Sally Urwin’s Diary of a Pint-Sized Farmer details the highs, lows and hard work involved in making a living from the land.
In her debut 256-page book, which Profile Books LTD released in March 2020 – she provides an insight into what she sums up to be “a year of keeping sheep, raising kids, and staying sane”.
Sally and her husband, Steve, own the mixed High House Farm in Northumberland, which they share with Mavis the sheepdog, one pony, and a 200-strong flock of sheep.
The farm, which is set in a beautiful and wild landscape, is the perfect setting for Sally’s (sometimes brutally) honest and charming account of farming life.
She tells readers about stock sales to lambing sheds and being out in the fields in driving snow and hot summer days.
Hilarious and honest
A spokesperson for the publishing company said –
“Filled with grit and humour, newborn lambs, and local characters, this is the perfect book for anyone who has ever wondered what it is like on the other side of the fence.”
“This is a hilarious and honest account of a farmer’s year – from lambing to harvest.”
“Sally used to work in the most depressing job in the world – marketing manager for a bankruptcy practitioner – but made a bid for freedom after nabbing farmer Steve from the Dating Direct website in 2001.”
The University of Durham history graduate left her high-pressure job after longing for a different life when she met and married Steve a year later.
The city native threw away her “high heels and smart suits and settled down into helping on the farm”.
Now, she juggles farming with looking after her children and a passion for writing, resulting in the publication of two books.
Matt Baker
Earlier this week, we published a piece on Matt Baker’s debut book, A Year on the Farm: How the Countryside Made Me.
The book also follows Matt in his bid to save his parent’s organic sheep farm in the rolling Durham Hills.
Read more on this article.
