Homesteader personal training -- make your own laundry detergent, goat cheese, or raise a chicken or two. Vote, watch, interact!
Imagine a personal trainer for homesteading -- one that would inspire you to make your own laundry detergent, or goat cheese, or add a few laying hens to your backyard -- step-by-step, next projects determined by vote -- and you have our concept for Blue Yurt Farms.
THE BASICS:
The funding from Kickstarter will help us build an awesome interactive website, chock full of content, and also purchase two GoPro cameras to capture it all in HD.
Via the website, decide via daily votes about what project we should do next -- from what animals we should raise, or plants we should grow -- and discussions about what to name our new goat kids, best summer shoes for homesteaders and so on.
We'll be documenting everything, step-by-step, so you can replicate the projects at home, without getting overwhelmed. And we'll be there for you, every step of the way.
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FIRST TOPICS ON BLUE YURT FARMS:
- Starting a container garden (broken down into milestone posts, see the first two - First Step: Container Gardening and Next Step: What Would You LIKE to Grow?)
- Owning laying hens (broken down into from start to finish, here are two sample chicken posts - What Should You Feed Chickens and Getting Your First Chickens)
- Making yogurt, cheese, and laundry detergent at home
- How to cook pastured meats & happy hour suggestions for small scale brewers & wine makers, etc
- Next projects? Composting, mushrooms, bees, yurts, milking a goat, rain barrels, and on and on! Help us choose which to do first, by vote!
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Included in the site: plenty of daily video and blog content, contests, votes, video profiles of other farmers, lots of farm fresh ingredient recipes and more!
Initial thoughts on blog categories:
- ANIMALS: cute 'n fuzzy photos, details about care, what should we get next?
- PLANTS: garden plans, companion planting info, step-by-step guides
- DIY/FRUGAL: learn to make your own products, reduce/reuse/upcycle ideas
- FARM PROFILES: see what and how other farmers are doing their thing!
- COOKING: basic cooking tips, healthy spotlights, guides on cooking pastured/unusual ingredients
- INTERIOR DESIGN: help us to decide next steps on the look of our yurt!
We've lived in tiny shoebox apartments in NYC, and now we're in rural America on 22 acres -- so we know what you're dealing with, whether you have some land to play with, or just a small window sill.
Monthly in-person workshops, topics determined by vote, will also come into play, with video taken for those who can't make it to VA.
THE PROJECT:
We want to support and help grow the increased interest in heritage animals, grass based farming methods, eating locally, DIY projects and embracing the seasons; plus, using animals/plants to make land stronger, better, and more beautiful by creating an online community resource that is fun to visit, and interact with. PLUS: inspirational and educational :)
Mike and I are web designers (and social media addicts) by trade, so we're fully able to build the ULTIMATE Blue Yurt Farms website. We've told the story of our journey from NYC corporate to Southwest VA rural on our blog: From City to Farm and on the FC2F FB page.
Your donations beyond $5,000 will allow us the time to properly build, start and initially maintain this project, which will in turn ensure its success. $50, and up supporters will gain a year of basic membership to the website.
To really do justice to this awesome idea, we need:
- 2 GoPro cameras to document things clearly, and beautifully
- A great website (that we can design, we just need the time!)
OUR STORY:
Mike and I met in NYC, while he was experimenting with veganism and I was trying to convince him to return to the "meat club" via crispy, hot bacon. After all, I'm a Texan, I never could have brought a vegan home to meet the parents!!
From the beginning, we've pushed each others food boundaries, and have slowly been working our way from a high stress, corporate lifestyle in NYC to the one we have now...full of chickens, goats, happy dogs and a yurt.
We know not everyone can just UP and move to the middle-of-nowhere with goats, and chickens for company -- so we want to share the fun of our daily lives, and let people get a full taste of the big and small decisions we make each day.
It'll be a learning experience for us all - whether you have dreams of farming yourself in a few years, want to add a little more sustainability to your daily life, or just enjoy living the farm/homesteading life vicariously - we truly can't wait to meet you.
Want to learn more about us? LIKE the Blue Yurt Farms Facebook page
FAQ
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We'll cry.
OK, maybe not (a lot)...but there will be wine involved. ;)
For you, Kickstarter will refund all of the money if we don't reach our goals -- which protects backers from funding partial projects.
And, on our end, we'll still build the Blue Yurt Farms site, because we're crazy excited about the possibilities -- but it'll take longer because we'll be doing it nights/weekends and the sweet GoPro cameras will have to wait.
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Anything homesteading -- but also life, DIY, health and more. Essentially, we'll be putting all kinds of topics up for vote and whatever gets the most interest is what we'll focus on. But for sure, we'll have:
- Preservation videos and posts (pickles, jams, fermented fun things, etc)
- DIY home cleaners and body products (soaps, laundry detergent, lotion, cleaners, etc)
- Foodie topics (e.g. Mike and I are going vegetarian for the month of May, since we've been sliding back into meat-centric eating...watch us pine for bacon, and share our recipes/meal plans)
- Everything farm animal (from how to buy them, how we raise ours, and so on)
- Plants and growing things (tips, inspiration, recipes, etc)
- Small scale building projects (pizza oven, sheds, root cellar, a smokehouse, etc)
- Farm profiles from across the country
- Votes, discussions and lots of interaction
28
Backers
$1,934
pledged of $5,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on April 28, 2012.
Funding period
Apr 4, 2012 -
Apr 28, 2012
- First created · 2 backed
- Has not connected Facebook
- Website: facebook.com
Pledge $1 or more
3 backers
Everlasting glory on our wall of gratitude!! And a goat or chicken kiss, your choice, from afar.
Estimated delivery: May 2012Pledge $25 or more
6 backers
Above + A personal thank you postcard, printed on premium recycled paper with a farm fresh picture on the front
Estimated delivery: May 2012Pledge $50 or more
4 backers
Above + Four beautiful postcards of your choice (from 20-30 picture options), printed on premium recycled paper. PLUS, a year of voting rights on Blue Yurt Farms.
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $100 or more
4 backers
Above + a Blue Yurt Farms SPECIAL EDITION t-shirt, supremely comfortable, and the fabric is 50% organic, 50% recycled water bottles! (Keep an eye out for the design!)
Estimated delivery: Jun 2012Pledge $250 or more
2 backers Limited (8 of 10 left)
Above + Naming rights for the next animal born on the farm (in order of donations) and a 6-pack of seed bombs (lettuce, radishes & flowers) for your planting pleasure!
Estimated delivery: Aug 2012Pledge $500 or more
0 backers
Above + FULL day on the farm, VIP treatment, with lunch included for up to 4 people
Estimated delivery: Oct 2012Pledge $1,000 or more
0 backers
Above + Overnight stay at Blue Yurt Farms for 4, gourmet farmstead dinner, fresh baked breakfast in bed and personal tour of surrounding area (chock full of live music, wineries, a meadery, cidery and more)
Estimated delivery: Oct 2012Pledge $10,000 or more
0 backers
Above + Host an intimate four course farm dinner under the sparkling stars and fresh air - we'll handle the planning, prep, cooking and service - you just enjoy having a great time with friends under one of the best night skies in the US. Includes a farm tour for the group and an overnight stay at one of the nearby luxury Primland Mountain Homes (http://primland.com/accommodations/mountain-homes). Up to 10 people.
Estimated delivery: Oct 2012
