All work and no play is no way to enjoy yourself, but when Liz Shankland gets a break from her new smallholding, it’s often a busman’s holiday
I keep saying I need to get out more, and I have started to listen to my own advice at last. Inevitably, though, when I go out, it’s normally to do something associated with smallholding.
I’ve joined two local smallholders’ groups down here in west Wales – the long-established Dyfed Smallholders’ Association, and the more recently-formed Talley and Cwmdu Smallholders’ Club – so, at long last, I am starting to widen my circle of like-minded people. It’s always good to meet fellow landowners, visit their homes, and listen to others talking about their passions for different types of livestock, the crafts they enjoy, or the various ways they have chosen to make their land work for them.
Still, however interesting it may be to learn about new subjects, my primary interest is, and always will be, pigs. Some people reckon it’s become a bit of an obsession over the years, and I never tire of talking about them. Since moving to west Wales, I’ve been within easy reach of a number of really useful workshops and training events organised by Mentur Moch Cymru, a Welsh Government-funded project set up with the aim of increasing the size of the pig herd in Wales.
Free workshops so far have included sessions on improving piglet survival, successful farrowing, and management of gilts, and I was even lucky enough to get a place on a sausage making and bacon curing course which would otherwise have cost several hundred pounds.
University visit
Denne historien er fra October 2017-utgaven av Country Smallholding.
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Denne historien er fra October 2017-utgaven av Country Smallholding.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
The Secret World Of The Honey Bee
Who knew that honey bees are the best builders? Nicola Bradbear from Bees for Development reveals how they build their parallel wax combs with extraordinary accuracy
Tip the light fantastic
The latest offering from Ifor Williams Trailers is the Single Axle Tipper, which is simply perfect for small-scale farmers
The legacy of The Good Life
The Good Life captured the public’s imagination when it first aired in 1975. On Country Smallholding’s 45th birthday, Jeremy Hobson looks at this and other programmes with a self-sufficiency slant that have captivated urban and rural dwellers alike over nearly half a century
‘The hens took shelter under the pig trailer in the paddock'
A tree Armageddon frightens poultry diarist Julian Hammer’s flock and leaves him with a mammoth clear-up job
Tools of the trade
In the second part of his mini-series on tools that are useful around the holding, Kevin Alviti takes an in-depth look at the iconic scythe, a thistle paddle and forks that were once virtually indispensable to small-scale farmers
The nightclub bouncer of the sheep world
Adam Henson waxes lyrical about the Texel, which boasts such a stocky body that it resembles a box of muscle on four legs
Buying on a tight budget
As demand for smallholdings increases and prices continue to rise, is there a way to achieve your dream without forking out a fortune? In the first part of a new mini-series, Liz Shankland explores the possibilities
Crazy for crafts
In an ordinary back garden and single paddock near Kidderminster, Kay Dalloway has created both a thriving smallholding and a successful fibre business — all while working full time for the NHS. Helen Babbs drops by to find out about her ventures
Game on
A little preparation in the autumn months will help to make the transition into winter smoother and put your garden and tools on a better footing come the spring, says Stephanie Bateman
1975 And All That
Country Smallholding is 45 this month. To celebrate, Jeremy Hobson takes a look at some of the changes — both good and bad — to small-scale farming over that near half-century
