Our wild farming life

Winter evenings are for reading a book while enjoying the radiant heat of our fireplace, with a cup of tea (or a tumbler of bourbon) in my hand. And how I enjoyed spending my winter evenings with “Our wild farming life” for this book review. Although it is non-fiction, I got sucked into the book like it was a fantastic story told by a grandfather to his grandson. “Our wild farming life” tells the story of Lynn and Sandra, who leave friends, family and jobs in England behind to move to Scotland where they fell in love with Lynbreck Croft (A croft is a fenced or enclosed area of land, usually small and arable, and usually, but not always, with a crofter’s dwelling thereon.- red.), a 150 acres (60 ha, red.) agricultural paradise. The couple had quite a few problems to overcome such as lack of funds, business plan or experience in farming…

The book paints an honest picture of how Lynn and Sandra experienced the start-up of their farming business. While someone who grew up in agriculture usually continues the family business as is, Lynn and Sandra don’t have an agricultural background to fall back on. And so the choices they make are pretty unusual, but very inspiring. No big fields of arable crops, no dairy or beef operation, but a holistic approach with the combined goal of earning an income while taking care of the environment around them and the community that welcomed them.

The detailed description of the croft, the landscape and the animals, both wild and domesticated , gives the book a pleasant fictional vibe. However, the various stumbling blocks Lynn and Sandra encounter and the choices they make to overcome them described in the book make it clear for the reader that this is not in fact fiction, but the real life journey of two civilians who became farmers. Since my partner and I are starting small scale farmers ourselves, some of the situations described in the book were very recognizable to me, which made the read all the more interesting.

The fluent style of writing and the often detailed descriptions make the book a pleasure to read, if you are into that kind of books. No dry data or explanations about Lynbreck Croft, but inspiring and honest depictions. Perfect for when you need an escape from the outside world.

Do you have an interesting book about agriculture, written by a woman, for us to review? Let us know! Get in touch