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SEATTLE,
WA by Barbara Adams www.BarbaraBerstAdams.com.
Small eco-farms find that by mending the gap between kids and nature,
their own profits can rise substantially. Jane Eckert, an agricultural
marketing expert is quoted here about farms that provide harvest festivals
for families. From the title, The New Agritourism (New World Publishing,
www.NWPub.net): "While the average pumpkin sale might be $4-$8
per customer, they will generally spend at least $20 per family just
to have a fun day on the farm. Fall season revenues might start for
farms at just a few thousand dollars but with a little bit of ingenuity,
hard work and a good product mix, $100,000 is not a difficult goal
for a farm to reach in October. After several years, many farms are
approaching sales up to $500,000 and more. The concept," she
continues, "is to start small with pumpkins and then start adding
the products, food sales, school tours etc., and the revenue builds
quickly."
Island Meadow
Farm of Washington State found that working directly with the public
school teachers generated many visitors to their pumpkin patch and
apple pressings. HeartSong Farm in New Hampshire has cultivated
a shared-interest following for herb and organic antique apple enthusiasts,
and offer Nature and Spirit camps to their customers' children.
Other sources for those interested in children's tours and workshops
besides public schools include private schools, church groups, homeschool
cooperatives and scout groups.
Farm activities
should include something hands-on and offer something that can be
taken home, whether that be a sample of your heirloom strawberries,
or a craft item such as pressed flower bookmarks made from ingredients
found on the farm. This should be balanced with tours and explanations
of the cycles of life and the science of farming, Longer tours can
include active times along with quieter times, such as farm-related
story times. Other activities that enhance the farm visit include
a variety of general nature-based activities such as flower fairy
tea parties and earthworm ranching projects. Many more are found
in books such as Nature Crafts (Creative Kids), Ecoart!: Earth-Friendly
Art and Craft Experiences for 3-To 9-Year-Olds, and Good Earth Art:
Environmental Art for Kids.
Whether your
farm/children connection includes families or is more oriented to
kids only, such as with school tours, children are often the main
generators of alerting their parents and other adult customers to
your farm products, and are some of the best farm word-of-mouth
promoters one could ask for. There is also the satisfaction of educating
future earth stewards, whether they are your own children or others
who come to the farm.
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