THERE is no prescribed way of getting into agriculture, and in many ways, there is no strict definition of what agriculture encompasses.

For Keesje Crawford-Avis, although not from a strictly farming background, she always knew she wanted to farm. Brought up in South Africa to Irish parents, her mother and father bought an area of land to work, which fuelled her farming dreams even further.

After meeting her husband Oliver at agricultural college in England, she went to work for the NFU in Brussels for four years, before heading back to England, and eventually moving to Aberdeen, where their desire to own a rural property grew even further.

The couple, who have two sons, Billy, who is nine, and Ethan, who is one, bought Burmieston Farm and Steading, near Logiealmond in Perthshire in 2012, and Keesje and Oliver have been working on reviving its former glory ever since.

Now a multi-purpose space, the couple opened to the public in March 2017. The farm is small, but perfectly formed, and the space combines growing food, rearing animals, providing accommodation, and a multifunctional space that can be used to host a wide variety of workshops and events.

Keesje took time out of her busy schedule to tell The Scottish Farmer a bit about their life, and business, at Burmieston.

How did you find yourselves at Burmieston?

We moved to Aberdeen for Oliver’s job, and I ended up doing a master’s in international relations at Aberdeen University.

We always enjoyed looking at rural properties that were available, and Burmieston was ‘Wreck of the Week’ in the Observer one week. That doesn’t sound like the greatest selling point, but we fell in love with it.

It was derelict when we bought it in 2014, but we saw that as an opportunity to renovate the steading to fund the farming aspect.

We finally opened 16 months ago, and the former 300 acre farm consists mainly of several old outbuildings – barns and storehouse – built round a central courtyard. Our original concept has resulted in each guest having their own room, then the kitchen is a communal area, although there are several different workstations available.

The old threshing barn, still home to antique machinery, is now a games room, complete with reclaimed floor from the London Olympics Copper Box Arena.

The farm holds numerous workshops, of all different types. We’ve had everything from flower arranging, to wine tasting, and everything in between.

What makes Burmieston special?

We do try to provide an element of ‘digital detox’. We do get phone signal at the farm, but we don’t provide televisions or Wi-Fi access, so what we provide probably isn’t suited to people who can’t live without those sorts of modern amenities. We find that most people appreciate the break though!

Our bedrooms have been kept in keeping with the style of the buildings, so they’re a wee bit different too. They are insulated with sheep’s wool, so they’re nice and cosy, and we provide things like locally produced, natural, toiletries.

The fabrics we’ve used are from a social equality manufacturer in South Africa, and much of the furniture has been upcycled.

Yes, making sure we’ve stuck to our environmental ethos has at times been more time consuming and perhaps more expensive, but we feel like in the long run it has been more than worth it.

Has everything been everything plain sailing?

We’ve had problems. The farm is 2.5 hectares, and when we bought it, that was before the minimum 3 hectare rule came into force, so we started out thinking we would qualify for some sort of subsidies, and that obviously hasn’t been the case.

We had already started renovating when that option was no longer available and even though we applied, no other rural funding options options have been available. It is extremely hard work, but we have just had to do everything slower than expected.

Our environmental ethos often limits which tradespeople you can use as well, as not all are well versed in some of the methods we were looking to use.

How did you get into the more environmentally focussed side of things?

While in Brussels, I was responsible for a lot of environmental things, and this really opened my eyes even further to that aspect of the world of farming.

I’m very invested in climate change, and its impacts, and I know that if everyone played their own part, a real difference could be made.

After I came back to England, I ended up in London, then Peterborough working for the Environment Agency, which saw me dealing with issues surrounding water availability, coastal erosion, and even labour issues. It really cemented my interest in how our food and the environment are so interlinked.

How did you get involved in Smallholding Scotland?

I took part in a Scottish Enterprise Rural Leaders Course, and people I met there kept saying, ‘how do we engage with politicians?’

NFUS, the Crofters Commission, Scottish Land and Estates – these are all great industry bodies, but none of them really applied to the situation we were in. Rosemary Champion posted on Facebook about starting Smallholding Scotland, and that seemed right up our street!

In the developing world, small scale agriculture is very important, but it can often fall down the cracks in the UK.

There is an idea that food is only grown by people who have a lot of land, but lots of small scale growers have so much to offer – especially when it comes to veg and small scale livestock rearing.

All smallholders invest heavily in buildings and their land, so that’s them investing in their local communities. Smallholding Scotland gives us the chance to show that growing food can happen in all sorts of set ups.

We have a five-bed, self-contained accommodation unit, that sleeps up to 13. The communal areas double up as the space we use to host events. We try to run things that are varied and that engage your mind.

Any products we use when we’re hosting events, we try and make sure they’re as locally sourced as possible. In my eyes, it’s all about feeling nurtured and good.

Until recently I was chair of the Perthshire Organic Growers, and I find that really interesting. It’s great engaging with people that share the same ethos as I do. We share ideas and recipes, which is fantastic. We’re not certified organic, but we are fully organic as a business.

What have you got in the way of livestock?

We have 13 Jacob sheep, including their followers, chickens and geese. Ideally, we’ll start to sell eggs from the chickens. So, if that works, we’ll increase their numbers.

We did rear and sell geese for two Christmases, which was great, but it really was difficult to deal with.

Our geese were smaller than typical as they are so free range so a great option for people having a smaller Christmas. It actually epitomises my option that ‘bigger isn’t necessarily always best’.

Our plan is to hopefully increase the Jacob flock, but it depends on our grass capacity, and the unpredictable weather doesn’t help that.

We like the Jacob’s because they’re hardy – we’ve no sheds to put them in so they need to be able to lamb outside and deal with all weathers. We’re also looking into using their wool – nothing goes to waste here.

We have also planted an orchard, with traditional species of apple and plum trees, so they will hopefully bear fruit.

Have you ever felt discriminated in the industry because you’re a woman?

Yes and no. When I worked in Brussels, my first boss was Betty Lee, and she was an amazing example of someone who was widely respected at work, alongside having a busy family life.

She had a great support system, but she was a strong woman doing a great job in a male dominated world, and the NFU were lucky to have her.

On the whole, I think you should never underestimate intelligent women. There are only so many hours in a day though, and you have to have a work/life balance – but that applies to men as much as it does women.

One area I did find it harder being female, was when we were doing the renovations. I felt at times like builders just weren’t taking me seriously, and Oliver had to step in, which I found really frustrating.

It was maybe because it’s a male dominated industry, and it was by no means every builder we worked with, but it was definitely an issue.

What are your plans for the future?

Oh, lots of things! There used to be a horse engine room in the steading that we are slowly replacing with a modern grain silo to be a heated space for workshops and events. We’ve looked into maybe using Crowd Funding to help, but we’ll see. Things like that all come back to the idea of community.

We really want to find the middle ground on our land, between supporting the wildlife, and growing food, so we’ll maybe look at going more into herbs, and maybe trees. There’s only a very short season for growing vegetables, so they’re maybe not all that feasible long-term, which is why we’re looking to experiment in other ways.

We also like the idea of the ‘vending machine’ farm gate sales systems that are being used elsewhere in the country, so we’re going to look into them.

Overall, I’ve lived all over the place, but I’ve never felt more at home than I do just now, and I’ve lived here longer than I have anywhere since I was 12, so I think that speaks for itself.