Something for Those that Direct Market

Thanks to the folks over at Farmers' Markets Today magazine I am learning lots of great things. One of the latest things that I have found browsing through the pages of the September/October issue is a short column about an online publication called, "Cultivating the Web", from www.eatwellguide.org. It looks like a wonderful resource for small farmers who are looking to expand their markets, build relationships with their customers, and connect with new potential buyers.

The entire publication is online in the from of a .pdf file that you read on your computer. I should also point out that it even loaded fairly well on my non-high speed internet. This neat tool seems to cover everything from blogs to Flickr and of course the old stand-by ... e-mail! I haven't had a lot of time to read the entire thing yet, but if you have a rainy day this weekend (or sometime in the future) I encourage you to check this out.

Help Us Shoot Our Livestock...

Now that I have your attention we really do need your help shooting our livestock, but when I say "shooting" I'm talking about taking pictures! From time to time I have come to you guys for some specific advice or help and I have never been steered in the wrong direction. So, after realizing our camera was slowly beginning to add a growing purple line to our pictures we began looking for a new camera. First we looked online, then we went to Best Buy, and finally we came home really confused.

A camera has become an important part of our farm as we have spent more time writing about our experiences and as we have had the opportunity to share a little bit about sustainable farming over on the Epi-Log. We need something that we can use to take outdoor pictures of life on the farm and of course plenty of family snapshots. It is amazing how much cameras have changed since we bought our first digital about five years ago.

So, these are the cameras we have come up with:

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS5K (10.1 MP)

Sony Cyber-Shot DSC-W150 (8.1 MP)

Canon Powershot SD1100IS (8.0 MP)

It isn't like this is our top three or anything, but these are the ones that we were able to handle at Best Buy and liked the best. I would love to hear about your experiences with any of these brands or models. We have loved our Canon, but seemed to like the Panasonic and the Sony a little more this time around. Let us know what you think! Oh, I forgot to mention we are trying to land in the $200'ish range.

On the Farm Front:

Not to leave you hanging on the farm/building front I'll give a quick update. Yesterday we were able to take the camper out to the farm so we have a place to lay the kids down when we work late. While we were out there I walked around the pigs a little and was happy with their growth. I'm really looking forward to them this winter!

Also, we spent a little time caulking the cracks around the posts. This will help keep the creepy-crawlies out ... we hope. Tomorrow evening I'm heading up it the rafters to run some more wire. Less the one month until we have to move out of our current house ... anyone wanna have a work day ;)

Edited - This is Becca, Ethan's wife.  I'm hijacking his blog because he is working at the house with our plumber - and because I know his password! :)  Thanks, everyone, for the great suggestions.  I just found out, however, that Canon had put a faulty component in their cameras around the years we bought ours.  This causes many of the camera displays to go out and/or produce distorted pictures.  They are replacing or fixing these cameras free of charge, even if the warranty has expired.  That's what I call great customer service!  Here's the number if you have one with problems too: 1-800-828-4040

So, thanks again for your suggestions.  Please feel free to keep them coming since it might help someone else who is looking for a camera.

New Farm Blog

Well, this isn't actually a totally new blog and some of you have probably already checked it out ... but, I did want to make a special post about Steven LeGrand's (and families) new blog and farm website for Franciscan Family Farms. They have been putting up a few posts now for awhile, but I am a little behind on the times.

Steven is actually the one of the only regular commenters on the blog that I have actually had a chance to meet. I delivered a few Dexters to his place when I was on the way done to pick up our bull, Hershey, and was able to spend just a few minutes at his place late one night. It was fun to be able to meet someone in person that I had corresponded with on the blog and I hope I have a chance to meet others sometime.

So, go check out the (fairly) new Franciscan Family Farms website and if you are in his area I encourage you to check out his farm.

The Value of Discussion in Learning

Some of the great discussions that have popped up in the past couple of weeks have really made me think about why this I started this blog. If you go back a year-and-a-half you will find THIS POST introducing The Beginning Farmer Blog. I said it then and I will reiterate now, the reasons I started this blog were to be a journal of my journey and to hopefully be a source of information for those with the same desire to farm. I have always been a person that gets the most out of something when I can write about it, so in a sense the blog is my opportunity to do that ... and possibly is a bit self-serving :) But, now that we are into it a ways I just have to thank everyone that has gotten involved in the discussion. I feel like I have been able to learn so much and have a better grasp on so many farming related topics because of what everyone has contributed.

I want to say thank you to everyone who has thrown in their two-cents or answered questions. I think reading is great, doing makes you learn, but in many cases you can't beat some good discussion that brings in many points of view. Through the discussion in the comments on different posts I have been pointed to other articles that give me ideas, shown another side of something that I had never considered, and even thought about changing my mind!

So, here is my challenge ... If you aren't even reading the comments on the bottom of the posts, get reading (you can also find new comments in the right column)! Often times there are better thoughts there then in my posts. If you are already commenting, keep it up ... I (err... WE) need the thoughtful insight, jokes, or contrarian point of view. If you have never posted, jump in the fray! Sometimes we fall into the trap of thinking we don't have anything to add, but I know there are a lot of great minds out there so help us out. And finally, share this blog with other like-minded thinking about, beginning, and practicing farmers. The more minds the better I say!

If you want to see some of the great discussions that have been going on lately check out these links and get involved:

The Joy of Work

How Much Land Do You Need?

Eating Local ... What is Local ... Why Even Try?