Plan your smallholding

When it comes to farming and especially when it is going to be on a small scale you are going to want to plan your smallholding out.

You are going to need to be plan your smallholding. No matter if you are going to be using your smallholding for business or pleasure.

Latest Small Farmer Life News – YouTube Channel Videos

Before we get started I would like to tell you I started uploading YouTube Videos @SmallFarmerLife Channel. I will even be making a video showing you just how you can plan out your farm using the same methods as me. Click the Link Here – @SmallFarmerLife to Subscribe & Press the Bell Button to be notified of new Videos

Now let’s get on, but make sure you pop over there and take a look. There will be lots of content coming your way…!

Maybe you just want to support you and your family, it is always best to have a plan in place.

Now what type of plan you need, will depend on what buildings if any you require. Where you are going to place them?

This is especially important when planning your smallholding if only a couple of acres or less. You have to place the buildings wisely and make sure you are using the amount of land available to its fullest.

You certainly don’t want to put buildings up willy nilly this will just not work. A little thought on where you want to place buildings and planting beds etc is a must.

Especially when starting from scratch. You cannot really do anything if there are already some brick buildings on your land unless you want to demolish them.

If there are timber buildings you may be able to move them to a more suitable position on your land for your needs.

You may need planning permission to move them. This all depends on where you live in the Uk and permitted development rules etc.

If you are reading this from a country other than the Uk then it depends on your country’s regulations and planning laws.

Trust me you need to know about planning regulations, as I found out to my cost and that almost everything needs planning permission.

The essential thing I want you to take away from this post is to make a Location Plan. This is a plan for where the buildings for animals and growing beds or greenhouses etc will be.

Not how your business will run. That is a business plan which we will discuss in a different post.

Google Earth

Yes, Google Earth is one of the best free tools to use when planning your smallholding. You can find your land on Google Earth and you can use the tools on the side of the Google Earth map to get accurate measurements for your land.

This comes in really handy if you are going to be using software tools to build your plan.

What Software To Use..?

The software I used to plan out my farm is Sketchup. Now you can get a free version of Sketchup or you can also purchase a Pro Version.

The free version will probably do you fine or you can get a Free Trial. This software is excellent for planning your small holding out.

It has a massive library of models that you can use on your plan as you see in the image at the top of the page. All of those models are in the free Sketchup Warehouse and are simple to find. Just by typing in what you are looking for.

Now I’m sure there is other software out there that you can use. But the thing I like about Sketchup is that it’s free. You can view everything in a 3D layout.

Instead of 2D – 3D gives you a lot better idea and vision of the finished smallholding layout. You can spin it around and view it from every single position on your farm.

My small farm is around 2.8 acres in size and looks a lot bigger on the ground. This is plenty of land I need for raising Pure Breed Poultry & Hybrids, Boar Goats & Pygmy and also growing a few Speciality Crops.

How I Planned Out My Smallholding

Stable Block Converted

At the top near the farm, entrance is the housing for Boar and Pygmy Goats.

I have more land if and when needed. I have the potential to lease 15 acres for 5 years so that I can graze them on.

It is a lot cheaper and I mean a lot cheaper to lease land for grazing than it is to purchase the land outright. This is why when you plan your smallholding you take everything into account. This includes what you want or need for the future of your small farm.

Plan Your Smallholding Growing Areas – No 1

Just in front of the stable, you can see growing area 1 which will be converted into a no-till method of permaculture.

This is where you place the cardboard on the ground and build up the layers of manure and greens to get the perfect soil.

The cardboard is friendly to the ground and keeps the weeds at bay until they finally die and then the cardboard rots away.

Orchard Area

Just in front of the growing area, I have started a small orchard. It is only small at the moment but I will add to this as the farm progresses.

Pure Breed Poultry Pens

In the fields below are movable so that they can be moved to fresh pasture every day ( These are the large pens ).

The smaller pens in the top field are for breeding and rearing of Quails, they are also movable.

If you are rearing pure-bred poultry you need to separate them as you do not want them to breed which each other.

They should also be on fresh pasture daily this will rear excellent birds and keep them happy in the process.

Large Wooden Workshop

Workshop with a grey roof to the left at the top of the field. Just next to the grey hut will be used to store timber and a workshop.

Also to keep worksite steel cabinets for tools and small farms. I will also use it in a small animal hospital or quarantine area if I have sick birds etc.

Grey Steel Clad Shed

This will be to store Hay, Straw, Wood Shavings, Small Quad or Tractor and larger farming implements.

I will also use the interior roof to hang my Mushroom Crops. You have to make use of every bit of space you can. This is the best way to make your small farmland pay.

Just in front of the cabin, you can see a yellow sandy colour, this will be the product sorting and drying area.

Herb Gardens

Herbs also in front of the grey shed, you can see a couple of raised planters at the moment. These are covered in weeds right now, but once I turn them over.

I will cover them in cardboard and plenty of fresh composted manure.

These will make excellent herb gardens for the freshest of herbs for customers.

The Static Caravan

Static Mobile Home is auxiliary to the farm for health and safety at work.

So that I can get out of bad weather, take a break, wash up, eat warm meals, restroom, and take care of any wounds.

I will be storing all my animal medicines, first aid boxes, and fire extinguishers in there.

I’m going to convert one of the rooms into my mushroom mycelium room. I will cover the walls in plastic sheeting for easy cleaning, also adding air extraction, so that it is super clean.

This is important if you intend to grow speciality mushrooms to prevent contamination. You need a super clean area if you plan on growing your own mushroom mycelium without it being contaminated.

Another room will be for the farm office. Also to store other farming materials like seeds, chick crumbs for young birds, expensive onsite security cameras, etc.

These caravans are excellent places to get out of the rain and are more secure than a shed. Also if you are getting help or employing people on the farm. You need to provide them with all the above-mentioned facilities.

Growing Area No 2

This area is for planting beds using high-rotation crops. Remember if you are going to be selling your product on farmer’s markets.

Then you will be wanting quality and organic. You will also need plenty of crops coming on so that you do not have customers waiting.

Now there are lots of helpful videos on YouTube that can teach you how to grow on rotation.

It will all depend on the part of the world you live in. The thing to remember is not to grow things found in local supermarkets cheaply.

Also, do not pick too many different types to grow, you will find that the 80/20 rule applies to farming also.

This means that 80% of your profits will come from 20% of what you grow.

So you want to be growing high yielding, fast-growing 4 – 6-week crops on rotation. These crops need to be in demand and sell fast.

So you have new plants ready to go into the ground as soon as you picked the last.

Also, choose the cut and come produce which is basically what it says you cut it and it grows back, like Arugula Lettuce, etc.

You can read more on my post, on how to make your small farm profitable. I’m getting carried away here so back to the farm layout.

Polly Tunnels

You can see a couple of small polytunnels in front of the first wooden shed just above the planting beds.

These will get the seedlings started early. Also for extending your planting season and for the growing of microgreens.

Microgreens are an excellent way to add to your products as they take an average 10 days to grow, so think about them..?

These polytunnels will only be around 6×3 meters in size but plenty big enough for high rotation crops and starting seeds off.

The crops themselves will only be in there a couple of weeks before going into the larger planting beds.

So no need for huge polytunnels that will hardly be used, that’s if you are in a climate where the season is not consistently cold that is.

Poultry Breeding Hut

Just at the bottom left corner of the field, you can see a small shed this is for the breeding of poultry.

It will house my incubators and also the chicks till they are around 3 – 4 weeks old.

Remember if you are going to breed poultry indoors that you need to have high roofs with good ventilation.

This will prevent respiratory problems and diseases. Also, you should have a clean area to the front where you can disinfect your shoes. Also, change your dirty coat and to disinfect your hands.

You do not want to be taking diseases into your young birds. Diseases can spread fast and you can end up losing hundreds if not thousands of pounds. This depends on how many you have and how bad the disease is.?

Pond Area

Just to the right of the breeding house, you can see a duck pond for the breeds of ducks.

I only think that a small wildlife pond is fair which will help benefit your ducks and the local wildlife in the area.

This area will be fenced off from the other land. Apart from that, the ducks will have their own area to live and do what ducks do.

Young Poultry

Back to the top of the field just to the left of the stable block you can see some poultry coops.

These are where I will place the 3 – to 4-week-old chicks after they leave the poultry breeding house.

Storage Area For Materials

In my store area behind the young poultry coops you can see a small yard this is to store large items.

It is a place where you can keep items that would otherwise make your smallholding look untidy.

It is always great to have an area like this handy for items like trailers, large bags of sharp sand, paving slabs etc, anything that cannot be kept indoors.

None Of This Will Work Without A Good Business Plan

Now you have seen the way I have planned out my small farm. Yes, there are lots of areas for many different things.

What you need to know is that I will not be starting this all at once. It is just a plan for the farm. I will be implementing different parts as I go.

The reason I plan the farm first is so as and when I move on to the next thing after I master the one before. Is that everything is in the right place.

This means you need a business plan and a plan for how your small farm will grow over time.

Plan Your Smallholding And You Will Be Off To The Best Start.

Now you have seen how I planned my farm out. One of the biggest things when planning my farm was that I never wanted it to look untidy. I wanted it to be efficient, a farm that spent more time planting and picking produce than weeds.

The best thing about small farms is there are no big overheads, big tractors and harvesting machines are not needed.

You can get around your farm in minutes instead of hours. Time is money in farming and the more time you actually spend farming the more you will actually make in profit.

Planning your smallholding is the best way to make sure you get off to the best start. So planning your small farm to be efficient and planting the right produce, raising the correct animals, is going to help you from day one.

If you have started on your plan and you are looking for ways to find materials cheap or even free. Then check out my other post on How To Find Cheap Building Materials

Now go out and plan your farm. Spend time thinking of what goes best with the amount and type of land you have and where..? Most of all take your time and don’t rush this it’s important..!