Arriving at their farm outside Henley on Klip just before 07:00 might feel early, but the Freeman family – Sean, Nicola and their five children – rises as the cocks crow each morning.
Sean walks past the vegetable show garden, making his way towards New Yolk City. The wintery sun illuminates the newly erected sign on the exterior of the 32 chicken runs. The letter “o”, frames a yellow egg yolk – and above it is an illustration of a city skyline with a chicken emulating the Statue of Liberty.
“The kids refer to this as a typical dad joke,” Sean says. Courtney (23), Robyn (22), Daniel (20), and the twins, Leah and Jenna (18), are all involved in the business. “Courtney is in charge of design and social media work, and I offered her another option: Butt Nugget Central. They reluctantly settled for New Yolk City.”
THE FREEMANS’ JOURNEY started in 1997 when they began growing vegetables after Courtney was born; Sean and
