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| SEATTLE,
WA © 2007 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." |
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| 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. |
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| 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 |
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| 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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