I have been looking at moving to Wales for about 15 years now. I have always wanted my own piece of land to grow veggies and keep some chickens and have plenty of room for my pooches to run around and play without the constraints of leads and roads etc. Unfortunately we have never been in a situation to be able to get there!
I have contacted estate agencies to see if there are properties to rent but there are literally no suitable properties available unless you have £1500+ per month to spend on rent! (crazy money)
I have always grown veggies in my small garden but nothing compared to what I would like to produce to feed my family for any period of time.
BUT... I have now been inspired by a post written by 
In a nutshell, these guys made the move to live on a good amount of land but have realised through time and experience that less is more and are now going to downsize to be more efficient and to be able to achieve their life goals. I think this is fantastic!
So I have shelved the dream of living off large amounts of land and started to look at alternatives. I have now discovered... microholdings!
So what is a microholding? Essentially, it is a miniature smallholding (or homestead) that is run on a small amount of land ie your back yard! I guess I have already been working towards this in the past with growing veggies in my garden in pots, but I am now thinking of trying to maximise the space I have to produce more food for my family each year.
I have to be practical, I have 5 dogs so I need to keep a section for them to venture outside when they need to go to the loo, but I can partition off areas that can be kept dog free and grow food there. I am lucky in the fact that my garden is south facing so we get the sun all day (when it appears in the UK lol)
So what veggies should I grow in a small space? I think climbers are a good idea. Peas and beans will easily grow up the side of a fence, as will raspberries. I really don't need to plant blackberries as I live in the woods and we are swamped with blackberries when they start to appear! (note to self, don't forget to go blackberry picking soon)
Tomato plants will also do well growing up the side of a fence. I think as we eat a lot of lettuce, that has to be one of the things I grow, I can even do this on my windowsill! Onions and radishes are a family favourite and radishes grow really fast so they would be a great crop to grow.
Potatoes grow really well in my garden, but they take up so much space and most of the time we don't eat them and end up giving them away to friends and family so I don't think I will grow them from now on.
As for livestock, I could keep a few hens in the garden. They would have to be of the smaller variety, but it is possible. The only thing I worry about is that my dogs may scare them so this will take a bit more thought.
So, here are my initial thoughts on achieving my dream on a smaller scale, lets see how it pans out! :D
Thank you for visiting my blog! Much love, 
(Thank you to unsplash.com for the free images)
