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. 
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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.

In the hubbub of holiday shopping from Black Friday through Cyber Monday, I like to keep it simple here at Green Willow Homestead and do 40% off sitewide. Grab both The Holistic Home Ebook and the Chicken Tractor Build Plans discounted at 40% off and start 2020 with your most sustainable foot forward. Scroll on to learn more about both deals!

I know how overwhelming holiday shopping can be. As someone who loves finding the perfect gift, I know how daunting it can be when there are so many people you hold dear that you want to make feel special. I will admit that sometimes it feels like I am buying “just to buy" and get it crossed off my list. Pair that with being someone who cares deeply about being sustainable, ethical, and low to no waste with my shopping - it can take hours of online searching to find companies and products I trust.

So I know firsthand when the holidays come around, the call to spend money on gifts is at a fever pitch. It can be hard to navigate everyone’s wants and needs, while also keeping in line with your own values. 

That’s why I created The Green Gifting Guide. 

With over 60 gift ideas (categorized by age group and interests!), you can easily shop for everyone from toddlers to besties using the guide and give the earth a big hug while doing so. I want to save other earthy-friendly shoppers the time spent searching so you can breeze through your gifting with a clear conscious.

All of the gift ideas shared in this guide can be purchased online, they benefit great companies or artisan makers, are non-toxic, and good for the environment. ​​

We can hardly believe it's been a YEAR since we launched the Positively Green Podcast. Launching this sustainable and holistic living podcast has been such a joy. Becca and I love seeing your sustainable swaps, hearing what episodes have inspired you to change your habits, and creating content that can hopefully make a positive impact as we curb climate change. 

• How we felt about each of the episodes we created
• What episodes are our personal favorites and why
• What’s next for both of us
• When you can expect Season 2 to air!

While screen-time might be the last thing you think you need when building a successful farm, it’s actually what you need the most.

Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of being interviewed by a child in my community. She was working on a project for school where she could choose anything she wanted to focus on, and she chose to study female farmers and how to open her own farmstand. So she chose me, a first generation female farmer who raises pastured chickens and produce through permaculture methods on five acres in Southeastern Wisconsin. To say I was touched was an understatement, I felt like I had won a ticket to the moon.

After a short tour of the farm, we chatted in my living room. Her first and most important question was, “How do you find your customers for your farm?”

I stopped to think about it. Then it hit me. We find all of our customers for our farm online.

For all our earth-friendly cat moms and dads out there, we have got the purr-fect episode for you. If you have been wondering how to care for your kitty in a sustainable and toxin-free way, Roberta Donaldson of The Millennial Cat Mom is here to help. In this episode, we learn why cats are true carnivores and how to source ethically raised meat for the healthiest and most sustainable feline diet possible. We also cover everything from eco-friendly litter box care to zero-waste cat toys.

Roberta Donaldson is an Environmental Scientist and Conservation Biologist by day and passionate pet parent by night. She is the creator of the blog Millennial Cat Mom and is the pet parent of her two beautiful fur children, Loki and Lambeau. Roberta’s goal is to inspire pet parents everywhere to take their pet's health into their own hands by providing knowledge and resources about the monster that is the pet food industry. She was born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, but is now lost in the mountains in Denver, CO.

• Why cats are true carnivores and how to keep them healthy
  
• The ethical and sustainable issues in the pet food industry
  
• What types of food options exist for sustainably-minded cat parents
  
• How Roberta went from feeding Friskies to pastured chicken hearts
  
• Pet Fooled Documentary and the Talk To Us Campaign
  
• Holistic Pet Radio
  
• What eco-friendly litter options exist and their pros and cons
  
• How to make the litter box transition for your kitty
  
• What zero-waste cat toys are out there
  
• Our cats, because Roberta and Kelsey are crazy cat ladies
  

• Feline Nutrition Organization
• Raw Feeding University
• Truth About Pet Food
• Karmavore Nutrition
• Perfectly Rawsome

• Vital Essentials
• Answers Pet Food
• Orijen
• Primal Pet Foods
• Steve’s Real Food
• Stella and Chewies

• Stainless Steel Litter Box
  
• Stainless Steel Litter Scoop
  
• Loft 312 Biodegradable Bags
  
• Branch Basics for cleaning
  
• Boxie Cat Litter
  
• sWheat Scoop Litter
  
• Simply Pine Natural Litter
  

The Millennial Cat Mom
@LokiTheKittyKing
@LambeauMiniAussie