Last year, 33-year-old Kierti Vaidya gave up her city lifestyle to farm South American alpacas in Warwickshire. But her farm is standing empty after she built her farm house without planning permission. Monty Don is on hand to help her bring life back to her land.
Monty soon finds Kierti's problems run much deeper than a spat with the council. He prescribes radical measures to get this lady back on her land. Monty sends Kierti to meet another female farmer in Yorkshire to encourage her to move her focus onto other types of livestock that will make more use of her 14 acre farm. But will Kierti stick to Monty's suggestions? And does she have what it takes to be a good farmer?
An update from Kierti:
Monty Don was sceptical about my ability to 'engage with the land', and although the programme mentioned the poor showing of one of my male cria at the Kenilworth Show, I am happy to say that my cria won two second places at the later Royal Show.
Well, I am still here looking after my alpaca in Warwickshire despite the harsh winter. The herd has more than doubled over 18 months and I have 15 females which will boost my breeding programme. My discussions with Monty Don made me even clearer that I should focus on alpacas and fleece products, especially at the beginning of this venture, and not thrash about with a variety of livestock and crops at this stage.
I don't have alpaca to sell at present but will have some later. I do have an exclusive range of quality products from alpaca fleece, and I also have a website, www.faerietalealpacas.co.uk where you can follow my progress and see the products.
I am 'engaging with the land' in my own way and have sought advice from Natural England on how to combine keeping alpacas with looking after the land and preserving habitats for wildlife.
I thank all the alpaca breeders, farmers, vets, specialists, businesses, many neighbours, people who signed my petition, family and friends who have supported and encouraged me.
