 |
residential
weekend course
low-impact smallholding |
This
course is run by Simon Fairlie of Chapter
7, former co-editor of the Ecologist magazine, trustee
of Tinker's
Bubble Community, and author of Low-impact Development.
Are you thinking
of establishing a smallholding? Are you planning to live or build
on your smallholding? Are you hoping to make a full-time or part-time
living from it? If so, this course is designed to help you plan
ahead and avoid the many pitfalls. The course will cover:
-
first
find your land:
assessing a plot of land; what you can do with it and what it
will demand of you; different social structures; family / individual
smallholdings; community smallholdings and subdivided farms;
ways of acquiring land
-
buildings:
existing buildings; getting planning permission; options for
low-impact dwellings; barns and outbuildings
-
managing
the land: different habitats and their needs - grassland,
woodland, orchards and arable; relationship between animals,
crops and wildlife
-
laying
out the infrastructure: how intensive? what sort of
power - tractor, horse or spade? layout of buildings, tracks
and fencing; water and energy supply; waste management
-
ethical
and environmental issues: can one be both sustainable
and profitable? reducing fossil fuel use; relations with wildlife;
animal welfare
-
making
it pay: subsistence production; commercial production;
processing and adding value; marketing; diversification; grants
-
paperwork:
simple business plans; organic certification; insurance; environmental
health; DEFRA paperwork
-
avoiding
burn-out: gauging workload; limiting aspirations; getting
help
We will
be looking at a number of smallholdings (eg Tinker¹s Bubble,
Fivepenny Farm, The Trading Post, Northdown Orchard, Prickly Nut
Wood etc) and finding out what has made them successful.
Tinker's Bubble is a community smallholding, started in 1994 on
a bareland holding, comprising 26 acres of woodland and 13 acres
of agricultural land. Fivepenny Farm and The Trading Post are family-run
commercial smallholdings, started by former residents of Tinker's
Bubble.
NB: the course will consider vegan systems of land management, and
vegans are welcome, but they will have to put up with a considerable
amount of stuff about animals. The course will cover woodland holdings
as well as purely agricultural holdings.
more
on land / smallholding
| how
to book: |
|
if you can't open
the booking form, you need Acrobat
Reader - it's free
|
| arrive: |
|
Friday
evening at 6.30 for dinner at 7.30 |
| depart: |
|
Sunday
after lunch (served at 1.00) |
| directions: |
|
|
| what
to bring: |
|
pen
and notebook; towel; wellies (for tour if wet); money for
possible trip to pub (meals and bedding are provided)
NO DOGS PLEASE |
| let
us know: |
|
if
you are vegan or have any food allergies |
| accommodation: |
|
3-4
people sharing single-sex rooms |
| sat
evening: |
|
either
a trip to the pub, or (depending on the weather) a bonfire.
General hanging out and socialising. |
| prices: |
|
£190
high-waged; £160 waged;
£130 student / unwaged
Refundable up to two weeks prior to course (minus £30
admin fee)
No refunds for cancellations within two weeks of course
|
| discounts:
|
|
|
| car
sharing: |
|
|
|
|
a woodland
smallholding in Wales, where a family make a living from woodland
crafts, herbs and poultry; living in a cabin and presently applying
for planning permission
Fivepenny Farm's market stall
one way of
getting the hay in - one horse-power at Tinker's Bubble
the communal roundhouse at Tinker's Bubble
|
