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I think we were probably compelled to use our two fields for the war effort. A farmer tilled one and one year he sewed corn in it. We played in the ‘stooks’ of corn and moved them about to make ‘camps’. We leaned them against the hedge and squeezed behind them into a secret world. We were very disappointed when they were gathered in.
After harvest we had to go out in the fields and glean for corn to feed to the chickens. It was hot and we quickly became tired and bored but Mother gave us buckets we had to fill before she would let us finish.

We were never short of food as my parents did deals with the local farmer to keep us supplied with milk, butter, etc. and when he killed a beast, meat. He was not allowed to kill when he wanted to or to keep the meat for himself but Mother said sometimes an animal would fall into a ditch and then we would all feed well.

Our eggs were kept in isinglass, to preserve them, in the larder as it was very cold in there and they had to last us when the chickens were not laying. There was a cold shelf in the larder and food that was likely to ‘go off’ was kept on that. The room only had a tiny window and was always cool. There was always bottled fruit in there and jams and chutneys. All our fruit was picked and conserved and we went out picking blackberries and crab apples each autumn.

We kept one pig that we children called Agatha. I still have photos of Agatha. We loved her and used to scratch her back and talk to her. One day she was gone and then a few weeks later we had bacon that Mother said was Agatha. We children were horrified and refused to eat it. I wonder if that was when I became a vegetarian.

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