The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: naynay on January 14, 2013, 03:42:23 pm
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Hi guys Im new to this website which I stumbled across this afternoon. I live in Liverpool so definately not on a smallholding but my mind keeps drifting to hens goats, and pigs...I have 2 bunnies, a greyhound and 2 goldfish for starters. So really interested to see how people get going when they think ultmately its probably just a dream that will never happen..... :dog: :bunny:
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Hi naynay, and welcome.
You have more "livestock" than I do - don't give up dreaming, you never know! :)
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Hi naynay and welcome to the forum from Carmarthenshire :thumbsup:
It took me until I was 58 to realise my dream so don't give up
Sally
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Thought become things - keeping thinking about what you really want and who knows
Mind you I feel goldfish farming may be a limited opportunity business ::) But what do I know. Go for it :thumbsup:
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encouraging statements am approaching 57 but the mind is young and the spirit willing!!
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Hi and welcome from sunny Carnoustie :wave:
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:wave: Hi and welcome from Shropshire. It's amazing what you can keep with just a small amount of space. I have three goats and three dogs, grow fruit and vegetables and only have a large back garden. Would love to have hens as well but I'm now disabled so am being practical. :(
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how wonderful I don't think I could cope with masses of land as am on my own but a very large garden would be amazing dividing it up into animals and vegetables as I know what a goat would do!!! somewhere more rural than where I am at the moment in the middle of a city with a back yard. Also councils don't act too kindly where livestock are concerned. :wave:
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Definitely don't give up!
I moved from Liverpool to Shropshire less than 6 months ago. It is amazing what you can do even in a semi in Allerton. We had ducks, quail and bees plus a very small veg patch.
We now have 2.5 acres an have added some sheep and geese. Maybe a full smallholding isn't for you but a "micro holding" is always possible if you want it. Be careful though, it's addictive and I can't believe how small 2.5 acres looks all of a sudden!
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so inspiring would like to find an intro to self sufficiency course now... happy days with your sheep and geese and fresher air..
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:wave: Hello and welcome from a chilly Powys.
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how wonderful I don't think I could cope with masses of land as am on my own but a very large garden would be amazing dividing it up into animals and vegetables as I know what a goat would do!!! somewhere more rural than where I am at the moment in the middle of a city with a back yard. Also councils don't act too kindly where livestock are concerned. :wave:
I live in a town. The council haven't told me not to keep goats. Mind you, I don't think they know yet. :roflanim: I did ring and ask before we moved to Shropshire. I ws shunted from department to department and nobody seemed to know if it wasn't allowed. The only comment I did get was that if the neighbours complained about the smell they would have to look into it.
We have an ex-council house built in the 19402/50s when council houses had big gardens. I have a yard and a shed for the goats, a fenced off patio for the dogs and all the rest for me.
I have a holding number (legal requirement) and someone came out from the council to inspect a few years ago.
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Well, 50-something seems to be a good age to start a smallholding. :)
We bought our smallholding last April and we were 52 and 53 respectively. We had been thinking and hoping for about 5 years, but all of a sudden, everything fell into place.
So don't give up hope. :fc:
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may be you're really never too old you just take on what you can manage and when the time is right i will know. In the meantime its just finding out and learning and things like that. listening to others is the best learning curve though for anything new in life..... :thinking:
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Hello Naynay
I was born in London and only moved to the holding we are on now 3 years ago, so started smallholding at 37, hubby was 46. we juggle it with 4 small children and my disabled mum so perhaps can't do as much as we'd like yet.
Maybe look into renting some land if you could? Helping out on another smallholding nearby-ish to get some hands on and see if you still like the idea?
we have a plum orchard and make jams, chutneys and some ultra strong wine. We keep sheep as lawnmowers, 4 goats for soap and cheesemaking and the remains of a flock of hens (thanks Mr Fox) who will hopefully start laying again and we can sell on the farm gate.
If you want to do something badly enough, don't let anyone or anything put you off!! Go for it!!
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Hi Nay Nay, welcome form North Yorkshire
I started with a back yard a lot of years ago, growbags, window boxes and sacks make great growing mediums and you can get grobags for a £1 from Lidl/Aldi etc and cheap seeds too and never say never, life is a funny thing and you never can tell what is around the corner.
mandy :pig:
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how wonderful I don't think I could cope with masses of land as am on my own but a very large garden would be amazing dividing it up into animals and vegetables as I know what a goat would do!!! somewhere more rural than where I am at the moment in the middle of a city with a back yard. Also councils don't act too kindly where livestock are concerned. :wave:
I live in a town. The council haven't told me not to keep goats. Mind you, I don't think they know yet. :roflanim: I did ring and ask before we moved to Shropshire. I ws shunted from department to department and nobody seemed to know if it wasn't allowed. The only comment I did get was that if the neighbours complained about the smell they would have to look into it.
We have an ex-council house built in the 19402/50s when council houses had big gardens. I have a yard and a shed for the goats, a fenced off patio for the dogs and all the rest for me.
I have a holding number (legal requirement) and someone came out from the council to inspect a few years ago.
Naynay, if you want to come and see my set up you would be more than welcome. I am in Telford so only about two hours from you, depending where in Liverpool you are. My daughter is in Garston and it takes an hour and three quarters to get here.
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that would be great when the days get a bit longer. My motorway driving is a bit limited..Ikea and back. Would i be able to bring Molly my greyhound..kept on a lead of course?
anyone else near liverpool with a smallholding..its quite rural when you get out between ormskirk and southport..lots of land and spaces
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You'll find something! Courses are a wonderful way to spend your holidays and just ask local land owners for a scrap of land, some may be glad of being able to find someone else to manage it. Landshare is a good avenue too round a busy connurbation like Liverpool. I'd like to keep bees but what do you do with all the honey?
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jar it up and sell it..my neighbours at my old place did that and it was delicious.....
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I'd like to keep bees but what do you do with all the honey?
Three years ago I was having the same quandry about goats milk...that's how Its Baaath Time was born! Sometimes things just dawn on you as being what you need to do. Never in my life did I dream I'd make soap or bath bombs! Follow the dream and always give things a go if you really want to!
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Are there food standards for honey? We used to sell our surplus meat to friends and family so I guess its the same. I'd have to get to know how many folk around our small town here might buy it off us!
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Hello from Durham :wave: we only have a back yard but also rent two allotments which are luckily at the back of our house. We started keeping a couple of hens 2 years ago and have fruit and veg. We are desperate to find somewhere with land but its not easy. What is out there is either too far away for work commitments or is too pricy ::) we will keep looking.
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this is probably a sill question but can hens and rabbits be kept on the same small space? even more so if the bunnies are already settled and the hens would be new residents???? :chook: :bunny: