Rural System's

The Products Group



Some of the enterprises of Rural System have beautiful products, interesting things to sell, things that add profits and reduce the costs of achieving its objectives. There may be little difference between products and services but here we're listing the physical things, most of which are for sale. Though many products from the System are not trees, animal, soil, water, or fish, the product sales contribute to reducing the costs of achieving the central profit-making objective of the Rural System concept, thus a progressive, learning, improving system can be developed.

Product Units

Basic premises: Land "produces" things. These may be negative (e.g., chemically-bound substances that cannot be used), neutral, or positive, They may be viewed as "goods," as "income," or as "benefits," but these words overload the decision process with multiple past definitions and yet-debated, even un-identified nominal units concepts. We call these things that are produced product units. They may provide service, aid in work, provide pleasure (art), provide or enhance memories, enable and augment membership, and stimulate ideas.

Those staff working with products seek reasonable returns but emphasize very satisfied customers and low prices. The intent is to have people return or to encourage others to return to the cybercatalog and to the other offerings of the General Store . If they do not, then some of the objectives of Rural System cannot be achieved. Products and crafts can enhance the overall Rural System experiences and allow many benefits to be recalled and appreciated for many years. The good souvenir .... practical, useful, beautiful things .... not roadside junk ... can add significantly to the experiences of local people as well as visitors to rural the lands and waters.

Rural System sells products of the Goats System, for example, all of the standard dairy products, hides, meat, cooked products, bone meal, grazing services, photographs, bells, pure-bred sales, and transgenic products....all in cooperation. Our special orientation is that the computer-aided, well managed Goats System is an animal-oriented and ecology-oriented system but by working with an advertising, packaging and delivery, profit-oriented sales group, the total system resource returns can be substantial and sustained.

This holiday season, go to the County General Store for most of your gift shopping needs. We especially suggest reproductions of antique photographs, books of poems, contemporary photographs, sepia images of the topography of your county, computer maps, watercolors by local artists, greeting cards, and jewelry from around the world. By 2008 we will have pinenuts from our Pinetum for sale. We'll have items from the members of Earth Quilt. Part of all profits go to Rural System grounded regional environmental action and improvements.
The Products

  1. An e-book (or parts of it) about knots
  2. Toys and games and how to play, from The Toys Group
  3. An unusual Gift Certificate, a wooden square suitable for a cup coaster is sent with information about Rural System, the donor, and the certified wood of the coaster, a veneer layer with a thin center ridge or indented strip to prevent wet cups sticking.
  4. Sourdough "starts" of several flavors.
  5. Computer optimized bird food mixes are packaged and delivered.
  6. Song bird literature and other song bird items such as boxes, feeders, installation, birdbaths, water heaters. Potential local affiliate "For the Birds"
  7. Rural Rounds is a special hard cookie for hikers, anglers, and everyone (especially school lunches).
  8. A specialty wooden gift box for such cookies.
  9. Unique beads made from local stream stones
  10. Metal air quality monitoring devices for forests.
  11. Coal fossil paper weight
  12. A unique walking stick with over 30 uses by people in the wildlands.
  13. A substance useful in monitoring rates of decomposition in forests is to be sold. It has use for ecology classes and a variety of other monitoring uses.
  14. A Soil Texture Solution for making rapid analyses in the field of soil texture components (sand, silt and clay).
  15. Topics, mobile garden decorations
  16. Flags that are likely to be prominent region-wide
  17. Ceramic casts of local spear points used by residents over 9,000 years ago
  18. A square piece of material for attaching to a person's back (The Big Bandana) is sold for assisting in game habitat surveys. (Other diverse Rural System bandanas are also available.)
  19. A colorful autumn leaf-pickup cloth See Autumn colors.
  20. Rural Reds - distinctive marks on pants
  21. Bass Box, a hand-painted US Post Office mail box with certified wooden post from the Rural System Tracts
  22. Specialized spinning lures for fishing and sets of lures for tournaments
  23. The Seckey a device for evaluating some conditions of fishing waters
  24. Specialized outrigger fences for gardens and other areas
  25. Rural Ruffs - boot and ankle protection devices
  26. Drums, drumming log devices for male ruffed grouse.
  27. Solar collector for energy to run a small pump to produce fountains in ponds (partially to prevent an ice layer forming, provide local aeration, and add an esthetic unit with novel secondary effects)
  28. Solar collector to heat a winter bird bath.
  29. Rain water collection system for drinking water and emergency uses (containers, filters, stand, spigot, etc.) and maintenance.
  30. GPSlips, packets of bright yellow tags used to mark places where grouse (and other animals) are observed. Later the tags are recovered by field workers and the GPS location recorded for GIS and habitat analyses.
  31. Course material (CD-ROM) for students of "Modern Wildlife Resource Management Systems."
  32. Temperature maps (e.g., local plant hardiness)
  33. Garden compost (with organic certification)
  34. E-chapbook for poems
  35. Colorful Tee shirts that speak to the total concept of conservation, long-term use, and rational use of resources and appreciation for the wildlands.
  36. Personalized wooden signs for your place that help "name" the rural region.
  37. The Mopi

Work with us. Let us work with you. Advertise your products here. We are eager to form strong working relations that help stabilize the economy of the rural community and thus the quality of life there.

Contact Jim Loux Allegheny Brokerage Company, Inc. licensed customs brokers for information and expertise about international sales.

Consider involvement with "Virginia Grown" labeling suggested by the following note from Cooperative Extension:
"Look for the Virginia Grown and/or the Virginia's Finest labels at tree farms and farm sales stands. Ask where and how the trees are grown - many times you'll be asking the grower themselves! Plus, consider the many associated products such as evergreen ropes, swags, wreaths and loose greenery. And for gift-giving - there's fruit, nuts, wines, cheeses and other dairy products, meats, jams and jellies, crafts and many other products all made in Virginia, from Virginia forests, produce and livestock, by Virginians. Some of these products can be located by visiting the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) website: http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/ and clicking on Consumer Services on left side of the page. "

Perhaps you will share ideas with me about some of the topic(s) above. Maybe we can work together.

Home
Rural System
Glossary
Robert H. Giles, Jr.
Last revision: October 22, 2006