After 10 years at The Gables, when my darling mum passed away in 2022, I had no more excuses. It was time to spend the winter writing the book that I had always promised myself I would write. The goats (the cows, sheep, ducks, geese, bees and, yes Nigel, the cats) have all been an inspiration and brought me great joy and sometimes solace. It was buying the Golden Guernsey goats from a smallholding in Lincolnshire that led me to researching the history of medieval Jewry. I looked back over my own childhood and the casual and entrenched antisemitism that was part of society when I was growing up in London. Then life in Devon in the 1970s brought me (a child raised in a flat in the city) into contact with farming folk and a wealth of interesting characters, many of whom became lifelong friends. After 30 years of bringing up a family back in London and a 20 year involvement with the Jewish community in Lviv, Ukraine, we set off for another adventure. This time we took on a huge project and somehow managed to create a place where friends and family could come and go and experience the peace and beauty of rural Bedfordshire. Local friendships have been an unexpected and wonderful bonus, enriching our lives.

The book, Jews Milk Goats, is available on Amazon. It is new to the site and friends abroad may need to wait until next week to buy a hard copy or download an e-version.

Here is the link

When Gill Freedman and her husband Jeremy decided to move to a smallholding in rural Bedfordshire many of their friends and family thought they were mad. How could they leave behind the comforts of North London? What did they really know about raising chickens, sheep, cows and goats and growing fruit and vegetables? How would they cope with the mud, the wet and the cold? And how would they be able to observe their Jewish faith so far from the centres of Judaism in England?
Jews Milk Goats is the story of the trials and tribulations of a couple carrying out their day to day activity on a busy smallholding while also maintaining their Jewish way of life. Interweaving the Jewish Calendar and the rhythm of the farming year Gill also explores the chequered experience and treatment of the Jews throughout English history.
Jews Milk Goats shows how hard work, dedication, good humour and faith, can lead to a life that is joyous, rich and full of adventure.