Loose Strife

So my market research is in and Lanali Farm is clearly the winner in the ranking contest. Thanks to everyone who participated. Here is a histogram showing the number of votes received for each rank where the darkest blue represents a the number of votes for a ranking of “1”, i.e. most preferred and the lightest blue represents a ranking of “7”, least preferred.

Multiple choice rankings are not the most straightforward way to analyze opinion. If we were to pick just one winner then it doesn’t make sense to only count the number of “1” votes for each name because a plurality might prefer a particular name, but a majority might rank a different name with “2” or “3”. Which name would satisfy the most people? Furthermore, how do you generate a proper ranking of preference for all the names, not just the winner?
It turns out that for these results the winner is not ambiguous and different methods all yield what the eye can see from the chart. Lanali received more “1” and “2” votes than any other name and had no “6” or “7” votes. In other words, lots of people liked it as their first or second pick and nobody hated it. Visually, there isn’t necessarily a clear second place winner although Elsie’s Garden received a good number of top picks.
I applied three ranking methods, Borda and two variants of average ranking with different default values. The differences in these methods came down to how to deal with voters who didn’t rank all the options. Were you trying to give the names you voted on more emphasis? Did you think of the 1 to 7 ranking as a score? If so, would 3 be average? Would a missing value mean that it was so bad that it didn’t deserve a vote? I found that whether the votes were ranked or scored and whether or not a blank vote meant a “3” or a “7” didn’t change any of the results. The final ranked results were:

The 3rd and 4th were always very close. And there’s no question that Sweet William’s was the least favorite among many. The fact that the sample size is low (33 responses) and you could check the results before you voted could have skewed the final results. I found no evidence of repeat voters.
Obviously this poll brought out my nerd tendencies. (It’s not hard.) But I enjoyed the contest and am pleased with the results.
I’m tempted to go with the top two. Lanali Farm is the name, but if it’s useful I might name the flower part of the business Elsie’s Garden. I’ve been thinking about a marketing brochure to give to a couple additional local florists, for example, and I can imagine advertising as “Elsie’s Garden at Lanali Farm”.
I have to admit that I was leaning towards 3rd place ranked Phillips Road Farm, but the lukewarm response it got tells me that’s not the best choice.
I’ve enjoyed receiving many interesting emails on this naming exercise. At least one person worried that Elsie was unflattering — being in her eyes a cow’s name. It’s true that it might be better if I were a dairy. Others were bothered by berry anything, since I grow more than berries, and basket to others seemed overused — so it’s no surprise that the berry names were ranked low.
Others kindly pointed out that my name was missing from Lanali or expressed concern that these tribute names would be awkward for other women who might become, um, shall we say, a part of my life. To that last point I’m not the least concerned. I’m at peace with the past and can’t think of a better way than through such tributes to respect a major change and a tremendous loss for the girls and me and to hold on to good memories, but that’s not keeping me from moving on.
I look forward to your visit to Lanali Farm some day soon.

Here’s my short(ish) list. Names are in alphabetical order. All are pretty self explanatory except Lanali, courtesy of Steve, which is Laura/Naomi/Lily. It has a Hawaiian sound that the girls might like and could have flower connotations. Berry Basket and Berry Blossom came from Asher. He took a seasoned marketing approach and had me send to him the qualities that I wanted my customers to feel. (I said delicious, homegrown, beautiful, lush, earthy, quaint, honest, simple.) And even though I had discounted Phillips Road Farm and Sweet William’s, there were emails in support of both and I’m reconsidering them. Sara pointed out that a concrete place name gives a sense that it’s truly local. And there were numerous other suggestions that didn’t quite make the list, but thank you all for your contributions.
This is no democracy, but I still would enjoy hearing your opinion! (Email readers, if you don’t see a survey below, then follow this link to the online survey.)

(Sneak peak at results so far)

It’s got to the point where I really do need to name my farm. I’ve put it off for a few years, but I’m finally about to join the local growers association where I will be listed in their annual printed farm guide (oops, too late for this year’s edition) and website. I’ve got the form in front of me and they need a name.
I honestly don’t think a name is particularly critical and yet it still seems like a big decision. I don’t have any problem buying, for example, my strawberries from Smiarowski Farm even if his name is hard to pronounce. And I don’t see myself getting into any large retail venture where marketing is particularly important. But still, I’ve got to do it. Maybe just “David Kulp”. That’s what I’ve done so far. Here are some more thoughts on a name.
The name has got to be simple and unpretentious. There will be no “Happy Turtle Farm”, “Vajrayana Lotus Farm” or whatever. (I just made those up.) My neighbors simply call their farm “Sidehill”, which it is, and that seems to have worked quite well for them. For a while I’ve had “Sweet William’s” on my short list. I sell flowers and fruit, so it seemed sort of apropos and I liked the sounds of it. But there’s no William here, I haven’t successfully grown Sweet William, yet, and there’s a Sweet William Farm in eastern Massachusetts. So scratch that!
There’s a brook that runs through my property that joins Bear Creek, but there’s already a Bear Creek Farm. Other characteristics? Mine is a tiny place on a sloping hill, surrounded by woods, in the higher elevations of western Mass. It’s on Phillips Road. In fact, I have old sap buckets from the previous owner that say PRF. (But I don’t like putting “road” in the name. Maybe just Phillips Farm.) Besides lots of tress, there’s a small orchard, small vineyard, small pastures, and small field of annuals. I grow blueberries, raspberries, grapes, apples, and flowers that are sold retail and wholesale at a farmers market, local groceries, local florists, and a CSA.
Today I was looking around for more of Laura’s things to scan and post; I came across a letter to Laura from a friend (hi, Jen Courtney), that said “Elsie” on the envelope, and I thought of “Elsie’s Farm”. In college some of us called Laura “Elsie” (or “LC”) — I don’t know who started it — and I used it as a pet name since then. I don’t know if it would get old quickly or has staying power. Would you proudly tell someone you bought a pint of raspberries from Elsie’s? Maybe I should have a different name for the flower business than the fruit. A woman’s name probably sounds more appealing when buying flowers. “Elsie’s Garden — fresh cut, seasonal flowers …”
So give me your best ideas. If I choose yours then I promise that you’ll get something delightful from the farm — like some raspberry-applesauce or a big bouquet! Leave a reply to this post or send me an email (dkulp@dizz.org).

There will be a brief pause in the daily Laura posts. It takes me several hours every 3 or 4 weeks to set it up. I’m just swamped right now and need to dig up a new archive of Laura stuff somewhere. Be back in a while, but here’s what we’re currently up to:
Here in Ashfield our spring has finally sprung in full force. Kids are just finishing up spring break (all week home with Daddy — translate: Daddy gets no work done). Naomi turns 5 on Monday. She plans to have a Wizard of Oz party and wants me to prepare specific character costumes for each of the guests. Yeah right. She’s made fashion drawings of the outfits for each character. Naomi has become an avid reader. (She had been studying a Toys-R-Us circular for several weeks, but then came to me yesterday to sadly report that she just noticed it was a “two-day blowout sale on April 2 and 3 only.”) Lily learned to ride a bike last spring, but then took a year off for fear of falling. Now she’s finally back on two wheels with enthusiasm. She has spent much of her spring break riding up and down the driveway.
It seems like time is suddenly crushing down on me with spring’s arrival. School finishes in only about 6 weeks. Natalie and Joe will be arriving at the end of May. I’m still struggling to scrounge a few hours here and there to work on software development and need to complete a major milestone by the end of June. I’ve become very involved in a local grassroots effort to bring high speed internet to western Massachusetts (many of us still use dial-up!), which has got me very engaged in local town meetings among almost 50 towns in the region. I also spend a fair amount of time helping to manage the Ashfield preschool.
On the farming side, I’ve got about 1500 flower starts going so far and will probably double that. The field is starting to get worked over again. Cool-loving larkspur is already in the ground as are dahlias and bachelor buttons. Raspberries are getting cleaned up. Grapes have been pruned. But there’s always more to do. A few hundred bare root raspberries will be arriving soon for a new planting and on it goes.
With two new dogs that hanker to dig and collect piles of junk to chew on, my plans for a well tended home garden have fallen by the wayside already. Biscuit seems to find my peony beds and strawberries to be the most comfortable spots for lounging in the sun.
Natalie and Joe plan to take the kids to Virginia for several weeks after school is up in the summer. The girls and I have never been apart for long so we are all anxious, but mostly excited. (What will I do with my time?! I expect to eat peanut butter on paper plates and never change clothes.)
My parents made the huge decision to sell their house and move to an apartment in a retirement community. They’ll probably be moving in early July. Almost 50 years in the same house and now downsizing is going to be a tremendous change and a lot of work. But I’m really happy for them and think they’re making a smart move.
My ties to the university have all but dried up as my last student successfully defended his PhD dissertation recently and took a job in Silicon Valley. (Way to go, Manju!) Luckily, (very luckily) I don’t miss academia.
That’s about all I can think of for now. The girls are fast asleep. I’ve got a lone peeper outside that’s bravely singing away. Kira, our newest dog, is outside listening for intruders and occasionally barking at the shadows.

(Vesper, I guess we didn’t have your correct address at the time and this was returned. Sorry about that!)

It looks like we started writing grown-up newsy christmas cards about the time that Lily was born. Don’t know why. But enjoy because you’re unlikely to ever get another such a card from me.