I started writing this blog because I wanted to share what it was like to be a smallholder.
Well....
Sometimes it sucks to be a self employed smallholder.
No one pays me wages.
If we don't get orders from the wholesalers I earn nothing.
There are more weeks when I earn nothing than there are when I earn something.
And calling the wholesaler twice a week can get mighty depressing when it's sorry, not today thanks.
I cannot share quite how that makes me feel. Because there are a jumble of emotions...anger, at the supermarkets for killing off the market stalls and greengrocers, sadness, because this was once a thriving farm.
We cannot compete with the supermarkets, every time we grow something new within a couple of years the big guys start growing it too, killing our niche once again.
There really is only so far you can diversify without spending alot of money. And that's something we don't have alot of right now.
So, not much money coming in you change your need. New clothes? How many items have you bought in the last 3 months? How much have you spent? £34.97 in the last 6 months? Or would that not even be enough for your last trip!
New stuff? Games? Dvds? Phone? Pretty things for the house? Weekly? Monthly? Or maybe not at all.
Food budget? All the veg you can grow and fifty quid thanks to sons housekeeping money, to feed three adults, 15 farm cats and dads doglet. Trouble is son works for a charity...that has no longer got the funding to pay him...just before Christmas. ..so no more housekeeping either.
So jam made from courgettes, homemade cakes, alot of veg to eat.
And hope and pray when I call the wholesalers they say yes please we've sold out!
