Whilst my head tells me that growing my own food is the most important thing that I do here at The Sustainable Smallholding, my heart tells me that it is my bees that are most important to me. It’s only now, with the bees active again, that I realise how much I’ve missed them for the last three months. Here’s a short update on how they are.
Tag Archives: Smallholding
Tree Planting Picture Update
I’ve put up quite a few posts about tree planting recently, but haven’t included many pictures. Weather and Logistics have been the main reason behind this, so I wanted to post some pictures that relate to recent posts, and some will give you some idea of what this place is like….. I’ve had to reduce the quality of the pictures so that they upload at a reasonable speed. Sorry.
My Favourite Smallholding Tools
It seems to be the right time to write an article about the tools that I use most often, here at the Sustainable Smallholding. I get the feeling that I’m being prompted somewhat, as there have been a number of small events related to tools, that have occurred recently. First of all, after writing a review about my Copper Spade, I had a very nice call from Jane at Implementations thanking me for the review, and asking for permission to link to the review from their site. Sadly, she studiously ignored my unsubtle hint that I would be happy to review more tools, if they sent them. You can’t win them all. Next I got a little worked up by a tool article in Country Smallholding, which was overwhelmingly focussed on power tools and machinery. I also found two decent video clips whilst researching/searching for a tool to harvest bamboo, which I thought that you might find interesting, Lastly, I got a call from a friend who said that he was suffering from ‘Tool Envy’, after reading about my spade. So this one is for you Mark.
Can a Smallholding be truly Sustainable?
When I look at some of the searches that lead people to this blog, it’s obvious that there are some out there trying to decide if it’s possible to make a living from running a smallholding. I’m not the right person to answer that question, as I have never needed to produce a surplus. My aim is simply to meet our own needs, for food and fuel. The question, can a smallholding be sustainable, depends on your definition of sustainability.
A Free Resource for Smallholders and Permaculturalists
The Soil and Health Library is an online library of books, which cover a wide range of topics of interest to anybody looking at sustainable alternatives to modern living. What’s even better is that the library is free.