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New Terra Farm News -- Factoids of Interest to the organic foodie
February 22, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Written & Published by Scott Kelland
Written at New Terra Farm
13510 County Rd 15
Merrickville ON

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The bees are coming, the bees are coming! Confirmed the order yesterday for one 'nuc' of honeybees, to be delivered here to the farm mid-May. The happy little workers will be set up near the garden to help out with pollination, and next year (if all goes well) we'll 'bee' in the honey business, too.

1. Opening Notes

2. 7 things you didn't know about honeybees

3. More interesting people and places!


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PRODUCTS AND PROMOTIONS
This section presents stuff you should see (and maybe buy) because, well, I said so! Just kidding, as you know we only promote products and services we have personal knowledge of and really believe deliver value, and that are worth your time to check out. So, uh, do it!

Make your knowledge sell. I just checked my sales stats for my books about farming topics I sell on my website, and the month of January set a new sales record.

This is pretty exciting to me because 1) it means I have helped other people with their dream of having a farm, and 2) I have created another stream of income to help support MY farm dream.

The interesting part of all this is that it was accomplished using a structured process known as C-T-P-M: Content, Traffic, PRESell, then Monetize. And ANYONE can follow this process to make their own knowledge sell as well.

I learned what I know about selling my knowledge mainly from a company called SiteSell.com based in Montreal. They host my website and provide a complete tool set to building an e-commerce website.

Their product comes in 3 'flavours':

For the 'do-it-yourself' types there is Site Build It! This product includes all the tools and training you need to create a great website of your own. You can read my Review of Site Build It! here

Then for the 'do it with me' crowd there is SBI! eLearning, an instructor-led online course that teaches students step-by-step, in just a few hours a week, how to build a successful Internet-based business.

You can Learn how to build an online business with SBI! eLearning here

And the final choice is for the do it FOR me folks, who just don't have the time or the inclination to invest in building their own website.

The good news for these people is, you can have a great working website built for you GUARANTEED, by the experts at SiteSell Services.

Click this link to see examples of SiteSell Services helping businesses just like yours

Check them out if you would like start 2010 with a new direction by building multiple streams of income with an e-commerce website of your own.



END PROMO
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1. Opening Notes

Plans are proceeding apace for the garden, the honeybees, improving and adding to the website, and (possibly) creating a farmer's market in Merrickville (more about that in a later issue.)

I am eagerly waiting for the chance to start working in the new greenhouse; I expect we will start planting in there in the first week of March. This project has the potential to really extend our growing season, without having to use electricity or petro-chemicals.

If all goes well this year, we will expand next season to increase the number of crops we grow under cover.

And, lest I forget, plans are moving along for the Eco-Fair and Artists' Competition in the Village; details can be found at Merrickville Goes Green


On another note, we're well into the 'start-up' phase of things here on the farm, so if you haven't done so, please send us the first installment payment for the season.

The prices per share are remaining the same as last year, $500 for a half-share payable in two equal installments, and $900 for a full share, also payable in two installments.

You can send cheques payable to New Terra Farm, 13510 County Rd 15, Merrickville K0G 1N0. If you choose to pay in installments, you can post-date the second installment as late as March 31 2010.

You can also pay in installments by credit card on my New Terra Farm page




7 things you didn't know about honeybees

I've been learning a lot about honeybees in the last few weeks (got to get an 'A" on my 'bee' course.) Here's a few choice tidbits of knowledge for the bee fancier.
  • 60% of our fruits and vegetables rely on honeybees for pollination

  • Most insects lie dormant in the winter, but the honeybee hive is always 'buzzing' with activity

  • The Queen Bee lays up to 1,600 eggs DAILY! My kingdom for a chicken like that!

  • There are 60,000 or more bees in a typical hive, but only one queen

  • Bees can range up to 10 kilometers to find food

  • Modern beehives are built to very precise measurements; if certain dimensions are off by even 1/8 of an inch, the hive will not function as planned

  • A hive can produce 100lbs of honey in a season for the beekeeper, over and above what they need for their own food

Can't wait for my little workers to arrive!

3. More interesting people and places

First up, my friends Aleta Karstad and Fred Schueler are putting the finishing touches on their website that explains their work in the long term study of species in their habitats, and the human & environmental effects on them.

Aleta and Fred are committed, smart and hard-working folks, who for the last 30 years or so have been pursuing their ecological agenda, often without support of any kind from the 'powers that be.' Much of the knowledge they have acquired is unique, and mustn't be lost to us.

You can find out more, and perhaps choose to support their important work at fragileinheritance.org

Next up is the Fall River Restaurant on Highway 7 near Maberly, Ontario. Suzie and I went there for lunch last weekend; we were in the neighbourhood to meet with Mike Nickerson who I wrote about last issue (http://www.SustainWellBeing.net)

The Fall River restaurant is billed as the 'greenest restaurant in Canada'; we had a great (organic) lunch, and a great chat with the owner Paul Zammit. Among other projects, Paul is planning a 'lunch and learn' lecture series out of his restaurant, featuring speakers on topics such as local food, organic growing, sustainable energy . . . sound familiar?

And, Paul's next big eco-project is to install 10Kwh PV solar, installation to be done by Chris Weissflog of Eco-Gen Energy in Kemptville; small (green) world, Chris is one of my farm customers and a good friend.

Check out the Fall River Restaurant, and if you are in the neighbourhood drop in for a bite; you won't be disappointed.

The Fall River Restaurant


You can contact me with questions or comments about any of the above at Scott's email

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