In early July, my sister Poppy and I went to Germany for 10 days. I had visited the same lovely family last year, so it was sort of nice to have my sister with me this year. We stayed in Rösrath, which is close to Cologne, at the edge of a large dense forest.

The trees range in size and variety – from tall 80-year-old trees to tiny, naturally seeded saplings. They harvest trees out each year, which lets in light, but never clearfell, so the forest stays in a continuous state, which allows deer, wild boar, squirrels, and other animals to live there, relatively undisturbed.

School

The German kids were still at school, so we got a chance to experience school life there too. Classes began around 8am, which meant a much earlier start than we were used to.

When we got back home, the long spell of dry weather was continuing, and we could see how parched the land looked as we flew into Dublin Airport. I think all farms suffered in one way or the other from the drought.

Our own farm was not too badly affected. As an organic farm we are not so heavily stocked, and do not rely on artificial fertiliser to grow the grass. We also have heavy clay soils, and many mixed sward fields, and these seemed to deal well with the lack of rainfall.

Tullamore

The Tullamore Show took place recently, and was a huge success with over 60,000 people walking through the gates. We did an awful lot of walking, and looked at lots of stalls and stands.

My youngest sister Heidi entered eggs from her “Happy Hens”. We never realised that it was so difficult to pick out eggs equal in size, shape and colour. It was a family attempt, and we were grateful that we only had to select three eggs, and not half a dozen.

We were all thrilled when her entry took second place – my Dad gets a great thrill now to say we are eating prize-winning eggs!

Horses

My mum and dad also sell on some horses each year, and they have two thoroughbred yearlings to sell this autumn.

The first will go to Doncaster next week, and the second will go to Goffs in early October. It takes about eight weeks to prepare the yearlings for the sales: they are exercised six days a week, either by hand or on a horse walker.

They also have to get used to being handled, groomed and rugged up. They do not need to be ridden – that will be a trainer’s job when they are sold. It really is a bit of a gamble, as it is a fickle game, and depends greatly on how well the sire is performing. A sire could be fashionable one year, and then out of favour the next.

Junior Cert

Anyway, we are all back to school next week. I’ll be starting my Junior Cert year, and my sister Poppy will be starting first year in Kilkenny College. I’m looking forward to seeing my mates again, but I know too that I have to get stuck into my schoolwork…from the start. I will write again soon.

Charlie Hackett is a 15-year-old boy from Geashill in Co Offaly, where he lives with his two younger sisters, Poppy and Heidi, and his younger brother, George. His parents Mark and Pippa both work on the farm, producing organic beef and sheep, and along with a few horses, chickens, dogs and cats, it is a busy family farm. Charlie is a third-year student at Kilkenny College and boards there during the week.