Thanks so much to customer and podcast listener Simon Sherlock for sending in his Top Five Wiggles. If you would like to join in please let me know but in the meantime here is Simon's "Top of the Pops", - maybe in should be "Top of the Plots".
My wife and I at the Spamalot premiere in London recently.
I'm a 37 year old IT Consultant with 2 young children who both also love nature. Being a farmers son I thought I had a good understanding of all things nature but the Wiggly podcasts have proved otherwise and it's great to learn new things, as well as realise that there are other people out there (the whole Wiggly team by the sound of it) who are as mad as me (or are we all just enthusiastic?). I'm a bit of a born again hippy (can anybody afford to be a hippy these days, what with the cost of solar and wind power etc?) and love the idea of self-sufficiency in both fuel and food. However, I don't fancy giving it all up as I also love technology and I think the two should be able to complement each other.
Hobbies include gardening, computers, reading and, increasingly, Permaculture (or at least reading about it).
Pet hates are governments, religion, short sightedness about the environment and not being able to keep certain four legged pets out of my garden, away from the birds and from leaving little presents in my borders.
A bit about my Garden
I have a reasonably small garden that I try and keep tidy, in a wild sort of way. I prefer the spring garden most because of the lovely colours and the new, fresh green that materialises as spring progresses. However, my favourite garden plant is probably my dwarf Dahlia's, which are more late-summer/autumn than spring.
I also love seeing nature making use of the garden; the birds feeding and nesting and the bees and butterflies doing their thing - I was chuffed to bits this year to have my 3 year old mason bee nester filled (I only got a few tubes filled last year, and none at all the year before).
Number One Wiggly Product
Can-o-worms - it was the first thing I bought from Wiggly Wigglers (1999 or thereabouts) and is definitely a large part of my composting routine. I empty the bottom tray twice a year in conjunction with my normal compost bins and use it as the new base of the now empty compost bin. This ensures plenty of worm eggs (and a few worms) for starting off the new bin (my compost bins don't seem to get as hot as most so the worms work their magic instead). Our new Wormeries can be found here https://www.wigglywigglers.co.uk/collections/worm-composting
Number Two Wiggly Product
My Bokashi bin Only had this a few months and use it in conjunction with the can-o-worms and compost bins. Once the Bokashi is ready it either goes in the worm bin or the compost bin depending on how active the worms have been, and I have to say that they are a lot more active if you give them Bokashi treated compost - they love it!
The Bokashi bin is fantastic for those cold, dark and wet nights when you really don't fancy taking your scraps outside.
Number Three Wiggly Product
Compost Mate having a smallish garden I rely on a 3 bin system rather than a heap; one bin is being added to, one composting along nicely and the third pretty much ready. For the last two I use the compost mate for aerating and keeping them active. If it wasn’t for that it would mean emptying them and moving the compost around; great for the compost but a pretty foul and smelly job all the same. The compost mate makes the job a 5 minute and non-messy one.
Number Four Wiggly Product
Wiggly bird seed - a great all-round bird food that is never dusty like you sometimes get from other suppliers. Appeals to all sorts of birds and grows well if spilled :) And if you prefer cats to birds you should buy it anyway as it entices lots and lots of live toys into your garden for Tiddles to torture, err I mean play with. Sorry, couldn't help myself :)
Number Five Wiggly Product
All the books. Because Wiggly Wigglers deals with all things nature the range of books is fantastic, whether it be growing wild flower meadows or looking after your worms (Worms eat my garbage by Mary Aplehof is still my favourite on the subject). The range of books is great, if only for making you realise what you should be doing in your garden.
Other comments...
What can be said about the podcasts? They are informative, amusing, whacky and guaranteed to get you stared at when you suddenly burst out laughing in the office at work. I love the rants (whatever the subject) and love learning new things about subjects I thought I knew about. Being a farmers son I have been amazed at how things have changed (or how little I knew) since I had to 'earn my keep' working for my Dad.
My only complaint is that the podcast is published after I leave for work on a Monday morning, which means I have to wait until the evening to download it, and quite often don't get to listen to it until Tuesday.