[DIGGER]

Hi All,

My wife and I currently live in Leicestershire but as soon as our house sells we will be moving to a four acre field in north east Scotland which we hope to turn into a successful smallholding. I  have had some experience of growing vegetables but only on a garden scale.

I am looking for advice on the preparation of the land, I intend to start with a veg plot of approximately 300 sq metres. The land is good quality pasture land which was grazed until last July. Will it be necessary to cut and skim off the grass before rotavating ?. My next question is about rotavators/tillers, can anyone advise me on the type suitable for this job and where is a good place to find one ?, I have been searching the internet and there are so many on the market it's bewildering.

We will be keeping chickens at first and then moving on to ducks, can anyone advise me of a good place to look for coops and any points that should be looked for.

I would be grateful for any advice or recommendations on either subject as experience is always better than the advertising blurb,
Have a good day,
Digger.

[doganjo]

Welcome to the forum, and to the most lovely area of Scotland - I lived there till I moved to the Central Belt to be nearer my kids 2 years ago.  I can almost see the piggie folk on here reaching for their keyboards - pigs are natural excavators and will plough the land and fertilise it for you.  Either buy or borrow a few, but I have read you need secure fencing to keep them in.  Good luck.

[morri2]

Hello Digger! Did you get you name from the 'Diggers' of the Civil War period? (or have I lost you there?)

Your new home sounds wonderful.  Growing veg is very satisfying, we've just excavated ourselves a quarter acre plot consisting of 3, nearly 4 raised beds and three large plots.  It wasn't easy making a start though.  Where you are growing stuff in the ground you will need to remove the turf first.  We did it by hand, me and my 14 year old son, plays havoc with your back, but good for your waistline!  We then over dug to loosen the soil a foot or so down (this could be done with a rotovator) and manured where necessary (depending and which veg you grow).  The raised beds just need making straight on the floor as it were.  We did this in the autumn, put black weed stop material down during the winter to kill the grass/weeds and in the early spring took it out and filled it with soil and compost/manure.  Small rototillers are great, but not cheap.  We had a look on ebay and decided to do it ourselves.  However, if you plan to expand to an acre or more, a compact tractor with rotovator/tiller would be ideal, but again, not cheap.

Our chicken coops are kept under some trees by a wall to shelter them from the weather.  They are surrounded by a post and wire run to keep them in and foxes out.  Never kept ducks though.

Have a look through the posts on the Gardening section and the Poultry section, there's loads of info there.

Welcome to the site and good luck.

[Rosemary]

Hi and welcome from damp and windy Carnoustie 

[Fleecewife]

Welcome Digger.  Very sensible not to start off with too big a veggie plot. I agree with Morri2 that it's best to skim off the turf - by hand or hire a machine if you want to save your back for later.  Stack the turf upside down to make a fertile base for potting compost in a year.  Again you can hire a rotovator by the day or by the week from a tool hire company to work the soil.  If you intend to use a no-dig method in your veg garden this might be a good idea.  If though you want to grow rowcrops then having a rotovator of your own is a good idea.  We have 3 - one goes behind a tractor (Siromer), one big one you walk behind (that's a joke - you wrestle with it) - bought from our local agricultural store as you then get back-up and it's stronger than some 'garden' types,  and a Mantis for between the rows and inside the polytunnel.  They all have their place but we didn't start with all three, but  got them in descending order of size over several years, as our needs changed. We started by ploughing then rotovating.  Now some areas we still rotovate each spring, but some 'beds' we keep covered over a winter then use for root crops the following year.  We don't have raised beds - here veg grow perfectly well in flat ground, but it does depend on your soil.  On old pastureland, expect cutworms, or whatever daddylonglegs babies are called.
For hen coops, we use B&Q 10% off day garden sheds - cheap, hold lots of hens in comfort, you can stand upright to clean them out and they only need the addition of a pophole, perch, a couple of double nest boxes and possibly a different floor covering - and there you are.  We have three for less than the price of a small 'lifestyler' coop.

[Cinderhills]

Hi and welcome from North Yorkshire. 

[Mickyork]

Hi, welcome & good luck from someone else from North Yorkshire   

[HappyHippy]

Hello from me in South Lanarkshire (formerly Aberdeenshire too  )
I'm one of those pig keepers Doganjo was talking about 
If you had, say 3 pigs they'd clear that area in about 4-5 months. Which, incidentally, is how long you'd need to raise them from weaning to slaughter  Cost of pigs approx £100 for 3, electric fencing to keep them in about £150 and providing you get them in the spring a basic house made from pallets with a solid roof shouldn't cost that much - even allowing a generous feed ration (which you wouldn't need so much if you had Kune Kunes or Berkshires) the total cost would be less that £500 - and you'd have some wonderfull meat and lots of pleasure from keeping them. Just a thought.............................................
I'm with Annie and Fleecewife on the shed for a chicken coop - that's what I have too. Line the floor with vynil (makes it soooo much easier to clean) make some perches from 2 x 2 with rounded edges, pop in an old drawer or two for nest boxes, cut a pop hole et voila !
Welcome to the forum and keep us posted
Karen x

[Daisys Mum]

Hi and welcome from the Scottish Borders 

[little blue]

hello and welcome

[ballingall]

Hello and welcome,

Having just got our first pigs, I can confirm they are great at rotavating for you, I am amazed at what they have done to our orchard (which did need clearing).

Good luck with the adventure!

Beth

[DIGGER]

Just to say thanks for all the advice so far which is duly noted for the time when we get to grips with our land.

Another thing I have been pondering on is putting up some sheep type fencing, is this a job that appears easier than it is ?. I have already done the costings for metal gates, posts and wire etc. If anyone has any tips to offer on this subject I'd be grateful,
Thanks Digger,
 

[morri2]

Fencing is OK provided you are strong enough to ram the posts in!!  As a female I can do fencing to a reasonable standard on the basis that someone give the posts a good hammering with a very large and heavy mallet after I've put them in otherwise they'd be coming loose in a matter of weeks.  If you make the post hole first, with a heavy iron bar/lever (from farm supplier probably) as deep as you can, widening it by pulling the bar from side to side, you will get the posts in far easier than just trying to hammer them into unprepared land. Once the posts are in its just a case of nailing the fencing wire to them, pulling the wire as you go along to get a good tension.  You can do this as I do with a claw hammer before nailing in each staple or with the iron bar.  Believe me, once you've done a few meters its surprising how easy it is.

[scotelf]

Hello and welcome, you are moving to a lovely area, lucky you, keep us posted on your progress. 

[Fleecewife]

Fencing - not forgetting the big strainers at each end and at intervals along the line of the fence, and the bracers to keep them in position. Also top wire (hopefully not barbed - horrible stuff)  How easy sheep fencing is depends on your ground - rocky and you'll be digging out the strainer holes teaspoon by teaspoon, soft and wet and you might find it difficult to keep everything upright.  Our first fences were a bit higgledypiggledy but have improved over the years.  Beats paying someone else to do it though, if you have the strength and good aim with a mel.