Hi there,

Happy Day 11 of this year, 2014. Are you still writing/typing 2013? I know, me, too!

Well, as Garrison Keillor says "It's been a fine week at Lake Wobegon". And true that! I've been spending these first couple days of the year in a massive effort to bring my website into the teens. Have a look and tell me what you think? I spent a bunch of time working on 2009 entries - writing up a review of the issues I have tackled since I moved to Portland in 2002. Then, I ran into this bit of goodness:

enra " pleiades "

And, after that, this! Whoo-boy!

The end of 2013 was pretty incredible - I took a swipe at our often tea-party-leaning newspaper, The Oregonian; I had a bunch of new client meetings and got to ring in the New Year at my favorite place in the world (next to Camp Sumney, oh, and possibly Burning Man) => Breitenbush Hot Springs! Oh yum! Lucky me! Then, we had a very fun 50th birthday for my housemate, Annelise, just after - good times!

I have a lot I'd love to tell you about (keep an eye on albertideation.com and Facecrack) - and, I just wrote the first newsletter for Farm My Yard - see below! So, I'll sign off here and share what I wrote - let me know what you think, please!

Happy New Year!

Albert

Winter 2014 - Farm My Yard!

CALLING ALL VOLUNTEERS

Help us make a difference in our community.

Hi there,

Welcome to the first Farm My Yard newsletter.

I started Farm My Yard a couple years ago - by building a website, starting a FB fan page and also a Twitter account. That has led to some press, and a few people who wanted to see Farm My Yard take off. We had a sign design contest! I held a sign-making party for my birthday in a community garden I helped start which was a blast. And, are you hearing a pattern here? The pattern is the word "I". And, I realize that I can't do this alone and so I am reaching out to

You!

If you love the idea of Farm My Yard and the revolution this could spark if urban farmers and landowners they lived near were brought together - if every lawn were turned into a garden - and if we all learned a ton more about how to grow, pick and enjoy eating our own food, fruit, nuts, and more. If you love the idea here are some ideas on helpful actions:

tell your friends about it
ask them to sign up for our newletter
become a guest contributor to the newsletter
write in something for the website
share this newletter URL on social media - click the social links above, or view the newsletter in a browser and share that URL
Pinterest?
donate money to the cause - I will spend your donation to print up signs and possibly pay an app developer
Be the app developer :) Or, join our team of 1 :) (not me, actually someone just stepped up to take that on :)
Create a sign
Put it in your yard - and see what happens!!! I'd love to see pictures, hear the story and post them on-line for folks to see!

So, yeah, I'd love to hear from you with offers of help.

You can even post that this effort is looking for support and an infusion of energy!

And, if you want to see some folks who are using the web to get the word out about urban farming in a big way - check out The Urban Farm in Phoenix and join their email list. Greg is doing incredible things and you'll learn tons!

That's it for today. I hope your planting/planning for Spring is going well. And that you are thriving in 2014.

I look forward to hearing from you,

Sincerely,

Albert Kaufman

Farm My Yard

Portlandia, Oreganic!