Lessons In Life

It may look like fun on the farm, but these children are learning important lessons.

- Irene Amiet

Self-made, first generation farmer Georgie Mitchell is winning hearts on social media with candid pictures of her animal-hugging, straw-covered children and her honest comments about farming life. ‘Farm School’ on Greenacre Allotments near Higham is her way to let other children enjoy excitement her smallholding offers.

Georgie, a former teacher, has spent the last few years building her business ‘The Nests Little Smallholding’, from scratch. Sausage production, eggs, Christmas trees, steaks and lamb shanks, are all part of what she offers from her self-raised, free-roaming animals. ‘I hope my produce is an alternative for people eyeing veganism to boycott battery meat production,’ says Georgie, busy boiling milk for the various young animals in her barn. It’s no surprise that one of the messages Georgie wants to bring across in her ‘Farm School’ is that eating meat should go hand-in-hand with respecting livestock; respect comes with knowledge. ‘We need to know where food comes from and how much it takes to put sausages on their plates. Children lack being taught about food production in their curriculum.

‘I decided to combine being a teacher, a mum and a farmer and pass on my knowledge, while still learning myself.’

At ten o’clock on a sunny summer morning, ten pairs of wellies, as colourful as their diverse wearers, stomp into Georgie’s barn, carrying eager toddlers. Piglets oink, goats baa for milk, heifers wrap their tongues around metal bars in anticipation of feed and ducks and chickens strut about, demanding their food with loud squawks.