Our Yorkshire Farm's Amanda Owen discusses raising nine 'feral' children and the 'life lessons' they learn in the countryside
Our Yorkshire Farm 's Amanda Owen has discussed raising her nine 'feral' children in the Yorkshire Dales, and the 'life lessons' they learn daily.
The shepherdess, 46, has children Raven, Reuben, Miles, Edith, Violet, Sidney, Annas, Clementine and Nancy with ex-husband Clive.
The family live on a 2,000-acre working farm and their life has been documented in the TV series Our Yorkshire Farm and Our Farm Next Door.
And now, Amanda has shared that the freedom her children enjoy is an invaluable lesson for the rest of their lives.
She told Yorkshire Life magazine: 'Life here prepares you for life anywhere. It gives you a can-do mindset, common sense, and a work ethic. It teaches you that you can turn your hand to anything, that you won't give up, and that sometimes life is hard and you don't get the results you want, no matter how hard you try.'
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She added: 'You want to keep your child safe, of course. But danger comes in many forms, whether it's vehicles, fast-flowing rivers, things with teeth and hooves, or even through a small screen. Who knows where the danger's coming from, but you can't live your life being risk-averse, and I wouldn't teach that or champion it.
'It's seeing it and negating that danger, it's not keeping them entirely away from it, because you learn the respect and how to operate, and those lessons are probably learned as well as anything here.'
It comes after Amanda defiantly hit back at critics after a string of cruel swipes about her looks.
She appeared on Wednesday's episode of ITV show Lorraine in a clip showing a glimpse of life on the farm.
Amanda opened up about how despite getting stuck in with caring for the animals and land, she still enjoys taking pride in her appearance, hitting back against stereotypes.
'I like my makeup. I like to try and make an effort and I know that sounds very vain,' she shared.
The camera panned to show her sat in a farming vehicle and looking in the mirror while she put lipstick on.
The shepherdess added: 'But if anyone wants to say 'aw you know you've got some mascara on you can't be a shepherd' - tough, because I am.
'I take great joy and happiness in what I do, so therefore I keep doing that.'
It isn't the first time Amanda has spoken out against people claiming she is 'too glamorous'.
Back in 2021, she addressed the topic on Steph's Packed Lunch, according to the Mirror .
'Throughout it all you stay so glamorous. Which, always, I'm amazed about,' host Steph McGovern commented.
Amanda replied: 'Look at my hands though Steph. Honestly, I've got iodine up my arm.'
She went on to discuss the assumptions people may have and added: 'Yes we don't like stereotypes. I think that's the thing - you know. I mean yes I've got a sheepdog, yes I've got a crook.
'Yes I spend my time running around after sheep, but I can do other things too.'
While more recently, Our Yorkshire Farm's Reuben Owen defiantly hit back at critics after being slammed for a 'disgusting and disturbing' video shared by his mother, Amanda.
Earlier this month, the shepherdess took to her Instagram page to share a clip of her son Reuben, 21, helping her out on the Ravenseat Farm in Swaledale, Yorkshire.
In the clip, mum-of-nine Amanda can be heard saying: 'Well this is what you've been getting up to in lambing fields,' while Reuben is laying across an ewe and lamb.
He then picks up the ewe by the horns and she tells her son: 'You did great there! And you got the lamb at the same time.'
Amanda captioned the post: 'Caught ewe. Reuben downs tools and springs into action.
'*Everyone lends a hand, there is no one exempt from lambing time tasks*.'
However, many fans were confused by the post and didn't like seeing Reuben handle the ewe as they didn't know what he was actually doing.
Some took to leaving comments including, 'Why are you treating the ewe like that? Absolutely disgusting and I'm disappointed as I thought you were better than that.'
'Or, I didn't like how you held the sheep! Absolutely disturbing! Animals are treated with respect and not like trash!'
In an interview with The Telegraph, Reuben responded to the online furore and said: 'I don't have the time or the inclination to scroll through social media.'
The young farmer added: 'If you do ever see me on my phone, I'll be searching for machinery sales.'
Some did jump to the 21-year-old's defence however and penned: 'Please ignore comments from any animal activist… if we all listened to them nothing would ever get done and we'd all be starving by now . Carry on farming.'
Another said: 'Kindness is a gift, if you cannot say anything nice please say nothing at all.
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