Author Archives: Donna Gillies

…and five years have passed. We’ve been working this farm together five years this month. Although Donald and his family moved here when he was 11, he never saw himself as choosing a farming life, and it wasn’t until his mum needing someone to help care for her coincided with a transition in his ownContinue reading “The wheel turns…”

So, this came today. Our ‘authority to start work’. Basically, the final step in our approval for the Agri-Enviroment Grant we submitted last year. And it changes so much for the farm – we are so excited! It’s not just about the money either, it’s what that money will do, and what our success inContinue reading “Progress looks like this”

The tatties are here! The Hirsel’s first vegetable crop available for sale, these Cara’s are great all around tatties, and are available in sizes from small to ginormous. They were grown without pesticides, herbicides or chemical fertilizers…but we’ve skipped the ‘certified organic’ paperwork, saving us the extra hassle, and saving you money: you get themContinue reading “The Tatties (just in time for the) Holidays”

It’s amazing how time flies on a farm – it’s been nearly 7 months since Donald wrote ‘The Yorlin’s Sang’. I laugh – a little wryly – when I read that he was looking forward to the snow melting …we were to be hit by the ‘beast from the east’ the following month, and buriedContinue reading “The other side of the coin”

One of the wonders of the Hirsel is the growing population of birds that are attending upon us through all the seasons. Through the decades, Mum had made a habit of planting trees and bushes, here and there, to encourage our feathered neighbours and visitors. It was a part of her life that entertained herContinue reading “The Yorlin’s Sang”

I can honestly say that I haven’t worked this hard since I left New York for a new life in the Netherlands. Oh, I’ve worked hard since then, nobody who knew/worked with me during my time in Amsterdam would say otherwise. But my life in NYC meant regular 72-hour work weeks, with 4am ‘dinners’ afterContinue reading “What We did this summer.”

We had the Paul the vet out yesterday, to help us trim Hookie’s horn. Hookie, our Hebridean ewe named for the horn that curves down and into her cheek is one of our starter ‘muggles’, the name we’ve given to our non-pedigree sheep. She is one of those who took a little longer to trustContinue reading “Going with the flow”

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