Tuesday starts off with breakfast with a presentation by Josh Viertel, President of Slow Food USA . My favorite story of his presentation was that of when his father called him to say that he knew he had saved a little money and he wanted him to invest it. He said sorry Dad I already invested in Drip Tape! Yes, he was a grower at the time and to say the least his father was not exactly enthusiastic about his choice of investments, but then two weeks later when the stock market crashed his father called back and said "I should have invested in drip tape!!". This tickled my funny bone as I thought of all the times I made a comment to a friend that "I really need to buy a new pair of jeans one of these days" and she would say "go do it" and I would return with "I spent all my money on drip tape or seeds or new chicks!!"
First workshop was Small Livestock Production for Ethnic and Speciality Markets. Many of us were excited to hear the news in this arena and Ramiro Lobo from UC Cooperative Extension provided us with the information we were looking for from what breeds to choose to where to find going prices. Very informative!! Unfortunately the only Poultry Advisor in the state was there and he did not touch on this subject at all, but gave a presentation on production procedures mainly for disease control with pictures of commercial operations. He did not meet with much approval to say the least!! Poor guy!
Final workshop was Social Media, obviously I listened, and finally caved!! Yes, I am blogging now and yes I will be on Facebook. By listening to my customers and to this workshop I realized that social media was crucial to my business because people not only want to enjoy good food, but they want to feel connected just like me!! They cannot all be farmers, I am very fortunate to have this opportunity, but I can bring the experience to them through pictures and through my thoughts!! So here goes . . . Wish me luck . . . I am going to need it!!
We returned home and I realized it is good to get away for a few days. It was so great to see the great growth in the Revolution Lettuce in just over a few days and that the chicks no longer look like chicks and that my children's smiles were still the greatest thing on earth!!
Thank you all once again for your support. I am here because of all of you out there!
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