I would have love to have been brought up on a farm. My aunt used to live near one when I was little and I remember having a look round it once and being fascinated by the tractors! We also spent a couple of family holidays on farms in Wales and Devon. I remember the lovely farmer’s wife serving us up fresh milk with our breakfast and allowing me to hold the piglets. I’m sure it’s flippin hard work on a farm, a 24 hour a day job pretty much but probably great fun for the children.
For those that have never been to a farm, there’s a wonderful opportunity this Sunday to find out what farming is all about. Farms throughout the UK are opening their gates to the public and welcoming them in. People, young an old, can discover what it’s really like to be a farmer and to taste their produce. Farmers will be talking about their farms, their history and what goes on there, and many activities will be taking place, including nature walks, meeting the animals, tasting produce, picnic, tractor rides and much more.
I think it’s so important to support our local farms. Some have had it hard over recent years with mad cow disease and the like, and we really should be eating our local grown produce as much as we can rather than contributing to the carbon footprint and eating imported foods. I’m fully aware at how much organic and locally produced food can be and, as much as anyone I need to be thrifty at the moment, so even if you can buy one type of foodstuff, eg your eggs or potatoes from your local farmer then you are doing your bit for the local trade and environment.
Anyway, back to Open Farm Sunday – you can find a local participating farm near you by looking on the webiste www.farmsunday.org.
I’m wondering if I should borrow a friend’s child for the day to take with me as my lovely man is at work, or will it be perfectly acceptable for a 40 year old to enjoy walking amongst the cows and chickens and going for a tractor ride? Still, I can always do what I’m good at and go shopping in the farm shop.
