Pittstown Farmer Grows Lettuce and 'Likes'

Helen Chandler of Whistling Wolf Farms sold her produce at the Somerville Farmers Market on June 27, 2013.
Photo Credit: Helen Chandler

By Alexa Wybraniec

The modern farmer has a rescued border-collie mix, a Rutgers diploma and a Facebook page dedicated to photos, progress and blogs. Helen Chandler, owner of Whistling Wolf Farm in Pittstown, N.J., cultivates social media along with her vegetables.

“It was a lot of online stuff, a lot of talking in front of strangers,” she said of her earliest stages. “But now, I can say I have plan. I have an idea of how I want my business to go over time.”

At first she was terrified, but Internet presence has become protocol for small businesses. Facebook and its social network cousins are low cost and have a fairly low entry barrier.

According to Forbes.com, a study of 600 small business owners across the U.S. indicates that 90 percent are active on social networking sites. Seventy-four percent believe that online marketing is more effective than its face-to-face counterpart.

“I’m starting off on a steep learning curve,” she said. “I’m not from a farming family. But it’s still happening.”

Chandler found her leased plot of land from Craigslist, which was originally her fallback plan.

“There were a few people that looked promising, but their soil didn’t look great, or their soil looked good, but they were kind of crazy.” She laughed. “I was losing hope when someone emailed me … they were not crazy and had amazing soil.”

On Facebook, Chandler is able to alert followers instantly. Her posts range from announcing the farmers' markets she plans to attend, sharing recipes and news articles and documenting her experiences in words and photos.

“It’s one of the only professions that I know of where people want to help other people get into it and succeed. It’s dog-eat-dog, but it’s also not. It’s very unexpected.”

She also links to her columns, The Young Farmer Diaries, on Edible Jersey, a magazine showcasing local food and the state’s culinary community, and to her own website, simply named Whistling Wolf Farm.

“In the Edible Jersey articles … it’s very exposing,” she said. “All the people I admire read this. But it’s all good, it’s very good. It’s been a learning experience. It’s been a shift for me.”

Despite working alone, Chandler has found support in the form of the farming community both on- and offline. She recalls the time she borrowed, then broke a fellow farmer's rototiller.

“He was really nice about it,” she said. “Stuff breaks and nobody gets mad about it because it’s just a fact.”

Chandler says that she is unaccustomed to people being so sincere and genuine in their willingness to help her. People she views as competitors will share private financial information so she will know if a purchase is viable.

“It’s one of the only professions that I know of where people want to help other people get into it and succeed,” she said. “It’s dog-eat-dog, but it’s also not. It’s very unexpected.”

Whether she hopes to increase customer engagement, build her brand, funnel traffic to her website, get people interested in her products, or just keep up with friends and family, social media is there. The undulating landscape, however, can be hard to manage.

“It’s like jumping off a cliff,” she said. “I really felt like my farming community caught me.

Alexa Wybraniec is a School of Arts and Sciences sophomore majoring in journalism and media studies, and minoring in French. She is a foodie – and runner – in training.