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Blue Yurt Farms with Erin Kelly (KYF069)

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KYF #069: Blue Yurt Farms | Living in a blue yurt on 22 acres in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they share their homestead with sheep, geese, chickens, pigs and dogs Loki and Eva. Who are they? Mike and Erin from Blue Yurt Farms. And today, you get to meet Erin. She talks about their yurt living experience and advice, as well as homesteading lessons and all about fermented chicken feed. Plus... the tip of the week! | KnowYourFoodPodcast.com/69

Living in a blue yurt on 22 acres in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they share their homestead with sheep, geese, chickens, pigs and dogs Loki and Eva. Who are they? Mike and Erin from Blue Yurt Farms. And today, you get to meet Erin. She talks about their yurt living experience and advice, as well as homesteading lessons and all about fermented chicken feed. Really good stuff!

Get to know Erin and Blue Yurt Farms through the links and information below, and of course through this podcast. Plus… the tip of the week!

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Tip of the Week: Local Beef — What to Ask Your Farmer

KYF #069: Blue Yurt Farms | Living in a blue yurt on 22 acres in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they share their homestead with sheep, geese, chickens, pigs and dogs Loki and Eva. Who are they? Mike and Erin from Blue Yurt Farms. And today, you get to meet Erin. She talks about their yurt living experience and advice, as well as homesteading lessons and all about fermented chicken feed. Plus... the tip of the week! | KnowYourFoodPodcast.com/69
Find out what to ask about feed, grazing, butchering, aging, and much more at Local Food 101: Beef.

Listener Question

This week’s question comes from Peggy:

“I see lots of traditional recipes for soaking oats (to make oatmeal), & I understand oats are high in phytic acid. But while there seems to be consistency re: the use of acid & the 8 to 24 hr soak, I see inconsistency re: whether or not to add a TBSP or so (per cup of oats) of wheat flour to help break down the phytic acid. What is your opinion on adding the wheat flour to properly prepare the oats – or not?”

My answer is in the podcast, plus here’s a link for you.

About Erin Kelly and Blue Yurt Farms

KYF #069: Blue Yurt Farms | Living in a blue yurt on 22 acres in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they share their homestead with sheep, geese, chickens, pigs and dogs Loki and Eva. Who are they? Mike and Erin from Blue Yurt Farms. And today, you get to meet Erin. She talks about their yurt living experience and advice, as well as homesteading lessons and all about fermented chicken feed. Plus... the tip of the week! | KnowYourFoodPodcast.com/69

“Mike grew up in a traditional suburban lifestyle – biking around the neighborhood with friends, playing with the family dog and swimming in the nearby lake. He got his first taste of the farm life through “chicken sitting” for the oddballs of the neighborhood, who had a greenhouse, free range chickens and guineas. But he “grew up” and moved to NYC to work on websites. Then, one fateful night, he met me, his future wife, at a Soho beer pub, where I ordered an Old Speckled Hen and won his heart.

A Texas farm girl, I grew up hunting, fishing and gardening with my family. I spent her summers raising sheep for 4-H, and pretty much any other animal I could convince my parents to say “yes” to. I took a break from the animal obsessed lifestyle in college, and after graduating with a degree in Communications, I moved to NYC to work for Disney Publishing. Then that fateful night, I met Mike, when he ordered a Blue Moon and told me he was a vegan.

“I can’t take a vegan home to my parents”, I exclaimed. “This isn’t going to work!”

Mike tried to convince me with his famous vegan enchiladas, with Boca meat and vegan cheese (aka “inedible wax”). I convinced him with a plateful of hot, crispy bacon, and we’ve been happy opportunistic eaters ever since.

Several years later finds us in a yurt on 22 acres in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Sheep, geese and chickens wander the grounds – along with a fluffy English Shepherd herding dog named Loki, and a spunky hound mix named Eva. We’ve chronicled our beginning farm adventures (like not knowing which end of a t-post goes into the ground, whoops!) on our blog, Blue Yurt Farms (previously From City to Farm), and have loved sharing our stories and experiences with anyone who expresses an interest.

–Erin Kelly, Blue Yurt Farms“

About “So You Want to Live in a Yurt?” — Erin’s eBook

KYF #069: Blue Yurt Farms | Living in a blue yurt on 22 acres in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, they share their homestead with sheep, geese, chickens, pigs and dogs Loki and Eva. Who are they? Mike and Erin from Blue Yurt Farms. And today, you get to meet Erin. She talks about their yurt living experience and advice, as well as homesteading lessons and all about fermented chicken feed. Plus... the tip of the week! | KnowYourFoodPodcast.com/69

“Love the idea of a yurt, but not sure if it’s the right answer for you? Recommended by Becky Kemery, of “Yurts: Living in the Round”, one of the most popular and best selling yurt books ever published, “So, You Want to Live in a Yurt” covers the pros and cons of life in a yurt. Written by full-time yurt dwellers, this 70+ page book includes photos, a full budget, timeline and more from the husband-and-wife team’s experience building their 30 foot yurt on their 22 acre farm in the mountains of Southwest Virginia.

Learn more about “living in the round” and avoid some of the mistakes and misconceptions experienced by the authors in their journey towards their dream yurt.”

Click here for more info or to buy now.

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I’m so grateful when you visit my show on iTunes and leave a rating and/or review! KnowYourFoodPodcast.com/iTunes This helps me make my podcast better and also helps others find it. Thank you! For past or current episodes, check out the Know Your Food with Wardee podcast archives.

Anything to Add?

I would love to hear from you! Do you have questions for Erin or comments about anything shared in this episode? Like this podcast? Please help me reach others by using the share buttons at the top of this post. Thanks!

We only recommend products and services we wholeheartedly endorse. This post may contain special links through which we earn a small commission if you make a purchase (though your price is the same).

About Wardee Harmon

Wardee lives in the Boise area of Idaho with her dear family. She's the lead teacher and founder of the Eat God's Way online cooking program as well as the author of Fermenting, Sourdough A to Z, and other traditional cooking books. Eat God's Way helps families get healthier and happier using cooking methods and ingredients from Bible Times like sourdough, culturing, and ancient grains.

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