Buying a Homestead | Land, Livestock and Workload

I bought a smallholding a couple of months ago. 11 acres of land. Middle of a forest in France. Was fortunate that the previous owners had spent 16 years building the place up, planting an orchard, fencing the fields, and starting a potager and polytunnel. They left me their sheep and chickens, and I paid them a couple of thousand euros for a workshop and barn full of equipment. I couldn't face starting from scratch.

Best segue ever:"an easy life can be difficult to give up" flips to the yawning cat! Hilarious 😂

This is my dream but due to disability I have to be content with living vicariously through you and others on YT.

An interesting breakdown of the different requirements for various levels of self-sufficiency. I guess I am about 20% - 30% self-sufficient only, with only an average sized back garden in Essex, UK. Thankfully not anywhere near as wet as Ireland; as an ex-motorcyclist I still hate too much rain. I still have to work (self-employed & working from home) to make ends meet, but live a modest, if not even a frugal lifestyle. I have lots of solar panels & a mega-insulated home (all electric). In the garden I erected a mid-size greenhouse, growing strawberries, tomatoes, lettuce, mizuna, rocket, cabbage. Outside I have 2x apple trees, 2x cherry trees, a greengage tree, & 2x plum trees; my pear tree died - bah. Gone mad with growing raspberries recently, got some gooseberry bushes, but my blueberries died - bah. Got one enormous grape vine that I planted 35-years ago for wine making & have recently planted 2-more grape vines for desert grapes to grow both inside & outside of the greenhouse. Used to keep chickens for eggs & meat, but no longer, but they were great for fertilising the soil. Got a big crop of spuds this year, with broccoli, cabbage & kale; & will be growing sorrel, purslane, french dwarf beans, many herbs next year. Going mad this year in trying to store my produce; so freeze some, preserve lots in air-tight jars, haven't yet tried dehydrating yet. I do some foraging for cherries & blackberries in the late summer locally also & will maybe try some guerrilla gardening. I had looked for years to try to buy half-acre of land & self-build my own eco-house upon it. However in earlier years I didn't have the money to buy locally, with very expensive land having the required planning permissions; so simply could not afford it. Now I am much older & with my failing body, I physically cannot till such a large area of land & certainly will not be capable in another 10-years’ time. So I just have to settle for what I've got & be content (with noisy neighbours). My version of 'The Good Life', if anyone remembers the TV series. Regards, JohnnyK.

I just realized you passed 100K subscribers, congrats!!!

A teenager from Egypt hoping that one day I own my own land in Canada and live freely

Thanks for another informative and interesting vid . One thing I wish to mention is you should perhaps factor into it is VETS BILLS. If you have animals , horses, dogs, cats, pigs , chickens etc, people should realise the cost of vet bills which are huge, for everything from inoculations, vets call out etc. I grew upon a small farm and vet bills were one of our most expensive costs. Of course some animal care like worming and small wound care you can administer yourself. But you still have to have a basic knowledge of animal care. Love your vids. Thanks.

Great job! My grandparents told me about the growing of all their food, cabbage, potatoes, carrots, etc. pigs and chickens, goat milk and butter, making. fish from the local lakes, I am 64 years old and my grandparents died at 92 and 97. So I know what you are talking about. Love your show. City life is nice but after living in the city for 30 years I am now happy to be back in the country. 🇮🇪❤️🇮🇪❤️🇮🇪

When you described your property it sounded almost exactly like my 5 acres here in New Zealand. Heavy clay, mild wet winters, flat, at the bottom of a hill, prone to water logging in winter. Before I bought it, it had been used to farm cattle for 60 years and looked much like your neighbour's property. I started using a tractor (same weight as about 4 cows) to mow it every 2 - 3 months. My neighbours are still running cattle on their section, and the difference between our grass is stark. I have at least seven different types all growing together whereas they have almost exclusively couch grass. My soil is becoming more friable, there are more worms, and the conifer pan is starting to break up. It's amazing how just changing the way you use the land can transform it completely!

Daniel, your videos have captivated my heart and mind. My grandpa is from Lofoten and Bodø, Norge, growing up on his family's dairy farm, and that life is one I've forever dreamt of living myself. Born in a city in USA, it's taken many years for me to obtain a tiny acre of land to begin. I appreciate your artful and EXTREMELY informative videos not only for all i learn from you, but it feels as if I'm spending time in Ireland with you, as a friend. Also very happily a loner, the window into your world, and your psyche, is beyond comforting to my soul ....i live with 5 dogs, several kitties, 2 mini pigs, and 10 chickens. Today i begin wheelbarrowing rich black soil into what will be my first large, hopefully-one-day-sustainable, garden. Thank you again Daniel, for allowing me to see your dream come alive, as I follow in your 👣... 🤗

Would this all be possible without helpers/volunteers? You seem to have a lot to manage. It's a great set up though. Looks amazing.

Daniel - you have a 'book' waiting to be published. All these wonderful video's promoting and explaining making the break from 9-5 to having a 'small holding' is all the content you need. I know I would love to get this book ( with the audio book read by author available too!) . You have a great way of telling the story of farms in your neighborhood and giving fact& figures and real business considerations. Thank you! I am glad to see how mild the weather is - November? during this video.

I live in Aurora, Oregon zone 8b. Our weather is comparable to yours. We have "everbearing strawberries that start producing mid August and finishes early October. If you added some of these strawberries to your land you'd have another round of cash at the end of your main growing season. I highly recommend the variety named "Albion". The best flavored strawberries I've ever tasted. You'll have a hard time resisting eating them all yourself. ;)

Wow, I’m first to comment. I just love these videos.

This content i have been waiting for...👍 How to count it? This was very good! Our % is now about 70%. No winter crops here, no apples, no bees... Hubby is working in the wintertime, so we need a car. All veges from the land and preserving. Fishing and hunting. Love your videos! Regards from The Moomin land, Northern Finland 👍

I so appreciate your videos. You help me sort out what I can do with what I have here in Ireland. We (my 20 somethings and I) are "sort of" neighbours as we share a county lol. We moved from the US eight years ago and just four years ago we moved to Clare. I'm wish my land was flatter. We live on a hill, so much of the acre we have is on a downslope. We have a poly tunnel and a very small greenhouse (which is new) and a few raised boxes. I'd say we are in the 20% range and working our way up as we go. I'm VERY impressed with everything you've done. Thank you for sharing your experience and your lovely property with us all.

Our acre smallholding in Leinster was called a bog by the neighbours before we bought it (flooded every winter and was grazed by horses). We dug a few ditches and like you have a yearly system of soil amendment and leaving some parts fallow each year. It is now beautiful productive soil. I've seen people growing tomatoes in forest clearings and vegetables in areas with no original soil. You can do a lot with manual labour to change the initial conditions of your soil.

I love watching your video, they are so interesting. There is such an inter peace that comes from you, your voice is so calm and sweet, I'm sure all your animals feel it! 🌼

is it just me or are the comment section on these videos just the nicest community

Congrats on 100K followers!! Love all that you have done/do and cannot wait til you work on the Cottage.