Oh England. With its green hills, dark satanic mills and 2for1 deals on the high street. It’s incomprehensible seasons, rainy days and grey skies. It was under such skies that I, a twenty something travel weary girl, first arrived back from a slow grand tour of the world, eager to start working in the environmental sector.
I had found an internship position on Church Farm through an online ‘green job’ newsletter. It looked so appealing that I had whisked myself to see Tim for a Farm tour and talk, which he does every Saturday at 10.30am for the public, almost as soon as I had set my foot back onto British soil.
What a hive of activity I was introduced to. Hens in an orchard that lay up to 500 eggs for farm consumption and sale, rare breed Lincoln Red cattle wintering (off pasture), newly planted fruit orchard, re-generated native woodland, British Lop pigs which are the rarest in Britain and Berkshires, Lleyn and Black Welsh sheep, Aylesbury ducks and Embdem geese, all of which can be seen up close by walking along the open farm paths. We finished back at the Farm Store where I, slightly dizzied and amazed at the development that had taken place on the farm in the last 3 years, continued to browse. Here I found ethical, fair trade, organic produce stocks together with farm vegetables and meat for sale. This place was so diversely stocked that I even found sugar-free jam!
All this made me very hungry. Where better to eat than at the Farm Café. I ordered French Toast with Bacon which I had been tempted with by the fact that the bread came from a local baker and bacon straight from a Farm pig. This, together with a mean Cappuccino (thanks to travelling, its now the only way I can enjoy coffee) meant that I told Tim I would be back in a week to start a 6 month internship. It seemed idyllic. Living in an ancient beautiful village, eating ethically produced food and getting to see the true workings of a future farm model. After all, I’m young and full of energy, I thought – how hard can it really be?
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