|
in the future where we breed our own replacements and can finish cattle ourselves taking them from farm to fork .’
‘ I want to reconnect the public with food and we can do that from a far better position if we make that connection ourselves .’
Holly ’ s website www . onegirlandhercows . co . uk is one way in which she is attempting to educate , with an explanation of what is farmed at Stockheld and why it is there , from wheat and barley for animal feed , to oilseed rape for rapeseed oil and oats for porridge . Holly talks of calves that slip out easily from their mothers , making it easier for the public to understand about why different breeds are used . She has also included a farm dictionary explaining words and phrases familiar to farmers but not generally to the outside world .
‘ I knew I wanted to be a farmer right from being very small . I ’ d grown up being outside and with a love of all
|
things four legged . Dad would put me in a hay feeder when I was little , if he was helping calve a cow and I would watch from what must have looked like the farming equivalent of a playpen , but at least I was safe .’
‘ At 10-11 years old I would lamb with my granny Anne . We had Mules at the time . That ’ s another part of the farm I ’ d like to see come back with the return of us having a lambing flock . I ’ m working on dad over that one . He ’ ll get there !’
‘ As I ’ d been raised on livestock and because our farm also includes arable land I ’ d decided that crop science , learning more about the soil and different crops , would be appropriate when I went to agricultural college . I was all set to go and looking forward to it once I ’ d completed and received my results from my GCSEs .’
Sadly Holly never got to college due to what she initially had thought and had been told was a virus knocked her for six .
|
‘ I never got there but I achieved 9 A or A * s in my GCSE mocks . In the end I was diagnosed with ME ( Myalgic Encephalomyelitis ) also known as CFS ( Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ) and also PoTS ( Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome ) which is enough long words to digest for anyone .’
Holly makes light of her condition as best she can , particularly on her website , which is her main means of communication as she has hardly left the farm at all for the past seven years .
|
‘ It ’ s reality . At first , I found myself trying as hard as I could to fight against the symptoms but accepting my limitations and adjusting my life is the only way really . I now spend the largest part of my day in my bedroom-cum-apartment-cumoffice-cum-kitchen-cum-living room .’
‘ But I do get out on to the farm despite having been knocked off my meticulously planned path . I can walk very short distances but largely I
|
use a motorised wheelchair to get around and can get in the fields with the cows , which I love . I have a horse whip in the wheelchair with me if ever needed but really and truly my cows are just great . I also take my 21-year old Fell pony Bella and 27-year old horse Alex for walks . It ’ s obviously not anything like I ’ d planned but it ’ s about living with what I have and I ’ m doing that .’
‘ We have cameras set up in the cattle sheds on CCTV and that means I can watch when they are calving from my room and get dad weaving if he ’ s needed . I also look after all the farm accounts and invoices . My symptoms are something I need to be constantly aware of and at first I couldn ’ t read for very long at all , but now I ’ ve improved to about an hour .’
‘ What I can do is make my own kind of difference to the farm , with my ideas , analysing what works and what doesn ’ t , such as the cattle and getting the right breeds . Just wait until we get the sheep !’
The Moscrops also have chickens and a couple of alpacas . Holly ’ s mum Sam had her life knocked off centre too some years ago when diagnosed with MS , but the Moscrop ladies all keep smiling – and they keep Roger busy !
|