Man holding oregano seedling and soil. Original public domain image from Flickr
Riggleman served in Iraq and serves his community farm fresh organic produce, and food products made by the Bigg Riggs Farm team. Riggleman grew up on the family farm but it was his comrades-in-arms from Iraq who helped him figure out how to make the farm productive, transforming an orchard with roadside sales to a multidimensional farm that provided value added food processing to make a wide range of condiment products such as apple butters, jams, sauces, and drink mixes for sale online. Bigg Riggs farm utilized community supported agriculture (CSA) operations, farmer’s markets and contracts with Whole Foods and others to improve the efficiency and productivity of the farm. Riggleman’s family has farmed in Hampshire County, WV since 1775, which is the same year the USMC was established. The original family farm has been owned and operated for five generations. Bigg Riggs Farm sells under the Homegrown for Heroes label and veteran farmers such as Riggleman may be eligible for support and services from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) New and Beginning Farmers program. Veteran farmers are encouraged to contact the USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) office in their county. The following web site will provide the address of a USDA Service Center and other Agency offices serving your area along with information on how to contact them. offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app?state=us&agency=fsa USDA Photo by Lance Cheung. Original public domain image from Flickr