[Nick C]

Hi all,

I've just joined here as my wife and I would like to start smallholding, and like many others, we're not really sure where to start!

We've been running an allotment for the past couple of years, and my wife grew up on a smallholding so she's fairly familiar with how things work (although that was abroad, so legalities and regulations would be different)

We currently live in Hampshire and work in IT, but we're getting very fed up of the rat race and urban living, and want to go back to the countryside, and get away from the selfishness and stresses of the South East.

So the big question really, is how do we go about finding a suitable property? We'd be selling our 3-bed semi here, which gives us a reasonable amount of equity, but we'd like to buy something cheaper to reduce the mortgage - ideally so that we could get by on only one full-time wage, and my wife can then concentrate on the smallholding. It'd have to be somewhere in sensible commuting distance of somewhere I can find suitable work, as while the eventual aim would be to go self-sufficient, It would take us several years to get there - we don't want to try to do too much too soon and overwhelm ourselves - we want to be getting away from targets, not just swapping exisiting ones for new ones!

How much land would we need to eventually become reasonably self-sufficient? We'd want veg and an orchard, then potentially adding bees, chickens etc later on. I don't think we'd want to go as far as cattle, though my wife would eventually like a rescue horse.

Many thanks,

Nick

[Perris]

there's a lot of useful info in the smallholding section of this site, https://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/smallholding/
and people have asked similar questions in the fora, so searching them will produce dividends - good luck, and welcome to TAS!

[Lesley Silvester]

Hi Nick and welcome from Shropshire. A lot of people end up going to Wales as property is much cheaper there. Scotland is another place worth investigating. Good luck.

[Fleecewife]

  Hello and welcome.  It sounds as if you need to do a whole lot of research before you get your smallholding.  First of all look through estate agents and property papers all over the country.  That way you can find out rough prices for a medium sized smallholding.  Then you need to know what your current property would sell for and how much you would have in hand after the sale.  This will help with settling on an area to search more deeply.  Don't forget that if you need to be within commuting distance of a city for work, then property prices are higher within that range. Is there a chance that you could work from home as many in IT do, or set up a limited company so you can do self employed contract work, and resign yourself to being away from home for stretches?  This would impact on your wife - smallholding somewhere remote can be very lonely, especially if you have previously lived in a bustling city.
It sounds as if you are not intending to be too adventurous with the size you take on.  Livestock such as pigs, cattle, and sheep tend to require a good amount of grazing, maybe 10 acres minimum for a small flock of sheep, but for poultry, vegetables and fruit, you could get by on 2 or 3 acres, BUT this depends on the local climate and soil characteristics, and exactly what you mean by self sufficient.  If for example you want to be able to make cheese and have your own milk, then you need goats or a couple of house cows.  If you are happy to get your protein from pulses and eggs, then you need far less land. If you want to grow cereals for bread etc that uses quite a bit of land. There are bound to be people on TAS who can suggest an actual acreage for your chosen area.  You don't mention if it's just the two of you, or if you have any dependents who either could or couldn't help to share the work load.
As Perris has said, there is loads of info on TAS but you do need to spend time ferreting it out.  Many people spend several years researching and searching for their ideal place, but it's worth taking the time - the right place for you will come along eventually, so turn down anything you're not absolutely sure of from the first visit.

[SallyintNorth]

Best of luck with your search

One thing you may not have considered is Cohousing / community living.  It’s a growing trend, quite a few grow a lot or all of their own veg and fruit, some have a farm and produce their own milk, dairy etc.  Other people to share the work, no isolation, can be much cheaper to buy in and have the land and space for a range of activities, lots of benefits.  Loss of autonomy means it’s not for everyone, but it suits some very well.  Shout if you’d like more info, some links, or whatever.

If you can do some WWOOFing you can experience different setups, areas of the country, etc, as well as learning loads and having a lot of fun.  The majority of WWOOf hosts want volunteers for at least a week, but some do working weekends.  You’d be able to get to Lower Shaw Farm in Swindon for one, would be a great place to start.  (I did my first WWOOF there; one weekend changed my life forever.  )

[Bionic]

Hi Nick and welcome from Shropshire. A lot of people end up going to Wales as property is much cheaper there. Scotland is another place worth investigating. Good luck.

We lived on the Hampshire/Dorset border but ended up going to Wales (Carmarthenshire) simply because of the price

[Backinwellies]

Hi Nick and welcome from Shropshire. A lot of people end up going to Wales as property is much cheaper there. Scotland is another place worth investigating. Good luck.

We lived on the Hampshire/Dorset border but ended up going to Wales (Carmarthenshire) simply because of the price

Us too …. and we are near neighbours of Bionic  

We have had would be smallholders stay with us in the past to 'have a go' and decide what they like and hate … and allows them to view holdings in this area.   

We have a cottage which is available (at cost) to stay in out of peak holiday times, in exchange for a few hours help. 

We have a local smallholders group which meets monthly and have a vast variety of holdings.

I also suggest you work out what your budget is . where there might be 'affordable' holdings .and whether you can realistically afford to buy a holding near enough to work ………. a lot of us have at least one of us working away.

[Possum]

John Seymour's book "The complete book of self-sufficiency" gives a very useful guide to what can be achieved on different amounts of land. You probably wouldn't want to take on more than 5 acres to begin with, particularly if one of you will continue to work full-time initially. You may well be able to rent additional land later on. We started with two acres which was enough to provide enough lamb, pork, eggs, poultry meat, fruit and veg for the two of us, plus enough over to barter for other goods.


Smallholder magazines always have adverts for smallholdings for sale and it give you a good idea of land values in different parts of the country.


Good luck with your search. It sounds like you have the right approach.

[Nick C]

Thanks guys and girls, plenty of useful information there for us to get our teeth into!

We've got a pretty good idea of what our current place is worth, and so what equity we've got, but I'm fairly sure we're going to need some kind of mortgage wherever we go. It's just the two of us (and two cats), so no kids to worry about.

[Rosemary]

I would pass on John Seymour's book and go for Dot and Tim Tyne's "Viable Self Sufficiency".

[Backinwellies]

I would pass on John Seymour's book and go for Dot and Tim Tyne's "Viable Self Sufficiency".

I agree

[Possum]

I love John Seymour's books! I know there are more modern ones but do we have to completely pass on the earlier ones? (Or am I just an old fogey?)