Throwing Wrenches Mending Fences Podcast
by Sarah Zastrow
Hello everyone and welcome to the Throwing Wrenches and Mending Fences Podcast, where we have crop tour conversations about life, farming, family and balance it all. I am your host, Sarah Zastrow, Creator of Cultivate Balance, the Workshop for Less Stress, and the Network for Mental Wellness in Agriculture. Farming and ranching is stressful, chaotic and wrenches get thrown into your plan nearly every day, but there are a few things that make life in agriculture less stressful and more fun. I am here to talk about it. I grew up on a farm so thought I had this farm wife thing down, until about 4 days into our marriage. Fortunately, I was surrounded by amazing people that helped me learn and grow. Now, I am a farmer, farm stress coach, and certified exercise physiologist. I have a passion for farm stress management, rural resilience and mental health and finding balance and peace in your day-to-day farm life.Whether you are a 4th generation farmer, you just married into the family o
Episodes
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#85 Sam Wolfe Agrability-Keep Farmer's Farming & Shepards Weekend
Agrability uses assistive technology and devices to keep farmers farming as they age, or deal with an injury, long-term illness, or disability. Elaine Palm and the Michigan Sheep Producers came to me to ask if I would interview Sam Wolfe from Michigan State University Extension, who works with...
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#84 15 Field Meal Tips & Tricks with Seed Farmer's Wife
Christine Stamp aka, Seed Farmer's Wife on Instagram teaches people how to cook for the masses and she is here this week to share with us! If you are looking for tips and tricks to make field meals easier, less stressful and more streamlined then you are in the right place. 15 Ideas for Field…
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#83 7 Ways to Ease Stiffness or Aches and Pains After Long Days on Your Farm or Ranch
Pain, soreness, headaches, trouble sleeping, do these things have to coincide with farming? Sometimes pain is from an injury, sometimes it just pops up. What can you do to reduce your pain and get back to work? What is pain? Pain is a warning sign; your body will tell you to slow down or stop...
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#82 Elaine Froese Farm Family Planning and Smooth Transitions
Having trouble with succession planning? Whether you're the older generation or the younger, you'll learn something in today's episode. Elaine Froese CSP is a certified professional speaker, certified coach, and author. She's a go-to expert for farm families who want better communication and...
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#81 How I Knew I Needed an Anti-Depressant Medication
This is the story of how I knew I needed to start an anti-anxiety and anti-depressant medication. I was recently diagnosed with ADHD, Anxiety and Depression. I also had to switch Primary Care Physicians because my old PCP was not listening to me and seemed very resistant to prescribing any...
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#80 Calendar Systems to Manage the Essentials with Jackie Sanford
Paper calendar people unite! Jackie Sanford is the queen of the calendar! This week, she teaches us all about how she breaks down her paper calendar starting with the big picture and breaking it down into time blocks to really hammer out her to-do list. Topics covered: Scheduling a year at a time...
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#79 Anxiety, Addiction and Coping with Mental Health with Lauren Martin
Healthy coping with anxiety, depression, PTSD, etc can be tough, it's easy to turn to alcohol, gambling, or other unhealthy coping mechanisms. Tune into this candid conversation with Lauren Martin. Topics Covered: What is Anxiety What is depression How to know if you are using unhealthy coping...
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#78 5 Steps for Easier Field Meals with Debbie Gress
Being super type A and organized is NOT required so don't worry! Debbie Gress is a Field Meal pro! She is an athletic trainer, runs their family beef market and serves field meals like a pro! Here's 5 steps to help you make field meals easier: 1 Print out your calendar and write everything out 2...
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#77 Hurricane Helene Relief Efforts with Emmy Armstrong East_TN-FarmHer
Emmy was stranded on a mountain island with her dairy herd, but there are hundreds of people so much worse off. They need our help. Please join me in giving money, food, feed, fencing supplies, hay, etc to the relief efforts of Hurricane Helene. If you are able to donate Hay, Feed, Water, or...
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#76 A Call for Help for Appalachia
Over 100 people dead, and over 600 still missing, dozens of farms whipped off the map. $2.5 Billion in Ag losses in one county is Georgia alone. They need our help. Please join me in giving money, food, feed, fencing supplies, hay, etc to the relief efforts of Hurricane Helene. Find out where to...
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#75 Harnessing ADHD and The Most Important Thing I Learned in my 20's
Motivation follows action. This is my new mantra, in other words, don't wait until you feel motivated to do stuff, do something and it will help you to get moving. I just turned 30! MY 20's were an absolutely wild ride and I learned so much about myself that I have completely changed the way I...
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#74 A Nightly Stretch and Exercise to Compliment Your Work
Duh, farming involves physical labor, but is it a total body workout? No! The thing about exercise is that if you are really strong in some areas and really weak in other areas it can led to major issues with pain and soreness. It can also increase your likelihood of injury and slow down the...
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#73 Plan for Depression and Anxiety-Eliminate Decision Fatigue
Making good decisions that improve your mental health can be difficult when you are in the thick of it. What do you actually do to help yourself feel fewer symptoms of depression or anxiety? In today's episode we create a plan for those days when we are feeling depressed, anxious, overstimulated,...
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#72 Life Update and Back From Maternity Leave
I'm back from a very long maternity leave. In this episode I talk about grief, losing half my grandparents in the same month and my birth story. Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, take a screenshot, post to Facebook or Instagram and tag me! And don't forget to subscribe, rate and...
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#71 How to Live Life on Purpose with Emily Reuschel
Emily Reuschel is a keynote speaker, coach, and farm mom and wife. She teaches rural women how to get intentional, live into their passions and live life on purpose. Her personal growth journey has changed and evolved in different seasons of life. Emily and I have so much in common. Personal…
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#70 7 Ways to Make Fair Week Easier with my MOM, Peggy Ivan
Fair week was the first time I realized what anxiety really felt like in my body. Fortunately, I have an amazing mom who recognized it and helped me to do some deep breathing and bring some perspective to my pre-fair worry. Except that is really an understatement because I was like a bridezilla…
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#69 Keep Your Cool with Misinformed People with Paige Dulaney
Paige Dulaney and her family farm and ranch in Colorado. She is a mom of three and a busy social media advocate (aka agricultural agvocate). She does a fantastic job and digging into research and facts about our food system, supply chain and agriculture in general. She always keeps her cool and...
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#68 Mom's Are Different Too with Mary Pat Sass and the Grounded Journals
Mary Pat Sass loves cheese, farming, and journaling. She is a farm wife, entrepreneur and social media influencer. Her what to make for supper video's, mom content and farm lifestyle piece have gone viral because people love her down to earth, funny and real style. Mary Pat Sass' Grounded…
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#67 5 Paradigm Shifts I Learned in Therapy
5 Paradigm Shifts I Learned in Therapy 1. Set boundaries early and often, say no, and protect your time, space and family 2. You cannot change other people, changing the way you react to situations in your life is more valuable anyway 3. The story you tell yourself is the only thing that matters,...
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#66 Feeling Lonely- Mindset Shifts, Grace & What to Actually do with Ashley Brazo
Ashley Brazo is in Commercial Real-estate by day and by night she is a mom and farm wife. I met Ashley a few months ago and we talked for a good hour about the challenges of raising kids when your husband is in the field. We hit it off right away. I asked her to come onto the podcast to talk…
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#65 May is Mental Health Month-Let's All Do One Thing
Did you know that May is Mental Health Month? The American Farm Bureau Federation has a campaign going called Small Gestures, Big Impact. Week one: Send a text Week two: Give a card Week Three: Take a ride Week four: Deliver a treat Week five: Make a call Farm State of Mind:...
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#64 5 Daily Practices to Survive Spring Planting Chaos
On our farm, it feels like spring planting is getting started late. In reality we are not THAT late, nonetheless, I am anxious about it. We have something scheduled every weekend in May, this means I will have to leave the farm and do the activity. This gives me farmer guilt, it's similar to...
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#63 ChopLocal-Online Direct to Consumer Meat Sales Made Easy
#63 ChopLocal-Online Direct to Consumer Meat Sales Made Easy Katie Olthoff is co-founder of ChopLocal which is an online farmers market platform where farmers can sell their meat products direct to consumer. They created this online platform during the pandemic to help farmers and consumers who...
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#62 How Gratitude Changed My Mom Guilt and 5 Easy Gratitude Habits
#62 How Gratitude Changed My Mom Guilt and 5 Easy Gratitude Habits This past week, we went to the American Farm Bureau Fusion Conference in Jacksonville Florida. It was so nice to get away but I felt more Mom guilt than normal. This combined with the huge chore of packing for a cross county trip...
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#61 Contentment on the Homefront and Actual Seatbelt Wearers with Jordan Waas
#61 Contentment on the Homefront and Actual Seatbelt Wearers with Jordan Waas Jordan Waas is a farmer in the Laurel highlands of Pennsylvania. They farm row crops in the hills and mountains and raise cattle where it gets too steep. She has four kids, a herd of registered red angus cattle and…
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#60 What is Stress, The Lesson All College Freshman Get Day One
#60 What is Stress, The Lesson All College Freshman Get Day One Stress is a reaction that our body produces when we think we cannot meet the demands based on the amount of resources we have available. Those resources are things like time, money, man power, sunlight or nice weather, tools,...
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#59 13 Ways to Cope with Farm Stress
#59 13 Ways to Cope with Farm Stress Now is the time to put together good stress relief habits. We tend to put things off. We say things like, after harvest, after Christmas, after taxes, after planting, after spraying, after hay is off, and then harvest rolls around again. Whether you are...
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#58 I Was Burnt Out -Here's Three Things That Helped
#58 I was Burnt out-Here's Three Things That Helps Burn out is something millions of people face every year. It can cause anxiety and depression and unfortunately it doesn't just go away. I was burnt out, as you could probably tell from my last episode and here are three things that helped. Take…
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#57 Survival Mode-You Have Permission to do These 5 Things
#57 Survival Mode-You Have Permission to do These 5 Things I am on survival mode right now. If I am lucky my daughter will sleep for one two hour stretch per night, other than that, she is up every 15-60minutes. It's funny what your brain does to you during these hours of sleep deprivation. The…
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#56 New Vulnerability and Same Old Anxiety with Tales From a Rookie Farm Wife
#56 New Vulnerability and Same Old Anxiety with Tales From a Rookie Farm Wife Abbie Raudabaugh is a farmer, mom and blogger at Tales from a Rookie Farm Wife. She writes about her experiences with vulnerability, humor and a want to encourage others. Today, we talk about the importance of good...
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# 55 5 Ways to Gain Perspective This Fall Harvest Season
# 55 5 Ways to Gain Perspective This Fall Harvest Season Fall harvest is extremely stressful. Whether you are the one operating the combine, cooking meals or anything in between there are hills and valleys to climb. We also tend to get lost in the weeds because there is no much to the day-to-day...
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#54 National Farm Safety Week Checklist and Discussion
#54 National Farm Safety Week Checklist and Discussion Last week I was teaching a group of farm kits and Ag Tech Students First Aid and CPR. We got into some great discussions about emergency situations and scenarios. This combined with the fact that this is National Farm Safety week (shouldn't...
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#53 A is for Amanda, B is for Beef, C is for Children's Books with Amanda Radke
#53 A is for Amanda, B is for Beef, C is for Children's Books with Amanda Radke Amanda Radke is a children's book author, beef producer, foster parent and multi-pationate entrepreneur. Her publishing company works with different ag organizations to help tell their story. From beef to peanuts she...
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#52 Prepare, Power Hour and Persevere Through Season Change
#52 Prepare, Power Hour and Persevere Through Season Change Going back to work was a shitshow. I had 17 Weeks off. It was glorious. However, going back was rough to say the least. I didn't have the right tools, the right keys, the right classrooms and no matter what I did each day it became more...
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#51 Bacon Seeds, Imposter Syndrome and Political Advocacy
#51 Bacon Seeds, Imposter Syndrome and Political Advocacy David Hafner is a farmer, advocate and activist for farmers. On social media he is the Farmer Advocate. He shares farmers stories with the public and with elected officials to make sure that agriculture remains a priority both during the...
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#50 The Salty Six Pack-The Blame Game to Re-Frame Being Angry
#50 The Salty Six Pack-The Blame Game to Re-Frame Being Angry We have all been angry before. Sometimes we are angry about one thing, or at another person and sometimes it's just the straw that broke the camels back. The question is, how do you stop being angry? How do you break free of the…
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#49 Succession Plans, Finances and How to Leave a Legacy with Heather Venenga
#49 Succession Plans, Finances and How to Leave a Legacy with Heather Venenga Heather Venenga is launching a book. . . .tomorrow!!!! If you are listening to this when it first comes out (Aug 17th, 2022)! She is a financial planner and farm wife who works with farmers, lawyers and CPA's on a…
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#48 I'm Back! Mom Stuff, Minivans and My Kid Will Never- Fails
#48 I'm Back! Mom Stuff, Minivans and My Kid Will Never- Fails I am back from Maternity Leave! This week our great friend Rita Herford interviews me! We talk about my birth story, how my birth plan was a joke and how we used to say "my kid will never" then upon having children immediately changed...
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#47 10 Tips to Make Pregnancy Easier & My Maternity Leave Update
#47 10 Tips to Make Pregnancy Easier & My Maternity Leave Update I am currently 37 weeks pregnant and so this will likely by my last episode before maternity leave. I plan on taking a summer break and coming back to podcasting in August with a new season featuring stories of our older farmer...
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#46 Building Confidence in Agriculture, Hunting & Life with the Midwest Huntress Sara Ruda
#46 Building Confidence in Agriculture, Hunting & Life with the Midwest Huntress Sara Ruda Sara Ruda is a rancher, confidence coach, author and all around bad-ass. She teaches women to build their confidence after trauma by getting in touch with nature, slowing down and learning new skills by...
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#45 The Secret to Prioritize, Focus and Get More Accomplished
#45 The Secret to Prioritize, Focus and Get More Accomplished Some days we spin our wheels, waste time, get distracted and feel defeated because we have nothing to show for a 12 or 14 hour day. Other days we kick ass, get things done, prioritize and can really make a huge dent in our to-do list....
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# 44 Stiff, Sore, Tired & No Sleep, 5 Ways to Fix These Common Problems
# 44 Stiff, Sore, Tired & No Sleep, 5 Ways to Fix These Common Problems Springtime work never ends. It also is accompanied by exhaustion, aches, and lots of muscles stiffness and soreness. When we work in cold, damp weather, our bodies take the brunt of it and we can feel everything twinge, ache,...
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#43 Staying Fit on the Farm & How it Effects Mental Health with That Fit Agvocate
#43 Staying Fit on the Farm & How it Effects Mental Health with That Fit Agvocate Andrea Severtson is a beef cattle producer from Minnesota. We dig into some practical ways to begin personal development and how that correlate to our mental health. We also talk about how to find time for…
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#42 Fuel and Fertilizer are the Price of Gold, 10 Questions to Ask Yourself in Uncertain Times
#42 Fuel and Fertilizer are the Price of Gold, 10 Questions to Ask Yourself in Uncertain Times When life gets overwhelming, prices are sky high and we are on the verge of war, sometimes the best things to do is reflect. In todays' episode we will talk about 10 questions that you can ask yourself…
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#41 Great Companies Give Back- Greenstone Farm Credit's Dave Armstrong
#41 Great Companies Give Back- Greenstone Farm Credit's Dave Armstrong Farm Finance is a huge stressor for the majority of farmers. Loans, lines of credit and tracking finances is complicated, difficult and overwhelming to say the least! Here in Michigan, we have an ag lender called Greenstone…
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#40 Seasonal Depression Anyone? 9 Ways to Get More Vitamin D
#40 Seasonal Depression Anyone? 9 Ways to Get More Vitamin D 20-40% of people living in similar latitudes as Michigan experience SAD or seasonal affective disorder. You know on the first warm day of spring how you feel energized, happy, and even have a little pep in your step? That is because we...
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#39 Strong Marriages, Good Communication & Yellowstone with Ranch Wife Life
#39 Strong Marriages, Good Communication & Yellowstone with Ranch Wife Life Lydia Kyle and her husband manage a ranch in the mountains of the American Southwest, where the Cowboy way of life lives and breathes. She is tiktok and Instagram famous and works to introduce ranch life to people...
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#38 Part 2 A Most Ridiculous Poop Metaphor & 4 Ways to Find a Great Therapist
#38 Part 2 A Most Ridiculous Poop Metaphor & 4 Ways to Find a Great Therapist A few weeks ago, I competed in a competition where we brainstormed some ideas to help farmers and ranchers with their farm stress and mental health issues. If you have ever seen a discussion meet either in American Farm...
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#37 Save Money, Grocery Shop Less and Meal Plan Like a Pro with Ann Sharek
#37 Save Money, Grocery Shop Less and Meal Plan Like a Pro with Ann Sharek Ann (Annie) Sharek and her husband farm in Pennsylvania and she is a super organized person. . . and I am jealous! Annie has the most beautiful and inspiring meal planning, cooking and grocery shopping templates. These...
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#36 10 Ways to Get Back to You-The Road Between Mentally Healthy and Mentally Ill
#36 10 Ways to Get Back to You-The Road Between Mentally Healthy and Mentally Ill Last week, I competed in a competition where we brainstormed some ideas to help farmers and ranchers with their farm stress and mental health issues. If you have ever seen a discussion meet either in American Farm...
About this show
Hello everyone and welcome to the Throwing Wrenches and Mending Fences Podcast, where we have crop tour conversations about life, farming, family and balance it all. I am your host, Sarah Zastrow, Creator of Cultivate Balance, the Workshop for Less Stress, and the Network for Mental Wellness in Agriculture. Farming and ranching is stressful, chaotic and wrenches get thrown into your plan nearly every day, but there are a few things that make life in agriculture less stressful and more fun. I am here to talk about it. I grew up on a farm so thought I had this farm wife thing down, until about 4 days into our marriage. Fortunately, I was surrounded by amazing people that helped me learn and grow. Now, I am a farmer, farm stress coach, and certified exercise physiologist. I have a passion for farm stress management, rural resilience and mental health and finding balance and peace in your day-to-day farm life.Whether you are a 4th generation farmer, you just married into the family o
Hosted by
Sarah Zastrow
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