Rural Smallholdings Magazine

A ONCE IN A LIFETIME OPPORTUNITY to rent an established smallholding for a whole year.

The owners are heading off on a years adventure to India in September 2009 and would like to rent out the whole smallholding for that year at a rent of 500€ per month. It would be a fantastic opportunity to experience life as a smallholder without the hassle and expense of setting it all up. It’s an exceptional chance to ‘suck it and see’!

People with primary-aged children (aged 2 to 10 here in France) would find the opportunity invaluable for them to learn french. The local school is only a mile up the road, it’s small, friendly, and very used to integrating English-speaking children. Most who come find they are pretty fluent in 6 months (most adults seem to take a little longer!!!)

They are prepared to be very flexible regarding exactly what the successful applicants would want to take on over the year. They envisage the agreement could range from taking over absolutely everything to just renting the house. The ‘everything option’ includes the house cow (milking etc), the machinery, all the land, and the business of renting out the farmhouse (which could more than pay the rent for a year). The ‘basic option’ would be just the house, fully furnished and equipped and garden. And then there is almost any option in between.

For general information about the farmhouse and the grounds, take a look at the accommodation section of the owners website. The rest of the site also gives you a good idea of the business potential of the farmhouse rental. For the summer period when the farmhouse is rented for holidays, there is a 3/4-bedroomed summerhouse available for you to live in. The photo shows it at its worst in January!

The Gardens

There is a large organic veg garden that will be fully-stocked and as weed-free as possible for you to take over. If you do nothing at all, there will be enough leeks and parsnips to last you a year! There is also a 10m polytunnel which will be full of fantastic tomatoes and chillies etc. Come July 2010, you will have so many raspberries, you’ll be fed up of picking them (luckily, there are many friends and neighbours who are willing to help).

The Farm

They have 25 acres of gently sloping, mainly south facing good land. About 20acres are under permenant pasture, divided into 8 fields by mature tree banks. 8 acres are separated into 3 paddocks with good secure sheep fencing. They keep 9 Poll Dorset ewes plus their lambs on this land. The tenant could keep these on and profit from the lambs or they could sell the ewes. The rest of the pasture is set up with electric fencing for the cows. Currently, they have a Jersey house-cow and 3 followers, a friend has said she would look after the Jersey, the others might go to market. All options are up for negotiation. They keep a donkey but he definately needs company (usually a calf), he also has an alternative home if necessary. They will also keep a pair of pot-bellied pigs for breeding and eating – they’re the easiest and cheapest animals to keep and the meat is fantastic. There is the usual selection of poultry, providing more than enough eggs and meat right from day one.

The Outbuildings

There is a large open barn which will be stocked with hay if required. There’s also a large workshop available (which will need a good sort out before September!!). There is a small stone barn divided into 3 small loose-boxes. Another useful stone barn has a double stable door, loft above and separate pig-sty. Everything is in pretty good condition and ready to use straight away. There are also 2 caravans tucked away which have provided excellent guest/teenager accommodation over the years.

The Community

You would have plenty of help and support from a network of great friends and neighbours, both english and french. For us, the sense of community is one of the best things about living here. New-comers are always welcomed with open arms. Most people have land and animals and therefore can usually help with any problems etc.

This is just a first draught to provide a bit of information before people bother to contact the owners. Please fill in the Enquiry Form before contacting the owners directly, just to save everyone the time writing exhausting emails etc and they will get back to you as soon as possible.

Thank you for your interest, even it you decide not to apply, it is worth just thinking about it.

More smallholding to rent and for sale at Greenshifters.co.uk