The Lost Lake Farmer Podcast: Recent Episodes
Kevin Dietzel
Audio journal of a grass farmer and cheesemaker. Short episodes recorded while I work, discussing everything from dairy farming, to enjoying the nature on our farm, to cheesemaking and direct marketing, to my mental health struggles.
In which I express my frustration at my inability to overcome depression and burnout, seven years in.
In which I describe our multi-year effort to get to the right herd size. Culling, more selective breeding and heifer replacements, and selling extra breeding animals.
In which I hash out the most limiting factors to our farm operation to illustrate decisions around future investment of time and/or money.
How I am attempting to make the best use of the forage available to get the most grazing possible before winter.
In which I describe the standard methods of sampling forages, and how I do it. Plus, why I sample. Hear the sounds of me hand sampling pastures as I talk!
In which I describe the history of two of my most challenging pastures and how I am planning to heal them/bring them to higher quality and quantity of forage.
An update on farm goings-on, as well as some ranting about depression - and the next treatment I hope to try.
My thoughts on interacting with customers, getting feedback from giving out samples, and kids helping out.
Listen to the grassland birds and hear an update about the grazing rotation and haying.
In which I discuss the weather, past, present, and future, and how it will affect grazing and haying.
From cold, wet, and muddy, to hot and dry in a short period of time. What does this mean for a grass farmer?
In which I discuss the difficulty of making myself stay inside to make cheese when there are so many urgent outside jobs and the weather is nice.
In which I describe my thoughts and strategies as I manage the cows for optimal nutrition, optimal forage growth, and pasture health.
In which I describe my desired level of tameness and how I go about developing that in my animals.
In which I describe my process for transitioning the cows onto a full pasture diet over a week or more; plus the start of farmers’ market season.
Making a farm work as I go through a heavy depression week, and thinking ahead to the best way to start the grazing season.
Thoughts around visitors to the farm, social media, and involving more people in various ways.
New calves, oats, grasses, and legumes going in the ground, and lots of milk to turn into cheese.
Kind of an update on the goings-on of the farm, plus some thoughts about cheesemaking, cheese types, and creativity as a cheesemaker.
Camembert and Burrnt Oak aging/cheese care, thoughts on a book I am reading, incorporating more traditional methods into my process, and sourcing of ingredients.
In which I discuss sales, priorities, time management, and how important boundaries are to all those things and keeping ourselves sane.
How I use gradual, low-stress methods to train heifers on how to be milk cows - BEFORE they calve.
In which I talk through the ethics of culling, the necessity of culling, what it means to me personally, and our process for turning culls into quality grassfed beef.
How I switched my mindset during milking the last several months, and would like to take that approach to other parts of my life.
In which I describe my thought process as I considered adding different cattle breeds to the mix.
Still error-checking my 2021 books; short discussion of cow dominance; lots about mental health, resilience, and my strategies for heading off an impending depression wave.
In which I discuss the importance of having a supportive partner who can step in when I need to step up.
In which I give more thoughts about the value of vacation with kids, returning from vacation, and incorporating more healthy “leisure time” into regular life.
Episode frequency is down due to my depression. The podcast is slowed down for now but not over.
And my anxieties around the approach of spring, and growing plants, and growing project lists.
Follow along as I make a batch of Iowa Alpine cheese, milk cows, and feed pigs and cows.
And the ways livestock can help get through depression but also may contribute to the burnout at the root cause of the depression.
Reflecting on how this podcast has helped me improve my understanding of the topics I discuss, and has opened my curiosity to learning more and growing.
I attempt to define and describe what Biodynamic agriculture means to me personally, while doing my best to place it in historical, cultural, and scientific context.
In which I discuss the differences between rennet coagulation and acid coagulation, and muse about some ways to alter processes for a different cheesy result.
In which I describe my normal, but good and productive, day, as well as describe my sampling notes from 2 experimental cheeses from September. I also discuss the results of genomic testing I had done on some of my cows.
My wife has taken it upon herself to force a new bedtime routine on me (since I have been unable to do it myself), which is lovely.
In which I describe an experimental cheese underway today, as well as my general process for developing new cheese types and improving our existing ones.
I discuss my process for making, grinding, and mixing burr oak biochar with salt for addition to my signature Burrnt Oak Camembert style cheese.
I review different areas of our farm management and discuss ways we can improve. Inspired by The Moos Room podcast from University of Minnesota Extension.
I describe why I think planning and lists haven’t worked for me in the past, and how I am attempting to use a to-do list in a better way.
I discuss some of our cleaning and sanitizing procedures, as well as my philosophy toward food safety and how it starts with healthy cows.
In which I put my breeding strategies into a broader context, visualizing what it could lead to in the coming decades.
In which I discuss my thoughts on crossbreeding and the various breeding strategies I have tried/am trying. Sorry there may have to be a part 3. I think about this a lot!
Snow, cold, snowdrifts, hungry critters, and a depressed farmer. Farmer’s wife was occupied cutting cheese for cheese club. Slogging through because there’s no choice.
I’m a worried farmer when it’s cold and windy and I’m not sure if my stock are all well-enough protected.
In which I discuss the breeds of cows we purchased that made the foundations of our female lines.
In which I describe more traits I look at in cows. I promise the next episode won’t be quite as cow-heavy!
I describe my thoughts on visual assessment of cows and heifers, specifically the things I would like to learn more about the topic.
In which I take you along on a walk by our farm stream. I discuss my thoughts on our relationship with the wild things that share our landscape.
I do a bit of explaining how my day got off track… then talk about what I did instead of my plan, which was selecting Normande AI sires.
Update on DollyPig and my thoughts on ways to minimize drama when pigs are put in new social groups.
Inspired by one of my favorite podcasts, Emmett Audio, I discuss the nature of art vs. craft and why I consider myself an artist.
In which I give updates from the farm, a few thoughts on my current mental health struggles, and some plans for the next few days.
Extra bedding, extra wind shelter, and a rowdy way of moving pigs around is what happened today on the farm.
In which I talk about changing roles in life, expectations, and living each moment for what it is.
In which I describe the process and feelings around hauling piggs to the locker for slaughter.
Recorded on December 4th. I describe my system of soaking pig feed in whey and feeding that mash or slop.
In which I describe how I feel right now. You probably don’t want to listen. It’s not fun. Thanks, Kevin
In which I describe the processes we have developed for aging Camembert and Burrnt Oak (Camembert with a charcoal line) at our small-scale facility.
In which I give an overview of my strategy for breeding, checking heats, reproduction, and pregnancy testing.
In which I follow up on my morning plan from yesterday’s episode. Yoga, jog, cow check, and some thoughts on my intentions for this podcast.
In which I describe today’s depressive meltdown and how I plan to move forward tomorrow.
In which I come to you from the pasture while petting cows. Some talk of a particular cow family that all like to moan and groan while they’re relaxing.