Good morning my darling Fellowship, today we are off to Scotland to see Christine and wander about her wee farm. She and her husband have created a most amazing property plus a Bed and Breakfast if you are inclined to visit. Most especially you may remember she painted a beautiful picture of Big Dog that hangs on our living room wall. Our John is deeply eternally grateful for that painting. Over to you Christine –
Years ago, in our former life in England, if there was gloomy news on TV or if my husband, Kevin, came home with tales of woe from work, we used to have a saying, “What we need, is a croft in Scotland”. So, twelve years ago, almost to the week, when our two boys were on the verge of embarking on their own independent lives, we made the move. Although not a croft, because even though such a thing is only a small scale farm, it probably wouldn’t have been small scale enough for our non-existent agricultural abilities!
Our search finally led us to Garybuie (Yellow Garden), a traditionally built Highland home, conveniently sitting on about one third of an acre of land on the Isle of Skye, off the West coast of Scotland. It was certainly big enough for half a dozen hens and a few vegetables, which was my only ambition at the time. The garden, yellow or otherwise, was completely swamped by un-pruned trees and rampant raspberries. The house itself had been run as a Bed and Breakfast, a route which we had no intention of following. There was a modern extension however, perfect for a self-catering apartment, so our first tasks were ready and waiting; clear the garden and revamp the extension.
We opened for business at Easter, bought six laying hens plus a coop and planted two rows of carrots! That particular Easter, Skye had the best of the weather within the U.K. and everyone and his dog descended on an island with not enough beds. And that was how our B and B was established; taking in two weary, bed-less travellers with their one-year-old baby. ‘Baptism by Frying-Pan’, as our neighbour referred to it!
We soon realised that we were in an environment that could provide us with food of a very special kind; that special, un-processed kind; the no additives kind. There were sheep and cattle all around us; red deer, fish and as Garybuie sits in the bottom of the glen, the soil is deep and rich, perfect for vegetables and the soft fruit that Scotland is famous for.
So, the development of our small, small holding began. We were already enjoying our fresh eggs but our own roast chicken sounded tempting, so a cockerel was presented to the ladies. Although the earth was good, it needed some serious turning over and what better way to achieve that but pigs! A wee house was built along with some hopefully, sturdy fences, ready for the arrival of our first two, eight-week-old pigs from a neighbour; Gloucester Old Spot/Wild Boar cross.
Of course we were thoroughly charmed by their characters and antics, but even more charmed by the beautiful pork which they provided for us! After slaughter, we were determined to have a go at butchering them ourselves. Nine and a half hours later (!), the freezer was full and the following day we made our own brawn, sausages and put the legs and bellies to cure. We’d never tasted ham like it!
Of course by then we had the bug! The following year we bought three weaners from our neighbour; two gilts and one boar; the boar for meat, the gilts for breeding – Effie and Flora. We needed more land and so rented a patch from our neighbouring crofter, carefully reading suitable literature on how to construct a sturdy home for the girls. We were quite proud of Piggy Palace! We bred pigs for two years, borrowing Boris the Boar from a few miles away to do the honours. We found it too expensive though, two sows take a lot of feeding year round and we only had limited space. We’d reared pigs in some shape or form for five years and within this time we’d branched out in our poultry pursuits, investing in Aylesbury ducks and a pair of Muscovies. So we down-sized; everything was moved back within Garybuie’s footprint, including the dismantling of Piggy Palace which was recycled to become the new duck house. With open fields surrounding us, there’s no shortage of space for our birds to forage.
By then we had a good sized, productive vegetable plot, a polytunnel for growing the more tender plants, plenty of raspberry canes, blackcurrant bushes and we were incubating our hen eggs for a supply of table birds. We had also purchased a wee building next to Garybuie, an old church, which was perfect for brooding our young birds, both chicks and Aylesbury ducklings. The Muscovies managed perfectly well by themselves!
By this point the B and B was really taking off so I gave up my part-time job so that I could devote my time to all things Garybuie. Three years ago, dad came to live with us and so we gave up the self-catering apartment for his needs, concentrating on the B and B. Other fairly recent new additions to the place are Silkie bantams to help with incubation, three more Muscovies and ten guinea fowl. We are currently making preparations for the breeding of Quail, small birds for our small, small holding! We plan to sell both meat and eggs to local restaurants.
Out of necessity, we have learned many new skills and have thoroughly enjoyed the journey. Kevin still works to provide year-round income as the B and B is seasonal. During the season, there’s a lot of work; satisfying though, not stressful. We can feed ourselves for most of the year with the veg that we grow and eat chicken that tastes how it used to. In the past we’ve exchanged pigs/ham and latterly chicken and duck, for lamb which has grazed right here in the glen. The weather can be challenging, particularly in winter but when the sun shines, the island transforms into a breathtakingly beautiful place. We’ve shared Garybuie with hundreds of visitors from all over the world. We are very lucky.
Thank you for inviting me Cecilia.
Christine.
The Kitchen's Garden 
92 responses to “Garybuie”
Your flock sounds amazing! Thank you for you addition to the blog!
They certainly keep us on our toes!
Christine
I’m a regular visitor to Garybuie (blog only sadly), and I’m sad I never got to Skye when I visited Scotland. My maternal Grandmother was a Wallace 🙂 Loved chatting to you on the Farmy today. Laura
Hello Laura, nice to see you in a different part of the world! A Wallace Eh? Not too many of those on Skye. Did you visit the Wallace monument during your visit?
Christine
No unfortunately not. We were visiting friends in Aberdeen and Glasgow only 😦 Laura
Oh, that’s a shame, it’s quite impressive. So is the sword of William Wallace which resides there; probably taller than Mel Gibson actually!
Christine
So exciting to see your Gloucester Old Spot pigs! With part wild boar too! We have GOS pigs too! And you are so right, they provide the most delicious pork ever! We embarked on our own butchering for the first time this year! Very labor intensive, that’s for sure! But so worth it! And of course the cured and smoked ham and bacon! Out of this world!!! You certainly do have your own piece of paradise! Thank you for sharing!!!
The pig years were certainly good ones. Effie, as you can see, had the Old Spot colouration. Flora on the other hand had the wild boar colouration. Interestingly, they had the reverse personality traits; Flora the gentle Old Spot, Effie the more crochety wild boar!
Christine
I love those Dalmatian pigs 🙂
Yes, they were great! It was the first time that we’d watched piglets being born and couldn’t believe how the birth sack just peeled away en route to mum’s teat; a bit like the James Bond thing, peeling off a wet suit to reveal a pristine Tux!!
Christine
Ha ha – I bet that works better in real life on the pigs! If Disney did a cartoon about piglets like that there would be a national craze for pig pets 🙂
You’re probably right but no one would want an Effie as a pet; although to be fair, some of her more humorous antics would make great cartoons!
Christine
Poor Effie 🙂
So lovely and so nice to get a peek into your life! Thank you for this Christine. I live part time in OXON but very rarely make it into Scotland, and we should as Robert is Scots and I’d love to learn more about his heritage. In OXON there is the Oxfordshire sandy and black; a most charming pig, and, in my next life, that’s the one I want to raise…although I’m afraid it would well and truly turn out to be a pet rather than food. Off now to learn more about you and your yellow garden. 😀
I’ve never heard of the Oxfordshire Sandy – what a lovely name. Your husband must be the only Scot who hasn’t returned to seek out his roots!
Christine
Really enjoyed learning about your little farm Christine. I introduced chickens onto mine last summer. Now I am thinking of introducing a rooster as well and trying to produce some birds for the table. The pigs are beautiful…love the spots!
The flavour of the meat is well worth it; how chicken used to taste!
Christine
So pleased to read about your adventures here Christine. Can’t wait to hear more about the quail in the coming months on your blog. We are planning on getting some GOS crosses and then some Oxford Sandy and Blacks this year – not sure we are ready to breed pigs yet – got the sheep to cope with first! take care Claire x
You won’t be able to resist Claire! Your campers will certainly be entertained by your porcine additions; ours used to get lots of ear-scratching by our guests!
Christine
Chicken that doesn’t “taste like chicken,” I love it!
It’s amazing Jean how many of our continental visitors, who now live in the U.K, find it unbelievable that you can’t buy an older cock bird for slow cooking!
Christine
What a great deal of courage you and your husband had to make such an extraordinary leap to such a different way of life! All that work and you both had off the farm jobs to boot. Amazing! Youve made such a success of it! Thank you for such an interesting guest blog.
It was a leap but honestly, if you’re prepared to work at it and be ADAPTABLE, it can be a heavenly leap! Oh, and you haven’t got to mind being without city shopping/entertainments!
Christine
Wonderful.. thank you so much Christine.. I really do hope some of the Fellowship get to visit, this is fantastic!… c
Lordy, Lordy! How do you find the time to answer so many comments most days? I’m not used to this on my wee blog, but I’ve thoroughly enjoyed ‘chatting’ to the Farmy’s Fellowship!
Christine
Lovely tale of your adventure in Skye. I have been to Scotland many times down the years, but Skye is still yet to be discovered. One of these days…..!
Maybe you’re saving the best bit ’til last!!!
Christine
Lovely post, Christine! It brought back wonderful memories of a 2 week colloquium in the West Highlands I attended in August, 1995, studying standing stones. We were based in Oban and spent every day exploring the islands of Skye, Mull and Iona. The weather was perfect, even a bit too hot for many! Thank you!
Do you know, I’ve a feeling that was the year when we took our one and only holiday in Scotland. We were camping and had THREE WEEKS of solid sunshine and yes, it was too hot for anything but swimming in the sea! Maybe you’ll get to visit Orkney and all its archaeology one day. (But don’t expect the sun!)
Christine
Yes, I knew it was unusual because we saw people clustered in the main squares talking about the terrible heat and the danger of sunburn. It reached the low 30’s! But it was all so gorgeous that, having read up on the history of the highland clan territorial disputes, I couldn’t help but say, ‘I’d probably shed blood for this land, too.’
I’d love to visit Orkney one day, descended as I am from some of its Norse invaders/settlers. One of the advantages of being an American mongrel is that I can claim roots to nearly every European country plus the native Cherokee tribe.
You are so kind to try to answer all of us Farmy Fellowship posters and I think we can all see that your blog followers are going to quadruple – or more – very quickly! Be sure you find a way to defend your time or your days will evaporate before you know it.
Thanks again for a delightful and evocative guest post!
Mary McKinley
Have you read DNA USA? I’ve recently finished it. It’s by Professor Brian Sykes who has written several books on ancestral genetics. Being an American Mongrel, I think that you’d really enjoy it!
Christine
Oh my, what a wonderful journey! And how lovely to be able to share this with people. We dont eat our chickens but the eggs are quite delicious .. Super post 😃
There’s nothing nicer than a home produced egg – with soldiers!
Christine