The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: Fri on May 28, 2013, 05:50:17 pm

Title: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Fri on May 28, 2013, 05:50:17 pm
Urban Backyarder in the second city, keeping goats , hens and King Charles Cavaliers, wresting the weeds outta the allotment, the goat out of the kitchen and usually the teenagers outta bed!

Interested in permaculture....goats...poultry...aquaculture and general self sufficiency !
Just Starting out would like to share other urbanite experiences (0:
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Dan on May 28, 2013, 06:43:09 pm
Welcome.  :wave:

The Good Life has a lot to answer for, I was told if I took up smallholding I'd end up with someone just like Felicity Kendall...  ;)

What are the challenges of being an urbanite smallholder? I'd imagine having good/understanding neighbours goes a long way!
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Carl f k on May 28, 2013, 07:05:42 pm
Hello from another backyard smallholder keeping goats chooks ducks rabbits cats veg patch and 4 teenagers..lovin every miniute  :innocent: Not a million miles from me in west mids
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: happygolucky on May 28, 2013, 07:54:18 pm
 :wave:  Hi, its how things used to be I suppose, in war times lots had chickens and pigs in the back yard...I could easily grow stuff but just keep chickens...done the allotment bit but my back dosn't like it!!
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Rosemary on May 28, 2013, 08:27:31 pm
The Good Life has a lot to answer for, I was told if I took up smallholding I'd end up with someone just like Felicity Kendall...  ;)

Your point being what, exactly? :-*

Hello and welcome to a domestic  :wave:
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Lesley Silvester on May 28, 2013, 08:36:07 pm
The Good Life has a lot to answer for, I was told if I took up smallholding I'd end up with someone just like Felicity Kendall...  ;)

Your point being what, exactly? :-*

Hello and welcome to a domestic  :wave:

He probably means he had a lucky escape by ending up with you.[carefully pouring oil on troubled waters]

 :wave: Hello and welcome from yet another back garden smallholder, this time in Shropshire. Goats, fruit and veg.
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Fri on May 28, 2013, 11:28:07 pm
That's a relief to know I am not the only one!
I think the most challenging so far is dealing with red tape ! My neighbours are of a similar train of thought luckily (0:
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: sabrina on May 29, 2013, 05:21:12 pm
Hello and welcome  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: OhLaLa on May 29, 2013, 07:05:58 pm
The Good Life - such a cliché !
 
I'm a John Seymour kinda person myself!
 
 :notworthy:
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Fri on May 29, 2013, 08:22:11 pm
He was the quintessential self sufficiency God
I do admire him
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: OhLaLa on May 30, 2013, 12:39:46 pm
I've got a few older copies of books by John Seymour (and his wife), and going back even further, a fairly old copy of Cottage Economy by William Cobbett.
 
I love old books, I've even got old volumes of Cassell's Household Guide. Very good for keeping the servants in order! Oh, that'll be me then........
 
All are good reads if you fancy doing some swotting up. Some are in reprint from Amazon etc.
 :thumbsup:
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Rosemary on May 30, 2013, 02:10:16 pm
The Good Life - such a cliché !
 

Cliche it may be but if it gets folk interested, that's good for me.
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: OhLaLa on May 30, 2013, 02:36:28 pm
Can't say it was the tv programme that got me interested in grow your own etc, but it was a good series. I don't remember it from when it was on originally, but the repeats are still often shown.
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Fri on May 30, 2013, 09:03:49 pm
I have a love of old books and use Amazon quite a lot... Lots of cross referencing ! I quite like Paul peacock and the strawbridge's it's good tho to compare with others as practical knowledge is good it's not always straight forward taking things from books (0:
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: suziequeue on May 31, 2013, 07:45:57 am
Welcome to the site Fri. I am Birmingham(ish) based (Oldbury and Lichfield) myself during the week.


I used to pour over that John Seymour book when it first came out in the 70s.... never realising that one day I would be buying it off Amazon for myself.....
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: Mel Rice on May 31, 2013, 10:14:30 am
Hi Welcome from Eastern Germany, living here has shown me what is possible and maybe I COULD have done more where we used to live by renting a field or????? You only learn that you can/can't do something by trying.
Title: Re: So it all started with good life re runs....
Post by: MAK on May 31, 2013, 12:17:40 pm
Our old John Seymour book is very grubby and well read. Seing evidence of neighbours old and unsused rabbit hutches, chicken runs, pig yards etc done it for me. Our plan was to just keep chickens.Within 6 months of living on an old fermette the evidence around us of the life John Seymour described was so strong that we found ourselves ( accidentally) with a smallholding and are now providers of all our own eggs,meat,veg and most fruit. "It happens" as Forrest Gump would say.  :raining: fed up of rain though.