The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: GBov on November 19, 2019, 06:44:30 pm

Title: Back in the UK after 30 years away
Post by: GBov on November 19, 2019, 06:44:30 pm
Hi!  :wave: Sooooo glad to be back, it has been way too long.

Long story short, after living in many places over the last three decades we wound up in Florida for the last 12 years. 

My three teens and I have been fighting hard to get the right to live where we want for the last three years - Florida divorce laws are seriously messed up - and then due to a series of unforeseen circumstances we are now here in North Yorkshire at last. :excited:

My mum lives in the little coastal village we have settled into and is now only 6 doors away instead of 4,000 miles.  Can you imagine how happy that makes us?  Yeh, it is sooooo good to be close to her again.

Having raised all of our own meat for many years (rabbits, chickens, turkeys, goats, pigs, quail, ducks, guinea pigs and one very short term meat cow) and as much veg possible in Florida, I am excited to do the same here in the UK but, once again, am standing at the foot of the steep learning curve that new conditions/regulations/varieties/breeds bring.

We have gotten one allotment in my name and are sharing a double allotment held by a friend of mum's. 

The shared one is in pretty good shape but the one in my name has been a dumping ground for years and is in a right mess.  Never mind, some hard work now will bring it into line and it is such a pleasure to bring order to a rubbish-filled space.

So hi y'all, nice to find somewhere that will help me climb to the top of that ol' learning curve.  It is so much nicer to learn from real people instead of youtube videos! ;D

Title: Re: Back in the UK after 30 years away
Post by: arobwk on November 23, 2019, 03:48:23 pm
Welcome back and, of course, to the forum GBov. 

For the hell of it, I have been known to say to anyone dithering over getting a pet "one should never keep a pet one is not prepared to eat".  I do not personally live by that mantra, so what do guinea pigs taste like?
Title: Re: Back in the UK after 30 years away
Post by: Fleecewife on November 23, 2019, 03:57:49 pm
Welcome back to Blightie!  You must see some changes both with the Britain you knew and with the countries you've been in.  You will also of course find a big difference in the food you could grow in Florida and what you can grow in Yorkshire.  I lived in Yorks for 3 years in 2 different gardens and found it very productive soil and the climate was not too bad either - for UK.


As I'm sure you have seen, TASers love to give advice and share experience, so get asking those questions.


I would happily eat Guinea pigs, but I would never keep them as pets  :yuck:   I'm sure they're lovely really.
Title: Re: Back in the UK after 30 years away
Post by: Rosemary on November 23, 2019, 05:19:45 pm
Hello and welcome from  :raining: :raining: :raining: Carnoustie!  :wave:
Title: Re: Back in the UK after 30 years away
Post by: GBov on November 28, 2019, 08:14:24 am
Thank you for the welcome, it is SO great to be back, even with the changes of time it is so much better here.  Nowhere is perfect but this comes awfully close. ;D

Guinea Pigs taste like sweet pork, very easy to process and lots of fun to raise.  I did mine in a wire sided shed and had about 50 of them at any given time.  Kept in large groups they are so funny.

They make lousy stealth livestock though as they are so noisy. :roflanim:

Question, is there a way to get topic reply notifications in email form?  Never mind, I found it. :excited: