The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: Womble on October 19, 2010, 10:16:47 am
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OK, so our hearts say yes, and we're in the process of trying to convince our heads! ;D
I have an older friend who used to gaze off wistfullly into the distance and say "One day when I retire, I'll get a little cottage with a wee bit of land, and I'll grow my own veg, and raise my own animals......." etc. etc. We used to sit with our cups of coffee, and talk about what he'd do, and I'd say how much I envied his plans.
When he turned 65 and retired last year, I asked him "time for that smallholding now then eh?". "Oh I'm too old for that sort of thing now" he said, and I felt a little piece of both of us die inside :'(.
SO..... Mrs Womble and I have finally realised that we mustn't put our dreams on hold forever, and are trying to sort out a plan to make it all work. Financially, we would both have to continue working full time for the next 6-7 years before we could 'downshift' a little, and devote more time to the smallholding. This leaves us with a dilemma in that during the winter we won't be back home before dark, and also at times we may have to have a night or two away for work or other reasons.
We currently have a few hens who obligingly put themselves to bed at night, and don't mind being left for a couple of days with food and water. However, let's say we ended up with two or three acres - what could we practically do to keep things ticking over in the meantime, whilst still working? Our thoughts so far are as follows:
1. Fruit & Veg - Not an issue - the only problem is finding the time to do the work, but we could start small and work up.
2. Hens - Not an issue, carry on as we do currently.
3. Ducks - Will they put themselves to bed at night during the winter? Can they be left alone for a night and still be fox proof? Can you feed ad lib?
4. Geese, turkeys etc - See Ducks
5. Pigs - Must they be fed twice a day, or can you do it once?
6. Sheep - Probably OK, but is it practical /cost effective just to have wethers for fattening up during the year? (My boss wouldn't take kindly to me having to constantly rush back home to check on the maternity ward during lambing time!).
7. Cows - Biting off more cud than we can chew at the moment methinks! :)
8. Pasture - If all the above need to be put on hold, what on earth do you do with your fields in the intervening 6 years to keep the grass down!? ;D Could we offer grass livery for example, and if so, what other facilities would we need to provide?
So, thanks for reading this far. For those of you who already do all this stuff, how do you juggle everything around everyday life, jobs, children etc. Please tell me your tips and stories - I'm dying to know!
Womble. :wave:
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Would it be feasible for one of you to quit full time work and find part time work?
You could probably manage with sheep if you just bought in stuff for fattening so you didnt have to endure the full time assistance needed at lambing time - it would also give you a good taster of what looking after sheep has involved.
Sometimes there is never an ideal time to risk it all and try a different lifestyle - as long you have a little financial planning and backing I am sure you'll manage and perhaps never look back - you'll never know unless you try.
Ta
Baz
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Hi womble we juggle full time jobs with growing veg chickens, pigs and 2 horses. I often have to live away so hubby has to take on the care of the animals in the week. It's hard I've got to tell you but not impossible. You have to feed pigs twice a day but I get up very early and oh does them in the evening as he is home for 5. Even so they'd get used to being fed a little later just have to do in the dark. Chickens are easy enough and we have electric nets so even if we are a bit late they take themselves in and foxy hasn't been an issue everything crossed...
Ducks not sure but I hear tell they're not so obliging to get in.
Thing to keep in mind is your weekends will become very very busy cleaning animal housing, doing veg garden, collecting feed and managing the land, weeds harrowing fertilising all that good stuff. It's hard work but very rewarding and IMHO well worth it. I wouldn't give it up but I do wish icould downshift and give up the day job and do it full time!
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I think it's possible to have your smallholding and juggle work too, as Helencus says it's hard going at times but definately worth it !
With regard to the pigs - if you go for a breed that 'graze' such as Berkshires or Kune Kunes you could get away with feeding them just once a day - but only if you were sure they had a constant water supply (I'm thinking nipple drinkers or troughs with ball cock) and plenty of good grass. But you WOULD need to check them twice daily. If you're looking to raise them for meat and get them in Spring and send off in Autumn you'll not have to worry too much about the dark nights.
Everything's possible - you've just got to find a way that works for you ;)
Good luck !
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The grass part shouldn't be too bad, letting to farmers who have sheep and want extra grazing is quite common, or a farmer who will want to let it grow and turn it into hay.
Make friends with your fellow smallholders in your area, so that if you are stuck a day here and there I'm sure they'd help you out, and vice versa if you can manage to help them.
I hope you manage to give it a go.
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Thanks for posting such an interesting thread. My OH and I are thinking about doing exactly this next year and it has answered a lot of my anxieties. I know it will be hard but, as you say, you cannot put your dreams on hold. Best of luck! :pig: 8)
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Lambing can be managed well enough while working. You can plan when lambing will take place, and limit it by how long the tup is in with the ewes in Nov. Then you plan your holidays to cover lambing time. If you can only cover three weeks between you, then you only leave the tup in for 3 weeks. If you could only manage 2 weeks, then you would be better sponging your ewes to coordinate lambing in a tighter timeframe.
The drawback of raising wethers for meat is that if you use a commercial type breed, then they are just about ready for slaughter when they come off their mothers, or soon after, so that might not be cost effective. Primitives do take a further year to finish so that could be a possibility.
A word of caution is that you would need a certain degree of flexibility to cover emergencies, or you would as Scotelf has said, need someone local you could call on in an emergency.
Do give it a go though - you never know what's around the corner, as we found out, so don't leave it too long. Start small with what you know, work up as you learn and be prepared to rethink your plans to suit the land you buy and your changing situation.
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I'd say go for it! I did - gave up a (relatively) well-paid job and became a self-employed sparky - although ended up working on contract when my sheep was giving birth - luckily the boss was human enough to allow me a day or so of 'maternity leave' without prior notice (I'd left the ram in for 6 weeks and didn't know when she was due).
With two of you it shouldn't be too bad - I'm on my own at the moment and so have to do it all myself (I'm not complaining, mind - I just have to think about all those years when I was stuck in a studio flat in SW London with nothing outside but a window box, 25 buses per hour and bricks & concrete to look at - and I'm glad to be mending fences in the rain :D)
The solution I think is don't go mad and get 12 different types of animals at once - keep it simple and have one or two species at any one time - at least until your happy you've got the time to diversify.
It's also worth making an effort to get on with the neighbours - I've got two who have volunteered (without being asked) to look after the animals should I need to disappear for a few days.
mab
3 sheep, 4 ex-batt hens
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I could turn the question around & say that you really have to have a job while starting out as a smallholder, otherwise you'll have nothing to live on!
We found that the first couple of years is very "capital intensive", since you need to get a lot of equipment all at once, but it eases off later. Chickens are easy, as you've found already, and primitive sheep are a bit more self reliant than some larger commercial breeds. They still need checked frequently however, but in general seem to need less attention.
As others have said, you need to take the plunge and give it a go - there's never going to be a perfect time.
Good Luck,
John
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Pigs do not need to be fed twice a day but do need to be checked twice a day which need not take that long.Ducks will not take themselves off to bed like hens;nor will turkeys or geese,Sheep can be quite demanding and can keel over for no apparent reason. Cattle i've not kept so can't comment on. We keep all of the above; plus a few other things; one of us works full time the other part time .
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Hi Womble -
Go for it! It is a bit hard to juggle the workload but a few people I know made it possible, with pigs, chooks, veg and all!
My ducks actually do take themselves to bed - but only in the winter. Now they are just a few minutes behind the chooks and all it takes is to shut the door. It took a few weeks of training when we got them and in the summer they need encouragement with going to bed. Their bedchambers need cleaning at least twice a week, more in the winter as their wet bedding can freeze over, not nice for them... :&>
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I agree, go for it - it would be awful to look back and say 'I wish....'. It would be easier if one person worked on the holding at least part-time.
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If you are likely to be away overnight, or if you cant feed twice a day (or at least check them twice a day) I would definitely not have pigs. No matter how well behaved, the first time you miss feeding them just one meal they will be off on a great adventure, p ossibly into your feed store. Even when fed regularly, checked 3 times a day, they will find the tiniest gap in your defences and cause havoc.
I am on the holding all day, and can guarantee that the twice yearly work lunches I hold for OH colleagues will be interrupted by at least one escapee. They just KNOW.
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Myself and my partner both work full time. We have 9 pigs, 7 chickens, 4 ducks, 3 dogs, a cat and 3 ferrets! I also have 2 of my own horses and run a small livery yard from home which takes our total equine count to 6.
Our pigs would definately not stand for only being fed once a day but maybe that's because of our current routine (they scream their heads off if dinner is late or if they get hungry!) ::)
Our morning chores are at 6.30am - animals fed, dogs walked, horses turned out, mucked out etc. I work shifts so am usually around some of the day when I fit in my riding and any general chores such as cleaning out hen houses etc.
Evening chores are at about 6pm ... we are lucky to have had new electrics installed in all our outbuildings this year but we still have to do a couple of trips to the pigs with torches, feed and water etc!
It can certainly be done but it's nigh on impossible to find anyone to look after the rabble if holidays are required etc. As long as you embrace and enjoy the animals, even in winter, I'd certainly reccommend it!
You could probably easily sell the grass for hay in the spring if you had no toher use for it but ideally itr would need to be graxed by something in the winter.
For grass livery for ponies, around here you could only charge about £10 per week per pony and you would have to make sure you had good fencing (no barbed wire etc). You could probably charge a little more if you had shelter and water in the fields but on 3 acres you would be looking at a max of 3 horses to allow decent rotation throughout the year. ;D :wave:
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Hidden in the word Smallholding there is another word that sums up the whole way of life.
Commitment.
Without the time and commitment forget it. Even 3 acres cannot look after itself let alone any animals you have.
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yes it can be done and the longer you put it off, the more expensive everything will be - so the sooner the better in my view.
we have 6 acres, 2 children, had up to 6 horses, 12 sheep, 2 pigs, lost count of how many ducks and chickens we have at any one time and grow our own veg. hubby works full time and i run my own business. so,yes, it is very hectic and needs lots and lots of juggling.
holidays are, as mentioned, pretty challenging - both financially and time constraint wise. but to be honest, if this is the life you want, then you dont really miss holidays.
being at home makes it much easier for the children and we saved a packet on child care fees when we moved here. they are older now so we wouldnt be paying out for that now anyway.
if someone can be around all, or even part of the day, it will definately make life easier for you.
why not try and work on one salary for a few months, saving the other, and see if it's do-able? it would give yu a few quid savings if nothing else.
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Remember that technicaly you need to check on the animals at least once every 24 hours to stop you falling foul of the law...Only found that out today...
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Hi Womble,
It is hard, and I think the key is to maybe get your land and very slowly increase the animals and see how it goes. I do agree with the other comments, it is easier having someone around- I have my mum here so she can potter about during the day and see to things, but I do have to do all the heavy work, gardening, mucking out, feet trimming, repairs etc and fit all of it into the weekends and summer evenings.
Ducks are not great at putting themselves to bed! But you could keep on with the poultry, veg, and a 2/3 sheep don't take up too much time. You should be able to rent out any spare land- even to people who are thinking of doing what you want to do!
I say you should bite the bullet sooner rather than later.
Beth
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;)
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Thankyou all for your helpful replies! I'm in awe of anybody who can work full time AND look after horses / children / sheep / chickens etc at the same time, but incredibly some of you seem to be managing to do just that!
The issue is not so much commitment, but how we get to the point where we can give a smallholding the commitment it needs (i.e. can we go for it now and build up, or must we wait until we have saved enough cash to 'downshift' immediately).
Egglady - that's a very good suggestion to try to live off one salary, and in fact we've been doing that for some time whilst we save up for a house deposit. The issue is that one salary alone is unlikely to both sustain us AND pay the mortgage.
Let's take Longcarse (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/about/smallholding-for-sale/)as an example (apologies to Rosemary and Dan - hope you don't mind me using your home as an example!). If we were able to buy for say £300K, plus £9K stamp duty, plus £4K moving / legal costs, that's £313K in total. Let's also say that we had been saving for long enough to put up a 25% deposit ( ::)). That leaves a mortgage of £235K, which would cost around £1200 per month (25yr repayment, 3.75%). Unfortunately, that's just not going to happen with only one wage, even if we were able to produce all our own food for free!! ;D
So, that's where we're left. Do we buy a 3 bed semi and save and dream for ten years, or do we go for the smallholding now and aim to build it up slowly. My hope is that even if we ended up playing host to somebody else's sheep for a few years to keep the grass down, we should be able to transition to the life we want eventually.
I say you should bite the bullet sooner rather than later.
Yes Beth, I think you could be right! ;) Thanks again for all the encouragement folks!
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Hi Womble,
I think the positive note is that you are thinking hard about it, my wife and i bought ours two years ago, we both work full time me three shifts (nights,lates,earlies) she isn't interested in the outside but loves cooking, so i manage the plants and animals by myself. Although it is hard i started doing a bit and have built up stock and plants whilst working out what i was capable of doing. I would say though that it is worth doing all jobs right first time as i bodged a few things and then spent more time than i would have the first time doing it right. Have a go and enjoy.
Rob. ;D
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The issue is not so much commitment, but how we get to the point where we can give a smallholding the commitment it needs (i.e. can we go for it now and build up, or must we wait until we have saved enough cash to 'downshift' immediately).
Egglady - that's a very good suggestion to try to live off one salary, and in fact we've been doing that for some time whilst we save up for a house deposit. The issue is that one salary alone is unlikely to both sustain us AND pay the mortgage.
Let's take Longcarse (http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/about/smallholding-for-sale/)as an example (apologies to Rosemary and Dan - hope you don't mind me using your home as an example!). If we were able to buy for say £300K, plus £9K stamp duty, plus £4K moving / legal costs, that's £313K in total. Let's also say that we had been saving for long enough to put up a 25% deposit ( ::)). That leaves a mortgage of £235K, which would cost around £1200 per month (25yr repayment, 3.75%). Unfortunately, that's just not going to happen with only one wage, even if we were able to produce all our own food for free!! ;D
So, that's where we're left. Do we buy a 3 bed semi and save and dream for ten years, or do we go for the smallholding now and aim to build it up slowly. My hope is that even if we ended up playing host to somebody else's sheep for a few years to keep the grass down, we should be able to transition to the life we want eventually.
So, in that case you look at what alternatives are there. Longcarse is in the central belt, within commuting distance to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Do you need to live within commuting distance to those cities? Or could you look at properties either down on the west coast of Scotland, or look further up in Scotland, where prices may be more reasonable?
I do know how difficult it is- my mother and I bought this house together- its similar size (both house and land wise) to Longcarse. There is no way I could afford it on my salary alone, which would mean I wouldn't be able to keep my animals. Equally my mother's health is such that living on her own, she couldn't keep the animals she would want to. A lot of people couldn't bear to live with their mother, but it gives both of us convenience.
Then there are other options for you- I know everyone wants to live on their land, but its not always possible. What about buying a field, and then buying a house in the nearest village etc? People do manage to do that- even people on here who have now managed to get planning permission for houses eventually.
Beth
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I'd agree with Beth - Longcarse is a prime example of a smallholding, you could take over and start straight away. But, that's why it's expensive. Look to other areas and look for properties that need a bit of work doing to improve them. That way you can work away slowly and build up to your dream.
http://www-x.aspc.co.uk/cgi-bin/public/LiveProperty/283362?ID=FMBHOJBO#picture (http://www-x.aspc.co.uk/cgi-bin/public/LiveProperty/283362?ID=FMBHOJBO#picture)
Here's one in Turriff, Aberdeenshire, with 8 acres and outbuildings for £120,000
There's ALWAYS a way ;)
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You've got to just go for it. That's what we're in the process of doing. We've been lucky enough to have a relative of Big T's who lives 3 miles away that we're renting 4 acres from. Not living on site is a challenge, but it's do-able. I work full time, and he's self employed so can either have nothing on or is out working a very long day depending on what comes in. Obviously we'd love to own our own smallholding with house, but at the moment that's just not going to happen so this is the next best thing to get us started.
I think from what people have told me it's best to build up slowly. In the next couple of weeks we're going to be digging over part of the land that we want to put veg in next year (not the full 1/2 acre we're aiming for eventually - just large veg plot size to start with). Then I think the chickens and pigs will come ideally in the spring. I prefer the idea of getting used to getting there every day when it's started getting lighter in the mornings - that way we'll be used to it by the time next winter comes round!
We wanted to do it all now but practicality rears its head (and cost!). I think if we just prepare the ground and do the fencing etc ready for spring this winter then we'll build ourselves up to it gradually - meaning we're less likely to fail.
I've waffled on about our situation, but we're in a similar boat to you Womble. I think we just realised that we can't achieve the full dream situation for some years yet, but that doesn't mean we can't live part of it now. ;D
Just go for it. You'll find a way to make it work. Good luck!
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We wanted to do it all now but practicality rears its head (and cost!). I think if we just prepare the ground and do the fencing etc ready for spring this winter then we'll build ourselves up to it gradually - meaning we're less likely to fail.
That is something I really agree with. I've got pigs and spend a lot of time fixing their fencing. It would have saved so much time in the long run if I'd replaced the old fencing at the start...Plus the veg plot would not have been trashed...lol
BUT if you try and get everything perfect you would never get round to getting any animals and you would be spending out without getting any return...
I would say it's better to try and fail than never try at all.... Good luck!!!
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Talking about mortgages in the 100's of thousands is madness !
Have you thought about Ireland?
Land..... good land here at approx €5000 per acre, poorer land much cheaper.... housing a lot cheaper than UK.
Lets look at 10 acres cica. 5k per acre plus a contingency fund of 10k = 60K
so for 60K you have the land...... real good land at that, ready to go.
Housing, well renting from about €70 per week for small 2 bed property, no rates in Ireland ...YET.
Buy a property from 70k upwards, or put prefabricated log cabin up for about 25k upwards..... and take time to pick the right area and you will have neighbours willing to barter their skills for some of yours, (eg) ploughing/fertilizer sowing for some of your time around harvest.
If you can release equity from your current property then Ireland is very appealing from a financial point of view.
Travelling to and from the UK is simple as anything, many flights to mainland UK/Scotland/Welsh airports daily from small regional Irish airports.
Take a look outside the box and maybe this sort of proposal makes sense, Ireland is moving away from the small farm into more intensive farming, many farmers sons are not interested anymore and land is available here in the north west at reasonable prices since the madness of the property boom has gone by the wayside.
I do not know what your field of employment is, but work and jobs can still be had here in this country for the right people.... but if your outgoings are less (small or no mortgage and self sufficient type lifestyle) then your earnings need not be as large as you would think.
I myself have 30+ acres of prime agricultural land but dont run it as a smallholding, I sell hay from it each year and use the rest for leisure. I am however in the process of selling my business after 30 years at the helm and will definitely be adopting a much more sustainable lifestyle when I achieve this in the next 12 to 18 months.
Jon
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Well if you are going to consider places off mainland Britain may i suggset Northern Ireland; many of the advantages of Ireland ie cheaper land / house prices; many small farms and friendly helpful neighbours and all the benefits of staying wthin the UK.Rates here are very low there are decent road links several regional airports and depending on your line of work there is a good deal of employment. It is still generally a rural way of life with farming still at the centre of most communities;but if you want the convenience of living near a very large town or city it is still possible to have a farm but it may cost a little more.
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Well womble - I haven't posted here all summer because we've been so busy, planting, harvesting and any number of jobs. We both work. I work full time 45 minutes away from home and OH works from home which is very helpful for looking after animals etc but time is still a pressure. We moved onto our 10 acre field 16 months ago into temporary accommodation whilst we build a house. For the first year we have channeled all of our available cash into developing the smallholding although we have had some great luck with friends and neighbours wanting to help out.
So far we have more chickens than we would like - 8 went into the freezer last weekend. We have reared 2 pigs which we are now eating. We have 6 shetland sheep who are lovely and i have hatched 3 turkeys one of whom will feed us at Christmas.
We haven't bought any veg since about June but we are buying about £8 worth of animal feed per week. Our neighbours lent us a pig ark. We got the weaners at new year and sent them off in August. In retrospect we got them at the wrong time of year and kept them too long. Next year we shall try and get some in March and keep them until October which will minimise the winter water / ice problems and also we can feed them the left overs in the veg garden at the right time. The sheep are amazingly self sufficient. The turkeys only take minutes to put to bed at night and we have built a system of runs which mean that if we are both out late the stock is relatively safe until we get back.
The last year has been exciting and exhausting and i wouldn't swap it for the world. The children are a little sick of me exclaiming about how we have grown everything on our plates every time we sit down for a meal but they are loving the pork and are secretly prous of our endeavours.
We will not be going on a proper holiday anytime soon, but we have found people who offer to feed our stock in return for eggs a ham joint etc.
If we eve manage to build a house and pay for it i will be delighted but generally we feel as though we are living the dream already.
PS the ducks are the only flaw in the plan. They are messy and lead us a dance at bedtime and so far we are too fond of them to chop their heads off/ :D :D :D :&>
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LOL! Kirsty ready your post and could have written it myself! loved the commentd about kids being sick of you exclaiming about the food on their plates....a regular announcement at our house too!
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Lol I have to admit to saying that once or twice to the kids too!! Fantastic feeling though providing for yourselves.
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We have gone down a similar route, but bought a building plot with land, rented for two years while the house got built. We were lucky in that we were able to sell a good sized house in Edinburgh (in 2004) and that means that we manage to pay a mortgage out of one salary. After we moved here we started developing the holding, which is my area (and looking after two children - now 7 and 9) and my OH commutes to Edinburgh four days a week. Finance is tight (especially as we need to run two cars.... and they are old now and there is no money for new ones!), but so far we have managed to get ourselvs fed (mainly from our own garden, own meat from pigs, chickens and sheep, during the summer milk etc from our goats and also of course eggs) and pay the bills. Careful budgeting is essential. Holidays don't really happen.
I would go for it, start small and see how it goes.... Also as long as you have a good broadband connection, maybe working from home for at least part of the week is an option????
No point in saving up for years and then find that you are either too old or still too poor to do anything about it as property/land prices might have increased further!
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What a great topic.
Got a question... Is someone who has a partner, arthritis and is 56 too old to embark on something like this for the first time?
Ian
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I have waited for years to be "ready" and a month ago I decided I never would be ready and jumped ship anyway!
My version of achieving it was to buy a 10 acre run down holding with a pretty uncared for 1970s bungalow that even now the valuers and agencies recommend not to do anything to so that any potential buyer can just knock it down and start over ::) I don't like that it is beside a main A road but the upside is that I don't get stuck in snow and can always get out to visit the other 20 acres I rent a few miles away. I sometimes have to walk the last mile up there and back but that's another story ::)
I had a secure full time job and was breeding ponies, had cats and enjoyed riding and showing the ponies as hobbies so it was worth my time and energy to be up at 530 midweek and drive those very long few miles to check ponies at the hill between doing the ones here and showering ready to commute to work by 740 ::) The lot here had an open barn to come into for feeds or treatment but otherwise lived out and were hayed in the field - barrowing hay in wind, mud and rain after a long day isn't easy but it did get done - and I'm on my own, always have been so just get on with it. I also put in essentials like intermediate fencing and water supplies, central heating and a bathroom in the house, and put in a dutch barn with lean to and cattle gates to make flexible storage/handling/care facilities.
A few years back I started with a veg bed in the orchard and started making jam and chutney from the apples, plums and bought in easy things like rhubarb and green beans to start with. Experimented, dug out a new bed each year (with help!) and used some of the barn's winter deep litter to fertilise the veggies. Swapped veg and money for assistance, paid for fencers etc as needed, started to reduce expenditure, holidays included, as far as possible and started overpaying the mortgage when the rates dropped by keeping to the same high level I was used to. At one point I was paying 1/3 more than I needed to but it was easier to sustain an existing payment than get used to a lower one that might rise again!
Last year I had 3 family bereavements within 6 months and realised (amongst other things) how short and fragile life is and how you really can't keep waiting for the right moment. I had some slack with the mortgage, a small inheritance to live off and the opportunity to get redundancy money rather than yet more stress and illness. My health and fitness are the lowest they've ever been and there's a recession on but it was an opportunity unlikely to repeat itself and I no longer have a number of family concerns/ties that I had to worry about. So I went for it.
I have a number of skills to use off the holding, I ran 2 workshops on Saturday, which brought me some much needed cash and I've sold some things, reduced the work related costs such as commuting fuel cost, parking at work (cheek anyway £2.70 a day to be at work!), the lunches, lattes and mid afternoon chocolate crisis that working gave me, and I now sleep far better, get up at 530-7am depending on how long the cats allow, and am still blessed that the ponies are all out on grass and just need checking. The cat also had kittens and I sold them rather than give them away - some folk frown on this but every little helps pay for the cat food and litter I use.
There are now 4 veg beds, 2 still active and the freezer is full, apples still on the trees and I have a lifestyle I am loving. I want the chickens but fear I am better off buying eggs at the moment ::) and they and the sheep will probably wait til spring now.
If you have excess grassland then rent it for hay and take payment in made round bales you can store til you need them. Fodder prices are high now and higher in Feb/March so resell at that time if you don't need them. You'll easy manage veg, chickens and store lambs I reckon, and every bit of experience you get is invaluable before you depend on it.
I would say go for 2 full time jobs initially and build up the holding a little, then go for 1 day reduction from one of the jobs or whatever part time you can manage/negotiate to balance your holding needs. Look wherever you can consider moving to, look at living in slightly reduced quality housing in return for the land, and start now before you start to query whether you can really "afford" your life dreams. That is the start of the slippery slope and sometimes you just have to do what you need to do for your sanity and happiness ;)
Sorry I'm rambling but I'm a passionate believer in living each year of your life to the full and having no regrets to look back on that are about limiting yourself with fear, only maybe a few about embarrassing yourself while you learn new things.
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.. Is someone who has a partner, arthritis and is 56 too old to embark on something like this for the first time?
Ian
Well I was 52, had and still have an arthritic back and although had done smallholding in UK had never owned our own land nor had the space which we have here we manage ok. You'll get all the support and more from TAS :D.