[Pete59]

Hi, first time on here. I will be retiring in the next year or two in my early sixties. We have always wanted a smallholding and are looking for somewhere with a few acres. Having said that we recognise that not getting younger and being new to the whole concept we need to think carefully about what we get and the what we do with the land. No point in embarking on some back breaking projects. Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts or tips on running a place for enjoyment and keeping busy. Some animals (currently have ducks) but not for eating would be good.

[bloomer]

welcome from a grey and miserable central scotland


chickens and goats


eggs and milk based products and relatively easy to look after.


but whatever you decide good luck, i'm 37 and realistically thinking i could be retired before i get my smallholding, but i do get to visit lots of them with work so that's cool.

[Fanackapan]

Hello there,
I think you are quite brave going for your dream just as you are approaching retirement and wish you much happiness sprinkled with a bit of good luck.
Well you  have to have chickens to go with the ducks don't you ? Other animals that might pay their way a bit, how about sheep and alpacas for their wool, think alpacas are becoming more available and their wool is sought after I believe, also make good guards for the poultry .
Orchard fruit would be great but takes a wee while for the trees to mature enough to make sufficient produce for selling at the farm gate, still you aren't in a hurry are you ?
Is your wife keen on making home produce ? If so a proper sized greenhouse or polytunnel for the tomato plants for the chutney and courgettes easy to grow and make great chutney too, or perhaps strawberry beds for selling punnets along with the eggs or jam along with the chutney.
What a wonderful time ahead making plans

[Rosemary]

Raised beds fo veggies - planning for the future - with easy access for wheelchair. I'm not insulting you, I hope. I often think about what Dan and I will do here once we're not so able 

Early sixties is young nowadays, especially if you are both in good health.

Go for it and very good luck with your new venture 

[john and helen]

Hi Pete.... well you made one great move already , by joining this lot 
I am in the same boat, but not retiring yet, and i am 52 this year, just do as much as you feel is right...

the one great thing we have today, is instant answers to problems... just read this site

anyway, welcome to a great site :wave:looking forward to reading your progressive reports 

[Fleecewife]

I'm of a more cautious nature, so were we starting now (similar age to you) we would certainly have laying hens for their eggs, maybe posh ones for showing if you like that sort of thing - very good for making new friends.
 
2 or 3 sheep to see how you go, choosing those with a good fleece and a fairly independent nature, so there's not too much to do for them, no housing etc.  Spinning and weaving are wonderful pastimes which you can share, and again go to Guild meetings to make new friends - you can never have too many friends in smallholding     You might even produce enough to sell.
 
Any animal which has to be milked can become a bind, so it would be sensible to see how your new smallholding life pans out before committing to them.  Also consider if you ever want to go away on holiday - not easy with a smallholding to be looked after.
 
A veg garden is a must, but again start small and build it up, rather than starting with a huge plot then not being able to maintain it when your health starts to go.  That sounds pessimistic but that's just what happened to us both, leaving us struggling somewhat.
 
I would always say to do not too much to the land in the first year, but learn about your soil and your local conditions for an entire year, have a good look at what everyone else does, see how much you can do, then decide what you would like to try.  You don't have to stick with that decision as animals can be sold and gardens grassed over, or new ventures can be started.
 
So my advice is start slowly and carefully, be adaptable and don't make up your mind firmly until you have got to know your new land.  That first year is a great time to get your house sorted.
 
I agree with John and Helen that TAS is a wonderful resource - there was nothing like that when we started 18 years ago,  so just about everything we learnt was either picked up the hard way or was based on what we already knew.
 
And finally, consider very carefully whether you want to produce things to sell, or if you just want to enjoy your retirement and produce stuff for you and your family.  We used to grow far more veg than we needed and sold to restaurants and the local shop - now that is far too much work (and I discovered I hated working so some lazy so and so could sit on their bum and enjoy the hard won fruits fruits of my labours) We still sell surplus stock or animals which didn't make the registration grade, but we have reduced our overall stock numbers so we now enjoy the animals we do have more and don't break our backs - it doesn't make much difference to any income we have.

[suziequeue]

I'm nearly 50 and we started here four years ago.


I know I am not getting any stronger or any more energetic but there is still so much work to do - it's scary...... but fantastically exciting!!


I am keen to get all the "capital" work done before I am 55 and also invest in machinery and approaches that are going to be less labour and lift intensive in future.


I don't see myself as staying here until I die. It's too remote and I need a car to get anywhere. I think there will come a time when we can't do justice to the land and then I would want to sell the place to younger people who are full of ideas and can take it forward and build on the start we have made.

Having said that - the journey is as good as the destination, keeps me fitter and stronger than I would have been and enhances my life in a way that is indescribable.

So go for it. I agree with FW - veg is essential and a small number of chickens are very rewarding but beware of chickens - you start with three and pretty soon you have twice - then three times that number.... and it goes on......

[Pete59]

Thank you all for the speedy replies, some very interesting pointers. Of course this then leads to further thoughts such as - how much land do we need for sheep or alpacas? Can we keep just male goats to save the milking process? The current plan is to put our house on the market next year and then look at south Lincolnshire / east Anglia or the Forest of Dean. Then it gets really confusing east or west - what's the best!
Once again thanks, TAS looks like it will be a great resource and support as we move forward. 

[plumseverywhere]

You can keep castrated male goats as pets  but they aren't particularly good lawn mowers and will need concentrates feeding in the winter, hay, a shed, strong fencing, feet trimming etc 
We have sheep and goats and I have to say the sheep are (touch wood!) easier to manage. Yes they have a habit of keeling over but not often (we dont' have many so there's fewer to do that sheep thang of just dying!) the goats are slightly more needy of human attention. ie. 2 of them have taken their shed apart this week, slat by slat. As I type I can hear OH slamming around in his workshop finding the neccessary items needed to try to save the structure and as he doesnt' actually like goats he's not impressed at all!
We have only 4 sheep left (thanks to dog attacks etc) and they are free roamning on 3 acres, when we breed next season round we'll look at stripping off areas to rotate them and reduce risk of worms etc. The 4 goats are on  an acre split into 2 paddocks. They have lots of browse material and will eat some grass. Ours are for milk for the family and for soap making. If we breed then male kids will have to be rehomed if we can, or off for meat as we can't keep any more livestock - I like to feel I'm managing well with what we have and any more I'd worry they weren't having as much time as they need as we are a busy family with 4 children etc.
 

[Bionic]

Pete,
We were in a similar position 18 months ago. I took early retirement at 58 and we wanted a smallholding with neither of us having done anything like it before.
We bought in Wales because it is cheaper and I love it here. We have 2.5 acres on which we started with a few chickens and then bred 4 more (its very addictive), there are a couple of old geese that came with the house too. We added 3 coloured Ryelands last may and a couple of months later 2 Ryelands. 2 weaners came along for the ride as well until they went to the abattoir last Sept.
The whole thing has been a very steep and expensive learning curve but I don't regret it. Expense comes mainly in the start up with fencing, feed troughs (or old washing up bowls  ) slap marker, tagging tools, drenching gun etc......
Learning curve is the abattoir    but then we have had loads of lovely pork, and also lambing time which I found very stressful not knowing what to expect, but we now have 4 lovely lambs to show for the pain.
It is very easy to get carried away with animals and land but I would suggest start gently to see how you get on.
Best wishes with your plans

[Fanackapan]

Whereabouts really is a decision only you can make, every area has pluses and minus's, think you just have to go for hte feel of a place, I envisage a few days out in the car for you and wife over the next few months. For example I came to central/west Scotland for 10 days holiday/work and returned 3 months later for good and that was 21 years ago 
How much acreage - if you see somewhere that ticks all the boxes apart from the ground being more than you feel you can cope with, rent it out. A friend of mine bought a smallholding in the Lake District 10 years ago and from the start the farmer next door rented a small meadow for a few of his sheep, now she has lost her horses (and is too unwell to replace) she has sold all but an acre of the land/garden to the same farmer. She retained outbuildings for a couple of feral cats and a small lfock of hens and is a very happy lady (with a windfall in her bank account)

[ellied]

Hi and welcome.  Never too late for the dream and I'd suggest you get some things in place while you're earning and can afford the outlay, or else start putting a little aside into an ISA or savings account for the holding equipment purchases.  Maybe do a few day or weekend intro courses in areas you're interested in, be it crafts, preserves, cooking, animal keeping or chainsawing, get a feel for what you enjoy before you get to investing in the property.  That way you've an idea what you are buying FOR rather than what you can do with what you've found, if that makes sense. 

My two top purchases would be a good quality polytunnel and a couple of garden sheds, one for hens, one for equipment.  Hens are a must, you'll never buy eggs again, but unless you have customers lined up don't get too many like I did, or you'll be sick of eggs and desperate for new ways to use them up 
And a polytunnel will protect your plants from birds (including hens!) aswell as weather, and let you work in a sheltered environment with plants at the height you can work, raised beds and/or shelving, long term.

I'm only 48 but already restricted physically and having to make those kind of choices but could no longer afford to purchase a polytunnel or greenhouse and I bought a coop when I started with 4 hens, and should have bought a 6x4 or 8x6 garden shed as it'd be way easier to get in and clean let alone cover the expansion into the 20s of birds I now have!  I used to run 4 veg beds and now focus on just one plus a few containers of things I would actually have to, but resent, spending money on - salad leaves being the most obvious as I couldn't bring myself to pay the cost of a bag of baby leaves having grown them myself!  I don't waste time and energy on low cost items you can get in bulk eg tatties, too much digging when a sack from a local farm is pennies, tho I do put a couple in a container for new potatoes for the taste.  I grow a few onions, leeks, runner beans (good picking height), beetroots (my favourite), courgettes, PSB, simple easy things after years of struggling to get mature caulis and cabbages I just know I'd need a tunnel and probably fail even then     Oh and I grew sprouts but don't like them so don't bother - grow what you want to eat most of and keep it simple, I'd say 

Usually when someone is starting out I say get as much land as you possibly can  but in your situation I'd limit yourself to somewhere between 1.5-10 acres max, enough for a few sheep and ideally a place with a couple of fruit trees already in situ, otherwise go for a few of the patio dwarf types so you're not looking at pruning big trees in a few years.  Definitely grow bush based berries - blueberries, blackcurrants, raspberries, whatever you enjoy - again they are relatively easy to manage and best fresh produce you'll grow.  Strawberries are low to the ground and picking/managing them a pain on a bad back, so limit to pots in the tunnel for the long term 

If you find the sheep work isn't for you in a few years, or indeed from day one while you decide/learn, you can let the ground to a local farmer for grazing between March-October and in return he'll keep it fenced and tidy plus be a regular visitor - as you get less adventurous someone coming by on a regular basis that will pass the time of day becomes a valuable resource, especially someone that can lend a hand with physical things or perhaps send one of the lads over.  Meantime you can learn a lot about sheepkeeping from him and maybe keep a wee paddock aside for a few sheep yourself, but you could probably get the fleeces from his rather than put in the work for your own and still enjoy them being there 

I wouldn't get yourself into anything requiring milking or complex care or physically demanding management - I'm a bit trapped in that regard but if I were starting out now I'd do it differently, wouldn't we all! 

Oh, you could also volunteer to help out a couple of your local smallholder neighbours wherever you are now - usually much appreciated and a great way to make friends, learn the ropes and gain skills before you choose your holding.  You could negotiate use of a veg bed or greenhouse in return for labour/skills you have and get used to the barter system as a way of getting things done on a low income too, it's invaluable!

[Fleecewife]

<<......goats are slightly more needy of human attention. ie. 2 of them have taken their shed apart this week, slat by slat. As I type I can hear OH slamming around in his workshop finding the neccessary items needed to try to save the structure and as he doesnt' actually like goats he's not impressed at all!>>
 
Plums - we used to have problems with tups smashing up their shelters.  Now we wrap the outside with a length of sheep mesh wire, as tight as possible.  It means that when they whack it, it just bounces them back off.  So far we haven't had any further damage.   We do also use small straining posts for the corners, rather than just stobs, so the shelters are quite robust.   Could work for goats too.

[suziequeue]

Can't agree more with EllieD's and Bionic's comments about the expense. Whilst I am still earning we want to get the fencing, shed and equipment squared away and it's expensive!!


Having said that. there are loads of people on here who do great work with much less and have lots of ideas about how things can be done cheaper. Certainly we are getting more into bartering here as our circle of fiends increases.

[Tala Orchard]

Age is immaterial both myself and OH are pensioners, we decided to build our dream late in life (we are both in our mid 60's) and although it is hard work it makes us younger. We have 13 acres we have 5 breading sows, 6 ewes a ram and 6 lambs an alpaca and numerous chickens.

We are growing Christmas Trees and bedding plants we use the plants for hanging baskets which we sell at markets.

We have a 3000 sq ft polytunnel and feel that it is not big enough.

We get enormous pleasure feeding our stock and watching them grow up, we keep some for the freezer and we sell some on either as meat boxes or at livestock markets.

We have been doing this for the past 3 years and I can not wish for a better retirement I feel healthier and richer for it after spending the best part of my life behind a desk in a stuffy office commuting daily to and from home.

Our advice would be go for it and enjpy.

Tala