The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: Sparrow on May 26, 2020, 12:14:27 pm
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Hello, I'm embarking on a small stable/barn conversion (which is a whole other forum topic), but have 2 acres of meadow and woodland. The two horses use to keep me and the land occupied, but since I have retired and I no longer have them, I'd like to use the ground to work towards self sufficiency. I have a very small budget left for the land and love thinking up easy care ideas and something which creates a small income would be even better.
Things I'm currently researching: using small stock to clear woodland; planting an orchard, aquaponics with veggies, wildlife conservation, and any dual purpose ideas I come across which might work. I love photography too
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Welcome to the forum Sparrow. Not sure how we all missed your interesting introduction. I shall look forward to your future posts.
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Hello and welcome [member=202717]Sparrow[/member] :wave:
Well, there you have your new venture - photographing the wildlife and everything else you will be doing on your 2 acres. A book? Magazine articles? Calenders? Postcards?
Personally I'm not much taken with aquaponics, although it sounds good when combined with fish growth to provide the nutrients.
Think carefully too before you detroy the woodland totally. For wildlife, keep the best bits :tree: :tree: :tree:
I love following people's progress when they set out on a new smallholding venture, successes and not quite such successes too, it's all fascinating :thumbsup:
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Hi thank you for your replies. Not sure where my post went to but the wrong photo came Up. The woodland is impenetrable with branmbles and thistle due to the subsoil being moved when the riding arena was installed so I'm thinking increasing fertility wouldn't be bad.It looks like I rewilded years before Isabella tree made it fashionable ;)
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A belated welcome Sparrow, I too must have missed your original post, but your ideas sound interesting. Do you mean 2 acres plus woodland?
Goats are often suggested to clear woodland, but they would kill everything by stripping the bark, and some plants may be poisonous, and if bramble there, thorns can cause problems, so maybe best hacking some of that back and clearing it first? Then animals will eat any regrowth. But there again, some bramble have nice fruit ?. And clearing woodland may not go hand in hand with nature conservation ?
A place near us I think we're pioneers of aquaponics, linked to a school for educational purposes, been on the go for years, but I don't think it worked as well as they hoped.
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Hi. The total is 2 acres, maybe half an acre of woodland. This website got me interested in using pigs as a conservation/woodland management method: https://www.conservationpigs.co.uk (https://www.conservationpigs.co.uk). Its a revival of an ancient method of keeping stock. This farmer lends pigs out to clear land. My paddock is too wet in the winter, but the woodland is dry, and most poisonous plants go below ground then so, I'm guessing that's how it works. I don't have enough ground to have pigs permanently. I'm just mulling ideas. Currently I have sheep on the paddock, owned by a lady who loans them as conservation mowers.
Disclosure: I'm vegetarian /pescatarian, but my partner eats meat, so everybody wins, as I don't have a problem with happimeat, but I don't want to have to send them on to slaughter...