I'm a farmers wife, founder of Wiggly Wigglers and Nuffield Scholar
I am a 43 year old farmers wife from rural Herefordshire, with one son, one mail order business called Wiggly Wigglers, 2 chickens (Lilian and Valerie), two pigs (unnamed as they will become pork) 2 chocolate labs - Toast and Jam, and one chocolate cat - Noah. I have a passion for rural communities, and in particular the community that I am part of in rural Herefordshire.
This year is my chance to explore the opportunities that Web 2.0 and Social Media can offer to folk who have as yet been pretty slow to take up email - let alone Social Media. However, over the past 25 years I have watched our rural community struggling.
Suicide rates in farming are some of the highest of any industry in the UK, and moral has been at an all time low.
However, from where I am sitting I see farmers as crucial to our survival. First off you (whoever you are reading this) NEED farmers - They Feed You. I beliebe that they are one of the best groups to tackle world issues such as our carbon footprints as they have real access to make a difference.
Our farm is a commercial operation - my husband Farmer Phil farms around 1200 acres, arable and beef. Yet he and many of his fellow farmers have a real affinity for the wildlife they help support and the environment in which they live. My company - Wiggly Wigglers is all about connecting farming with gardening and using methods to encourage wildlife to thrive in and around our own homes. Imagine the difference that could be made to the World if we all saved a space for wildlife. In the UK alone 12.5% of the land is garden.
My interest in the web came from our physical isolation. As Wiggly Wigglers grew to supply products from our farm and the surrounding farmers it became pretty obvious that we were not going to survive on passing trade. We are based in a village with a population of 63 and 10 miles from the nearest town. In 1996 we set up a website to sell our products and in September 2005 the Wiggly Wigglers Podcast burst into life. It now has a worldwide following and many thousand listeners, and this has sparked my interest in the whole subject of how folks are using the Web.
The Nuffield Farmers Scholarship selects 20 or so farmers or similar to travel the world and spend time studying a subject that may be of benefit to them and their business and also the wider rural community. I was lucky enough to be selected as one of this years scholars and my topic is
Web 2.0 and Social Media and the opportunities they bring to farming.
Quite obviously I am no writer...but I will be grateful if you will join in the conversation.
If you have a comment to make you can email me: [email protected]
You can skype me:
heatheratwigglywigglers
You can leave me an audio comment
00441981500931
My adventure will take me round the world physically and virtually - think Phileas Fogg, mixed with Anita Roddick, a dash of Maureen from Driving School, add a slice of Crocodile Dundee and you've got the idea...
podcasting, farming, social media, rural business, ecogardening, wiggly wigglers, local food, leaf, women in rural enterprise, women in podcasting, ecoflowers, country living, green living, travel, cycling, tennis, social media, blogging, web 2.0, composting, worms, food miles, organic farming, herefordshire, preston on wye, blakemere
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