[Dans]

Hi all,

Not sure if this is the right place to post, but I was wondering, how long was your wait between deciding on starting a small holding and the big day. I am currently looking at it being just under two years before I'll be able to look for properties and I'm finding the waiting hard. It's very tempting to just give up the course now and go for it, but I know the sensible option is to wait, finish the course, get the finances up and learn what I can in the interim. I was going to get some chickens as a start but have decided to wait and focus fully on the course to speed things up    .

So how long was your wait, what did you do in the meantime and how did you avoid going crazy living in the rat race?

Dans

[bigchicken]

 I had no great plan just saw a disused piece of land and though I could do somethink with it and that was the start. I spent my formative years in Ayrshire and as Rabby Burns said  ( The best plans of mice and men aften gang astray)  If I was a newcomer I would try to gain as much practical experience as possible. You could volunteer at Gorgie city farm, ask if anyone local to you on this forum wants a helping hand, join a smallholders club, association and meat like minded people. Or find a friendly farmer. I,m afraid I have a day job although I work for myself its hard to avoid the rat race. As for going crazy well some folks would tell you that its to late already, By the way I see you stay over Dalkeith way I lived for a few years at Newlandrigg just over the hill and loved it.   

[Fleecewife]

25 years     First my OH was in the military so no chance to settle anywhere for long enough to have livestock, then we wanted to see our boys through Uni...  However, it was two full years from when we first started to look for a property until we found one close enough to still travel to our jobs (in Edinburgh).  Most suitable smallholdings within a reasonable distance of the city are taken either by well-off people who want the paddocks for horses, or by builders hoping to make a mint.  They both push the prices way beyond what is reasonable for a small acreage.
 
You are welcome to visit us and see what we settled for.  We are just under 30 miles from Edinburgh.

[tizaala]

60 years, but don't be put off, use the waiting time to make contacts and gain confidence and to start gathering kit that you will need. At the moment it's a buyers market ,two years down the line and who knows what the state of the economy will be like. Good luck.

[Ina]

It's highly unlikely I'll ever get one. Middle aged female, on her own, without a job? Nae chance! I'll just have to accept it.

Or try the lottery. But I've always been against wasting my money on games of chance...

[lachlanandmarcus]

Most suitable smallholdings within a reasonable distance of the city are taken either by well-off people who want the paddocks for horses, or by builders hoping to make a mint.  They both push the prices way beyond what is reasonable for a small acreage.
 

True tho bear in mind most horse owners are people who might have been rich were it not for the horses....:-))

[Womble]

Most suitable smallholdings within a reasonable distance of the city are taken either by well-off people who want the paddocks for horses, or by builders hoping to make a mint.  They both push the prices way beyond what is reasonable for a small acreage.
 

Yes, that happened to us several times. However, we got there in the end by buying a place that was too run down for the horsey people to be interested in. Oh, and Fleecewife's right - the reason it was in such a state was that for the past 20 years they'd spent all their money on horses!! 

[suziequeue]

We didn't really buy our property in order to become smallholders but it just seemed the logical thing to do with the land once we were there and I suddenly discovered a forgotten desire for it.
 
Never been heappier. 
 
It's a real outlet for my creative side and there are always avenues to explore and develop. This year it's been chicks and the polytunnel (while the house is being rebuilt) plus making a start on the vegetable allotments (next step - rabbit-proofing it!!) and continuing with chickens, pigs and sheep
 
But I could never have done it without my darling OH who gave up work to look after the home. He never forgets to water the polytunnel, feed the dog etc etc. 

[Possum]

About 5 years for me, and I nearly did go crazy in the rat race! It really is worth finishing your course as you may need a supplementery income in the early days of your smallholding. Qualifications always help.


While I was waiting I did a lot of reading about smallholding and livestock rearing and also joined WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities On Organic Farms). I volunteered on a couple of smallholdings, met some great people and gained invaluable experience. It also helped me to decide what was possible and what wasn't.


It also brings your dream one step nearer, which makes the waiting a bit easier.

[VSS]

Tim and I have been extremely lucky and never has to wait for the smalholding to start as we never joined the rat race in the first place. Left uni and went to live on an offshore island for four years where we looked after the island sheep and cattle and produced the vast majority of our own grub and then moved to our current holding in 1998. It was 22.5 acres then but now with the extra bits we have bought  and the pieces we rent we are running iro 140 acres (although 100 of that is mostly rocks and boulders).

We are VERY VERY lucky (but we do work very hard!)

[TheCaptain]

We bought our place with my in-laws. They had this dream of being smallholders and had read all the books etc. we didn't have any great plans about what to do with the land (10 acres) and in-laws plans were very slow in coming (mother-in-law massively anal about Planning *everything*). We got bored of waiting so bought a couple of pigs and some chickens. In-laws wanted sheep more chickens, turkeys etc then decided it was a "nightmare" and that they never wanted anything to do with livestock. So, in essence, we kind of fell into it- 'the conned smallholder'

[MAK]

We never planned it but our hands were forced with redundancy and the realisation that we wanted to get out of the rat race kicked in. We sold up in the UK and bought a fermette in France (so cheap !!) - This site has helped us learn on the hoof and fortunateley we have grown and produced a lot, learnt lots of new skills ( butchery,cider,cheese making etc) and can live very cheapley. We have few bills and so are no longer in paid employment.
I guess I am suggesting that things are not always planned and out of adversity great things can happen.  Oh - and if ( as one member put it) you do "bugger off to Europe" you really don't have "to eat horse" 

[Anke]

About a year to 18 months of looking, then bought a building plot, then two years in rented house (I had a 3 year old and an 18 month old at the time) before anything happened. Then the plot was bare, so we had to take it slowly. Now 5 1/2 years on, we have dairy goats, sheep, rear weaners for meat, chickens for eggs (and spare boys for coq au vin), polytunnel and veg garden.
 
But OH still works full time in Edinburgh, 45 mile drive up the A68... I gave up my career as I was only working to pay the taxman and for childcare... and am now a much happier person!
 
I would recommend joining Woof and working on farms, during the holidays. Conservation groups (like BTCV) are also really good to get to learn skills like fencing, tree felling and planting and just to be active outside in all weathers - we did a lot of conservation work before we had children.
 
 

[northfifeduckling]

I always dreamed of it, growing veg as a student on balconies and in a small garden. I met my partner, he had some land to garden in and one day he announced that he would bring some ducks that needed a new home. thank heavens a good friend had already given me her old hen house when she moved house....all fell into place when the time was right. 

[Dans]

Thank you all. I feel a bit better about having to wait 2 years to get started on it all.

I looked at the WOOOF stuff but unfortunately there is no term time for my course which means no planned holiday periods. My next step was going to ask if anyone local fancied a weekend volunteer, not every weekend but occassionally, so I very well may take you up on that offer to visit Fleecewife!

It's nice to hear that so many of you got there after your long waits, and interesting to see how many of you work a 'normal' job as well. When we make the move my OH will continue his normal job (he has a disability so although he can help out a little, manual labour day to day is out of the question. I wasn't sure how feasible it would be, me on my own, but am feeling encouraged!

Thank you all for sharing.

Dans