Sagely’s Post

October is here, which means it's one of the most beautiful times of the year, if you live in the Northeast. 🙈 Sorry, not sorry, fall anywhere else simply cannot compare. That said, this is PRIME season for orchards, pumpkin patches, and farm markets, and from here, that busy season rolls into the holidays, and before you know it, it's January. So, let's dig into the strategy I use with a local family-owned farm market to help promote products, keep customers engaged, and bring people into the store year-round. 1) We knew we wanted this to be video-based. It wasn't something they were doing prior, and so when I started, we wanted to use video as a new way to connect with their people. 2) We make videos on everything. 😂 (The farmer juggling apples while holding his baby? yep. Quizzing the farmer on product lines they carry? yep. His personal recommendations of products in the store? yep. His daughter's favorite products? yep. How they prune trees, grade apples, and other weird farm happenings? yep. Proper storage of your produce? yep. The bakery's process of home-making their soft pretzels every morning? yep.) And you know what people get the most excited about? The videos where he's either teaching something niche about farming/running the store/ or family history, given that he's the 5th generation to run the farm, or just being a bit of a goofball. 3) Often the only call to action is to stop in and say hi and you know what, people do. In all settings in the community, the farmer and his family are stopped by people saying, "wow, those videos are hysterical," or "it's so fun to learn about being a farmer," or "I had no idea you guys did that!" This family has taken over a legacy business, a local landmark, and with the help of modern-day marketing (and I'm not talking TikTok dances, I'm talking the same messages with a modern format!), they have revolutionized the way the community sees and interacts with them. It's not hard to create a brand; people can't help but talk about it. It just sometimes takes the right personality in front of the camera and a little bit of strategy behind the camera. 😉

Chickens are not just about crossing roads or laying eggs—they’re actually smarty pants with feathers! 🐓🧠   Did you know they are are as brainy as many birds and mammals?   They can show off some great moves, like learning tricks from their buddies. They’ve even got a bit of self-awareness. Yup, chickens might just know they’re chickens.   Even after we’ve brought them from the wild into the farms, their brains held onto their sharp wits, despite us breeding them for big muscles and lots of eggs. Parts of their brains even help them adjust to life with us humans. And thanks to domestic life, they've become social butterflies of the barnyard, navigating complex pecking orders and interactions with ease.   So why should we care?   Understanding chicken intelligence is key for making sure these birds live their best life. Plus, the more people realise chickens are smarties, the more they might support treating them better.   So, chickens are surprisingly smart; like feathered little Einsteins. More research could help us appreciate and improve their lives, so we’ll be on top of the new insights and share them where we can!

It’s back to school time in my part of the world. As a tribute to educators everywhere here’s a “quick lesson” on the bee honey making process via Pest World for Kids (PestWorld.org)…🐝 🌻🌸🌻🌸🌻 Once bees find a flower, they use their long tongue like a straw to suck nectar, a sugary juice, out of the plant.   1. The nectar is then stored in a second stomach, also known as the “honey stomach.”   2. After they fill up their second stomach, the bees will return to their hive and start to pass the nectar through their mouths to other bees.   3. These bees will then chew on the nectar for about 30 minutes.  4. Then they pass it along to another bee!   5. As the nectar is passed from bee to bee, it is turned into honey.   6. Once the nectar becomes honey, the honeybees store it in honeycomb cells, which act as little jars made of wax.  7.  The bees then flap their wings over the honey to make it thicker and more like syrup instead of sweet juice.   8. Once the honey is ready, the bees seal the cell using a wax lid to store it for later.  9. Then skilled beekeepers (like my neighbor) take some of the finished honey from the hive, taking care to not harm or damage the colony👧🏻 DELICIOUS!😋 #RubyStanley #backtoschool #honeybeecolony #lessonplan

Just wanted to share a little piece of my journey transitioning from town life to being a farm wife here in the heart of Illinois. 🌽🏡 Basically, I went from knowing very little about farm operations to becoming the queen of on-the-go meals during harvest season. Spoiler alert: my kitchen escapades are the stuff of legends! 👩🌾👩🍳 Imagine a clueless gal attempting to crack the code of "field meals". Yep, I was pretty much the farm version of Clueless and I didn't even have to act 🤣 Early mornings, late nights, unpredictable weather and breakdowns could rival the drama any Real Housewives episode. Don't even get me started on parts runs! Here are my survival tips for anyone riding the farm food wave: 1️⃣ Crock-Pot (or Instant Pot) Sorcery: This bad boy is my kitchen MVP. Throw in some ingredients in the AM, let it work its magic, and by lunch, you've got a hot meal that would make a chef jealous. P.S. You can serve right out of it from the back of your SUV. 2️⃣ Snackapalooza: Harvest is like a snackathon. Granola bars, fruit slices, and don't forget the chocolate stash – because let's be real, chocolate is the real harvest gold. 3️⃣ Freeze & Forget: Sometimes the kitchen feels like an alien planet when you haven't had time to run to the store. Enter pre-prepped frozen meals – thaw, heat, eat. It's magical. 4️⃣ Simplicity Reigns: Who needs a gourmet masterpiece? A classic sandwich or wrap is the unsung hero of field meals. Bonus: minimal dish mountain to conquer and your drivers will be happy to have a one handed meal. 5️⃣ Join the Field Feast: Occasionally, I surprise the team with a field feast. It's a chance for everyone to take a breather, enjoy a hot meal together, and recharge for the next (literal) round of harvest. Finding the sweet spot between scrumptious and sane has been my mission. 🌟 Learning farm life ropes is like riding a rollercoaster, but I wouldn't this life for anything. Farm wives are the backbone of every operation! 🚀🍴 #HarvestHumor #FarmKitchenAdventures #CulinaryConvert #Farmlife #farming

Now that April Fool's Day has passed, it's time to properly set the stage for the official book cover reveal of Macie and the Magic Veggies. Initially, I planned to write a traditional business book based on lessons learned from various experiences throughout my professional journey. I never imagined I'd end up writing a farm adventure picture and activity book for 2 to 5-year-olds and their families, much less one that rhymes. But, when inspiration strikes—in this case, the birth of our first grandchild—I believe in going with the flow. My pivot also aligned with my recent woodlands-to-homestead development project and my mentoring of a social entrepreneur who is connecting local farmers to the community and addressing fresh produce access and affordability. A general theme around where our food comes from emerged, and the seeds of Macie's story started to take root in my mind. However, I was still a long way from turning those seeds into an actual book to be published. The deeper story behind this book is a tale for another day. For now, as we look forward to the official book cover reveal in just two days—fittingly on International Carrot Day—I want to share the logline that has guided this project: A curious 5-year-old girl learns the true source and magic secret of growing veggies from her wise grandpa and a friendly, young farmer. Tomorrow, I'll dive into the book summary and share more insights from the creative process, which all started with a simple yet powerful phrase: Macie loves her veggies. See you then! 🥕

"In certain parts of America now, people have started to mate with vegetables." I didn't write that. That was Jeremy Clarkson, a popular TV host from the UK who's made a fortune simply by having a personality. If you watch his show "Clarkson's Farm," you know how much of the appeal is driven by Clarkson's sense of humor. Clarkson can make a meeting about the farming budget compelling. And, being the writing nerd I am, I thought: 𝑊ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑖𝑠 ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑜𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑘𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑠𝑜 𝑠𝑢𝑐𝑐𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑓𝑢𝑙? I've got a couple of ideas. And it basically boils down to the word "wit." Clarkson is witty. And he's witty because he uses principles of successful writing in live conversation. 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞: In a recent Q and A, Clarkson described a scene in the rural south when he and his co-hosts had pranked each other by writing inflammatory statements on their cars for all to read. This upset the locals, some of whom showed up with attack dogs. Here's what Clarkson said about how he leaped into action to help his buddy, James May: "𝑌𝑜𝑢 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑 𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑏𝑜𝑦𝑠 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒, 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑘 𝑎𝑓𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑠? ... 𝐹--- 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡. 𝐼 𝑑𝑒𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑚𝑦 𝐶𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑜 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑙𝑜𝑡 𝑓𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝐽𝑎𝑚𝑒𝑠' 𝐶𝑎𝑑𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑐 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 ℎ𝑖𝑚 𝑡𝑜 𝑖𝑡." Classic. He gets you thinking he's setting up a scenario where he comes to James's rescue... ...then he talks about how he drove off, completely out of self-interest. But notice he doesn't simply say "I drove off," either. He uses show-don't-tell by mentioning the second-order detail of his car being faster than May's. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐰, 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐓𝐞𝐥𝐥: I went back to watch the scene Clarkson was describing. In describing the rural American southerners as he drove off, Clarkson told the camera: "𝐼𝑛 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐴𝑚𝑒𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎 𝑛𝑜𝑤, 𝑝𝑒𝑜𝑝𝑙𝑒 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑣𝑒𝑔𝑒𝑡𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒𝑠." It's such a creative way to say he didn't like those people and thought they were dumb. But if he said, "Those people were dumb," it would have come across as crude and spiteful. So he gets away with it by being clever. Rather than say: "Those people were dumb as vegetables," he thinks of a made-up second-order detail that gets the same idea across by showing, not telling, how dumb he thinks they are. So don't listen to people who say, "Clear is better than clever." It sounds true because of the alliteration. But I think clever beats clear. Clever is clearer than clear. Clever is also: -More interesting -More fun to read and watch -More likely to command attention -More likely to get you a book deal -More likely to earn you millions on Amazon Prime

Happiness Ridge: feeding birds When we moved here I put up a couple feeders on the porch. I kept adding feeders and trying different bird foods as the seed disappeared quicker and quicker. Since, I have moved most of the feeders onto wires between the porch and the trees. Currently there are eight feeders, four platforms, and six seed cakes. I usually wait until they are all empty before I refill them because it takes a while to do so. They are emptied every four to six days, roughly 128 cups (8 gallons) of seed. I have kept a spreadsheet, since the beginning, that tracks feeder, seed, location, and volume. I determined what the birds we had liked to eat. (Your experience may differ.) Millet is eaten by birds on the ground, in my opinion it is used as filler in mixes because of its denseness. Turns out saffron was always the last left. (I make my children clean their plates before they get more.) I took their favorite mixes and broke them down. Now I make my own mixes, one for platform feeders and one for the others. The difference is the percentage of sunflower seeds and the inclusion of larger nuts on the platforms. Black-oiled sunflower seeds are popular as bird food because they have a lot of protein. My mixes are heavy on protein and it shows in the birds.

During #NationalNutritionMonth, learn about the various types of farms that produce the foods you love, from family farms to bee yards and everything in between: https://lnkd.in/gXVYSgex 🐄🍉🐖🫑🥚🍈🐝

During #NationalNutritionMonth, learn about the various types of farms that produce the foods you love, from family farms to bee yards and everything in between: https://lnkd.in/gXVYSgex

During #NationalNutritionMonth, learn about the various types of farms that produce the foods you love, from family farms to bee yards and everything in between: https://lnkd.in/gXVYSgex