How to… keep smallholding simple

Is it really possible to create your own River Cottage if your work is a non-negotiable nine-to-five or you have a busy schedule? The answer is to keep it simple. Use these shortcuts to help you successfully combine commuting and country living.

Follow the same-sex rule Stick to the female of the species - whether hens, ducks or pigs. You won't need to learn about breeding, worry about accidental teenage pregnancies and the strange behaviour that seems to erupt when there's a male around.

 

Keep easy breeds Beginners should forget about fancy fowl, particularly bantams, which, though pretty, are both flighty and broody. Instead, take on at least two hybrid brown hens. They are good eaters, good layers (even during the winter), don't get broody and are less susceptible to diseases. Choose old-fashioned pigs bred to be outdoors, such as Gloucester Old Spots and Saddlebacks. Forget sheep for now; they're always trouble.

 

Build strong fences Your pig's snout is basically a plough, and 20 minutes after your eight-week-old weaners arrive, the ground will look like you've run a Rotavator over it. Spend some money putting in proper pig-stock fencing and an electric fence at piglet height. If you work an hour from home, the last thing you need is a call from a neighbour saying your pigs are out and trashing their garden. Keep hens in a fox-proof run, which means six-foot-high chicken wire, dug in at least a foot underground. Check it every day for signs of digging. Otherwise you could keep two or three hens in a moveable ark.

 

Raise your beds Four planks of wood (six inches wide by one inch thick), filled with soil and manure and arranged so that you can still reach into the middle of the bed, will make growing your own a piece of cake. You can cultivate more in less space and leave little room for all those tiresome weeds.

 

Make wildlife work for you Put in bird feeders and get into a regular routine of filling them up - daily if necessary. Regular visits from thrushes and blackbirds will keep the slugs and snails down. Dot water features around your plot - not the fountain variety, but a small pond, an old tub filled with stones or a bog area which will attract frogs and toads. A hot compost heap is a draw for slow worms and grass snakes, while a log pile could be home to a hedgehog - the best slug-muncher of them all.

 

Low-maintenance gardening A shrubbery covered in thick bark-chip mulch is less work than a herbaceous border, and wilder grassed areas need less looking after than a striped lawn. Wild flower meadows aren't strictly low maintenance, but the effort comes in concentrated bursts such as annual cutting, haymaking and raking the leaves.

 

Spread the load Split morning and evening feeding duties, set up a dog-walking rota with your neighbours and share a horse with a friend. But be prepared to put in the time at weekends - you could start entertaining at home and encourage visitors (big and small) to bring their own wellies and join in the fun. But, most importantly, don't take on too much. Aim for a large garden (an acre or so) rather than asmall farm - after all, you have to start somewhere!

 

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