On Being a Teaching Farm

On my way back to Pittsburgh from Chattanooga, I stopped in on a Small Farm Central farm, Broadened Horizons Organic Farm, in Rockwood, Tennessee. I have gotten to know Leaf and Cielo quite well since they started a website with us.
Leaf and Cielo run this small farm with the ideal of teaching their rural corner of Tennessee how to live more sustainably from rain-water collection to solar cooking to less obvious steps, such as using a gas range instead of electric for cooking. Over the last five years the farm has blossomed into a community resource of not just eggs, honey, and summer veggies, but also of learning. The workshops Leaf puts on are becoming increasingly popular.
With the state of the macro-economy, Leaf expects an markedly increased attendance to his organic gardening workshops this Spring. The goal of this farm is not to produce all the food for the community, but to help the community produce for itself. I know this is a tough row to hoe and it is not an ideal that many more production-oriented farms have, but it is a very worthy goal.

Leaf keeps a meticulous website that records monthly rainwater totals, an extensive weekly blog, and much more. Cielo is the farm photographer and keeps the photo gallery well stocked. She also creates beautiful farm-inspired postcards and has them for order at the website. They credit their work on the website to their on-going "mind-share" growth in their local community. I think it has given them a voice, a way to talk about their farm, and a confidence in their mission at that same time as they have reached out to their customers.
Leaf writes, "The website has been a successful outreach tool beyond what I had imagined it could do. A lot of the ideas we are presenting to the community are fresh, bold and innovative. Living in a rural area where people are socially reserved, the website gives people an opportunity to initially check us out from a safe and discreet distance. We have been pleasantly surprised and quite gratified by the numbers of people viewing our website content and then spreading the word by posting links to our site."

This is a great farm website and a perfect example of how these techniques work in the long term rather than the short term. Their website has been up and consistently updated for almost two years and now they are really starting to see the long-term impacts of increased readership and awareness. This is not something that happened magically or overnight for Leaf and Cielo.

I enjoy watching their farm vision grow and I think they have enjoyed watching Small Farm Central grow along with them.

Two Hands? You're Hired

When I was helping run a farm, I had a half-serious remark about finding new employees: "Two hands? You're hired."

That may be true at the height of harvest, but I am sure we would rather find people that have skills beyond physical dexterity. Other qualities, like genuine interest in farming and critical thinking skills go a long way toward making a more fun and productive farm.

So why not use the Internet to attract the most qualified and hard-working employees? The more resumes and interest you can generate will create a wider pool of people to choose from. Then you should be able to find the perfect fit for the position and the farm.

I would add "prospective employees" to the types of people you are trying to "market" to on your website. There is competition for the best farm workers, so you should put your best foot forward. Great photos and engaging content will not only bring new customers, but will also impress the best applicants.

Creating a specific page on your site to market your farm to potential employees is a first step. I like this one from Village Acres Farm because it is descriptive but also uses photos to great effect.

Now, how do employees find this page? There are several listing services for these types of employees. These are mainly for "internship" track type of workers who are coming to work and learn from anywhere in the country.

• ATTRA Internships
• Organic Volunteers
• WWOOF USA
• Your state/local farm organization (see PASA's employment page)
• Even try Craig's List? Could be interesting to see who comes out of that.

You will create a profile on these sites with your farm information and a description of the type of person you need. When you are asked for a link to your website, make sure you link directly to your employment page on your site instead of the front page. This will make sure the prospective employee gets the information right away instead of having to wade through the rest of your site first.

Another upside to creating these profiles is that it is another link to your website which helps out with Search Engine Optimization.

CSA Sign-up and Management Tools Now Available

Small Farm Central's "Member Assembler" integrates online CSA member sign-up, payment processing, and member management tools to create a package that will save CSAs numerous Spring hours, ease the sign-up process for members, and reduce data-entry errors.

We Love CSAs

I love the Community Supported Agriculture concept. It is a win-win situation for the eater and the producer and the relationships it creates are what will sustain the small farm in the long-term.

I have helped build a CSA: marketing, seed ordering, greenhouse seeding, member spreadsheets, lost checks, planting, weeding, and harvest. I know how difficult and rewarding the CSA model is from a producer's standpoint and member's point of view; I have done both. That's why we developed this management platform that solves some of the fundamental problems of managing members in CSA-type programs.

How it Works

Farmers configure the Member Assembler to model their CSA through an online control panel that does not require technical skill. Easily program pickup locations, custom forms, multiple member types, and checkout procedure. A detailed "get started" document guides this process.

Members come to a publicly accessible URL (such as www.yourfarm.com) and submit their information and options. The system easily hooks up to a credit card processor (or farmers have the option of no online payment processing), records payments, and tracks balances.

Other tools like printable pick-up lists, downloadable excel spreadsheets of member data, weekly reminder emails to users, payment requests and mailing lists are also integrated into this package.

This system can be used in conjunction with a full Small Farm Central website or as a stand-alone tool.

Try it for yourself! A sample sign-up form is available at:
http://memberassembler.smallfarmcentral.com

30-day Free Trial

If this seems like something your farm would be interested in, make sure that it will work for you by requesting a 30-day free trial. This is a fully functional Member Assembler site that you can configure and start accepting sign ups. If you find that it fits your needs, you can easily transfer this trial to a full Member Assembler subscription.

Request the trial here:
http://smallfarmcentral.com/memberassembler/freetrial

More Information

You may also be interested in...

Pricing
http://smallfarmcentral.com/memberassembler/pricing
How Does it Work?
http://smallfarmcentral.com/memberassembler/how-does-it-work
Features
http://smallfarmcentral.com/memberassembler/features

Full Information is available at:
http://www.memberassembler.com

--
Simon Huntley
Small Farm Central, Lead Developer
http://www.smallfarmcentral.com

For That Special Someone .. Beans

For that special bean eater in your life, the "Desert Island Sampler" includes the Pebble Bean, Yellow Eye Bean, Midnight Black Beans, Christmas Lima Beans, and the Vaquero Bean.

If that special bean eater in my life reads this, they may just be getting a preview of Christmas day!

But seriously, Steve Sando at Rancho Gordo does a great job with his dried, heirloom beans and online ordering. Attractive website, plenty of information, easy ordering, blog and integration with email marketing.

Hey, it sold me. He is a great example of doing it right and someone to look to as you create your online marketing plan.