If you've followed my posts for any length of time you'll know I'm an urban smallholder with dreams of a future small farm. I'm extremely lucky to be in the position of having 40 acres of farmland in my family, and though we're still in the process of putting the land over to my name, it's on it's way. HOWEVER, I'm not yet in a position to actually up sticks and move to the land quite yet.

Though this can be frustrating, especially for those of us who lack patience, it has also put me in a position with plenty of time to plan. I've already started a few projects on the land, and they take up most of the time during near-monthly visits (it's a two hour drive away). In the meantime, I make sure I'm tracking the sun, understanding the aspect of the fields, noting the grass type, and the soil type, and where's boggy in winter, where's baked in summer. It might seem geeky, but it should set me up for success off the bat rather than planting a veggie garden in the wrong place, for example.

With the dark night's drawing in, I thought it was the perfect time to pop onto Google Maps, capture a screenshot of the land and label it up with my plans. AND, of course, I thought I'd share it with you!

Below you'll see the farm (approx 40 acres) with my current plans. Beneath you'll see a more detailed description of the many facets I hope the farm will have when it's finally up and running. Many of these won't be instant goals but far more long term challenges. But it's always good to have a plan!

• 1 - The House - STEP ONE - Apply for Planning Permission to convert/pull down the ancient Dutch Barn to build a farmhouse. Once PP has been attained, we intend on living in a caravan and starting the farm whilst the builders get to work.
  
  

• 2 - Pheasants/Aviaries/Falconry - My husband ADORES birds of prey and wants to set up a small falconry. We have a couple of friends in the business already. In addition, this area will be cleared of scrub (the trees kept) and a collection of aviaries build to house ornamental pheasants and a few pet birds to sell.
  
  

• 3 - Pond One - The first of two natural ponds, this needs to be restored into a wildlife pond.
  
  

• 4 - Buddliea Grove - A white buddliea grove to be planted as an entrance into the wildflower meadow. To attract pollinators. I've already begun this project - I've cleared the area and am growing buddliea cuttings at home.
  
  

• 5 - Wildflower Meadow - This project has already started as I wrote in this post. A lot of clearing remains and more sowing when time/money allows.
  
  
  
  

  One Man, One Scythe and A LOT of Work Ahead of Me

• 6 - Forest Extension - A small wood borders our farm and, in fact, is where our new farm name came from - Brim-Wood. We often have deer coming from the forest to graze, and want to extend the woodland into about 2 acres of the neighbouring field. I've already begun growing native trees from seeds I've collected, and several friends and YouTube fans are doing the same.

• 7 - The Nuttery - For my 'orchard' I'm actually planning on having small cordon trees along Gabion walls that will line the driveway. Those can't be done yet. However, I'm also planning a nuttery, beneath which the chickens can range. I've begun placing orders for trees, and this project will be started this winter.
  
  
• 8 - Waterfowl Pond- I really don't want to mess up the two natural ponds with waterfowl, so am planning on creating a man-made pond in the chalk quarry pit for ducks, geese and possibly an ornamental black swan. ;) This area floods every winter, so my current thinking is that I'll excavate a decent size pond that can naturally ebb and flow around the year.
  
  
• 9 - The Bluebell Grove - This project has already started with the planting of an English Bluebell Grove!
  
  
• 10 - Pond Two - The second natural pond that is currently being restored to create a wildlife haven as I wrote about in this previous post. I'm currently filming a video series for my YouTube channel on this.
  
  
• 11/12/13/14 - Mob Grazing/Hay Making - Originally I would've just stuck up fences and let the beasts in, but having learned A LOT more online, I want to mob graze these fields with a mix of Red Poll cattle and Suffolk Sheep. I also want to make some of our own hay to reduce feed costs, plus some excess to barter with other smallholders. For example, we have a local friend without enough land to grow her own hay. I would love to barter hay for lambing training and her shepherdess skills, for example.

There are other dreams too; having milking goats, offering a home for a couple of old horses, setting up a proper bricks-and-mortar farm shop, but I've not yet worked them into the plans.

Other Projects

In addition to everything else that's going on, I also have an ongoing project putting up nesting boxes for owls (we have four so far) as well as conducting regular biodiversity counts to establish just what wildlife is on the land already. By knowing that, I can then work out whether all my conservation projects are actually working!

Funding

Oh, boy. Funding. That's a fun topic - NOT. The first step towards this dream was taken a couple of years ago by buying a house within London's commuter belt and then relying on the housing market to boost the price. Of course, that market is out of my control, but at least it builds some assets I can sell when the time comes.

I then ran a couple of crowdfunding rounds which help to initiate both the wildflower meadow and the owl box project.

In the meantime, the current projects are being funded by my YouTube channel, my Patreon and Steemit! Every penny counts, and all that. And I'm ecstatic to say that Steemit has already provided a little nugget of cash that I hope can be retrieved one day to help grow the farm and build the dream. :D

Thanks for reading,
Geoff

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