Author: Five Feline Farm

This has been a momentous year for Five Feline Farm. Much has changed, but our core desire to serve our customers has not.

First the changes:

—We both retired from our “day jobs”.

—Donna was awarded the Paul Overton award at EIU for outstanding service to off campus adult students.

—She was also recognized as an Outstanding Master Gardener.

—Honey Bee published her first book “Honey Bee Comes to the Farm.”

—In July we started attending a second farmer’s market each week. In addition to our regular attendance at the 18^th St. Farmer’s Market in Charleston every Saturday morning, we also are at the Casey Market Thyme on Friday mornings. Both, of course are only during the market season.

—The Mercantile has expanded days of operation from October through December.

—The inside of the Mercantile continues to expand and have finish work completed.

—We have expanded and refined our product line; adding soaps, shampoo bars, re-naming balms, new scone flavors, and mini-pies.

What has not changed:

—Our dedication to high quality, hand crafted products.

—The desire to grow and expand Five Feline Farm.

—Our commitment to value our customers and enhance your lives through fun, quality products and education.

As always, you can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. For a real treat, listen to our weekly podcast: Farm Chatter.

 “Is there anything you don’t do?”

It is a question we get a lot here at Five Feline Farm. It’s true we do many things for ourselves; however the short answer is to the above question is: “Yes”. There are a lot of things we do not tackle. But, we certainly are of the mind set that anyone can do anything they want to do.

Today we want to encourage you to dream big. Make a list of all the things you might want to do. Don’t hold back. Put anything on your list that you have ever thought about doing. 

Pick one of those things.

What would it take to get to do that thing? Make another list of the steps involved, then start doing those things.

It really can be that simple, but it also requires work and dedication.

For example, almost two years ago, we wanted to start a podcast. Neither of us have any experience with podcasting, radio, television or anything even close. That did not deter us.

The list of steps to actually publish a podcast included google searches for programs and equipment to use, Youtube videos and even a Lynda.com short course. 

With the native Mac application “Garageband” and microphones ordered through Amazon, we recorded and edited our first podcast. A bit of research on Apple, Soundcloud and our own website host gave us everything we needed to know to set it all up and get it out into the world.  

On January 29, 2018, Episode 1 went live. By February 11, 2018, and the third episode, we were posting directly on fivefelinefarm.com/podcast. The first few episodes were rough. But as we kept doing it, week after week, we improved. At least the recording, editing and posting is smoother; and a lot of people tell us they are listening. Next week we will be recording Episode 100.

You can do this too.

Whether it is a podcast, Youtube channel, blog, business or whatever is in your heart to do. 

Just start.

If what you want to do is build a small business, especially a farmer’s market business, we are developing some tools you can use to walk through the process we followed. 

Let us know how we can help you. 

As always, you can follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and on this blog.

I have been thinking a lot about encouragement lately.

So much so I even had to look up the definition. Sometimes knowing the history of a word helps to see the word in a new way.

Merriam Webster says encouragement can mean something that makes someone more determined, hopeful or confident, or even more likely to do something. It is the act of making something more appealing or more likely to happen.

Etymononline.com reports the word “encourage” is from the Old French word “encorgier” meaning to make strong or hearten. Vocabulary.com gave the following example of use:

“When you encourage the tomato plants in your garden, you water them to promote their growth and health.”

A perfect fit for what we do here at Five Feline Farm.

So many of you, our families, friends and customers, have encouraged us in what we do.

You have given us strength and hope to continue to build this business. You have promoted our growth and health.

We first met many of you at farmer’s markets or you made the drive to visit us at the Mercantile. Some we met through social media. You have become friends and fans.

You are each a part of what we do and why we do it.

Thank you for making us more determined, hopeful and confident.

Thank you for your encouragement.