Farm~School~Life

Showing posts with label meetings. Show all posts

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

I hope your day is full of bliss and uninterrupted potty breaks.

I have decided to take the Flats Challenge that begins today.

It was started a few years back by Kim of Dirty Diaper Laundry to test her commitment to keeping her kids in clean diapers. I know many people in our world, country and even in our county don't make enough to make ends meet. There is no federal assistance program for diapers (not that I believe there should be) but because of that some people take extreme measures to squeeze every last dime out of a diaper...down to reusing disposables. This challenge was created to show that where there is a will there is a way. You can cloth diaper your child from birth to potty training cheaply using things you probably have around the house or can pick up for less than $25 (the cost of a large pack of Pampers).

We make ends meet, occasionally we use disposables, and have a working washer & dryer...so why am I participating in the challenge? To show folks you can do it, if you want! You don't have to reuse disposables or leave a diaper on too long. Also I feel that I am in a unique situation..many of the moms I have seen are participating in the challenge stay at home, I on the other hand work a full time job outside the home, run an Etsy shop, help on the farm, have multiple volunteer commitments and an older child who has school and extra-curricular activities. (Please don't think I am discounting the value of a stay at home mom or her time...I'm just in a different situation) I want to someone who feels like they can't to know no matter how much is going on in your lives you can accomplish this. Even when ends barely meet and time is sparse you can diaper your baby without disposables and modern conveniences.

So there you have it. I pledge for the next 7 days to only use flats, no washer, no dryer on this little bum. Through church, t-ball, work, committee meetings, and a 12+ hour round trip to only use flats. If we can do this in our crazy family...you can too! Are you willing? It's not to late to join...check out the rules here and come ride the crazy train with me!

Until we meet again!

Caci

Today was the South Carolina Agriculture Conference in Ridge Spring, SC. We started the day with a Keynote address titled "Successful Marketing on the Family Farm". Diane Green from Greentree Naturals in Idaho told us how she and her husband have made a living off 2 acres.

Diane's tips included:
Direct Market to consumers

Use talking points about what you are selling

How you like the product prepared
How to store the product

Include recipe cards with farm logo and contact info
Educate consumers using brochures, newsletters, articles and more
If you sell at a farmer's market take photos of the farm
Label everything...product, handouts, cars, tent, yourself
Give gifts to repeat customers
Sponsor community events to raise farm awareness

Selling to Resturants

take a basket of samples when "courting" new establishments
have a set time to contact about and/or deliver products
be sure to put products in proper places
be polite and socialable but don't overstay your welcome

We continued our day with SC examples of Successful family farms
Jason Rodgers, Farm Manager with Titan Farms the largest peach producer east of the Mississippi, shared how a small family farm grew to over 4,000 acres.

Eric McClam, Farm Manager with City Roots shared how his family began a farm in July 2009 on 3 arces in Columbia, SC. The vision is to produce clean, healthy, sustainably grown products while enhancing and educating their community about the benefits of locally grown food, composting, vermicomposting and other environmentally friendly farming practices.

Lydia Yon, co-owner of Yon Family Farms shared how they produce seedstock Angus bulls, sweet corn and sell freezer beef. The farm host two sales each year along with hosting interns. They have made a name for themselves in the industry by providing high quality products.

Ansley Rast with SC Department of Ag spoke about all the SC Grown program has to offer during lunch which featured SC Grown products prepared by Juniper Resturant.

Keely Saye spoke about marketing in 2010 using Social Networking. You can check out her presentation at here. She also mentioned a You Tube video called Socionomics

We ended the day with three breakout sessions and a roundtable discussion. Overall it was a very educational day with a lot of resources. I encourage all farmers in SC to attend the next conference in 2012 in the Low Country.

Flats Challenge 2014

It's been a while

SC Agriculture Conference

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