How to Get Started on a Smallholding – Part Three

Are you interested in becoming a smallholder? Would you like to find out what is involved in getting started on your smallholding? Here is part three in a series intended to help you turn your smallholding dreams into reality!

So, you have your smallholding! The last post outlined the big ticket items to consider in your early days and weeks on your new property. You should have a list of urgent and less pressing projects to work through as time and conditions allow.

This post will cover your next steps to turn your self-sufficiency dreams into reality!

Final Preparations for Livestock

If you plan to keep livestock, you will have secured your boundaries and organised appropriate housing and shelter.

Before you move your animals in, you must register for a County Parish Holdings (CPH) number, or equivalent if you live outside the UK. This is a unique identifier which your animals will be registered against. It is a requirement whether you are planning to rescue animals, keep them as pets or use livestock for animal products.

If you live in Scotland and intend to keep birds, you will additionally need to join the Scottish Kept Bird register.

Then you will at last be ready to look for your new furry. woolly or feathered friends!

I would recommend speaking to local farmers in the first instance. Even if they don’t have any animals to move on, they can provide sound advice regarding breeds that are well suited to the local climate. And you can ask for a second opinion about stocking rates and land management on your property.

If you are in a position to rescue animals in need, send a few feelers out via your neighbouring farmers. They often have “pets” after lambing and calving. So you will soon be inundated with offers!

Charitable organisations such as Homes4Hens rehome thousands of ex-commercial laying birds each year. If that interests you, do some research to find out what is available in your area. It’s so rewarding to give these beautiful birds a second chance in a loving home!

As soon as your animals have arrived, be sure to register with a good vet with experience in caring for farm animals.

Vegetable Garden

So you have established the boundaries for your vegetable garden, and you have started digging some beds.

Before you actually plant anything out in your garden, it may be a good idea to test your soil. You can purchase home-testing kits from most reputable garden centres. These tests will measure the pH, as well as the level of various trace elements in the soil.

It can be handy to have this information before planting out into your garden. Some plants have specific requirements from their growing environment. You may choose to add amendments to your soil, or grow fussy plants in pots so that you have a bit more control.

Once you have a rough plan for your first year in the vegetable garden, you can go ahead and place your seed order. We use Premier Seeds Direct every year; they have a fantastic selection of reasonably-priced seeds, and they always use minimal packaging.

A final garden job for now: get some compost bays set up sooner rather than later. You will soon have bucketfuls of organic waste coming out of your kitchen and garden. Make sure you have somewhere to deposit them so they can rot down, and you will have your own compost next year!

Firewood and Wood Store

There’s a good chance your rural property will have a wood-burning stove. It may just be a small stove to heat a single room. Or a larger wet stove which is plumbed into your central heating and hot water system. Whatever you have inherited, it is well worth making use of it!

You will need some well-seasoned wood to burn, and a safe and dry place to store it.

Again, making friends with some nearby farmers may be helpful with this! Many farms have diversified to include woodland which they clear fell at intervals to sell the trunks. If you’re lucky, they will have some split and seasoned wood for sale. But otherwise, place an order that you can split and dry yourself.

If you have an outbuilding, you can store your firewood there until you have the opportunity to build your own woodstore.

I hope this installment has been helpful in getting you started and set up for success on your smallholding! Part four will cover the pros and cons of machinery, workaways and WWOOFERS!