posted 7 years ago
Hi, I've just joined this forum/website, and I thought you might be interested to hear about a little homestead (smallholding) in Brittany, France.
My family and I moved to France from the UK when I was 13, and bought about an acre of land. That was in 1994, so quite a long time ago now. At first we did lots of silly things with the land, but gradually it became clear that some things work and some things don't. We also learnt a lot from the old people who lived locally (many of them are now dead). When they were young they all grew all their own food, without tracters, and often had only one or two animals, such as a pig, and maybe a cow. They also lived in little stone houses, that were completely eccological, and had a lifestyle that was of no harm to the planet.
Obviously, modern farming has changed all that, and now this area is full of chicken and pig sheds, tracters, and modern farming techniques.
However, on our little plot, we are trying to put the old ways into practice - and having pretty good resultts. My Dad and brother have planted lots of native trees, divided big fields into little (very little) fields, and we also do most of it by hand. The main innovation has been using a sturdy tool called a hoe to break up the ground, rather than a tracter or plough (plow). It's slow work, but it's nice and quiet, doesn't break, and only breaks up the top few inches of soil - which seems to be a good thing.
Here is a picture of the veggie garden and the wheat and rye patch.
Cheerio
Bethan
wheat_rye.jpg
vege-garden.jpg