We slept in an abandoned caravan that came complete with holes in the flooring and little ventilation - it was summer but thank goodness for the cool nights. There were insects for sure, but I was delighted by the novelty of sleeping in a caravan - adventure goals! We were out in the wild and the family reminded us to take care - one night, we heard an animal circling the caravan, pawing at the door. (We were warned of foxes but turns out it was the family dog - whew).
Working hours were early morning to mid-afternoon. It was an ex-commercial farm that reared the rare, slow-growing black pig. However, there was a change in business plans after Stuart, the father of the family, broke his back after being shoved by a pig (they can get really aggressive). They then turned their efforts towards being self-sufficient, producing eggs, rearing poultry, growing vegetables etc while rearing the pigs as a side thing rather than their main effort.
Our daily tasks involved feeding the animals everyday, cleaning out their pens, shovelling out rat poo, cleaning, transferring chickens (a literal chicken run) when one fell ill, harvesting produce like cherries and garlic, planting new seedlings and - the dreaded weeding. Rows and rows - and hours and hours - of weeding. Suffice to say I never want to see a weed again haha. Work was sometimes fun, sometimes back-breaking. Farm life was irrevocably the opposite of glamorous. It was dirty, dusty, muddy, sweaty and compost-y. But above all - it was new. A new experience for this city girl, new skills for these unweathered hands, new sights and new lessons. :-)
Part II coming up soon!
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