The Bets Life

68. Hard Work, Heritage, and Home: Ranch Life With Elizabeth Poett

• Betsy O'Brien

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Since 1837, Elizabeth Poett’s family has owned and ranched 14,000 acres of land on the Santa Barbara Central Coast. Elizabeth was raised on Rancho San Julian, one of the oldest cattle ranches in California, and she continues to maintain the land as a 7th-generation cattle rancher.

You may know Elizabeth from the Ranch to Table show on HBO Max and the Magnolia Network or from her cookbook, The Ranch Table. In this conversation, we chat about recipes, Sunday traditions, and hosting, but we also dive into the realities of ranch living. Spoiler: it’s not always as glamorous or as exciting as television shows may make us believe. Elizabeth and I speak about stewardship, community, the lack of work/life boundaries, and how every day on the ranch is different. We also discuss the popular “trad wife” trend and how Instagram isn’t always reality.

This conversation is a beautiful reminder that a meaningful life often takes a lot of hard work, dedication, and a whole village of support.

Connect with Elizabeth:
Website: https://theranchtable.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethpoett/
The Ranch Table Cookbook: https://amzn.to/4xdKe8B
Substack: https://elizabethpoett.substack.com/

Bollandbranch.com and use code thebetslife for 25% off your order over $30
Tryarmra.com use code thebetslife10 to save 10%

Connect with Betsy:
Visit my website: https://thebetslife.com/
Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebetslife/
Love the podcast? Subscribe, rate, review and share: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-bets-life/id1644549737


SPEAKER_01

Hi, and welcome to the Bets Life Podcast. I'm your host, Betsy O'Brien. Join me as I have authentic conversations to share and learn tips and insights into how we all can live our best lives. Lots of laughs, honest topics, and potential overshares are to be expected. Get ready to keep it inspired and also keep it real. Hello and welcome to the Bets Life Podcast. I have Elizabeth Poet on today's episode. You may be familiar with her from her Ranch to Table Show or The Ranch Table Cookbook. She is a seventh-generation cattle rancher on the Central Coast, and we dive into so much. This episode is jam-packed, and I really enjoyed my conversation with Elizabeth. We discuss the realities of ranch living, loving what you do, continuing family traditions, and why it takes the village and why it's so great to be a villager, too. I hope you enjoy listening. Thanks so much. Welcome, Elizabeth Poet, to the Bets Life podcast. We have so much to cover today because I am thrilled to be talking with you and I'm so happy you agreed to come on the pod. Okay, first off, diving in. You are a seventh-generation cattle rancher on the Central Coast. And learning more about your family, the ranch was granted to Jose de la Guerra. And my local Santa Barbarians will recognize De Laguerra because that's a big street in Santa Barbara. Is this the one in the same? Is this the same relation here?

SPEAKER_00

It's the same one. So Jose Delaguera was my great-great-great-great-grandfather. Wow. You bleed Santa Barbara. We are old Santa Barbara. We've been around for a long time. So Jose Delegera was four grades back, and he was granted this land to basically feed Santa Barbara, to feed the Presidio, to feed most of the Central Coast. And that was back in 1837, and the ranch has remained in the family ever since.

SPEAKER_01

Wow. I am always like, I'm a local, because I was born and raised here, and now I'm like, I'm an imposter. My parents are from the Midwest. We don't go back eight generations. So that's incredible. What an amazing family history that I know we'll talk a little more about. But so you have this Spanish heritage, and very much so. I saw that you grew up flamenco dancing too.

SPEAKER_00

I did. I did. When I was younger, I was around, I don't know, seven or eight. I was like dying to dance ballet. I wanted to be a ballerina. I wanted like, you know, I was a seven-year-old girl and loving those beautiful dancers. And my mom's like, no, we're gonna put you in flamenco. You're gonna learn more about your roots. And I'm so glad she did because it became something that I absolutely loved. I danced for years, starting when I was about eight, and then I joined a company, and then I was lucky enough to study abroad in Spain during college and joined a company there. And so it was something that I absolutely love doing. Yeah, it's a little side part of me that not as many people know.

SPEAKER_01

Right, and no one probably sees that coming for you because you're this beautiful, long-haired, blonde, blue-eyed. I love it. I think that's so great that your family was like, nope, you're gonna get to know your heritage a bit. And flamenco dancing is so huge in Santa Barbara, and of course, for Fiesta, it's such a celebration. You'll love this, who's my good friend in high school was Spirit of Fiesta. Oh, and so I have Yes, it was such a big deal, it was such an honor. I got to see her dance so much. So I've never danced flamenco, which is a huge win for everyone with eyes, because I am not, I do not have a dance bone in my body. But I saw her perform a lot and other friends, and it was so funny because I'd watch her and I was like, oh my god, I love when you do that like skirt kick, like you kick up the skirt, and she was like, Yeah, that's just moving the skirt. Like you have to like when you're dancer to move it around. I was like, I was like, oh my god, I thought it was this whole like move, and she's like, No, that's just like logistically, you have to move the skirt like out of the way.

SPEAKER_00

Out of your way, yes, out of your way. Exactly. I was like, that is so exciting. That's a huge honor, and that's very exciting. I love that you were able to see her dance.

SPEAKER_01

Yes, beautiful dancer, and I had other friends that were in the dance community, and like, yeah, for Santa Barbara, very, very special of how that history dates back and every fiesta. I mean, you go to El Pse, you go to Domitian, like these different performances, insanely beautiful. Okay, we are going to now get into the ranch talk. So you have Rancho San Julian, which is 14,000 acres. You have 500 head of cattle, chickens, horses, sheep, bees, apple orchards, so much. A true ranch. This is a true ranch. Yes. What is your favorite part of the ranch? Your favorite area, some of your favorite creatures, like what do you love about just the actual ranch?

SPEAKER_00

I was born and raised on this ranch. And so I think that growing up, I just took things for granted, to be honest. I was little, I didn't really think of this as an amazing magical place. I went away to school, and when I came back a couple years later, it almost was like I saw the ranch with new eyes and just completely fell in love again with my home. And so to be able to raise my kids here, I have two boys, it's just a place that we just feel so honored to be part of. I would say that the ranch is full of my favorite places. In the very back of the ranch, there's this beautiful hill that I just love, and my husband will put a table out there in the summertime and we'll have meals up there and just try to get up to the top of the ranch as much as we can. I would definitely say that that's maybe one of my favorite spots. But then, I mean, we have a million creatures. I mean, we do. We have a lot of cattle. This morning I was feeding two baby calves that we have now adopted because usually their moms, if they have twins, they're not able to take care of two animals. So we usually end up taking them on. So yeah, I mean, I love my dogs, we have tons of dogs, we have horses. I do love working with animals.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Oh, that's so sweet. I'm picturing the calves now, like how adorable. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, they are. They're so adorable. Except my son this morning, he was feeding the bottle, and the bottles are like this big, and you're feeding these big calves, and the calves are pushing back and nuzzling you. And it's sweet until you have like all of the milk all over you. So before school, he was like, I gotta change. Like, I get it. I get it, buddy.

SPEAKER_01

How big are the bottles and like the size of your like forearm? Oh, yeah, it's probably like to my elbow. From your hand to your elbow. Yeah, that's uh that is hard to maneuver. That would be a lot.

SPEAKER_00

It's yeah, this is not little bottles.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I love your son's like, okay, here we go.

SPEAKER_00

Another Yeah, yeah, I have milk all over me.

SPEAKER_01

Gotta take care of this. You have the ranch to table show, which shows your life, the ins and outs of ranching, cooking, recipes. I started watching it last night and I watched a few episodes, and I think it is done so well. I'm not just saying that because I have you on the pod. Like it's just shot so beautifully. I think it's such a nice balance of giving more information about you and your family and your heritage, and then actually showing the realities of the ranch. And of course, you get like the vistas and the shots of the animals, and you get you in the kitchen making these recipes. But what I will also say is as someone who is not a cook myself, like I'm pretty sure the day after this episode airs, your cookbook's gonna arrive on my doorstep from my mom. Her like dying wish is that I learned how to cook something. But um, so I told her I was having you on, she's gonna be like, yes. But I can tell that you actually really enjoy being in the kitchen and making these things. Like it seems very authentic to you. This isn't just uh production you're putting on.

SPEAKER_00

Totally. I wasn't quite sure if I wanted to do a show. I really wanted it to show the true life as a rancher, and I was nervous that they would maybe be more interested in kind of like, you know, I mean, agriculture can get like a quirky down home sort of thing, which all of which I love, but there is this side of agriculture that people all over the country are living on these ranches, taking care of these ranches. It's a huge responsibility to take care of this land, especially after generations of family that is taking care of it long before me. And so I wanted to show that. And I also wanted to show look, I didn't go to culinary school. I just am a person who loves to cook, and I've learned everything I know from hanging out next to barbecues and cooking with my mom and cooking with my dad and my grandfather, like with friends, you know. I'm a person who just loves food, and so those are things that I really wanted to show. I wanted it to feel attainable cooking, things that you can make at home, but also show what life on a working cattle ranch is really all about.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. And I watched it on HBO, but you started with the Magnolia Network, right? Or is it still in the Magnolia Network?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, it's through Magnolia, Chip and Joe, Chip and Joanna Gaines. They were the ones who were first interested in doing the show, and I had kind of shown them what I would do, and I was like, if that's not kind of what you want, that's totally fine. But this is kind of what I would love to show. And they loved it, and they've been out to the ranch and become really good friends, and they really were supporting what I wanted to show, which is true agriculture and true ranching and all of that. So it was a great partnership. But yeah, now we're on HBO and four seasons in, and it's been an incredible ride.

SPEAKER_01

Ah, okay, so you do enjoy the filming process then. Yeah. Or is it ever like weird to have people in your space or to feel like how it was adapting to that?

SPEAKER_00

I loved it. We were really lucky with an amazing crew, and we kept it small, and we also kept it the same through most of the time. So everyone kind of became family, and we all work together, and it's an incredible process to kind of create that. And I definitely was very much involved in coming up with the recipes and the places that we were gonna visit on the ranch and what we were gonna do. And so it just feels like a very creative uh environment.

SPEAKER_01

You're like, just show up. I got this, I know what I'm gonna do. Yeah, that's wonderful to hear. I love that it's been such a positive experience, and it's a beautiful show. So, listeners, I highly recommend watching it. To touch on a little bit about I think what you were getting at is ranching life is glamorized a lot. We see it in Yellowstone, obviously very dramatized, but like there's this Western cowboy like romanticizing about it, and you are open to it's a tough life. Like, ranching is tough. What do you think people don't fully comprehend about ranch living?

SPEAKER_00

One of the questions a lot of people ask is like, what's a day on the life? What do you do? And I think one of the things that I love about ranching, but every day is so different, and it not only is about the day, but it has to do with the season. Like, where are we in the realm of the cattle? It's really about the cattle and the weather and everything. And so every day is different, which is something that I absolutely love. And it's great that Yellowstone has brought more interest, perhaps, to these old ranches that are staying alive and family businesses, which are, you know, like we don't have a train station, we don't drop people off like they do in Yellowstone. We're a little kinder and nicer. My husband is not ripp, he's a very nice man. But I think that a lot of people can see on the show, and what we tried to show is that every day is different. You wake up, you don't know what the day is going to be like because of the different challenges that come when you are raising so many animals. Because we have to tend to all of those different animals at all times. So that's something that it's just a constant, and I do love it though.

SPEAKER_01

I'm sure because you're right, like one could be sick, one could be birthing, you could have a broken fence. I'm a landlord, so I like get this on a very micro uh, but anything can happen. I can resonate with like every day is different, and sometimes it rains and it pours, and sometimes things are a little more mellow, I'm sure. Like you go through ups and downs with that, but yeah, expect the unexpected, I guess, would be the model.

SPEAKER_00

And a rancher, we're not always riding our horse. Some days we get to be ranchers, some days we get to be plumbers. So it's like every day you have to be able to kind of fix things. You gotta be a fixer.

SPEAKER_01

So a similar vank, the yellowstone, the dramatization and the grittiness of that. There's the other side of ranch life, kind of like homesteading. And I'm sure you know the trad wife theme, how that has become more popular. What are your thoughts? Are you compared to Ballerina Farms at all? That's Hannah Neileman. I don't know if I'm saying that correctly, but Ballerina Farms people will know. Yeah. Like, what do you think? Because I feel like that's having a moment, this like trad wife making your own bread, staying home, homeschooling the kids, like sure.

SPEAKER_00

I think it's in. I think it's in right now. I think it's not necessarily me. I think that being somebody who's in it for the long haul, it's not as sexy as one would think. And it's a tough job to actually be a homesteader. To be a true homesteader, that's really, really hard. I would not call myself a homesteader. I would call myself somebody who is in agriculture, somebody who eats the food that we grow as much as we can, or we buy locally as much as we can. But what I really am trying to do is like what's in this for the long haul. We need to take care of this land, and the land is more important than me. I'm just like here for a little bit of time, and my job is to take care of the ranch for my children and their children and their children. I just try to think of the big picture and what's best. So I think it's amazing. I don't have time every day to make bread. And I think that's okay. Do I like making bread? I love making bread. And when I get to make bread, I love making bread. But I do think that it is important to really think about the long haul and not just my time here. Like I am a rancher. I am also a wife and I'm a mother. But one of my things that I want to do is to really be able to share with others what ranching is truly about, what agriculture is truly about. And it's some of those things that the quote unquote trad wives are showing. But I do think that if you're really making it work for the long haul, it's more complicated.

SPEAKER_01

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SPEAKER_00

We don't have time for that. Exactly. We gotta get out there and work.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. Exactly. Yes. And speaking of your husband, he was born and raised 10 miles down the road from you. You were working and he was roping when you met. Did you always know that you wanted to build this kind of life together? Like, were you always on the same page because of both of you sharing a similar background?

SPEAKER_00

Right. So we never met until the right time. That's one thing that's important to say is that we didn't meet when we were young or in high school or all of those things, which is thank goodness, because I feel like we would have made it a mess real early on. We met at the right time, and I was interested in moving back to the ranch, but I wasn't sure when. And we kind of just met at the right time. I had always been interested in coming back. He was a cattle rancher as well, or is a cattle rancher still. And so I think being a real rancher or being a farmer or being in agriculture, all of these things, you have to really love it, and you have to really want to live this life. And there's a lot of amazing things and beautiful aspects of it, but there are also, you know, like you wake up and there's no water, no water at all, and the only people who can fix it is us. You know, we didn't have internet during COVID still. We just got internet. I'm not even joking three years ago. I mean, do you remember Netflix when Netflix used to have the CDs? Let's go back. Do you remember those red things of the CDs?

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah, because they would come in the mail. Like you could order like two movies a month or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00

What? Okay. I think I was the last one who was still on them because I ordered four during the pandemic because that was exciting. You got four at a time. So during the pandemic, we didn't have phone service where we live or internet.

SPEAKER_01

Whoa. Yeah, I'm sure you did get four at a time. They're like, no one else is using this service anymore. We'll send you 15. What is what is Elizabeth Poet doing? Let's help her out. Which ones do you want from the collection? We'll send you any DVDs you want. Like that is so okay.

SPEAKER_00

This is hilarious. Netflix, really, those red envelopes. I was probably the last one in the country.

SPEAKER_01

Unbelievable. And I love this because you're also then fast forward, not that much time later, you're getting your show. So I'm glad you can like watch your show.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. Isn't it nice? Oh, we were filming my show when there was no internet here. I wasn't able to stream in the beginning.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my goodness. Can you imagine? People are like, oh my God, I saw your show. And you're like, I have it. What's all about it? Like, is it good? I mean, I thought about that too. I mean, for what I do for work, obviously, and everything. And the podcast, like, I'm so dependent on Wi-Fi. Now, if Wi-Fi goes down for a bit, I'm like, code red. Like, what are we gonna do? You know, it's so funny. It's such a different world. And there's convenience in that. And then there's also sometimes it's nice to not have that access or to be more unavailable in this like very technology-driven, you must be available 24-7 world. So in some ways, it being balanced to that. But I would imagine now it's nice that you guys have solid internet.

SPEAKER_00

We're enjoying it thoroughly, but we're prepared for it to go down.

SPEAKER_01

Right, right. Yeah, it might be inconsistent. Exactly, exactly. That's so funny. Okay. So you also talk about the balance of living where you work. As we all know, if something goes wrong, you don't always get to turn off. You don't get to be like, I'm nine to five, you're 24-7. And then I also have thought about like you work with your husband too. So that's a whole other dynamic. So, like, do you have certain work life boundaries or like how do you do it? How do you balance that? There's no boundaries. Yeah.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

We don't they that doesn't work. Answer's no boundaries.

unknown

Boundaries.

SPEAKER_00

No boundaries. Perfect. If I'm being honest. I think that we don't have boundaries and we don't have balance. And I think though, because we love what we do, it's okay. I think there are for sure some Sunday afternoons when we want to just barbecue and be at home and just maybe do a little gardening and plant some roses. We love that. But we also talk about work and we talk about what we need to do for the next week and what's the next projects. And if we go for a hike, we're talking about the ranch and what other next things that we need to do. So I feel lucky because we love what we do. And I think anybody feels that when you really are loving what you're doing, it's not a chore, it's something that is just part of you. And I think that that's something that's very much of what we are. So I don't think we've ever said, like, I can't talk about work right now. Oh yeah. I don't think we've ever had that conversation because we are constantly talking about work.

SPEAKER_01

Yes. Right. If you're like, well, that's also like not really an option. We can't just like block it out. You can't just like tap out when you have so much you're managing.

SPEAKER_00

We can't turn off our phones either. You know, it's like we don't turn off our phones because we have cattle. Somebody could call and say there's an emergency or a fire, or God forbid, or there's things going on all the time. So no, we don't really turn that off, and that's okay.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Well, I'm impressed because I was thinking, like, my husband and I get along really well, but I was there's that scene where you and your husband are like loading the hay bales. Uh-huh. And like you have to hook them and you have to, and I was just thinking, you know, it'd be like, oh, you get that side, you're that what are you doing? Why are you lifting like that? Like I was just thinking about the slippery slope of doing that with your partner. And how easily it could just be like, oh my god, oh my god, you handle the hay then. I'm out of here. Yes, yes, totally.

SPEAKER_00

And that happens too when we're working cows and we're in a corral together. Totally happens. I walk away, he walks away, we have our moment, and and then we'll come back together. But yeah, yes, that happens too.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, the human eye code. That's good because I think that would be inevitable. Or I would just be like, you go ride the quad and you go deal with the candle right now. Like, I'll see you later.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, yes. And we do. And we do.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, exactly. Everybody goes off and does their own things. That's so funny. Okay, so also I was telling you before we started this, when watching this show, I'm like, oh, they're probably by like Paso Role Blitz, like they're probably somewhere deep in the central coast, and you're in the Lompok area. You're like 45 minutes from where I live. So I was like, oh my God, you're so much closer. You're out there, but you're not like in the middle of truly nowhere. Like you still have access to other people and convenience.

SPEAKER_00

We can speak to people. We speak to humans. Yeah. It's very exciting. No, we're 45 minutes north of Santa Barbara, so we are lucky. I feel like we get the best of both worlds, you know? We get to live out here, and we're pretty close to the ocean, and it's a beautiful spot, but very much great for raising cattle. And yeah, we're super close. So you have to come and visit.

SPEAKER_01

We'll get into the events you do, but I cannot wait because I'm like, yeah, oh, easy peasy. I'll be there in a second. And I mean, that's what I love about the central coast in Santa Barbara. Like, you don't have to go that far to feel like you are in a totally different place or you are away from like the city. Like, listen, I know like LA people when listening to this is like, okay, Santa Barbara City, let's be real. But you know, like you really can feel like in open space very easily by like going to the valley by going a 45-minute car ride away. You can feel like in a totally different area. Yes. I always say, like, when we go stay in wine country or anything, you're like, God, this is like feels like a true vacation, even though we could go home and feed the cats right now.

unknown

Right.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I know. It's the best vacation ever. Yes. There's so many different aspects of the Central Coast, which you can be hiking in the hills or down at the beach within the same day. It's a really special place.

SPEAKER_01

So beautiful, like the oaks and the rolling hills. It's so beautiful there. Are you off the grid? Do you guys have like solar power? Are your kids do they go to school? Did you do any homeschooling? How has that worked for your family?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we've always done school. We have been homeschooled. To be honest, I love my kids going to school.

SPEAKER_01

I don't have kids, but I can tell you I'm not gonna homeschool if I have kids. Let's be real.

SPEAKER_00

I think also because we live out in the middle of nowhere, socially, I want them to be around a bunch of other kids. And so we are lucky enough. Yes, they've always gone to school. And I've always been working full-time on the ranch and doing these events and the show and the cookbook. So for me, it makes sense that way. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

Got it, got it. And energy-wise, solar or like no, we have electricity. Yeah, we have old school electricity. Yeah. There you go. We are so cool. We have electricity. And now we learn you have Wi-Fi. So yeah, on the open up.

SPEAKER_00

And we just have Wi-Fi? Yeah. We're like rolling now. Yeah. Yeah. Now, do we always have electricity? We are also the first that is also shut down when anything anytime we lose it all. We must lose electricity at least once a week. Oh, I mean that's pretty frequent. We lose it all the time. Just because there's so little amount of people in our area. So they're like, oh, you know, 12 people. We can shut that down if we're doing work.

SPEAKER_01

So have you ever been filming and it's like yes.

SPEAKER_00

No. Oh yeah. 100%. 100%. We then will switch quickly to being outside and doing outdoor work. If you're in the kitchen, that changes our day.

SPEAKER_01

You're like, well, can't use the food processor right now or whatever it is. Exactly. So what we've talked about is you host the ranch table, which you started under the event umbrella, I guess if you would say, to get people to come to the ranch to experience it for themselves. And you'll do the cooking classes, special meals, private events, which I'm going to attend because I can't wait. Okay, so are you making the food or like you make the food together? How does it work? Or is everything?

SPEAKER_00

I make all the food.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, usually I make the food. Love that even more. Love that even more.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, I make the food. Yeah, it was definitely something that I wanted to start because I wanted people to really again connect to coming to the ranch and what that actually feels like for a real working cattle, like a real working ranch. It's not a place to like stop by because you probably won't see anybody because we're out in the hills. We're wineries, you come by and somebody's there for the tasting, whereas we're like a working cattle ranch. So we don't have that. So I wanted to basically begin this. When I first moved back to the ranch, I started selling beef at farmers markets and I was at farmers markets for almost 16 years. I went down to LA and was working with a ton of restaurants and went to the Santa Barbara Farmers Market. And I was doing all of these things because I was really interested in food and being able to provide local beef and meats. I ended up doing all different types of meats. But then everybody was saying, Oh, I want to come for a ranch day or a visit, or and I thought to myself, instead of everybody just coming and getting a tour, let's actually have people come and dress up and we'll teach people how to rope, or we'll also take people into the garden and kind of show them what we're doing there, or the orchard. And so I wanted it to feel a little bit more hands-on, and also then, of course, have a really big beautiful meal and just be able to enjoy time together. So it's kind of where it came from.

SPEAKER_01

I think that's fantastic. So when you do these events, when you're hosting, what do you enjoy the most about that? Like what part of those events, what's your favorite?

SPEAKER_00

I love the whole thing. I think it's so much fun. I love people coming together and sitting at the table and making long friends. We've had people come and meet somebody who's sitting right next to them and then come again together again. We have a lot of people who help us throughout the year. So we have only a couple of us who are throughout the entire year. There's three or four of us who are throughout the entire year working on the ranch. But over time, we need 20 riders to come and help us gather cattle or move cattle or whatever. And so one of the big traditions all around the country is to feed people who come and help you, right? So we're always feeding people. We usually try to have big, long tables. So that's where that comes from. And so we have all of our guests, we sit on these long, big, beautiful tables, and they're coming from all over the country. And it's really fun to be able to just have a really delicious meal, and it always ends up just being like very lively and fun and just laughing. You can just hear all the laughter, and it's very joyous.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, really just an excuse to bring people together. And I love that you have repeat guests that come back for the experience and meet people there and want to come back. Like, that's lovely. That's a really nice part of that experience and bringing that to the community. It's really wonderful. Okay, so you've mentioned this in a similar vein. You do the Santa Maria style barbecue every Sunday. And if people don't really know, like tri-tip is so big for Santa Barbara, that cut of meat, that you go to other parts of the country and they're like, What's tri-tip? A lot of people here eat it with salsa, of course. So it's a very Santa Barbara Central Coast thing. Obviously, Santa Maria, it's in the title. Let me just give that shout out. Yes. And touching on what you just discussed and watching the show, there are so many moments where people are coming together. Like you have the neighbors that are helping out, watching your kids, or your in-laws that are coming to help you like move the cattle, or like other people from neighboring farms that you're friends with. So what I got from watching it was like there's this real sense of community and neighbors helping neighbors. And I just love that idea because I think in this modern day we become sometimes so much more separate, so much more individualistic. And I think it's this return of what you do in ranch life of like it takes a team, it takes a village, and you have to have moments. I'm sure there's moments you go help with other people's farms then too, right? So, like, speak about that community because I think it is really special about the life you have.

SPEAKER_00

I think that there is no way that we could do what we do without our community, truly. And I think that it takes a village. I mean, I think when parents are raising a kid, they realize that real fast. Takes a village to grow things, and whether it be humans or animals. Yeah. And I think that's the reality. And it's something that I grew up with. It's something that has been a tradition in agriculture communities all around the country. And it was something that I really wanted to show that is very much true. You're not alone. You're not alone in a kitchen. There's a lot of teamwork that is involved if you are really involved in this work. And it's important to not only showcase it, but to celebrate it. And being able to be together is something that I love. I am definitely a social person, and I love being able to host. I love hosting, I love bringing people together, and that is something that I've just always loved. But I do think I grew up with it, and it's very much part of who I am.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, it's just second nature. So, do you really feel like it's that dependability where, like, if you get a call from a neighbor, like, hey, you want to come help us harvest the garden or whatever it is, like you're like, sure. Like, it's not even a question, it's not like actually I need to do it. It's like, oh yeah, you need help, I'm there. Like, you feel like there is that reciprocity.

SPEAKER_00

A hundred percent. A hundred percent. And if someone calls because, hey, we have a cow that needs help or I need help loading or whatever, that's something that we are doing constantly. There's times where Austin and I, we are still raising kids, we gotta pick them up from school, we gotta get them back. That's the reality of all of that. But either I'm doing that and he's helping a neighbor and I'm getting the kids, and or he's getting the kids and I'm helping, you know. I mean, because we need their help as well. And that's something that we're incredibly grateful for community, but it's almost more so than that, because you know, there's a difference between having your best friend and a neighbor. A neighbor is a really interesting relationship, it's different. You don't have to be besties, right? Of course. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But life is so much better if you have each other's back. Absolutely. If you're looking out for each other, and I think there's something that is really beautiful about wherever you live in this world is bringing some cookies over. I know it sounds really cute or kitschy, but to bring over cookies to a neighbor who maybe had a bad day or is going through something, yeah, that makes so much more of a difference in their lives. And so I think what I'm trying to say is you don't have to have a ranch. You don't have to be in agriculture, right? You don't have to do something massive. It's these little moments that I'm hopeful that will spread and sharing with others, no matter if you live an apartment building and you can go next door and make your neighbor drop off a cup of coffee. Right. Something as simple as that.

SPEAKER_01

Well, absolutely. And I think I'm a big believer of so many people want the village, but they don't want to be a villager. And we have this like increase in loneliness and all this stuff, and this modern day age where you're like, oh, I can get that delivered. I don't need someone, or I can get an Uber to the airport. And I'm still a believer of like you want to show up, and just because you can outsource it or because you have the money to pay for delivery, like you're missing that community factor, and like we're so worried about inconveniencing others sometimes. Like, oh no, I don't want them to have to feel like they have to come over, make a meal, or drop it off. But it's like, no, no, no, that's what it's all about. Your friends want to do that for you, you want to do that for other people. And I'm not like a great cook, but I have like two meal train meals I can make. I have like that down, and that's all I need. And I'm in like a baby boom right now. All my friends are having kids and babies, and yes. And I'm again not a natural chef, but I'm like, listen, I'm bringing over the chicken, tikamasala. Then I get to see you, I get to help you with stuff, I get to like hang out with your toddler if you need someone to like just like it's about that community. It's not just like, hey, let me throw you a gift card. That can be great. Doing something is better than nothing, but I think we become so focused on like our own little domains and doing what we want to do all the time and not asking for help or others that I actually think it's creates a lot of disconnection. And part of the human experience is like showing up, like, oh, you need something, I'll help you out. I made extra cookies, let me drop some off. Like, that's what builds community. Yes. I think with your show, it does a really wonderful job of showing that and how that is so integrated and and has to be in the life that you live.

SPEAKER_00

Totally. I couldn't agree with you more. And I think time is priceless if you give that time to someone who has just had a baby or is going through something, or you give that time by making the cookies. It's a priceless gift. It's the sweetest of all.

SPEAKER_01

Absolutely. So you have a thousand hives and you sell your honey, which I now can buy no other honey. This is not sponsored. I bought the honey multiple times before. I've had you on the podcast. I bought it from Porch in Summerlin. It is like such a great item to have in your home or to gift. So you do have some items you sell. I know I went to your website and you have clothing items and stuff for the ranch. Yes. And you also have the ranch table cookbook, which I mentioned before. What are a couple of your favorite recipes from the cookbook? Any tried and true that you go back to, or do you get like the feedback from people that they're like, oh, I love making this? What are your recipe thoughts?

SPEAKER_00

I use my cookbook a bunch. I mean, these are kind of my tried and true recipes that I absolutely love. I probably make the chocolate chip cookies that use instead of butter, it uses olive oil. You can't taste the olive oil, but it's like a really soft cookie. And it's just a really one of those chocolate chip cookies that is one of my favorites. So it's a chewy chocolate chip cookie that I use all the time. I make my fried chicken all the time. It's one of my favorites, and I drizzle it actually with that honey. And it's so good. So it has that kind of salty and sweetness, which is so delicious. I make that chocolate cake a bunch. There's a really easy, simple four-layer chocolate cake with strawberries, which is perfect for this time of year. Gosh, I mean, I make all the soups. I don't know. I use it a bunch. It's a very one of those cookbooks that all of the ingredients you can find anywhere. It's very simple, but it gives you a lot of just easy tips to be able to make a really delicious meal at home.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that's excellent. Again, I'm not cooking up a storm here, but like nothing is more annoying than a recipe where you have to go buy 17,000 ingredients and you're gonna have that one thing in your cupboard forever that you're never gonna really use again. And yes. Well, for me, again, maybe with more culinary skill, people feel differently. But for me, I'm like the simpler the better, because I'll actually make it and I'll actually use these ingredients again instead of it being so esoteric that I'm like, okay, well, now what else am I gonna do with this? Like sit in the cupboard.

SPEAKER_00

No, that was really important to me that this is very much attainable, and these are meals that people can easily make at home.

SPEAKER_01

So, segue question, but I was thinking about this earlier with how long the ranch has been in your family, of course, and how you guys have been able to pass it down and keep managing it. There's the expression like sell the farm, obviously. Like, have you ever ever thought about selling the farm? Have people approach you about selling the farm, about breaking up into different parcels? Like, I just wondered at some point over the years if that has been a case.

SPEAKER_00

My grandfather's generation put the ranch into an LLC. Oh, okay, great. We've really tried to take all the precautions as much as we can that we keep the ranch in our family forever. And those are things that we have really, really tried. And I feel very, very lucky that my family is on board. My grandfather's generation, my dad's generation, now my generation. We are very much wanting to keep this ranch in our family again because I think something that we talk about a lot is that it is bigger than ourselves. There's this word of like stewardship, you know. But to be stewards of the land is to say that we are working for the land. It's not working for us. We have to work for it. So when we do grazing, for example, I mean, we do rotational grazing and making sure that this is for the long haul. We don't even really focus on that. What we focus on is what's gonna happen in 20 years, what's gonna happen in a hundred years.

SPEAKER_01

And do you think then is the goal or are they interested, your boys, that they will then continue on? Like, are they interested in keeping the ranch dream alive as well? I would assume so.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, I mean, I think they're born and raised that way, so I definitely think so. It depends on what they want to do. The ranch will always be part of them. And I would never, though, say you're gonna be a rancher, you know. And I want them to be able to be whatever they want to be and do whatever they want to do. And and it worked out for my parents. I did end up coming back.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah. No, I'm sure exactly. I'm sure you're like, do what you want to do, but if one of you does want to do this, that would be preferable.

SPEAKER_02

Exactly.

SPEAKER_01

That would be great, that would be ideal. Yeah. I love hearing that. I think it's remarkable that you guys have kept the ranch this long. Not many families could say that, or that you guys have all, again, had the same dedication to preserving it and managing the land because some people would say, like, I'm out. I grew up here, like, I don't want this kind of lifestyle. I'm moving to New York City or something, you know. I'm so glad it's been passed down and that every generation has wanted to maintain and carry on the legacy. And I love what you said too about like you're here for a short time. It really is about the environment for you and the land. And like, yeah, like you said, it's not the even the focus on you all, it's like keeping that going for the future generations, which is like a really optimistic and like very organic, natural way to look at it. Like, hey, we're a blip in time. This is about the whole future of this keeping on. So what a nice way to look at that. Okay, well, do you have Have anything, any daily rituals that you do, anything that really fills your cup that you do daily? Well, I love drinking coffee in the morning.

SPEAKER_00

Amen. Honestly, I'm not gonna lie. I love a good cup of coffee. I have a frother. Really love my frother. It's the little things in life.

SPEAKER_01

My mom does too. My mom is all about a frother. That's so funny.

SPEAKER_00

I love that.

SPEAKER_01

I gotta use my I have one. I gotta use it.

SPEAKER_00

Oh. Changes your life. It really does. I do try my best to take the dogs on a walk. We have five dogs. If I'm able to, I love to take my dogs on a walk in the evening times, especially on days that are trickier or feel more emotional or feel more heightened. I think that a walk has always made me feel just like grounded and kind of again, bigger picture. Bigger picture. Yeah. And so that's always a good thing to remember.

SPEAKER_01

I know you have the five dogs, but I feel that you have to have a barn cat. Is there a cat? You have to have cats, right? Two. Yeah, two barn. Okay. Honestly, I was expecting more.

SPEAKER_00

Two seems pretty reasonable. Well, it depends on the barn. So we have two barn cats that live near our house. There are others, but we have two that come and visit us, Smokey and Tuffy, and they are Smokey and Tuffy. They live up to their names and they come and we feed them a little bit, but then they're back to work.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, they're workers. Totally. They're mousers. They have things to do. They have things to do. That's so funny. My husband grew up in Ohio, and he grew up in, they like restored an old farmhouse and they grew Christmas trees for a while. And yes. Yeah, so he had a taste of kind of like the farm life, and they always had so many cats and dogs. And people, I think, knowing that they had some land and probably that they were animal lovers, would just drop off animals there. So they would just be like, Oh, well, we got another dog today. Like, yes, that happens.

SPEAKER_00

It's crazy. It's crazy. I can't even imagine. I can't imagine dropping off, but that totally happens. I love Ohio. I went to college in Ohio. I love Ohio.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, yeah. He's from there, and my in-laws are still there. They're snowbirds now, so they're Ohio or Florida for the winters. So we go back, of course, every year they come out here. They like visiting Santa Barbara, which is nice too. But I'm very familiar with Ohio now. They had tons of cats, tons of dogs, and and like they'd be like, What's the number now? You know, and some would leave for a bit and some would come back. So it's a whole thing, yes. We are a family of five dogs and we love them. Okay. Well, my final question for you is since I have you on the Bets Life podcast, I always ask people how you live your best life.

SPEAKER_00

I try to live being true to myself because that is where I get the most joy. I think that if I focus in on what is truly what I want to do, where do I want to go? What are things that I want to do and see on the ranch and bringing people to the ranch? I mean, I think all of these things to me are who I truly am. And I think that gives a really full life, and I feel like I'm able to give more.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, no, exactly. Perfect answer. I agree. Well, tell people where they can find you, social media, when your next events are. I think they might be sold out, but upcoming ones, whatever you have going on.

SPEAKER_00

So we have the ranch table website, there's a store online, we sell honey, but we also have lavender and all sorts of other merch. You can come visit the ranch, which we have these ranch table events. You can also find it there. We are sold out for this coming summer, but every year around Thanksgiving is when we release the next year's dates. And so around the holidays, if you're wanting to give it, it's a perfect gift to give to your loved ones and have a whole big meal on the ranch. So we love doing that. So that comes around Thanksgiving time. I have a cookbook called The Ranch Table, and it's about a whole year on the ranch and all the food that we eat and love to share. I have a substack called The Ranch Table, and that also is a newsletter, and we send out recipes every week, and I try to really kind of share a little bit about what ranch life is all about, and then the show, Ranch to Table, which is on HBO.

SPEAKER_01

So, where can people buy the book? Through your website, through Amazon? Everywhere.

SPEAKER_00

The ranch table, it's on Amazon, it's on my website, everywhere they sell books.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly, exactly. So if people want to know the dates, like be the first to know, because again, I think they sell out. You gotta move quickly, people. Would you say join the Substack? Do you have a newsletter or like an email list?

SPEAKER_00

Yes. So join Substack, which is my newsletter. It's free to join. And if you are joined, I always send out my release dates first to my newsletter list.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, that's what I figured. So I'm like, I want the listeners to be on the VIP track here. Yes, get in. Come on over here. Inside, yeah, get your date reserved. Okay, well, yeah, thank you so much for being here. It was lovely to have you. And yeah, I hope to see you in the future at the ranch.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, absolutely. Such an honor to be here.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you. Interested in more? Visit thebet'slife.com or find me at the BetsLife on Instagram. Please follow, rate, and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. Thanks for listening.