Major Updates

I have been rather absent recently, but there have been a number of additions to our smallholding. Taking them in chronological order, first we collected two pedigree Oxford Sandy and Black gilts from near Watchet.



They are both birth notified pigs, and the breeder is obtaining the herd book certificates for us. This means that we can breed from them and, assuming we use a registered boar, register their offspring as pedigree OS&B which can attract a premium both for their meat and as breeding stock.

We have now moved all eight pigs to a local Estate. At the moment this is a bit of a joint venture with the landlord as he has some areas of woodland that are overgrown with brambles. The Estate also has amazing gardens which are currently being redesigned and will hopefully be opened to the public in the future - the plan is to be able to sell meat produced on the Estate to visitors to the gardens. The pigs caused a great stir when they arrived - half the Estate turned out to meet them! They've now settled in and seem very happy, if a little uninterested in the brambles - we're planning to cut their feed down a bit in the hope they do some more foraging.



Earlier this week we collected six point of lay bluebell chickens. We have a small shed in our garden (one of three - check us out!) which the previous owners left behind that we've (read: Ed) converted in to a chicken house, complete with an old sideboard (also left behind) as a nest box.



They also have an outside run, which we're planning to put a roof on for extra fox protection, particularly if we're a bit late getting them in.



That's about it on the smallholding updates, though I did look at a pony the other day........

Two amazing recipes

I cooked two amazing recipes on Friday that I thought I'd share. This post may appear not strictly to the point, but it is relevant in that part of what we're trying to do involves eating sustainably and in season, so I'll probably drop in the odd post about recipes that I find and love. I should probably interject here that I have a slight obsession with recipe books. My current favourites are:

River Cottage Everyday

Sarah Raven's Garden Cookbook

and Nigel Slater Tender

Anyway, I digress. On Friday I made curried fish pie and rhubarb clafoutis, both from the River Cottage Everyday book, for some lovely friends who were visiting for the weekend. They were A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I tweaked them slightly and changed the wheat flour for rice flour as I have a wheat intolerance, which worked absolutely fine. I can't put copies of the recipes here as a) I don't have the books with me and b) it would probably be infringing some kind of copyright. Suffice to say, they were delish and the leftovers were vigorously fought over on Sunday morning after the guests had left!

Edited to add, Hugh has very kindly posted the curried fish pie on the River Cottage website, you can find it here

We have lift off!

Well, pigs anyway. The farming (well, perhaps smallholding would be more accurate at this stage, but there's no harm in being ambitious) operation is underway.

On Saturday afternoon we collected six Saddleback cross Landrace weaners. They're all 12 weeks old and from the same litter, not that you'd know from looking at them.



They had been living inside so it really lovely to see them exploring their surroundings - and getting used to electric fence...! We're going to keep them in the pen we built, which is about 25m x 25m for the next two weeks or so while they get used to us, and living outside etc and then move them to the woodland we're renting (more about that later).

The people we bought them from have been feeding them weaner pellets, about 1kg each per day, so we're keeping going with that for now even though they can forage outside as they will be using extra calories to keep warm. We'll keep an eye on this though and review as necessary. We're planning to weigh them before we move them so then we'll have more idea when they might be 'ready'.

The pig pen (a work in progress)

So, work commenced on the pig pen last Monday. We started with this:



(ok, this is a bit after we'd started as I've laid out the posts, but I forgot to take a photo right at the beginning!)

At lunchtime we had this:



And by the evening we had this:



(excuse the lightened photo, it was pretty dark by the time we'd finished)

So, we've got to put a gate in, which Ed is hoping to collect from my Mum this week, and add the electric fence holders and we're good to go, which is lucky really as we're hoping to get the pigs this weekend or next!

The pen is 25m x 25m approx. It's made from wooden posts and pig netting with barbed wire around the base on the outside. The electric fence will be run along the inside about six inches off the ground.

Books

Whilst Ed and I both have a certain amount of relevant knowledge for our projects ahead, Ed more than me, we’re both voracious readers and like to be as clued up as possible. So I think we have single handedly managed to keep Amazon afloat recently. These are our particular recommendations at the moment, though I’ll no doubt be adding to the list as time goes on.

Basically an idiots guide to keeping chickens, really comprehensive and clear

Ed swears by this one for pigs

I'm also really enjoying this to help me plan how to keep us in vegetables for the year. Last summer was a bit of a plant it all at once and see what happens, but this year I'm determined to try and have something growing all year round.

Finally, my new best thing, to accompany all the veg we're going to be growing is this. Beautiful pictures and amazing recipes, we're having the root veg korma this evening!

Looking forward to spending the weekend finishing fencing the chicken run and beginning to fence the pig nursery (and going to the wedding of some fabulous friends).

We're getting started...

Hi

So here we are. Trying to be farmers. Trying to become people who own or manage a farm. But it's more than that. We're seeking a life that lets us live with the seasons, work together and, yes, enjoy a certain lifestyle. I always hate using the word 'lifestyle' but it doesn't need to mean holidays in St Tropez, butlers and caviar, and in this case it certainly doesn't. We were both bought up in the country, Ed on a farm whilst I was pony mad and lived in a village. We currently rent a small parcel of land, and are negotiating to rent some more including an area of woodland.

So what are we hoping to achieve? Well the list is long, and at this stage looks pretty daunting, but you've got to start somewhere and I'm hoping this will act as an incentive and a spur to make us progress.

Perhaps before presenting you with the list I should explain who we are and what's brought us here. The main players in this story are:

Ed - late twenties, digger obsessive, currently managing the european arm of an overseas company, living full time in Somerset

Camilla - late twenties (though not for much longer as I keep being reminded), surveyor currently commuting weekly between the south east and Somerset, seeking a better work life balance and time to spend with husband and menagerie.

Barley - labrador, loves: most things particularly small children who drop food, hates: disco lights

Flynn - horse, loves: reminding me he's a thoroughbred when I least expect it, hates: pigs (this could be a problem).

Here we are, a family of four. Shortly to increase dramatically in numbers. No, I'm not pregnant with quads, but by the end of this month we are hoping to have chickens and pigs. By the Spring we are hoping to have bees as well, and possibly lambs and with every likelihood puppies. So that's goal number 1.

Goal number 2 is for some, if not all, of these increases in numbers to make us money, or if not make us money then at least save us money. We have a number of enterprises we're currently investigating, including the potential markets for our pigs.

Goal number 3 leads on from this and involves either one of us, and preferably both, to be able to work less in our current jobs. We both realise what we're letting ourselves in for will probably be considerably harder work, but hopefully it will lead to the ultimate goal - being our own bosses and running our own farm.

So expect updates on the animals, the vegetable production, the attempts to sell our produce, some recipes involving said produce and probably the odd bit of Cath Kidston when my obsession gets too strong.

I hope you come along for the ride! x