Uncategorized – Page 3 – Plum Blossom Farm

Posted on February 17, 2014February 17, 2014 by Carole Balala

Janet Wentworth Interview

My super smart Small Business Adviser, Janet Wentworth was interviewed recently on WriterSpeak. She is in the process of promoting her new book, “Your Unstoppable Brand”, available on Amazon.

This interview contains a lot of great information about advancing your small business by sharing your story and your image with potential customers. I think anyone who is starting out or even those who have a medium size businesses who are still struggling finding their ideal customer or fitting brand.

She even mentions Plum Blossom Farm in her interview which is exciting! Hope you enjoy! If you don’t have time to watch the whole session you can skip to see the portion on Plum Blossom Farm at minute 21.

WriterSpeak with Janet Wentworth on Youtube

Posted on February 5, 2014 by Carole Balala

Lucky Sheep Get Daily Organic Salad Bar

For the past year the animals of Plum Blossom Farm have been spoiled with fresh, organic fruits and veggies. My friend Farah, who passed the ducks along to me, was very kind to share in the produce she gets from a local small grocery chain. The produce the store sorts through and can’t sell because it’s slightly wilted or blemished gets put in a bin for us each day. Some of the produce looks perfect and I cannot figure out why it got thrown out at all.

The sheep and ducks eat the majority of the veggies. The ducks favorite treats are butter lettuce and tomatoes. The sheep love celery, apples, carrots and to my surprise, oranges. It is so fun to watch them run to see what time of goods the produce piles hold each morning. I love to spoil them and it helps cut down on my hay bill which is always a good thing!

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Carole Balala

Firewood Stacked and Ready to Burn!

I rely on the wood stove to keep me warm all winter. This requires that I have a lot of wood to supply the stove. I have run low many times and have always managed to scrounge up some wood one way or another, but is not ideal. When the wood pile runs low I tend to light shorter fires, less often and obviously am cold a lot more.

This year I was determined to not run low so I could relax and just light a fire whenever the thermometer read under 65 degrees. Friends chipped in and helped me gather about a cord together. Some came from trees that had been removed along roads. Some came from a dead fig tree that I had on the property that needed to be taken down since I moved here 2 years ago.

But for the first time this year I am actually buying a cord of white oak. I feel a bit like a sell-out but I am willing to risk that title to be warm!

All the oak came split and dumped in my driveway from an outfit in Santa Rosa. All I had to do was stack the pieces, which feels a bit like playing a puzzle.

Luckily the only wood I had to split was some of the fig, but it was so dry it made me feel wonderfully strong and empowered! It will be so nice to just enjoy the winter in a warm cozy house. Sometimes it can be 80 degrees inside when the wood stove really gets cranking. Makes it feel like a whole other season altogether.

Posted on September 7, 2013September 7, 2013 by Carole Balala

duck post

YouTube – Videos from this email

Posted on August 2, 2013August 2, 2013 by Carole Balala

Book Recommendation

I have to recommend a book written by my Small Business Adviser, Janet Wentworth. It is a great tool for small business owners, entrepreneurs or anyone interested in marketing. It is all about the power of stories and how they connect buyers to sellers. Funny and personal and interesting to read this book gives you a new perspective on the stories you have but didn’t know you have. It is very motivating and gets you actively involved because it also acts like a workbook. A great read and a great tool.
Janet has helped me so much with my brand already. This book taught me so much more and helped me realize my potential stories. Check out her book on Amazon.

Posted on July 28, 2013August 2, 2013 by Carole Balala

Hay in the Barn feels like $ in the Bank- Except it’s Actually the Opposite!

Yay! All the hay that will feed my flock until next June has arrived safely at the farm. It is such a relief to have it delivered and stacked high. My barn is filled to the ceiling with beautiful bales of oat and orchard/alfalfa hays. There is very little room for the storage of anything else or much movement in the hallway but it doesn’t matter. There comes a feeling of security with all that feed there. It feels safe.

In fact I got so many bales this year ( 170) because of the new sheep that not all of it fit inside the barn even with the 12′ high stacks. Some bales are left outside for now to be feed out first. Hopefully before any rain shows up. I feel confident that I can do this since it will only be the end of August by the time the outside stack is eaten.

Posted on July 12, 2013July 28, 2013 by Carole Balala

Final Version of New Logo

Thank you so much to my designer Camille Chung! I found her on Etsy and really loved her designs. She was patient and kind with me through the rounds of edits. She has such a great eye and I’m so glad I chose her to work on my logo. To check of her work check out Camille Chung on Etsy.

I am absolutely delighted with this logo which I think conveys the warm and organic feel of my business with a touch of elegance. At the same time it conveys how much I care for and respect my animals.

Watch for this image to be on all my written materials and on my fair booth:

Posted on July 3, 2013July 28, 2013 by Carole Balala

Hot

California is being hit with a hot weather system right now. This is our 5th day of what is supposed to be a weeks stretch of temperatures over 100 degrees. It has reached 103 on a number of days here and that is hot!

I try to keep the sheep cool with drum fans and misters. They appreciate it and often crowd around the moving air. They stay pretty still from around 2:00-4:00 to conserve energy and regulate their internal temps.

The ducks get a hose sprinkling several times a day which they absolutely love! I have a cute video of their reaction to the cool down in next weeks blog.

Our dog Rosie loves to sun bathe! But this week she’s only been able to stand the heat until about 8:00 in the morning! It’s too hot! We are looking forward to a break that’s supposed to be on it’s way Friday. I sure hope so.

Posted on June 14, 2013June 21, 2013 by Carole Balala

Plum Season

It is plum season here on the farm. Our wild cherry plum trees are just dripping with fruit along side our domestic fruit trees. Dealing with this much bounty can be overwhelming so I try to just do a little bit each day. Today I plan to make a plum custard and plum muffins. Tomorrow I will have to come up with some more creative ideas on how to work through all this fruit. One simple way- eating one fresh, ripe, juicy plum at a time.