Hello from Shetland!
Hello from Shetland!
We are renting a croft house with a small walled garden, the little old byre (originally would have housed the house cow) and an allotment sized patch of land out the back (up here they call it a kale yard - its where the original crofters would have produced all their veg for the family). We are nowhere near self-sufficient but have some hens and grow some veg and are aiming to expand into a few more poultry and a bigger selection of veg to be self suffient at least in a few things!
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snapdragon
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 1765
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- latitude: 51.253841
- longitude: -1.612340
- Location: Wiltshire, on the edge and holding
It is (both cold and idyllic 
). We also have five horses, all of whom are now on the doorstep - literally! Our croft house is approached by a track across a field, the ponies are on the field outside the garden gate and the horses are just 100yrds up the road.
It isn't so much cold really (about 7 degrees at the moment so warmer than a lot of the UK) tends to average same temps as S.E England but it is the wind chill factor that is the main issue. There is very rarely a still day up here, always at least a breeze and usually more! Winter is warmer than Northumberland where we moved from a couple of years ago but it is much wetter and windier up here and the summers are cooler (and windier - a pattern seems to be emerging here ).
). We also have five horses, all of whom are now on the doorstep - literally! Our croft house is approached by a track across a field, the ponies are on the field outside the garden gate and the horses are just 100yrds up the road. It isn't so much cold really (about 7 degrees at the moment so warmer than a lot of the UK) tends to average same temps as S.E England but it is the wind chill factor that is the main issue. There is very rarely a still day up here, always at least a breeze and usually more! Winter is warmer than Northumberland where we moved from a couple of years ago but it is much wetter and windier up here and the summers are cooler (and windier - a pattern seems to be emerging here
).
Welcome to 'ish 
sound like what you are doing is perfectly 'selfsufficient-ish'
How big is a kale yard? (in square metres)
I have a garden roughly twice as big as an allotment, and I have wondered why the garden is so big (the cottage is quite small) I wonder if it is typical croft size - we are quite far south though... I don't know if it makes sense, especially since the cottages were built for farm labourers... I digress
Anyway, welcome... you'll fit right in
sound like what you are doing is perfectly 'selfsufficient-ish'How big is a kale yard? (in square metres)
I have a garden roughly twice as big as an allotment, and I have wondered why the garden is so big (the cottage is quite small) I wonder if it is typical croft size - we are quite far south though... I don't know if it makes sense, especially since the cottages were built for farm labourers... I digress
Anyway, welcome... you'll fit right in
Ann Pan
"Some days you're the dog,
some days you're the lamp-post"
My blog
My Tea Cosy Shop
Some photos
My eBay
"Some days you're the dog,
some days you're the lamp-post"
My blog
My Tea Cosy Shop
Some photos
My eBay
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old tree man
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 1661
- Joined: Fri Dec 28, 2007 3:57 pm
- latitude: 54.5619 N
- longitude: 0.9874 W
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- Location: North yorkshire
Wow, I didn't know you could measure your garden on google earth... cool
I am currently downloading google earth to check how big ours is... cheers
I am currently downloading google earth to check how big ours is... cheers
Ann Pan
"Some days you're the dog,
some days you're the lamp-post"
My blog
My Tea Cosy Shop
Some photos
My eBay
"Some days you're the dog,
some days you're the lamp-post"
My blog
My Tea Cosy Shop
Some photos
My eBay
I don't get good enough clarity of my village 
The whole area just looks like a piece of slimey lettuce... it's not, in real life... just a farming community with very few interesting landmarks... oh well, I'll have to figure out a better way of measuring it.
The whole area just looks like a piece of slimey lettuce... it's not, in real life... just a farming community with very few interesting landmarks... oh well, I'll have to figure out a better way of measuring it.
Ann Pan
"Some days you're the dog,
some days you're the lamp-post"
My blog
My Tea Cosy Shop
Some photos
My eBay
"Some days you're the dog,
some days you're the lamp-post"
My blog
My Tea Cosy Shop
Some photos
My eBay
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red
- A selfsufficientish Regular
- Posts: 6513
- Joined: Sun Jul 30, 2006 7:59 pm
- Location: Devon UK
- Contact:
hi and welcome 
Red
I like like minded people... a bit like minded anyway.. well people with bits of their minds that are like the bits of my mind that I like...
my website: colour it green
etsy shop
blog
I like like minded people... a bit like minded anyway.. well people with bits of their minds that are like the bits of my mind that I like...
my website: colour it green
etsy shop
blog
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Millymollymandy
- A selfsufficientish Regular
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- Location: Brittany, France
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Shirley
- A selfsufficientish Regular
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- Location: Manchester
- Contact:
Hiya Esther - nice to see you here too.
Shirley
NEEPS! North East Eco People's Site
My photos on Flickr
Don't forget to check out the Ish gallery on Flickr - and add your own photos there too. http://www.flickr.com/groups/selfsufficientish/
NEEPS! North East Eco People's Site
My photos on Flickr
Don't forget to check out the Ish gallery on Flickr - and add your own photos there too. http://www.flickr.com/groups/selfsufficientish/
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hedgewitch
- A selfsufficientish Regular
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- Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2005 3:42 pm
- Location: Alicante, Spain
- Contact:
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gunners71uk
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- Location: nottinghamshire
