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residential weekend course
low-impact smallholding |
This
course is run by Simon Fairlie of Chapter
7, former co-editor of the Ecologist magazine, trustee
of Tinker's
Bubble Community, and author of Low-impact Development.
Are you thinking
of establishing a smallholding? Are you planning to live or build
on your smallholding? Are you hoping to make a full-time or part-time
living from it? If so, this course is designed to help you plan
ahead and avoid the many pitfalls. The course will cover:
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first
find your land:
assessing a plot of land; what you can do with it and what it
will demand of you; different social structures; family / individual
smallholdings; community smallholdings and subdivided farms;
ways of acquiring land
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buildings:
existing buildings; getting planning permission; options for
low-impact dwellings; barns and outbuildings
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managing
the land: different habitats and their needs - grassland,
woodland, orchards and arable; relationship between animals,
crops and wildlife
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laying
out the infrastructure: how intensive? what sort of
power - tractor, horse or spade? layout of buildings, tracks
and fencing; water and energy supply; waste management
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ethical
and environmental issues: can one be both sustainable
and profitable? reducing fossil fuel use; relations with wildlife;
animal welfare
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making
it pay: subsistence production; commercial production;
processing and adding value; marketing; diversification; grants
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paperwork:
simple business plans; organic certification; insurance; environmental
health; DEFRA paperwork
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avoiding
burn-out: gauging workload; limiting aspirations; getting
help
We will
be looking at a number of smallholdings (eg Tinker's Bubble,
Fivepenny Farm, The Trading Post, Northdown Orchard, Prickly Nut
Wood etc) and finding out what has made them successful.
Tinker's Bubble is a community smallholding, started in 1994 on
a bareland holding, comprising 26 acres of woodland and 13 acres
of agricultural land. Fivepenny Farm and The Trading Post are family-run
commercial smallholdings, started by former residents of Tinker's
Bubble.
NB: the course will consider vegan systems of land management, and
vegans are welcome, but they will have to put up with a considerable
amount of stuff about animals. The course will cover woodland holdings
as well as purely agricultural holdings.
more
on land / smallholding
how
to book: |
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if you can't open
the booking form, you need Acrobat
Reader - it's free
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arrive: |
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Friday
evening at 6.30 for dinner at 7.30 |
depart: |
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Sunday
after lunch (served at 1.00) |
directions: |
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click here for
directions by bicycle, public transport and car |
what
to bring: |
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pen
and notebook; towel
(meals and bedding are provided)
NO DOGS PLEASE |
let
us know: |
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if
you are vegan or have any food allergies, or any special needs |
accommodation: |
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3-4
people sharing single-sex rooms |
prices: |
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£190
high-waged; £160 waged;
£130 student / unwaged
Refundable up to two weeks prior to course (minus £30
admin fee)
No refunds for cancellations within two weeks of course
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discounts:
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car
sharing: |
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a woodland
smallholding in Wales, where a family make a living from woodland
crafts, herbs and poultry; living in a cabin and presently applying
for planning permission
Fivepenny Farm's market stall
one way of
getting the hay in - one horse-power at Tinker's Bubble
the communal roundhouse at Tinker's Bubble
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