The Walden Effect: Farming, simple living, permaculture, and invention.

Research format poll

As soon as we feel the first signs of fall, my academic inclinations start tickling my brain and I want to research this, that, and the other.  Sharing my findings with you all on our blog firms up my understanding of what I read (and also files it away in an easily searchable format), but I sometimes wonder how you all like these infodumps.  Time for a short survey!

My research posts often jumpstart experiments, but they are also untried information.  Do you mind the lack of personal info in the posts?

I skip over your research posts (8%)


I love your research posts (77%)


Whatever (13%)


Total votes: 45


Sometimes I write about my research in five short posts --- a lunchtime series --- while other times I mash it all together into one long post.  Which do you prefer?

Lunchtime series are fun because they don't overwhelm me with information all at once (56%)


One long post is better because I don't have to wait to find out more tomorrow (13%)


Whatever (29%)


Total votes: 44


Lately, some of my research has been channeled into our Weekend Homesteader series.  Even though I offer a free pdf copy to any Walden Effect reader who emails me, I know that might feel like too much trouble.  What do you think?

I wish you'd put all of your research on the blog (59%)


I enjoy the more thought out format of the ebook (13%)


Whatever (27%)


Total votes: 37


Most of my chicken related research gets fed into my chicken blog and then I try to remember to sum up the most important points over here at least once a year.  Do you mind missing that information your daily Walden Effect read?

I don't have chickens, so I'm glad you don't talk as much about them here (13%)


I subscribe to both blogs and enjoy the separation (23%)


I wish you'd post your chicken research here (47%)


Whatever (15%)


Total votes: 38


Thanks for taking the time to answer the poll or comment below!



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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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I've only heard about the chicken blog in the last week and I was wondering if, perhaps, your concerns about the chicken blog would be allayed if there were links to all of your blogs (I don't know how many there are) beneath your 'Homestead Blog' link at the top of each page. This would make it very easy for all of your readers to access each subject blog without trouble as well as allay any of your fears that we are getting too little or too much of the subject. What do you think?
Comment by Brandy Mon Sep 12 12:56:38 2011
I have only recently discovered your websites, so my input regarding the research may not carry much weight, but I just want to say I LOVE the information I'm getting here! You have quickly become my most-read blog (or blogs counting the chicken blog separately). Just the fact that you share your day-in-day-out activities is informative for those of us who are working toward the lifestyle you now live. PLUS you share your decision making with us, AND the outcomes! Thank you, thank you, thank you! This kind of insight is invaluable!! I imagine bloging so often must be time consuming for you, but it is certainly appreciated! P.S. I agree with the previous comment - links would be very helpful.
Comment by Barb in California Mon Sep 12 16:51:00 2011

Brandy and Barb --- Thanks for commenting! I don't want to clutter up the sidebar more than it already is, but that reminds me that I really need to update our "About Us" page --- it still thinks I have a job, for example. :-) That would be a great place to add links to our other blogs for folks who want to read more.

Barb --- Thanks so much for your kind words! Blogging can be time-consuming, but the community it builds and the way it lets me bounce ideas off people makes it worthwhile. As do comments like yours. :-)

Comment by anna Mon Sep 12 17:45:40 2011
Is there an index somewhere of all the lunchtime series? I seem to be able to access them only by happenstance.
Comment by jackie Mon Sep 12 17:46:48 2011

Lately, some of my research has been channeled into our Weekend Homesteader series. Even though I offer a free pdf copy to any Walden Effect reader who emails me, I know that might feel like too much trouble. What do you think?

Alternate response: Put some good info into just the e-books because that's an income stream for you guys, but don't make us use Amazon -- can you stick a paypal thing on your site so we can buy that way :-)

Comment by J Mon Sep 12 19:46:52 2011

Jackie --- I probably should start giving the lunchtime series their own tag the way I do various subjects. That'll have to wait until the winter, though, if I want to backdate so that all of the series are included. Good idea!

J --- I've found that you don't want to spread yourself too thin when trying to get established. Every ebook that someone buys off our website gives me quite a bit more cash, but doesn't increase the book's rankings on Amazon, which means less cash in the long run. Right now, my goal is to reach the much wider Amazon audience, so I'm going to keep the ebooks there for now. Once we've gone through a year of Weekend Homesteader, I plan to revise the series and pull it together into one ebook that I'll sell in pdf format myself, hopefully capturing all of those new readers courtesy of Amazon.

Comment by anna Mon Sep 12 20:15:44 2011

I just wanted to let you know how I voted and why.

  1. I love your research posts they are very thorough and you walk us through your thought process and even invite interaction if you are still in the planning stages.
  2. I voted one long post but after thinking more about it I do find it easier to read the lunchtime series than a longer post (time, not attention span.) When I search for something it is nice to have it all in one place, but I think your tags and links make it easier to find all the previous related posts and accomplishes that.
  3. I love the weekend homesteader series and I’ve purchased all of them from Amazon. I voted to have the research on your blog for search ability reasons so it’s all in one place, but as a source of income I can see how it would be of benefit to not have all of it on your website.
  4. I found your chicken blog through a comment that said something along the lines of …you can read more about it on our chicken blog… which is enough for me; I like that it is cross referenced on this main blog so I can know when to look for a new posting over there.

A few things that bring me to this blog are the personal first hand experiences good bad or other. A lot of the things you are doing I have only read about and have only heard the good sides. Your blog helps encourage and motivate me to try out many of these new (to me) ideas with an idea of what to expect.

I also come for the photos which help me visualize what you are describing as you go through different processes.

Lastly I appreciate that you take the time to respond to the comments and interact with the people that take the time to comment.

Keep it up and thank you!

Comment by Brian Tue Sep 13 14:03:03 2011
Thanks for the more in depth explanation! That's just what I wanted to know, but figured I could get more people to click on poll buttons than type out what they really thought. :-) (Thanks for buying our Weekend Homesteader books too!)
Comment by anna Tue Sep 13 19:52:43 2011





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