smallholding – Page 2 – Small Plot, Big Ideas

Our first weaners – from start to finish

Around the middle of July, just 7 weeks after moving to our new house, we started our first attempt at rearing pigs. The two Tamworth weaners were collected by car using a borrowed dog cage with surprisingly little difficulty and only a slightly unsavoury smell.

On arriving home they were installed in their woodland home and immediately started eating anything that looked remotely tasty. Not many pigs get to live in such beautiful surroundings although I think the wall might be a little high for them to really appreciate the far reaching views!

Before long the 2 pigs had worked their way round most of the boundary clearing everything that was in their path! This was not entirely unexpected though and their home had been carefully chosen as it only had very well established trees, everything else in there was considered expendable.

Luckily, and through no great skill on our part, the 2 pigs had no health issues so although we had already identified a suitable vet they were never needed! This is one of the best parts of only raising weaners for a few months before any proper winter weather sets in.

Feeding time twice a day was always entertaining and never became a chore. There was something very soothing about the short walk round to the woods and the time spent with the pigs. I’m not sure that I appreciated refilling their water troughs so often but I expect they enjoyed turning them over soon after I’d left!

Over time each one developed their own personality which made it tough t times not to get too attached to them.

Predictably the time soon came around when they reached about 6/7 months old and needed to head off to the abattoir. Preparations were started well ahead of time for things like ear tagging the pigs so that by the day before their trip we had everything in order.

As this was our first time with pigs as well as using a trailer it seemed wise to do a dry run of loading the pigs into the trailer which went really well.

The woods now have a few months to recover and we have time to consider our next move. However it seems certain to me that we’ll have another batch of weaners next year because these two were so easy to look after and we have such great facilities for pigs in the woods.

When it came to unloading the two pigs at the abattoir, they were treated very well and I was able to help herd them into their own pen in the holding area. They were remarkably relaxed despite being in a completely new environment and it was interesting to see the (smaller) Gloucester Old Spots that were in the next door pen. Maybe that’s a breed to try next?

The next week was spent wondering how much pork we would get back and what would we do with it all! The answer is clear from the photo below, it was around 120kg in total

The chest freezer is now pretty full of roasting joints and chops but at least it coped with the load! Also the past weekend included a start on dry curing some bacon but I’m not very confident about the results of that at the moment, time will tell.

The sausage making on the other hand is getting better which each batch that are made. First up was pork and leek flavour then the next day it was Cumberland but all of them were headed for the freezer. Of course some of the sausage meat was cooked up for testing purposes just to be sure they’ll turn out okay.

I’m not sure we can sensibly eat pork more that 3 times a week but there are many ways to process or cook it.

This is a good moment for family and friends to rally round and support us by taking some of the huge quantity of meat off our hands. This time there might be some freebies for them as we’re just trying the whole process out – next time around we may not be so generous!

Settling into the new routines

Slowly I find that we are settling into something resembling a routine and each day that passes sees us getting more used to the realities of our new life. Even the few animals that we already have here are adjusting well to the new regime although we’re still not too sure where some of the chickens are laying eggs

We are being careful to assess everything before making changes and trying not to jump into anything too soon which is the most common advice from every book, article or web forum on smallholding. However I am eager to start making some of the bigger decisions about things like other livestock, managing the woodland , adding renewable energy sources and expanding the growing capability.

I’m not sure that I will know how to tell when we’ve reached the point when we can start on some of these things but I’m hoping that I’ll know when the time is right. I’m also reminding myself regularly that we can do whatever we like now we have the space and also that in some cases it might be better to “do and learn as we go” rather than “plan too much and never start”!

For example, we hadn’t planned to get any more chickens yet but with one of original pet hens dying it seems very opportune that one of the hens we “inherited” from the previous owners has hatched out a couple of chicks!

Two chicks doing well — The two new arrivals

Appreciating the surroundings

One of the other hopes for this move was to have some time to appreciate things and, just occasionally, raise the eyes to take in everything that is around us rather than getting swamped by the daily grind. Obviously you don’t need to move to do this but looking around the local area here is definitely more scenic than our previous suburban existence. It’s called the North Pennines AONB for a very good reason.

A simple walk down the lane into the village on a Saturday morning recently was just one such occasion. A pleasant morning stroll with curlews and chaffinches calling all around and I noticed that the clover was flowering at the side of the road.

I’d never noticed before that clover flowers have quite a noticeably (and not unpleasant) scent. The combination of that with the other wild flowers at the moment was definitely worth a picture at least. I’m sure we’ll look back at this fondly in about 6 months time when the verges are covered in snow!

Never a dull moment

It barely seems possible that we only moved in just 4 weeks ago given that there has not been a dull moment in that whole time. We have no problem in coming up with plans for things to be done but there is a definite lack of spare time to get on with things at the moment

Despite it being such a short period of time we’ve very quickly come to appreciate the whole “circle of life” thing having had both unexpected deaths and births either on or around our land. Here is a brief summary:

Chicken numbers

Sadly we lost Amy, one of the original “pet” chickens, who was discovered lying dead but at least she looked strangely peaceful lying in the long grass when we found her.

My suspicions are that the trouble was related to egg laying as she has had occasional problems in that department but it came totally out of the blue and she was fine earlier that day when seen foraging with the other 2 pet hens.

It's not all bad news — It’s not all bad news

Within a few days of this sad episode, we spotted some better news with the broody hem who had been sitting on some eggs when we moved in.

As noted in an earlier post, two of the eggs had hatched and with 5 other eggs still in place under her there are hopes for more in the near future.

While not exactly part of the original plan, having left her sitting on the eggs all this time I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that some (or perhaps all) of them may hatch in the end!

We may have read up on chickens (and many other subjects) in preparation for this big adventure but a few books or videos have nothing on actually learning through practical experience.

Unconnected deaths

Luckily (if that’s the right word) another of the deceased animals was a wild rabbit which my grand-daughter found – fortunately with no blood or guts on display. However, rather than being upset by the episode, she was most impressed by how soft the fur was and was happy for us to move it somewhere out of the way so that nature could take it’s course.

Within the first week or so of living here, we also came across a dead ewe in an adjoining field along with her lamb which was looking a little confused. However a couple of quick phone calls to the neighbouring farmers eventually tracked down the owner and everything eventually worked out well – for the lamb at least.

Not so noisy guests

Our paddocks at the back have been set aside for another neighbour to use for his sheep but after 2 week delay in their arrival we can see very clearly how things can get out of control at this time of year. The grass has grown at an impressive rate but now that the sheep have arrived things can return to normal.

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The visitors are looking slightly surprised and very pleased to find themselves with so much good food around them. Perhaps this is why they seem to be very quiet with little noise other than the satisfied munching of grass?

I’m told these are “teenagers” which is a little worrying because we’ve already been through that phase some time ago with the children so I hope these new guests will be less troublesome.

What next?

So far there has been everything we hoped and a whole lot more that we hadn’t quite appreciated – I’m keeping my fingers crossed for much more like this in the future too! Perhaps with slightly fewer deaths though?

I’m certainly happy to get this sort of view while travelling back from work at the end of the day:

View of the North Pennines — I can see my house from here!

Assessing the first week

Now that we’ve reached the end of our first week here it makes sense to take stock of our (limited) progress so far. There are many things we’d like to do at some point in the future but we can only do a few at a time if we’re going to do them well.

Chickens

The existing flock of hens and cockerel are settling in to life under the new regime. I’m now being greeted by some of them in the morning when I turn up with some food, obviously I just have to accept that it’s the food they’re pleased to see and not me!

Fruit and Vegetables

After my preparations with planting rhubarb crowns in pots so they can move with us, I find a huge rhubarb plant already in place here. I don’t know how we missed it when viewing the house and land but it is throwing up a couple of large flowers which is something I’ve not seen before. I’ll eventually cut them off and try to bring the plant back into line but it’s nice to see for now.

There has been an urgent spate of seed planting although some are a little later than they should have been so we may not get great results. Beetroot, peas, carrots and onions have all been sown in the existing veg bed plus the longest chitted potatoes in history (March to June) are now also in their own area. Lettuces have also been sown in a seed tray but I’m not sure if they will get to any decent size as our rabbit population may be feeling a bit peckish. Careful though on fencing is needed I think.

Unfortunately it looks like the raspberry canes I transplanted into pots for the move have not taken too kindly to my efforts but there is still time for them to come around so I’ll wait a little longer.

Time will tell how much of a return we will get from all of this but I’m keen to learn about how things grow here and which areas are best for which types of plants. We’ll definitely get something for our efforts but it may be partly a crop and mostly some experience.

Meadows and pasture

The easy bits for us are the meadows which are looking great right now with lots of wildflowers giving a splash of colour. These will eventually get cut for hay around the middle of July and luckily for us a local farmer is happy to deal with that for us.

The pastures at the back of the house are rapidly filling with lush green grass as they have been empty during the period while the house was being sold. Now that we are in and feeling a bit more settled we have arranged for some sheep to be put on there by early next week (courtesy of the local farmer again). Perhaps next year we may consider some of our own but for now we can just watch from afar.

Woods

Any plans for the woods are still in the very early stages so its lucky that with trees everything moves at a much slower pace. Eventually maybe some pigs can be rotated through different areas but for now it’s better to sit back and see how things develop.

Potting shed

This will eventually be my pride and joy, a proper space to set up a potting shed with work benches and everything. One of the first tasks in there will be to put up some handy hooks and shelves so I can organise all the tools and equipment.

Enjoying the new environment

After the long build up to this move it has been a relief to have it all behind us. The whole transition has been helped by some wonderfully warm, sunny weather and long may it continue! One highlight has been evening walks through the woods after a final check on the chickens, some great views across the valley and lovely sunsets.

The long days mean more time to get things done but the downside is always the short nights especially when the morning sun shines directly into the bedroom despite the curtains. At least the cockerel is far enough away though…

Endings and beginnings

I have to start by saying just how lucky I feel right now with our house move completed. After what seems such a long time thinking about the various options, reading up on the subjects and planning for the future, it was almost surreal to turn into the driveway knowing that it belonged to us.

Our time living on the North East coast has been good but after almost 17 years I was ready for a change and with the kids all having left home we didn’t need 5 bedrooms anymore. I’m not sure that moving to a property with 15 acres can really be classified as “downsizing”, it’s not the usual mid-life crisis either but our house should retain its value better than a Maserati though!

We have been extremely lucky to start our life here with some excellent June weather with lots of blue skies and sunshine. The combination of good weather and huge open skies here just emphasise the beauty of the North Pennines – there’s a good reason for the AONB status here!

When we first viewed the place back in February there was a light dusting of snow but at the time the surveyor went to do his report in March there was too much snow so he had to come back again later to finish his job! I definitely prefer the conditions now but we are also aware of what the winter can bring.

So now I can sit outside overlooking the meadow and watch the lapwings, curlews, pheasants and rabbits in the evening sun while updating the blog. Life really doesn’t get much better than this… apart from having no internet connection yet other than via my mobile phone!

A very pleasing dilemma

With the completion of our move looming tomorrow I find that, in a quiet moment at work this morning, my thoughts turn to a dilemma which has been on my mind intermittently over the last few weeks. Among all the hassles of selling and buying property not to mention applying for a mortgage (twice!) this has never a major topic on my mind. However now I can turn my attention to the problem but I’m still not sure…

Should I rename this blog now we are moving to 15 acres?

It would surely be some form of false pretences to continue under the “Small Plot” banner when there will be so much land at our disposal. Of course for some “proper” farming people 15 acres might still be considered a small plot but as we’re moving from a typical suburban garden that is not an opinion to which I would subscribe.

We still have a wide range of “Big Ideas” for the future though so that part of the name if still very well suited. So far the plans have been limited by the available space but in future I suspect the limitation may well be a financial one instead!

Having said all that, I don’t think that “Big Plot Big Ideas” has quite the same ring to it and besides that comes across as a bit too obvious for my taste.

Maybe I should stick with the existing name as a way of keeping in touch with where it all started?

Living up to the name

Today is exactly 1 year to the day since my first blog post and at that time the overall idea for Small Plot Big Ideas was still coming together in my head. A big idea or grand scheme is all very well but you need to start somewhere and all I had was a suburban garden, a small plot, so I made the best of what I had at the time. Looking back now I don’t think I really knew where the whole concept would lead but I always felt that I would know when I was making progress and that nothing was impossible (although some ideas have proved completely impractical!).

The internet is awash with excellent blogs from people with more growing experience and writing talent than me but I still felt like I had something to contribute. Besides a secondary purpose for my blog was always to act as a diary so I can look back on the highs and lows through the seasons. With my non-existent writing experience being roughly on a par with my limited vegetable growing it seemed an obvious solution to learn about both things as I go along.

There has been a great deal of progress over the last year with the focus on vegetable growing plus the introduction of the chickens. However I’m still very aware that we have barely scratched the surface in the world of smallholding and the knowledge we lack outweighs the knowledge we have gained so far.

Although the garden produce was always the main interest, I should confess that the blog might not have lasted so long if it wasn’t for WordPress. The beauty of blogging software like WordPress for me is that I can indulge my technical side with add ons (plug-ins) and themes for customisation if I want to but it’s always optional. As a system it separates the content from the presentation so I can change the look and feel without the need to wade knee deep in computer code or rewriting past scribblings.

So the big news on the first anniversary is that we have accepted an offer on our Small Plot and (fingers crossed) will be moving to our Big Idea in a couple of months. More by luck than judgement, it turns out that everything is still on course and recent events are roughly following the general theory – particularly the “big ideas” bit as we hope to take on 15 acres!

Exciting times lie ahead I’m sure even though the potential timing for the move will probably mean leaving some of this years vegetables in the garden at the old house (where pots can’t be used). That is a relatively small price to pay in my opinion and an unexpected bonus for the new owners when they move in!

Watch this space…

What happened to November?

I’m not sure how it has happened but after a quick check of the calendar I found that it’s been around 6 weeks since the last blog update. I know that in general not much is growing at this time of year and so there wouldn’t be much progress to report but even by my (generally low) standards this is a bit poor!

I think it must be time to address that deficiency with a general update…

Garden

It’s nice to note that almost everything that has died down in the garden has not done so as a result of my amateur efforts!

After a promising start the runner beans faded out but I like to think that was mostly a consequence of the very wet weather we had about that time. The leeks which had looked so promising have just not lived up to my optimistic expectations. There is no danger of them winning any competitions but they are still perfectly edible of course (except where the chickens have had a go at them)

On the whole the potatoes, carrots and garlic were fairly successful but the broccoli seedlings I was given ended up mostly being chicken food – at least they seemed to enjoy it!

Perhaps the main disappointment has been the onions which were grown using sets I ordered from Marshalls. Although they did grow a little the final results don’t look anything like I had expected. I’ve not grown onions before so perhaps I was being unrealistic and maybe next time I’ll try growing them from seed but use another supplier like Thompson & Morgan instead.

Chickens

The 3 chickens have scarified the furthest section of lawn to within an inch of it’s life but that was only to be expected. One benefit of the recent heavy rain has been that we needed to move the chicken run to the other end of the lawn which has had the effect of limiting any further damage in the original location.

We don’t know what to expect through the winter months but so far we are still getting fairly regular egg laying from them. An occasional 2 egg day is slightly more frequent now perhaps but we careful not to apportion any blame so I won’t name and shame the offender.

The most noticeable difference for me is that I only see the chickens at weekends now – from Monday to Thursday I head off to work in the dark and get back home in the dark. It’s only briefly on a Friday when I can leave work a little earlier and obviously over the weekend that I get to see them in daylight.

Smallholding property hunt

There have been a couple of occasions when we have experienced the minor disappointment of finding what looked to be a suitable property but because we haven’t sold yet we have been unable to take things further. On the bright side though, there have also been a couple of properties which had offers accepted but which have now come back on the market so there’s always hope.

There is a general feeling that the Tyne Valley or North Pennines will probably be the eventual destination but nothing can be finalised until we get a buyer for our property (and have an offer accepted for somewhere too!). We’d like to think that we’re not too bothered at this stage but I’m sure that when the time comes we’ll be just as picky as anyone else would be.

Future plans

Any planning for life on the smallholding will necessarily be guided by the property we finally manage to buy but we are managing to devote some time to general ideas so that at least we feel like we’re making progress.

Having had back garden chickens for some time we will certainly increase the numbers over time and maybe even go for meat birds as well as layers. We got our existing 3 hybrids from Durham Hens and we’re very happy with them but there are many other places like Heydon Bridge Hens, Teviotdale Farm etc if we fancy trying something different.

As far as the other likely livestock we will try, I think that one of early contenders would have to be pigs – probably Tamworths to start with as I’ve already been for a very entertaining day at Yearle Tamworths near Wooler. There are generally some weaners available at most times of the year so we can hopefully plan things to suit our other workload.

I’m still not quite so certain about having cows or goats but in time it would be interesting to work with something for dairy produce. Personally I would favour goats but that’s mainly because I’ve always thought of cows as big scary beasts but also because I have occasionally had some goat meat from The Goat Company and its fantastic when done in a slow cooker.

Perhaps we may chose a few Shetland cattle then they wouldn’t seem so threatening as they are smaller and they are still very hardy so I might feel a little differently.

There are also loose plans about providing some sort of holiday accommodation but this would depend on the options available on the property we eventually buy. Many places we have seen have a barn or outbuildings which could be converted but I wouldn’t rule out the idea of a couple of Tents, Yurts or Tipis if there were no other options. I’m very impressed by the set up at Wild Northumbrian but haven’t yet had a chance to try them out – I think I’ll wait until spring now though!

Patience is a virtue

In the meantime we have to recognise that this is not the best financial climate (or time of year) to be selling property. We can only be patient, keep watching the property websites and handle an occasional viewing of our own property.

With so much to take on board and so many mistakes we are likely to make along the way, I’m more than happy to make the most of this time for planning and learning.

Do you have any top tips for novice smallholders that you can share?

Big decisions take time (but not too long I hope)

Every so often I come across posts on other blogs that I follow which resonate strongly with my current personal situation. One such recent example is Back to the land which is on a blog from Devon – a place which has assumed mythical proportions in my head because I’ve been told we can’t buy a smallholding there as it’s too far away from the kids!

That particular blog post dates from August so it’s not exactly recent but it echos many of my own thoughts and even more so after watching the episode of The Audience last night about a guy deciding whether to give up farming.

For me it seems obvious that working on (and with) the land must be more fulfilling than sitting in an office but of course the grass is always greener – at least I hope it will be when we eventually get around to buying somewhere! I just don’t quite understand why you wouldn’t want to be working outside…

I know it’s important to carefully consider this kind of decision and occasionally it’s sensible to stop and think about other things than just the day to day grind. However I’m also very conscious of the well-known John Lennon quote:

Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans

(After a quick check on the web I find that this quote was originally attributed to Allen Saunders and it actually appears in a 1957 edition of the Readers Digest!)

A busy week or so ahead

First up is a viewing for our house by potential buyers this afternoon – it’s only been on the market so it’s still early days and we’re not expecting too much from this viewing.

This will be closely followed by an evening appointment to view a potential property. This place is so far west in Northumberland that it’s practically Cumbria but I won’t hold that against it! A nice looking place but I’ve learnt not to put too much faith in the estate agents particulars.

Tomorrow (Sat 18) is the much-anticipated (by me at least) Falstone Show (http://www.falstoneshow.com/) which was originally established in 1885 so they should know how to put on a good show by now. I’ve got my fingers crossed for some good weather on the day and after checking the BBC Weather website the prediction looks okay:

Saturday

A much drier, brighter day with sunny spells developing after early mist clears. Generally dry but the odd shower is possible. Warm in sunshine and light winds.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2649713

Although not quite as old as the Falstone show, there is also the 120th Glendale Show (http://www.glendaleshow.com/) which takes place on Bank Holiday Monday (August 27th). It makes sense to take them up on their offer of cheaper tickets in advance by buying online (£9 in advance instead of £12 on the door) so I’ll be doing that later today.

Both these events should provide great sources of inspiration for our smallholding ideas along with any number of handy shopping opportunities which we should probably try to resist until we’ve actually bought somewhere!

If you were wondering what to do over the rest of the school holidays then find a local show near you and take a look at the list on this website: http://www.stackyard.com/orgs/agricultural_shows/dates.html

It’s just a shame that my job is going to take up quite a lot of the week as well but that can’t be helped… yet!