It may be difficult to find this particular product, seeing as the company was found by the Federal Trade Commission to have made false claims and was ordered last year to stop selling it: "At the request of the Federal Trade Commission, a federal judge has banned marketers of Kinoki "Detox" Foot Pads that would purportedly remove toxins from the body through a person's feet from selling a wide variety of products. The FTC charged that the marketers falsely claimed the pads could treat numerous illnesses and medical conditions. In a settlement announced today, the judge banned the marketers from promoting or selling any dietary supplement, food, drug, or medical device, and from assisting others in doing the same... The defendants Yehuda Levin and his company, Xacta 3000, Inc. sold a two-week supply of Kinoki Foot Pads for $19.95, plus $9.95 for shipping and handling. The defendants falsely claimed to have scientific proof that the foot pads removed toxic materials from the body, according to the FTC complaint. The defendants also advertised that when applied to the soles of consumers feet at night, the food pads could remove toxins, metabolic wastes, heavy metals, and chemicals from the body; treat headaches, depression, parasites, fatigue, insomnia, diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, cellulite, and a weakened immune system; and cause weight loss...The defendants agreed to a judgment of $14.5 million, which represents the total revenues from the sale of Kinoki Foot Pads. The entire judgment is suspended based on the defendants inability to pay, but will become due if they are found to have misrepresented their financial condition." Never fear - there are still companies out there promoting similar foot pad quackery. The supply of gullible consumers is apparently endless. Here is a link that might be useful: FTC cracks down on toxic quackery

Dear Cathy, Thank you for all the good advertising and marketing information. It refreshed my memory about doing up press releases for my own business and sending them out to the local and surrounding newspapers. Also I remembered about advertising on local chamber of commerce internet pages - I did that some time ago when the chamber was redoing their web page and I have already gotten a call from that listing and I am not even open. Last year when my lavender was blooming I brought bunches of fresh lavender to all of the chamber of commerce offices in surrounding towns, so this year I may do that again along with a flyer about my farm, announcing when it will be opening. Giveways for thank yous along with your card to businesses is a good idea too. I have painted up some two sided signs that say fresh flowers with an arrow that can be set up on the highway to direct people into my location (these will be movable and taken down when I am not open). I have been getting my signs and such ready beforehand. I have had a sign posted on my fence saying "... farm coming soon" for some time and I have had good responses from that - in fact some people have said "your sign says coming soon - when it is coming?" (maybe I put the sign up a little too early). I do give out my business card to anyone I talk to. Even in grocery lines, gift shops, and department stores. In fact, my husband was talking to a gentleman in the auto repair shop that said he wanted to come when we opened. So you never know which people are interested in coming out to the country to buy direct from the farmer. I have always thought perhaps people in cities might have a longing for that country atmosphere and going to a farm is an excuse for them to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life. I just remembered someone else I know partnered with a local hotel and has advertising in their hotel rooms about their ranch - to entice visitors to come and stay there. I don't know if your area might be a tourist area but that might be a way to get more traffic to your location. In fact I did have a meeting with the small business administration office and they said the best way to get people to your location is to have a website and to make up one of those 8.5 by 3 inch brochures and place the brochure in locations where tourists pick up information about what do in that area. Having some of those at chamber offices is a good idea too. Cheryl mentioned above - about perhaps not having enough flowers her first season if she had advertised - and I am kind of worried about that too. I am planning to have other botanical/garden related items to sell in case I don't have enough fresh flowers - and I am hoping the drieds can get me through times without fresh flowers. I think Trish mentioned in a previous thread about us being marketers - and that is so true - your posting has reminded me to look at my business plan again and to make a list of all the things I should do to entice people to my farm. It is easy for me to get involved with the planting, growing and arranging and to forget about the advertising and marketing portion of the business. You said "staying in the customers face" and I think that is real important for me to keep remembering. Thanks for your thought provoking post. Linda

An update on my two crosses from last year. I saved seeds from the F1 cross with my Ribbed Red and Indigo Rose and Joe's Pink Oxheart. Here is what I have popping up so far in the F2's: Selbo's Ribbed Red x Indigo Rose: So, not much evidence of anthocyanins except in the first one, but that one has some minor ribbing. Only significant ribbing in one, but much different from my original tomato. Selbo's Ribbed Red x Joe's Pink Oxheart: Summary: So far only one seems to take after it's heart shaped father, and looks like it might attain some size. But like Joe's Pink Oxheart, not productive for me at all. So far only the large tomato and three further up the plant, the rest of the blossoms have fallen off. The rest are largely turning out smaller in size, more productive, and mostly highly ribbed but again, more like traditional ribbed tomatoes with pronounced ribs vertically striping the fruit. There are a few others that appear to be destined to be small tomatoes, with more heart shape to them, less ribbing, but not many fruit produced so far. The fruit clusters are all mostly like those of tomatoes of larger size, unlike the Indigo rose crosses that all appear in long trusses. Assuming bugs or disease don't kill any of these off, it will be interesting to see what happens over the summer as they start to ripen. .

Hmmmm.... think your missing some fairly big picture things. First off, as mentioned above, Jack Arnold homes/plans use very high-end materials. (READ: $$) His designs are unusual (READ: subs who usually charge $$ will likely charge $$$$) -- even in this building environment. And, being a GC isn't easy either -- it's hard finding good subs and mistakes now come directy from your pocket. I guess I would give you the obligatory "Be careful" advice when thinking about about GC'ing a house-- especially one as difficult as a Jack Arnold design. Do not underestimate the difficulty in using builidng products that are not the norm. I say this as someone who is currently GC'ing/doing a massive remodel/addition of a 1920 dutch colonial. Many of the products we used (Davinci synthetic roofing slates, Daikin VR-V air conditioner and heat pump, hydronic in-floor heat, half round gutters, etc) are not typical in our area of Virginia. Many people come to this forum and ask can I save x percent if I do an Owner/build home. Or, I read in a book that I can save 25 percent as an OB. Honestly, the short answer is yes, but as usual, the honest answer is probably more like 'it depends'. For our house, doing much of the work and GC'ing other portions has meant that we get to upgrade to better materials that we would never be able to afford if someone else did the work. Thus, at the end of the day, we've spent the same amount of money... just gotten better fixtures and used higher-end supplies. Also, gc'ing and doing the work has given us other tangible benefits -- we know how to fix things when something goes wrong (you get to know your house intimately...) But on the flip side, it also means there are something things/mistakes that you have to live with -- you can't just call the GC and tell them to fix/change this. (And believe me, there will be things that no one will notice but will haunt you forever...) Also, you gotta look at the time component too. We're 3 years into our project and we just got walls! And people laugh when I tell them we've got another 3+ years to go. Sadly, they think I'm kidding. Even more sad is that so far, we've always been too idealistic in our time planning. Let's pray it's only 3 years! I wish you all the best of luck. Just don't think the building thing is easy.