The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Introduce yourself => Topic started by: mark francis on May 29, 2020, 06:56:31 pm
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just joined your organisation, mebees by accident, but glad to be amongst like minded people.my wife and i have a wee croft on the nw coast of the Isle of Skye, 3+ acres, now for 20 year. We have large gardens created with the help of pigs, meadows for grazing our wee flock of sheep, one of which had twins the day, deliberately late. Cut and turned the hay by hand today , cut with a finger mower, a lovely sward of grasses, speedwell, buttercup, pignut, plantain and a few nettles.....this is what crofting , to me is all about. Being on the coast, the raised beaches have now become, in the modren parlance re-wilded, a “millenium wood” planted 20 year ago now has a canopy and an undergrowth of bluebells. We take no grants believing it makes you do the wrong things to your land, use seaweed manures, that is ,if we can get to it before the endless plastic comes in from the Minch. Off the grid, with a micro hydro and solar panels we installed ourselves with “wombled “ pipes and cables........thanks for having us.......
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Welcome! You sound like just the sort of people I'd like to have a virtual coffee with :)
Oh, and I DO love a good bit of wombling ;)
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Sounds lovely Mark. We used to holiday on Mull every year and the French voted Scotland the most beautiful Country in the world. Have some friends in NW Skye, Glendale- Nancy and Stuart Bell. Nancy runs the Post Office and Stuart has a workshop repairing vehicles. They have been there 10 years I think so perhaps you know them?
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Hello Mark and Mrs Mark up there in Skye. What a wonderful life you have, and what good principles too. I especially envy you the free seaweed - we are about as far from any coast as you can get in Scotland, so I have to buy in seaweed meal, and I'm not too happy about that. It would be lovely to see some photos of your place :sunshine:
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:wave: from way down in North Cornwall, where I have been looking at the odd pockets of grass we can't graze, looking lush and fulsome in contrast to the dry and thirsty sward in the grazing fields (and no point shutting one up for hay, nothing is growing) and wishing I had the wherewithall to make some hay by hand...
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Welcome Mark. Totally envious of your lifestyle. I love Skye (my only issue at the time was the petrol stations closing on a Sunday). We tend to stay at Skinidin (near the Three Chimneys) near to Dunvegan. Every time i go there i go to the NW point. Neist Point. The sea fishing is excellent there.
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Sounds lovely Mark. We used to holiday on Mull every year and the French voted Scotland the most beautiful Country in the world. Have some friends in NW Skye, Glendale- Nancy and Stuart Bell. Nancy runs the Post Office and Stuart has a workshop repairing vehicles. They have been there 10 years I think so perhaps you know them?
have been in the shop a few times, i think they are doing gude trade in these troubled times......