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Today I'm talking with Sheila at Backlund Acres.
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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 Sheila at Backlund Acres in Belle Plaine, Minnesota. Good afternoon, Sheila. How are you? Good. How are you doing? I'm good. We're having a hot one again today. Right. I'm a little tired of it, are you? Yeah. Yeah, the plants love it, though. So I can't complain because everything in the field is just doing amazing. Well, I guess I guess the good news is that at least we've been getting rain along with the heat.
00:58
Exactly. If we were just getting the heat, we would be in trouble. It's definitely, yeah, it's definitely a bigger problem. And when we had the early heat, I think was it in May or June? It was so dry and it was just heat. And so we had trouble with like our spring crops bolting early. Yeah, our asparagus went to seed super fast this year. I was very sad about this. Yeah.
01:27
We planted asparagus five years, five springs ago now. And this was the year we were going to be able to have a bunch to sell at the farmers market, right? No, it all bolted so fast that we couldn't keep up. So I have a question about your asparagus. So you planted it five years ago and you can just start harvesting now or you're just saying it multiplied enough where you had enough to sell? We got
01:53
We got enough to have a mess as my mom would call it two springs ago. And then last year we had enough to have some to eat and some to sell on our farm stand. This was the year where we thought there was going to be enough to actually sell it at the farmer's market. So we thought that it would have been long enough that it would have multiplied and sell it. But no, because it was so hot, it just went poof because it's a breath.
02:23
as a grass. Oh, I didn't know that. We are on year two of our asparagus and it was ready really early. Now, I know you're not supposed to harvest it the first year, but we bought like and we have a whole field of it, I'll just say. And they, the company we got it from said we could harvest it for a week the first year. And then the second year it's three weeks. So anyways, yeah, I was ready in April though, which was really weird.
02:53
We're getting a little bit ahead of ourselves, but we're on asparagus. I'm going to ask this, and then I'm going to ask you to tell me about yourself. Was your asparagus super sweet this year? Because ours was. It was delicious. Yeah. But then we had a freeze and I had no idea that it all will freeze and die. Oh, yeah. You know, if you're only allowed to harvest it that first week, everything that was above ground froze. And so if I would have known that, I would have taken like I probably would have had an entire
03:23
There was a lot that I could have brought in and pickled or done something with, but I just, I guess I didn't know. Live and learn, right? Right. Yep. Yep. That's all this farming and home setting and ranching is, is living and learning every freaking season. For sure. It's fun and it's frustrating. So anyway, please tell me a little bit about yourself and about Backland Acres. Okay. So we...
03:50
So I grew up, me and my husband actually grew up in Eden Prairie and had never planted anything. um So we got married out of high school, lived in Chock-A-Pee, had never planted anything in my life. And my son came home with like a styrofoam cup with a little plant from, you know, that you do in kindergarten. They plant the seed in the styrofoam cup and bring it home. So he brought that home and we planted it next to our house.
04:20
in Chakapea, just dug a hole, had no idea what I was doing, just dug a hole and planted it and it turned into this big plant and gave us summer squash. was crooked neck summer squash. Nice. And I just became really infatuated or yeah, just really, really excited. So I went to the store and I bought a bunch of seeds and I had no idea what I was doing, like literally nothing. don't even, I didn't.
04:46
don't even know if I had a smartphone then. I didn't know how to look anything up. I didn't look anything up. I didn't read anything. I just started dumping seeds in the ground. But I dumped a whole packet in the ground. So I would dig a hole and dump a whole packet of bean seeds in the ground. Or unknot seeds or whatever. You got the bug. Yeah, I did. And it was really fun. And we had some things, obviously. We had weeds and everything. And I had no idea what I was doing. But yeah, so from there, we had some...
05:16
friends who wanted to purchase a farm and start like an organic meat farm. And so we were good candidates for that. we, um they wanted to purchase it and start this business and they wanted somebody else to live on the property and run the business. So we agreed to do that. And I just started planting more and more. I don't know how much you want me to tell, but I started planting more and more. um
05:46
when we came out here and learned a little bit more about what I was doing, you know, that I needed to weed, that I needed to space the plants apart and um start some seeds ahead of time. And this was 12 years ago? Yes, this was 12 years ago. Right. I'm impressed. You...
06:15
You caught the bug knowing nothing and you have turned it into a business in 12 years. Right. Yes, exactly. And so when we first moved here, we started with a lot of animals because they were really interested in the animals. So we raised like a thousand chickens a year. We um had pigs, we had cows that we had like put up all this fencing to have cows on our land. was someone else's cows, but we were just, we had 15 acres. So, you know, it was either hay it or have animals on it. So.
06:45
um We were learning how to move cows around and how to move chickens behind them. And we had some sheep at one point. We had goats. We tried everything. But the thing that we did for our business first off was the chickens and the pigs. um So that's more of what we were focused on. But I slowly just started growing uh vegetables. Well, actually not slowly. Before I even moved in here.
07:12
We rented a tiller and for some reason I thought I had to bring the sod up. So I got a sod cutter and um we planted a whole bunch of stuff. But just again, still had no idea what I was doing. Didn't have a greenhouse and had all this stuff in my basement um and was doing a lot of throwing, like digging a hole and still throwing seeds in the ground. um But yeah, so over the
07:40
course of 10 years or 12 years, guess, we have transitioned to doing less animals and more. Now we have, now we plant five acres of vegetables and flowers and we have tractors and a greenhouse and high tunnels and oh all the things. You also have a model for your CSA that I read about on your website that I think is super cool.
08:09
people can come and work at the farm. yes. this is. It's a SDS share, right? Correct, yep. And this is how that started. So we start, I really started selling vegetables, you so we're still doing a lot of animals. I think in one year I raised like 3000 chickens because I was raising for somebody else as well. So we're still doing a lot of animals, but.
08:35
We had these gardens that were quite big and they were just for me and there was no reason to have that much garden space. And it was during COVID and I had friends. So this was, think, so yeah, COVID six years ago. um I had friends coming over because there was nothing else to do with their kids and the kids were playing and we were weeding the garden. And I just said, let's all take care of the garden together and then we can just split the, whatever we produce.
09:03
So that same year, a farmer's market reached out to me because I think they needed vegetable vendors, I can't remember, and asked if we would sell vegetables at their market. And I was like, oh my goodness, I've never even, you know, I don't know what I'm doing at all. Like, we're just, I can grow things, but it's very messy process. Like there's lots of weeds, things are imperfect.
09:30
So I asked my friends and we said, let's do it. So we all went on it together and just started planting and um taking care of what we already had and started going to the farmer's market together.
09:46
I so far, love your story and I'm going tell you why. I spend an inordinate amount of time trying to get people to grow something because things are so expensive right now and seeds are cheap compared to a tomato. Yes. I feel like almost everybody can find a bucket and get a scoop full of dirt and grow a tomato plant. I feel like they really can. I do too.
10:16
And I also feel like you with your situation your your child brought home a seedling and you were like, let's plant it and see what happens. That's not luck. That's intention. So you are just uh solidifying my my constant push to get people interested. You happen to luck into it. But guys, if you have space, grow.
10:46
something. Right, plant a seed. Yeah. You know, and don't be, I mean, and I guess I had to be willing to dig out, you know, I didn't have a perfectly manicured yard or whatever. dug a hole in the side of my house and I had to be right next to my lily. There was lilies there. There was other perennials. I had to be willing to just see what happens. I think
11:10
a lot with this. think something about my personality that works with farming, I've talked to my husband about this, is that I am not a perfectionist. whatever the opposite of a perfectionist is me and I am willing to just try things or throw a seed in the ground. I was just doing a lot of throw seeds in the ground and see what happens and see what happens instead of trying to learn everything there is to know.
11:40
try to do it perfectly so I can have this perfect looking garden. You're an experimenter, that's what you are. Yes, yes. I remember the lady who purchased the farm, I was growing vegetables for her because I was going to provide for both of our families. And she kept asking these scientific questions. And I was like, Kate, I don't know. And she's like, so you're...
12:08
You're saying it's more of an art than a science. And I'm like, yes, that's what I'm saying. We're going to see what happens. And every year is different. there's not like a formula. At least I don't think people might, other farmers might disagree with me, but I don't feel like there's a formula for a perfect um plant or system or growing season. There's just way too many variables. Yeah. If there was a system or a science to growing things.
12:36
Everybody would be doing it and people would be a lot better off Right. Yeah, but there isn't we I'm not gonna lie the last two summers have been rough here with our farm to market garden because in Luzor we got rain Every day in May and into June both years. You know, I've been getting a lot of rain the past two years I've been watched because I'm always watching the radar. Yeah, and it always stops when it gets to me So we've actually been dry super dry the past two years
13:07
And you're only like half an hour away from me, which is just crazy. It is crazy. I don't know if it's something to do with the river, but me and my neighbors talk where like, it's so weird how it always splits around us. And I am watching the sewer Mankato. That area is always just getting like red, you know, on the radar. It's like red after red. There's storms or rain. Luckily this year has been perfect. Oh, good.
13:35
And I'm really afraid to say that out loud because I'm afraid I will jinx it. But we have apples on our apple trees. have uh tomatoes forming on our tomato plants. We've already picked cucumbers and kohlrabis and zucchini. This year is looking to be across everything I have and knock on wood a good year. But the last two summers have just been hellacious because of all the rain. I'm sorry. My husband.
14:04
went out to, well, he wanted to plant last spring on May 15th, because that's the day we do it. the garden was mud. It was slow up. He was like, I can't plant anything because I'm, I'm sinking into my ankles if I step into the garden. Yeah. It's like, Oh, that's fabulous. So he ended up planting three different plantings of tomatoes to get
14:32
maybe 50 pounds of tomatoes last year. Oh, I'm sorry. Yeah, the timing of everything can be really frustrating. ah So so we have one hundred and seventy CSA members and then people who shop at our farm store each week. So I don't know. I just feel like probably 200 families, you know, that we're getting vegetables for each week. ah
15:00
So we have, so the timing can be very frustrating because we have to have, start June 1st, we start sending out vegetables June 1st or the first week of June. So we have to have vegetables ready. And when you, can't get the tractor in or you know, you have plans to like this year we had, we were in really early. And so I, I test the water, like I do some extreme things. I plant extremely early on some things.
15:30
where everyone around, know, people who have gardened forever, they'll stop by the greenhouse and say, Sheila, you're planting too early. And I'm saying it's going to be fine. But things like lettuce, all the brassicas, celery, celeriac, all the cold weather things, I'll plant extremely early um because then we can have them, you know, the first week of June.
15:53
But if it's too wet, you can't get tractors in the ground. This year what happened is we got them in really early and then there was some really cold weather coming and it was very scary. Everything survived. You know, I think it got down to like 26 and all of my cauliflower, everything survived. You were very lucky. So that was an experiment that worked out good. Yeah. And people who don't do this.
16:21
have no concept of the worry that we all have. Oh, right. I think about that all the time when people are saying, you know, I'll be in the farm store and customers are coming in saying there's a big storm coming. There's a big storm coming. I'm like, you don't know what that's doing to my anxiety right now. Let's stop talking about the storm. Let's pretend it's not going to happen. Oh, yeah. We lost an apple tree, uh, two Sundays ago, two Sundays ago.
16:50
That storm that came through early on Sunday morning, it snapped right off at the base. Oh my goodness. Yeah, and I'm sad, but I'm not as sad as I would be if it had been a different tree. It was a honey gold variety and we have four. We now have three. Okay. And I don't love honey gold apples. My husband does. And the other two trees, two of the three trees are loaded with apples. So we should have some honey golds for.
17:19
sale and for my husband to snack on when they come in. But I would have been heartbroken if it had been the one Regent or the one Harrelson that we have. Right, right. So I felt very blessed that if it had to be an apple tree, at least it was one of those. Yes, Honey Gold is a good one. Yeah, last year we had, I think it was in June, we had some big wins and I had no idea it was coming. I'm happy I didn't know because I would have been so stressed out.
17:46
But it happened in the middle of the night and it ripped one of our high tunnels out of the ground. Ugh. And just to give you an idea, high tunnels, I mean, they're thousands of dollars. They're so expensive. And the time and the, you know, I had built it myself. We did end up fixing it this year, but it was really, really... So then em it ripped, you know, so then whatever was in the tunnel was like exposed to the elements all year, which ended up being completely fine. It was cucumbers.
18:16
Yep. But it was, it was pretty, pretty darn stressful. So I think the more infrastructure and investment I have in the game, I think I'm realizing the more stress, the more that's on the line, it's just more stress with weather and things happening, you know, just adds to, adds to that stress, the weightiness of, you know, carrying it on your shoulders, I guess.
18:44
But would you give it up for anything? Maybe the high tunnels. The high tunnels are stressing me out. Yeah. But no, the rest of it. No, in the field, I don't get too stressed when there's storms. It's more of just those. mean, I'm trying to think. I think the high tunnels that I just put in were like 15,000 apiece. Uh-huh. So it's quite a bit of money we're talking. You know what mean? That like if something happens to that, um that's a
19:14
big loss. Yeah. And I feel your pain on a smaller scale. We just had a basically like a high tunnel style greenhouse. So maybe a quarter of the size of what you're talking about. And I watched it go over and it was a lot. It was loaded with seedlings that all got knocked into the ground, their seed trays. So that is my number one.
19:41
I don't even want to talk about it, but that is definitely my number one fear is my greenhouse, something happening to that during the, during, you know, like March and April. Yeah, this was three or four summers ago, springs ago. I watched it go over and I cried. And what did you do? Well, all the seedlings were big enough to be planted. So we had basically surprise gardens all over our property. Okay.
20:11
And it was really kind of fun because you know, squash seedlings, they don't necessarily look different from each other. So we didn't know if were planting a squash or summer squash. So we had a few patches of zucchinis and butternut squashes growing in the same plot. that's funny. Yep. So we rescued as many of the babies as we could, but I never want to see a greenhouse go over again. It was
20:41
It was heartbreaking. Right. So I don't know how to make my greenhouse stronger, but that is definitely my number one fear. Like a winter storm taking it out while it's still freezing out and things. I don't know what I would do. Well, we have a hard-sided greenhouse now that went up three maize ago. The wind is not going to take that one down. It's like a house. OK, that's cool.
21:11
So, and that was funded by a grant from the market entry fund. if you, if you want, if you want to come up with the money for a hard sided greenhouse, I would suggest looking into grants because that way you're not shelling out the money to build one. oh I put a hard side on one side, but it is still like a hoop house. Yeah. So anyways, you know, it's a lot. So, um, so you grow flowers too, right?
21:41
Yes, so during this time, so six years ago, once I started growing and selling the vegetables, um I started planting flowers in the green. I basically just plant any seed that comes my way. So I was planting everything and I was planting in the greenhouse and then I had to plant it outside, of course, and I knew nothing about flowers. Never grew a flower in my life. And I became equally just...
22:10
excited and completely obsessed with flowers as I was with growing vegetables. I think it's, if you like to grow, it's a great way to, um you know, get like, em get creative. Use time being creative and it's an art form that I think if you already like to be outside and you like to grow things, it's just a great outlet, I guess. you do annuals, perennials or both?
22:40
Both. I am trying to build up my perennial gardens. was just looking, was, that's fine. I was just outside looking at the colorful echinacea that I planted last year and it's really taken off and really bountiful right now and it's just gorgeous. My flower gardens this year are outperforming any year and they're just insanely beautiful. So I need to...
23:09
somehow get like some drone footage or something so that people know can get a good idea of what they look like. It's so hard to have pictures do justice. Yes. And so I just want, yeah, I want everyone to come out and experience it. We have pick your own flowers on Fridays and Saturdays during like our on-site market here. And people have really been enjoying it, but I just want to make sure everyone knows it's a possibility.
23:39
um And that we have loads of beautiful things here. Post on Facebook to your friends if anybody has a drone you can borrow or if they want to come over and do it for you. Okay, yeah, was just talking to my husband and his friend apparently has a whole production company. Well, maybe that's solution. Yes, yes. So I'm like, we'll get him over. And I'm like, Nick, ASAP right now because these flowers, you know, they don't let, we need people picking them now.
24:09
Yeah, can you believe it's past July 4th? I can't. The season goes so fast for me now. Yeah. I think I'm probably over halfway through my growing season because we plant everything again for the fall. I don't know if you do that, but we plant. I deliver until the second week of December. Wow. OK, no, we don't do that. Yeah.
24:36
So we plant everything outside again. So all the cold weather stuff in the fall or the spring things like the cabbages and the lettuces and all of the, you know, leafy greens and radishes. I plant all of that again. And then I also planted another time in our high tunnels. So in December we're harvesting out of our high tunnels. Very nice. That is so cool. uh
25:06
Echinacea is also called cornflower or cone flower, right? Yes, think people even call it purple cornflower, but there's a variety from Johnny's that is a colorful mix. trying to remember what it's Cheyenne? Cheyenne spirit? Well, it sounds beautiful. I haven't seen it. The reason I asked you, I asked you, geez, I can't pronounce, I cannot pronounce ASK today for some reason. We...
25:35
got a bunch of cone flower plants two years ago and they just do not do well here. They were fine and then nothing came back this year. Weird. So tell me about your soil. Is it, probably because of the wet? Maybe. Did they drown? I don't know, but our dirt is very, it's not sandy, number one, and I know they like
26:05
Sandier dirt, know sandier soils that might have something to do with it I'm not sandy at all. I'm thick clay Okay, I don't know near the year that they didn't come back for me. So two or I think four years ago I planted them. They didn't come back the next year because it was too wet Then maybe that's what it is because we put them in three Four three, I don't know three or four springs ago
26:32
And they did well the first year and then the next two years it was bad. So what I'm discovering is that sometimes the things that you think will do really well in your area that are, you're cultivating, don't do as well as the wild things. Yeah, for sure. For sure. mean, right. They're good. um
26:59
lilacs and wild plum all over the place here in Minnesota. And our wild plum tree does well every year. But lilacs? Nope. And coneflowers? Nope. And crocuses and daffodils? Nope. Yeah. Isn't that funny? And then you see it in fields in all these weeds, know, poking one of weeds and nobody's taking care of it, but they're just growing like crazy. Yeah. I'm like, what did we do wrong?
27:29
What did we screw up? And I don't think it's anything we screwed up. think that plants grow where they're planted, but they may not grow well if you force it. And they must have just like they found the perfect soil that they needed. You know, that's what I noticed too, like different weeds coming up. Different weeds will do really well in different years, you know, depending on whatever the soil has that year or how wet it is or.
27:59
Yeah, it's a crapshoot. Mm-hmm. That's yes. I really do think so. I really do think so. I've had so many years where I'm like, there is no what was it this year? We had something so amazing and I was like, there's no reason why is that doing so well? I've planted that for years and for some reason this year it's doing well and I want to know why I'm trying to remember what it was. Well, I don't remember, but cauliflower. have I'm having a really great cauliflower year.
28:28
Nice. Are you having a really good call Robbie year? Cause we are. Yes. Yes. Basically everything's doing pretty good for me this year. Trying to think of what's not. Yeah. We had, you know, here's a weird thing. We've never had this happen, but all of our radishes did terrible. Like they bolted super early and they didn't get very big radishes. They're so dependable. Same thing.
28:56
Yeah, they're so dependable. Like every year they're just the same for me except for this year they were not. oh my husband brought in four French breakfast radishes for me and I always try them before I do anything with them because if they're too hot, I won't be able to eat them. They hurt my mouth. I took just a little tiny slice and bit into it I was like, nope, those are hotter than hell. No. Yes. And that's what people did say about my radishes too. They're wow, they're really hot. So it must have just been
29:25
that early heat that we had. But I don't know, I've grown them in the high tunnel. just didn't, there was nothing that made sense because in the high tunnel they didn't do well either. So what I want our listeners, my listeners, whatever, however we're saying that these days, um, to know is that gardening is surprise, is a surprise a minute and it can be a really good surprise or it can be a bad surprise, but it's worth the effort. Absolutely. Absolutely.
29:54
So um I try to keep these half an hour almost there. What I would like to know as a last question is you have a CSA. Is it still open for members or are you done with new members for this year? We are closed for delivery, we are still open for what I call, I call it our UPIC CSA.
30:18
I think I need to change the name to market style CSA because people think that they have to come here and go to the field and pick their vegetables. But it really, you pick just means you come to the farm store each week on Fridays or Saturdays and you pick out which vegetables you want in your bag. So most CSAs you get a box or a bag of vegetables each week, the farmer picks. They give you, and that's how our delivery system works. We pack bags and we give you what the best thing out of the field.
30:47
On Fridays and Saturdays, set up, you pick, we set up like a market and we get other local things from other places as well. And you come here and pick whatever you want in your bag for the week. That's fun. Yeah. And then it's been really fun because in addition to that, there's available, there's options for you to pick extra things from the field. So like you can get a pint of peas for one of your items, or you can go to the field and get a half gallon of peas.
31:17
if you pick them. So there's really the people that are taking advantage of the pick your own are really making off great. They're going home with like five gallon buckets of spinach or kale and they're going home with a lot of vegetables. So if you're willing to put a little work in, you can really do well here. So where can people find you if they want to if they want to take advantage of your business?
31:42
Well, yeah, they can just come to the farm store. We are in Belle Plaine. We're right between Belle Plaine, Jordan and New Prague. So they can come to the farm store on a Friday or Saturday. And all of the information for this is on our website. But come on to the farm store Friday or Saturday. Fridays 11 to 4, Saturdays 8 to noon. And we can help you get signed up. Otherwise you can just shop. It's open for non-members as well. Just not all of the exact same benefits. um But it's open for non-members to just shop.
32:11
Like it was exactly like it was a farmer's market. oh And your website is backlandacres.com and your Facebook page is backlandacres, right? Right. Yes. Okay. So that people can go find out and get the address to be able to show up. Yes. Awesome. This was awesome. And I'm so thrilled that you're doing what you're doing. I wish more people would do it. I don't want them to do it right next door to you because you don't need the competition, but I wish that...
32:41
I wish that people in the areas would do this because we need No, I agree. I agree. I wish more people would do this, even if it's around me, because I think it creates a market for people to, know, people get used to getting their food just locally when it's available more locally. And so I just think that the more people, the better, really.
33:10
Yes, and I keep saying this and I'm going to say it until I die. If you get your food from someone who's grown it locally, it is more nutritionally dense and it's better for you. Right, so you're getting more for your money. Yeah. Yeah, and I tell this to people too, you our prices don't, like you can't compare our prices to a grocery store because it's just not even the same vegetable. Right. It's not the same product at all.
33:36
ah And some of our things are less expensive than the grocery store. Some are more expensive than the grocery. We have to charge what we need to to to grow the vegetable ah But it's not even the same thing. So you can't really compare Well, I'll tell you what the last time I bought a couple stems of rhubarb at a grocery store years ago They were super sour and they didn't taste like rhubarb. They just tasted really sour
34:04
The rhubarb that grows in my yard tastes like rhubarb and when you add a little bit of sugar to it, it's really yummy. tried adding a little bit of sugar to the stuff from the store and it was still kind of sour, bitter and gross and stringy and woody and it was just disgusting. True. just not even the same thing. Yeah, I don't want to knock grocery stores. I think that we kind of need them for certain things. But I also feel like we live in a country where we can get food.
34:33
from our neighbors who are growing it because they love to grow it and because they want to share it. So why not support them? Right. Yes, I agree. All right. So as always, people can find me at a tinyhomesteadpodcast.com. Sheila, thank you for taking the time. I really appreciate it. Mary, thank you so much for having me on. It was really fun. I would like to talk to you again. I know we should do this again. It was fun. Cool. Thank you. Yes. Have a good day. You too. Bye.
