvest throughout the summer and the fall months. And so we just grew up on, you know, learning how to make big meals and Hardy meals for the people who were working hard. And so my mom did that. We grew up in the kitchen, you know, where she was raising up fresh, fresh buns and a big casserole and a big tea of a big jug of iced tea or lemonade. And then we'd put that in the truck and we'd haul it all out to the people in the field, set up a card table and everybody'd sit down and eat in the field. So those are the, those are the kind of meals that we serve up around here and like to share with other people who are in the same boat as we are. I love hearing stories like that. I love hearing about how they used to cook. Like my mom tells me about my grandma cooking and they used to call it the thrashing table and she had all the men who worked out in the field come into their, their dining room. And she would feed everybody. And it was the same thing. It was like all this Hardy like steak and hamburgers. And so it's like every time we would show up, there was always such a good homemade food. But I can't imagine how much time and hours she would spend making sure that all those meals were ready on time. Oh, yeah. I mean, like half of half of figuring out how to serve big meals like that is just food timing and cooking prep and making sure you have enough of everything, which is, you know, we have our pantries are constantly stocked and our kids even, I mean, like to set up, you know, a meal for a group of 20 people is like nothing. Like that's, that's pretty easy around here. I think the biggest group we ever fed at one time was close to 40, I suppose. And that was pretty big. I mean, we've got, you know, tables and chairs all over our lawn. At this point, we've got, you know, picnic tables and the garage and, you know, we just feed as many people as possible. And the thing that we find is people will show up to help truck in the harvest time. And they're like, this is the best meal we get all year long. So we definitely want to show up. You could just call Casey's get some pizzas. Oh, no. You know what? We've had to do that too. Absolutely. All right. Today we're talking with Emily tweeting from Lewiston, Minnesota. We come back. We're going to talk more about what we're going to talk about being a cancer survivor. That's off. That's inspiring. We'll be back right after the break. This segment is brought to you by Common Ground. Are you looking for an easy way to buy, sell, or lease your land? Well, check out Common Ground where they connect landowners and farmers and hunters too, by the way. Go to commonground.io. That's commonground.io. All right. It's time for Lewiston, Minnesota's favorite radio segment in the world. We're in the world as well. Well, what do you have for us today? Today I'm in Lewiston, a city in Winona County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 1620 at the 2010 census. And according to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.15 square miles, all land. Okay. A post office called Lewiston has been in operation since 1872. You're big on the post office, history, aren't you? Yeah, yeah. I'm a posty. Okay. Okay. The city was named for Jonathan Smith Lewis, a pioneer settler. Lewiston was incorporated in 1873. It was the first stop on the Winona Rochester Stagecoach line. The Pinkerton's again. Right. It was an important source of support for those travelers. St. John's Lutheran Church is a member of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Lewiston. Okay. Synod. Emmanuel Lutheran Church is also a member of the Lutheran Church, Missouri Synod in Lewiston. Okay. Lewiston Altera Public School is mainly located in Lewiston. And St. John's Lutheran School is a preschool and K-8 school operated by the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod in Lewiston. What's our mascot? That information was not available on the Wikipedia. And Altera Cardinals. There you go. I thought it would be the centers. I got a couple laws here. These might be rehashes, but all men driving motorcycles in Minnesota are required to wear shirts. I would agree with that. Every man in Brainerd, Minnesota, is required by law to grow a beard. I would agree with that. Hamburgers may not be eaten on Sundays. That one can burn in hell. In Minnesota, it's illegal to tease skunks. That's just kind of sense. It's legal to poke bears, though. Oh. With what? I don't know. In Virginia, you're not allowed to park your elephant on Main Street. Oh, that you, of course not. Unless it's parallel. Right. Okay. Is that the laws? That's the laws. I'm really glad I know that since we're going up there tomorrow, I don't want to be arrested or accosted. All right. Thank you. Well, today we're talking with Emily tweeting. Did you know all that stuff, Emily? Most of it, yes. From Lewiston, Minnesota. Emily, say you're a cancer survivor. That had to be scary. Yeah, it was. I was a senior in high school. And so I was super busy applying to colleges and trying to get scholarships and finishing up my senior year with all the AP class work I had. So I was super distracted. And in my mind, I was like, I just, I got to get, I got to get through this surgery. I got to get past this. I got stuff to do. I'm busy, you know, like planning my future. And so I technically didn't really get scared about it until I started to look around at the other people who were around me and they're like, you have cancer, right? I'm scared. And I'm like, I don't know. I got stuff to do. You know, I got stuff to take care of. So I can't really, can't really worry about, you know, something holding me back. So I don't know. I look back at that. I really don't know why or how I got through that, but I did. And I think it was because I was just super driven and ready for the next phase of my life and not willing to have something like that. Hold me back. Well, plus you, I mean, you're a kid too. I don't know. I suppose if you have something like that later in life, it might be the morality of it, not knowing that, you know, you're untouchable might have kicked in a little bit. Right. Yeah. And maybe that's the case. I mean, I've always kind of had this, like, no fear of a big and crazy things. And this didn't seem like it was that big and crazy. I mean, it is, but I didn't think it. Yeah. Well, and it sounds like you were so busy getting ready for college. I think that helps when you're going through really hard stuff to stay really busy. Almost focusing on the other things is helpful. Right. Right. I agree. I mean, I, I don't know if I was, you know, they distracted or just very busy. And that's maybe a coping method of mine is just tough things. I just get busy, you know. Yeah. Well, glad to hear that it all worked out. Let's switch gears. Tell me about the flowers. When did that start? We started growing cut flowers here about eight years ago. We've always grown a garden. My grandma, my grandpa, my mom, my family, I always have had gardens and we've always grown produce. But eight years ago, I thought, why not just throw out some flowers on the end of our driveway and see what happens. And by that end of the afternoon, they were all gone. So I knew that there was a want, a need for our flowers in this community. And so we just started growing flowers. So you set them out just for people to take or sell kind of the honor system, how did that work? Yeah. Yeah. Actually, we, I took a little 1972, two stall horse trailer and renovated it three years ago. And we use that as our little mobile brick and mortar, mobile flower shop. And we set that down at the end of our driveway when we've got lots of flowers and people stopped by and pick up, you know, a jar of flowers, some eggs, anything that our kids have made, that kind of thing. We, the kids grow popcorn. We've got sheep. So we make wool dryer balls, all sorts of little things that we put together and create here in our home that the kids can, they love being a little entrepreneurs. So they love having a little shop all to their selves and selling what they make and what we grow. I love that. That's so good for them to get this entrepreneurial spirit, like when they're young. But, you know, it's funny when you started your, you know, there's so many people doing a flower business now doing fresh cut flowers, but you were probably one of the only ones eight years ago, weren't you? Well, it sure seemed like it. And it feels like it has just exploded since, you know, this global pandemic when everybody was at home and throwing seeds in the ground and voila, now I'm a flower farmer. So, yeah, it seems like, you know, there's so many people who have, have come to wanting to grow flowers since then. Emily, if people want to find you, social media, the internet, all that stuff, where do they go? They can go to Instagram. We share daily on Instagram at hearty.soul. The blog is a great place. You can sign up to receive our emails. We send out a weekly email every Tuesday, usually with a brand new blog post, great recipes. A lot of them are our family heirloom recipes that I'm bringing on to our blog. The reason I started the blog was, you know, being a cancer survivor, I always think about like what happens if I'm not here someday. And so I started the blog for wanting to sort of safe keep all of the recipes, the projects, the building, blueprints, just different things that we do here on our farm for our families. Yeah, Emily, tweet and Lewis in the Minnesota. We do got to go, but make sure you go check her out. See us at Farmfest tomorrow, too. Yeah, absolutely. Farm Bureau Financial. Thank you very much, everybody else. Catch you next time. [Music]