The Cottage Smallholder

Hi - I'm Tracy.  I live with my husband Richard and our two children in an ancient farm house which we rent.  The farm that it sits on is still a working farm.  We live in the sticks just outside of Eye in Suffolk.

Rich and I both work full time.  We have gradually found ourselves drifting down a self sufficient route - the thrill of being able to get something for nothing (other than our hard work) and to walk away from what appears to be consumerism gone mad is probably what drives us.  We also decided sitting in front of the TV at night watching utter rubbish was a real waste of life.  We have recently decided that rather than just drift along we should be a bit more structured and purposeful about what we are doing so hence my appearance here - trying to find like-minded people who I can learn from and share with.  Our efforts and primary interests to date include:

 - food and drink from the hedgerow

- growing vegetables, I have a small experimental vegetable patch which has gone well this year, so will expand this over winter

- Rich is fascinated by trying to develop alternative sources of power and heating etc - he's a bit of a boffin.  This is a challenge for us as our house is old and timber framed (translate "drafty") and we have no central heating.

- Related to above - wood scavenging for our two open fires (coal is so expensive!!)

- We are making masses of alcohol at the moment which we hope to use throughout the coming year - including cider, hedgerow wines etc.  I've ordered a couple of hop plants to experiment with beer making

- pickle, chutney and jam making

Useful resources we have are:

- Orchard at front of house

- Reasonable sized garden

- Full size pantry

- Aga

- Pond at side of house (although this needs dredging)

That's a quick overview of us.  I'm on the site a lot at the moment as I'm at home recuperating from a small op on my foot - so I can't drive to work (which is in Norwich).

I look forward to sharing ideas and picking your collective brains.

Regards

Trace

Hello Queenbee

I know the cafe - it always looks very nice - next time I'm in Eye I'll pop in for a look and maybe say hello from you x x

Hello 🙂

My name is Nick,  from Stroud in Gloucestershire originally but now in Sheffield.  I still  pine for the west country but seem to be trapped in a job I hate in the north at the mo!    Found this site while looking for Sloe Gin recipes and love it.   Have made greengage jam and last night some of the chutney with Tarmarind in which is currently a bit evil... Hoping it might settle down a bit!   This evening I will mostly be pricking sloes as collected thousands at the weekend from somewhere between Stroud and Cirencester... Good times!

I have been good at growing salad leaves and tomatoes but my veg plot has been a bit naff.  I intend to apply vast amounts of manure to it over winter so fingers crossed for next year.  

🙂

Hello, my name is Tracey.  I am currently living in Japan and have for the past several years.  I have no experience with food preservation or gardening other than what my parents forced on me as a youth.  They did always have a large garden and set food aside every year.  Perhaps because I was just a worker drone this ability did not follow me into adulthood so I am trying to make up for that now.  I have the curiosity and love reading this blog but can't say I have had any success.

From this site I just set up some of the no-cook apple chutney.  While I am living in Japan I am trying to learn as much as I can and actually produced some miso paste this past week.  Guess we will see if I was successful in 3 months, either way it's been a good experience.

Looking forward to getting to know you all a bit better.

Tracey