Weather Watching

A part of my daily life is checking the local weather forecast. Growing your own produce is very much reliant on the weather being favourable but in reality sometimes it's not! We've had some lovely days here and a rise in temperatures which means the seeds are starting to sprout which is great - the downside is that we've had more rain than usual for this time of the year and most of my garden is waterlogged.

Even with careful planning sometimes there are setbacks and delays. You have to learn to get over them and get on with the jobs you can do. Every square metre dug over or batch of seeds planted is a step forward, but rushing to get the job done then finding you're in for bad weather rarely pays off so is a step backwards.

If you're hoping to breed livestock then plan carefully when the offspring will be born. We had our first litter of piglets born when it was exceptionally cold, -23 degrees C, and it caused extra stress all round as we struggled to keep the babies warm. Not something we'd do again or advise. The next litter are due in August and we count ourselves lucky to have 6 healthy, happy and well grown piglets from the first litter.

What Will You Grow?

Deciding what to grow on your smallholding is a hard task. First you need to look at what type of soil you have to find out what will grow well. There's no point in planting lots of things that need sandy soil if you live in an area where the soil is predominately clay.

While the quality of your soil can be improved over time it does take hard work. Many people prefer to grow in raised beds but for me I like to plant direct in the ground. Speaking to your neighbours about what they grow can be a huge help. They're a font of knowledge, especially if, like in rural Bulgaria, they've been growing produce for a long time.

Being realistic about how much land to plant is key, remember you'll have to water and weed the plots for quite a long time and whilst in theory growing heaps of vegetables is very appealing, spending all day, every day watering and weeding can be very tiresome.

If like me you've had all winter to plan what you'll be growing you're almost ready to start planting now. We have our vegetable plot plowed at the end of the growing season (usually late October) and are waiting now for the last of the frosts to go and then we can get on and rotovate before starting to plant things out. I already have some seedlings waiting to go into the ground and a few things in a small winter vegetable patch that are hopefully getting a head start.

Which Livestock Will Suit You?

Taking on any livestock needs careful consideration. In a previous post I said that pigs are an excellent way of starting out and will help to clear land before planting - I still stand by that but advise anyone thinking about livestock to firstly read up, research what's available in your area and then think some more before taking the leap.

Chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys and other poultry all have different needs, some can't be housed together and others will tolerate different types sharing their environment. Pigs, cows, goats and sheep all take a fair amount of time to keep and will need more attention over winter months as the weather worsens and there is a possibility that they can't go out grazing, supplementary feeding becomes necessary and usually has to be bought over the summer months and stored.

Keeping Livestock

Livestock can be very rewarding whether you plan to rear them for meat or not. Chickens are good to start out with as they are relatively easy to keep and don't take up huge amounts of time or energy. There are a huge variety of breeds available and also ex-battery hens that are looking for new homes.

Again there are books to help you learn how to care for chickens and while many people buy them as fluffy one day old chicks they don't realise that it will be months before they start laying eggs and that if not sexed correctly their cute chicks could all turn out to be cockerels! Sexing chicks is not something for the novice to do although there are a couple of methods widely used.

Chick sexing made easy, A guide to sexing chicks, are a couple of books you could try. Myself I prefer to breed my own birds and then cull any unwanted cockerels before they become a problem. Laying hens can object to more than one cockerel and egg production can drop, plus fully matured cockerels will fight and often injure one another while trying to establish dominancy within a flock.

The Next Step

So you've read the books, joined the forums, found a piece of land and agreed a price or rental, signed the paperwork and now you're a smallholder - well not exactly but it's a good start!

If the land you've taken on hasn't been worked for any length of time then you are going to have to put in the time to make it productive. Garden tools can be very helpful but if your land resembles an overgrown weed patch then pigs can come in very handy. Not only will they root up the weeds and clear the land they will fertilize as they go and at the end you have happy, healthy pigs fattened up for slaughter.

Pigs do take some looking after but are generally easy going and friendly, they love company so should not be kept on their own and are very intelligent. They can also be very entertaining and love a good scratch or belly rub once they're used to you.

This book could help you decide which breed would be best for you and how to care for your new, all natural friends while they in turn take care of your weed garden!

However if you're not ready to start getting animals then have a word with a local farmer, he may have the time to come and plow your land and even though he may charge you for it the time it takes is nothing compared to how long and labour intensive it will be if you try to do it on your own.

Why Smallholding?

Is it a primal urge to fend for ourselves or a whim? Smallholders come from many different backgrounds and areas and each person will have their own set of reasons for becoming a smallholder. Do you want a fulfilling hobby that gives something back or are you more interested in a complete lifestyle of naturally grown vegetables and fruit plus animals that you've reared and cared for therefore know how they've been treat and kept?

For us it's a culmination of all of the above. We wanted to be more aware of where our food came from and how it was produced, we enjoy gardening and are not afraid of hard work. The one thing we didn't have at the time was the land to do it on, hence the move to Bulgaria. Here we can be mortgage free and live cheaper, although it's not without problems, I must admit that life here suits us.

Reading Material

Whilst the internet is a great place to look for reading materials I find it doesn't come close to actually having a book in your hand, something you can read over again and refer to when needed.Running Your Own SmallholdingSMALLHOLDINGS FOR ALL

There are some very helpful forums and internet sites offering good advice http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net is one I particularly like and the people seem very friendly too.

I'd really like to get hold of some smallholding books and here are just a few I'd start with.