New Stour & Avon, July 9, 2021
Farming
A Day at the Farm... Our new columnist Tiffany Fleming is a volunteer at High Mead Farm in Longham, Ferndown High Mead Farm is a working farm run to promote the benefits of engaging with animals, soil, and nature. They ‘create purposeful roles for our co-farmers, young people and adults alike, to help bring about a sense of well-being and self-worth that many have never experienced before’. I have a confession to make. In my previous column, I introduced you to Helen the Houdini goat, a much-loved member of the High Mead Farm family. Well, it transpires that Helen’s name is actually Louise. I was recounting my error to friend and bemoaning the poor choice of name. Don’t get me wrong I do like the name Louise, in fact it’s my middle name, it is just that to me this goat definitely looks like a Helen. As the words left my mouth it clicked that the friend to which I was speaking is, yes, you’ve guessed it, called Helen. So, there we have it, I managed to upset two very special ladies in the same week! That wasn’t the only calamity either, I had been finding my feet and establishing myself as a useful resource at the farm when disaster struck. A necessity to self-isolate meant I missed the first strawberry harvest of the season. Seriously, can you believe it? Farming I have discovered is much like parenting, you get oddly attached. I felt a little guilty that the farm would be busy and I was not there to help. 46
As it turned out I need not have worried. It transpires that volunteering doesn’t necessarily mean you even have to turn up. There is still plenty to be done from a distance (raffle prizes to source, volunteers to recruit, community shop funding to be secured). The problem was I found myself missing the physical side of the role, so much so I had to resort to weeding my own garden. On my return I was genuinely taken aback as to how much had changed. How dare the crops carry on doing their thing without me! But, with harvesting underway I discovered a new joy, seeing their pride and hearing the Co-Farmers referring to the produce as their own, ‘my onions, my borage’, their caring as evident as it is with those who carefully carry the freshly collected eggs. Not only does the produce rival any to be found in your local ‘For Us, It’s Personal’ store, but there is satisfaction in the fact that the High Mead Farm Co-Farmers gratification really is personal and is precious indeed. Their sense of wellbeing and self-worth had matured alongside the plants. This farm is not just about growing food it’s about growing people, and I think I might be one of them. n Farm fact: Borage – this was a new plant to me – an easy, fast-growing annual herb with vivid blue
with Tiffany Fleming
Helen the goat is actually named Louise
flowers. It is considered a good companion plant for tomatoes, squash, and strawberries. It’s even supposed to deter tomato
hornworms and improve the flavour of tomatoes growing nearby. Who knew?! n highmeadfarm.org.uk
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