Kim Stoddart speaks to a couple who are showing that you can aim for a degree of self-sufficiency without having your own smallholding
How do you live ‘the good life’ without a smallholding of your own? Dave and Gill Eustace have achieved this around their home in the Peak District.
Dave explained that they have a mixed economy lifestyle which is realistic, achievable, and indeed ideal for those who want some self-sufficiency but can’t afford, or don’t want to commit, to a pure smallholding life.
What Dave and Gill do have is a large back garden and an allotment plot in the field next to their house which the neighbouring farmer lets them use. They are growing lots of their own fruit and vegetables, making their own beer, baking their own bread and also operating a small natural soap and skin care business, Hayfield Holistics, which they run from their kitchen.
The couple met in 2008 by way of a newspaper dating website and sold up their respective houses to buy a bigger place together. They did consider moving to Wales or even France, but Dave had close ties to his community in Hayfield and the village was convenient for his commute to work in Manchester, so he was reluctant to move. Gill, being a country girl at heart, was happy to move across the Pennines from Sheffield, so they pooled resources and bought a larger Victorian house on the edge of the village.
A new business
Gill had worked as a primary school teacher for 25 years and had become very stressed and ground down by the job, so with the move she gave up her work and spent the first year enthusiastically focused on doing up their property. Whilst deciding what to do next, the couple took a holiday in Lyme Regis and came across a handmade soap shop which became the inspiration for her future business.
This story is from the Spring 2017 edition of Country Smallholding.
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This story is from the Spring 2017 edition of Country Smallholding.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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