Smallholders in the Playground

[JellyPooga]

Following my recent loss of employment I've decided to move back to my parents' farm, which currently eats more money than it makes, to try and make a living as a smallholder.

The goal is to get as close to self-sufficiency as possible, with the option to sell any surplus (as opposed to trying to run the farm as a fully commercial venture). We've got 13 acres with outbuildings, a small flock of sheep, a few cattle and pigs and some fairly good garden soil (good for veg and such, rather than fields of grain crops). Come September, I hope to be starting on a college course or two for pointers, but until then I've only got my own wits and my mothers' experience to date (which isn't a lot!).

I was just wondering if there were any other farmers or smallholders, amateur gardeners or the like here in the playground with advice, stories of success/failure at similar projects or any ther words of wisdom for a starting out smallholder!

[Jimorian]

No experience, but maybe a couple of ideas to play off of.

First, see about getting certification as "organic" so that what you do sell fetches a premium (assuming it does over there like in the U.S.)

Second, maybe look into opening a "working bed & breakfast" where people come for the real rustic experience, including mucking out the stalls. :smallwink:

Come up with a list of chores, assign points depending on how hard/messy they are, and part of the rental agreement is they have to do their fair share. What else could be better than having somebody pay you to work there?

Might work best to get a full amount up front in case they get lazy, then deduct for work they actually do.

Oh, and watch Good Neighbors. Repeatedly. You won't learn anything about self-sufficiency, but at least you'll get to look at Felicity Kendell. :smalltongue:

[Exeson]

Jimor's idea of a working bed and breakfast sounds like a very interesting one. Considering most Brits are looking closer to home for holidays it could actually be a viable option.

I'm not exactly sure how you would go about running it but I would definitely consider it if I was in charge of planning our family holidays.

[Seonor]

First of all, you need help, a plan, and money. Try to find a local section of a farmassotiation (your best bet is probably an organic group, since you are probably not big enough to make a living without the extra money). The soil association (http://www.soilassociation.org/) seems like a good start, but every group should work. If you know a farmer, ask him. Even if you didn't find the right group, they can help you find other groups, contacts with suppliers and so on.
If your parents don't already have them, you probably need machines (depends on what you are growing). In Germany there are groups called Maschinenring, which share mashines and other helpfull stuff, but I don't know if there are similar groups in the UK.
One of the groups above should also be able to help with the bureaucracy. You will need all the money you can get and there are few european programms that should atleast contribute a few pounds.
Agrotourism can be a good way to make your money, but you will need to build the rooms first, which can be costly if you don't already have them. If you want to do that, a few horses double your chances. If you ad a carriage, you can make some (small) money driving peopla around.

One word of warning: If you are not ready to be be a farmer, don't be one. If you have animals you won't be able just to go away for a few nice days of vacation if you don't have a trustworthy replacement (you are lucky, your parents can probably help there) and if you think you can just call it a day if you want to have the evening off, well, you can't.
This not meant to discourage you, it can be fun and rewarding, but you should know that it can be hard sometimes.