Small by name, but not by nature

Five smallholders tell Julie Harding about their journey towards self-sufficiency

- Julie Harding

The chef-turned-farmer

JULIUS ROBERTS would stare at the producers delivering fresh food to the Noble Rot restaurant in London, where he worked as a chef, and envy their sunny, healthy demeanours. By contrast, he felt withered from lengthy shifts in a scorching kitchen. Eventually, fearing the onset of burnout, he handed in his notice and headed for his family's holiday cottage and its eight acres in Suffolk.

'It was a leap of faith, but soon I found myself connecting with Nature,' reveals the former sculpture student. Mr. Roberts's first purchase was four hirsute Mangalitsa piglets that arrived in the back of their breeder's car. 'I watched them walk into their pen in the woods shell-shocked and then sniff and come alive. It was a defining moment for me. It made me want to change perceptions and show consumers how much intellect and sensitivity there is in animals and how important it is to shop right.'

Mr. Roberts, 29, set up an Instagram page to chart his sustainability story (@juliusroberts), which included, two years later, taking his pigs to slaughter. He now has 150,000 followers and various spin-off opportunities including a programme for Channel 5 called A Taste of the Country that will air at 7.30 pm on July 5.

Having now relocated to a small farm in Dorset, Mr Roberts is kept relentlessly busy caring for 50 Hebridean sheep and 30 British Primitive goats, a flock of Copper Marans and Cream Legbar chickens and his garden is overflowing with hearty vegetables and herbs. 'I generally sell goats for breeding and the lambs for meat,' he reveals. 'However, it's not so much about the money you're making; it's more about feeding yourself, as well as boosting biodiversity. It's a way of life that I love and I could never go back to the city.'

The goat-fleece spinner