Farming has been in the Polson family for six generations — long before Farm Stop was dreamt up by Christina.
Her father Andrew grew up on a small croft in Caithness and always wanted to be a farmer.
But, the world of farming can be “quite tough” and his father, who also worked as a fishmonger as well as a farmer, encouraged him to follow a different career path.
And so that’s what led Andrew to become an engineer.
Andrew and his wife Kerry moved to Portlethen 29 years ago, and he runs the successful Enerquip.
But farming is “in his blood”, and he eventually decided it was time to start up a hobby farm and share his passion with his own family.
In 2012, he bought some sheep, and his two daughters, twins Christina and Shannon, would often spend their free time helping out on their family farm too.
Growing up on the Polson family farm
What started as a hobby for Andrew, soon “escalated” and he eventually got more “bits and pieces” of land, so now they have quite a big acreage.
He is known for his Smerlie flock of North Country Cheviots, and even last year exported semen from his flock to the USA to help breeders across the pond.
For Christina, growing up on the farm was “always good fun”, especially during lambing season. The twins would get called at all hours to give their dad a “wee hand” in the lambing shed.
Andrew laughed when he said that their mum would give him a row for getting the girls out of their beds — especially the night before exams — to help.
But nevertheless, the girls still managed to sit their exams and do well for themselves.
Christina was a straight-A student at Portlethen Academy before heading to study management and psychology at St Andrew’s University where she got a first-class honours degree, the proud dad said.
With a chuckle he added: “Now she’s managing to use her degree to tell her dad what to do.”
The beginning of Farm Stop
Shannon went on to be a dentist, meanwhile, Christina always knew she wanted to do something with the family farm.
Her dad also thought that when the girls were young there weren’t enough soft plays and things like that for them.
Andrew said Doonies Farm in Cove, which sadly closed last year, was great, and they thought they could do something similar.
It wasn’t until Christina was getting close to the end of her studies that they started talking more seriously about their plans.
She said: “I just thought now is the time that people need to be outside more than ever after lockdown, reconnecting with animals.
“And everyone just feels happier after a day with some animals — so that was kind of the start of Farm Stop.”
But before they could open up their hands-on visitor experience, they realised they needed more animals.
For her 21st birthday, Christina was gifted her first Highland cow, called Iona. This may have been an unusual gift to some, but for Christina, it was the start of growing their farm.
Since then they’ve added bunnies, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks, alpacas, donkeys, pigs, and Highland ponies to their family farm.
And they opened the doors to Farm Stop in 2022.
But, the proud dad stressed that Christina runs Farm Stop by herself, and the family just help out “behind the scenes”, joking that they’re the ones doing all the “mucking out and making sure the animals are in tip-top condition”.
“I’m so glad we set Farm Stop up,” Christina added. “The two and a half years have flown by, but it’s been good fun.”
Working together and living together
Farming is a good way of life, but also “a tough way of life” according to Andrew.
He said while they aren’t working 24 hours a day, they do have to work seven days a week — no matter the weather.
And that’s no different for Christina, who “lives and breathes” Farm Stop and says she owes her strong work ethic to both her parents.
“Growing up, dad was always working late and we’d bring his dinner to work,” Christina said. “I always seen my dad working hard, and I think that’s probably where I get it from.
“But nothing would be possible without my mum feeding us, supporting us, and working hard behind the scenes.”
It’s clear the dad and daughter duo enjoy working together on the farm, and they make a good team bouncing off one another.
Laughing Christina said she’s “always thinking about Farm Stop”, and doesn’t give her dad any peace.
They’ve both been on BBC’s Landward for separate appearances, so there’s a “wee bit of competition” going on to see who will end up next on the big screen.
But, despite living and working together, the family still goes on holidays and enjoys spending time together.
Andrew joked: “I’ve got a wife and two daughters, so I know my place in the house.”
“I think it’s called keeping him right,” Christina quipped right back with a laugh.
Polsons share their family farm with others
While winter can be a quieter time of year for most farmers, Christina and her dad are busy welcoming Santa and Rudolph to their family farm, which Christina says is “very exciting”.
The real joy for both Christina and her dad is seeing smiling visitors having a good time experiencing the animals.
Whenever Andrew is there, he likes asking people what their favourite animals are and enjoys seeing farmers with their own families there too.
“It’s quite nice when you get farmers here, maybe with their grandkids for instance,” he explained. “And it’s quite funny because they’re all like ‘oh, yeah, seen this all before’.
“But a lot of farmers don’t have pigs, they’ve never grown up with pigs, or they’ve grown up on commercial farms where the animals aren’t so friendly.
“They wouldn’t have chickens sitting on their head, or pigs eating out their hand, or cows licking their hand or whatever. It’s a different experience.”
Meanwhile, Christina loves seeing the grandparents with their grandchildren, and the smiles on their faces as all ages enjoy the animals.
She recently received the Inclusive Tourism Award from Visit Aberdeenshire, for making sure that “everyone gets to experience Farm Stop”.
Breaking the stigma around farming and proving anyone can join in
It’s not just guests that the Polsons share their family farm with — it’s their employees too.
Farming today can be quite a lonely job, according to Andrew, but Farm Stop has provided an opportunity for them to do something different.
And it’s mostly young females who work alongside Christina, with only one who comes from a farming background.
Christina and her dad agreed that there’s normally quite a bit of stigma around farming — and it can be a hard job to get into.
But at Farm Stop they are proving that you don’t have to be a farmer to get into farming, and that anyone can join in.
Andrew added: “If we didn’t do Farm Stop, there’s no way that Christina or Shannon could take the farm on unless it was a sideline or a weekend job.
“But, with Farm Stop there’s enough here now, it’s creating jobs and a wage for Christina.
“Myself and my wife are very proud of Christina, and what she’s achieved at Farm Stop. We’re fortunate both our daughters have done well for themselves.”
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