Table of Contents

Taking on a smallholding: pros and cons, commitment needed, financing the move. Finding the perfect place: importance of location, land needed, common pitfalls. Getting ready: learning new skills, planning how you will manage your land. Legal requirements: getting registered, dealing with red tape, livestock regulations. Essential equipment: finding the best kit to make light work of chores, health and safety. Growing fruit and veg: improving soil, extending the growing season, planting an orchard. Your first livestock: buying, caring for and rearing animals for meat. Growing feed for livestock: care of grassland, making silage and haylage. Selling your produce: regulations involved, direct sales, farmers' markets. Wildlife-friendly farming: biodiversity, habitat maintenance and creation. Showing your livestock: getting started, preparation, using shows to promote your stock.

About the Author

Liz Shankland runs a successful smallholding that has been home to everything from poultry and pigs to sheep and goats. She breeds pedigree pigs and has twice won the prestigious Tamworth Champion of Champions competition. A journalist and broadcaster by profession, Liz is the author of the Haynes Pig Manual and The Practical Guide to Buying and Running a Smallholding in Wales. She writes for numerous publications about farming and countryside matters, including Country Smallholding magazine.