Described as the smallholder’s bible! A practical handbook for the small farmer in the 21st century, this is the essential reference book for anyone working on a smallholding, whether the intention is just to reduce living costs by producing food at home, or to earn a supplementary income through the sale of produce.
Katie starts by describing the practical requirements in terms of house, land, boundaries, buildings, tools and machinery, before moving on to the techniques of small-scale agriculture: tending the kitchen garden, orchard and pasture, growing fodder crops, and cultivation with the aid of greenhouses and poly-tunnels.
The coverage of livestock includes: bees, chickens, waterfowl, turkeys, guinea fowl, quail, peacocks, pheasants, pigs, sheep, goats, cattle and exotic species such as emus and alpacas.
This reference work is by Katie Thear who was a well known author and smallholder. She founded and edited Practical Self Sufficiency which became Home Farm and then Country Smallholding magazine for many years. She also advised on waterfowl standards for RSPCA Freedom Foods as well as for the Poultry Organic Standards.
Read an excerpt here: Buying a Smallholding
Available both new and used from Amazon.
Amazon Reviews of The Smallholder’s Manual:
“This is a much more practical and detailed book than anything else currently available on the subject. It’s up to date and based on real experience which is more than one can say for some of the trendy television-linked books. If you’re a smallholder, intending or existing, this is the book you need.”
Further Books in this Section
- Making Small Farms Work by Richard Perkins
- New Complete Self-Sufficiency by John Seymour
- Pest Control for the Smallholder by David Bezzant
- Starting with a Smallholding by David Hills
- Successful Smallholding by Jeremy Hobson
- The Smallholder’s Manual by Katie Thear
- The Urban Farmer by Curtis Stone
- Tools and Machinery for the Smallholder by John Bezzant
- Viable Self-Sufficiency by Tim & Dot Tyne
