Author Topic: Hello from Hartlepool! (Read 3852 times)

markoc22 · « **on:** June 02, 2009, 11:54:33 am »

Hello all
Just wanting to introduce myself and "pick your brains".
I'm a married 41 yr old with 3 daughters who has been wanting to up sticks for a few years now.
I have given myself a timeframe of 12-18 months to "tart up" our house to sell and find a suitable venue for our new life.
Ideally we would like to be around the Bishop Auckland/Weardale area.
I would like to start with some chickens and veggies and progress to pigs(though the better half is not that keen on the pig idea).

What area of land should I be looking at acreage wise?
How small an area could I operate on?
Unfortunately due to finances I will need to keep working for the forseeable future so nothing too big is needed.
Does anyone know of estate agents in the North East that specialize in houses with land?
I have read Seymours Bible and scour the internet daily for snippets of info on all things smallholding.
What else should I be reading,courses doing or genning up on?
Be prepared for numerous stupid questions over the coming months.

rustyme · « **Reply #1 on:** June 02, 2009, 04:30:39 pm »

hello ...
how much land you need is a bit like how long is a piece of string really.... so many variables. Area for pigs would depend on how many you intend to keep and if you would be keep them for breeding or just to rear up for the chop. The pig keepers on here will give you a very good idea of what you need though . Chickens the same again really , how many ? are you going to keep them in a run or have them free range ? etc etc... but they don't take up too much room really . As for veg, in WW2 the dig for victory campaign stated that you could feed a family of 4 on an allotment of 30'x90'. That is a pretty good rule of thumb really . More room would be better and you could grow extras such as peppers and other bits and bobs that weren't grown 65 years ago. If you are working full time then digging and keeping a plot 30'x90' will take up about 30-60 mins a day , I used to keep 2 of that size when I was 12 ,and they supplied all the veg for our family of 9 , so it can be done . All digging was done by hand , all double dug ,and both plots were completely overgrown when I took them over. So an acre of usable land would grow your veg and a few fruit trees, and keep some chickens . Another acre would allow you to keep a few piggies for the chop and maybe a goat for some milk ? depends what you want to do and how much time you want to devote to it . Hope that helps a bit ..

cheers

Russ

jameslindsay · « **Reply #2 on:** June 02, 2009, 04:41:07 pm »

Hello and welcome. I would just like to add a wee bit on from Russ, please never keep just 1 goat - they are herd animals and do much better in pairs/groups. They do make wonderful pets ( I have 11 of various breeds) though and I am sure no decent breeder would sell just 1 anyway. No experience on pigs but do have 5 chickens, 2 geese and 16 ducks if you are going to let them free range remember they can be easily taken by fox etc. I lost 3 birds last week to fox, not nice and reading on here many of us sadly loose birds this way. Good luck.

rustyme · « **Reply #3 on:** June 02, 2009, 04:57:52 pm »

yes , I meant goats really . We always had 5 or 6 . I tend to forget people can only read what I type ...and not my mind...

cheers

Russ

markoc22 · « **Reply #4 on:** June 02, 2009, 05:03:30 pm »

Russ,James

Thanks for the responses was thinking along the lines of 6-8 free range chickens and a couple of pigs for the chop.
Hadn't given much thought into the goat side of things.
The biggest problem at present is finding a suitable venue for all of this to happen.
We have been looking now for 2-3 years without any success due to the property being out of our price range or being sold before we've been able to act.
The latest idea is to sell up and live in our static caravan in Weardale so we are ready to go if anything comes up.
This can only be a short term measure though as 5 of us will be sharing with our Dogue De Bordeaux Alfie(Think Turner&Hooch only bigger and slobberier!)

Cheers

Mark

Rosemary · « **Reply #5 on:** June 02, 2009, 05:09:39 pm »

Hi Mark

We have an acre and have a couple of dozen layers; raise a few batches of meat chickens a year; raise three weaner pigs from 8 weeks to slaughter; have 14 fruit trees, some soft fruit and a vegetable garden. Oh and three ewes. It's all a bit hectic and we're really at capacity.

The veggies are the hardest for me - I'm not terribly good at harvesting at the right time and using what we grow. Meat, by comparison, is easy.

Living in the caravan sounds like a good idea, so that you are on the blocks and ready to go when (not if) the opportunity arises.

Good luck with the search.

Fluffywelshsheep · « **Reply #6 on:** June 02, 2009, 05:46:36 pm »

Good luck but be parpared to go fara field in your search for properity, Althought the market slump is surposes to be getting better (hears on the news about 20 mins ago that prices in scotland have stayed still for about 8 months now)

hexhammeasure · « **Reply #7 on:** June 02, 2009, 06:32:01 pm »

You could try Nicholson and Weston in Lanchester

Nicholson and Weston
1 Percy Crescent
Lanchester
Durham
DH7 0EU

Telephone
01207 520 688

they are also part of northern land agents and may have something in the area

there is some woodland for sale with river frontage which might provide some utility space hens ducks etc but I doubt you would get permission for a house

rustyme · « **Reply #8 on:** June 02, 2009, 06:34:21 pm »

Hello Mark,
I do live in a static anyway ...just me and 4 dogs....I know exactly what cabin fever is now...you go slightly round the bend in them . Nowhere to put anything , a fight to stop it all going mouldy , everything gets covered in mud dust ,and here in Wales, the constant rain on the roof drives me right round the bl**dy bend. Although I am used to it , I hate every minute in the thing . So be sure you really know how you will cope with that way of life , maybe rent the house out short term , just as a tester ? Good luck with the search though ...have you seen the bungalow and 1 acre elsewhere on this forum ? They do pop up here and there.

cheers

Russ

Hilarysmum · « **Reply #9 on:** June 03, 2009, 06:39:35 am »

Hello Mark and welcome. Not just the amount of land if you want to keep pigs and chickens but proximity to neighbours should be a consideration. Neither are particularly noisy, or smelly, however people do have misconceptions about animals - pigs smell - cockerels will wake them up at 5 am and goats escape and eat their washing lines etc. Good luck. HM

markoc22 · « **Reply #10 on:** June 03, 2009, 09:12:17 am »

Fluffywelshsheep

We are unable to move too far afield as I am based in Hartlepool for my job,with no option of working from home.
I am prepared to commute up to an hour if the right property turns up.