Despite the rather early starts and the mucky clothes, Nico’s glad he moved out of town to set up an organic dairy farm in West Wales.
The 31 year old former teacher lives in an old stone cottage with his partner, two dogs and two cats. The house is usually cool in summer and they have a rudimentary solar thermal system which provides reliable hot water through to the autumn. In winter they use a wood-burning stove to supplement their gas central heating.
For work, Nico uses a Land Rover, mostly running of chip fat and any other waste oil products he can lay his hands it on…even bi-products from the local popadom plant. He likes a pint or two at the local and has made a rough assessment of the food miles of the various ales on offer. As luck would have it, Badger’s Bottom, brewed 5 miles away, is a taste sensation.
He finds it hard to get away from the farm, though he did manage a skiing holiday in France with his partner, Ellie, last New Year – by train, of course. His parents live in Oxford and Ellie’s are in Berkshire; they try to visit both families at Christmas and Easter, although it depends whether Nico can get anyone reliable to keep an eye on the animals. Ellie accuses him of using the farm as an excuse never to stay more than a day or two with her folks; it’s true that he can’t stand suburbia.
