Rebecca Laughton - Surviving and Thriving on the Land: How to Use Your Spare Time and Energy to Run a Successful Smallholding

SURVIVING AND THRIVING
ON THE LAND

SURVIVING

AND THRIVING

ON THE LAND

How to use your time and energy
to run a successful smallholding

Rebecca Laughton

First published in 2008
by Green Books Ltd
Foxhole, Dartington
Totnes, Devon TQ9 6EB

Text Rebecca Laughton 2008
Illustrations Andrew Leppard 2008
Front cover photo Michael Michaud/Sea Spring Photos

First published in digital formats 2010

Rebecca Laughton has asserted her moral right to be identified
as the author of this work.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be transmitted
or reproduced in any form by any means without
permission in writing from the publisher.

Print format ISBN 978 1 900322 28 7
PDF format ISBN 978 1 907448 54 6
ePub format ISBN 978 1 907448 55 3

Dedication

I dedicate this book to all those who are working to create a greener, more socially equitable future. May your wisdom, vision and generosity endure.

I would also like to dedicate it to the memory of Samson, the Shire horse at Tinkers Bubble, who died in March 2008 aged 21, after 13 years of service and companionship. His strength, character and gentle nature made him a central part of the community, and fired my enthusiasm for the potential of draught-horses to contribute to sustainable agriculture.

Acknowledgements

Many, many people have helped and inspired me during the journey of writing this book. Their help has come both in obvious and in more subtle ways, and I am indebted to each and every one, whether or not they are mentioned here. I would specifically like to thank the following people, without whom writing this book would have been impossible.

Firstly, thanks must go to all the smallholders and community members, who generously shared with me their time, knowledge and experiences, to provide the interview material upon which this book is based. Often they also hosted me, for a meal or several days, sometimes I worked alongside them, and all have been willing for me to ask searching questions in my quest to learn about how they manage their own energy, whilst working the land. I count myself as fortunate in having made many new friends in the process of this research, and deepening friendships as a result of the conversations provoked by the interviews.

Whilst writing, I have been able to enjoy the almost perfect balance of head and hand work, through living and working at Tamarisk Farm, in Dorset. Daily contact with the soil, plants in the market garden, and animals on the farm, has kept me in touch with the realities of working the land, providing further valuable inspiration and time to think about ideas before returning to the computer. Thank you to Josephine and Arthur Pearse, and to Ellen and Adam Simon, for giving me this opportunity. Thanks also to my fellow WWOOFers at Tamarisk, whose good humour and support have carried me through this project.

The following friends and family members have offered constructive comments and proofreading services: Nigel Buchan, Wilf Richards, Simon Fairlie, Peter Wright, Jonathan Rouse, Adam and Ellen Simon, Josephine Pearse, Clare and Anthony Laughton. Other friends and colleagues provided specific practical help and encouragement along the way. They include Kristin Olsen, who hosted me for a month in Edinburgh and encouraged me to explore the possibility of writing a book about human energy; Diana Jansen, for her enthusiasm about my initial ideas; John Coleman, who helped me to find a publisher; Barbara Beyer, Mark and Catherine Beaumont and Simon Fairlie, who lent me books and journals; Tim Crabtree, who shared his knowledge of Community Land Trusts; Carolyn Spencer and Avril Taylor, who have helped me understand the importance of prioritising personal needs as a first step in balancing the human energy equation; and Rob McCall, who has offered encouragement and support during the final stages of writing.

In recent months I have benefited from the experience and advice of my editor, Amanda Cuthbert, and the rest of the team at Green Books. I would like to thank them for their support and patience when the pressing needs of the market garden have competed with writing time.

I am also grateful to Andrew Leppard for embracing the job of illustrating Surviving and Thriving on the Land so wholeheartedly, and for his patience during the creative process.

I would like to thank my parents, Anthony and Clare Laughton, for keeping faith in me despite my choosing to follow an unorthodox path in my life.

I think I would have been less likely to start on this adventure of lowimpact, land-based living, had it not been for Ben Law, who first showed me that it is possible. Without his courage, imagination and ground-breaking example I might well have chosen a more conventional route towards sustainable agriculture.

Above all, my appreciation and heartfelt thanks go to both past and present members of the community at Tinkers Bubble. My four and a half years there changed my life in countless ways, and provided the most significant inspiration of all, to start investigating how to balance low-impact living, earning a land-based livelihood and being part of a community. Each and every individual that makes up the community has taught me valuable lessons, and the joy and strength I feel from belonging to such a group are immeasurable. I am deeply grateful that they have trusted me to write this book, and encouraged me each step of the way.

Introduction

Living lightly on the land can be both a deeply satisfying and a pleasurable experience, and extremely hard work. Unfortunately, in traversing the narrow tightrope between these two extremes, many people and projects topple over into exhaustion, illness or stress-induced conflict, and the potential benefits of their activities are lost as they give up. Yet as the imperative to cut fossil-fuel use increases, both to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and conserve our dwindling oil supplies, the matter of deriving an ecologically sustainable livelihood from the land may turn from one of choice into one of survival. If a project is failing, it may no longer be as easy as it is now to get another job and buy food, fuel and other necessities. This book starts from the premise that meeting ones needs for shelter, food, fuel, water and livelihood directly from the land, using minimal fossil-fuel-powered machinery and off-farm inputs, is a practical and powerful way of solving the pressing problems which are afflicting Planet Earth.

For four and a half years I lived at Tinkers Bubble, a small community which endeavours to manage 40 acres of forest, grassland, vegetable gardens and orchards without the use of fossil-fuel-powered machines. Trees are felled using hand tools, extracted with a shire horse, Samson, and planked-up using a saw bench powered by a wood-fuelled steam engine. Hay is cut with scythes, turned by a horse-drawn tedder (hay turner) and gathered in on a cart, and gardens are cultivated mainly with hand tools, but occasionally a horse-drawn plough or harrow. Houses and communal buildings are built by residents using timber grown on site mixed with a variety of recycled materials, bought-in straw bales and subsoil. Space and water are heated by stoves fuelled with hand-cut firewood, electricity is generated by wind and solar power, and communal meals are cooked over an open fire or a wood-fuelled Rayburn. It would be inaccurate to claim that the community is fossil-fuel-free, since paraffin is used in hurricane lamps when the electricity fails, two shared cars are run off-site, some food is bought in, and much of the equipment used is made from oil (polytunnel plastic, plastic mulch, solar panels etc). However, the policy of not using fossil-fuel-powered combustion engines has given me a deep insight into the issues, pleasures and sheer hard work of life without abundant oil.Above all, the experience of living at the community has made me aware that for a project to be sustainable it is not enough for it to be ecologically benign and economically viable. If the people who make the project happen are not happy, healthy and willing, its long-term future is likely to be uncertain.