GFF Website

We've spent some time updating our website over the last couple of months.  As always, there will be things that need attention and other things that are just going to be the way they are or a while.  It's an incremental process and it is one that tends to focus on the winter months (for obvious reasons).  Since we now try to maintain a presence in a blog, on our web page, on Facebook and on some other sites that feature CSA's and organic growers, we're trying to integrate what we do so that you can find what you are looking for more easily.

So, for the time being, we thought we'd provide an overview of the resources we have on our website.

www.genuinefauxfarm.com

1. More pictures

Yep, this picture is on the website!

One of the things people seem to enjoy the most are pictures of the farm.  Frankly, uploading pictures to the blog and to facebook are slightly easier than putting them on our website.  So, if you watch the blog or facebook, you will be treated to new pictures more often.  On the other hand, we feel that it adds interest to our informational pages on our website.  Happily, we've now had a year plus with our newer internet service, which means we have the ability to upload things in a reasonable amount of time.  The result is that we spent time adding new photos and new content to the website.  We were even able to add a bunch to our photo journal page.  Of course, that's not the only place you find pictures, but we'll point some of that out as we go.

2. Additions to Veg Variety information

Sweet Siberian watermelon

We enjoy all of the vegetable varieties we grow and we like to share what we've learned with others.  Over time, the descriptions on our Vegetable Variety pages has grown.  Look for the pull down box to select a sub-category and go!  The main page includes our top vegetable varieties for each year and the sub-categories include detailed observations and information about the varieties we grow (or have grown in the past).  We're probably most pleased with our work on the heirloom tomatoes, but the other pages are catching up.  If there is one place you will see benefit of the added photos, it is on these pages.  We have been working over the past three years to build up a photo library of many of the vegetables we grow.

3. Links to relevant blog posts
You may have noticed that there are links on the main vegetable variety page (as shown below):

We are trying to do this on our pages whenever we are able.  It does require a little effort to identify the best posts and then figure out where to link them.  However, it makes sense to do it.  Otherwise, some useful posts will get buried and lost.  Let's put it this way, these pages also serve as a reference for the Genuine Faux Farm.  So, the easier I can make it to find what I am looking for, the better.

4. Addition of pages that describe key beliefs
We have a mission statement that is found on our ABOUT US pages and we review this page every year.  The mission statement is our guide for farm decisions and the things that follow on that page help explain to you what is important to us as we do our work on the farm.  However, there are some things that could use further explanation, so we will slowly (but surely) add pages that may be refined versions of something once placed on the blog.  For example, we now have our position on what is Sustainable Agriculture that resides on its own page on our website.

5. Reserving our rights
Our pictures and writing on our website, our blog and elsewhere do require some effort.  Really, we do spend some time on it.  So, you may notice that we do place a notice on each page that we do claim this material as intellectual property.  If you wish to quote us, that is certainly fine.  We did put it out there to be read, discussed and thought about.  But, if you share, please give us appropriate credits.  Just as we do if we use photos taken by someone other than us.  And, by all means, if you see a photo or something we have not properly cited, please let us know.  It is easy to miss something with the amount of content we have placed out there.

 

6. Sharing what we know so far

Bean and Potato spacing research

Research and education are big parts of what we do.  While neither of them is a perfect representation of what we've done, they do a decent job of it.  You will find that many of our research projects are very briefly summarized on our Research page.  And, in fact, there are to the SARE reports and some of the PFI reports.  And, as far as presentations go, you will find you can look at many of our Powerpoint presentations that supplement our talks.  In a couple of cases, you can take links to farminars (PFI) Rob has led and to a video of a presentation given at the Small Farms Conference in Missouri.  Sadly, our links and library pages are dated.  But, we still mean what we say regarding the books in the library page and many of the links are still good ones.

7. Keeping the Recipes Going
There are many more cookbooks and online resources for using vegetables than there were when we started the CSA, so we have to admit that our recipe pages aren't as important as they might have been at one time.  However, they are still there and we do add to them throughout the season.  These are usually recipes we, or one of our shareholders have used and recommend.  There are any number of things I'd love to do with these pages to make them better.  But, I think we'll just simply add recipes and figure a redesign will wait until next Winter.  It's strange - but it all started in 2005 with our Summer Squash and Zucchini recipe brochure!  Now that's an idea - we could put the files for those brochures out there.  Hmmmmmm.

8.  Highlighting our products
There are several pages dedicated to our CSA Farm Share program of which I've only linked one here.  Feel free to explore the others.  Most people can get answers to many of their questions on the website.  But, that doesn't mean we aren't willing to answer other questions as well.  We have pages that highlight our eggs, ducks, broilers and turkeys.  There is information about how we raise the birds and how you could purchase them.  But, like the vegetable varieties, you'll find links to some of our blog posts that feature our animals - such as the World According to Jake.

We'd like to do more with our Plant Sales page.  And, since that season is rapidly approaching, perhaps we will be able to do a bit more.

9.  Promoting our Events

Come to a Tom Sawyer Day - I, the Sandman, have spoken!

We're trying to be more proactive with our farm events this year in hopes that more of you will join us and help us make them successful .  Our farm calendar is already quite full and, of course, is subject to changes as things move forward this season.  In fact, we have a full slate of special events (and traditional annual events) that are coming up to celebrate our 10th season.  In fact, we're going to implement THEMED Tom Sawyer Days this year.  And, I just noticed that we'll need to add a PFI Field Day for August 17th.  We are going to be very busy farmers this year.

10. There is no number ten

Which is kind of sad, because we like our lists to go to eleven.  Perhaps we should fix that?

11. Thank you for reading our blog!
Now we all feel much better.

In any event, we hope you appreciate the website resources.  We'll gladly accept suggestions - as long as you understand that changes may be a year in coming.  From this point on, modifications for the season will be minor content - such as calendar changes, product availability notes and other specific items.  Instead, the blog will get the brunt of our new content until next Winter.