This Farm Girl Cooks Podcast

Some seasons of life are just plain hard. And when you're in the thick of one, the last thing you need is another checklist of things you should be doing.

In this episode of This Farm Girl Cooks, I'm continuing my conversation with Adrienne DeSutter of Sow Hope, Grow Hope about managing stress, finding small moments of joy, and giving ourselves a little grace when life feels overwhelming.

We're talking about why the usual self-care advice doesn't always work during harvest (or any other busy season), how to recognize your personal stress triggers, and why making life easier might be as simple as having your Casey's pizza order saved in an app.

We also talk about glimmers—those little moments of goodness that don't make the hard stuff disappear but can make it feel a little lighter.

In this episode, we talk about:

• Why grace matters more than another self-care checklist

• Recognizing your stress triggers before you're overwhelmed

• Creating simple routines that take decisions off your plate

• Why five minutes of progress—or five minutes of rest—both count

• Finding glimmers in the middle of difficult days

• Remembering that hard seasons don't last forever

Plus, we share a little about our upcoming Mocktails & Mental Health conversation at the Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting.

Whether you're navigating harvest, raising kids, or simply trying to keep all the plates spinning, I hope this conversation reminds you that you don't have to do everything perfectly.

Sometimes grace looks like ordering the pizza. And that's okay.

• Adrienne DeSutter — Sow Hope, Grow Hope

• Illinois Farm Bureau Annual Meeting — Monday Morning Motivation

• This Farm Girl Cooks — thisfarmgirlcooks.com

If you missed our first conversation with Adrienne about why mental health matters for farm families, be sure to listen to that episode, too.

Season 2, Episode 4: Why Farm Mental Health Matters (with Adrienne DeSutter of Sow Hope, Grow Hope)

The corn is being harvest right outside my kitchen, and we've spent weeks getting ready. The equipment is serviced. The meals are planned. The schedules are figured out. But we don't always prepare ourselves for what harvest asks of us mentally.

In part one of my conversation with my friend Adrienne DeSutter of Sow Hope, Grow Hope, we talk about why farm life can be so heavy, and why that weight doesn't stay with the person in the combine. It lands on the whole family, kids included.

IN THIS EPISODE
00:00 Harvest is here, and what we forget to prepare for
01:02 How Sow Hope, Grow Hope got its name, and why mental health is about everyday life
04:03 Adrienne's path from school counselor to farm wife
05:26 What makes harvest so uniquely hard
07:02 What to do when so much is out of our control
08:56 Sit with it first: the lesson from a hot bath 10:30 Why talking about it is finally becoming normal
12:02 Harvest stress lands on the whole family
14:27 What the research says about farmers and their kids
15:28 Your kids are watching how you take care of yourself
16:47 Why I stopped trying to be Superwoman
18:16 Resources and what's next

THE RESEARCH ADRIENNE MENTIONS About 60% of farmers and their teenage children surveyed met the criteria for at least mild depression. Most of the adults still rated their own mental health as good or excellent, which suggests many of us have gotten used to living with it. Source: Rudolphi & Berg, "Mental health of agricultural adolescents and adults: Preliminary results of a five-year study," Frontiers in Public Health, 2023. Read the University of Illinois summary: 

IF YOU NEED SUPPORT You don't have to figure it out alone.

• 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: Call or text 988, anytime, anywhere in the U.S.
• Illinois Farm SOS Helpline: 1-833-FARM-SOS (1-833-327-6767). Free, confidential, 24/7 support for Illinois farmers and farm families, plus up to six free counseling sessions by phone. https://ilfarmsos.com
• Farm Aid Farmer Hotline: 1-800-FARM-AID (1-800-327-6243). https://www.farmaid.org/our-work/resources-for-farmers/

ABOUT ADRIENNE Adrienne DeSutter is the founder of Sow Hope, Grow Hope. She has a master's degree in counseling, worked as a school counselor, and married into farming. She brings those two worlds together to help farm families talk openly about mental health. Find her on Facebook at Sow Hope, Grow Hope.

NEXT EPISODE Part two (Episode 5), Practical Tools for Hard Seasons: knowing your stress before you're in the middle of it, why "Grace and Casey's" might be the best harvest advice ever, and what glimmers are.

A NOTE This podcast is for encouragement and conversation. It isn't professional medical or mental health advice. If you're struggling, please reach out to one of the resources above or a professional you trust.

This episode is a practical, encouraging solo conversation about why harvest prep is really kitchen prep. Deanne shares how trying to control every detail only adds stress, and why a flexible food system matters more than a perfect meal plan when the season gets unpredictable.The main takeaway: you do not need to reinvent dinner to survive harvest. You need a realistic kitchen, a few backup meals, and a lower-pressure mindset that helps you feed your family without carrying extra weight.

• Harvest chaos exposes, it does not create, the problem
  • Deanne explains that harvest usually reveals what was not ready in advance rather than causing all the stress itself.
• The mental load starts weeks before the combine rolls
  • She talks about the invisible work of thinking through meals, groceries, and timing while crops are still green.
• Meal planning breaks down when harvest timing changes
  • A full grocery haul can go bad if rain delays fieldwork, or meals can be wasted if plans shift suddenly.
• Dinner gets harder because the questions multiply
  • It is not just about cooking - it is about who is home, when they eat, and whether anyone actually wants the meal you made.
• Perfection adds pressure without helping feed anyone
  • Deanne says perfection makes harvest heavier, not easier, and that "doing your best" is the more useful standard.
• Preparing your kitchen matters more than preparing one meal
  • She draws a clear distinction between a meal plan and a kitchen that can handle whatever the day throws at it.
• Backup food and shortcut tools reduce decision fatigue
  • Examples include browned hamburger, cooked chicken, bread and lunch meat, paper plates, grocery pickup, and a short list of fallback meals.
• You are not failing if your routine looks different in harvest season
  • The season asks for something different, and that difference is normal for farm families.
• A small audit can create a lot of calm
  • Deanne encourages listeners to check what they already have in the freezer, fridge, and pantry, then write down three meals from those ingredients.

00:00 - Why trying to control harvest early only leads to exhaustion
00:31 - Harvest starts in the kitchen, not in the field
01:10 - Buying groceries too early and watching plans change
01:41 - The combine shows up and the whole schedule shifts
02:09 - Harvest prep begins weeks ahead in the pantry and kitchen
02:38 - The invisible mental work of planning meals before school starts
03:07 - Why dinner feels hard even when you know how to cook
03:33 - When the meal is ready but nobody wants to eat
04:04 - How farm life changes the stakes around family meals
04:34 - Why corporate-style meal scheduling does not work in harvest
05:03 - Switching from strict meal plans to a flexible wish list
05:33 - Working with whatever you have instead of chasing perfect meals
06:02 - Why wasted meals feel personal after all that effort
06:31 - The newborn season story that changed her perspective
07:30 - "You can either have a perfectly curated tidy house or you can have your sanity"
08:09 - Every harvest family has a different rhythm, and none of them are perfect
08:38 - Why perfection makes harvest heavier
09:07 - The difference between preparing food and preparing a kitchen
09:35 - What a harvest-ready kitchen actually looks like
10:02 - Tools and shortcuts that make field meals easier
10:31 - Decision fatigue and the daily question of what is for dinner
11:11 - You are not failing - you are living in a different season
11:30 - One small action to take this week: inventory and list three backup meals
11:59 - Preparing your kitchen is about realistic expectations, not a stuffed freezer
12:38 - What is coming next and the Field the Fed harvest guide

• Look through your freezer, fridge, and pantry.
• Do not reorganize everything - just take inventory.
• Write down three meals you could make with what you already have.
• Keep that list nearby for the weeks when decisions feel hardest.

My Harvest Prep Routine, From Field to Fed:
https://tfgc.myflodesk.com/fieldtofed

My guest today is someone a little special because she's my oldest daughter, Ava, and she has officially surpassed my level of agricultural knowledge entirely.

Ava Splear grew up on our family farm in northern Illinois and went on to earn a degree in agricultural communications and leadership from the University of Illinois. Today she's a staff writer at Prairie Farmer magazine, where she interviews farmers across Illinois and tells the stories that help people make decisions on their operations.

In this episode, Ava talks about finding her place in the ag industry through FFA, the scholarship strategy that helped her graduate with less debt (including her breakdown of the hourly rate of scholarship applications - parents take note; it's brilliant!), what she's learned covering farming across all of Illinois, and the grain bin safety series that she says has stayed with her. She also has advice for new graduates entering agriculture that I think is worth writing down.

Plus, she's 23, she works remotely, and she really wanted you to know the pool just opened. 🤣 Love this girl.

In this episode:

• How FFA helped Ava find her people — and her career path
• The scholarship strategy that works (and why an hour of work is worth more than you think)
• What covering farming across Illinois taught her about how different agriculture can look from county to county
• Grain bin safety — and the human stories that make it impossible to ignore
• What young people in agriculture are actually doing (spoiler: they're showing up)
• Advice for new graduates: be kind, be curious, and say yes

Resources mentioned:

• Prairie Farmer
• Ava Splear Farm Progress Bio: farmprogress.com
• Ava on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ava-spler

After about a year (or was it two?) from the mic, I'm back and I'm excited to be here!

In this episode I'm catching you up on what's been happening around here: my daughter Ava just turned 23 (how did that even happen?), we've got a kitchen remodel in progress, and were hosting 120 visitors or so from Poland on the farm. Summer has been full in the best and most chaotic way possible.

I'm also sharing what This Farm Girl Cooks is really about, because it's never been about fancy recipes or perfect meals. It's about feeding the people you love, giving yourself grace, and figuring out dinner even when life doesn't slow down to make it easy.

Plus I'll tell you what's coming up on the podcast — including a conversation with Ava about her work as a writer for Prairie Farmer and why she chose to tell the story of agriculture for a living. That one's going to be really good.

If you're new here, welcome. Pull up a chair. I'm glad you found us. I hope you'll join us in my new gathering space.

And if you've been here before — thank you for coming back. It means more than you know. 🥰

*Need some dinner inspiration? Check out my recipe box for easy ideas. 

How to can reduce stress around holiday gatherings.

Tip #1: Turn down the thermostat before people arrive.

Tip #2: Set the mood with music. Think background music, no a karaoke party!

Tip #3: Put guests to work in the best way possible.

Tip #4: Make food ahead of time. So great ideas are Make Ahead Cranberry Sauce

Make Ahead, No Drain Mashed Potatoes, Corn Casserole

SPONSOR: Farm Girl Favorites Bundle: Use code PODCAST for 25% off Farm Wife Favorites cards or download

Tip #5: Set up a drink station. You don't need to be slinging drinks :) 

Tip #6: Use pretty, Disposable plates with silver rims. So pretty!

Halfway Hospitality - how to build community, put your guests at ease, and save your sanity all in the same space.

This Farm Girl Cooks is produced by Deanne Frieders and is protected by a Creative Commons 3.0 license. You can find out more about this license at creativecommons.org and visit our website at https://sites.libsyn.com/437262/site for more information

Simplify the process of transporting meals on the go. Whether you're delivering meals to the soccer field or the corn field, I have practical ideas for you!

Links to specific tools: https://www.thisfarmgirlcooks.com/meals-on-the-go/

Field Meals Cookbook: https://amzn.to/3ywulgN

Last week, we talked about five tips when making field meals during harvest. Today, we're going to take things one step further and talk about tools for field meal delivery. And if you're a soccer mom, a baseball mom, or anything in between, I think you're going to find something of value here.

• How to stock up on dinnerwear and serving utensils without tearing apart your kitchen. 
• My favorite food containers for serving on the go meals.
• Hot to keep hot foods hot.
• How to transport from the kitchen to your final destination.

This Farm Girl Cooks is produced by Deanne Frieders and is protected by a Creative Commons 3.0 license. You can find out more about this license at creativecommons.org and visit our website at https://sites.libsyn.com/437262/site for more information

Ten years ago I started cooking for our family without any idea what a field meal was. I have made progress, friends! Today I'm talking about what you need to know when preparing field meals for farmers during harvest. There's no right or wrong way to feed people on the go; but there are some pointers I can give! (Hint - there's a no knife rule in here!)

Helpful links: 101+ Ideas for Meals on the Go

Harvest Recipe Tracker: https://thisfarmgirlcooks.gumroad.com/

Ham & Cheese Sliders Recipe: https://www.thisfarmgirlcooks.com/funeral-sandwiches-recipe/

This Farm Girl Cooks is produced by Deanne Frieders and is protected by a Creative Commons 3.0 license. You can find out more about this license at creativecommons.org and visit our website at https://sites.libsyn.com/437262/site for more information