Speaker 1: Hey, everyone, welcome back to Local Agg, your place for
Speaker 1: all things Bedford County Ag. It is May fourteenth, twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six. I'm your host, Melody Divers from the Bedford
Speaker 1: County Ag Advisory Board. Today mark's our twenty first episode.
Speaker 1: So thank you Media Squatch for your community support. We
Speaker 1: appreciate y'all. All Right, so today we are venturing into
Speaker 1: a corner of the agworld that we actually haven't touched
Speaker 1: on before. Here at the podcast, we are talking goats.
Speaker 1: We have the folks from Country Blessings Farms. Well actually
Speaker 1: you're the solo show today. Avan all Fod is here
Speaker 1: and she is going to talk to us about goats.
Speaker 1: But we also want to share that their farm also
Speaker 1: has not just the registered dairy goats, but they have
Speaker 1: pasture raised hogs and registered angus cattle. So we just
Speaker 1: really want to hear about the goats and all that
Speaker 1: fun stuff because, like I was telling you before the show,
Speaker 1: my mom raised goats just for fun. There were pets,
Speaker 1: and they do have their own little personality. So welcome,
Speaker 1: We're glad.
Speaker 2: You thanks for having me.
Speaker 1: Absolutely so, like I said, this is our first time
Speaker 1: talking about goats on the show, So just give it
Speaker 1: to a straight Are they really like the escape artists
Speaker 1: that everyone says they are.
Speaker 3: So what I tell a lot of the people that
Speaker 3: you know, buy goats from me is that as long
Speaker 3: as they have what they need within their fence and
Speaker 3: they don't have a reason to go outside of the fence,
Speaker 3: they typically are pretty good at staying in. Now, you
Speaker 3: can't just use the typical, you know, single wire electric
Speaker 3: fence to keep them in. They'll find their way out
Speaker 3: of that, and especially as tiny as those babies can
Speaker 3: get in, they'll they'll find a hole in the fence
Speaker 3: for sure.
Speaker 2: But as long as they've they're.
Speaker 3: Fed and not bored, I personally have not found it
Speaker 3: to be a huge issue. We use you know, the
Speaker 3: American wires pretty small you know, like four by four
Speaker 3: holes or cattle panel.
Speaker 2: Or something like that to to keep them in.
Speaker 3: And yeah, I mean as long as they're if they
Speaker 3: get hungry, if you miss a feeding, they will definitely
Speaker 3: find their way out somehow. But as long as they
Speaker 3: have what they need, they typically aren't just looking for
Speaker 3: ways to torture you.
Speaker 4: And so it's the planning.
Speaker 1: But also it sounds like you have relationship with them,
Speaker 1: and I'm sure they know what time it is with
Speaker 1: the being able to tell time. Yes, so we got
Speaker 1: the we got like the fun question out of the way,
Speaker 1: because everybody when you see, especially like you can see
Speaker 1: the cute little videos on TikTok and different things of
Speaker 1: goats doing the cutest thing, and you're like, that's so cute,
Speaker 1: but gosh, it would be hard to like raise them.
Speaker 1: So how many how many do y'all have registered?
Speaker 3: So ifs a lot, Like right now, I'm kind of
Speaker 3: at the tail end of kidding season, so I've got
Speaker 3: a lot of babies leaving, and then I even have
Speaker 3: some customers that are taking some of the mamas with
Speaker 3: them as well. So I usually have anywhere at the
Speaker 3: height of kidding season with all the babies and everything,
Speaker 3: I could have as many as thirty oh my goodness.
Speaker 3: But then once the babies find their new moms and everything,
Speaker 3: it definitely dwindles.
Speaker 2: I mean because goats. I've got one.
Speaker 3: Dough that will give me quads every single year, so yeah,
Speaker 3: so it's wow, we can go. The herd grows exponentially
Speaker 3: during kidding season and then falls off quickly once they
Speaker 3: all find a new home.
Speaker 1: So for folks that have never heard the term kiddings. Yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: can you share with our listeners with ings and what
Speaker 1: that looks like on your farm.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So most goat farmers prefer to have all of
Speaker 3: their dough's kid you know, within pretty close successions, so
Speaker 3: it's all kind of happening at the same time, and
Speaker 3: you're just like in the season of it. And typically
Speaker 3: January February March, when it's like the dead of winter
Speaker 3: is a desirable time for a lot of goat farmers
Speaker 3: because it's harder for parasites to survive through those hard
Speaker 3: you know, cold nights or whatever.
Speaker 1: I would say, some people would probably be surprised, yes here, yes,
Speaker 1: that that.
Speaker 2: Is right the ideal time.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it definitely adds a layer of stress
Speaker 3: to have you know, these like freezing you know, below
Speaker 3: zero nights and everything when you've got brand new babies.
Speaker 4: But and they never make their way in your house, right.
Speaker 2: Absolutely not.
Speaker 1: No, never in your food stove or never in the
Speaker 1: guest bathroom.
Speaker 4: I got my note calves with us. Yes, we have
Speaker 4: had a calf or two.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you gotta do what you gotta do.
Speaker 3: But it is always my goal for these goats to
Speaker 3: be damn raised, I do not don't. I don't need
Speaker 3: a baby goat or a bottle goat, right, So I
Speaker 3: have definitely supplemented, you know, like especially for a mama
Speaker 3: who's got quads or a first time mom, sometimes they
Speaker 3: get all overwhelmed and they're in shock and.
Speaker 4: They're sounds like you have strong mamas.
Speaker 3: Yes, yeah, if you can't raise your own kids, like
Speaker 3: I don't have time to reach your kids for you.
Speaker 4: It's so funny.
Speaker 3: Yeah, So kidding season normally, and also certain breeds only
Speaker 3: come into estris in the fall. Okay, then therefore with
Speaker 3: a five months or roughly one hundred and fifty for
Speaker 3: many breeds one hundred and fifty five day gestation for
Speaker 3: standard breeds. You know, if they're breeding in the fall,
Speaker 3: that has them kidding right in the middle of winter,
Speaker 3: end of winter January, February March. And what breeds do
Speaker 3: y'all have or like? Or so I started with Nigerian
Speaker 3: dwarf goades. It was a great way to learn, you know,
Speaker 3: they're so small and easily managed and don't require as
Speaker 3: much land and all that kind of stuff. So I
Speaker 3: started there, and then I fell in love with the
Speaker 3: standard new bands. They have these big long ears and
Speaker 3: they they actually, in my opinion, have a better personality.
Speaker 3: They're much more friendly. The Nigerians really make you earn
Speaker 3: your love, and the new bands are kind of like
Speaker 3: puppy dog, they'll seek it out. And so then I've
Speaker 3: got a really really great buck and so a Nigerian
Speaker 3: buck that I bred with the Nubians and made some
Speaker 3: mini Nubians, and so they're a really ideal breed because
Speaker 3: they are smaller in stature, so they're easier to manage.
Speaker 3: But their milk production is still or the volume of
Speaker 3: milk is way more than a Nigerian dwarf goat. And
Speaker 3: so the Nigerians are great. They have a higher butterfat
Speaker 3: content in their milk. So depending on what you're doing
Speaker 3: with milk, that would also determine maybe what breed you
Speaker 3: would go for.
Speaker 1: And just to remind listeners, the goats that you are
Speaker 1: raising are not meat goats. They are strictly dairy goats,
Speaker 1: and so their milk is okay for human consumption.
Speaker 4: And also the.
Speaker 1: Closed loop system you have here you're raising these beautiful
Speaker 1: babies and where their mothers.
Speaker 4: Are raising them, you're just that's right, exactly.
Speaker 1: You're just the MEMI Okay, these beautiful babies, but you're
Speaker 1: they are not up to eat, so they folks cannot
Speaker 1: order like goat chops, ye or anything like that. So
Speaker 1: when did you decide, Hey, we need to get into
Speaker 1: goats and we need to make like luxurious soaps and lotions,
Speaker 1: and like.
Speaker 4: How did you get from this to this?
Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's interesting. I mean I was I was
Speaker 3: born and raised. I grew up in a swimming tennis
Speaker 3: neighborhood in like a could a stack outside of Atlanta, Georgia.
Speaker 3: So this was never at top of mind for me.
Speaker 3: I never would have imagined my life coming to this,
Speaker 3: but it was always a dream of my husband to
Speaker 3: have a farm and to have cows, and cows didn't
Speaker 3: really interest me that much when we moved out to
Speaker 3: the farm, and so I just kind of wanted my
Speaker 3: own thing to do on the farm.
Speaker 2: And so.
Speaker 3: I started researching goats and really dove into it and
Speaker 3: found out what breed I wanted. And at the time,
Speaker 3: it was like, oh, this would just be cool for
Speaker 3: the girls. We have three young girls, and like this
Speaker 3: is something that they could be involved, you know, like
Speaker 3: having the kids around the cows is a little intimidating
Speaker 3: and scary at times because they're so large, but with
Speaker 3: the goats, they can really get involved and help out.
Speaker 3: And so yeah, So we started with just a doe
Speaker 3: and her brother, a weathered boy, and started there and
Speaker 3: while we just learned, I learned how to take care
Speaker 3: of them. And then from there I went back to
Speaker 3: the same breeder and got a mama with her kid
Speaker 3: on the side, and so that way I got to
Speaker 3: start experiencing milking and infant care and stuff like that,
Speaker 3: and then eventually dove into the breeding of it myself.
Speaker 2: So I took it really slow. I wanted to make
Speaker 2: sure to.
Speaker 4: Like understand it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, step along the way you yourself are mothering at
Speaker 1: the same time, right, Yeah, I was overwhelmed enough take
Speaker 1: the goats out of the equation, and you were still
Speaker 1: you have a lot on your plate. So I think
Speaker 1: that's probably the wise thing to do. That way you
Speaker 1: understand everything. So that way if you need to step
Speaker 1: back and evaluate exactly. So you talked about the goat
Speaker 1: milk that's being used in.
Speaker 2: Goat milk soap and goat milk lotions.
Speaker 1: But that's not the only fun thing you have then
Speaker 1: tell us about the other things that the other animals
Speaker 1: on your farm.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: So, once I felt like I kind of had my
Speaker 3: you know, my footing with the with the goats, I
Speaker 3: wanted to expand a little bit and got some pigs
Speaker 3: and started raising hogs for meat and the sausage and
Speaker 3: really really fell in love with them. That came pretty easily,
Speaker 3: the you know, just caring for the hogs. And I
Speaker 3: don't breed hogs. I just buy them as wieners, so
Speaker 3: at like eight ten months old, and then grow them out.
Speaker 3: And so it all kind of timed together at the
Speaker 3: same time. Again, just the same way. I you know,
Speaker 3: spent a lot of time researching the goats before I
Speaker 3: jumped into it. I was researching the goat milk soap
Speaker 3: a lot before I really started diving into it. And
Speaker 3: I kept reading about the benefits of lard and soap
Speaker 3: and how a lot of these articles and you know,
Speaker 3: blogs and stuff that I wrote or read, we're talking
Speaker 3: about how back in the day they used nothing but
Speaker 3: lard and lie and that's all the soap was made
Speaker 3: out of. And I thought, okay, well, like that's and
Speaker 3: you know, when I was first starting out, like I'm
Speaker 3: not trying to invest a whole bunch of money into
Speaker 3: something that I don't know how it's going to go.
Speaker 3: So here, I have this, you know, beef fat or
Speaker 3: a pig fat, Why don't I try it out? And
Speaker 3: I you know, goat milk has so many great properties
Speaker 3: for your skin and it's amazing and soap and people,
Speaker 3: there are some people I know that like exclusively use
Speaker 3: goat milk soap, but I personally feel that the lard
Speaker 3: in the soap is what truly makes it, that sets
Speaker 3: it apart from just like whatever bar of soap you're
Speaker 3: going to buy at the store.
Speaker 2: It makes it really creamy and soft and conditioning.
Speaker 3: And similarly with like beefel and beef towel is having
Speaker 3: a moment right now.
Speaker 2: Animal fat is closer to.
Speaker 3: Our skin microbiome than any other oils and butters and
Speaker 3: fats that you might find another skincare products, So your
Speaker 3: skin's ability to absorb it and really you know, make
Speaker 3: it go to work for you is much more efficient.
Speaker 3: And so yeah, I think the lard in the soap,
Speaker 3: especially combined with the goat milk, really makes okay, so
Speaker 3: you combined, yes, yeah, yeah, the soap has goat milk, lard,
Speaker 3: olive oil, cast or no, yeah, cast or oil, and
Speaker 3: coconut oil and that's it and many things. Yeah, and
Speaker 3: it's just it's really, like I said, I think the
Speaker 3: lard really sets it apart.
Speaker 1: When you were talking about that, I was thinking about
Speaker 1: some recipe cards that I had inherited, yes from, like
Speaker 1: I believe this particular one was my grandmother, and it
Speaker 1: was how to make lard soap.
Speaker 2: Oh really, oh yeah, oh cool.
Speaker 3: Well apparently it's you know, they use it a lot
Speaker 3: back in the day for like pie crusts and stuff.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they had the lard for that, but she had
Speaker 1: a recipe under miscellaneous.
Speaker 4: So it was edible, you know that section, right.
Speaker 1: It was all also a recipe for making your own
Speaker 1: cough medicine and just different like salves and stuff.
Speaker 4: So when you said that, I was like.
Speaker 1: I remember seeing that in her handwriting. That was just
Speaker 1: it was just how it was done. I think that
Speaker 1: is That is great that you're taking the time and
Speaker 1: other folks are taking the time to really explore those things,
Speaker 1: and it's really honoring the whole animal because you're using
Speaker 1: your whole part.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, otherwise it would just be left behind
Speaker 3: it the processor, so why not have them?
Speaker 4: You know, now I'm just going to be this is
Speaker 4: totally just meat being nosy.
Speaker 1: I'm envisioning one day you have like three kids animals
Speaker 1: and you're like, hey.
Speaker 4: Let's go in the kitchen and make lady, what of
Speaker 4: chaos did that look like? Or were you like I've
Speaker 4: got it all put together or was it like a
Speaker 4: little chaotic?
Speaker 3: Well, so, you know, the goat milk came first, and
Speaker 3: we were loving making ice creams and cheeses and the
Speaker 3: girls love good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's we were having so much money.
Speaker 3: It was so fulfilling to just go out to the
Speaker 3: barn and milk the goat and then bring bring it
Speaker 3: back in and enjoy it.
Speaker 2: But eventually I got overwhelmed with how much.
Speaker 3: Milk I had, and I was wondering, yeah, and then
Speaker 3: I'm like, okay, what am I gonna do?
Speaker 4: Like coming out of our ears right?
Speaker 3: And I something I look when I was looking up,
Speaker 3: like what can you do with goat milk? Soap or
Speaker 3: with goat milk? Obviously soap was one of them. But
Speaker 3: then I think I remember what happened brought me directly
Speaker 3: to the soap situation. Where people were like, well, you
Speaker 3: can freeze it, and freezing it is a great way
Speaker 3: to start it, or like that's the first step you
Speaker 3: have to do in goat milk soap because when you
Speaker 3: mix it with the lye, the lye melts it, and
Speaker 3: if you don't start with it frozen, the lie actually
Speaker 3: burns the fat in the milk, and so then you.
Speaker 4: Use it the science science, yes a lot.
Speaker 2: Which was not my strong student school, but I figured
Speaker 2: it out.
Speaker 3: So yeah, I think it wasn't chaotic because I was
Speaker 3: using it for me. You know, my girls were really
Speaker 3: young at the time, so for me it was an outlet.
Speaker 2: You know, it was a thing for just me where.
Speaker 1: I say, so it didn't seem this doesn't seem stressed.
Speaker 1: It seems like it naturally unfolded. Yes, it was like
Speaker 1: kind of what I needed, you know, in a way.
Speaker 3: It kind of fulfilled, you know, something that I was
Speaker 3: missing in myself where I like felt like I needed something.
Speaker 4: It was useful. You were making something useful, right, It
Speaker 4: seems very creative.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that is kind of my wheelhouse. That's you know,
Speaker 3: I love to create and work with my hands. So
Speaker 3: it was a really great symbiotic relationship between you know,
Speaker 3: what I had going on outside the house and then
Speaker 3: what you know I could use to fulfill myself when
Speaker 3: I was inside the house.
Speaker 1: And this is just totally offscript, pre goat days. What
Speaker 1: was your career path?
Speaker 3: So? Actually, I taught preschool here in Bedford for a
Speaker 3: while and I loved that job.
Speaker 2: That was a lot of fun. But then basically the
Speaker 2: farm kind of overtook.
Speaker 3: Like I found myself being really stressed out when I
Speaker 3: was at work thinking about all the things that needed
Speaker 3: to be done at the farm. My husband also works
Speaker 3: like a full time you know job during the week,
Speaker 3: so it just.
Speaker 4: So you worked with kids and then you work with kids.
Speaker 1: Be here all okay, oh my gosh, that's great. Okay,
Speaker 1: So you were already kind of in your career path
Speaker 1: used to multitasking, having like wyet little yes life, you
Speaker 1: were used to that, so it was probably easy for
Speaker 1: you to transition into that, maybe easier than someone that's just.
Speaker 5: So.
Speaker 1: Then the other thing is, do you so it's just
Speaker 1: the soaps correct their lotions or.
Speaker 3: Soap milk, goat milk, soap and lotion. Okay, then we also,
Speaker 3: you know, we process a couple of cows every year
Speaker 3: and use the beef fat for that. I make tallow
Speaker 3: whipped tallow, tallow bombs, tallow chapsticks, tallow face wash, basically
Speaker 3: anything I can.
Speaker 2: You know, okay, put animal fat in. I do now.
Speaker 1: I had someone ask me because we started selling I'm
Speaker 1: not making it somebody else's skincare tallow. So if this
Speaker 1: was a question someone had, if if someone has alpha goal,
Speaker 1: they should not use the callow stuff, but they are
Speaker 1: what about the goat milk?
Speaker 3: Well, because mine has a lard in it, it's probably
Speaker 3: not a good idea for them. Yeah, but I think
Speaker 3: typically goat milk, I mean everybody's alpha galley. Yeah, that's
Speaker 3: kind of different. Everybody has like different variations of it.
Speaker 3: My husband beat alpha gowl, so he just like he
Speaker 3: was like, I'm not going to be pork or be yeah,
Speaker 3: because his reaction just kind of got lesson yea every
Speaker 3: single time. But he didn't have it as of yours.
Speaker 3: And I don't suggest that for anybody, but.
Speaker 1: But just be aware that if this sounds interesting, Yes, Alpha.
Speaker 3: Which in this area seems to be just like every
Speaker 3: other person.
Speaker 4: I know you are right about that. Yeah, So do
Speaker 4: you have a website or do you go to market. Yes,
Speaker 4: so goodness.
Speaker 3: So I do the Bedford Farmer's Market every Saturday, which
Speaker 3: is so much fun. I mean, like that's another part
Speaker 3: of my personality that I love, you know, just being
Speaker 3: social and being able to meet people. And I've created
Speaker 3: a or you know, made a lot of relationships with
Speaker 3: people through that and again being a stay at home mom,
Speaker 3: farmer whatever. To be able to go to the market
Speaker 3: and be surrounded by people and like the community of
Speaker 3: the market and everything is super fulfilling and a lot
Speaker 3: of fun. I have a website, ceybefarm dot com. Uh,
Speaker 3: all the social medias we're on all the social media
Speaker 3: and everything. And so actually I have a lot of
Speaker 3: customers that will just like message me either on Facebook
Speaker 3: or Instagram and be like, hey, I want this or
Speaker 3: that and I either meet up with them in town
Speaker 3: or I put it out on my front porch and
Speaker 3: they come grab it and yeah. So there's tons of
Speaker 3: ways to access it, and I try to make it
Speaker 3: as easy as possible.
Speaker 2: Beat you'll come deliver it, I'll you know.
Speaker 1: So this coming Saturday, you'll be at the Farmer's Market. Yes,
Speaker 1: And what will your farm have this weekend?
Speaker 3: So this weekend, I'll have all my normal goat milk, soaps, lotions,
Speaker 3: all the tallow products. I actually now I've started making
Speaker 3: tallow dish soap that people are loving. It's yeah, it's
Speaker 3: really cool. It's it's like in a ramikin and then
Speaker 3: you have a brush that goes it and then when
Speaker 3: it runs out, I sell.
Speaker 2: Like a refill.
Speaker 3: So it's zero waste, really easy, and I've been getting
Speaker 3: a lot of really good feedback on it. People are
Speaker 3: really enjoying it and excellent. To day, I'll have all that,
Speaker 3: and then I'll also have we tried a new processor
Speaker 3: out that I really like for the pork, and so
Speaker 3: I've got three different flavors of brats that I think
Speaker 3: will be.
Speaker 2: Fun for people to throw in the gill because we're gonna.
Speaker 3: Have good some weather, yeah exactly, and then some some
Speaker 3: of my passionates sausage that people love.
Speaker 2: And yeah, I think that's it for the meat. But
Speaker 2: all the all the.
Speaker 3: Normal soaps and lotions and body products and everything, all right.
Speaker 4: So they can find you have a website. You're at
Speaker 4: the Bedford Farmers.
Speaker 2: Oh and the well.
Speaker 3: Can't talk about that. Yeah, I sell my products at
Speaker 3: the Well. So Mary Joe and her husband that owned
Speaker 3: the well. They're great people and love them, and she
Speaker 3: became a really good customer of mine, and she got
Speaker 3: her twin sister hooked on the tallow too, and then
Speaker 3: she actuals, why.
Speaker 2: Don't you sell this at the well? And I'm like, oh,
Speaker 2: my gosh, yes, of course I'd love to.
Speaker 3: So that's great too, because like if somebody's looking for
Speaker 3: something specific and maybe you know, it's a weekend. You
Speaker 3: last weekend I wasn't at the market because I had,
Speaker 3: you know, a friend that got married, So I can
Speaker 3: tell them, oh, well, just go to the.
Speaker 2: Well and grab it, you know. Great, Yes, that's awesome exactly. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And how in a month, how many days do you
Speaker 1: spend like creating?
Speaker 3: So I typically try and like do it like I
Speaker 3: try and just like put my head down and hunker
Speaker 3: down and make so like the beginning of this week,
Speaker 3: I made probably eighty bars of soap, And that way
Speaker 3: it can give me then a couple of days off
Speaker 3: to get back up on, you know, all the other
Speaker 3: things that are going on. But you know, if you're
Speaker 3: making one batch of soap, you can make four in
Speaker 3: the same amount of time.
Speaker 2: Basically, So it's easy, easier to do it.
Speaker 4: All at home.
Speaker 1: The other night, I was cooking dinner for that night,
Speaker 1: and then I was like, I'm going to go ahead
Speaker 1: and get.
Speaker 4: To my night exactly, just not just get the kitchen.
Speaker 2: Off standing at the stove.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and well let this simmer.
Speaker 1: I can go ahead and get this done so tomorrow
Speaker 1: just pop it in the crack pot exactly. So that's
Speaker 1: just good, good kitchen wisdom. Yes, And I think we
Speaker 1: would be remiss if we did not talk about the
Speaker 1: name of your farm. Yeah, So if you need to
Speaker 1: get in your feelings on that, I probably will. But
Speaker 1: getting your feelings I need to, but really tell us
Speaker 1: that the uh, the name is count your blessing, and
Speaker 1: that's plural.
Speaker 4: Because you got more than one.
Speaker 1: But that's right, that's right, And so to share with
Speaker 1: us that and just maybe anything else that you think
Speaker 1: we need to know.
Speaker 2: So the name is kind of a tribute to our
Speaker 2: oldest daughter.
Speaker 3: So our oldest daughter was born with a really rare
Speaker 3: genetic mutation that has left her pretty significantly cognitively and
Speaker 3: physically delayed. So at twelve years old, she has developed
Speaker 3: about like a six month old. So she can't walk
Speaker 3: or talk or feed herself. I mean, a simple water
Speaker 3: has to be provided for her.
Speaker 2: Kind of thing. And so.
Speaker 3: Our entry into parenthood was pretty rough, and you know,
Speaker 3: those first probably five or six years were you know,
Speaker 3: a struggle. But we also quickly learned that, like, we
Speaker 3: can't sit in the space forever, we can't just live
Speaker 3: in the grief forever, and so we have to find
Speaker 3: a way to get through it and the easiest way
Speaker 3: to do that. I mean, it's like clinically proven that
Speaker 3: when you sit down and think about what you're grateful
Speaker 3: for and you list it out and you remind yourself
Speaker 3: of all the good things that you have, it does
Speaker 3: a lot for your mental health and for your psyche
Speaker 3: and for just your outlook on life in general.
Speaker 2: And you know, being a part.
Speaker 3: Of the disability community and being in waiting rooms at
Speaker 3: specialty hospitals and doctors' offices and stuff, we really were
Speaker 3: able to gain a new perspective of like, wow, yeah,
Speaker 3: we were dealt a pretty rough card, but we're also
Speaker 3: visibly seeing just how bad it, you know, it could be.
Speaker 2: I mean, there are people who would kill to have
Speaker 2: our problems. You know, we don't.
Speaker 3: While she, you know, deals with a lot, and we
Speaker 3: do by proxy of her. We're not necessarily like scared
Speaker 3: for her life, and not every parent is lucky enough
Speaker 3: to say that, and so that's just something we just
Speaker 3: got to count our blessings sometimes when we're in a
Speaker 3: bad rough season, we just have to remember just how
Speaker 3: lucky we are. And yeah, we were blessed enough to
Speaker 3: go on and have two more really beautiful, healthy girls
Speaker 3: that really just light up our world, and they love
Speaker 3: living on the farm and everything, and you know it
Speaker 3: kind of having that experience with her primed us for
Speaker 3: so many other things. You know, farming will really test
Speaker 3: your resolve and your patience and kind of same thing,
Speaker 3: just trying to always remember just how lucky we are
Speaker 3: to have the resources that we have, to have the
Speaker 3: family support that we have, to have so many things
Speaker 3: that most people would kill to have, you know. And
Speaker 3: then my husband was actually diagnosed with bladder cancer a
Speaker 3: couple of years ago, and so that same mentality really brought.
Speaker 2: Us, carried us through that situation because.
Speaker 3: You know, bladder cancer won't kill him, but it'll be
Speaker 3: it'll be a tough fight for the rest of his life.
Speaker 3: But you know, you're sitting in the oncology waiting room
Speaker 3: and like you know, a kid walks in and it's
Speaker 3: just like geez, yeah, okay, this this isn't great. We
Speaker 3: don't love this. We wouldn't have chosen this for ourselves.
Speaker 3: But man, are we lucky that this is all we're dealing.
Speaker 4: With, you know, sources and the right.
Speaker 2: And like exactly.
Speaker 3: You know, you've got people who have brain tumors, You've
Speaker 3: got parents that are helping their kids fight cancer.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we can deal with a little bladder cancer.
Speaker 2: He'll be right.
Speaker 3: And so he was able to maintain a really great
Speaker 3: attitude through the whole thing. And if it weren't for
Speaker 3: my oldest you know, I don't know that we would
Speaker 3: have the resolve and the perspective to always be counting
Speaker 3: our blessings.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's wonderful.
Speaker 1: I a big proponent of children and women anyway, have educator.
Speaker 1: That was my first career. Uh So, I do believe
Speaker 1: that mental health has such a valuable aspect to our health.
Speaker 4: And I write I write in my gratitude journal every night,
Speaker 4: even in the days that I'm like this was such
Speaker 4: a bad way.
Speaker 1: But like you said, there are people that would give
Speaker 1: anything our bad day, would be their good day exactly.
Speaker 1: So you would just have to really keep things in perspective,
Speaker 1: because if you let the negative thoughts and things like
Speaker 1: that get a foothold, it really, you know, medically and
Speaker 1: mentally will bring you down. And how as a mother
Speaker 1: with three children and then knowing that one has special
Speaker 1: capabilities with your heart, how how do you manage that
Speaker 1: for the mama's listening? How do you how do you
Speaker 1: do all of that and still have the care and the.
Speaker 4: Yeah good attitude that you have.
Speaker 3: Well, definitely with the younger ones to just get them involved,
Speaker 3: you know, I make them do it. I have I
Speaker 3: have a really funny picture of my youngest sitting on
Speaker 3: a portable potty on the back of the the mule
Speaker 3: because I'm like, well, we're in the middle of potty training,
Speaker 3: but we got to.
Speaker 4: Go feed the cows, like, we got to go do stuff.
Speaker 2: We just bring the potty with us. You know.
Speaker 3: It's just you just kind of learn to adapt along
Speaker 3: the way. But as far as you know, with my oldest,
Speaker 3: where I'm incredibly, incredibly lucky and blessed to have help,
Speaker 3: I ask for help, And that was something that took
Speaker 3: me a long time to figure out. But but yeah,
Speaker 3: I rely on a lot of help, and I'm really
Speaker 3: lucky that I have a lot of support and I
Speaker 3: have the help.
Speaker 2: That we have.
Speaker 3: And but yeah, and then you know, I think also
Speaker 3: not only kids, but you know, your husband and your
Speaker 3: the relationship that you have. I hop in that mule
Speaker 3: with him and if I can, and even if it's
Speaker 3: just to go feed the cows together or go ride
Speaker 3: through the we.
Speaker 4: Call farm dates.
Speaker 3: Yes, exactly right, grab little cocktail, grabbing, hop in the.
Speaker 2: ATV and go.
Speaker 3: Yeah, but yeah, and just just try and do it
Speaker 3: together if you can.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's that's a whole other episode.
Speaker 1: When you work with your husband and you raise children
Speaker 1: and your all the things like, yeah, that is that's
Speaker 1: still very important to still like date your spouse and
Speaker 1: not just become business partners.
Speaker 4: But that's the whole another episode or two.
Speaker 1: But anyway, it has been so lovely chatting with you
Speaker 1: and getting to know more about your family and your farm.
Speaker 1: But I my favorite part was the reasoning of your
Speaker 1: farm names. That was that was the best part of
Speaker 1: the interview. So thank you for sharing all of this,
Speaker 1: share your website and where you'll be next.
Speaker 3: Okay, it's Cybfarm dot com. We're on Facebook Instagram as
Speaker 3: County Blessing's Farm, and then we'll be at the Bedford
Speaker 3: Farmers Market this Saturday and almost every single Saturday through
Speaker 3: the month of September. It's right here on what is
Speaker 3: it Washington Washington Street from eight to new and then
Speaker 3: you can also find it at the Well at Bedford.
Speaker 4: Thank you so much, Thank you. All Right, Mackenzie, we're
Speaker 4: gonna turn the rest of the episode over to you. Mackenzie.
Speaker 4: Mother is here. She is the superintendent for the Bedford
Speaker 4: County Fair, and I really am just gonna let her
Speaker 4: say whatever she wants to say. Yeah fair, Okay, cool deal. Well,
Speaker 4: thanks for having me.
Speaker 5: First, I'd like to say just how excited we are
Speaker 5: for the Bedford County Fair to return again this year.
Speaker 5: So the Fair will take place August twenty first through
Speaker 5: the twenty third at Liberty Lake Park in Bedford. So
Speaker 5: we're working hard to create an event that still has
Speaker 5: something for everyone and also keeping that strong agriculture and
Speaker 5: community based foundation. We are also partnering again with the
Speaker 5: Toms family at Allen's Mountain Livestock Company to again host
Speaker 5: the Livestock and Horseshow piece of the fair that will
Speaker 5: be held September fifth and sixth at their farm on
Speaker 5: Timber Ridge in Bedford. So lots of exciting additions while
Speaker 5: also keeping some of those traditional pieces that you were
Speaker 5: used to seeing at the carnival portion of the fair.
Speaker 4: So we'll have a lot of great.
Speaker 5: Food vendors, non food vendors. We're excited to also get
Speaker 5: to include the home goods and the art contests back
Speaker 5: at one central location.
Speaker 2: This year.
Speaker 5: We're working on and closing the pavilion that's at Liberty
Speaker 5: Lake Park to get to include those, so you can
Speaker 5: check those out while you get some fair food and
Speaker 5: go ride some midway rides. We'll have the old McDonald
Speaker 5: tent again with the livestock and local Yeah four h
Speaker 5: and f FA kids, So that's always a big hit
Speaker 5: to walk through.
Speaker 4: And I just checked that out.
Speaker 1: Ducklings they're there, like, yes, but I can perseverate on
Speaker 1: every year and I'm not even a bird person. Yeah,
Speaker 1: not to be mean, I don't know bird person, but
Speaker 1: those ducklings they just have my heart.
Speaker 4: The duck slide is iconic. Yeah, everyone loves that.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's just like if you walk by there and
Speaker 1: you don't smile, you don't have a sult that's right.
Speaker 4: They are just precious, right.
Speaker 5: I guess some of the new additions that we're looking
Speaker 5: forward to having this year at the fair, We've typically
Speaker 5: always had evening entertainment, so we'll have that and beyond,
Speaker 5: so I'm excited for kind of just a general rundown
Speaker 5: of what that side of it looks like. Friday will
Speaker 5: have that's our opening fair day, so that'll start at
Speaker 5: four pm. We've got an entertainer in the evening, and
Speaker 5: then we're actually going to wrap that night up with
Speaker 5: a line dancing instructor. So that's something new that seems
Speaker 5: to be a pretty popular thing for all ages of
Speaker 5: our area, so we're.
Speaker 4: Excited to have that.
Speaker 5: Saturday, we'll have our Community Expo that morning, which is
Speaker 5: usually from ten to twelve, and we're working on a
Speaker 5: partnership with the Medford County Animal Shelter to hopefully host
Speaker 5: an adoption event as part of the community expo, So
Speaker 5: I think that'll be a really meaningful new piece to
Speaker 5: add to that community event that kind of gives people
Speaker 5: a chance to come through and check out some of
Speaker 5: our local partners before the madness of rides and cotton
Speaker 5: candy and lemonades and all that you know. Kicks off
Speaker 5: at noon, which is when our Midway opens on Saturday.
Speaker 5: As far as entertainment goes, we'll have several live bands
Speaker 5: throughout the day on Saturday into the evening night hours,
Speaker 5: so those will be announced here soon. And then Sunday,
Speaker 5: of course, fair grounds open at twelve. We'll have the
Speaker 5: Midway opens again at twelve on Sunday as well, and
Speaker 5: Sunday we have our Community Talent Show. So this was
Speaker 5: something that we had years ago when the fair was
Speaker 5: at Glenwood and it just kind of lost its I
Speaker 5: guess the head hon show of running that up, so
Speaker 5: it just kind of fell to the wayside. But I'm
Speaker 5: excited to bring that back again this year. So Sunday
Speaker 5: we'll have the Community Talent Show. Registration will be open
Speaker 5: soon for that. We'll have youth and open divisions with
Speaker 5: some awesome prizes for our winners there, and then we'll
Speaker 5: round out Sunday afternoon with a kid's dance party with
Speaker 5: DJ Showtime. So that was really fun last year. John
Speaker 5: John was great and got everybody motivated and all the
Speaker 5: kids out having a good time and enjoying the last
Speaker 5: day of the fair. So we're really looking forward to
Speaker 5: being back and partnering with the town who graciously lets.
Speaker 1: Us host the fair to say, they're wonderful hosts. Yes,
Speaker 1: very amicable.
Speaker 4: To work with, very much so.
Speaker 5: And then of course we're very gracious for Jody and
Speaker 5: Richard Toms who will again be hosting the livestock and
Speaker 5: Horses show that's again September fifth and sixth. We're swapping
Speaker 5: things around a little bit this year and the livestock
Speaker 5: piece of the show will be on Saturday the fifth
Speaker 5: and the open horse show will be on Sunday the sixth.
Speaker 5: So all of the events the fair as well as
Speaker 5: the horse and livestock show are free entry, free parking.
Speaker 5: So that's something that we've tried to hold value in
Speaker 5: is you know, offering a fun, family friendly thing that's
Speaker 5: affordable for our community. So as far as the livestock
Speaker 5: and Horse Show goes, we want to see spectators come out,
Speaker 5: check out your you know, your local youth and adult
Speaker 5: exhibitors there. Saturday will consist of hogs, sheep, goats, cattle classes.
Speaker 5: Usually they get started at about eight and run into the
Speaker 5: early afternoon, and then Sunday we'll have the open horse show,
Speaker 5: so that'll have everything from mini's and draft horses, hunter horses,
Speaker 5: Western horses, and then we've got some some games and
Speaker 5: speed classes incorporated to the end of the show, so
Speaker 5: we look forward to well grounded out of it. Yes,
Speaker 5: we've got a little something for everybody. Rather you're showing
Speaker 5: or you're coming to watch. Yep, yep, so I guess.
Speaker 5: As far as community members, if you'd like to get involved,
Speaker 5: we encourage people to follow along on our social media
Speaker 5: pages for updates and announcements and then also schedules and
Speaker 5: applications of those become available, So we are pretty active
Speaker 5: on our Bedford County Fair Facebook page, and then we
Speaker 5: also have a new and improved website which is Bedford
Speaker 5: vafair dot org, so you can check out all the
Speaker 5: schedules and excitement and it's also got you know, opportunities
Speaker 5: for volunteer opportunities as well as sponsor and vendor applications
Speaker 5: on the site as well.
Speaker 4: And the vendor applications are live. They are yep, that's good.
Speaker 5: Yep.
Speaker 4: They're live for both food and non food vendors.
Speaker 5: We've already started making selections for of those, so if
Speaker 5: you're interested I would recommend you know, getting on that
Speaker 5: and getting your application. And now because we've we've had
Speaker 5: a lot of interest in both sides of that, so
Speaker 5: they are live on the website and Miss Carolyn and
Speaker 5: myself have been working through those and have someone selected.
Speaker 5: So it's all becoming very real and hapen. It's sneaking up, honest. Yeah,
Speaker 5: I'll be here before we know it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, just to reiterate the fair. When we say fair,
Speaker 1: we're not talking about the live stock correct portion. We're
Speaker 1: talking about the home goods, the carnival, that's right, the music,
Speaker 1: that kind of live entertainment. Yeah, that's at Liberty Lake
Speaker 1: Park and that's tell us the dates.
Speaker 4: August twenty first through the twenty.
Speaker 1: Third, and now it's free gate admission, but your rides
Speaker 1: that is a cost, and there will be like risk
Speaker 1: band days.
Speaker 4: That's right.
Speaker 5: So risk bands are and I believe tickets as well
Speaker 5: are available on site during the fair. Okay, parking and
Speaker 5: admission is free, your ride wristbands and tickets and food,
Speaker 5: your other directions are sold there. That's like y'all yep,
Speaker 5: and the midway hours, tell folks again what that looks like. Yes,
Speaker 5: So the fair opens at four, the Midway will also
Speaker 5: be opened. Then we're open our kickoff day on Friday
Speaker 5: from four to ten, and then the fair grounds are
Speaker 5: open on Saturday from ten to ten, but the Midway
Speaker 5: does not open until twelve.
Speaker 4: So that's if you.
Speaker 5: Want to come check out the community expo, we have
Speaker 5: that ten to twelve hour period where mainly up around
Speaker 5: the pavilion you'll see like local community partners like nonprofits.
Speaker 4: Correct, yep.
Speaker 5: And at twelve is when the Midway and most of
Speaker 5: the food vendors, everything on the lower portion like.
Speaker 4: In the baseball feeling right right.
Speaker 5: That will open at twelve and run until ten, okay,
Speaker 5: And then Sunday we're open twelve to six.
Speaker 1: All right, And then so parking is available on site, correct.
Speaker 1: We also have shuttles available shuttle locations. Those should be
Speaker 1: squared away and advertise on both social media and our website.
Speaker 1: So if you don't wish to park on site and
Speaker 1: you know, fight the traffic, you can park at one
Speaker 1: of our shuttle locations and we'll have several shuttles running
Speaker 1: to drop off and take back to vehicles.
Speaker 4: Okay, anything else you think we need to know?
Speaker 5: Not anything specific, I guess I just want to give
Speaker 5: a shout out to those who have continued to support
Speaker 5: the Fair and we look forward to having you and
Speaker 5: hope you'll come check out some of the new exciting
Speaker 5: things that we're adding this year. And we're just, you know,
Speaker 5: as always grateful for our community, for the for the
Speaker 5: support and the for the County Fair, and.
Speaker 4: We're thankful for your leadership. So thank you. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, I think we're gonna wrap this up today. It
Speaker 1: has I've turned my notes to the side. I haven't
Speaker 1: even been looking at my notes because it's just been
Speaker 1: such a friendly, around the kitchen table kind of conversation.
Speaker 4: So I'm just gonna end
Speaker 1: With thanking our guests for being here and to just
Speaker 1: reiterate to support local bag There's so many different ways
Speaker 1: you can do that, and y'all be good to yourself
Speaker 1: and be good to others.