Grounded in Maine

Welcome back to Wildly Unplug, where we share stories of nature, conservation, and creativity—and explore what develops when we unplug and step outside.

Today, I’m thrilled to introduce fellow podcaster Amy, creator and host of the Grounded in Maine podcast. With over 100 episodes, Amy’s show explores the vast world of sustainability with a refreshing, relatable perspective. Our conversation covered everything from homesteading myths to simple acts of mindful living—and a few laughs about chickens, roosters, and worm bins along the way.

Where to Find Amy

📌 Grounded in Maine Podcast on Instagram
📌 Listen to Grouded in Maine wherever you tune in

Amy’s Top Tip for Connecting with Nature:

🔌Simple and sweet: Get a bird feeder.

“It might make you feel old, but there’s something so magical about watching the birds come and go. It’s an easy way to start noticing the world around you.”

Whether it’s a hummingbird feeder or tossing out seeds, Amy believes small interactions with nature build lasting connections.

Let’s hear your story! Click here to submit your tale.

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For more inspiration, check out www.WildDevelopmentsStudio.com.

Wildly Unplug is part of the iRoar Network

Transcript

 Welcome to wildly Unplug, sharing stories of nature conservation and creativity. Discover what develops when you unplug and step outdoors.  Amy, thank you so much for being here today. Yay, Lauren. Oh my gosh. I'm so excited that we're doing this. I know. And you're a fellow podcaster with a Grounded in Maine podcast with over a hundred shows. Congratulations.  So what can listeners expect when they hop on over and listen to your show?

Oh my gosh. So I don't come at this as a authority on anything. Like I come at this as just curious. I wanna know what other people are doing because I know what I'm doing, which feels like not a lot when I talk to other people, but. I really want people to feel encouraged to try something.

'cause I know that, the podcast is about sustainability. Sustainability is a huge word. It includes like everything under the sun. And there are so many things like, like organic cotton and linen and there solar panels and all kinds of things are like super, super expensive. And some people might feel left out I can't really be sustainable because I don't have that kind of money.

But there are so many things that people can do in all different  ways.  So I guess, is there a pivot point that led you to focus on sustainability or is that something that's always been inside of you? It would, it was initially supposed to be about homesteading and then I joined a few homesteading Facebook groups and they were not very nice. 

They're like, oh, you don't the chemical smell in this homemade laundry soap. Maybe you should go down to the river and rub it on some rocks. And like just, talking really down to me. And I'm like, I don't wanna be associated with that. And I'm not like, I'm never gonna do homesteading. In fact, I'm like, I just moved.

And so my first thing is to build myself a food forest. I wanna do that. And so I'm just gonna have my own little homestead and I'm not going to talk to those people. But it, it's, and so in fact a couple, I'm just setting up an a, an episode for a couple weeks from now and her, the podcast episode title is homesteading, is a state of mind.

So like I it's just a,  that's something that's been inside of me for a long time.  I wanted to start a YouTube channel with a friend of mine about homesteading and talk to different people who are doing different things, or learn different skills and each week, learn a different skill on the YouTube channel and then come back the next week and talk about how that worked.

Incorporating it into our lives like. That is totally something I'm gonna keep doing or that does not work for me next. But then she just dropped off and so I was like, I'm not gonna be on YouTube all by myself and talk to myself. And I can't do that. So it just became a podcast instead.

And now I talk to myself on camera all the time.  It's funny how things happen like that. That's a really interesting concept, though. I, that would be fun to follow if you ever get a chance to do that. 100% in homesteading, is that different than just having your, an a garden in your backyard or is that just the fancy word for that?

It depends on who you talk to. A lot of, the thing that was a turnoff for me, not. Besides the fact that people were exclusive and mean, but they, it's, they have this mindset of I don't need anyone else. And that does not jive with me because I am all about community.

I have a note on the wall behind my computer that says community sufficiency, take care of each other. That's what we're here for. That's what I'm all about. And so it's, homestead is more providing for yourself and your community, doing your own food preservation and so gardening, food preservation raise, raising animals, that type of thing.

And it doesn't have to be all, it doesn't have to be like off grid. You don't need, any outside communication or anything. But then at, at the same time with these people, like they would talk down to you like you have a cell phone, so you're not a homesteader, but at the same time, what are you doing on Facebook?

Meh on point. It's just, everyone's different, but it's just, it's the idea of providing for yourself and being, just like backing up away from all the hustle and bustle. And going back to what has worked for centuries.  Yeah, like diving completely into homesteading would be. 

So overwhelming if we made it accessible to everybody and broke it down. And maybe I can grow pumpkins really well in my front yard by accident. 'cause I leave them out after Halloween. After Halloween.  And somebody else down the street could be really good at growing tomatoes.

Like everybody could work together and that, I'm sure. Yes. Yeah, that's my that was my, with the sustainability theme even what I've been, I keep saying that I'm like building my tribe. Like I want this community of people around me that I can I can share with and they can share with me, like that type of thing.

So these people are just like. I, they've become confidants and my community, which I'm so loving,  but I'm tall about that. In fact, I just I had a North Carolina, another North Carolina podcast guest not too long ago who's like 45 minutes for me. And they've started this community of other homesteaders or farmers that, and they will all share or buy in bulk and split things and stuff like, like they're sharing a tractor and maybe like a, what's the new fancy thing? The freeze dryers, those things are thousands of dollars, but if you go together and share it, then you don't have to like, it's all mine and I have to pay all of this and stuff like that. Like sharing stuff is not a bad thing.  Yeah, it, the community garden groups because I did a class on that in the wintertime, they are very much mindset like that.

Oh, I've got these seeds. Who wants to trade seeds? And if they have an abundance of produce, they'll give it to a, a shelter that needs food or, have a community party or something like that. Yeah.  Maybe you need to look into like community gardens and not homesteaders because they seem a little more isolated.

Yes.  You brought up North Carolina and being close, you're not in Maine anymore? I'm not in Maine anymore. I moved in the beginning of August to Virginia. I was just in Virginia last weekend in Charlottesville. Dang it. A lot of people were in Charlottesville last weekend. What was going on? I was there for my 20th anniversary.

My husband surprised me. We took a train, which is a delightful experience except for the bathroom area.  But other than that, it was a lot of fun and it's a beautiful area. We did the Shenandoah national Park is beautiful, so it's a beautiful area. So I'm guessing that. Not everybody has to be from Maine to listen to your podcast.

No I'm not from Maine anymore.  I'm from Maine. I'm always from Maine, but I am I, yeah. And that was, I was actually thinking about, should I change the name of the podcast, since it's grounded in Maine. But at the same time, like I've spent 49 out of 50 years in Maine, so I'm still grounded in Maine.

I just live somewhere else right now. That's where your roots are.  It's where my mom was born. She's definitely gonna be listening to this show. Oh real? Yeah. Where was your mom from? Oh gosh. Rock Rockland, Maine. Okay. I have a friend that just moved there. Oh, wonderful. It's a very small town. I hear. But was this your first podcast experience? 

Yes. And then that was the whole story before with your friend, you were gonna go in with your friend and then you're just like, she, so I'm gonna do it myself? Yeah. It was like. We talked about it two years before I started the podcast. That's how I roll. I'm like, oh, I'm gonna do this and I talk about it and talk about it and talk about it, and I'll take classes and blah, blah, blah.

And then something happens that makes me finally do it. Like I I talked about, worm bins getting a worm compost bin. And I went to three or four different classes over three different, over three years. And I was like, I went to the library for a class and I was like, okay, I'll feel more confident after this one, and then maybe someday I'll get a worm bin.

But they if actually gave away worm bins while I was there. I'm like, oh.  Now I have work now You gotta do it. Oh my gosh, it's actually here. This was not the day I was planning on, but Okay.  But yeah, with the podcast, like I talked about it and I thought about it for about two years. And then a friend a friend in Florida was talking to my sister-in-law in Cincinnati.

She, he said, is that where you are? Yeah, you're, that's right. I'll have to hook you guys up 'cause that would be really fun. He told my sister-in-law, and I don't know why he didn't tell me, but he was like, my friends are hosting this podcasting workshop in Florida in March. This was in 2022. 

And so she told me that and I was like. It's Covid man. What? You want me to go to Flo Florida? That I, I was working temp jobs, like I don't think I can do that. And so he actually said, I finally ended up talking to him and he said that he had enough points to fly me down. So he is if I fly you down, you just have to pay for the workshop.

That was like, that was a gift that was too big to say no to. That was just too easy. So I went to the workshop and that was March in June, I started the podcast.  That's fabulous. Do you have any big takeaways from doing over a hundred episodes? Like advice or takeaways, like things that I learned from the, from podcast guests?

Gosh, how about, let's dive into both questions. Okay. So as far as podcasting, I would say get over yourself. One, I wanna say you're not that special, but it's not that, it's not that big of a deal. I remember I, I don't know how many times I did my first like my first super short episode, my solo episodes are so short and they're painful, painfully long for me.

But the first one, I think I must have tried it like 18 times, like recording, and I was like no, it's not good enough. But the fact is.  You're never gonna get better if you don't publish it and just suck it up. You have to actually put it out there and it will get easier. And that's my advice for podcasting.

That's the, that was my big takeaway.  You gotta do it. Yeah.  Same. My first episode where it was just me I must have done it and done it again. I'm like, it's gotta sound perfect. I'm like but who's really gonna listen? A handful of people, that's fine. Whatever. Yeah. Just, I don't talk perfect in my day to day.

I don't have to on this little, 10 minute segment. I think people are looking for the real, us. Does it feel like it's half an hour though, that you have to talk and you're just like. I'm out. I got nothing else. Yeah. And I'm like, I get tired of talking. I'm like, why?  Because there's not a face in front of you.

It's so different. It's so different and so much more comfortable with another face. It's true, for sure. What about from everything that you've learned about sustainability and an our environment? What's your biggest takeaway there? As far as that, let's see. One of the biggest things that I've come away with is a really important thing that I've learned from people that I've had on is to find awe and that, that may sound weird in as far as sustainability, but I've had a couple of guests that just talk about, how beautiful the world is. Like how much opportunity, how much we actually, we pass by in our busy day-to-day stuff. But like I have a past guest, his name was Noah. He runs a climbing company in Camden, which is right beside Rockport, Maine, Rockland. And. He talked about finding awe, and I was like, sold.

Like you find awe, you find beauty, you take care of that, and that's the whole point of sustainability. So that was a really big lesson for me. And also I, you expect these not, I'm not gonna say fancy, but like these kind of big deal tips for sustainability and things that people are doing.

And I had a friend come on and she was like, I make my own veggie broth.  And I was like, go you. That's awesome. But at the same time, if you think about it making broth,  it doesn't seem like that big of a deal. You save your veggie scraps in the freezer in a bag, and then you add water.  But if you were to buy it at the store,  you have those cartons that are like coated in plastic or wax or something and you can't compost them.

And you can't recycle them. And they're like $5 and there's more than just veggie scraps and water. Yeah,  so it's like such a smart thing and it's such an easy thing to do and it costs you nothing  and it takes no effort.  So it's a, it was a very cool one for me. Like you can spend thousands of dollars.

I'm about to have solar panels put on my house and that's thousands of dollars. But I only have it 'cause I'm getting divorced or because I just got divorced. But but then, making veggie broth is nothing I. But it's such a, it's such a huge it's a very independent feeling.

It's a very healthy feeling. It's it's a big contribution if you're, if you think about it that way.  And it just takes a little bit of intentionality. I think that is another thing that I've learned from my podcast is that you have to be intentional about your time and getting out so you can experience those awe inspiring moments.

Or even just eat veggie broth. 'cause you have to be like, okay, I have to set this aside and I know I need to do something with it later. And that saves, it's good for your health and it's helpful for the environment. That's right. A really great idea. And so something, yeah. And I say that a lot too.

Not intentional is not a word that usually comes to my mind, but mindful is the same thing. But and I do say that a lot. Like it's a mindset thing. Like you just have to put your mind to it and make plans. So has your podcast evolved over the couple years or is it,  you feel about the same? 

It has evolved in that I have talked to insanely cool people.  Not that my friends are not insanely cool, but it's just like the people that I've gotten to meet. I'm like, I, I. So I started out scared to death who is gonna listen to this? Nobody in Maine talk about sustainability. And I'm, I've talked to someone who's in the fashion world talk about fast fashion.

I talked to someone in England who talks about growing.  Pollinating pollinator plants to to raise bees for honey and from his family in Romania. But just the caliber of people the,  I'm gonna fumble my words, but like the number of really cool people that I've never, and that's the cool thing I have ne I never would've met these people had I not had a podcast.

And it just makes, it's like grown my community, my my network so far. And it's just, it's such a beautiful thing that I can my social media is ridiculously hard now because there are so many people that I follow and I have to support them and it's not hard to support them, but it just, it's a time, it's very time consuming because now I know all these people.

But like  I, I had a, I turned 50 last year. I did for my 100th episode actually, I did an episode on menopause. I did a menopause panel which was super cool. Like I had a couple of past guests and then a couple people that I did not know before. And we talked about menopause symptoms and how it affects things and any guides, any tips for  getting through and stuff like that, which was just.

It was just outstanding. It was like one of the coolest moments of my life. Because it was such a game changer for me starting the podcast, but then also learning that I'm in menopause and and all the things, all the fun changes that comes with that. Yeah. All part of nature is, was it, did you find any sustainable options when it comes to menopause or holistic? 

Sure options. Sure. One of them. So I had a past, I had a past podcast guest who actually told me, basically You are perimenopausal dude. And she, her podcast, her, not her podcast, but her product is a nightgown that is made of hemp. So natural fabric, but it dries quickly and it is naturally anti. 

Bacterial so that it, you don't have to wash it as much and it just like stays dry pretty easily because women in perimenopause, menopause have crazy night sweats and hot flashes and it's just way more comfortable. She actually sent me one, I can vouch for it, I'll wear it every single day,  but but that was just one of many really awesome moments.

I actually, so from.  From the podcast, I have this idea of doing a like a series, a short series on one of my podcast guests. But it just it, to think about it, it blows my mind a little bit that I was so scared and I was, I just was like. This is not gonna last. I can, I'm not gonna be able to keep doing this to like, I am addicted.

Like as soon as I talk to somebody, when is the next time I get to do this? And the cool things that I get to, to talk about and the cool people that I get to meet,  it is really funny 'cause I was talking to his Tommy Outdoors podcast, he's in Ireland and he's I talked to all these scientists from around the world and he talked to one of 'em about, I believe it was wolves.

And he's I couldn't just call this person up and be like, Hey, can I talk to you about wolves? But it's, Hey, I have a podcast. Can you come on? And then he's and it's opened the door to talk to so many amazing people. And I'm like, yes, absolutely. Like I we had Christine, I'm gonna mess up her last name.

The sea turtle video where the sea turtle had a straw stuck in its nose. What? Oh, we had on that biologist and she inspired my son five years ago to raise money for sea turtle. So I had him on the show too. So it's like such an amazing, network of people. It really makes the world a lot smaller.

It opens up so many doors. Today what  in an hour, I'm talking to the editor of the old Farmer's Almanac. Oh my gosh. I know. I'm like, what the,  and I didn't even approach them. They just, my guest form is in my bio and they filled that out and I was like, oh, hey.  I'm like, here's my scheduling.

Let's hook that up. So I like, I'm floored. I'm floored how this is all like working.  That could easily be someone you could do a couple parts series on right there. Gosh, the Farmer's Almanac. For real. I know,  but that is super awesome. So do you, other than like a miniseries, do you have a book in the works or retreats or anything like that?

I am  starting to think about a book maybe.  There you go. In my spare time, or full time podcast three nights a week. But yeah I am thinking about that. I'm also thinking about, maybe a second podcast.  Oh wow. If I can get a reliable friend  that we can just, talk about stuff and have people on and, so it's not all me.

I don't want it to be all me. It I did a podcast with friends once. That becomes an interesting dynamic after a while.  And then podcasting does feel like a labor of love. And there are a couple times where I'm like, oh, I only get a handful of listeners.  And I'm like, gosh, why am I doing this?

But sometimes I'm like I get so much out of it. You feel the same way? Oh, 100%. Yeah.  Totally. And I, so somebody that I've worked with said, if you don't have a lot of listeners, if you think about putting them all in a room, all those listeners, whether it be, a few or my, my episodes usually are around a hundred total.

It's put a hundred people in a room and try to speak in front of 'em yeah.  That suddenly becomes a lot. That's intimidating. Yeah, totally. But that's, it was a really cool way to look at it. And it just is, the fact that anybody's listening is pretty cool. And, you reach one person that says,  thank goodness for your podcast I've learned so much and I'm following every week, and blah, blah, blah.

You're like.  Yeah, but they see you heard from someone.  Yeah. And the weird thing is they were family members like you. I don't know about you, but I, my family is oh good. Good job, Amy. That's really cool. And you're like.  But you're not listening. My ex-husband wasn't listening. But then you find out that your family's listening.

You're like, oh my gosh, that's really cool. Yeah, that is a cool feeling. And then for any listener that's listening to either show, right? Feedback. We love that kind of stuff. 'cause we need to know what's working and what's not and what people wanna hear so that people wanna keep coming back.

Yeah,  totally.  What,  let's see, why is grounded in Maine important to you, and how do you feel like it is helping to impact the world in a positive way?  Ooh. That's a big question. Grounded in Maine I had such a community in, I, I volunteered for seven years at a garden farm that, grew organic produce just to donate it to food banks.

So I felt really connected with my community and that just it, that was very grounding for me. That was like, they're my people. They were the reason that I was sad to leave Maine.  Because that was every single Saturday morning I spent time with these people. They became my family. And so leaving them was really hard.

But just, Maine is where I learned all about these things. Maine is where I felt free to to attempt things that, I had space to be able to try things that I did not know before.  And so that was, that's just, that's it, that's all I have.  Moving from Maine to Virginia, do you,  what do you miss about Maine and also what do you really enjoy about your new habitat that you're in? 

Let me tell you so Maine, the, what I miss is my, my, my Saturday morning people at the farm. What I am loving about this place in Virginia. So I'm in southern Virginia. I'm close to North Carolina, but it's it's a very sleepy area except people drive like they're on fire. And  I risk my life walking the dog every day.

But the people are so nice. They are so nice. In fact, the the man that lives across the street. I just mowed my lawn today. Aw. Thank goodness. We were, he was done by the time we started this. But I was just finishing up work and I could hear the lawnmower, but like I just he did it once before and I ran outside.

I'm like, I don't have any money to pay you. Like I wasn't prepared for this. He's it's okay. I just wanted to say hi, and I didn't know how to do that. Aww.  So I just thought I'd mow your lawn. I'm like, dude. And we were talking about, so I moved with my chickens, which is why I am here. I'm in agricultural land.

So I moved with my chickens, which is a whole other story, but I told him, I said, I've meant to bring, I've been meaning to bring over some cookies to apologize for my roosters because I have two roosters. And they have competitions every morning. Who can scream the loudest?

And so he was like, no, I'm totally cool. I grew up with chickens. I love that. He's I would love to get some farm fresh eggs. I'm like,  yeah, I have three hens. Only one is laying. So I get like an egg every other day. Aw. But, so I brought him over some eggs. A few eggs and some cookies the other day.

And so he, he was like, oh, I've been meaning to mow your lawn. I'm like, dude, you do not have to do that. But but this house has a totally clean slate. It's an open, the front yard is totally just grass empty. There's no trees or anything. So I have to start over  with my food forest. Nice.  That'll be a fun journey.

Are you gonna document that? And you can help people do their own food forest? I should.  Totally should.  Here's one more thing on your plate.  Yes. No, I totally should. You're right.  That is really cool. Do you have a favorite place in nature that you found in Virginia so far?  Right now it's my deck. In Maine, it was my yard.

I had a a lawn swing and we would just let the chickens walk around. And so just, sitting there with the chickens clucking around and just super peaceful. I just love it. And so now with my deck, I can hear like the chickens are underneath the deck if they're not walking around. And so I can hear them just making their little sounds.

It's pretty awesome.  And then the hummingbirds. Holy crap. The hummingbirds,  oh my gosh. They have four or five and they are so loud and they were like, dive bomb. Your head  crazy. I've never been in a space like that.  Yeah, we've got three that come by our backyard and I was surprised by how loud they are and that they make little squeaking sounds.

It's totally adorable. Yeah.  So do you have an awe-inspiring moment in nature that you think about often?  Awe inspiring. I just love being in gardens. I love being in the gardens. A farmer's markets are one of my favorite places. I love, I just I'm  a little bit infatuated with farmers. I don't know.

I'm.  I don't know, but I just love farmers and I love to get to know them and just support them because I know that they are not the richest people on earth and they work pretty darn hard. So I just love to support them and, buy their stuff and tell 'em how great they are. And so farmers' markets are my, every Saturday morning I go and I talk to my people.

Even in Virginia, I've been here five weeks and I've. I missed last weekend 'cause I went to North Carolina. But that's my Saturday routine. Nice. So other than going to a FA farmer's market and buying their produce, what are some other ways that people can help support farmers? I. 

CSAs, hook yourself up with a CSA community supported agriculture. A lot of them will offer something like that where they'll either put together a box or they'll give you like a credit and you can just purchase their stuff. Whether it be, I don't know, milk situation, I just found out it's against the law in Virginia to buy raw milk.

Maybe in some places it's not,  or, and I don't know if you were to do a CSA, if it's a different situation, I need to figure that out. But the produce is local and it's healthy and it's, it's grown sustainably. I always support that as, as often as I can. I buy stuff from every dang vendor, even if I don't need it, because I just,  it's just so important for me. 

How can people find you?  I  am  mostly on Instagram at Grounded in Maine podcast.  There you go. I'll tag that in the show notes. And then what is one tip you have for someone that would like to connect with nature?  Get a bird feeder.  It might make you feel old, but it's not a bad thing.  Bird Feeder.

Hummingbird Feeder. Sue it cake, whatever you want. Or throw some stuff out for squirrels or whatever. Maybe don't do that. Squirrels are troublesome, but they're super cute, especially when they have Phil Bellies.  Aw,  I, I don't know. I turned 40 and it was like, I've got.  Seven bird feeders in my backyard.

Now  it's like we know them all too. I love it. I know since I've moved here, I have not seen, I've seen a dove on the power lines and I've heard a couple of cardinals or a cardinal and I see hawks, which does not make me happy, but, I have not seen any other birds. I know in like in Maine, I would put my bird app on.

I would just like recording and there would be like 18 different birds in a 10 minute span. But here I'm like,  where are the birds? Where are the birds?  And I don't know if they're just like waiting to see if I'm sticking around, if I'm gonna put some good stuff out. Maybe they're waiting for the sue it,  I dunno.

You get your food forest and I bet you're gonna be bringing in all kinds of stuff that's gonna be awesome  on it. Working on it. Cool. Thank you so much, Amy. Oh my gosh, Lauren. It's been a, it's been a trip. Super fun. That's so much fun. We'll do it again. We gotta do it again. Absolutely. And until next time, get outside and see what develops. 

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