Ep 232 California Agritourism Summit: It’s Not Just the Beach – It’s the Farm, Too

Huge spiral springs, metal arms, long tendril-like wires, and bright yellow cogs with fingers were only a few of the things in the Pioneer Equipment booth at Horse Progress Days. It may seem like we were under attack by the Mechanical Spiders from Mars, but Doug Scheetz, Marketing Director extraordinaire, walked us through the danger unscathed. Okay, so it was really just the interesting new equipment available in the horse-drawn farm implement universe, but it looked like something sca...

27 Jul 202118min

There are some who think that the decline of modern culture (not a statement, people – just a theory argued by some) is due to the fact that sitting down at the table for dinner isn’t common anymore. We sit on the sofa in front of the TV, ingesting something we’ve microwaved quickly, instead of sitting at the table with our family, eating something that took time to put together. And there’s some meat to that argument (ha). Didn’t food used to taste better at the table? Toda...

20 Jul 202126min

Are we happy with more? Not always (unless it’s more dirt, in which case there’s a direct translation for some of us dirt hoarders). Today we bring you an interview from one of our newly-favorite events. Daniel Wengerd, General Coordinator for Horse Progress Days 2021, sits down and talks with us about the planning behind an undertaking like this, and how a team of “Plain People” (you’ll find out what that means if you listen) worked together to create something that is incredibly...

14 Jul 202143min

Independence is a beautiful thing, isn’t it? We usually associate that with being alone or apart, but it can also be something a little different, especially in the economic community. This week we celebrate July 4th here in the U.S., the anniversary of the signing of our Declaration of Independence, way back in 1776. That little piece of paper means a lot to a great number of people, and it fundamentally changed our way of life on this continent. One of the historic precur...

7 Jul 20219min

Why am I here? What day is it? What planet are we on, anyway? Those questions and more… Today’s podcast comes to you from a hotel room in Ashtabula, Ohio. After a crazy month (or two or…) of travel, we’re asking those existential questions of the hotel room ceiling. It’s hard to keep track of all of those things when the world is spinning faster and faster, it seems, and most especially when a road seems more like a fast way to get somewhere and less like an enjo...

29 Jun 202147min

I’m from California, so that means that I surf every day, eat granola and salad all the time, am a dyed-in-the-wool leftist, and drive a hybrid, right? Well, a few of those things might be true, but some are not. And in the same way people think about the “laid-back state” residents as only one type, we all have preconceived ideas about a place and its residents. Texas has the same image problem. The variety in Texas is amazing, whether that be people, music, lifestyle or j...

22 Jun 202145min

We’re very happily back on the road again this summer -- and this week we’re also back on the banks of the Platte River, in Grand Island, Nebraska, where it’s 95-104 degrees outside. We’re filming the American Boer Goat Association’s National Show, held at the Fonner Park fairgrounds, which, by the way, is the place where you can also find the annual Nebraska State Fair. The ABGA is an organization that helps its members to find opportunities in the marketing, education and commer...

15 Jun 20217min

Today, we’re reading the words of Charles Goodnight and W.J. Wilson, as excerpted from “The Trail Drivers of Texas,” by the University of Texas Press. You may know these men better as Captain Call (played by Tommy Lee Jones) and Pea Eye (aka Timothy Scott). Lonesome Dove meets “The Trail Drivers Bible,” in the hope that it inspires you to quest for more from The University of Texas Press, and all that history has to offer. Links: www.utexaspress.com https://www.simonandschuster....

8 Jun 202123min