Ok, the title of my blog is slightly misleading, but I am thinking big....the title of the blog should be 'An English Wannabe Farmer in France'....
Follow my trials and tribulations whilst trying to register as a farmer in France, but please keep in mind that it might not actually happen, because that is the way things are in France. It might not happen for a number of reasons, not least because I have absolutely no farming qualifications and I have no experience of farming, but why should that hold me back? In the UK I would be considered a 'smallholder', but they don't seem to have the same concept in France, so I am told, but I will be doing more research, and will report back on progress.
Last year my partner and I bought 12.5 hectares of previously agricultural land, but now in a sad and sorry state, with the land came a grange (barn) converted into a house without planning permission, oh and did I mention it has no mains electricity? There are also two ruins and another grange that is so inaccessible that even the animals groan when I mention popping down to it!
Just to give you an insight into the current situation, I have very recently, as in within the last 4 weeks acquired the following livestock;
5 goats
5 sheep
2 pigs
These are in addition to the 4 chickens, 2 dogs, 1 cat and too numerous to mention mice that we already have, I should just let you know that the mice came with the house, part of the deal so to speak ;-)
Do you have experience of working as a smallholder/farmer in France? I would love to hear about your experiences.
Hi Alison, we are about 3 1/2 hours from you, sometimes I come up to Sarlat-la-caneda to visit a friend in the summer but she wasn't coming this year, it is a lovely part of France, I am sure you camping will do well. I am going to try to register my animals next week, so I will let you know how I go on. I now have a facebook page it is; https://www.facebook.com/AnEnglishFarmerInFrance
Hi Alison, hmm not sure how we will go on as our land is in a protected mountainous zone, it might be difficult to get the permissions. We wanted to use composting toilets rather than traditional ones and solar heated water for showers. We are also thinking of yurts or tepees, because most of our land is sloping we will have to build wooden decks/platforms so we can't have people bringing their own tents and we definitely can't get caravans/motor homes down our track. I agree with you, the 'getting there' takes time and patience, but every time we make a bit more progress I feel very pleased. We are near Bagneres de Bigorre about 25 mins. south of Tarbes, do you know the area? Where are you?
Hi Alison, lovely to hear from you. The information about the Cotisant Solidaire is just what I needed, thank you. The guy I got the sheep from explained this set up, but he couldn't remember what it was called. I am not too worried about the healthcare/pension as I am already registered as an auto-entrepreneur for other work. We are also thinking about setting up as a 'Camping a la Ferme', I am hoping this is still possible under the Cotisant Solidaire registration. I am not sure what the criteria is for the 'Camping a la Ferme' as the information seems to be very limited unless you are registered then you can access another part of the website which I assume gives more information/criteria to meet.
We have been here for six years and started off with a veg patch and chickens, even after six years there still seems to be a lot to learn. Picking each others brains sounds good, if you need any help just shout. I will be adding to my blog here on a regular basis, so you will be get an idea of what keeping animals is like (assuming you are thinking of keeping animals in the future). Hoping to go and register with MSA next week, this week I am building a gate in the hope that I can keep my awol pigs in once we re-catch them! BFN Kim