Back in 1980s London, my husband Michael and I decided we had had enough of the 3 hours' daily commute, and being at other people's disposal, and wanted to have a crack at producing our own food. After two years of looking, we found a tiny farm just north of Monmouth - Little Mill Farm, Newcastle.
We bought in April, 1989. In August we became the first Soil Association registered organic farm in Gwent. For several years we sold our lambs and steers in the conventional markets, but gradually we spread the word, and by 2000 we were selling all our meat as organic, direct to individual customers. A succession of happily-remembered wwoofers helped out in the veg garden and hay meadows. In addition we discovered that the farm was nearly untouched by modern chemicals. We had rare wildflowers, flower-rich old hay-meadows, and dormice.
Then, in 2001, Foot and Mouth struck - we were caught up in the South Herefordshire outbreak, one of the largest; and Michael had a stroke due to high blood pressure, and his health was from then on precarious.
