About

 

Hello, thank you for the interest in our blog. Over 10 years ago we exchanged city life for ‘The Good Life’ and moved to rural Bedfordshire, UK to raise our children. We bought a house with a very large garden which was a blank canvas apart from the mature fruit trees. Since then we have increased the fruit trees in the orchard and created a no dig raised bed vegetable garden. We grow our own food organically (working with wildlife rather than against it) and keep chickens. We hope to inspire others to try their hand at self-sufficiency and become garden smallholders too. You don’t need as much space as we have, the average-size garden can feed a family for most of the year. Don’t forget to check out your local allotments if space really is tight, some sites allow chickens. 

Our children are now grown ups and starting to fly the nest. Our dream is to own and run a smallholding and we’re putting plans in place to make our dream a reality in the near future. For now, we are learning and practising skills that will help us when we do take that next step.

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We hope you enjoy reading about our garden smallholding and life with our feathery friends, the blog has many years of information regarding growing your own and chicken keeping so please do use the search option if you’re looking for particular information. 

free range chickens

Karen is the main gardener and author for the blog, she enjoys photography and is passionate about growing food, she also has an allotment which she blogs about here: https://allotmenthaven.com

© All images and written content are copyright of thegardensmallholder.com unless otherwise stated. If you would like to contact us, please use the email below:

Karen & Rich

thegardensmallholder@yahoo.co.uk

43 thoughts on “About”

  1. Your blog is inspiring – beautiful photographs and really informative, well written content. Thankyou!

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  3. Love your blog. I will be living vicariously through your industry :) Maybe one day I will get it together but for the moment I’m resting. Like you I used to live in London and had a gardening/garden design career for 17 years – hence a sore back and being worn out, it’s hard work isn’t it? So now I just potter and look and have embarked on this cow adventure…

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  5. Hi Karen – I just found your blog and feel both inspired and reassured. I’ve recently left the city for the countryside and now have my own patch to tame, so I’ll look forward to following all your expertise. Gorgeous photos!

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  6. I’ve just found your blog today and it’s really inspiring! I am going to love catching up on all I’ve missed and following in 2013 :)

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  10. Just discovered your blog and love it. We retired early to a rural spot in Cornwall last year and are just in the process of getting the veg plot going and planning on getting some rescue battery chickens soon. So I will be following your blog with great interest as I’m a newbie to all this, despite being brought up in rural Romney Marsh with chickens, horses and a veggie gardening nan. It’s taken more then 40 years to get back to it – but I’m very keen now!

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  11. Hello Karen! I just found your blog and Absolutely LOVE IT! I had no idea about Rescue Hens! Sweet Emily :) I learned something new – thanks! Looking forward to spending a little more time reading your blog this rainy weekend. Lost to learn about your neck of the woods.
    ~Maria

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  13. Hey Karen! Wow, your blog is so inspiring! I simply adore your lifestyle. At the moment I am living in a busy, fast pace urban area. I too would love to move in a rural area where I can find peace and serenity in the garden!

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  17. You have a great blog,it is nice to find a fellow Brit gardener. Your garden and allotment look great. I would love to have a bigger garden to be self sufficient…maybe one day.

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  21. HI Karen, I wanted to say that your photographs are beautiful. I often think what my life would be like if I could move away from the city and plant my own vegetables. I love that you live this life and I can live vicariously through you. Looking forward to reading your posts.

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  34. I am so happy that I found your blog. I look forward to following your progress and admiring your beautiful photographs!

    Like

  38. Really excellent blog, but you know that…Really admire the effort that goes into answering comments, and the beautiful photos of course. Today is the first time I had a real look through, will have to find some time somewhere to read more.

    Like

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