Eco-Fitting Your Garden

In this extract from How to Create an Eco Garden, author John Walker explains eco-fitting and how you can use it to create an effective intensive food garden in a limited space

‘Surely I will retain my Strawberry Champion's title?'

Last year diarist Corinna Bull was victorious in the Strawberry Stakes, but could husband James be about to steal her crown?

The show must go on

With UK shows scuppered by Covid-19, Helen Babbs discovers that there is still plenty for livestock-owning smallholders to look forward to — virtual showing from the comfort of your own farm

THE FUTURE OF GROWING?

Could growing plants independent of the weather and soil, and using less space, turn us all into smallholders, asks Charlotte Cooper

Prevention is better than cure

A bespoke health plan can benefit all goat-keepers and their charges, whatever the size of the farm or holding, says vet David Harwood

Idle talk… ?

… no, says PhD student Laura Garnham, chickens really do communicate effectively with each other and have a vocabulary of around 24 different calls, a far wider repertoire than most other creatures in the animal kingdom.

Going potty

With the Covid-19 lockdown, growing your own veg is all the rage, but what if you have limited space? Leslie Bliss discovers a whole new world of container crop growing

Feeding frenzy

With a vast range available, choosing feed for livestock is never simple. Nutritionists and smallholders give their top tips to Stephanie Bateman to make that selection more straightforward across a raft of species

FLOWER POWER

With their colourful blooms and scintillating scents, flowers are a natural mood booster. From stunning wedding bouquets to delicate edible flowers, Stephanie Bateman e-meets four smallholders who make a living from a variety of flower-growing initiatives

Blooming brilliant

Will and Lauren Holley purchased a four-acre field in Somerset, converted it into a nursery, opened during lockdown and now their perennial plants are flying off the shelves. Julie Harding meets the go-getting couple

The Traditional Trio

Tim Tyne looks at the Southdown, the Norfolk Horn and the Suffolk, which are all intrinsically linked back in the mists of time

A Pear Of Money Spinners?

Are you the proud owner of a few apple or pear trees, or even a large orchard. If so, what are your options if you have more fruit than you need, and can you boost your bank account with the excess or by adding value? Charlotte Cooper gets to the core of the conundrum

The family silver

In his series on birds that breed true, Grant Brereton takes a look at the breathtakingly beautiful silver laced pattern, seen mainly in three distinctively different pure breeds

Perfect isolation

Living on a croft in the Outer Hebrides has given young mum Karen Macleod the perfect opportunity to excel at growing her own fruit and veg, as she explains to Chris McCullough, who paid her a visit just before lockdown

Hens and herbs

As well as flavouring food, herbs and other edible plants can be helpful for your hens. A wide variety of commonly grown garden plants can provide natural methods of boosting egg production, repelling pests and promoting good gut health, as Julianne Robertson reveals

‘Betty, my two tonnes of lovely deliciousness'

Smallholder and mortgage team supervisor Jeff Brinkley has a particularly deep affection for his 18-year-old Land Rover 110, which perhaps should be making wife Mags as green with envy as the trusty vehicle’s very own colour

It's a breeze!

Enterprising Rick and Jennie Grieve take running their five-acre Windy Ridge in their stride, from producing home-grown pork to breeding sought-after pedigree puppies. Emily Bevan e-meets them

Garden varieties

If you’re looking to allow chickens to range free in your garden, Andy Cawthray advises choosing your breed with care

Exotically different

The imposing Anglo Nubian goat, with its pendulous ears and Roman nose, really stands out from the crowd. Fan Lee Connor talks to other admirers and finds out how well they are suited to smallholdings

A world of pain

Smallholders with horses or ponies should be aware of the dangers of laminitis at all times of the year, but particularly in spring and summer. Emily Bevan looks into the painful condition that affects one in 10 equines in the UK each year

French Cows And A Few Goats

In an extract from his book, French Cows and Four Kisses, Philip Dixon relates what happens when he pays his first visit to his resident goats shortly after purchasing a farm in France.

Making Little Of Big Jobs

The diminutive Uni-Horse is the most useful and capable little tractor. Kevin Alviti discovers the virtues, as well as the dangers, of a machine originally made for market gardens

‘Tessy has a large personality for a small dog and she takes her sheep duties to heart'

Joseph Waters and his family farm 60 acres in South Devon, where Tessy the Norfolk Terrier and ace ‘sheepdog’ is one of the ‘things’ the teenager couldn’t imagine living without

The mover and shaker

With her bright red hair and can-do attitude, Hannah Jackson stands out from the usual farming crowd. Charlotte Cooper finds out from the first-generation farmer, TV presenter and social media star about life as a smallholder and as the Red Shepherdess

The Cuckoo calls

In his series on birds that breed true, Grant Brereton takes a look at the perhaps quite obviously named Cuckoo variety of poultry, outlining how the pattern is inherited

Rising to the challenge

Adam Henson looks at how the agricultural sector is going above and beyond to keep the nation ticking over

Rise of the machines

Running a smallholding is no easy task. Having machinery to help not only lightens the load, but it saves time too. Stephanie Bateman asks smallholders which of the machines they own they cherish the most

Hownow (brilliant) brown cows!

For certain smallholdings, Covid-19 has brought welcome growth. The carbon-neutral Hownow Dairy in South Devon is one such firm that has experienced an exponential hike in home deliveries. Catherine Austen reports

Hot and bothered

As the weather continues to be unpredictable, Liz Shankland warns pig-keepers to prepare well for the next heatwave

Courting popularity

Tim Tyne looks at two Welsh breeds of sheep — the Lleyn and the Llanwenog — neither of which is particularly easy to pronounce, but both of which are equally deserving of plaudits