Tag Archives: Co-op

Changes Underway

by

Some people take down their web presence when they are making changes and updates. I probably would if I knew how to! Instead, the next few things that I do to this Blog will be shared with everyone..sorry. Like I said yesterday, bear with me.

So I’m trying to come up with a lot of great content to share with everyone who might be interested in what I have to say and share, along with having a page or two devoted to Local (local Co-op’s, Farmer’s Markets, etc.).

OK, so here we go. Like I said yesterday, if this starts to get on your nerves…there is a comment section right here on the Blog…tell me!!

Take Me Home!

More To Come!!

Winter Yesterday..Spring Today

by

 

Isn’t it amazing how unpredictable the weather really can be? Yesterday we had a beautiful snowfall in the morning, followed by a sunny afternoon and ending with another brief snowfall before evening. In a single days time, the pastures are turning green and those Spring flowers that were not already blooming are today showing signs of bloom. We’ve had thunderstorms in February and a steady flow of rainfall this Winter..all will serve the ground well for the growing season. While we need to get the earth tilled to start the gardens, the ground is actually too wet. This will postpone that early harvest we always shoot for but a late harvest is just as beneficial.

We have taken some time off from selling through our local Co-op’s and Winter Farmer’s Markets while we’ve reworked our farm. There will be a lot of changes to some of the products we have sold for years and we are adding a lot of new. We started selling our farm products in our ETSY store. It is slow going but we have had some sales. I’ve started working on the plans for offering workshops throughout Spring and Summer. There are so many things that a person can do to live a more sustainable lifestyle and hopefully these workshops will generate interest from those who are anxious to learn.

That’s all for now. I always promise that I will be better about keep up with Blog posts, let’s see if this time I can really do it!!

 

Updates and Some Unmerciful Blog Sales Pitching!!

by

It got pretty exciting around here this past weekend. Not only was it the Thanksgiving Holiday weekend but we had an addition come into the world at the farm. Several months ago we purchased a bred LaMancha doe and her due date was in mid-September. Well mid-September came and went and no baby. We had to rearrange our world (where Goat Shares were concerned) and begin a quest for a freshened doe. Without going into a lot of uninteresting details..we didn’t find one. Then Sunday morning hubby went to the barn to check on everyone and feed. He came back to the house and announced that “Jojo” had kidded!! Obviously, the breeder had really messed up the breeding date and now we have a fresh doe and a beautiful little buckling. Don’t you just love a happy ending story?

Is he too cute or what!!

Many people have asked me where they can find our new natural Nesting Balls in the Richmond, VA area. These have taken on a life of their own and we love it. Right now the list is short but growing everyday. As everyone knows with Fall Line Farms Co-op..you can find them listed weekly on the Co-op. They are now available at Yardbirds in Gayton Crssing Shopping Center and starting this weekend at Primrose and Persimmons Antiques in Goochland Courthouse, VA. If you cannot make it to any of the events we will be at this Holiday season, these are a few places you can find them. Also, you can always contact us at breezehillfarm@verizon.net to order direct through us. OK, enough sales pitching for now.

Have a great day!

It’s Been A Long Time Again!

by

It’s coming down to the end of Spring around here. Let me update you on what has been going on at the farm.

Early Spring brought us the joys of lamb and kid births. So many little ones making it exciting and a little confusing too. We almost lost one of our ewes at lambing. Seems her little (gigantic) lamb didn’t want to come out easily and then we discovered she had been physically exhausted to the point that she gave up. We are very happy to say, she is doing fantastic now and so is “Wil” her lamb.

Then there was “Bella”! She was not really a surprise but I had miscalculated her due date of arrival. She and her Mom “Barga” are doing very well. The breeding that produced her was very accidental, which has now led to a 3/4 Angora x 1/4 Alpine Dairy kid. Her fiber is glorious!

We had a broody hen hatch 13 eggs and have 12, 3 month old chicks now.

We have since hatched another 11 chicks which are growing strong..and to our surprise, some of them are actually HENS!

The most exciting addition we’ve made to the farm this Spring are our Coturnix Quail. With the chickens, ducks and now quail we are rapidly becoming an “Egg Farm”.

These quail are actually mature and laying eggs within 8 weeks from their hatching and the health benefits from eating their eggs is amazing. There are now 36 of these little ones here and growing. This is the first week we’ve listed their eggs on our local co-op.

Aside from all of this we’ve just been working on the farm. Cleaning, growing, painting, sheep shearing and more.

Since the loss of Mom, I feel like I’ve been spending a lot of my time recreating pretty much my whole life (not just the farm). I am devoting much more of my time to the sheep and working again with fiber. We are working on a Virginia Grown/USA Grown organic yarn line as well as a line of naturally dyed yarns. Both of these projects are slow moving as it is quite expensive to have all of the fiber processed and natural dying can also be very expensive. Another thing I am doing is participating in special events to share (and sell) our fibers grown here on the farm.

Wow, I’m tired just writing! Until next time…

It Always Seems Like I’m Getting Ready!

by

With the two events of last week behind me, I am getting ready for the first deliveries for the Co-op Winter Season. I’m also getting ready for a second attempt at the Fall Festival at Brookview Farm. Saturday’s event was rained out, so they are going to try again this coming Saturday. Several of my customers have placed sizable orders in anticipation of early Holiday shoppers..so I’m getting those ready too. Yes, I feel like I’m always getting ready! I’ve reduced my milkings to once a day now that the girls have been bred, so I’m only making soap and lotion every other day. Thankfully, I have a good bit of milk frozen, so we should make it through the season easily. Another words…order, order, order!

I feel so fortunate to have been part of the Wisteria Faire last week. There are so many nice things to say about the event starting with Mother and Daughters that put it together. They had done such a beautiful and efficient job in the planning stage that all went off without a hitch. This event was at two private homes which was really kind of neat. My booth was set up on the front porch of the daughters’ home..want to talk about a captive audience, everyone had to walk by me on the way into the house..so everyone saw me. We sold a nice mix of goats milk products and fiber items. It was so nice to see people buy yarn for Christmas gifts. The first day was a little slow, but that gave me time to work on a spinning order that I have. It was just wonderful and an email today let me know that there will probably be another in the Spring! Yeah!

You will notice that I have a new tab at the top of my Blog for the Co-op. My intention with this page is to list weekly, in detail, what we have listed on the Co-op. I think some of the reason why our sales are so very low may have to do with members not knowing exactly what it is they would be purchasing from us. Hopefully, this will help..we’ll see. Feedback on this will be appreciated, this is why I have left Comments open on the new page.

Well I must go do round two battle with Verizon (the phone Co.) over our internet. So far today they have eaten about 2 hours of my time with no resolution. Since I have nothing else to do today (HA) my patience is wearing mighty thin!

Shipment Updates & Co-op

by

For people who are waiting on shipments from us, they will go out this week. Sorry for the delay. It’s been a bit nuts here trying to get CSA orders shipped and dealing with soap cure time being off schedule but we’re getting it under control.

There are many of you who follow this blog that are members in the Fall Line Farms Co-op and have been our devoted customers since it began last November. I wanted to let you know that we will no longer be participating in the Co-op as a Producer. There many reasons why and this is not the venue to explain but I did want to let you all know that you can always order our products direct from us and delivery to the Richmond Virginia area will be free. Also, you can stop by the retail outlets we have  and find our full line of products, except the Wool/Alpaca Socks, they would need to be ordered direct through us. Email us breezehillfarm@verizon.net for a list of retail outlets or any questions you may have.

I will keep you all updated on events that we will be participating in between now and Christmas. You already know what great gifts our goats milk soap, lotions and socks make – and they don’t break the bank! Please know how much we value your business and want to keep as many of you as customers as we can.

Speaking of products and business, I need to get to work on making soap and lotion today. Orders are backing up again.

The Icelandic’s Have Arrived!

by

Several months ago, I share pictures from a farm visit, where I had looked at Icelandic sheep. Holly, one of those sheep, already had been chosen to come to our farm but she need a buddy. Well, I finally made a decision and we picked up our two new sheep Saturday evening from Magi’s Wood Farm. They are absolutely beautiful – well you be the judge- meet Holly & Ricky (girl).

Holly-Ricky

New Girls Meeting "Roy"

New Girls Meeting "Roy"

I can’t wait until we shear them next month so I’ll have their fleeces to work with.

We were told several things about these sheep that had given us some cause for concern. First, we were told they aren’t real big on flocking. The first day that seemed to be true but if there is a grain bucket involved they seem to flock just fine. We were also told that the Border Collies could not herd them. This isn’t exactly so, you see, if all the sheep are together, they can all be herded. While I feel like the new girls tolerate our sheep, I know they much prefer the the goats. After the song I heard the other day, “Sheep Go To Heaven..Goat’s Go To Hell”, I don’t know that I like this bond so much..HaHa!!

Well I’m off to make soap. The Green Market at Brandermill is Thursday and as always, I’m not ready! Someday I will get caught up, maybe in January?? I’m looking at this market as the launch of “crazy season”. Wow! It’s hold on time. By the way Molly, from Fall Line Farms Co-op will be there signing up new members for the Winter Season

In my next blogpost I will introduce you to our new project that I will be partnering up with Nadolski’s Butcher Shop in Goochland Virginia on. It’s new, exciting and on the path of my true passion. Can’t wait!

Until next time, be safe and enjoy this wonderful Indian Summer weather.

Time On The Move

by

I can’t believe that it’s the middle of August. Time has just gotten away from me and I suppose that’s the case with everyone. It seems as though it was just yesterday that I announced our Spring Fiber CSA and as of today, word from the Mill is all of the fiber should be spun into yarn and ready to ship by the end of the week. It seems as though they wanted to get the really large orders out as soon as possible..my good and our shareholders good. All of the Roving is ready for shipping now and should go out Friday.

So many people have emailed me asking if we have any plans for a Fall CSA. As of right now, no. I am trying very hard to get all of the soap and lotion orders caught up before the Holiday season gets here and I’m not sure that I’ve got it in me to set up another CSA for the Fall. The only thing that makes me want to say yes, is all of the fiber I still have here at the farm. It would be nice to move it out of the loft before next Spring. We are working on another idea though for Fall that I will discuss more in upcoming blogs. It’s a little different but I think that the concept might be well received. Keep checking back to find out more.

As of last count, I have moved over 300 bars of soap out of here since the 1st and that’s what I am doing today..making soap. It’s amazing how well this side of the farm business is doing. We just shipped a very large order to Italy yesterday and I am working on a pretty good size order to deliver tomorrow locally. Breeze Hill Farm is becoming a household name in the states and abroad. Can’t beat that, eh?

I wish I could say that our Co-op sales were this good but they aren’t. I don’t know what is going on but each week sales are consistently going down to the point that this week we’ve sold less than $100.  of product. We love this Co-op and the other producers and members but it gets a bit costly to travel close to 100 miles to deliver so little. Maybe everyone is concentrating on final vacations and school starting. Don’t know but I miss my customers! Our products in a “food” Co-op have been fairly hard to sell anyway. Try as we may, we just can’t seem to get the point across that we are trying to “take care of outside while the food producers are taking care of the inside”. The fact that our soaps are molded in pretty molds doesn’t take away from the benefits of goats milk soap for the skin and our lotions and creams are just wonderful, for the whole family. Of course, being a producer, I just want everybody to buy bunches all of the time. Maybe in the Fall.

Got to get back to the soap. Everybody have a great day!

CSA Update and More

by

I cannot believe how quickly a week..or two goes by! Each time I blog, I promise to do so more often and the next thing I know it’s been a week or more since my last post. Apparently, having employees is how so many of you farmers/business owners are able to blog constantly. I find that there are simply not enough hours in a minute.

First thing I want to cover is the progress on the fiber processing for the CSA. I talked with the Mill Thursday. All of the blending and carding is complete and they anticipate that spinning will start by month end. The good news, for those who purchased the roving shares, the roving is being shipped this week. That shipment should be in by the end of the week and we will start sorting out the natural shares next week. I will start dying the dyed shares the following week and those should be ready for shipping to our shareholders the last week of August. Our plan is to have a small gathering the last Saturday of this month for roving pickup and for any other shareholders who want to come out for the day. We will have a lot going on for everyone to enjoy and there will be lots of food and drink. For those who wish to come in from out of town, we have reserved our favorite, local B & B for the entire weekend. Email me at breezehillfarm@verizon.net to let me know if you need lodging.

It was pretty exciting to see Breeze Hill Farm listed as the “Featured Producer” this week with Fall Line Farms Co-op. We are so happy with how successful the Co-op has been its first two seasons and look forward to season #3. Check them out, if you aren’t already a member. Several of our drop/pick up points are now carrying our products, so if you forget to order from the Co-op, you can pick up extra items from these these points. Gather carries a complete line of  our wonderful goat’s milk soaps and Cavanna Pasta has a nice sampling of our entire line of goat’s milk products. Weekly we are increasing our outlets for our products and are so happy when we hear from our customers through referrals.

Well, that about covers everything for now. I am off to make another large batch of lavender soap, so I’ll be very relaxed by the end of this day!

Snakes In The House

by

I’m sure that everyone has noticed my absence, well there is a reason for that. We’ve had an in house snake issue and I have finally grown brave enough to go back into the office. Kinda hard to run the business end of a business when you can only use the computer when Hubby is home from work. For my entire life I have been terrified of snakes. I’ve grown to accept the fact that black snakes are good to have at the barn but when they decide to come in for some air conditioning, it’s too much. I’ve been told that we are “blessed” to have a black snake in the house..not sure on what planet that’s true! So, this is why I’ve been missing.

Aside from the aforementioned, it’s been crazy busy here. We shipped off all of the fiber Friday to the mill. I decided to hold back all of the colored fleeces this time to work on processing myself. When we first started out in 1994, I did all of the processing and did so for years. In some ways I miss having that control but it has become much more practical to send it off. There were some absolutely incredible fleeces this year. We have two white ewes that double any fleece produced by a ram and it’s almost Merino quality. Can’t wait for everything to come back.

We worked the St. Stephen’s Farmer’s Market yesterday. Good Lord it was hotter than the hinges of hell! As always, I set up the spining wheel but could only spin in short spurts. My hands were so sweatie that I couldn’t get the fiber off of me. Fiber sales were off but the soaps and lotions did really well. I love the fact that this is a producers only market and they stick to that rule. There are so many F.B.N. (fly by night) soap people, that only use melt and pour soaps that are trying to infiltrate the market these days that it makes it hard for an honest producer to sell their product. You would think that something as pure and natural as soap making could escape all of the nasty back biting and unhealthy competition but apparently that is no longer the case. It’s really quite sad that many of us do our level best to be helpful to up an coming producers, then they come behind us with substandard products and cheaper prices than we charge. They are arogant and down right nasty and plow through us like yesterdays news. We can only hope that in the end, the consumer can see through the outward charm and realize that the quality and pride doesn’t exist with these people. OK, sorry about the rant but I know that many of our fellow producers know exactly what I’m talking about here.

A month or so ago, another producer accused me of being a “thief”. While I can understand her feelings, being called a thief was directed at an innocent mistake. For 15 years, I have worked hard to establish a strong customer base, been truthful, have done it on my own, haven’t stepped on a single person to get here and have enjoyed the fact that yes, it can be done this way. Maybe it’s the economy but it seems that all of the negativity and accusations are getting worse. In my “Pollyanna” way of looking at this I think we should be out there lending fellow producers a hand..not handing them a club or worse yet, using the club on one another. Well, I’m ranting again. I might just be dealing with some wounded professional and personal feelings today.

I understand that there are quite a few people in the Fall Line Farms Co-op www.farm2udirect.com that are looking for me and wondering what has happened. There has been a drop point mixup, that has now been fixed. Also, we had decided to only deliver once a month in an effort to justify the expense in deliveries to five drop points but we are changing that as well. We will be back on the list next week and starting the second week in July, we will be back every week (all five drop points). Sorry I wasn’t there but glad you missed us..we miss you guys too!

Make sure you always check out our website for additions of new products and changes www.breezehillfarm.com. Have a great day and say little prayers that we will not have any more house guest of the reptile variety!