Eglu Go With 2m Run For Sale

[poachedegg]

May have chance of renting a strip of land approx 2.6 acres. I wanted some help/pick brains of more experienced Omleteers please.

 

I don't know whether I am being realistic, so here goes!

 

The land is about 10 mins drive from us and 5 mins from DD's school (so no problem going on a daily basis). It has previously been used for grazing, however has been left doing nothing for a while. The owner has said it is fenced on 2 sides, however has now gone into a meeting, so forgot to ask whether there is a water supply.

 

It is surrounded by houses on 2 sides and I think a railway on another (though may not go back that far), and a brook (then a few houses on A private road) on another.

 

Whilst we keep chickens in our small garden at home and grow a few things (I mean a few), we would really be starting from scratch.

 

Given that the land has been left and our lack of experience, do you think it is doable? What considerations should we be making? What land preparation would we need to do? What would we be able to do on there and be able to keep secure? Are we being mad to be even thinking about it?

 

Honest answers gladly acceoted!

[Lewis]

Ideal being 10 mins away It sounds quite secure, just check there is nothing like a public walkway though the middle of it - you'd be surprised

 

Water is a good start, check access from the road too - thinking trailers/tractor to mow it for you.

How long your contract etc will be - you don't want to spend money on it getting it how you want, and then find you can't use it anymore.

Have you all got the time to put in + keep up with it. If you did get more animals you'd have to check on them and feed them, other stuff like sheep will be more of a tie with going on holiday. Do you have friends/family to check on them and feed/water if you go away, or you can get smallholder sitters...

 

 

Could have a chunk of it to grow veg, stuff all the family like so they're more likely to help out

Have you thought about keeping chickens for the table? You could start with them in a shed behind an electric fence while you sort out the fence the other 2 sides.

 

If its been used for grazing it shouldn't be too bad - you could get someone in to mow it for you and go from there.

Can fit a few sheep + alpaca on there to keep the grass down Depends what you want to keep, pigs will wreck grass, but you could have them fenced into a smallish area and then use it as a veg patch the next year.

 

If its too big for you, see if a friend/neighbour wants to go in with you and they could use part of it?

[poachedegg]

Thanks Lewis - certainly lots of ideas there.

 

Have just been for a quick nosey with OH - it is very overgrown and as it is a strip, one of the longest sides isn't secure at all, just some trees and shrubs. Running along this side is a brook and basically you could step across the brook reasonably easily and onto the land at several points along. So to make it secure alone would cost a fortune and then to make the land usuable too.............

 

Don't know whether I'm being defeatist, however looks like it would be a huge job just to get a workable basic infrastructure.

[Lewis]

Would the owners of the field pay for some of it d'you think? Could be worth asking

 

Livestock fencing isn't too expensive, just can be a pain to put the posts in + get it all tight!

[chickencam]

Time is a major factor, we are always amazed how busy we are with an allotment plot 100ft x 30ft and a smaller one next to it 25ft square. It uses most of our spare time at this time of year.

 

We have been tempted by land a few times, but we just have too much else going on at the moment.

[chickenanne]

I wonder if anyone in the surrounding houses would be interested in splitting the land (& rent) with you? That way you would have a more manageable sized-plot, and near neighbours who were keen on seeing it used. Could be worth asking around - that way you'd also get a feel for whether the nearby houses would be supportive of the idea or if they'd be trying to make life difficult.

What you don't want is to spend a lot of time, effort and money on bringing the land up to scratch to then have the owners' want it back before you see much benefit; so may be worth getting a feel for what they're like etc.

[Redwing]

When we took on our field we spoke with the landowner in some detail, we got as much info on the history of the land and alternative uses so we could tell whether we were likely to be made 'field-less' in the near future

 

reassured by the landowner we went ahead with a years guaranteed rental

 

We had 100m stock fencing put in to secure the land which cost £500

 

i think it all depends on what you want the land for - for growing veggies you could get an allotment or rent the field but leave it unfenced or fence it cheaply with some chestnut paling or plastic netting, for livestock it needs more consideration with regards to fencing

 

With livestock they will also need shelter/housing and water and feed/bedding storage - animals can be hard work too!

 

We dont have running water at our field but we do have water butts and take fresh water there in the car too

 

Consider the journey every day and the possibility of going there twice a day in holidays and in the winter to look after animals if you plan to have them. We rented our field because its behind our house, if we had to journey to it I doubt we would have gone ahead with the rental

 

We had major regrets about renting our field almost instantly as it was done on a whim (like most things we do!) but now we have it and spend so much time there we wouldnt be without it now!