The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: MAK on April 15, 2012, 11:34:28 am
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I am keen to know how many members had always lived on a smallholding or had planned it for years AGAINST those of those who fell into it by accident.
How did you become a smallholder ?- Accidentally or what was you plan?
My accident:
Now aged 53 I was born in London and always lived in large towns - we had a budgerigar when I was little and my daughter had gerbils when young. " weeks holiday a year - long working week - and decorating on bank holidays!!
Life went tits up for me when I was 50 but soon had another good job and an allotment. Wife was a teacher and then threw me out after she had a particularly bad psychotic episode - lost my job 9 months after that and then lost a lot of money on a my flat when I finally sold it 9 months with savings spent.
Having met a great woman - ( and me not optimistic or enthusiastic about finding work) we realised our assetts and we bought a farm house in France that leant itself to smallholding.
After 1 year here we have accidentally learnt how to build chicken sheds etc, kept ducks , chickens and pigs and accidentally - I have learnt to kill, butcher, process and cook our produce whilst renovating a house ( with no experience).
I think we are very much accidental smallholders - and the knowledge and tips we have picked up from this forum has been so important - books are OK but the knowledge and experiences that is shared here is better.
Not sure what accidents will be fall us next ( though I have been given a small wood to harvest logs from) and the OH is keen to make cheese ( I don't want to be chasing goats though).
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What a good story MAK. Lovely that you have landed up somewhere so good after all that strife, with a smallholding life.
I started at the opposite end, born on a farm, so life raising children and following OH around the Air Force bases, was always only an interim phase for us - the intention was always to come back to farming of some sort. Well, when the children finally grew up, we didn't have enough money to buy a farm (and my brother inherited the family one), so we bought our lovely smallholding in the south of Scotland. The original intention was to be a market garden and the soil is wonderful for that. However, we soon realised that the local weather made growing vegetables and fruit a huge challenge, so we now grow only for ourselves and the family and use most of our land to rear pedigree rare breed sheep, plus a few hens. We also concentrate on improving our small acreage for wildlife of all sorts and to make it somewhere for us to live out our days.
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How wonderful both Mak and Fleecewife...life is never an accident, more change of direction!!! I do not have a smallholding at all, just love the countryside and wildlife, animals etc and believe people who share that love also share a lot of my values and view points. I could have easily gone down the farm route as I lived in a market town and most of my friends and boyfriends had some sort of farm, my ex having a farm too...I just like working from home and that's always been my plan, running a B&B so I can get out the rat race and enjoy getting out into the country with my dogs and forraging for whatever I can find...I do have hens and would love to keep lots of different things but I am being practical and so keep to what I can do!!!
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for me it has been the ambition and plan for as long as I can remember to have a smallholding. I'm not even sure where the idea came from, but it's been there for as long as I can remember. There have been times, in the past, when it all seemed so far away as to be unobtainable, and the thought of leaving the security of the SE was quite scary, but here we are. All our savings, pension plans etc blown to buy this place and fund it. I guess technically it's not a smallholding, more just a large back garden (about 3/4 acre), but it was run as a smallholding in the past and will be again. And if I can persuade the church to lease me the paddock next door then we will have a smallholding.
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...and that was a nice story too Juliet. Here's another one..
I remember seeing a lovely illustration in a childs story book when I was about 6 or 7 - it was of a farmer on a tractor with fields all set out with livestock and arable produce and I kept going back to it because I loved that picture so much. Having been brought up in the deprived area of a city and then working as a professional for years in Edinburgh, I always thought I was born and brought up in the wrong place and that I was in my head a country person. We moved down to the borders 6 years ago with 2 kids (my OH still earns his keep in Edinburgh) and are probably seen to be one of those ill considerate families who earn their money and then buy a country pile - not the case, I honestly don't know any family who has worked harder than us to be where we are now and we contribute lots to the school and community. We are now rennovating our lovely historic buildings and breeding rare breeds. Life is extremely hard work here but we don't have to take the kids on days away and activities, they have kiddy heaven here, something I never had as a kid.
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When I was four (so my Mum used to tell everyone) her friend asked me what I was going to eb when I grew up. My answer was that I was going to be a Farmer's Wife. Now how precocious is that! ::)
I didn't quite manage that with dear late husband number 1! :'( We lived and worked in the city till the kids were teenagers, then found a place 3 miles out of a small town with a third of an acre and planted fruit and veg, but made friends with the local farm manger for a large estate and learnt a lot about cattle and sheep from George and Esme. Met John a year and a bit after Sandy died and moved to a small croft so got real close to the farmer's wife idea with 22 acres, but both of us had to work so let the fields out again to another local farmer, but with a few cattle and sheep of our own in with theirs. For a time we did day olds to 13 weeks free range but it wasn't that profitable and John kept standing on the little 'uns (very tall with huge feet ;D ;D ;D) so we gave that up as a bad job. Built a house after he died, but didn't do anything except train my dogs on the 10 acres I'd kept with it, moved down near my kids and downsized to 1 acre, but now have a polytunnel in the making thanks to Bloomer; ducks, chickens, and fruit trees and bushes, and hope soon to have raised beds for vegetables again with the help of Bloomer and my kids. So pretty well accidental in fits and starts.
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We have just over 5 1/2 acreas of land which was all used as grazing for my mares and foals. when i became ill i gave up the breeding side and downsized the ponies. once on the mend i decided to grow as much of my own food as possible. So our garden was turned into a veg plot, other end we have the pollytunnel. Bought chickens and raise lambs and pigs for the freezer. I love working out doors, find it very relaxing and having our own animals gives me a sense of doing something towards food for the house. ;D
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I love all these stories.
We always had any sort of animal as kids, but in a big back garden, no more. So chooks, rabbits etc. And all things in the house.....
I had chickens in my own town garden as an adult too. Then I had an horrendous time with a particular job, so stressful it made me very ill. Just before I completely crashed I managed to hold it together enough to get a new job in Cumbria. Then it all went dark for a bit.
We bought the house, needing a lot doing to it, and 8 acres of very wet land that hadn't been used for decades. I can honestly say that this place mended me. Hubby seemed to throw himself into it too and we renovated the house, redug drains, mended walls and erected fences.
I brought my four Black Rocks with us and added to them, plus ducks and geese. And sheep and goats.
Then last summer, hubby had a classic midlife crisis, decided to ditch his entire life including me, to take up with a girl his youngest daughter's age and become an outdoor ed instructor. Oh well.
But I am still here and happy again now, learning to farm on my own with a lot of good help from friends, family and neighbours. I love being outside and with animals, and whilst I have to work to pay the mortgage, here is what makes me happy.
So - a lot of it wasn't intended but has worked out well :)
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I still have the toy farmyard that I played with as a toddler (I'm 40 this year) and now my children play with it. I was desperate to live on a farm as a child and had to make do with mucking out at the local stables of a weekend (which I loved but not the same as your own animals)
We lived in London. I trained as a nurse, also in London and then 9 years ago moved to Worcestershire with my husband and then just the 2 children. We lived in a barn conversion next door to a sheep farm. Our friends lived in the sheep farm and we were able to watch lambing etc. Our garden was tiny and I was just so frustrated :( we had 3 chickens.
then...we realised our house was just too small for a family with 4 children and a dependent mum so started looking at properties. I literally dragged hubby here as it was £100 000 over budget but I had a 'feeling'. Of course we fell in love with the views, the land, the 7 bedroom semi delapidated house but couldn't afford it...until the very junior estate agent let slip that the owners were sooooo desperate to get it sold after 3 years (overpriced) on the market they'd take really silly offers. We made an incredibly silly offer. they accepted it ;D
Accidental? no not really. It was in life's great plan I think. The fact that 3 of our daughters can't drink cow's milk so need goats milk, the fact that I built a business out of goats milk soap, the land is hilly and suits goats...there's a plum orchard that makes hubby's wine...fate too I think...
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I'm still waiting for the accident to happen.
Farming must be in my genes; my father always wanted to be one, too, but unfortunately - if you don't come from a farm, you need to either have a lot of money to get started, or be prepared to marry into one and take a chance of being told for the rest of your life what to do with it! He wasn't up for waiting for that to happen, so he became a bookseller (books were his - and are mine - second love in life). And he always had several very productive gardens (no lawn for us!). When it came to the time for my education, things were a bit easier (at least you could go to uni even if you didn't have money); so I did a course on agriculture, specialising in livestock production, although I've been veggie for a long time...
Unfortunately, jobs are difficult to get in that field, especially for women who don't actually come from a farm. Being of an inquisitive mind, I've always wanted to work in livestock research - but that's almost impossible... I even got a second degree only 10 years ago, in organic farming, again concentrating on livestock... I'm at the point of giving up on this life and hoping for the next one (if only I believed in reincarnation!). I'm 54, without a permanent job (contract about to run out, yet again - I'm currently working in a soils lab), never found the farmer's son who was desperate enough to take me on, never won the lottery (well, never bought a ticket, that might be the problem) that would have allowed me to get my own little place... On my good days, I think it could still all happen for me, but the bad days are taking over. I did, at one point, have a couple of goats of my own - have worked with them in the past for years; have worked with sheep and cattle, too - loved all of it. But, as has been noted by people cleverer than me, these days, to live a simple life, you have to have assets to start with. It helps to have family/friends/partner to share the need for assets with. All I have in the way of "livestock" is a cat, the feeding of which is my main reason to get out of bed every day.
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When I was young my family lived on a farm father was a dairyman so I was around farm animals and I think that's where the idea was planted. I lived on a commercial poultry farm and there was a rather overgrown small field over the road no used for anythink so I enquired about the possibility of renting and got it with the idea of raising a few sheep for the freezer well it all escalated from there now I have five small fields about 20 ish breeding ewes a couple of pony's and various bantams as well as rearing turkeys for Christmas and hopfully a couple of weaners in the near future.
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We are accidental although OH say he thinks I planned it. Had a lovely wee cottage in Perthshire that OH and I bought as a wreck when we got married and spent most of our time and money improving things for the whole 13 years we were there. Had a few chickens their and my neighbour had lovey wee call ducks and I filled up the back garden with 6 aviary's for my bird of prey. The started building houses at the front of us which had always been planned and we said it wouldn't bother us but when they were well on their way we decided it did matter. So we sold up rented a farm house for a year and then decided to get looking. Eventually we ended up here with 3 and a half stone walls for OH to turn magically into a home and 5 acres for the dogs to have plenty of space. Call ducks first, folled by the goats - who would run up and down the wee deck outside the caravan we were living in, folled by the sheep as it became apprent we needed something to keep the grass down and after a few years with the goat I felt confident enough to move into sheep. I work for myself from home and feel very, very lucky to be where I am. All my spare time is spent either caring for the animals or improving their set up - joinery skills are improving I think/hope - wouldn't change it for the world even in this snow showery, windy day.
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I tend to say I bumbled along and ended up here!
Always been into nature - Attenborough etc - wasn't allowed pets a a child, grew up in large city. Life plan of being a vet was thwarted (Maths A level?? Bahahahaha!). Got interested more in the foodie side of things - local, organic, welfare friendly, and all that. Made up for lost time in terms of pets once I left home, but never had a garden. I can confirm that blueberries struggle on a city centre balcony.... The more I lived and worked in the city, the more I wanted to get away.
Changed line of work, moved to a smaller town, ended up living/working on a farm (non commercial) where I finally got my own little patch of ground and tried to have chickens and sheep.
Moved again for work, this time my home has it's own garden which I'm nudging towards being edible - it has been cared for in the past and there are some lovely flowers.
However, I rent, and in this job I'll never be able to save a deposit so not sure where to go from here.
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Was born and brought up in London - but ALWAYS felt I needed to be in the country. After the usual ideas about being a vet etc I settled on the idea of becoming a Land Agent - ie managing somebodies else's country estate in Scotland or somewhere cos I knew I wouldn't be able to get my own 'proper' farm.
So, to that end I went to Uni with the plan of getting my degree (pure and applied biology) then heading off to learn to be a Land Agent with the country arms of Knight Frank/Savills/John D Wood etc - however I then found rowing and my career plan went up in smoke as it is not very easy to compete internationally while located up in the Highlands. So, as a stop gap I diversified and qualified as a general practice chartered surveyor which allowed me to stay in London while training and competing.
This messing about in boats continued for 15 years so by the time that finished my original idea of being a land agent was long gone - but luckily I managed to persuade my OH that he really really really wanted to leave London and 10 years later we stumbled across our 4 acres down here in Cornwall and we have had weaners and chickens - and are expanding our polytunnel produce, preparing for bees and hoping to have a good go at our first batch of haymaking this summer.
So now I am happy as a pig in the proverbial ;D ;D ;D
Tish
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I grew up in the leafy suburb of Ruislip , 300 yards from Northolt airport , now all swallowed up in London sprawl .
I used to bugger off and camp in Ruislip woods for days at a time , there was 7 kids in the house so it was easy to slip away !
I loved the tv program 'out of town ' , with the lovely old Jack Hargeaves . It is down to that program and him that i live as i do basically .
I had 2 allotments when i was 11, and they supplied all the veg for the family.
I too have a thing for books ,and had a few ww2 dig for victory allotment books . They got me going and i still follow them now !
The family moved to Wales in 1977 , when i was 20 , into an old farmhouse on 200 acres .
I reared chickens , ducks , pheasants , pigeons , guinea fowl , and sheep , cattle , pigs , goats , and spun wool , hemp , flax and cured cowhide leather made sheepskin coats and leather boots etc .
Then shtf one way or another and ended up living the 'normal' life till i had a near fatal car smash when i was 26 .
15 years of hell followed.
Crippling pain , head injury problems , i thought at times that i would be better off dead !
But somehow a bit of the old me found a way out of the prison that my head had become , and slowly i gained control of myself and my life . Found ways to live with the pain and rebuild my life .
I now knew i wanted a different way of life . A freer , simpler life , without all the crap that modern life is .
So by hook and crook i got my 6 acres and i am now stepping off the merry go round completely . The system is so corrupt i want no part of it .
I have a second chance at life and at 54 i am going back to a simple way of living , a way that doesn't interfere with others , or entail being part of a corrupt system .
I grow and make what i need and life is good . I hope i have a few years to enjoy it all , but if i go tomorrow , i will go content with life and that i have done as little harm as i can.
I don't live the dream ! , i live the life , my life , one that i thought could never be !
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I grew up here, where I am now but my dad stopped farming when I was 12 (he had a 100 head herd of beef cattle and grew arable crops over 300 acres) They converted most of the farm buildings into an old folks home (mum is a registered mental nurse) and sold off half the ground then spent 20 years looking after {what felt like} 19 extra grannies and grandpa's.
I moved to Glasgow to go to uni and ended up working in Aberdeen (aged 21) - I was very much the arty farty type and probably thought of myself as a 'city/town type' rather than as a member of the green welly brigade - until I moved into a housing estate in a village.......it then became really apparent that I was a country girl (only slept in the house for 2 nights before renting it out to move to a tumbledown shack in the woods an hour from my work ::))
Once the kids came along working the 60 hour weeks and travelling hours on end wasn't working for us and we were lucky that we could move back to the farm - by now very dilapidated and the one remaining shed was FULL to the rafters with my dad's junk :D We've been here 7 years now and are slowly getting through it, but it definately was 'accidental' when we got our first pigs (you've maybe heard the story before, but here it is again) I was doing the 'mum' thing - 2 kids under 3 years old and working full time, no time to do anything with the wilderness that was supposed to be our garden :-\ Inspiration was pig shaped ;D I did a bit of research, tracked down someone local who bred pigs and we went for a look ::) Yup, you've guessed it ;D We loaded them into the back of my company car (in a hessian feed bag :o) and drove home. Baptism of fire ensued and we were hooked ;D Since then it's been a loooooong hard slog to get it all the way we want it, we've almost got about 10 acres in order - but there's another 120 of fencing, draining and 'experimenting' still to go. I reckon if we can get these 10 done by the time I hit 35, we should just about manage the rest by the time I'm 60 :D :D :D
I think farming/smallholding/appreciating the country is just inbuilt in some folk and not in others........my little sister, despite having the same parents and upbringing as me, has said she "doesn't like the country" ::) She doesn't know what she's missing ;) ;D :thumbsup:
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I have been thinking of this thread all day and it came to me, where I lived it was not trendy to be a farmer, in fact my then boy friend got teased a bit, people used to go Ooe R Ooe R!!! As a teenager I loved animals and my mum and dad had chickens and we had an allotment but the chickens went when I was very young and I was more than happy for them to go as dad bought a nice new shed where the hens had been and I had it for a play house...we always grew veg in our allotment that was behind the house and we loved gardens, as I child I loved garden centres etc, my brother grew a keen interest in Bird watching, trees, nature and the florna and forna...he still does and even looks a bit like Bill Oddy....Funny how culture and peer presure changes you!!!!
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Born in London (Perivale, Russ, so not far from you) but grew up in Hastings (big town). Ex-OH and I loved the Good Life (he fancied Felicity Kendall) and also fell inlove with the Isle of Arran after a holiday there so decided to up sticks and go for the good life. We also learned spinning and weaving so we could make a bit of money. I had learned to milk a goat while staying with friends on their small farm and always wanted one. Ex-OH said I could until we got there then changed his mind, although we had hens and ducks. Lived there for 11 years just outside a village with a population of under 200, before moving back down south to be nearer our parents and for him to go to Uni. By this time I was sick of being a controlled, abused and certainly not appreciated wife, so I walked.
Now married to a lovely, lovely man, who treats me well but is very much a townie and we live in Telford which is a very large town. But he supports me in my love of goats and now I have the three and a back garden which is more of a micro-holding (who needs a lawn anyway). I would love a bit more land with space to grow more and keep hens and possibly ducks but, while he is happy to let me do it, he is blind so unable to help me with things. My health is not brilliant so I'm settling for my garden which, in my imagination, is much bigger and more productive than in real life. I have my goats and the dogs, fruit trees and berries and my raised beds for the veggies and I'm happy.
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Yes not far , my aunt lived in Perivale years ago . Her surname was Perry lol , and strangely she moved to Hastings too , got loads of cousins there but don't know any of them . Only met a few of them at my dads funeral in 04 . Sadly my aunt died a few months ago too . But i used to go to Perivale from Ruislip Gardens as a kid , and to Hausingdon hill (sp?) to fly my glider , till the bloody thing just kept going one day !
Small world though ;-)
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Being raised on a livestock farm I think done it for me though when I left home I moved to the Town and spent years lost within the corrupt system.It is all kind of a blur really,had some very dark moments and eventually moved within this area.at the time I had been dealing in Antiques for many years and went into partnership into a shop with a friend and her husband. This was the worst mistake I had even made and after only 3 years I had every creditor after me for one thing or the other and the stress levels made me very ill.
Lost the house and all and moved to my current location which I rented the "field" behind within the tenancy,it had fallowed for many many years and the first year of moving in,I also did nothing with it.I was still trying to get better,then lost my husband to be whom committed suicide and this was a dark time.
One year later,I decided I wanted chickens and a local gamekeeper friend sold me his 30 hens for £20.00,I then started to manage the land and growing my first veg but it was all very hit an miss except the cabbages done amazingly well,I was really chuffed with them,so i lost myself in my own little bubble and ended up with this smallholding,ok so it is not very large but I have room for some pigs and had six last year,I have 50 odd chickens a few ducks and a couple of geese,three greenhouses and one polytunnel!
I have taken this barren field and landscaped the top end around the pond and you know,it has made me better,for the first time in years I have direction and am loving this new life of smallholding,it is like returning to my childhood without the bad bits and I really am very happy considering!
I have managed to partially drop off of this horrid system though would like to become 100% green and self sufficient but it takes time and I have been doing this very slowly whilst getting better.This is a wonderful way of life and I would not change it for the world,so many stories on here which are very much the same so there must be something in it all ;D :thumbsup:
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I loved animals as a kid - wanted to be a vet, read all the James Herriot books - we lived in a town though and my Mum wasn't an "animal" person. I had an aunt who was married to a shepherd (she died last week aged 92 :() and we used to go there for holidays. I didn't realise at the time the influence it had :)
Didn't get good enough grades to do vet, applied for BSc Agriculture, then worked on a dairy farm and pig farm for a year. While at Uni, I met my first husband. He wasn't an "animal" person either, so I worked in catering, then HR and got sucked into the whole suburban thing - dinner parties and so on. We separated in 1996; Dan and I got together and the rest is recorded in the website.
We couldn't do what we do on the smallholding without Dan's web business for income. At the moment, we're ploughing money into the smallholding to set up the infrastructure but it's great to see it develop.
Getting the cows has been wonderful - really looking forward to them calving and getting our own milk.
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I find these replies so interesting but at the same time some of you have had sad and very difficult times. I hope that everyone who has or is in the middle of such low times can take some comfort from knowing that we can all empathise and that we all wish everyone good health, happiness and success.
Being an accidental smallholder is like being in a club even though we may never actally meet.
Best wishes to all and keep the thread going please.
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Our smallholding was definitely accidental. I have always loved animals and had loads and loads of guinea pigs growing up, as they were all my mum would allow. I took zoology at uni, then a masters in biodiversity and conservation, and now I am doing a PhD in animal behaviour. It is for this reason that I moved up to Fife, to study my PhD at St Andrews, which then lead me to meet my now fiance who grew up in the area on his parents farm. He was property-less when I met him, having just returned from another life in New Zealand and desperate to find somewhere as local as possible. By a massive stroke of luck, our place came on the market as a reposession and we jumped in straight away and offered the asking price before anyone else got a look in! It is absolutely perfect, as it borders his parents farm (and in fact was owned and sold off by them 20 odd years ago). His parents have very kindly given us 40 acres of land to play with as an early inheritance and we have only just started our smallholding adventure. I don't think OH realises quite the dream I have in mind for it. I am starting slowly and building things up so as not to shock him ;). We have a lot of work to do on the house before things can really get going though so that will eat up all our money for a while. Most of the land needs refencing and clearing before it can be used for anything. But for now I am gradually building up my chicken and duck collection and will hopefully be breeding from my kune kune gilt next year.
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possibly abit of both here...
my great- & grandparents were Lincolnshire farmers / smallholders / chicken keepers (my nana insisted that our ancestors TOOK sheep to New Zealand - and you know how big that industry is now!!)
I've always been mad on animals, only had a cat & two guinea pigs (and a big brother!) growing up.
OH similar, never allowed more than a dog but had a "pet" sheep, duck, hen through grandma's farm as a child.
We are huge fans of the Good Life, and Felicity Kendal!! And decided we'd have chickens,started with 6.
OH went from working 2 jobs & in special police to being a full time carer. Circumstances meant we had to spend much more time at home, learnt some stuff about families ... OH has had a very difficult time & basically had a mental breakdown, resulting in agrophobia, panic attacks & a kind of manic depression (without the depression)
Being at home more, we decided to let him have his dream of a couple of goats, giving him something to keep him busy whilst looking after his dad through bereavement & dementia.
The first purchase fell through, so looking through ads I found come nearby Kunekune pigs, which I love. So we moved three little pigs into the goat shed & carried on looking!
SO then we needed to build another shed for the pigs - we agreed that these three were "keepers" and the offspring would go in the freeezer, which they have!
We had to hand rear two piglets, which was a hell of an experience (which I would do again!) and htey've grown up into lovely little girls.
The two goats became three when we needed a billy & a lovely lady nearby-ish said she'd two brothers who were soon to be castrated & she'd let one have some fun first!! After the loan period, she said she'd found a home for the twin & did we want to keep this one?
So we did!
We've now got a huge variety of chickens, eat our own cockerels, have ducks & quail (well, why not!)
We've built all the housing ourselves & developed it where we need to.
We've got an enormous guard dog (currently snoring her head off by my feet!)
4 cats - kind of fell into those too! One full stray, one the last survivor and two farm kittens to rat-catch.
Our goat we had two days old has just said ta-ra to her 6th kid, and gives us beautiful milk, which has "cured" OH of his sensitivity to dairy products.
I've learned to make cheese, yogurt, butter.
We currently have 11 home-bred chicks under the heatlamp, an incubator full of our own bred duck eggs, and a broody sitting on 7 eggs.
And hopefully some pregnant guinea pigs to sell the babies on to all the locals!
I still work full time, don't earn enough to pay the bills, flog eggs to my colleagues to buy the layers pellets
But in my own time, I'm loving the life I lead & Living the life I love!
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I was born and brought up in London although we had a cottage in Kent where we used to go at weekends and in the school holidays. Mum kept horses and some ducks and tried to grow veg (although I don't remember huge successes with that). I remember we had a copy of John Seymour's book there and I used to pour over it for horse - fantasising about making butter and threshing corn. Mum had a green thumb and the flat in London was full of big house plants.
I joined the Army and didn't really have any aspirations but looking back I always had a house plant or planting things in the gardens in whatever officers' mess I happened to be billeted in. This evolved into tomatoes and lettuce but never anything more as I moved around a lot and was often away for months at a time.
Then I met my husband and I can't really remember how we got started on the smallholding thing. I think he was complaining about the traffic and lack of parking space/privacy at our little Edgbaston flat. He started talking about moving to the country. We initially looked at Shropshire but started looking in Wales and then totally coincidentally found a ten acre place in Powys. The previous owners were desperate to move and had dropped the price. They hadn't really done anything with the land and had never had livestock or grown veg etc. That was three years ago and we ended up ploughing over the middle field and rebuilding the house (which is still in the process of being built).
I absolutely love it even though I work in the West Midlands during the week and am only home at the weekend. OH is at home all the time. He gave up work ad now looks after the animals (several hens, sheep and a couple of weaners for bacon plus dog) and me. We are into everything - coppicing, green woodworking, charcoal making, willow, hazel, apples, veg, hatching chicks...... Current projects include making a chicken plucking machine, developing the market garden, building a wind turbine it goes on and on and on..........
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I'm a farmer's daughter, couldn't imagine a life without animals and countryside. Rosemary, I've known folk who say that without James Herriot's books, they wouldn't know how to lamb their ewes ;D :farmer:
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I was destined to have a totally different lifestyle, I'm positive that I was swapped as an infant and there is an impostor living the life I was meant to have, I should be lounging on velvet cushions while nubile young girls peel grapes for me. But allas, I was brought up by poor folk who struggled to provide for my needs.
So I was dragged up to do a paper round from the age of 7 as well as help out on the farm next door to where we lived, Up at 0500 to go and get the twenty old screws in for hand milking , then the paper round then school, after school was the repeat performance of paper round then milking.
Old Bert Lewis ( the farmer next door ) used a binder to gather his oats and barley , so I had to stook the sheaths then climb onto the horsedrawn trailer to stack the load before helping to build the rick, then came the long wait till threshing time , when we kids used to be on standby round the base of the stack with big sticks to kill the rats and mice that tried to escape. Autumn brought 2 weeks off school to help with spud picking, teams of locals with hessian sacks picking the spuds off the muddy fields for about £2 a day. I was driving an old Fordson Major before I was 8 years old, health and safety? whats that?
Then after leaving school I met a girl, got married and went into ' service ' for thirty years. then had my own driving school for 10 years ,got divorced , met Gabi. Then got a job as a thermoplastics prototype engineer .
Gabi was mad on Arabian horses, so we dabbled with showing ,then came a couple of Goats so we dabbled again, then we found this place to rent , along came the chickens the pigs , more goats , bloody sheep. I'm officially retired but working as hard as ever carried along on Gabi's wave of enthusiasm for animals.