In January 2010, a new European Union grant was announced, aimed at improving rural internet access in Wales. Despite advances in broadband and wireless technology, many rural areas in the UK still have problems with the internet access which is increasingly vital for individual communications and business development.

Even in the twenty-first century, some very remote rural homesteads in the UK have only been connected to the electricity and telephone grids for a couple of years. And with broadband signals only able to travel along conventional phone lines for a short distance, special technology and planning is needed to get the furthest-out smallholders and farmers online. Isolated Welsh lamb and dairy farmers have been forced to give up trying to sell to some processing companies and wholesalers, because as email becomes the standard means of communication for most businesses, they simply can’t keep up.

Rural Communications Solutions, a Cumbria-based firm specialising in getting internet access to rural ‘not-spots,’ cites bypassing by mainstream internet service providers as a problem. Getting services to remote houses, villages and smallholdings simply isn’t cost-effective for web providers geared to supplying cheap broadband to urban mass markets. Suppliers like RCS have to find ways to get strong wireless internet signals to remote sites, without resorting to the kind of controversial and unsightly aerials used by the mobile phone networks.

But as Ieuan Wyn Jones, Deputy first minister of Wales, said of the EU grant, “In the 21st Century, it is vital that people in all parts of Wales gain access to a high-speed internet service, and it is essential that businesses are fully equipped with the right information communications technology (ICT) infrastructure to compete successfully in a global market.” As well as the ability to access the web, good internet connections also offer rural communities the opportunity to run their own websites, communicate via email, and save on phone costs by using VOIP (voice over internet protocol) calls.

And for smallholders looking for ways to maintain a livelihood from rural locations, the internet is becoming non-negotiable. According to Isobel Davies of Izzy Lane, a designer clothes company which uses wool from sheep kept on her own small farm in Yorkshire, “the website is vital for sales. I think any smallholder will find that if you try to sell through shops the mark-up they have to put on products can make them unsaleable. With clothes, retailers often mark up 250% so if you have a high-quality, high-cost product to start with, the prices become ridiculous and in a recession no shop is going to take that kind of risk. Which is why the internet is brilliant, because if you sell direct to consumers you retain that margin instead.”

Chris Bailey, who with wife Suzie runs Whithorn Lodge B&B from his smallholding in Dumfries & Galloway, also depends on the internet for much of his trade. “Most people come because they see the website, they see that we have the rare breed animals running free range and that’s what sets us apart.” Although the Baileys do get some B&B trade via word-of-mouth and repeat custom, being able to access the internet is key to their business, and to many other rural enterprises. And this is a tool which is still unavailable to many inhabitants of rural areas, especially in Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and the North and West of England.

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Article by Sarah Irving for Rural Smallholdings Magazine

Photo Courtesy of East Devon Guide

This 4/5 bedroomed Farmhouse, with useful outbuildings and about 10 acres of pasture in 2 enclosures/paddocks is currently available to rent in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

The unfurnished 4/5 bed farmhouse comprises fitted kitchen, utility, lounge, living room, and bathroom. The smallholding is positioned privately about 14 miles North of Carmarthen with stunning views and will be available early/mid September, viewings taken now.

The property offers an ideal opportunity for someone seeking a greener and more rural lifestyle and is being promoted by Cornerstones Letting Agents (Click here to view full particulars)

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

This Organic Registered Smallholding is to be sold at auction on Wednesday the 28th July at The Pavilion, Banbury Cricket Club, Whitepost Road, Bodicote, Banbury Oxon, Guide Price £150,000-£200,000.

The property has 7.8 hectares/19.25 acres of woodland and pasture with a substantial timber lodge and is situated in a private and secluded location on the Bucks/Oxon border close to Oxford and M40.

For further info on this property please contact Duncan Lang or Andrew Ranson at Fisher German by telephone on 01844 212 880, or via e-mail at thame@fishergerman.co.uk

To visit the Fisher German website to learn more about this property please Click here.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

This Grade II listed Georgian Farmhouse, with modern & traditional buildings, stabling and 47 acres is currently available to rent in Carmarthenshire, Wales.

The Farmhouse has been sympathetically restored, is part-furnished, and in a truly beautiful spot adjoining the river Teifi. The property was also featured on a 10 part Discovery Channel TV series.

The property has a productive vegetable garden, cider orchard, and a large Victorian-style glasshouse, along with 47 Acres comprising 35 acres clean pasture, 8 acres woodland, and 800m of single bank fishing on river Teifi.

This working smallholding is currently run as a fully certified organic beef & sheep farm, with herd of Hereford cattle.

The property offers an ideal opportunity for someone seeking a greener and more rural lifestyle and is being promoted on Greenshifters.co.uk. (View full particulars)

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

With the sun shining and the show season now in full swing here’s a round up of smallholding, farming, gardening and outdoor events across the country to enjoy this week.

Cheshire County Show – taking place today and tomorrow (22nd – 23rd June) in Knutsford, Cheshire the Cheshire County Show is a chance to celebrate and experience all that is great and good about the countryside. There are competition classes for cattle, sheeps, goats, pigs and rare breed livestock and equines from Shires to Shetlands. For Poultry enthusiasts the poultry section takes place on Tuesday only and pigeons, rabbits and cavies aplenty can be found on the Wednesday only as they compete in the many classes held at the show. The prestigious Cheshire Show Dog section attracts over 2000 entries from across a vast array of breeds. Tuesday sees classes for Non-Sporting Breeds only, whilst Wednesday is Sporting Breed classes only.

Other attractions at the show include: The Roberts Bakery Food Halls bring together local, regional and national producers and purveyors of fine food and drink to suit everyone’s tastes, whilst the Roberts Bakery Food Live Theatre enables visitors to enjoy some tremendous food edu-tainment from local Cheshire chefs and college students, at the Cheese and Wine marquee visitors can experience the delights of cheese and wine produced locally and beyond, the Rural Life area includes the WI marquee with hundreds of entries to the many classes of craft ranging from cake making, floral art, produce making through to art and photography and much more, the Vintage Machinery section re-counts a bygone era with an extensive display of tractors, agricultural machinery, stationary engines, cars and commercial vehicles of yesteryear.

Country pursuits and traditional crafts come to life it the Countryside Experience Area. From falconry demonstrations, have ago Clay Shoot and Archery, to fly-fishing demonstrations and parades of hounds, it’s a real haven for country lovers. The Main Ring attractions include the Bolddog Freestyle Motorcross Team, Gauntlet Birds of Prey and Meirion Owen’s Quack Pack.

For further info on this event click here

Lincolnshire County Show – taking place tomorrow and Thursday (23rd – 24th June) in Lincoln, the 126th Lincolnshire County Show has a variety of attractions including: The Select Lincolnshire and Tastes of Lincolnshire Food Court, Show Jumping Classes in the Clydesdale Bank Main Ring, an action packed sports area, live entertainment on the Lincs FM Stage, the Medieval Village, spectacular Grand Parade of the best of the County’s Livestock, vintage to modern day agricultural machinery display, the Carter Homes Sustainable Living Exhibition featuring interactive displays and exhibits of everything you might need to live an eco friendly lifestyle, boutique style shopping avenue, plus 600 traders around the show ground.

For further info on this event click here

Royal Highland Show – running from Thursday to Sunday this week (24th – 27th June) in Ingliston, near Edinburgh Airport the Royal Highland Show showcases the best that Scotland has to offer and a chance to indulge your love of food, farming and countryside pursuits. There is so much going on we couldn’t hope to cover it all here so please visit the website for the latest news.

For further info on this event click here

Irish Game Fair and Country Lifestyle Festival – taking place this weekend (26th – 27th June) at Shanes Castle, Antrim the Irish Game Fair and Country Lifestyle Festival is one of the two great game fairs in Ireland. Attractions include: Clay Shooting – the fair will host a heat of the All Ireland Game Fair Championships and a heat and the final of the Barbour Novice Championships on a new and extended layout beside the Castle. In addition there will be have a go air rifle, shooting games, archery and lazer shooting.

Dog Competitions – Apart from the top competitions for all breeds of gundogs including hosting heats for the All Ireland Game Fair Gundog Handling Championships and heats and the final of the Barbour Novice Hadnling Championships. There will be a gundog scurry, and main arena gundog displays including one by the Irish CLA Team captained by Willie Edgar and sponsored by Calor. The Winners of the Sunday Life Pet Idol Competition will be presented with their prizes and a special treat for all dog owners – main arena displays and an advice facility on the Irish Countrysports and Country Life stand from Keith Mathews the BBC’s famous dog whisperer. New for this year’s show is the Director’s Gundog Challenge and the Fair will host the 22nd Barbour/Irish Countrysports and Country Life All Ireland Terrier & Lurcher Championships.

There are also equine events, Angling events/exhibits, the Medieval Living History Festival, falconry, ferrets and hounds and a huge tented village of trade stands. Again we can’t hope to cover it all here so please do visit the website for more information.

For further info on this event click here.

Shropshire County Show – taking place this weekend (26th – 27th June) at the County Showground in Shrewsbury, the Shropshire County Show offers an action packed weekend. There will be exciting entertainment in the Main Ring for the whole family to enjoy. In the side rings there will be competitions judging cattle, including Hereford, sheep, pigs and equestrian events. The Countryside Arena will hold a dog show and agility display, as well as a llama show. On the showground there will be a display of classic cars and agricultural vehicles, cookery demonstrations in the cookery theatre, craft displays and much, much more.

The Shropshire Food Festival is being launched at the Show this year embracing the theme “From Gate to Plate”. Packed with an abundance of Shropshire produce on display a visit to The Festival is a must! Local suppliers of food to schools will also be at the Show with their produce being put to good use in the working school canteen that will be on display. Other attractions include: Bolddog Lings Motorcycle Display Team, the Red Devils Parachute Regiment Display Team, Grand Parade, Chef’s Table Restaurant, BBC Countryfile – all seven presenters from BBC Countryfile programme will be at the Show on Sunday 27th June to film their Summer Special programme.

For further info on this event click here

Axe Vale Festival – taking place this weekend (26th – 27th June) at the Showground in Axminster, the Axe Vale Festival has attractions including: Craft marquee, trade stands, floral marquee, food hall, antiques and collectibles, horticultural show, children’s entertainment, demonstrations, ferret racing, falconry displays, terrier racing, gundog displays, working lurcher display, live bands, and a display of paintings by the members of Axminster Art Society.

For further info on this event click here

Please always check with show organisers/websites for up to date information on these shows before travelling to events in case of incorrect details, show changes or cancellations.

Got a smallholding, farming or gardening event you would like to promote on this site? Write and tell us all about it by clicking here.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

Interest in local and heritage varieties of fruit trees has grown significantly in recent years, according to Hamid Habibi of the Keepers fruit tree nursery in Kent. Sarah Irving talks to him about growing apple trees and why growing fruit is a good path for the smallholder to go down.

“The growth of interest in local produce has motivated people with a bit of land to try and grow fruit,” says Hamid Habibi. “Fruit is a crop which you can produce as a semi-amateur, if you like – it’s not like trying to grow wheat or other major crops. It can be done on a small scale.”

Habibi has run Keepers Nursery for nearly 20 years, since founder Mike Cook retired.

“It started as a hobby for Mike,” Habibi explains. “He worked for Morley Research Station and was a fruit tree enthusiast. After a while, people started asking him for unusual varieties of apple trees – old varieties or new ones which weren’t commercially available – and he built up a reputation. My wife and I got involved in 1991 because we had some land that the nursery could use.”

Over almost twenty years, Habibi has witnessed the growth of interest in heritage apple varieties and in locally sourced food more generally. He attributes public interest in growing food to rising food prices and then to the current recession.

“Apparently people are spending a lot more time in their own gardens instead of going out and spending money,” he says. “Obviously it makes sense for economic reasons, but its also more interesting to grow things that you then eat.”

This widespread engagement with growing food has meant that Keepers Nursery and other selling a broader range of edible plants have bucked the recessionary trend. “We’ve seen a surge in demand in the last three or four years,” says Hamid Habibi. “And the reports I’m hearing from fellow nurseries is that many of them have had a bumper year too. It’s only December now, which is fairly early, but we’ve already almost sold out of many of our trees this year.”

For aspiring fruit growers – whether smallholders or individuals looking for just one or two orchard trees for their garden – Habibi has some words of advice.

“If you go to your local general nursery or garden centre, the choice you get is extremely limited still and it is mainly pot-grown trees, which are quite honestly not as good as bare root apple trees,” he says. And despite Keepers Nursery’s huge collection of over 600 varieties of apple trees, as well as pears and plums, he urges new growers not to “get too hung up” on the idea of growing local or heritage varieties.

“It’s most important that you pick trees which are going to give a good crop, that are disease resistant and which have nice apples that you and your children are going to like,” he says. “That’s not necessarily going to be local varieties – some are very good, but some are quite indifferent. Quite a lot of commercial varieties are also not that good for small-scale growing, because they don’t have resistance to disease and need spraying. So for an allotment or smallholding, by all means go for a local variety – but only if it fits those other requirements.”

Despite this pragmatic advice, Habibi remains concerned about the fate of some of Britain’s heritage fruit varieties. “We are lucky in this country in that there is still a big national collection at Brogdale, although it’s constantly under threat of extinction from lack of funding,” he says. Keepers Nursery, says Habibi, continues “to try to fill that gap,” supplying unusual types to local authorities, National Trust properties and conservation organisations with a commitment to preserving the huge diversity of Britain’s traditional fruit trees.

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Article by Sarah Irving for Rural Smallholdings Magazine

With the show season now in full swing here’s a round up of smallholding, farming, gardening and outdoor events across the country to enjoy this week.

Royal Cornwall Show – running Thursday to Saturday this week (10th – 12th June) in Wadebridge, Cornwall the Royal Cornwall Show is the premier annual event of the Royal Cornwall Agricultural Association. The famous JCB Dancing Diggers and the Devil’s Horsemen will perform all three days. On Thursday and Friday the RAF Falcons Parachute Display team will be dropping in. Also in the main ring: the Band of HM Royal Marines (Plymouth) showjumping and the exciting inter-hunt relay. See the cattle, sheep, pigs, rare breeds and discover the smaller animals and birds. Attractions include flower show, horses, countryside area, forestry, steam and vintage vehicles, motor fair, agricultural machinery, festival of dance, dog show, rabbit show, goats, full music programme. Over 1,000 trade stands and great food and drink from Cornwall!

For further info on this event click here

Aberystwyth & Ceredigion County Show – taking place tomorrow (12th June) in Aberystwyth, Wales the Aberystwyth and Ceredigion Show is the areas annual agricultural show. This local show attracts many visitors from the surrounding areas, uniting the farming industry and local community. A wide range of events take place from produce and poultry shows through to equestrian. It provides excellent opportunities for local farmers, plant growers, and exhibitors, and is a fun day out that can be enjoyed by all the family.

For further info on this event click here

South of England Show – running from Thursday to Saturday this week (10th – 12th June) in Haywards Heath, West Sussex the South of England Show includes Arena displays – The Sussex Cadet 150 KITKAR Display Team, The Light Cavalry HAC Skill at Arms Display Team, Agricultural Machinery Display, Prize winning British livestock including Cattle Parade each day, Piggy Pranks & Pig Village, Sheep Agility plus the best of British poultry, rabbits, foxhounds and beagles, World Class Show Jumping and Events including 2010 International Stairway Competition, Dinnages Grand Prix Competition, Hackney Horse Driving, Heavy Horses, entertainment and a host of Food and Farming attractions including Cookery Demonstrations and a Regional Food & Wine Pavilion and Food Hall.

For further info on this event click here

The Angus Show – taking place today and tomorrow (11th – 12th June) at Brechin, Angus The Angus Show has attractions including Vintage Vehicle Parades of agricultural and non agricultural vehicles, Pony Club Games, Phoenix Falconry, Grand Parade of Stock, Quad Bike Display, Djembe Drummers, Childrens Races, Highland Dancing Competition along with trade and craft stands.

For further info on this event click here.

Caerwys Agricultural Show – taking place tomorrow (12th June) in Holywell, Flintshire the Caerwys Agricultural Show offers a fantastic day out for all the family with a variety of attractions and entertainment throughout the day. The show gives the general public a chance to watch classes for sheep and cattle in the livestock section. A poultry tent houses one of the biggest poultry shows in North Wales. There are also classes for horses, floral art, photography and produce. The vintage machinery and tractors section boasts a wide range of tractors and stationary engines all lovingly restored by their owners. There are numerous trade stands and food stalls selling everything from plants to hats.

For further info on this event click here

Honley Agricultural Show – taking place tomorrow (12th June) in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire the Honley Show is one of the most prestigious, best attended and well respected rural shows in the country. Now in its 78th year, the Show’s Farnley Tyas showground remains one of the region’s best venues to showcase a stunning range of activities, agricultural events, stands and displays. It provides a fun day out for all the family whether you live in Kirklees, West Yorkshire or the North of England.

For further info on this event click here

The Grampian Country Fair – taking place tomorrow and Sunday (12th – 13th June) in Aberdeenshire, the Grampian Country Fair includes Country pursuits and attractions, shooting, fishing, live music, shopping, crafts, cuisine and much more! Falconry, horse and pony show, vintage vehicles, carriage driving, dogs, children’s entertainments and displays, autographs, Scottish Country Dancing, demonstrations by The Frilly Ghillie, all the fun of the fair and the list goes on. Some of the country’s top Strongmen will join the North East’s very own Strongman Steve Evans to amaze the crowds with superman strength using the heaviest weights and events ever seen on Scottish soil. The Kincardineshire Foxhounds will parade with their master and be on hand to speak to everyone. Pick up some memorabilia at Kevin’s Roupe! Celebrity Mini Highland Games, zip sliding, 5-a-side football, golf and Karting Grand Prix. You can even take a trip in an HJS helicopter and see Aberdeenshire as you’ve never seen it before. Bring your own dogs for the Gundogs Scurry!

On Saturday only the cast and team from TV’s Emmerdale will be at the show to raise vital funds for The Anthony Nolan Trust – helping take back lives from leukaemia.

For further info on this event click here

Clonakilty Agricultural Show – taking place this Sunday (13th June) in Clonakilty, Co Cork the Clonakilty Agricultural Show offers a great day out for all the family. This years attractions include Tractor Pulling Competition, Ricks Plant Hire “Hook a Duck” Competition, Balance a Quad Bike Competition, Na Fianna’s open air concert and much more.

For further info on this event click here

BBC Gardeners World Live – taking place next week from Wednesday to Sunday (16th to 20th June) at the NEC in Birmingham the BBC Gardeners World Live Show in association with the Royal Horticultural Society offers access to the top gardening celebrities including the all new Ask The Experts Stage, Gardeners Questions Time sessions, RHS Floral Marquee, Floristry Masterclasses, Show Gardens, A Taste of Greenacre, Countryfile Magazine Area, Plant Avenue, Plant Swap, and the BBC Summer Good Food Show.

For further info on this event click here

Please always check with show organisers/websites for up to date information on these shows before travelling to events in case of incorrect details, show changes or cancellations.

Got a smallholding, farming or gardening event you would like to promote on this site? Write and tell us all about it by clicking here.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

Some varieties of strawberries produce so many runners that a smallholder never has to worry about multiplying strawberry plants. The plants themselves do all the work. This is typical for the June bearing varieties. Unfortunately, June bearing strawberries give you one crop and then go on to put all their energy into runners.

You can choose an assortment of June bearing strawberry varieties so your harvest season lasts longer, but there is a downside. No two varieties of strawberry quite tastes the same or preserves the same. Once your favorite variety finished producing on your smallholding each year, you won’t have fresh strawberries with that same flavour again for another year.

Day neutral and everbearing strawberries are different. If you find an everbearing strawberry variety that you really like, you can expect it put on two crops each year. Some energy will go into runner production, but more of the plant’s energy will go into fruit production.

Day neutral strawberries put almost all their energy into fruit production. Every three weeks from the onset of warm weather, you can expect a flavourful crop to develop every three to four weeks, especially if you keep the fruit picked, the garden well nourished with compost and watered just enough to keep the soil moist but not enough to keep the plants waterlogged (about 1-inch of water per week).

If you want to have a predictable supply of strawberries available all the way into the autumn, you’ll want to multiply your own day-neutral varieties. This can be far less expensive than ordering the typical minimum wholesale order of a 1000 plants, if you don’t have enough room to plant four 15-metre rows of strawberries (at least 4 x 15 metres overall). It is also very risky to order a 1000 plants of a strawberry you have never grown before (one recommendation I tried had less flavour than the grocery store strawberries shipping in from South American—an expensive lesson).

Day neutral strawberries produce very few runners unless you take action to encourage runner production. That action is very simple. First, you use a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen. Organic sources include alfalfa meal and composted chicken manure. This encourages plant growth and discourages flowering. Then you don’t allow the strawberry plants to produce fruit. Every time the strawberry flowers, you clip the flowers off between your fingernails. (This is good practice the first year after you plant anyway.) Allow any runners that develop to root down.

If you want to confirm that you will like the strawberry variety you’ve selected, allow the most robust plant to set fruit in the middle of the summer, remembering that higher nitrogen levels do “dilute” the flavor of the strawberry. This way you can decide if continuing your efforts is worthwhile for the next year.

During the second year, go ahead and allow the strawberry plants to set one initial crop of fruit. Then clip of the flowers for the balance of the growing season. This will encourage all the plant’s energy to go into runner production.

It is very easy to turn a patch of day neutral strawberries into a strong income generator for a smallholding U-pick operation. We generated over £500 each summer just from strawberry sales off our four 15 meter rows of day neutral strawberries. Then we were able to produce value added products that generated additional income from the less marketable strawberries—fresh strawberry tarts, jams and dried strawberries.

So find a space on your smallholding that you are willing to keep weed-free and dedicated to strawberry plant production. It will pay for itself.

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Article by Denise Rutledge for Rural Smallholdings Magazine

With a heatwave predicted for this weekend, here’s a round up of smallholding, farming, gardening and outdoor events across the country to enjoy in the sunshine.

Devon County Show – taking place from Thursday to Saturday (20th-22nd May) in Westpoint, Exeter the Devon County Show promises a great day out for all the family. Traditional attractions include magnificent livestock, wonderful food and drink, inspiring flower and garden displays, marvellous crafts, stalls offering a wealth of goods, and lots of traditional entertainment in six rings.

New for this year’s show, Children’s feature FunForKidz is bursting with hands-on activity for lively youngsters; everything from planting seeds to baking bread, milking Daisy, weaving willow wands, seeing chicks hatch, watching Tractor Ted DVDs and petting Crealy’s tame animals. ‘Indulgence, fashion & lifestyle’ is a pavilion offering demonstrations and fashion shows as well as lots of trade stands.

Enjoy delicious and wholesome food: Westcountry food and drink producers bring the great taste of the countryside to the table with their affordable and tempting produce.

And for farmers and smallholders there’s livestock to see, machinery to ogle, suppliers to chat to and old faces to bump into!

There’s so much going on – don’t forget the equine competitions and dog show! Children go Free on Saturday when accompanied by an adult.

For further info on this event click here

Otley Show – running Saturday this week (22nd May) in Otley, West Yorkshire the Otley Show attracts an average 12000 visitors plus exhibitors in Cattle, Sheep, Horses, Goats, Poultry, Dogs, Rabbits, Produce, Handicrafts, Floral Art and Farriers. In excess of 100 Trade Stand Exhibitors and 40+ Craft Exhibitors also attend the show.

This year sees the 201st Show and amongst the many attractions will be Jason Smyth, with the Adrenaline Tour Stunt Show, Richard Savory with The Sheep Show, Les Dixon with his Mountgrace Gundogs and Ben Potter’s Birds of Prey.

For further info on this event click here

Althorp House Craft and Country Show – running all this weekend (22nd – 23rd May) in Althorp, Northampton entertainment will include the Horkesley Park Suffolk Punch Horse Demonstration Team, birds of prey flying displays, The Sheep Show – an educational as well as fun show, working and agility dogs, Newfoundland Dogs, as well as rural demonstrations . Arts, craft and gift marquees as well as lifestyle and food hall stands will give you the chance to sample and buy unique products.

Also on Sunday at this event, they’re proud to host the Companion Dog Show – so bring along a canine friend and have a go! (And all proceeds from entries will go to Marie Curie Cancer Care).

For further info on this event click here

RHS Chelsea Flower Show – running from this coming Tuesday to Saturday (25th – 29th May) the World’s most famous flower show should need no introduction, but we hope you have your tickets already as they are now SOLD OUT!

For further info on this event click here

NBA Beef Expo – taking place this coming Thursday (27th May) in Hexham, Northumberland Beef Expo is the National Beef Association’s annual flagship event and is held at a different venue each year with a comprehensive programme of technical, practical and livestock demonstrations, competitions, seminars, beef breed displays, trade stands and educational exhibits and a strong commercial focus.

Every corner of the available exhibition area at Hexham Mart has been taken up with live displays by 22 beef breed societies and 150 trade stands.

The theme of this year’s Beef Expo is “The Way Forward” and a special feature will be the National Spring Spectacular Show of cattle which proved a major success at last year’s event at the Three Counties Showground and has this year attracted an entry of 110 cattle from 35 exhibitors, as well as 13 entries in the young handlers’ section. The show will be judged by leading Scottish beef cattle producer, Archie McGregor, Allanfauld, Kilsyth, Glasgow.

For further info on this event click here

The Hay Festival – taking place next week from Thursday to the following Sunday (27th May to 6th June) in Hay on Wye, Wales The Hay Festival is a gathering in the staggering beauty of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Every year, around 80,000 visitors flock to Hay-on-Wye for the town’s annual literary festival. The programme of events is so packed we could never do it justice here so please do visit the website to find out more.

For further info on this event click here

Ballymena Show – running Friday and Saturday next week (28th – 29th May) in Country Antrim, Northern Ireland the Ballymena Show promises something for everyone this year with competitions for Horses, Ponies, Cattle, Sheep, Goats, Poultry and Crafts, Trade Stands with Cosmetics, Painting, Ceramics, Health Products, Baking, Jewellery, Handbags, Cars, Machinery, Garden Equipment, Books, and Horticulture. A chance to test your skills at Archery and Air Rifle Shooting while the Young Farmers have fun and games to win prize money for charity – lots of water will be involved.

For further info on this event click here

SWHP Bluebell Dog Walk – taking place this Sunday (23rd May) and starting at Trostry Lodge, Bettws Newydd, Usk The Society For The Welfare of Horses and Ponies invites you and your dog or doggies to a dog walk. Registration 2.30 for 3 p.m. the walk starts at Trostry Lodge, Bettws Newydd, Near Clytha Park just off old A40 Raglan to Abergavenny Road. £5 per dog to include gorgeous rosette, teas and refreshments also available. All funds go to the SWHP a registered charity.

For further info on this event click here

Got a smallholding, farming or gardening event you would like to promote on this site? Write and tell us all about it by clicking here.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine

The Producers of the upcoming new Smallholding / Farming series to be shown on BBC2 which we told you about in earlier postings (Click here to read our previous post) are currently seeking a Farming Advisor/Project Manager to help with the series.

Here’s more info on what they are looking for:

‘We are currently making a new eight part series for BBC 2 about small farms. During the series we will be looking at the key areas of the farming business.

To help us with this we are looking to bring on a Farming Advisor / Project Manager. We would like to hear from anyone who feels they have a broad knowledge of how to set up & run a small farm, the rules & regulations involved and the experience of perhaps managing or consulting for farms in the past.

It would potentially be a full time position, with a very quick start and the possibility of working through until August. The farm will be based in Suffolk and although not necessary, some local knowledge would be a bonus.’

If you are interested, please email: eireannsharpe@splashmediatv.co.uk with your cv and a brief description of what you’ve been up to previously.

This sounds like a great opportunity for someone and we wish you every success.

Still looking for Your Smallholding? Visit Greenshifters for the latest smallholdings for sale, rent and exchange.

Article by Rural Smallholdings Magazine