4 out of 5 stars
The publisher provided a copy of this, free of charge, in return for an honest review.
Farming the land to produce food is hard work, Even nowadays with all the modern technology to help them, farmers still face an uphill struggle to break even and pay the debts on the expensive kit. It wasn’t any easier in the 1970s either, as the reprint of this diary of a farming year shows.
All Around The Year is the day-by-day account of the life on Parsonage Farm and it was written by the master wordsmith, Michael Morpurgo. This farm in Devon was a mixed farm, unlike most farms these days which have tried to improve economies of scale by concentrating on one particular aspect. The work here is long and hard and relentless. Every day sees the same tasks being recorded – milking, feeding, repairs and regular expensive visits from the vet.
The various seasons see tasks like ploughing, tilling and harvesting as well as the constant animal husbandry needed. There is a routine every day, but as the seasons flow into one another, those tasks change; winter tasks ebb away to be replaced by another demanding thing. The farm’s income was a constant worry, everything cost money, and they were dependent on getting a good milk yield every day. The investment in the milking parlour had to be paid for somehow. They have income from the animals that they breed and sell on, and they are often surprised by just how much some of the beasts they sell actually make.
Yet in the record of constant toil and graft are the simple pleasures of working outside in a beautiful part of the country. Morpurgo records the first faltering steps of a calf after it has just been born, the sunshine on the face after the squall has passed through and the tired satisfaction of having completed an honest day’s work.
The weather is a constant in the entries too, even now the hints that the climate was beginning to change are there, but not as severe as we are getting these days. The right weather was needed to get things done in good time, rain on the wrong day could spoil the hay, delay seed planting affect milk yields and stop necessary repairs from happening.
I really liked this, Morpurgo’s writing is sparse and yet he manages to convey all of the detail. I felt that the diary entries have an almost metronomic effect, but he does that without romanticising just how hard it is to work there. I liked that every month began with a poem from Ted Hughes – a moment to take stock of what is likely to happen that month. I particularly liked the pictures from James Ravilious. They portray life as it was then, warts and all. I highly recommend this.
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