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Anonymous
Starting a smallholding 2016-03-13 19:15:21 Post No. 711260
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Starting a smallholding 2016-03-13 19:15:21 Post No. 711260
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So I've moved back to my parents croft (what you American folk might call a smallholding I suppose) after 4 years of bumming around, wwoofing and living /out/.
The folks are getting old and the place is pretty run down, the ma just keeps a few horses and the pa just does the lawns now, but theres a lot of potential here.
Basically I'm asking for a second party perspective and general advice on what I could do with it, and particularly how to make some scratch quick to put back into it.
So far I've plotted out a fenced in SE facing 1000ftsq of garden for veg.
I've picked up 12 ex-battery hens and they're happily laying as many eggs a day.
And I'm taking down this immense row of about 16 80ft+ tall sitka my dad planted 40 years ago thinking they were miniatures...so we're sorted for firewood for the next 6-8 years and I may sell some.
So this year I'm just making a go of growing as much food as I can and sorting out my folks for firewood.
SO I have a rough idea of what I want and where I'm going, but I'm curious...what would you guys do? and what would you do first?
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>>711260
First of all make the house comfy and cozy, so after your days of work, when you come back, you feel well. Don't let the house go out of control, the organization of stuff and works comes from the house outwards.
Next, you should set up a workshop, an area, which doesn't really have to be big, enough for a bench, a few boxes/drawers. Don't worry about instruments too much, just buy them as you need them, and son't be too cheap, so you wouldn't have to replace them too often.
As for livestock, look, for what is either the cheapest to purchase in your general area, it's good for starters and then get some more diverse livestock, start selling goods in town markets after a while.
Just a thought.
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>Ben Falk
Theres a man to emulate, do everything he says.
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>>711267
Great advice, I hear the home comforts thing. I've bought my ma a woodburning rayburn for cooking and hw/central heating, since all they're rich in is wood, I thought it was a good investment, and makes the place that much more cozy.
Workshop, right, I've been clearing out one of the outbuildings for a shed, theres tools a-plenty in there, and I'm using the busted up but functional back porch for seedlings.
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>>711314
Great to hear.
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What do you want from it?
How long are you planning to be there?
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River cottage et al is all.about small holding in the uk
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>>711289
>The Resilient Farm and Homestead - Ben Falk.epub
>17.9MB
magnet:?xt=urn:btih:2668331bd7edf729b47a4ecbe19f349c98e5e90a&dn=The+Resilient+Farm+and+Homestead+-+Ben+Falk&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.openbittorrent.com%3A80&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Fopen.demonii.com%3A1337&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Ftracker.coppersurfer.tk%3A6969&tr=udp%3A%2F%2Fexodus.desync.com%3A6969
Magnet for that.
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>>711918
Is 'River cottage' a book? Im from the UK and am interested.
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>>712109
Nah its a tv series with hugh fearnley-whittingstall. It's on channel 4 so you can watch the whole thing for free on 4od.
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>>711860
I suppose I want to get it to a point of maximum productivity for as little maintenance as possible, but I guess thats everyones goal.
I want to leave my ma with a good veg growing set up and a lot of perennials, including a small orchard row and an easy enough to follow system of rotation.
I'll be here for a few years at least.
>>712081
Thanks mate, yes its a great book, Ben is one of my real inspirations.
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