March 2009 News and Views
The response has been so wonderful since I began sharing excerpts from our members' monthly newsletters! After enjoying this month's issue, you will be able to read all of those from the past year that you might have missed by accessing the individual links. February 2009 News and Views January 2009 News and Views December 2008 News and Views November 2008 News and Views October 2008 News and Views September 2008 News and Views August 2008 News and Views July 2008 News and Views June 2008 News and Views May 2008 News and Views April 2008 News and Views and March 2008 News and Views. I will continue to provide access to future issues in the same way so that you will not miss any of the news from our village. To enable you to enjoy past news and members' contributions from our Countryside Connection Village please simply click on the link to the appropriate month each time you visit our site.
Please Note : As one of our members, Artist Linda Leonard Hughes from Maine advised in our February 2008 issue, you will be wise to prepare a pot of your favourite brew before beginning so that you can sit back, relax and enjoy all of the exciting news as well as the latest adventures and offerings our members have shared.
I hope you will enjoy the excerpts from our Members' Newsletter. If you have a small business in Britain or America that you would like to see featured on our site and enjoy the full benefits of membership in our unique networking community, please send me an email and I will be delighted to make contact with you and answer all of your questions. Send your request to enquiries@countrysideconnection.com ~ I look forward to hearing from you, Heléne
Dear Visitors to Countryside Connection Village,
Spring is approaching and signs are everywhere – snowdrops are in abundance & daffodils are starting to peek through the soil. Here in England the snow, at least for now, has been replaced by periods of bright sunshine. I have been inspired and have finally found time to complete something I have been planning for months – a completely new Home Page for our website. Please take a look and let me know what you think. This is NOT set in stone and your input would be invaluable. Many members and visitors have commented upon the important information they received from the original Home Page, but as information was added, it just became too long. I have completely revamped the page and moved the text I wanted to retain to a new page that is entitled About Us.
Something special has been added to our new Home Page that will benefit members.
Featured Member – the text and image will promote members whose contributions and networking enhance and benefit other members and our entire community. Many of you have taken valuable time from your busy schedules to enrich the personal and business lives of all members as well as visitors to our site and I wanted another way to show my appreciation. So many members came to mind and it was a difficult task to select those to appear on what I hope will be a growing list of contributors to our newsletters, networking and sharing of ideas. The first featured member is one familiar to all as she never fails to contribute to a newsletter, network and share her personal ethos as well as creative ideas that can be used by others. For her work in inspiring all of us, our Home Page features Penyrallt Farm in Wales home to member Jinsy Robinson, her husband, David and their two sons . You will read her contributions & networking below.
To those who continue to contribute in so many ways, know that you will soon be featured, giving you an added profile for visitors and search engines. I will send an email to each of you as soon as your business appears on the Home Page. To everyone, PLEASE take the time to share your news, networking and all contributions so that we will all benefit from your knowledge and experience. The more we share, the more we all benefit from our involvement in our unique community. It is my fervent desire to feature each and every member for their active participation.
So many lovely emails arrived regarding our February Newsletter – thank you one and all! They always provide pleasure and inspiration for me as well. Quite a few this month contained personal memories and information so I shall simply say thank you hoping that those who wrote know I am thinking of them with gratitude and understanding.
So wonderful to hear from member, Clare Lock of AnyAdmin - Virtual Assistant www.anyadmin.co.uk who not only too the time to update us on her activities but provided wonderful Networking Thoughts and Ideas AND offers FREE opportunities for you to take advantage of:
Hi Heléne
I’m so sorry not to have been in touch recently – I honestly don’t know where the time has gone! I can hardly believe we’re already into the back end of February and finally the sun is shining and it feels like spring is on the way. I hope you are well and that business is going well despite the economic gloom and doom.
Glad to say I’m still moving forward with business and am just about to embark on a major campaign to get my services out to businesses who desperately need it. I’ve recently partnered up with a company to offer Call minding services which can be a major problem for small businesses who very often are sole traders doing everything for themselves – whilst they’re servicing their clients who’s answering their phone to potential or existing clients? As we know most people do not leave answerphone messages so it can be a real problem – the service I offer is based on the ‘pay as you go’ principle of mobile phones – you top up your account and then use it to call off against when you use the service, you can also dip in and out when needed with no extra charges – useful if you’re only going to be in a meeting for a couple of hours and want your calls answered professionally whilst your in the meeting but not afterwards. This service can also add credibility to your business – what image will potential customers get when they call you and your phone is answered by your ‘Receptionist’? They’ll think you are a much bigger company than just a sole trader so will be more likely to do business with you. It’s an excellent offering and you can find out more about it on the following link http://www.call-message.co.uk/anyadmin.html . The first two weeks are free so it really is worth a look for any small business.
Other than that I am as usual heavily into Networking and two for your readers to look out for are www.4networking.biz and the Women in Business Network www.wibn.co.uk 4Networking is the countries no 1 networking group and it really is like no other network. I strongly suggest all your UK readers (and overseas for that matter – although World domination for the meetings is not on the agenda this year at least) check out the website above and get networking both on line and at the meetings if there is one near to them. Women in Business Network is as it says for women only and a one profession per group type of network, they meet at lunchtimes once a month which makes it very easy for women with school age children to go along – groups are springing up all over the UK and again, it’s worth a look for your UK readers to see if a group is available or starting soon near them.
Speaking of networking, this might be a bit like teaching your grandma to suck eggs but I’d urge all your readers to keep getting out there and meeting new people – now more than ever it’s vitally important to be seen. Networking, making lasting contacts and building solid relationships with other business people will be one of the keys to survival during this economic gloom. Also don’t look at networking as an opportunity to talk all about your business to the masses. Use your ears and mouth according to the amount you have of them (ie listen twice as hard as you speak) and try to give first – it’s amazing how powerful it is to give someone some free advice or recommendations – for sure, you’ll be top of their list for recommendations the next time they come across someone needing your services. Another really effective marketing tool for people is an E-Newsletter like the ones you produce. It doesn’t have to be a weekly or monthly commitment, it can be quarterly (but no less than that) - it’s an extremely effective tool to keep your business in the eye of your past, present and future clients. If anyone is interested in using Email marketing to promote their business I’m giving the first hour of my time away FREE for the first 10 enquiries I receive.
Anyway, I’m sorry to have to cut this short but I have to get on. Again, apologies for the length between emails
Kind Regards
Clare
There is one general email that I want to share as it contains not only lovely thoughts but ideas for another opportunity for additional promotion for farm related members. The email was sent by farmer Sara Risdale who you will remember was introduced last month along with husband Stephen and his brother Ian. Our newest working partnerships, Sara hosts Farming Friends Website and Forum http://www.farmingfriends.com and http://farmingfriends.com/forums/
Dear Heléne,
I am sorry that it has taken me awhile to get back to you, but I didn't get chance to read the newsletter in one sitting and wanted to have read the whole newsletter before replying.
Firstly I would like to say a big thank you for the write up. It looks and reads brilliantly. I hope that the Countryside Connection members have also enjoyed reading about us.
I really enjoyed reading the letters and learning about the other members. I have already had a look at the perilla website and would love some of those slippers, so am saving my pennies for the treat of some alpaca slippers that will keep me warm from the drafts of our farmhouse. I love the sound of the spicy apple muffin recipe and intend to make this using some of the apples we have kept in store from our orchard. I was also interested in the farmaround veg boxes and so will be looking into whether they deliver to us. I also enjoyed looking at the artwork from Maine and reading about farming life and lambing in West Wales .
With regards to countryside connection and farmingfriends. I added your details to my adverts page at the end of January. Let me know if you would like any changes to the wording. http://farmingfriends.com/adverts/
I also added a link on my links page http://farmingfriends.com/links/
This week I have written a post about farmingfriends being featured on countryside connection. http://farmingfriends.com/farming-friends-featured-in-the-countryside-connection-newsletter/
Next month I would like to write a review/intro of your website so if you have any information/images that you would like me to include then let me know.
I would like to submit some recipes to your site, all with a farming theme eg, lemon curd using duck eggs, pot roasted guinea fowl/pheasant, honey glazed quail or quail egg salad. I could submit a recipe on a regular basis. Let me know what you think.
Note: *****I know that your members submit recipes to countryside connection so I was wondering if some, with a farming theme, would like to be included on farmingfriends as well. I could do a little write up about the person ( this would then make the article different to the info on countryside connection so that my post wasn't just seen as a copy of yours) and give a link to their website or mention their business as well as put a link to Countryside Connection on each recipe submitted. Again let me know your thoughts.
I am delighted that we are working together so thank you very much for contacting us.
Best Wishes
Sara
Note: Jinsy Robinson has already networked with Sara in both providing her recipe for Perkins from our December Newsletter which was featured on Sara's site and introducing her to a new website for farmer's wives which Sara has already begun contributing to. Sandra Morton of 'Perilla' has submitted a wonderful new recipe that will appear on our site as well as on Sara's. Another example of FREE and rewarding ways to help one another to promote your offerings and enjoy exchanges with new people in a variety of endeavours ~ you have so much knowledge to share with one another!
For those living and working on farms; with smallholdings; B&B and/or Self-Catering on the farm; farm animals; market gardens or allotments or any other related farming themes, please submit a recipe to me for placement on our site and I will immediately forward a copy to Sara who will create a feature about your business, with a link, to accompany your special recipe. Don’t miss this excellent opportunity!
Sara’s next email included a wonderful recipe – the first of many she plans to share with us. You will also find many recipes and a wealth of other information on her website:
Hi Heléne,
I am delighted that Jinsy and Sandra would like to be on my site - let me know any details when you have time.
Here is a recipe which I threw together one lunch time when I had some cooked salmon and hard boiled quail eggs in the fridge. I have attached a photo. Look for Sara's recipe on in our Recipe Category : Salmon, Avocado and Quail Egg Salad
Email from Cally Smart of Country Gate Home Finders, Relocation and Restoration Services www.countrygate.co.uk
Good Morning Heléne
Thank you so much for taking the trouble to keep in touch despite my hopeless efforts of late. Sometimes life is just too hectic but please be assured that I do appreciate what you've been doing in the background.
Where to start....
For some time now I have been considering ringing the changes at Country Gate but it has taken me a long time to decide exactly how. I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say that I have had my eye on a land-based project of some sort . I will keep you and the community up to date as things firm up.
This has meant that I have had to scale down the property side of things and so I'm concentrating entirely on homefinding and doing no project management which is a relief because it is a huge time commitment and stressful in the extreme at the moment. Much of the work I've been doing recently has been with downshifters who are looking to move to the country and work some land - even pocket sized plots - and so my own project experiences has helped me to better understand their needs and concerns, what will work and what will not.. Win win for everyone. Good wishes, Cally
Cally and Hilary Shenton of Zarza Alpacas are now networking together. Hilary keeps her British herd at a farm in Wiltshire just a short distance from Cally’s home base and they are helping to promote one another’s businesses. Please begin to explore the options if you are not already taking advantage of the many networking opportunities available. Each month we feature members who are doing so and benefiting in so many ways!
Last year it was my great pleasure to introduce member Linda Moss’s 2nd edition of her book, Organic Places to Stay in the UK. I had received a review copy from the publisher then, as now, and knew the wonders that awaited our members and visitors to our site. Her latest edition was recently released and is both beautiful & extremely helpful.
Two of the many Testimonials featured on the book’s back cover:
“One couldn’t conceive of a guide to Organic Places to Stay being anything other than a brown rice and sandals sixties good life guide a couple of decades back, but Linda Moss’s book is anything but retro.” Tamasin Day-Lewis, Food Writer and Chef
“A must for anyone whose enjoyed a great stay somewhere and then had to face a breakfast made with ingredients that they wouldn’t have at home – this book will be an invaluable travelling companion.” Craig Sams, Vice Chairman of The Soil Association and Founder of Green & Black’s
ORGANIC PLACES TO STAY UK AND IRELAND 3RD EDITION
This fully revised and updated edition has almost 200 new entries, and for the first time includes a selection of organic places to stay in the Republic of Ireland . This highly recommended book is on sale for £12.95 at bookshops and also through Linda’s website: www.organicholidays.co.uk
Organic Thoughts from Jinsy Robinson at Penyrallt Farm www.penyrallt.co.uk
When David & I made the decision to convert the farm to organic production in about 1994 we were doing something that was still considered 'cranky' by our farming neighbours and friends. By many it was seen as a retrograde step, they could not understand why we would want to turn our backs on the so-called benefits of nitrogen-based fertilisers and chemicals inputs for our crops and animals. They were quite convinced that our production would be dramatically reduced and that we would soon see the error of our ways and go back to 'conventional' practice.
Well, thirteen years on we are still in full production and proud of what we have achieved and any number of farmers all over the country are now farming their land and livestock organically. We were not leaders in the field (pardon the pun), there were a good number of organic practitioners long before we joined their ranks but we were among the first few, in the '90's who went into organic production without the government grants that later became available, because we believed in the principles and knew that it was the right thing for us and for our farm. April 1996 was a red-letter month for us when we received our official organic status from the Soil Association. (We were only the 10th dairy farm in Wales to become organic).
Organic food has become a important part of the British farming economy and while, yes, organic food is still a little more expensive than non-organic food, it does not mean that is out of the reach of the average household. All it needs is for a small shift in buying habits for the demand to drive up production and lower the price. Although the major super-markets pay lip-service to organic food what is really needed is for the public to take a greater interest in where their food comes from and how it is grown and reared.
The post-war demand for cheap food has had a detrimental effect on the health and agriculture of the UK . If people took the time to think about what sort of food they want and demand meat that has been reared out of doors and on grass, or eggs that came from hens that led a more natural life then not only would general health improve but farmers would endeavour to satisfy those demands. Ideally, shoppers should be able to find a butchers where the owner of the shop is the butcher and who can say where his meat has been reared. Similarly with greengrocers and bakers...food retailers who have an interest in what they are selling, in other words.
For many people these views sound very old-fashioned and of a desire for a return to a rose-tinted past of small independent shops but that is what is needed and possibly wanted . By doing this the stranglehold of the supermarket chains on the farmers would be undermined. The supermarkets are dictating what and how we farmers manage our enterprises. (Guess whose interests are the priority in this area...?)
The stress of super-market shopping with its brash, soulless consumerism is damaging everyone...surely very few shoppers can admit to enjoying their weekly trip to the supermarket.
It is heartening to learn that many people in Britain are becoming more and more concerned about their food; the sales of vegetable seeds has increased hugely and the demand for allotments has outstripped availability.
Even if people do not buy organic food they are beginning to buy more ethically produced food and other goods. The awareness of food miles is a good move and the realisation that to eat and use products of our own country is more sustainable and has longer term benefits for the country can only be to the greater good.
On a local level, we have a friend who is an artisan bread-maker. He is working very hard to establish a local 'bread-box' delivery round (like the veg box schemes) with the wonderful breads he is baking in his traditional wood fired oven.
The oven is the only one the country and the breads that come out of it are unlike any other bread we have tasted. It is 'real' bread made by someone who is passionate that people should be able to eat real bread made from pure organic stone-ground flour that has no additives in it. As bread is a staple part of our diet surely it should be as wholesome as possible; many flours have additives that do not need to be declared thereby compromising the quality of even the most basic foodstuffs. This links in the 'local food ' ideology which is on the increase...surely it better to buy from local producers than to rely on food being brought many miles by road, sea or air. It also tastes so much better. Also to eat food in season is very important. Strawberries should not be available in January!
Organic farming is only one way...in the way things are structured in our present society it is not the perfect way, it cannot be because of the raft of regulation that has be in place to accommodate politicians, animal welfare issues and all the ancillary industries with vested interests. Even organic farming is open to abuses and commercial pressures.
Ultimately, food production for an already over populated planet will have to be a coalition of a all technologies, old and new, but if by increasing organic methods of production long-term sustainability can be enhanced then it is of immense value and should be supported at every level of opportunity.
Organic farming is only the first step to putting a meal on your plate.
Some More Organic Thoughts from Cheryl Penn at Tordown B&B in Glastonbury www.tordown.com - Tordown B&B and Penyrallt Home Farm are both featured accommodations in Linda’s book.
At Tordown we are aiming to procure a rating with the Green Tourism Business Scheme, which will show to our guests our dedication to the environment, over the next few months we will keep you informed of our progress. These notes may seem a little like preaching to the converted as in Heléne’s community we are all doing our bit. I also hope I don’t step on anyone’s toes as some people may have looked at organic produce and decided it is not for them either producing or purchasing. I respect that everyone should do their own thing and also my views are mine and someone else may have a completely different approach to the same idea. At Tordown we are not fanatics but just try to do our best, within financial constraints, however, watching “Farm for the Future”.
www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer has made us even more enthusiastic. Our ethos in all life is it should be easy and fun. We started by just bringing in organic, hopefully fair trade as well, teas then added ketchup sauces and jams, then as much organic food for breakfast as we could source. We have since gone onto organic products in the rooms and hope to have organic linen in due course. Sourcing locally certified organic is quite difficult to do; however there are various growers who grow to organic standards without certification, which we feel, is acceptable. I feel it is important to have certification available such as www.soilassociation.org as there may be some bigger organizations that might try to sneak in some undesirable practices. However if something is local without certification one can verify things oneself.
Our main reasons for using organic is to avoid the chemicals that are included in the food, to know that the soil being used is uncontaminated again effecting the content of the food. With buying organic produce I also feel one must do a slight mind shift about food. The food maybe of excellent quality but it may not look as good as mass produced produce as everything may not be such regular shape and size, the fruit may not have waxes on them to make them shine, they may deteriorate quicker and as for the taste it may not be as we are used to, no genetically engineered flavours. So to re-iterate I buy organic to make sure my body gets the best; the planet is less contaminated by chemicals; the insects and wildlife are safer with no pesticides and finally the less chemicals I eat the less come through my digestive tract in the water ways.
Cheryl Penn
We all know that you have valuable thoughts and strong ideas about the food you buy and possibly grow or raise on your own land. The members of our community would love to hear them and hope you will take a few moments to send us an email and share them with us. Our email is: enquiries@countrysideconnection.co.uk Your input is very important to us and we hope to hear from many of you,
Take a moment to relax and enjoy Jackie’s Colliers Hill Snowdrops and remember that spring will soon be here, Heléne
