The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: Cactus Jack on October 03, 2013, 11:57:34 am
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I live in rural Spain on my organic olive farm.
I breed miniature /wild boar pigs for my own meat also goats and ducks for meat. And the usual chickens for eggs.
I produce all my own vegetables naturally nonGMO and totally organic.
I have been reading this site for quite a while now and at last have signed up.
Looking forward to contributing what little knowledge I have ;)
Steve.
The house is called Cactus Jack because of two enormous cactii planted in front of it
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Welcome from Aberdeenshire!! Wow, you sound like a real asset to have on the forum! Think we need some pics at the very least of the boar and the cacti???
:thumbsup:
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Wow - someone in Catalunya :wave: I will look forward to all you have to say. Southern Spain is on my list of places to visit and maybe buy a property once my own in the UK is sold :fc:
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The flowers on my cactus, it only flowers at night and the flowers die off as the sun comes up
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My boar, he is quite friendly :)
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Hi and welcome from a very soggy Carmarthenshire. Lovely pics. Wish I could have a cactus like that
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Those flowers are 6 inches across and the actual cactii are 25 and 20 feet high
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Thankyou for the pics, Mr Boar looks great! :thumbsup: :trophy: And love the little piglet behind him.
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Hello and welcome from Carnoustie :wave:
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Hi - I have already one of your posts on the pig keeping thread.
Is may seem strange to those of us with northern breeds of pigs that you can keep yours in a land where you grow olives and have such splendid cactus ( or is cacti). i.e. seriousley hot down there.
Greetings from the Limousin France !
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The heat is why we breed the wild boar into the pigs as they are very hairy and are obviously acclimatised to the extreme heat. I provide plenty of shade and large wallows. In fact the pigs now know to pull apart the connections on my pipe work to increase the size of the wallows when it's really hot. I use a tremendous amount of water.
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:wave: and welcome from :raining: Shropshire where it definitely isn't warm enough to grow cacti in the garden. :)
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The heat is why we breed the wild boar into the pigs as they are very hairy and are obviously acclimatised to the extreme heat. I provide plenty of shade and large wallows. In fact the pigs now know to pull apart the connections on my pipe work to increase the size of the wallows when it's really hot. I use a tremendous amount of water.
I am currently toying with the idea of a property in Spain, and one of the things that crossed my mind was the availability of water or otherwise. Are you on mains water, or do you have a borehole or well of some description
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I am 1000 feet up a mountain, so I have a share in a community well, 12 of us altogether, and the water is pumped up 2 miles from the bottom of the mountain. I get 13000 litres at a time, at a cost of approx €1.02 per 1000 litres. So it's not cheap but it's always available (touch wood)
I would strongly recommend if you buy here to get somewhere with water. If you rely on rainfall, then you will struggle. It hasn't rained here for 4 months. Two years ago we went 196 days with no rain at all :sunshine:
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Hello and welcome from Durham :wave:
Sounds like you have an interesting life in the Spanish mountains. It is going to be I treating to read your input in posts on here :thumbsup:
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How would you know if it was a good well?
And if you were near other properties might they all suck it out. Or maybe get annoyed if they thought you were taking more than your fair share - ie derelict property for 50 years now comes back to use and starts using "their" water?
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The water is potable and is tested on a regular basis.
The pipeline runs all the way up the mountain and we each have a valve at our farms. So if I need water usually about every three weeks, then I open my valve and drive down to the pump house and if nobody else is using the water then I can switch on the pump using a timer for one hour. This will give me approx 11000 litres. When it's finished I just close my valve again. We only draw water when no one else is using it. We are all friends too, so there is no problem.. Also the well draws water from below the river Ebro level which is the biggest river in Spain so it's highly unlikely it will run dry
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I may have mentioned this via other posts but it really came home to me when we moved to the Limousin how important it was to research climate and growing seasons and crops that do well. For example we can have a 50 degree + temperature range over the year. Good drainage in the rainy seasons and a good reliable FREE supply of water through the summer is essential. Our spring/stream has dried up a couple of times but we had enough water in store before evening storms kicked in.
I will not overwinter pigs again. They have a large 2 roomed home at the end of the barn to provide cool shade and shelter from the cold but their drinking water can freeze within minutes and its just hard work treking through the snow to get to them.
It's odd that they sell olive trees here ( maybe to keep in pots or wrap up in winter) and we all have grape vines against S facing walls.
Do you have edible fruit on the cactie ?
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Couldnt really find the one you mentioned mak for some reason I find the site hard to navigate
But I did get to this one on the PDF details
Référence : 091201 01354
Maison de 2 pièces principales.
Situation
Ville : BUSSIERE DUNOISE
Informations Complémentaires
Informations Financières
Référence : 091201 01354
Prix : 38 500 €*
*Prix net, hors frais notariés, d'enregistrement et de publicité foncière.
Surface : 70 m² environ
Nombre de chambres : 0 (dont 0 au r.d.c.)
Le tout sur une parcelle de 3 497 m² environ
RC PIECE 35,00
1 PIECE 32,00
2 COMBLES 30,00
RC GRANGES 150,00
Maison mitoyenne typiquement creusoise à rénover sur 3
niveaux. DPE - exempté. Granges attachées. Structure
et toiture en bon état. Terrain de 3497m². Dans un
hameau en pleine campagne. Jolies vues
Prix : 38 500 €*
I can't see on that site how to work out where the property is - but does it look ok to you? Presumably no electric/water/drainage on site or it would have been mentioned?
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Hi I'm not sure if it's edible but I have my first fruit in 8 years. I will let you know when it ripens as to what it tastes like. I have prickly pears growing like weeds everywhere, when juiced fantastic with gin :innocent:
We actually have two growing seasons here. Last week I planted some more potatoes, peas, beans and lettuce.
Last winter we never got any frost at all, so tomatoes that seeded themselves this time last year were ready for the first pickings on New Year's Eve and they are still producing now but are very straggly.
I originally planted as in England in nice rows or patches, but I soon learned to grow stuff as the locals do, which is on high (9inches) ridges and water very thoroughly once a week. Having two donkeys and more and more pigs I am not short of manure and mulch, so gradually the soil is improving and becoming more moisture retentive.
I have 104 olive trees and last produced 72 litres of superb oil, plus sold a load of olives direct to the mill.
I also grow carobs for animal feed and almonds, cherries, mandarins and avocados.
Hoping to grow some vines for grapes next year. Currently sourcing the best type for the soil conditions.
October is the carob harvesting time, back breaking work, but a couple of hours a day will get it done before the donkeys eat them all
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That sounds great - do you work the donkeys?
I love the idea of tomatoes on New years, and having two growing seasons.
How cold does it get in the winter? And how hot in the summer?
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Wow - quite a setup there - sounds great but I can imagine a serious ammount of planning and physical work is needed. Your life must be so so different from most of us ( particularly those up on the Shetlands ;D ). I will look out for any topics you may start. Can I suggest you start one on making Olive Oil and see how many can contribute - just for a laugh.
Cheers Martin
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DBE
Work the donkeys???!
They earn their keep eating 5 feet high grass and weeds and producing stuff out the other end for my veg. And boy do they produce some ;D but really they are just huge pets, most peaceful loving animals on earth.
Temperatures can get get quite cold but rarely below freezing. Because I am on top of a ridge very high up we get the end of the mistral winds from Siberia. Last winter it reached gusts of 120 mph and blew very strongly for a couple of months, but I am very exposed, so the wind chill facture is noticeable.
The summers are long and hot up to 45c although this year it was mostly mid 30's for July and August
Because of the heat and dryness the crops all tend to die off in August so in September it's like spring again, hence two seasons.
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Hi cactus, I am brand new to the forum and only joined because of your post! I am looking to up and leave everything and take up a small holding in south Spain. Not sure if we are looking to keep any animals other than chickens mostly vegetables and fruit. It is our absolute dream to be as close to completely self sufficient as we can possibly be, so I'm wondering if you could help with a little advice on which vegetables would grow best in those climates as I am from north west England. We have an allotment and do well with it buy want to take it further. Also do you have a job as well as the smallholding. Any information for a beginner would be much appreciated thank you
Flower child xo