@melissajenna
I tried to host Easter at our farm and all the boomers said it was too far to drive 😒 they just don’t want to put in work. Hosting or traveling is too much for them. This year the cidery is open and we are celebrating on Monday with the kids. Factory reset on “family traditions”
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
The quality of an Airbnb stay rests with the kindness and communication of both host and guest. The airbnb customer service is AWFUL for both sides (we’re hosts of a tiny house on our farm)
I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I could never imagine locking someone out😫
Farming continues to humble me. All of our trees were decimated by crickets. When I called our ag extension I was told there’s really nothing we can do. They’ll eat everything and then move on. We sprayed with neem. We sprayed DE (you can see some on the tree branches)
Me: hey label company, you charged me for 1,100 labels and I ordered 1,000 labels
Them: “yeah, that’s normal. We can’t count to 1,000 so we charge you for the extras… you can mail back the extra labels and we will refund you”
Me: …. What.
One of the things that shocks me most about vegans who visit our farm is how incredibly out of touch they are with the reality animal behavior and their minimal understanding of food based seasonality.
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
She called airbnb and made up some crazy story 1 day before here reservation. I’ve never seen her, she may not even be named Ashley Ketchum (her photo was a woman with a Pokémon Snapchat filter on her face).
I message airbnb with all the communication so far 7/
@MCMCD_
Marry a dude who will look those other dudes in their snarky faces and sincerely say “I’m really looking forward to being married to her. She’s incredible.” Nothing crushes their shit for humor jokes like sincerity.
I have a neighbor that I disagree with on most “big picture” issues. But you know what we agree on? Looking out for each other. She messaged me about the storm and I just shot her a message about a prowling coyote by her place. We’d be internet enemies but we’re united neighbors
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
When you do this for a long time, you find that a lot of people have things come up last minute. Sudden dead relatives are more common than you’d imagine. I don’t question most, just refund it and let the universe provide what we need. I refunded this lady and wished her well. 5/
I walked around for 30+ years of my life disconnected from the meaning of things like cooler mornings, Chinese elms blooming, and changes in afternoon wind patterns. Setting down roots at the farm refocused my senses.
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
Our listing doesn’t rebook. Too close to the travel dates. We use the money from our Airbnb to help care and keep for the farm animals, it’s not nothing to us for it to be uncooked for 8 days. We’re at a farmers market selling our cider on Thursday night and I get this message
These are not cheap labels. They have 3 press treatments and a digital printing pass. That means they didn’t count them several times.
And then they managed to count them… once, to invoice me.
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
She’s already booked, but she’s asking basically to work on our farm for the cost of staying. I tell her sorry, this is not something we offer. She should cancel if she is looking for that type of arrangement. She doesn’t respond. I message her 3 more times throughout the day 3/
10 yrs ago we bought our 1st home, 800 sq ft with a big garden full of fruit trees. I didn’t realize how much this place would shape me. How a big garden and the freedom of home ownership would bring animal husbandry (🐔🦆🐝) and a new career 🍎 🥂 and 5 years later buying a farm
.
@RizomaSchool
asked my husband at the end of his
@DoomerOptimism
recording what he would do if someone with resources and power wanted to implement change to encourage farming and farmers to become more sustainable. Although no one is asking for my opinion here it is.
@hahnscratch
I know Steve’s family and I shared your post with them. I hope they’ll check it out and feel touched to see his words echoing still, long after he’s been gone.
He handed me a crate of the last apples we plan to press this year and said “if you get a chance, which I know is probably not gonna happen, would you make me a pie?”
I never planned on owning two cows, I didn’t even know there was a second one for sale until I showed up at the ranch and these two heifers were cuddling and cleaning each other. Stormy + Clover our bonded half sister micro cows. Who could say no to letting friends stay together?
@IntractableLion
Did you see the second story he posted about the clean cut zoomer neighbor kid who took his $20 for snacks and developed a life ending add*ction to m3 th? 😑
This weekend marks the 6th year of owning the farm.
Here’s a before and after of the barn and the orchard. Thank you for letting us sculpt you and for sculpting us, small farm. It is a place of so much learning, so much hope & so many dreams planted within us and in the ground.
After about an hour of trying to get our LGD to come in for the night, we pulled out the big guns and had the toddler call for him at the base of the hill. Whatever the dog was spooked about it didn’t matter when he heard his boy calling for him.
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
Here’s an example of hosting that happened two weeks ago.
A woman with the profile name “Ashley Ketchum” books our farmstay for 8 days. Cool! I message her the checkin info. She then sends me this:
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
Her reservation is 3 days away. If she’s not going to stay, I’d like to book someone else. Time is running out as I’m waiting on her to respond or cancel.
She doesn’t do either. 36 hours pass. She send me this message instead. 4/
@visakanv
Hah! We bought a house with 9 apple trees. The first fall the fruit dropped and we made a lifetime supply of apple sauce. We asked for some cider making tools for Christmas and the next year made our first batch of cider. 7 years later…
@posteritycider
He rises early, he makes coffee, he tends the animals, if he’s lucky, maybe some gym time before little feet head downstairs looking to make banana pancakes for breakfast with him.
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
As some background, we’ve been hosting for 4 years. We have 271 reviews which probably equates to ~400 bookings over that time. We have a 4.96 average rating. 1/
No one told me how rewarding it would be to teach my son something and then watch him immediately do it on his own. ARE ALL YOU HOMESCHOOLING PARENTS JUST LIVING OFF A CONTACT HIGH OF WATCHING YOUR KIDS LEARN ALL DAY?!
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
Yesterday she texts me (I reported it as spam so unfortunately I don’t have a ss) the text says “You forgot about our arrangement”
I’m not at the farm. We now have new guests. What do I do? Do I message the current guests and warn them? Is this a troll? Is this person dangerous
@astrochey
I have the opposite. My parents always told me thing were super expensive and as an adult I’ve had to unlearn this. Some examples: having someone else change your oil, adding avocado to a burger, bounty paper towels, a fully working dishwasher, etc.
@brandonhli
@Airbnb
We live on a mile long diet road. Police response time is 20+ minutes.
I check the driveway cameras. I check the doorbell camera, the game cameras in the orchard. They’re not there.
Still shook me.
Here’s a link to a thread of other things I’ve learned being a host:
Speckled Sussex hens are outgoing, and love being moms. Every year she’s been able to, Freckle here has hatched chicks. Right now she’s just looking for snacks.
I’m witnessing a lot of businesses close in our county and it’s made me start to think about what makes a small town thrive. Who should I follow for inspiration in localized marketing and small town revivals?
I’ll post my initial thoughts in a thread here.