Opening a roadside farmstand is no small feat. When I opened my roadside farmstand I wish there was someone with all the answers to my questions, but like so much of the small farming world there’s a lot of trial and error to be had before you figure things out. That’s why I want to share with you everything I’ve learned along the way as I opened up my roadside farmstand for our farm, Green Willow Homestead.

In this first post in my farmstand series we will cover:

• The basic questions to ask yourself before you open a farmstand
• How to use the honesty system at a farmstand
• The legal things you need to know about opening a farmstand
• How to protect yourself from liability when opening a farmstand
• What security measures you should take when opening a roadside farmstand

Having Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farm on the Positively Green Podcast was such an inspiring and necessary experience. In this episode we talk all about Leah's book Farming While Black, her Haitian heritage, and how we can support BIPOC farmers in the work towards land access and food sovereignty. 

Want to learn how to use online marketing for your farm or homestead business? In less than a year, I doubled my income using online and digital marketing. So when I launched my very first roadside farmstand, I applied everything I learned and was completely blown away. Within one month, we hit our supply ceiling and had 150 super fan farmstand customers visiting our farmstand. 

So today I am opening up about my online marketing journey. 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. 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 heck of a treat for you.

I did a whole podcast interview with Katelyn Duban on The Rural Women Podcast. 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.

Click below to tune in! Happy creepin' on me!

Are you a farmer or homesteader who wants to learn exactly how to use online marketing to grow your business? From Facebook to Instagram to blogging to email marketing - the online advertising world is vast and trying to piece together how it all can create profit for your farm/homestead business is overwhelming.

The Cultivating Capital Course was created by me - Kelsey Jorissen Olesen, a fellow farmer and seasoned marketer. I run an 80-acre farm in NW Wisconsin where I sell pastured eggs, various market produce, and value-added products. From running a roadside farmstand to doing multiple farmers markets to shipping our farm's products, I've made our farm profitable by utilizing the online marketing knowledge I've honed over the last 10 years.

Three years ago she developed the Cultivating Capital Course to teach fellow farmers, homesteaders, and home business owners how to use online marketing to grow their customer base, increase profit, and actually enjoy using social media. Every year Kelsey updates the course's tutorials to reflect current online marketing trends.

The growing season went by in a flash this year! I am sure I can chalk it up to doing two farmers markets, taking on tons of homesteading projects, and adopting four baby goats plus a puppy. What a summer it has been on Green Willow Homestead. I’m so excited to share with you our Summer Update Video and go into a bit more detail on how we did things during the warmer months on the farm - plus a BIG surprise! ​

There’s nothing quite like having the infrastructure you need to farm, especially for those of us who farm in colder climates. When we first purchased our farm, the barn was in desperate need of renovation. The previous owners used it to store old farm equipment, junk, and well, more junk. The mice also turned it into their personal cabin getaway. It was hard to imagine it would ever look clean again...

In this video, I share with you the before and after of our barn renovation, go over our budget, the scope of work, and give you a barn tour!

In the early 1920s, almost 1 million Black farmers owned 14% of American farmland, but that story is vastly different today. According to the Baltimore Sun, Black farmers lost an astonishing 90% of their land over the years, and today fewer than 50,000 African American farmers, out of a total 3.4 million farmers, remain in business. Farming as a strong source of livelihood for people of African descent is now a distant memory.

What a wonderful feeling to finally have spring upon us at Green Willow Homestead! We had a few “Fool’s Springs” in Shell Lake, WI - but I’ve gotten better at containing my verdant excitement and not jumping the gun. In this first video blog, I share with you what’s happening at Green Willow Homestead for the 2021 season - what we’re planting on the farm, where and how we’re selling our produce, and a few long term goals for the future.