This is an exceptional insight into the running of a farm that follows traditional ways of growing food and rearing animals. The Ferguson family produces more than 50 different types of foods off the West Cork Gulf Stream, Ireland, where their farm is located. Into the family's sixth generation of toil and labor on the scenic Gubbeen farm, the Fergusons strive to keep the land productive and healthy, ensuring biodiversity, sustained environment and animal welfare. Tom and Giana and their children, Fingal and Clovisse, take you through the inner workings of each of their specialties: looking after animals (poultry, pigs and cows), cheese-making, smoking meats and growing your own fruits and vegetables. Tom has worked the land all his life, following the old farming ways of his forbearers while Giana controls the dairy as well as keeping a keen eye on the poultry. She also manages the award-winning Gubben cheese, internationally renowned as one of the best farmhouse cheeses in Ireland.
Fingal uses the pigs to make bacon and smoked goods from the Smokehouse (and has a sideline in creating beautiful knives for famous chefs) including smoked Gubben cheese, and generously uses herbs from his sister's garden for his cures. Clovisse grows chemical-free vegetables, fruit, herbs and flowers in the Kitchen Garden, and makes use of the waste by composting or feeding it to the chickens and pigs. Readers who can only dream about owning a farm like Gubbeen will find themselves longing for the rustic lives of Tom, Giana, Final and Clovisse. Readers will also find appetizing recipes that celebrate the farm's produce. Anyone interested in cheese, charcuterie or smoked produce will learn from a family of long-standing tradition. There are photos of heart-achingly adorable animals and breathtaking views of the lush green farm over the coast. Delight in the homey undertones of each family member's voice as the Fergusons share their time-honored philosophy and day-to-day stories over some wholesome meals.
- ISBN10 1909487244
- ISBN13 9781909487246
- Publish Date 7 May 2015
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 26 March 2021
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Octopus Publishing Group
- Imprint Kyle Books
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 240
- Language English