A Visit To Dawn's Smallholding

Sorry I haven't got round to doing the list of posts I'd promised this week - they're coming it's just been a very busy week! 

Last week, when we were on holiday I got up early and crept out the house, leaving my wife and kids in bed. 

I was quite excited as I was going to see my blogging friend Dawn and have a tour of her smallholding in Wales. 

Milking time! 

I was on holiday in New Quay so it was only about a 45 minute journey through the welsh countryside, although it did take me a little longer to find the farm, even with some good instructions! It's pretty remote out there in the hills, far more than we are here with a large village on our door step.

The kids waiting to go back to their mums! 

I got there in time to see the chickens being fed and the goats being milked. Dawn and Martin seem to have everything very well organised, with loads of feed bins labled up and a chart with who has what each day. The milking operation was pretty swift as well, taking just over ten minutes for the three goats, each taking their turn on the stand to be milked and have a bit of feed. 

Some sheep that are a fair bit smaller than my own! 

Dawn then showed me round their smallholding. It's in a stunning location, the back fields have some great views over the surrounding countryside but I should imagine it has the weather hard when it's bad!  

I think it's also fair to say that the soil isn't great, Dawn is having to do a lot of work to improve the fertility there, I couldn't believe it when she walked me on to one field and said it hadn't been grazed yet. 

But with a combination of animal manure and some really good field maintenance I know it'll improve really quickly for them, their garden area was already testament to that with loads of produce growing outside in the beds and in both polytunnels. 

There was also lots of great ideas everywhere I looked. The one I really liked was the water containers at the back of very barn or field shelter, it really makes use of the natural resources and I thought the mini scaffold tower was a great way to raise them up. 

Couldn't go to Dawns and not see the Alpacas! 

Scaffold onion drying rack! 

Dawn and Martin - Such a hard working couple!

It was great to be able to have a guided tour around their smallholding that I had read so much about, it's also nice to met up in person with someone that I quiet often message and we each comment on each others blogs. 

It's also great to see a couple doing the whole "smallholding" thing properly, I've no time for time for people that always talk about doing something but don't, these guys really walk the walk and know what they're on about when it comes to smallholding because they are putting the skills and knowledge into practice every single day. 

So thanks again Dawn and Martin for your hospitality and time. Also sorry it was such short notice that I was going to turn up! 

Five Acre Community Farm

Yesterday I spent a really interesting day at Five Acre Community Farm near Coventry. 

Where the shares are placed and everyone helps themselves

In wanting to expand what I do here I want to get as much training and tuition as possible so I applied to the CSA Network for some mentoring as a veg box scheme really appeals to me and having it in the model of community supported agriculture as they do in the states looks like a really interesting way of doing things. 

During the day I picked up some great tips, got to see organic growing practices on a larger scale and talk to really interesting people who are doing this day in and day out.

I had many (and I mean many) questions about how it's run, how the financing works, and what the smallest they thought I could go with it was. To provide produce for 12 months of the year is tricky just for yourself but to do it for others (who are paying) is even harder, they provide 60 full shares each week off this plot. 

Hardening off area outside the poly tunnel

It was really interesting hearing what worked for them, what people like to see each week, what they see too much of and how they like to get it - the share holders here bag their own produce from a central area. They also have some work shares as well where you can do work for some or all of your share, they were telling me they even had one guy in the past who would help maintain the tractor for his.

The one tunnel with peppers, aubergines and some cucs down the middle

Leeks being dug up and trimmed to transplant outside

Over wintered onions being dried after harvest

Tomatoes on one half of the tunnel

 It was also really interesting seeing how this all worked out int he field, I was expecting to see clean beds, but there was some quiet strong weed pressure, which I think is going to be there with organic growing. The amount of veg in the beds spoke for itself though, there was plenty of it and it all look good.
The beds had been set out to be easily worked by a tractor that they use for cultivation.

Although some quiet high weed pressure there is so much veg on this 5 acres! Here's the squash area.

Soft fruit, done as a pick your own for the CSA members that want it. Strawberries and blackcurrants

 Weed membrane was used in places and around the soft fruit it was really effective, something I'll be copying here over winter.

The plastic seems to work really well for the soft fruit and it's something I'll be trying

Dwarf ballotti beans for drying to be added to shares in the hungry gap

 Anther thing I found really interesting was how they provide a share during the hungry gap. using a mixture of stored crops (onions, squashes, roots), some dried beans as well as potted herbs. They were also experimenting with quinoa as something that could be given out during the leaner months.

Nets are used to keep some pests off, mainly on roots and on brassicas 

Green manures on fallow areas to build soil fertility

 Maintaining soil fertility with green manures was also really important to them and I got given some great ideas down this line, my use of green manures is something that really needs to improve!

Trimmed leeks just transplanted

Showing an area of netted produce, all rows are 70m long

To see a small farm in operation is always great, to see one that can pay staff a reasonable wage and be viable is even better. These guys were really passionate about what they were doing and how they were doing it and I certainly came away feeling that I could make something on a smaller scale work here for me. Lots of planning and prep will be needed!

Thanks again to Gareth, Becka and Hannah for your time yesterday! I hope I didn't ask too many questions!

I'm wondering if a mix of CSA shares as well as restaurant sales might be the way to go, that way I spread my risk and I might get interest from both sides of things. then again I might be mad to consider it at all!