innocence lost?
i have added a link on our homepage which will send you to our blog from when blogging wasn't even cool..
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March 23, 2008
The Store Before
I am unable to resist posting pictures of the 'before' of the store. Here are some photos of the store...this just after being cleaned. We are looking forward to the 'after' photos.
The basement
One of the grand entrys
Walls
Floor hazzard
Prior Uses?
March 15, 2008
Spring On The Farm
On to a much lighter subject...here's the babes....
March 04, 2008
Bet The Farm
Exciting News From Grass Is Greener Gardens
Click Here To Read The News
In 2006, we began casually discussing the idea of a grocery store in downtown Beloit.
Since we started farming, we realized one of the greatest challenges of a small farmer is connecting the product with the customer. Small farmers are often asked to be everywhere and do everything, and the demand for their products often exceeds their ability to supply. To farm and sell products at farmers markets, through CSAs, to restaurants and stores is asking a lot of what is usually a one or two person operation. It forces farmers to lose focus and prevents their ability to expand and grow as they run from place to place selling their wares. We have personally experienced this.
In 2007 we partnered with a few select farmers and producers to experiment with a more cooperative sales approach. In addition to our own chicken, lamb, eggs, turkey and potatoes and garlic, we took cheese, yogurt, honey and beef to the Chicago farmers market and delivered it through our CSA. Farmers and producers got to ‘stay back at the ranch’ and make their products, while we focused more on selling and delivering the products. The response was overwhelming at markets and through the CSA. We currently have a waiting list. Customers are asking for more products, more diversity, more local food.
Roll forward to late 2007.
The City of Beloit issued an RFP seeking proposals from interested parties to develop a large downtown building. What they looked for was a store that would be an anchor and support community growth and sustainability. We submitted a proposal for a grocery store with a very strong emphasis on local foods, and after presenting this and working with the city for several months, we have entered into an agreement to open and operate a full service specialty grocery store at 328 State Street in downtown Beloit.
Why Beloit you ask? There are so many reasons. Beloit has, what we believe to be the best kept secret in the world of Farmers’ Markets. Residents from Beloit and the surrounding communities come out faithfully each Saturday in the summer, and 70 some vendors usually sell out. Beloit is welcoming. Not too big, not to small and a very practical friendly group of consumers live in Beloit. It is truly one of those ‘best kept secret’ places.
From a business perspective, Beloit is situated squarely between our farm and our customer base in Chicago. Not only can we sell directly from our retail location, but we can distribute food to our customers in Chicago from Beloit. And, we can deliver more and diverse offerings of local foods because the facilities available to us will be bigger and better.
So what does this really mean?
The Grocery Store (name to be determined) will open in May of 2008. The focus of the store will be local and regional food, prepared foods made from the same, beer and wine, and we hope, a real butcher shop with really fresh LOCAL meat.
The most important principle to which we will adhere is to know the source of the product. No mystery food. No high fructose corn syrup. No factory farmed meats. Food decisions are much more easily made when you know where it comes from!
This is not a health food store. It’s a store filled with products you can trust.
As for the future of our farm, we had already planned to run it in a highly focused manner. Over the past few years we have experimented with many products and offered a wild diversity. The focus of our farm going forward will be Chicken, Eggs, Turkey, Lamb and Potatoes. We will also grow our usual offering of organic seedlings to include basil and heirloom tomatoes. Grass Is Greener Gardens lives on with hyper focus.
And about the CSA…it is our hope and expectation that the direct to consumer sales plan will grow. We hope to offer even more to our existing CSA customer base. We plan to add a fully customized ordering program so that customers can select exacting what they want. The CSA will always be less expensive to our customers than custom ordering, because it is very predictable for us and our partner farms. Custom ordering may be an option for some customers, so stay tuned on that front. For spring and summer, we will expand the CSA somewhat to offer a few more products and custom ordering will be available in the fall.
More to come on all of this. Stay tuned as our plans progress. Stick with us, we’ve bet the farm that you’ll be there whether in person or in your neighbor’s garage for a CSA pick up.
On a more practical note, we're looking a store name. Its a contest, big prize....let us know if you have ideas.
On a CSA note, we have entered into an agreement with a local farmer to provide pork. Bacon is coming.......we're excited about this. We love the farmer - he's a fun and reliable guy that shares our idealistic views about food. Stay tuned on that too!
