If you live in an area that gets blasted with snow and cold temperatures during the winter months, then your chickens are definitely going to need the extra nutritional boost only supplements can give. 

Every winter on our farm in Wisconsin, I give a handful of high quality, natural supplements to my hens. In this post, I am going to share with you why you should consider supplementation during the winter months for your chickens, which supplements I recommend, and the benefits they provide for your flock.

​It’s rare that I get to share this part of my story. Everyone always wants to hear about the farming + homesteading + sustainability side of my journey (all of which I am happy to talk about!), but today that changes.

Today I am opening up about my online marketing journey. If you’ve been curious about my path to sitting here writing you this post, how I started multiple e-commerce businesses, or how much money my marketing skills have made me over the years - then I got a helluva a treat for you.

I did a tell-all with Katelyn Duban on The Rural Women Podcast where we cover all things online marketing for your farm or homestead. Katelyn did an amazing job interviewing me and getting to the heart of my marketing origins.

This interview taught me how you can’t fit 21st century farmers into a box. We all have such eclectic journeys, from second-career to first-generation or (in my case) actress turned filmmaker turned photographer turned marketer turned farmer.

Happy creepin’ on me!

In my last few farm marketing posts, we learned how to pitch your farm’s story to local papers and how to share your products with online influencers to get great reviews.

In this post, I am sharing the surprising way I've gotten local papers, major podcasts, and online bloggers to seek me out, instead of me having to pitch my farm. This tip also has grown customer awareness for our local area for our farm and boosted sales. So what is my special ingredient that makes this magic happen? 

It’s all about having a clear cause on behalf of your farm. Let's dive in!

As the ramifications of climate change increase, from hurricanes to wildfires to extreme drought, we as privileged first-world consumers have a responsibility going into 2020. It is on us to make changes in our day to day lives. It is on us to live a more mindful, eco-friendly, and sustainable lifestyle. You have much more power than you give yourself credit for when it comes to creating lasting and beneficial change for our planet and this blog post will point you in the right direction.

According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) the last five years (2015 - 2019) were the hottest years on record. Greenhouse gas emissions have continued to rise with carbon dioxide emissions clocking in at 20% higher from 2015 - 2019 versus 2010 to 2014. Unfortunately, these increasing emissions lock in the rising temperatures for years to come. This cascade effect foretells a bleak future, one that permanently affects not only our ecosystems and precious wildlife, but also costs us human lives. 

In this post, I am going to share the top five ways you can mindfully live a more eco friendly and sustainable life in 2020. Our world is depending on it.

If you’ve gotten started with chickens, chances are you have become all to familiar with the stinky smell of ammonia in your chicken coop. Ammonia is bad news not just for your nostrils, but for your hen’s health and egg production too. 

Sweet PDZ Coop Refresher is an organic certified powder you can sprinkle under your chickens’ roost and around the coop to naturally keep the smell of ammonia down. While it absolutely works wonders, it’s incredibly overpriced. 

In this post, I’m going to share with you the DIY Coop Refresher Recipe I created to cut down on ammonia in my chicken coop that's 60% cheaper!

No matter if you sell eggs, wool, hemp, pickles, or beef - you need reviews for your farm’s products. Why? Because a review is what we marketers call “social proof.” Having a well written review about one of your farm’s products gives website visitors or your social media followers proof that spending their money with you is worth it. 

A glowing review proves to a potential customer that the investment they make in buying your products is a good and trustworthy one - even if it is for a $5 bar of goats milk soap! Seeing reviews is a psychological tipping point when someone is considering purchasing a product. They think, “If this person did it and they liked it, then I will most likely be happy with my purchase too.”

So why have an influencer write you a review for your farm’s products? Reaching out to a local influencer for a farm product feature is like the mother of all reviews. Typically an influencer will have a healthy-sized following that trusts them and their opinion on products.

Influencers also maximize your farm’s exposure when they write a review. They have the ability to do an Instagram post, Instagram story series, send out an email to their list, post to their Facebook Page, and even do a blog post - all for your farm. 

Planning a wedding can feel like a huge task to accomplish, let alone throwing a sustainable zero-waste wedding. As a fellow eco-friendly bride, I can tell you that planning an earth friendly wedding is possible with some good boundaries and a healthy perspective. In this post, I am going to share with you how our sustainable wedding went. I’m sharing all the details - from what we truly threw in the garbage to how much it cost!

Let’s all admit that the most sustainable wedding is the one where you and your partner *walk* to the courthouse in the clothes you already own with your IDs and proof of residency and get married in front of a judge. Full stop. 

Honest moment. A truly sustainable wedding is the one where you don’t have a wedding at all. No traveling family and friends with a carbon footprint, no rings exchanged whose precious metals and gems are mined, no food catered because no food waste - AKA no fun at all.

Listen, I fully understand that a wedding, even if a bride works for it to be a sustainable one, has an effect on the environment. But to my fellow brides, you deserve to spend this special day surrounded by family and friends. Having said that, your big day can also be one that reflects your values. Let’s dive in!

When chickens get lice or mites, it can cause a number of problems for your flock. From a dip in egg production to undue stress that negatively affects their immune system, these external parasites are bad news for your hens. When they show up, you want to get rid of them as soon as possible. So how do you do that? 

I’ve found MannaPro Poultry Protector spray to be the most effective and quick non-toxic way to get rid of lice and mites. The issue is I own over 75 hens, so when I used Poultry Protector spray to kill lice and mites, I would go through a bottle a day! With each bottle ringing up at $12, it was an expensive treatment and I couldn’t keep footing the bill. 
​
So I did my research and came up with a DIY Poultry Protector spray that costs me a fraction of the price (1/5 the cost to be exact!) and works just as well. In this post, I’m going to share it with you so you can help your hens and save a chunk of change too.

When most of us farmers hear the word “networking” we get a little pang at the bottom of our stomach. The word sounds so modern, so glossy, so dare I say it - corporate. What this word has stood for over the last few decades in our culture is quite literally the opposite of why most of us farm. We farm to escape the rigidity of cubicles, the stuffiness of meetings, and the obligation of hard deadlines.

I want to reframe networking for you and your farm so it doesn’t make you want to turn tail and run to the back forty. Instead, I want you to see how networking is a powerful tool for you to get your farm featured in your local newspaper and beyond.