Once in a great while a customer experience will force a great change within oneself. I was told last week that I don't have a farm, so why should they buy from a person making soap as a hobby. That hurt, and of course after they left I had 100 comebacks swimming in my head that I just wanted to scream out, but we've all been there, and it was too late. However, this customer was right in an aspect, I haven't told our full story.
We live in a world of point, click, buy, and without adapting and frankly saying this is why you should give a damn about local. Jobs will continue to dry up, but shop local was my last post, so lets move forward. Hobby farms are amazing; in fact, that is our goal for down the road. There are many Facebook pages and blogs chronicling the lives of a soap makers from farms with goat's milk soap. The urban farmer/gardener is a lesser told tale, but one that is important for different reasons, one being that soapers will utilize what's available to them (in my case beer... lots of beer) another reason is creating green spaces among urban environments.
How does having this urban green space relate to my business? The biggest impact is inspiration, by being out in nature, everything from color combinations to scent combos comes to me. There are also so many other ways this urban farm has impacted us, local raw materials, our green promise, lowering our carbon footprint, supporting native bee populations, reducing organic waste to land fills, and opening dialog about green spaces in the city. Where our customers money is spent matters, and one might think buying a soap is a simple act, but when a person chooses a local maker, they are helping spread positive change.
So how did we get where we are today? It started with a yard that had nothing. In that first year we had 2 raised beds built, it worked out so 4 more beds were made and that is when we started to experiment with things like trench composting and growing vertical. Long term plans were also put into effect for making our own essential oils (the lavender beds are not quite ready yet). Overall, it is amazing what ripping out a little grass and using a little time and energy will reward you with and as always do some good every day.
We live in a world of point, click, buy, and without adapting and frankly saying this is why you should give a damn about local. Jobs will continue to dry up, but shop local was my last post, so lets move forward. Hobby farms are amazing; in fact, that is our goal for down the road. There are many Facebook pages and blogs chronicling the lives of a soap makers from farms with goat's milk soap. The urban farmer/gardener is a lesser told tale, but one that is important for different reasons, one being that soapers will utilize what's available to them (in my case beer... lots of beer) another reason is creating green spaces among urban environments.
How does having this urban green space relate to my business? The biggest impact is inspiration, by being out in nature, everything from color combinations to scent combos comes to me. There are also so many other ways this urban farm has impacted us, local raw materials, our green promise, lowering our carbon footprint, supporting native bee populations, reducing organic waste to land fills, and opening dialog about green spaces in the city. Where our customers money is spent matters, and one might think buying a soap is a simple act, but when a person chooses a local maker, they are helping spread positive change.
So how did we get where we are today? It started with a yard that had nothing. In that first year we had 2 raised beds built, it worked out so 4 more beds were made and that is when we started to experiment with things like trench composting and growing vertical. Long term plans were also put into effect for making our own essential oils (the lavender beds are not quite ready yet). Overall, it is amazing what ripping out a little grass and using a little time and energy will reward you with and as always do some good every day.