THE GOOD LIFE
Inspiration and advice for aspiring smallholders
Advice for smallholders
MAKE A NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION to begin growing, eating or rearing heirloom vegetables and traditional breeds. You’ll not only be helping to carry on decades-old traditions, but you’ll notice the difference in taste, too. These breeds and seeds are grown for flavour and variety rather than supermarket shelf-life and mass production.
GROW HEIRLOOM SEEDS
Dobbies Purple (beetroot), Silsden Bomb (cabbage) and Mr Perkins’ Leamington (cauliflower) – half the fun of growing heritage varieties is in the names. The rest is in the eating – sweet and flavourful carrots, tomatoes so intense they leave their fresh scent on your hands. Don’t be deceived into thinking that because you don’t see these varieties on shop shelves they are trickier to grow. In many cases they are hardier and more robust – after all, they’ve survived for generations already. Heirloom or vintage seeds (from varieties that are more than 50 years old) are available from a range of suppliers, including gardenorganic.org.uk, realseeds.co.uk and pennardplants.com. Garden Organic also runs the Heritage Seed Library, which aims to conserve traditional varieties that aren’t widely available. For £18 per year (on top of a £33 Garden Organic membership), you can choose six packets of heirloom seeds, plus receive a seventh ‘lucky dip’.
HOUSE TRADITIONAL BREEDS
Keep a few heritage breeds of hen or duck in your garden and you can help ensure their survival – plus enjoy the benefits of eggs for breakfast. These hens may not be as prolific at
laying as modern hybrids, but they can reward you with speckled, white, chocolate brown and even blue eggs, depending on the breed. The Rare Breeds Survival Trust (rbst.org.uk) offers advice about each one and where to get them. And don’t forget to check out our new ‘Breed of the Month’ section (below), which highlights rare and native animals.
EAT HERITAGE MEAT
If you don’t have space to keep traditional breeds, it may sound counterintuitive, but eating them actually helps to create a demand for others to keep them. Traditional breeds are often more slow growing and, as they can be hardier, many of these animals will be pasture-fed for most or all of their lives. The result is succulent meat with complex flavours that is in demand from top chefs. Try Traditional Hereford beef, Saddleback sausages and Herdwick Lamb. Don’t forget milk, eggs, cheese and even wool products, too. Search bigbarn.co.uk to find a list of your nearest rare or native breed producers.