A SUSTAINABLE farmer was left devastated yesterday after a shed, which is home to a calf and its mother, was destroyed by Storm Goretti.
Nikki de Gruchy, who founded La Croix Regeneration Centre on the site of her family farm in Trinity, had been coming off the back of her “best Christmas ever” after introducing Islanders with no experience to the world of restorative farming.
However, Thursday night’s severe weather has cast uncertainty on the farm’s future after the home of her two cattle – Gabriel and Razzle – was destroyed by the severe weather.
Ms de Gruchy said that when she saw her cows – which had not been in the shelter during the extreme weather – on Friday morning they had been “really affected by it”.
She said she had “no solution” for the shelter, which had survived Storm Ciarán and subsequently been moved to her farm.
“There is no fix. I don’t know what to do,” she said.
The pair are the only cattle in Jersey to follow “calf-sharing” practices, where a farmer shares a cow’s milk with the calf instead of separating the calf from its mother in the hours after birth.
This is part of a broader sustainable ethos on the farm, which aims to develop organic farming on the Island while bringing people, some with no farming or countryside experience, to work on the site.
“People get involved, we have even had people who have never milked a cow milking a cow. She has six or seven milkmaids milking her.”
Ms De Gruchy, who is former Environmentalist of the Year finalist at the Pride of Jersey Awards, is now seeking support from roofers who could do a “simple” job of repairing traditional slate, carpenters who can rebuild the shed, and chainsaw operators, who can help clean up the damage.
In addition to the shelter, Ms de Gruchy said several old trees, including a hawthorn aged around 150 to 200 years old, had been taken down in the storm.
