New beginnings everywhere... Learning about MICROHOLDINGS #adsactly #ecotrain
I have been looking at moving to Wales for about 15 years now. I have always wanted my own piece of land to grow veggies and keep some chickens and have plenty of room for my pooches to run around and play without the constraints of leads and roads etc. Unfortunately we have never been in a situation to be able to get there!
I have contacted estate agencies to see if there are properties to rent but there are literally no suitable properties available unless you have £1500+ per month to spend on rent! (crazy money)
I have always grown veggies in my small garden but nothing compared to what I would like to produce to feed my family for any period of time.
BUT... I have now been inspired by a post written by @wwf (go check out his blog, there is so much fantastic information to learn about life).
In a nutshell, these guys made the move to live on a good amount of land but have realised through time and experience that less is more and are now going to downsize to be more efficient and to be able to achieve their life goals. I think this is fantastic!
So I have shelved the dream of living off large amounts of land and started to look at alternatives. I have now discovered... microholdings!
So what is a microholding? Essentially, it is a miniature smallholding (or homestead) that is run on a small amount of land ie your back yard! I guess I have already been working towards this in the past with growing veggies in my garden in pots, but I am now thinking of trying to maximise the space I have to produce more food for my family each year.
I have to be practical, I have 5 dogs so I need to keep a section for them to venture outside when they need to go to the loo, but I can partition off areas that can be kept dog free and grow food there. I am lucky in the fact that my garden is south facing so we get the sun all day (when it appears in the UK lol)
So what veggies should I grow in a small space? I think climbers are a good idea. Peas and beans will easily grow up the side of a fence, as will raspberries. I really don't need to plant blackberries as I live in the woods and we are swamped with blackberries when they start to appear! (note to self, don't forget to go blackberry picking soon)
Tomato plants will also do well growing up the side of a fence. I think as we eat a lot of lettuce, that has to be one of the things I grow, I can even do this on my windowsill! Onions and radishes are a family favourite and radishes grow really fast so they would be a great crop to grow.
Potatoes grow really well in my garden, but they take up so much space and most of the time we don't eat them and end up giving them away to friends and family so I don't think I will grow them from now on.
As for livestock, I could keep a few hens in the garden. They would have to be of the smaller variety, but it is possible. The only thing I worry about is that my dogs may scare them so this will take a bit more thought.
So, here are my initial thoughts on achieving my dream on a smaller scale, lets see how it pans out! :D
Thank you for visiting my blog! Much love, @beautifulbullies xx
(Thank you to unsplash.com for the free images)
Yes new beginnings everywhere. Good for you. It will be neat to see how your adventure goes. There are so many ways to use a small space. Companion planting can also help.
For example plant your peas with your tomatoes and then you don't need a fence. The peas can climb the tomato plants and you get two crops in one. Just a thought.
Oh wow! I did not know that! thank you for the tip, I shall be writing that in my planner for next year! :D
Your welcome. There are websites about which plants to companion plant. I go there each year to see what to plant together.
Have a great day.☺
This is so true, we have three acres here at Toad Hall and the vast amount (it's not that much but for one person it is) of land is daunting. That is why this year I scaled down my veg garden to a 20 foot by 8 foot garden. I actually feel like I am getting more out of it this year then my huge 20 foot by 40 foot one I dismantled and scaled down.
Even my smaller raised flower beds I made this year as part of my terrace project have been nicer as you need less plants for more impact and I find myself enjoying this small space so much that our property could be 1/4 the size and I'd be fine.
My dream of course is land in UK, but of course I could only visit my own house for a few months a year :(
Good luck!
We should do a house swap for 6 months lol I would love to have 3 acres for my dogs to run around. Maybe one day...
Awesome, we can share something-I also love this. Today i will go to my mothers home. We are growing potatoes and all sorts of things. Not a large amount of land. maybe 100x100m
That is fantastic! There are so many people growing their own food nowadays, I love it! :D
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Thank you so much! :D I am glad you enjoyed it :)
I love this thoughts of you. Most people dream of big, bigger, biggest ... and as far as I know, at least "dog-people" do dream that way. We want space for the dogs to run free, we want a big field for the dogs to play ... And most of the time the "growing my own food dream" comes along with the "big doggie playfields dream". But the fact is, there are not so much people lucky enough to reach that all, and when we are lucky enough ... most of all the things don't come true because you simply have too much.
In every garden you can grow your own food. And that's something that I think much more people should do. Learn to be creative and use the space you do have, instead of dreaming of space you don't have. And for the dogs? They are most happy when they're with you! On the one square meter beside your feet ... under the table you're sitting on, right beside your chair ... and happy to go out with you. Yes they would love a big field, a big garden, but most of all they love to be with you. They don't care about the house. As long as you are there ... that's all that matters for the dogs.
Great post, and very nice photography in this post. I see you really enjoy your camera!
I can't take credit for the photos I am afraid, they are courtesy of unsplash.com free images!
I completely agree, we should all try and grow some of our own food, it is a healthy practice and it also tastes a million times better! :D
I totally get where you are coming from right now about the dogs being happy just to be close... mainly because I am being squashed by 3 bulldogs! haha :)
Three shepherds are the same. They just need more playtime on their walks, and some more attention, but they are always with me, no matter where I am. In the garden, or in the house ... the square meter where I am, there they are too.
I can't remember if you had seen it, but our Lexxieboy, our oldest one has passed away the 28th of june. So now there are only three left ... and even though there are three, the house does still feel empty.
oh no! :( I am so sorry to hear this sad news. I feel your pain, I lost my boy shepherd last year too and you truly cannot describe the loss. Hugs xx
Here's a post I wrote for Lexxieboy. To honor him and to say "Thank you for being in my life"
https://steemit.com/ocd-resteem/@hetty-rowan/last-letter-to-lexxieboy?sort=trending
oh my goodness I can't bring myself to read it :( I know it will bring back some heartbreak too. I don't think I could write a letter to my boy even now, you are so brave
this is a great idea, you should look into vertical gardening which has great ideas for growing food in small places, I ran a workshop in France before and made pallet garden and used plastic bottles stacked to grow salads and herbs, there is also amazing stuff you can do with barrels oh and check out herb spiral garden, have fun lovely mama, so exciting to be making new plans
That is a brilliant idea, thank you! :D
I love this. Your vision sounds so refreshing. We absolutely love our little garden but always talk about how we want it bigger. The misses would love to have small animals too but we live in town and not is a space conducive to that. Our garden this year is doing so well, we have lots of onions and zucchini and tomatoes and so much more. We have been eating well in the veggie department.
It is the first year I haven't grown anything already! I have actually been out today and bought some carrot lettuce and radish seeds and have planted them in the garden. My husband has sectioned off an area already for me to use! How cool is that! :D I must take some photos and post an update...
Sounds good if you can get a plot close to your home, otherwise you will need to take camping gear with you!
When people speak of allotments, I always think of Arthur Fowler...
Haha I will defo be buying a cap like that! xD The idea is to try and use my garden as much as I can. I had an allotment once but there was no water access which was a pain and there wasn't enough rainfall to keep the crops growing even using the water collector's
Although we are lucky enough to have a fair bit of land, the amount we actually use for growing our veg is small.
With 'intensive' (although still organic) gardening you can produce a whole lot from a small space.
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What crops do you find take up the least amount of room if you don't mind me asking? Obviously it is too late to start planting now, but I want to try and plan it out ready for next year. unless you can recommend some veggies that I can plant now too? :D
Carrots and lettuce are good ones that don't take too much room. And onions.
I like broad beans and beetroot too.
I grow a lot of cabbages and brassicas but they take a lot of room for what you get out of them, and they need netting to keep the butterflies off.
There is still time to get some things this year - like carrots and lettuces. We still have about 10 - 12 weeks of good growing time.
awesome, thank you! I had forgotten about beetroot, I love pickled beetroot on a salad, you can't beat it! :D I am off to get some carrot and lettuce seeds now haha
You can often pick up some cheap seeds this time of year. Even places like Wilko and the other big stores try to clear their stocks now.
yep, off to wilkos I went lol my hubby has even sectioned off some of the garden for me already and I have planted the seeds this afternoon! :D I have lettuce, radish and carrots in the ground and hopefully they will grow nicely with all this sunshine :)
That's excellent. Let me know how they grow.
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Thank you so much guys!