In 2010, UK TV presenter Kate Humble learned that a nearby farm in the Wye Valley where she had lived for four years was set to be sold off, broken up into lots to maximise its value. It was a sign of the times: another small farm lost and another opportunity for a young farmless farmer gone.



Kate contacted the council with an alternative plan: to keep the farm a working farm. After six months of plans and endless meetings, Kate and her husband, Ludo, finally convinced the council that their plan would work, even though they hadn't the first clue of how to run a farm. What follows is a highly personal account charting the daily highs and lows of the farm's pivotal first year. It also has recipes and other practical tidbits peppered throughout.