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  • From: Michael Meredith <meredith848 AT yahoo.com>
  • To: market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Market-farming] web page
  • Date: Sun, 24 Jan 2010 11:27:43 -0800 (PST)

Say, Liz, thanks for all the hard work on the web page, it looks real good.

Michael Meredith.....loong time farmer wannabe.....




From: Liz Pike
To: Market Farming
Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2010 8:23 AM
Subject: [Market-farming] Happy Anniversary List!!



10 years ago today this list came to life! Huge hugs all around for
the loyalty of our subscribers--many of whom have been here all
along--quite a feat by internet standards. Even though I've never met
you, I feel like y'all are old friends! Heartfelt thanks go out to
Marcie Rosenzweig (Market Farm Forms) who had the foresight to start
this community from the original CSA-L list from PrairieNet.


Over the past 10 years, the internet has evolved and email lists are
slowly becoming the dinosaur for online communication. Especially with
the younger generation. With email lists too insular to reach this
next facebooking, tweeting, texting generation of potential farmers,
the need to carry our discussions out where they can find them is
paramount. So in celebration of this 10th year anniversary, and while
I recovered from back surgery & contemplated my own farming future,
I put my coding, programming & graphic design skills to work to
create an extension of the list on the web. The site puts out the
information shared on the list to a wider audience while providing an
easier format for list members to find older information (as opposed to
wading through the list archives). The site also provides:


a.. the ability to show photographs easily uploaded from your computer,
no need to host them elsewhere. (Showing photos through the list isn't
allowed as a courtesy to our dialup users).
b.. you can print
"articles" from a print link at the bottom of each article so you can
take stuff out to the field when/where you need it.

c..
classified listings-you can now sell/give away stuff to your fellow
list members & others (if there's not a category for what you want
to list, let me know, I'll add it). Listings automatically expire after
30 days.
d.. (coming in the next couple of weeks or so) print
templates for business cards, coupons, recipes, newsletters, flyers,
etc that you can personalize for your customers and CSA members.
Prefilled generic newsletters with room for your personal message &
logo will also be there to save you time when you're at your busiest.
e.. calendar for promoting conferences and events.

f.. price index divided by region. This isn't fancy and in the
interest of keeping it simple, but it gets the job done when you're
wondering how much to charge for what item, and need some quick
comparisons. If this needs a more robust application, it'll be
implemented. (so far this is empty-just waiting for input from
readers/farmers.)

g.. you can subscribe to new posts or comments through rss feed readers
or by email.


No private information from list members is revealed on the site, just
the information from the discussions. And this isn't a substitute for
the list. As you'll see, the "articles" on the site start as list
discussions which I update throughout the day and night with the
current posts & topics. Those who are not members of the list can
add their experiences and comments to the information shared. Page
styles can be disabled via the browser to enable fast load times for
those on dialup. It was quite a balancing act to reach as wide an
audience as possible without leaving out anyone.

You might
find some duplication on the site, such as the current thread on deer
fencing sidetracking onto using dogs to ward off deer. Sub-topics are
given their own "article" space as well as copied into the original
thread to make finding the information easier

The site is
still evolving, some categories are empty as I haven't gotten to those
topics in the archives. Eventually all 10 years worth of the archives
will be copied there. I'm starting with the most recent posts and
going backwards, season by season, so information is applicable for
whatever season in which you're growing. If you're not where you can
access your email to get to the list, you can go to the site for the
most recent discussions which are always on the front page under
Today's Topics. The placeholder images seen on the site now will be
replaced with real photographs as I receive them from subscribers and
readers. A picture is worth a 1000 words, and I've always intended to
create a place for photographical essays for growers to cut short the
information-gathering time. I have lots of interviews scheduled
throughout the year, too, so new information of particular interest to
market farmers will be available to read there also (& not from the
typical "cel
ebrity" farmers we hear from so often!).


With the explosive growth of social media, now is the time to reach out
to the future farmers who'll continue our work (something that became
even more painfully apparent after my back problems last year).
Without further adieu, here's the site: Market Farm Shop Talk
http://marketfarmshoptalk.com.
(Disclaimer: If you encounter a bug (ha! perfect pun for farmers!!),
let me know so I can fix it...it is after all a website, guaranteed to
thrill and frustrate whoever reads it and builds it--just like farming!)




  • [Market-farming] web page, Michael Meredith, 01/24/2010

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