We are posting this now because we won't have a chance tomorrow with the whirlwind that is our Thanksgiving tradition. Each year we invite family and friends over to our farm and cook up a massive meal and enjoy each others company. This year we will be hosting for over 30 people and cooking a 25lb Turkey as well as a Ham. Needless to say, it will be busy around these parts tomorrow, actually starting a few days ago, but once we are in full swing I am certain I will not be around the computer.
We wanted to take this moment to wish you all a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving. Although this year has certainly been one for the History bokos, and not all in the positive light, what we have learned more than ever is above anything else, You can always count on your Family and close Friends and that is what we will be celebrating this year.
To get you in the mood, below is a video we shot last winter of Wild Turkeys that graze our yard from time to time. Not all turkey's are for eating! Over the years they have become more and more part of our family and I think they feel the same way. Enjoy the Video!
Note: If the video stutters for you, hover your mouse over the video and click the HD On button to set it off. It also helps to let the video fully load before hitting play.
Everyone here at Golden Touch Farm is happy to announce that we are running a Local Harvest exclusive special at our online farm store Golden Touch Naturals.
Our Alpaca Survival Socks are by far our best seller and loved by all that have experienced them. If we had to choose one product for all of our customers to buy as their first purchase from us, this would be it.
From now until 12/31/2008, we are offering a "Buy 3 Pairs, Get 1 Free" special to all that read our blog on Localharvest.org . This works out to saving $4.50 off of each pair of socks ordered.
Coupon Code: localharvest
To take advantage of this offer, head to our online farm store and add 3 pairs of our Survival Socks to your shopping cart. At check out type in the Coupon Code: LOCALHARVEST and we will include the 4th free pair when shipping your order.
Here is some more info about these socks: Our Survival Socks are made out of Prime Alpaca Fiber, the best grade of fiber available in the country. To ensure warmth and comfort, we used a terry loop knit on the inside of the sock. We also wanted to match that comfort with durability and memory, so we added nylon to the knit, added a re-enforced heal and toe, an arch band for support, and an ankle band to ensure they wear great every time you put them on. They are machine washable / dry-able, 100% Made in the U.S.A. by hand picked green manufacturers and available in both Mens and Ladies sizes.
We are excited to offer this exclusive deal to the Localharvest.org community and look forward to doing business with you.
Here at Golden Touch Farm we have so
much to be thankful for, but in the spirit of this blog it is hard
looking passed the beautiful cria we have been blessed with this
year. 9 in total, 6 girls and 3 boys. That in itself is just amazing,
as last year we had 80% Males. All of them are healthy, have
beautiful fiber, and possess all the great characteristics we were
hunting for when pairing up our herd sires with their moms. Speaking
of Moms, they also have been doing wonderful this year, which is
always a sigh of relief.
Below is a quick slide show of our
Cria's from 2008. When you have a free moment be sure to find out
more at our farm site, http://www.goldentouchfarm.com
. Happy Thanksgiving!
A friend of the family sent us an email this morning saying she stumbled across a list of the world's 25 Weirdest Animals and she thought of us when Alpacas claimed the 15 spot on the list.
Nothing odd to us! Be sure to check out the rest of the list here: 25 Weirdest Animals
Golden Touch Farm is happy to announce that we will be attending this
year's Westport Rivers Vineyard Holiday Open House as a vendor as well
as having our alpacas on display for the day. Come out and meet our
precious animals, browse our alpaca clothing and accessories, and take
a tour of the vineyard and taste some of their wonderful wines. An event for the entire family!
Here are the details! Hope to see you there!
Westport
Rivers Vineyard & Winery will be holding its Annual Holiday Open
House on Saturday, November 29, 2008 from 11am - 5pm at their family
farm winery in Westport. This Annual event is a fun day for the entire
family and an opportunity to sample local flavors and festivities.
Buzzards Bay Brewing will also be open and hosting their Holiday "Lager
Cafe" from 11am - 9pm. Both venues will feature outstanding local
foods, world class wine & award winning beer as well as live
entertainment.
Location: 417 Hixbridge Rd., Westport, MA Admission is Free
* Wine Tastings - throughout the day * Walking Vineyard Tours * Kettle fires throughout the day, Hayrides - bring your blanket * Pony rides by Pony Express available for a fee * 11-2pm Michael Higgins the Chain Sorcerer * Live entertainment and Christmas music all day, Christmas caroling, 2:30-4:30 The Showstoppers
* Local vendors and baked goods: Kettle Corn by Giggles, Delicious hot
sandwiches available from Route 66 Diner, Dartmouth Orchards - hot
cider & apples, Local artisan cheeses by Shy Brothers Farm and
Martin's Cheese, Equal Exchange Coffee & free Hot Cocoa, Starfish
Bakery, Black Cat Cookies, Kandies & Confections, Hana's Honey,
Langdon Farms Homemade pasta sauces * Children's activities in our Long Acre House, Ornament decorating * 11:30-2pm Story Teller and Children's Author Gretchen Pyne, "Lulu's Rose Colored Glasses" * 4:00 pm Christmas tree lighting ceremony * In the Russell Gallery (above our Company Store), UMass Dartmouth Fine Arts Graduate Students show and sales
Online Video has become such a major part of our Farm's persona. It allows us to share our Farm, Animals, Products, and all other aspects of our life with our neighbors whether they live on our street or across the world. They also act as a wonderful marketing tool, as they stir up interest and introduce our farm to people who were not necessarily looking for it.
We use Vimeo.com to showcase our videos for a bunch of reasons, but mainly because it has such an amazing community and great accessible staff. When browsing videos on YouTube, you can't but notice that almost every video has horrible/negative comments on it, regardless of the subject matter. Vimeo is the exact opposite, people are supportive, helpful, and exciting to share their own little worlds through online video.
Not only do we upload all of our own videos there, we also use the site to make our own channel, called the Weather Channel. As farmers, we are all obsessed with the Weather and spend half of our lives watching it, our Channel is a collection of all the best Weather videos submitted to Vimeo by a ton of different users from across the planet. Below is our Channel, when you have a free moment be sure to watch it.
Co-Op America recently released their Green Gift Giving Guide and our Alpaca Farm store is featured in it.
Here is the info from their site:
"This holiday season we're making green gift giving easier—and helping
you save money too. Our Green Gift Guide features special offers from
businesses listed in the National Green Pages™. So this year, show you care by giving gifts from businesses that support people and the planet."
Check out the entire post, there are over 50 Online stores offering great discounts on some great products, including our own:
Over the last year we have opened up our Farm Store, Golden Touch Naturals (http://www.goldentouchnaturals.com) and we are anxiously getting ready for the holiday shopping season. Our store is primarily online but we also have a Fiber Nook set up on the farm for people to browse and purchase alpaca goods during farm visits.
During the Summer we primarily were just working out the kinks and using the Farmer's Markets to jump start Word of Mouth about our store and farm. Now that Fall is underway and the Holiday Shopping Season is here for the next 6 weeks, we are taking a more active approach in getting our farm and store out there to the general public.
One great and free marketing technique is utiizing our online Video, Picture Galleries, and blogs like this one to really give visitors a great idea of what our farm and animals are like. Alpacas really have great charisma and people tend to fall in love with them at first site so the video and images have really helped us a lot.
Other techniques we are implementing for the first time are custom Press Releases which showcase how our Alpaca Farm is embracing the Internet and other techonologies to spread the word about our products and animals. We are excited and gearing up to do interviews with local media. It also seems that Online Coupon Marketing is a great way to give exclusive deals to online communities.
Have a great technique in how you showcase your farm for the Holiday Season? Don't hesitate to share it with us! We love the community and the ideas.
Remembering the Sun from goldentouchfarm on Vimeo.
Now that Fall is finally here and all the Hummingbirds have migrated south, I like to watch some of our older videos and remember them. Here is a favorite from this past Summer.
Quick Note: If the video playback studders, Click off HD in the top Right corner.
Now that all of our Cria for the year are on the ground and running, I
figured it would be a great time to upload some pictures we have taken
over the last few weeks. We truly were blessed with such amazing
additions to our herd. Be sure to check out the entire photo gallery.
Over the last year we have been utilizing online video to showcase our farm and animals with friends, family, and people interested in exploring the possibility of owning and raising their own alpacas.
We recently have upgraded to an HD capable camera and use Vimeo.com, an online Video sharing site that allows for HD uploads and HD Embeds. Best of all it is very easy to use and we couldn't be more happy with the community and the service they provide.
When we are not shooting video of our Alpacas, our Hummingbird Feeders are the center of our attention and our videos have been featured on several prominent Hummingbird enthusiast sites. It happened over night and before we knew it there was so much interest in our humming birds, it was a great surprise.
Below is a mini-slideshow of some of our Farm Videos, you can watch all of them and many in HD on our website, http://www.goldentouchfarm.com .
Also, if anyone has any questions about how online video can help them promote their local businesses, do not hesitate to ask!
Enjoy!
Note: It looks like the LocalHarvest Blogging software does not support Flash Embeds so here are some direct links to our farm videos.
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