[Jemimah91]

I am a young (almost) graduate of Food science & Dietetics. By the end of my first year, the things I had learned in my food policy and sustainability modules had persuaded me that growing my own was the most desirable way to acquire vegetables. I have attended university in manchester where I have been growing tomatoes, chilli peppers, bell peppers, lettuce, pak choi and various herbs. Hardly holding a candle to the illustrious smallholding, but I have tried to make the best of the small space I have! My husband is currently in medical school, and we hope one day to own a smallholding, where we can live together with my mother-in-law who is not very old, only 57, but whom I wouldn't dream of leaving on her own past 63 years of age. A lot of people my age (I am 22) think I am insane for having a dream that nearly negates the 'dietetics' half of my degree, but I can't let go of my desire to run a smallholding. I do have experience with animal husbandry, having cared for horses, sheep, chickens and pigs growing up, and I worked a short stint as a favour to a friend on her dad's dairy farm. Am I dreaming too big? everyone on this forum will be so much more knowledgable on the subject than I could hope to be at such a young age, so I was in no doubt that asking everyone's opinions here would be a good idea. Am I being daft? My husband would want to commute somewhere for work as a doctor unless he could get a post nearby. Anyway, that's enough about me, if anyone wants to let me have it, and give me a frank talk, that's fine and is actually what I have joined to find! some straight talk from hard working people who have been there, done that and got the tshirt! thank you all in advance for any responses!
Jemimah 

[HappyHippy]

Hello and welcome to TAS 

If you want it girl, go get it  (as long as your OH is not completely opposed to the idea of mucking in and helping, because there might be times when he needs to and if he's not keen it could put pressure on your relationship)
You might have to start small depending on your budget and house/land prices where you are, perhaps some land with a caravan or a ramshackle old house you can do up along the way. It might take you a wee while to get to where you want to be, but as the saying goes - from little acorns, mighty oaks grow 
I wouldn't count on it being your main source of income either, but there's absolutely no reason why you can't work (even if it's just part time) and still have a sizable smallholding - good planning/flexible working patterns - there's usually a way to make it work for you.

Hubby currently works and I'm a stay at home mum/smallholder (I'm 35), we've got 4 young kids, over 60 pigs, 2 Shetland cows and a Shetland pony - it's hard at times, we're skint at times but we love what we're doing and that makes it all the easier.

Good luck and I look forward to hearing how you get on.
Karen 

[Rosemary]

Hello and welcome from Carnoustie 

You're certainly not mad (or if you are, so are we all here). We try to grow at ot of our own stuff but we're not hung up on being self sufficient - until we can grow grapes, chocolate and bananas, it's just not an option

[Lesley Silvester]

  from Shropshire.  It's good to have a dream and you have the experience to know that you do want to do it, unlike some people who go into small-holding without thinking it through properly.  I'm a back garden small holder - more of a micro-holding really but I grow fruit and veg and keep goats.

One thing that intrigues me - why do you consider that your mother in law wouldn't be able to live alone once she reaches 63?  I ask because I am approaching my 62nd birthday and still think of myself as youngish.   

[Julestools]

My mother is 70 and can still outwork most 50 year olds, and also look after the cantankerous old man that is my father. Yes she will most probably outlive me too. I've only been on here a couple of days.....

[HesterF]

I was also intrigued by the 63 cut off! I'm nowhere near it yet but just very interested in the logic behind it - my parents are both in their mid-70s and can still do nearly as much hard manual labour as I can (just lacking the whole day stamina they once had).

Of course your dream is realistic. I think you probably need to consider the timing though. I guess once your husband finished medical school, he has to bounce around hospitals for a while being a house officer, SHO etc. until he gets a consultant post (if that's the way he's going?). Doesn't that mean you will have to move around for another ten years or so or is he able to pin down a rotation to a certain area so you can just be based there?

As the others have said, it's very difficult to make a living from smallholding so good thing your husband will have a decent salary to help fund it. That's our approach at the moment (we moved last May to our house with 8 acres) - my husband earns a good wage while I'm working on building up some income from our land and buildings. We're waiting on planning permission for a holiday cottage and if that works, maybe more, we've planted loads of fruit trees, veg beds are established, we have hens, ducks and geese, bees will be coming soon and at some point we'll look at bigger animals. If we manage to sell anything, great, otherwise we'll just reduce our outgoings. But all of this has cost a fortune to implement - and one reason we're holding back on bigger animals is things like the cost of fencing. Hopefully most of it will pay off eventually and I'm sure there are cheaper ways of doing things but my approach has been to get things built to last so I've paid lots of up front costs for things like poultry housing and runs which are going to take thousands of eggs to pay back (or hundreds of birds sold).

Good luck with your dreams! Meantime, as you know, there's lots you can do towards self sufficiency even without the land  - I've always grown some veg in my back yard, however big and however covered in concrete.

H

[Jemimah91]

Thanks for the replies everyone! Rosemary I hear you about the chocolate! there are some luxuries that are just too good to give up on!

  Mad goatwoman (loving the screen name  ), you are young! it's not to do with her age really (my own mother is 65 and can probably move herself doing housework quicker than me and I'm a baby 22, haha), it's just that she'll be retired at 63, and once she finishes work I'm very concerned that she wouldn't really have anything to get out of bed for if she was alone in the house like she is now. My lovely mother in law has had a very hard life; two divorces and she lost her elder son when he was 17. I just want to make her retirement a happy one with animals, her own garden and her grandhchildren all around her! call me soppy, but I'd consider it my greatest achievement if I made her feel happy in the absence of her job

 Happy hippy, thanks for the welcome! My OH has said he wants to live on a smallholding too, and that he shares the goal, but he'd like the opportunity to also work in his chosen field. I think the key will be to find a way where we're both fulfilled in what we want, whilst getting everything done. At the moment it seems like a million miles away, but once mother in law's mortgage is paid off (three more years) she would be able to sell the house and put 200,000 into an outbuilding/annexe (we talked and decided it was best for two women not to live right on top of one another in the same house!) I hear what you're saying about starting small, I'm sure it's a skill set better learned steadily rather than rushing into everything. I'd be fine in a caravan or something to start with I think-I'm not very fussy, but maybe my OH and mother in law might feel differently! the joys of finding one another's limits is right around the corner! 

[HesterF]

I just want to make her retirement a happy one with animals, her own garden and her grandhchildren all around her! call me soppy, but I'd consider it my greatest achievement if I made her feel happy in the absence of her job

Clearly you know your MIL and we don't but I take it this is her dream rather than (or as well as) yours? I used to worry about what my dad would do when he retired but he's managed to fill his life admirably with no assistance from me. Oh, and much as my parents love all their grandchildren, I think it would be little short of hell for them to be living across the yard from us at all times. They love coming for visits but they also love being able to go back to their own serene lives afterwards. When I was a child, my parents loved the whole animal/veg/fruit/DIY dream but now they're 'more mature', I think they're quite happy to observe us doing it from afar and dropping in occasionally to have a taster. Certainly the 'being surrounded by grandchildren at all times' is not necessarily the dream of all grandparents (and much as I hate to admit it on Mother's Day, it's not necessarily the dream of every parent to be surrounded by their own children at all times )!

H