Long time readers know this blog was started in May 2005 but before then Thistle Cove Farm was being used as an AgriTourism venue. There are two types of tourism: capture and destination. Capture is when there are other tourism activities in the area and you tag along with them. Destination is something like Dollywood, Kings Dominion, etc. I branded Thistle Cove Farm as a destination and brought thousands of people to the farm and area to enjoy the fruits of our labor.
Jammy, aka Sudhakar R. Jamkhandi, a professor at Bluefield State College heard about the farm and contacted me to ask if his college visitors could visit. Jammy brought visitors from Russia, Armenia, the “Stan” countries and many other countries to see how I used AgriTourism. Those visitors would take some of those events, suggestions, etc. to utilize in their countries. In 2003, Jammy asked if I would be interested in going to Russia to teach what I knew. I couldn’t say YES fast enough!
Jammy also suggested to Concord University, Athens, WV, I would be a good candidate to teach AgriTourism. So I developed a syllabus and taught evening classes for several semesters. I’ll take that same syllabus, with additions, and begin to post on my blog; I’ll begin with my list of ways to increase farm income. There are many ways to increase farm income with new ways being developed every day. Feel free to add to this list, print it off, share it and enjoy the success of your hard labor. If you have questions, I’ll try to answer. This photo is of Bud T., my former farrier who did blacksmithy work, it’s one of my favorite photos.
Adoption – pumpkins, sheep, foals
Adventure travelers
Ag ed programs/workshops – grafting/pruning fruit trees, animal care, processing food animals
Animal feeding/petting
Antique booths
Apple butter cooking
Archery range
Arrowhead hunting/rock collecting
Artist retreat, classes
BBQ’s
Barn dance/square dance
B&B, farm stay, cottage, Air BnB
Bird watching, wildlife viewing
Birthday parties
Boating, canoeing
Building – barn raising, tee pee building
Cafe, coffee shop, restaurant
Camping, picnicking, traveling nurse RV camp
Cattle drive
Children’s camp – day and/or overnight
Chuckwagon cooking
Cider pressing
Contents
Corn/field mazes
Craft classes/workshops – sewing, spinning, weaving, dried flower arrangeing
Cross country skiing
Cultural and historic visits
Cut your own Christmas tree
Demo heritage crafts, cheese/wine/apple butter making, etc.
Easter egg hunts
Eco-travelers
Education tours/field trips for school children, groups, seniors, church, etc.
Elder hostel
Enchanted forest with fairy lights, etc.
Family reunions
Farm products – fleece, yarn, soap, candles, value added products
Farm/ranch work experience – round-up’s, haying, fencing, lambing, calving, etc.
Farmers’ markets/stands
Festivals – seasonal – harvest, ice cream, 4th of July, sheep shearing
Fish and release or keep
Floral arrangement classes, use dried natural flowers found on farm
Flower shows/festivals
Fly fishing and tying clinics
Food classes – cooking, baking, dehydration, canning, sweets, jams, preserves, desserts
Food festivals
Gardens: flowers, greenery, herbs, dried flowers, trees, shrubs
Gourmet vegetables, fruits
Guided crop tours
Guiding and outfitting
Habitat improvement projects
Hang gliding
Harvest festivals and tours
Hay rides/sleigh rides
Haunted houses,
Heritage tourism and travel
Historical museums, displays (ag history, machinery, etc.)
Holiday celebrations
Horseback riding, trails, endurance
Horse power farming
Hot air balloon rides
Hunting, skeet shooting, target practice
Hunting dog training, competition
Live nativity
Music festivals
Nature education – wildlife/tree/plant identification
Off road motorcycling, ATV, biking
Orchard tours – grafting, planting, pruning
Pack trips
Pet Cemetery
Petting Zoo
Photography, painting
Pick your own – fruit, sell recipe books, spice mixes
Pie baking contest
Pod camping
Pony rides
Pumpkin carving contests
Races – pig, goat, sheep
Ranch skills – farrier, leatherwork, camp cooking, etc.
Retreats – corporate, group, special events
Roadside stands, markets
Rock climbing, rappelling
Rodeo
Scavenger hunts
Scarecrow festival
School children tours, provide SOL’s for teachers
Self guided driving tours
Sheep drives
Snowmobiling
Special events
Sponsor a tree, animal, plant
Stargazing
Studio for classes, workshops, programs
Swimming
Theatre groups
Therapy animals
Tours of farm, ranch
Tree planting in memory of or to honor, for special occasions/celebrations
Trap/skeet shooting
Tubing, rafting
U-pick operations
Vendors at state, county fairs
Wagon trains
Walking trails
Watermelon seed spitting contest
Weddings, receptions, honeymoons, anniversaries, other religious services
Whitewater rafting
Wilderness experience
Wineries
Wreath making
Working farm holiday/vacation
Great ideas, Sandra! Thanks for sharing… and for stopping by my blog to say hi!
You’re welcome, Lisa. Thanks for returning the kindness.
Dear Sandra, so many ways to augment farm income! Having been a farm girl, I do not miss the never-ending chores. Lamplight extended the hours so the work carried on all hours-birth and death have their own schedules and they usually are inconvenient. But I am grateful for my raising and the strawberry patch income, the cracked egg customers, and the priceless joy of working with and within the extended family farm. I miss my grandparents, parents, and multiple aunts and uncles, and cousins and the fun we had pulling together. Work shared by many hands is a blessing.
I hope you are well and enjoying the emerging Spring. Blessings to you and yours.
and now, months later, I’m beginning to adjust to DST.