one-day course smallholder day

location: Templecombe, Somerset

This is an introductory day course covering a wealth of topics. Its ideal for people thinking about making that step into buying or renting land  or  those who have a large garden and are wondering what they can do with it in order to become more self-sufficient.

The day usually starts with a walk round the farm to view the various livestock pens, polytunnel and the new ‘mini-farm’ set up to show people how you can farm just two-thirds of an acre and be mostly self-sufficient in meat, eggs and veg.  Back inside, Sally covers topics such as the amount of land you need, the absolute essentials, the desirables and things to avoid.  We will cover the  issues associated with planning,  and water and electricity supply. We tell you how to register your smallholding and give you details of some of the grants and subsidies that  you may be able to claim. During the session we cover other topics such as land management, hedging, pasture, rotations, weed control, fencing and equipment.

The afternoon session is focused on livestock, covering poultry, sheep, goats, pigs, cattle, and bees – setting up, purchase of stock, how much land they need and the costs of keeping them. We will touch on the sale of produce too. [Note there is no time to go into the detail of keeping livestock on this course rather the pros and cons of the different animal types].

dates: see 'book online' below

more on smallholding

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

the venue is a 100-acre organic farm on the edge of the Blackmore Vale in Somerset