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A lady whose roots run deep
Rosie Yells runs to meet me at her farmhouse. I get the feeling that a lot of Rosie’s life is lived on the run - she is a busy farmer who is passionate about the land, her animals and the community in which she lives.
Rosie was born and brought up at WonnacottFarm near Lewdown, attending LewTrenchard Primary School and Okehampton College. She moved from the area for ten years after leaving school - working on a dairy farm in the Midlands where she met her husband Paul - and for the Ministry of Agriculture, as it was then named.
The couple returned to Wonnacottin 1988. It’s where their three children grew up, all of them now involved in agriculture in some way, though they have left Devon.
‘It’s exciting how your children absorb some of the interests and passion you have yourselves. For example, I was always keen on Ten Tors and all the children did Ten Tors in their time,’ said Rosie, who has played a role in community life ever since the children were young, firstly with the playgroup and then the local schools.
‘In a sense I see the community in the very broadest sense, without boundaries, including the land. I am very passionate about the environment and what we can do to reduce our impact on it.’
It was this keen interest in the environment that prompted Rosie and Paul to convert their farm to organic - a two year process completed in 2001. They’ve installed a wood boiler and produce their own wood for heating and hot water and have seen a huge increase in the diversity of flora and fauna in their hedgerows since farming organically.
‘We looked into going organic and it totally surprised us when the figures stacked up. We didn’t want to keep getting bigger and bigger and more intensive, it seemed the wrong treadmill to get on and it was very attractive to be more sustainable. Nearly 20 years on we’ve proved it’s viable for us as a small farm and we have learned a huge amount about our land and our livestock since we took that route,’ said Rosie.
Now they have a small herd of 20 suckler cows for beef and 120 breeding ewes. The wool from the sheep is bought by the Naturalmat company in Topsham, which was keen to source a local supplier of organic wool.
The couple’s organic turkey flock came about by accident, when Rosie decided she’d like to rear her own Christmas turkey. As she admitted, turkeys can be addictive - they now rear about 300 Norfolk Blackorganic turkeys a year. Rosie explained that most commercial turkeys are bred using artificial insemination. Because they are fast growing, they have shorter legs and although fertile, don’t have the ability to breed naturally. Her Norfolk Blacksare slow to mature and perfectly able to breed themselves.
‘What I didn’t realise to start with was what great eating qualities they have, so selling organic Norfolk Blacks is almost like a niche within a niche market. It’s been a very interesting journey, even if it’s not one we ever intended to take!’
As passionate advocates of organic farming, Rosie and Paul are Wwoof hosts- nothing to do with dogs, but members of the World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms organisation. They offer volunteering opportunities on the farm to people, mainly students, from all over the world who are keen to learn more about the organic movement through practical experience. It’s a practice that Rosie feels is hugely valuable both socially and in terms of education - possibly even more so during these uncertain times prior to the expected move out of Europe.
But in times of change, there is one place that remains a constant in Rosie’s life - the ancient church of St George in Thrushelton. Known as the farmers’ church, it’s where she was married, where her children were christened, where she rings the bells, helps decorateand where she is now involved in an innovative improvement project to provide woollenrunnersfor the hard wooden pews.
‘We are surrounded by farms and smallholdings with sheep producing wonderful wool that’s generally not valued and is more of a by-product, so I thought there must be some way to use it in our church,’ said Rosie.
Now running for more than two years, beautiful soft wool runners, each one individual, are being created using wool from some 40 fleeces donated locally, which were washed and dried by hand with the help of very many local people.
‘Wool deserves to have a resurgence - it’s infinitely renewable and so much more sustainable than synthetic alternatives. It’s been such an interesting project, it’s really caught the imagination of young and old alike.I’ve been overwhelmed and delighted by the number of people who are involved andmany new friendships have been made - it’s been a win, win thing to do,’ smiled Rosie.
Jane Honey