Our Farm. A Year in the Life of a Smallholding

Through long, gruelling months of learning the hard way, we follow the ups and downs of her attempt to set-up a smallholding that is self-sufficient within eighteen months. Our Farm is the story of a farm and the community that supports it- the local butcher who generously, if hesitantly, accepts their substandard pig; the Adult Education Centre who they supply with fowl and eggs that barely make a profit; the residents of Ilminster who team together to fight the alarming rise of the supermarkets. This is a book that engages as passionately with the plight of people as it does with animals, with domestic issues as much as global issues - most importantly, the environment that nurtures us that we recklessly take for granted. With wit and compassion, Boycott chronicles the struggle to come to terms with the work that goes into making pitiful amounts of money. The financial challenges are never ending, but the determination of Boycott and her local community of Ilminster never flags. Pigs get ill and chickens die. Vegetables are razed by rabbits. Cold weather means chickens lay fewer eggs. But eggs do hatch into chicks, pigs do give birth, flowers bloom and vegetables magically keep on growing.