Over the past few years, the concepts of urban farming and owning a smallholding have really taken off, and as a result many have appeared throughout the UK. These often appear in what would be considered traditional urban areas and this new wave of small farms, community spaces and smallholdings has found its home in the many abandoned or neglected plots of land to be found in cities across the United Kingdom. Often these small farms or green areas provide a living for a single-family or are community-centered, where local people are encouraged to grow and share their own produce or even keep livestock such as chickens and pigs.
If you have been inspired by the thought of setting up your own green urban space, it’s important you understand and appreciate all the great benefits that making such an undertaking entails.
Helping to make cities greener
One of the first benefits that comes with a smallholding in a city such as London, is that it helps to make the city more green. It is said that nine out of ten people in the United Kingdom are expected to live in either a town or a city at some point in their lives, and as we well know, many of these consist of densely packed urban areas. Finding a space, however small, to establish a smallholding among a mainly urban landscape will bring greenery, colour, a community focal point and ‘life’ to an inner city area. Many city properties such as flats or apartment buildings, do not have access to their own outdoor area or a garden and a smallholding, can provide that all-important green interaction with people in the local community, as well as providing plants and possibly trees to help improve air and soil quality, positively impacting the urban micro-climate and increasing the biodiversity of plants and animals.
Relatively easy to set up and manage
Not only are urban smallholdings a great way to bring life and colour to a city, but once you have access to a piece of land, whatever state it might be in, they are relatively easy to set up and manage. As with many things, you can start small and scale up over time. Basic tools you would probably need include shovels, garden forks, gloves, shears, hand trowels, rakes, hoses and a wheelbarrow.
Obviously if you are planning on growing crops you will also need to look at plants and seeds, create a seasonal planting schedule, and work out how you will be encouraging eco-friendly, organic growth. When it comes to providing security and a proper perimeter for the plot, you will also need to consider things such as gates and fencing and these are specialist areas and the demands can be different from ‘normal’ farms when it comes to the perimeter and access to a smallholding. When looking at farming supplies, you will see that the fencing options are varied, however, most could be appropriate to the inner-city smallholding’s needs – be it wire fencing, timber fencing, or metal security gates. Fencing could be the most significant investment you make, but it’s important to ensure that your property, and livestock, communal or not, are kept safe and secure from the added threats that the urban location can present (for example, mindless vandalism).
Promoting a healthier standard of living
It is widely known that getting involved in nature and gardening can improve your mental health whilst the activity can help increase fitness levels. Even low pace gardening beats sitting on an armchair watching TV! If your smallholding is to be used for urban food growing, such as vegetables, it can also help promote a healthier diet and lifestyle locally and provide a low cost source of fresh, seasonal, cheap produce. As for raising small livestock such as free-range and organic chickens these have the bonus of providing, healthy fresh eggs, that are full of protein. If people are invested emotionally in an urban smallholding they are also more likely to make healthier food choices. Access to a ready supply of seasonal, cheap fresh fruit, vegetables and free-range eggs will,on its own, provide a great incentive.
Making some money
If you decide that you want to grow fruit and vegetables or even raise livestock such as chickens on your smallholding, it’s unlikely (unless it’s a community effort) that you will be able to consume all you produce. In which case you could either consider passing it on free to someone else – such as friends and family or the local food bank, or you could actually sell this excess produce to others in order to make a profit – either locally direct to the community or even via a local greengrocers.
So, as you can see, there’s are a number of potential great benefits that come with owning or managing a smallholding in a city. Not only are they relatively easy to set up and manage, but they can bring people together as well as promoting a better, healthier local environment and provide lots of lovely fresh produce.