The Good Life - starting a smallholding

PUBLISHED: 08:11 28 March 2014 | UPDATED: 14:09 12 May 2014

Smallholders are a varied bunch – some have lived in the country all their lives, others leave behind totally different jobs to take up some kind of smallholding enterprise and lead a completely new way of life. You might be thinking of joining their ranks...

Starting on your first smallholding can be daunting – the lengthy, and often expensive, search for the right property or the right piece of land, perhaps moving to a new area or making career or lifestyle changes are steps towards your smallholding, but once you’re ready to make a start and actually get some animals, or start planning activities, what is it that you need to think about first?

Country Smallholding provides some tips on starting a smallholding:

Smallholding:

Smallholding: starting out

The Good Life - starting a smallholding

Starting a smallholding - find the right property

Starting smallholding: a quick class

A low cost smallholding

Smallholding can feed the world

Tips on buying machinery

Planning permission: the basics

Making money from smallholding

Can smallholding feed the world?

The Good Life - The Next Stage

Making money from smallholding

The Good Life - Grow Your Own Vegetables

The Good Life - Tools and Equipment

Livestock:

Keeping livestock: an introduction

Choosing the right livestock

Choosing livestock

The Good Life - Keeping Poultry

The Good Life - Keeping Animals

Keeping your animals dry and mud-free

Smallholding for beginners part 3: Which skills do I need to be successful?

Thursday, January 28, 2021 Emily Damment

the most important skill of all is learning from one’s successes and failures, and knowing that the more skilled you are, the luckier your smallholding life becomes.
Credit: Darwel/Getty

What sort of skills do I need to be a smallholder or become self-sufficient? Debbie Kingsley outlines essential skills for smallholders in part 3 of her series for beginners

Smallholding for beginners part 2: Can I make money from a smallholding?

Tuesday, January 26, 2021 Emily Damment

Smallholding can give you a very rich life, but it is unlikely to make you wealthy in purely financial terms.

In part 2 of her series on smallholding for complete beginners, Debbie Kingsley answers the question: can I make money from my smallholding?

Smallholding for beginners part 1: how much time will a smallholding take up?

Thursday, December 3, 2020 Emily Damment

How much time should I epxect to spend on my small holding?
Credit: EduardSV

Debbie Kingsley starts off this series on smallholding for complete beginners with a question: how much time does having your own smallholding require?

Sheep husbandry: Get the best from your flock

Friday, August 23, 2019

Selecting ewe lambs to keep is one of the most pleasurable tasks a smallholder can undertake (photo: Tim Tyne)

Autumn is the time for the selection of replacement breeding stock. Tim Tyne offers advice on picking out the cream of your new crop of lambs, or looking at alternatives to rejuvenate the flock

Getting started with goats: Buying stock, meat, milking, foot care and more

Friday, August 23, 2019 Lee Connor

It is important not to lose sight of the fact that you need to be able to handle the goats you buy when you get them home (photo: Sue de Carteret/Getty Images)

If you’re taking the plunge and are intending to buy goats there are several things to consider before you part with your money, not least whether you want them for meat, milk or fibre. Lee Connor offers some sage advice

Guide to showing sheep at local agricultural shows

Thursday, June 20, 2019

Championship line-up at a small show (photo: Tim Tyne)

Local agricultural shows are the ideal forum at which beginners to the circuit can show their sheep, says Tim Tyne, who also advises on stock selection and preparation