Today was the first day of the outdoor market—the official beginning of the 2008 Farmers Market season! We are at a very interesting temporary location that actually feels like a little European street fair to me—see picture. It is not big enough to accommodate our full market, nor all the parking needed for our customers, but it is great for one more week until we move to the parking lot by the PERA building across from the state capitol. This will be an ideal location for our visitors, and is actually a pretty parking lot with big trees and very spacious. That will be our last temporary home until we move into our beautiful new location, where we will stay for the next 80 years (at least).

It was so great to see my regular customers again, and meet so many new ones. There is such excitement when people enter my booth—I always forget how this fuels me. One customer bought enough Mother and Baby soaps in gift bags to give as favors at a baby shower—it’s such an honor to be part of a new baby/new mama celebration that way.

And, starting this week, I am rolling out a new feature to my blog: CELEBRITY CUSTOMER/CITING OF THE WEEK. Hopefully it will always be celebrity CUSTOMER of the week, but alas, sometimes those famous folks in Santa Fe don’t come into my booth. Past celebrities who have been my customers include the actors Marsha Mason and Alan Arkin (both locals), and a citing of the modern dancer/choreographer Bill T. Jones.

This week’s CELEBRITY CUSTOMER OF THE WEEK IS . . . (drum roll please): Democracy NOW host Amy Goodman!

She is in town with her brother David, promoting their new book, “Standing Up to the Madness.” You can learn more about her at www.democracynow.org. Thanks for coming by, Amy, and enjoy your lotion bars and soap!

Jackie Higginson, my saleswoman, was star-struck, as were her granddaughters. Her granddaughters readily told Amy that they were fans, but then when asked what they liked about her show said, “Ummmmmmm.” Very cute. I missed her, sadly. Wish I had a picture of her in my booth to share.

I also have to say that Jackie’s homeschooled granddaughters were working away with her in the booth today. Her eldest, Maya, was our right-hand woman, beautifully arranging my soaps and lotions, keeping the table stocked, sticking labels on bags and tins, and taking good care of customers. She’s a welcome addition to my business.

Come see us next weekend at the Market!

Getting Ready for Market

It's that time of year--Spring in Santa Fe. Warm and sunny one day, harshly windy the next, freezing and snowy the day after that. Yes, freezing and snowy. Poor daffodils. Luckily for me, in Glorieta our trees haven't even started blooming yet. But I'm busily getting ready for market. Packing up beautiful soaps, making new signs for my baskets, shopping for a new tent. The Market has had some difficulty finding an outdoor home for this season before our building is done, but wherever the Market is, people will come. And I've been amazed at how the Market can transform a mall parking lot into an inviting, warm festival. I look forward to seeing everyone again starting next Saturday.

And my new-business plans continue! It's so fun to meet with different folks, share my ideas, and then catch their enthusiasm. They start to think about my business too, and it just multiplies the energy--it's a great feeling to inspire others, and to be inspired by their creativity as well.

More soon. . .

Cradle to Cradle

Ah Spring. Isn't it wonderful? Suddenly the light changes, the chickens start laying, buds appear on the fruit trees, and new ideas for my business start to emerge. In almost any business that markets a product, there is great pressure for constant innovation. I feel this acutely, especially every April at the first day of the Farmers Market when my loyal customers greet me with "Anything new?" This is always a little terrifying to me. Where are all the new ideas? Yikes!

Well, I've made a big discovery. Fellow small business owners, here comes my big piece of sage advice, the latest lesson I've learned going into my fourth year in business (Gee, I think I’ll even try to generalize): Follow your passion in your business, even as it changes! Interest in business has a flow, like a liquid—it starts in one area, then it flows to another, then sloshes to another, bringing new life to different areas of the business. And it’s your job to follow the flow—oh, “go with the flow”!

Ok, let me elaborate (I'll have to refine the language if I'm going to write a bestseller).

When I first started my business, of course I was excited about the soap itself. Then I started selling at the Farmers Market and I was so excited about the Market, and about selling and meeting all my customers. Then I hired Jackie to sell for me, and got excited about the growth of my business and everything involved in having an employee, and maybe in the future, more employees. Then there’s been designing and marketing my website. Etc. Etc. Then I got stuck and felt guilty for not feeling as excited about the things that used to make me excited. Does this mean I've run out of steam on this business, and should just quit? The truth is, I've had some ideas gnawing at me, but kept telling those ideas that they weren't rational for my business--too expensive, too involved, stay simple etc. But then I finally, I gave voice to those ideas, and lo and behold, an entire plan took shape almost instantly and almost in it's entirety! Suddenly my business was exciting again, had a new life! Oh! I get it!

So here is one piece of my new plan, for preview here on the Blog: It’s time to design/create custom packaging for my soap, that will not only convey the greatness and irresistibility of my products, but will also meet my ecological/good person standards in terms of materials, and enable me to wholesale my products all over the planet.

As you know from my website, I want to use my business to make the world a better place—not only by philanthropy, but also in terms of how I run my business and what I market. There is an incredible concept pioneered by William McDonough called “Cradle to Cradle.” I’ll quote from a great article (http://www.earthcycle.com/ec-pdf/PackagingWorld_%C9e_to_Cradle.pdf):

“How’s this for an environmental packaging strategy?
• Use more packaging material, not less.
• Instead of designing with the cheapest materials,
design the best package possible, without worrying
about per-package cost.
• “Littering” can help the environment.
Sound politically incorrect, and financially suicidal?
Take a closer look. What if that ice cream wrapper lying
on the side of the road were designed to “melt” into a
biosafe liquid in a matter of hours at ambient temperatures?
What if the foam food container was not only
biodegradable, but incorporated essential nutrients to replenish
the topsoil?”

Great, right? Perfect for Milk and Honey Soap, right?

Ok, stay tuned. I have some more great ideas, but they’re still a secret!

(By the way, go ahead and Google “Cradle to Cradle”—and put these ideas to work!)

Spring is Here--Our Building is Growing!

It's funny, but I don't actually pass by the site of our new permanent Farmers Market home very often--so when I have passed by in the last month or so, I've experienced a complete thrill at seeing our beautiful building coming together so quickly! Last year, I was on the Santa Fe Farmers Market building committee for several months. I had the privilege of viewing various blueprints and color renderings of potential designs, and being part of discussions about finish colors, LEED Certification, vendor spaces, and the dreams of the Farmers Market for the next 80 years. Yes, 80 years. The Farmers Market has an 80 year lease with the City of Santa Fe for the land, and we own the building. The commitment of the City, and the prominence of our permanent home in the heart of the growing Railyard District is a moving acknowledgment of the value our community places on our farmers, local fresh food, preserving our land and the family farms that steward it and community.  If the kitchen is the heart of the home--look! Our Farmers Market is the heart of Santa Fe!  Also enriching this area will be the new leg of the Rail Runner train service from Albuquerque.  Our governor who wanted to be president, is doing a pretty good job of realizing the dream of a sustainable, future based on local agriculture, food security, deep community, and public transportation right here in New Mexico!

Winter Day

The farm is pretty quiet at this time of year. My daughter is home sick today, so I kept her brother home, too (we live a bit out of town from where school is). So Simon went out to visit the girls. Moments after I snapped this picture, Hazelnut jumped up on Simon and completely knocked him over backwards! Luckily, we had a good laugh over that--no feelings hurt.

I am in the process of trying to find a buck to romance my girls. Most folks breed their goats in the fall, and I have done that in the past as well, but I'm thinking that summer babies would be a lot easier than babies arriving during the April frosts. I'm planning to breed all four girls. I don't keep a buck here because they tend to be ornery, and they are famously stinky. This stink, while a great turn-on to the does (I guess), affects the taste of the milk, and the reputation of goats in general. Sans buck, my barn smells sweet with hay and earthy with the goats' manure. I like it that way.

Anyhow, it's a little tricky finding a buck close by. Last year, a friend from another farm actually brought his young buck over for a month. That was ideal. He is available again this year, but although it is common practice, I don't want to breed his daughters (Hazelnut and Sula) back with him. So the search continues.

We have a new animal out at the barn. The other day after another snowfall, I noticed paw prints going down our path straight to the barn. Nestled in the hay, I found a little scrappy, skinny, orange and black calico cat. We locked eyes for a few moments, then it took off. I will try to catch a picture of her. There's plenty of good mice-eating out there, so I hope she sticks around. I just wish she was more friendly. . .

Yummy Veggies

What the heck is going on in this picture?? This is a nice way to brighten up winter for the girls. Our local organic coop puts all their veggie scraps from the produce department in a giant trash bag behind the store every day, and about once a month or so (although I need to get into the habit of going more often), I go and grab it and bring it back as a great treat and diet-booster for the goats and the chickens (and for us in their milk and eggs). Yum. Yum.

Ok, Hazelnut, cont. When I left off, we were hand-feeding our little cold, limp goat kid with her mother's colostrum with a syringe. The more we forced into her, the perkier she became. When I went out to feed and milk the goats that evening, I "wore" Hazelnut in the sling. When I put her mother up on the milking stand, she started sniffing me until she found her baby tucked into my sweatshirt . . . and proceeded to "talk" to her, and nuzzle her--! Isn't motherhood amazing? Needless to say, this was heartbreaking, and I promised Mama Taza that her baby would be returned to her as soon as she was able.

That night, Hazelnut slept in a padded laundry basket, heated with a hot water bottle, by the side of my bed. I admit she started out on my belly, under the covers, but I really didn't want to be woken up by goat-kid-pee in my bed in the middle of the night (I remember that warm wet feeling from my babies. . . don't really want to re-live it). Now, goats are diurnal, just like us--they sleep through the night. So she got all quiet and settled in her nest until about 10pm, when she started to make very cute little sounds. I woke up, gave her some more heated colostrum, and actually took her out of her basket to pee. Turns out, like human babies, just after they eat, or after they have been sleeping for some time, they are ready to pee. (My son was "diaper free" as a baby--email me if you want more info about this.) By this time, she was kind of shakily standing up, and I watched her closely (as did our two freaked-out cats), until she squatted (shakily), and I quickly thrust a Tupperware container under her bum and "caught" her pee. ! Too much cuteness. Back she went to sleep. Just before the sun came up I woke up from a bad dream that she was splayed out dead in the laundry basket. I reached down from the bed to touch her, and met her warm little head; she was sitting up, very healthy-goat-like. Wow, I felt like super-goat-woman for saving this kid’s life!

The final chapter of Hazelnut's first week of life next time . . .

Introducing Hazelnut

Dear friends out in cyberspace,

As I’m writing this, I am out at the barn, with goats jumping at my back and standing on the fence. My dear husband is snapping away pics to put on this site—isn’t this so cute?? Ok, so I’m not really planning to write my blog out at the barn every week, but it sure is a good way to start off, don’t you think?

Why are the goats all around me and going a little nuts at the fence? Well, for one thing, it’s dinner time, and they are eagerly/desperately wondering what I am doing and when is the alfalfa going to get deposited in their feeder. . .

Out comes Hazelnut as our model. She was born this past April to our “best goat,” Taza (the black and white smiling goat on my website). Hazelnut had a great first day, then after a freeze that night, I went out to feed in the morning and she was splayed out on the barn floor looking completely dead. Turned out she was still very much alive, but was severely hypothermic. We brought her in the house, put her on a hot water bottle, and started rubbing her down and talking to her. It was a school morning, and although she was responding a little, I was not feeling very hopeful. As we were getting ready to rush out the door to take kids to school, we said our last good-byes to our poor little newborn kid, and she lifted her head, looked at us, and let out a big “baaaaaaah!!” Oh! I called the vet right away, took a big detour out to Pecos (the opposite direction from Santa Fe, where the kids go to school), and took her in for some emergency care. After a day on a heating pad, receiving fluids, and I’m not sure what else (well, and $200), we picked her up in the late afternoon. Her temperature still wasn’t reading on the thermometer, but she had made it through the day. I was given a syringe to feed her with, and told to keep her warm and get some colostrum (the first, highly nutritious and protective milk from Mama) into her. I knew what I had to do. I went home, sewed up a little make-shift sling, and put the little goat in, right on my chest (ok, not skin-to-skin as I did with my babies). I put a sweatshirt on over that and zipped her in. Oooo, was that cozy! Over the course of the evening, with the help of the kids, we put her up on the kitchen counter and got some milk into her. She started to perk up more and more, like a little flower. More about Hazelnut’s story next week . . .