Peaks and Troughs

A memoir of two brothers using an unexpected inheritance to start an organic farm in 1970 Wales: "This is Bill Bryson with muck under the fingernails." —Brian Morton

Londoners Nick Perry and his brother Jack were stuck in a bit of a rut. Nick, in his early twenties with a wife of infant twins, had been jumping from job to job; Jack chauffeured passengers around for their uncle's business. Then an aunt they barely remembered, to their complete surprise, left them a tidy sum of money. It didn't take long to come up with an idea—buying a plot of farmland in North Wales.


Little did they know what a different world they were entering, and what a challenge it would be to find a way to farm that was in harmony with the earth and the animals in their care. The neighbors have little sympathy as Nick deals with the elements and with his nagging self-doubt. But no matter how close to the edge he and his family come, he carries on—and in this war-hearted, humorous, and ultimately inspirational tale, he tells the full story of a young man's attempt to run an organic farm in the unforgiving Welsh hills.