Last weekend we went down to the Bath and West Showground for the West Country game fair!! They had a small smallholders area too where we met some lovely and interesting people!! Who given the distance between the Bath and West and our holding were happy to share some of their hints tips and expertise!! We found out that it might not be that difficult to license our cider if we produce any from our orchard!! One chap even does the same as I have planning out his orchard etc though mine is sooooo rough it’s not ready for sharing just yet!!! But soon!!!!
I like the way he has used the apple trees in the field boundaries on his five and a half acres holding and I think it may make a good agroforestry system for us in the bigger fields should we decide to divide them later!! And I think we need to look at getting in some crab apples fairly soon, along with our willows!!
I barely took any photos, but we met the most dense population of spaniels and Labradors in the world and found some yummy goodies to bring home!! Including peanut butter fudge cake!!!! Which was amazing and I need to work out how to make that goodie!!! James had a shotgun lesson with the chaps on the BASC stand.
We watched working dog displays, met some lovely hawks (one very fidgety small hawk who I tried to photograph and it kept coming out blurry) We looked at lots of lovely produce and craft stands and I even picked up some knives for spoon and bowl carving!!
Two lovely Mora knives!!!! Now I just need to get to the holding so I can get my hands on the woods supplies to start!!
Sookie our little spaniel was far better at this game fair than she had been at previous shows and didn’t spend the whole time hiding between mine or James’ legs!!
We spoke to the chestnut coppice people about whether chestnuts would grow at our holdings elevation… Maybe, we shall try introducing some chestnut into the new planting we have planned see if they take!!
We met the Rare Breeds Survival trust and found another contact to see what would work for us on our holding…
Spoke to a chap about a dog poo wormery!! Definitely worth a look if you bag and tag all your dog poo for the bin and it trots off to landfill!! You can also put in the kitchen waste for the worms too!! thinking I may get a small bin to try in Newport….
And we also chatted to the people that put out the Smallholder Magazine that James and I subscribe to!!! Country Smallholding. Now do I contact the editor as requested!!! Oo nervous excitement!!!
Overall I am left with an overwhelming urge to get back to the holding and work my little socks off!!! Planting, harvesting, wood carving….. Oh and to visit Coeden Fach to look at locally sourcing some trees for our new plantings and works!!
Tyddyn Bryn 