My nascent library

I started this whole adventure off a few years ago when I decided to make use of the garden of the new house I'd just rented to grow food; I wanted to find out how easy it was to be a Part Time Homesteader (hence the name of the blog I started to talk about this) and I found a great pleasure in the simple action of planting a seed and then, however many weeks or months later, eating the fruits of my labour.

The specific reason behind the name was I was unable to find anyone blogging about doing what I was trying to do; everyone was attempting to be self sufficient in a smallholding in Wales, or the middle of the Rockies or some other such isolated and full time location. It is truly ironic (or maybe the natural progression of things) that I have now found myself here, where I also am well on my way to achieving my own deserted paradise where I can be a Full Time Homesteader.

Me and my home grown corn - aged about 6

Anyway, this long and introverted ramble is a preamble to talking about the books which I have found very helpful and the ones I have recently ordered. If, like me, you have only a vague recollection of helping your dad out (and growing corn from seed after a walk in the countryside) then a good book is an excellent way to get yourself the knowledge and confidence to get in the garden and start growing things.

So in no particular order this is a summary of my Gardening and Homesteading library as it currently stands.

The One-Straw Revolution - Masenobu Fukuoka

The One-Straw Revolution - Masenobu Fukuoka - and excellent book, inspiring and fascinating in equal measures. Probably the book I would recommend most out of all of these.

Your Kitchen Garden - George Sedden and Helena Radecka - this is a new one which I haven't yet read. I was recommended it extremely highly by people on a group on facebook.

The NEW Self-Sufficient Gardener - John Seymour

The NEW Self-Sufficient Gardener - John Seymour - This is an excellent book, dealing with everything from which tools you need to a detailed list of plants and vegetables and how to plant, care for and harvest them. He is very keen on the deep bed method of gardening, just to warn you.

The Gardening Year - unknown - I bought this from the charity shop next door to where I live at the moment. It was £3 (I think) and is a fantastic hefty hard back (without the pretty cover in the picture above) which goes through month by month (as it says) with tasks and tips for the garden. This is an excellent book.

Grow Your Own Vegetables - Rachelle Strauss - This is a new book. It looks really good though; clear and concise.

Permaculture - Sepp Holzer - This is another new book. I bought it because Sepp Holzer's farm is quite high up (about 1500m) which is a similar altitude to my school. Obviously Austria is a totally different climate but still I can learn a lot from this. This is the next one on my list to read.

Companion Planting - Brenda Little - This little handbook is fantastic and fascinating. It is written in an A-Z format with entries for all sorts of things related to Companion Planting, and is not only about "put these plants together" but also has hints "never put these together". I think this will turn out to be one of my most used books.

The next books I have ordered but have not yet received.

Root Cellaring - Mike Buble - Anyone who is trying to become self sufficient, even if only to a small extent, is going to come face-to-face with a glut at some point. Being able to store your produce so that times of feast can help you survive times of famine is vital. This book has been recommended to me and I hope it provides some excellent tips.

The Forgotten Arts - John Seymour - This is one book I am really looking forward to getting; it covers all sorts of interesting subjects and even if I am unable to utilise many of them practically, it'll be a fascinating read.

Self-Sufficiency: Science and Art of Producing and Preserving Your Own Food - John Seymour - As for the "Root Cellaring" book I think this is going to be a vital companion for my growing efforts as I look to preserve and utilise as much of my production as possible.

I have another couple of books which I am going to be ordering soon, or asking for as presents for this Christmas. Briefly listed:

• The Year Round Vegetable Gardener
• Pig Manual: The Complete Step-by-step Guide to Keeping Pigs
• The New Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency
• Preserving Food without Freezing or Canning: Traditional Techniques Using Salt, Oil, Sugar, Alcohol, Drying, Cold Storage, and Lactic Fermentation
• How to Grow Winter Vegetables

I hope you have found this useful. If you have any books that you don't think you could do without then please comment them below; I would (as always) be grateful for the advice.

Vehicle Fettling

I collected Julian from the garage today as next week I am going to take him to meet my dad for our annual walking trip. Thinking about it , that's another "for the last time" to take particular note of. I will blog about that when I get back. Julian had some new tires and an oil change, but is going to go back into the garage as soon as I get back for some other bits and pieces. While I'm away, Thomas will be in the garage having a service, and trying to work out what the strange high pitched whistling sound is when he first starts up.

Anyway, back to the point. As well as collecting Julian I have decided to have some practice reversing Thomas and Trailer in the car park of the studio. I have found out that as I passed my test after 1997 I do not have the required codes on my license to legally tow a trailer (which is just ridiculous but still) so I have found out about getting the code added and it will cost me about £500 for a course and test. I am determined to not fail this hence my practicing.

Thomas and Trailer

As pretty much anyone can tell you reversing a trailer is a bit different as you have to actually turn your car the opposite way to that which you are aiming. This takes some getting used to. You also find that it's hard to get the car and trailer exactly lined up which means you end up S-ing and continually having to correct yourself.

Reversing a Trailer

I did about half an hour driving around (collecting weird looks from the other business owners on the yard) and trying to reverse the trailer into car parking spaces, or up to shutter doors. My first few attempts were awful, I just couldn't get my head around the mechanics but, after a bit of practice, I got a bit better.

I think I will do this practice every week for a few weeks and then try and book in for the test.

While I was having a day playing with the vehicles I thought I would put the roof box (which you can see in the trailer above) on top of Julian.

This did not go so well.

The holes in the bottom of the roof box

Basically the holes in the bottom of the roof box are a maximum of 1040mm apart.

Measuring the bars on Julian

The bars on the top of Julian are 1300mm apart. It just won't fit as it is currently configured.

I have got a few thoughts around how to solve this. First of all I could talk to my friendly welder (who has quoted for some more work already; the ladder on the back of Julian needs replacing) and ask him to put some extra bars on to attach the roof box to. I don't like this idea as it will limit the future utility of the frame on top of Julian.

The second idea (which I prefer) is to move the existing roof box across to the side where I was going to put the other roof box, and put the longer roof box where the existing one is.

See what I mean?

The frame on top of Julian and t'other roof box

The frame is less restrictive on the other side so I am pretty sure this should work.

I will not do anything about this now until I have parked Julian inside the unit where I can mess about with him like this whatever the weather.

Nothing is simple, but this is why I am trying to get all these things sorted out so early; any problems then have a chance of actually being fixed.

I have also tried the mains hook up again, but with no joy. The concerning thing is it is tripping out the circuit breaker inside the building, but I do not know if this is immediate, or when I try and turn something on inside the van. I will have to wait until I have a second person here who can stand by and shout when it trips. Hmmmm.

The fridge is not working either, think it'll need to be binned, though I've put my food in for the trip next week with my dad so it is proving useful for now at least.

The (slightly incorrectly put up) awning

Last but not least I have had a play with the awning and, even though I used the feet that are supposed to go to the floor to hook into the side of the can I did get it put up properly relatively easily. It does need a ladder to do so and this vindicates my plan of taking a second ladder on top of Thomas to allow better access to the roof of Julian.

As an addendum to this post I received a very nice email from my contact with the architect today (well, yesterday as I post this). While I have no extra information or progress with the Project I feel a little more comfortable about everything. So hi to Ivo and here's hoping all that stuff can start to really progress efficiently. Thanks for your help :)

Transporting Bunny

This blog post has been a fair while in the writing and, truth be told, I could probably put off publishing it for a fair while yet as I wait for various things to happen. I'm publishing it, however, in the hope that my fantastic readers will have their usual input and will maybe be able to suggest things which I haven't thought of.

Think of this as a kind of Crowd-Sourced emirgration </ geekJoke> </ noReally>

Anyway, I have a bunny rabbit. She is called Sassy. And I am planning on taking Sassy with me to Bulgaria so she can have a fantastically large run (including a secure outdoor area) and I can have some company.

Sassy the Rabbit

The challenge is getting her there. This is really tightly coupled to the decision around the route. The three routes I am considering are all vastly different when it comes to considering taking pets with you. The first one (through Romania) is the simplest as the entire route goes through the EU. My research has discovered that you can transport Rabbits throughout the EU without any quarantine and this is a really good clear post from someone else who has researched like me. As they say on that link, I'd recommend checking with your vet yourself before taking my word for it.

The second route (through Italy and Greece) is also entirely through the EU however it has the added problem of a long over night ferry journey. This should be OK however, from my research again, ferry companies demand that animals are left in vehicles, and you are generally not allowed to stay in the vehicles. To contradict myself for a minute, I have heard from other people doing this route that if you are in a camper van (and we will be) they put you on the deck and you are allowed to sleep in them over night. So maybe that wouldn't be such a dreadful thing after all.

A (not as good as Julian) camper on the deck of a ferry

Finally the route through Serbia. This looks like the most complicated off all for transporting the rabbit as Serbia is not part of the EU (lucky bastards) and there is no clear knowledge of whether I would be OK to traverse their country with a rabbit in my car. My research into this is still ongoing and it has been such a run around that I thought I'd detail it a little bit here.

The first site I started at (and if you google it'll be the first you do too) is this really clear page on the DeFRA website. At the bottom it tells you to click a link to contact the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) which takes you to another page on their site listing the phone number 01245 358383. When you ring this you get a BT recorded message saying that the number has been changed to 01284 778150. When you ring THIS number you get an automated message saying to ring 01228 403600 and when you ring THIS message you go through a menu system and get told to email petexport.carlisle@ahvla.gsi.gov.uk and this email bounces.

You can thank me later for having gone through that process for you.

They may as well have used one of these

Having seen that the email bounced I decided to call the last number (01228 403600) back and ignore the "if it is not an emergency email..." part of the message. I got pretty much straight through to a very helpful operator and opened the conversation with "Hi, I am looking at transporting a rabbit through Serbia". My colleague sat next to me thought this was very funny indeed; I wonder what odd opening gambits they get on that number.

Her advice was simple and three-fold

1. Call Bulgarian embassy about importing a pet
2. Call the Ferry Services I would be using about transporting pets
3. Call the embassy for each country I am crossing (not just the Serbian one)

I gathered together a list of the countries I would be driving through (for the Serbian route it is: France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria) and found contact details for each one. As most are in the EU I decided to start with Serbia and tried to get through to their consular division. There was no answer. I found an email address on their website (consular@serbianembassy.org.uk) and sent the following email:

Hi there,

I hope you can help.

I am emigrating to Bulgaria early next year and am in the process of planning my route. I will be driving across Europe with a car with a trailer, and also a camper van. Inside the camper van I am planning on bring my pet rabbit. One of the routes I am considering is to come down through Serbia.

I have done some research on your website, having been unable to get through on the phone, and have found the following page which suggests that I need to have some documentation to be allowed to transport a rabbit through your country.

http://www.upravacarina.rs/en/Passengers/Pages/Passengers.aspx

Please could you let me know what this documentation is so I can arrange it in plenty of time.

My other question is more general. What requirements do you have for vehicle insurance (including for the trailer) and are there any other documents which I need to arrange?

Finally, I am a collector of fine whisky and will have, boxed and sealed, about 100 bottles with me. Will this present a problem at the border?

I look forward to your reply and thank you for your attention.

Regards

In contrast to the Bulgarian embassy when I contacted them for information about the house in the woods that I loved so much, I have not had a swift reply (this email was sent on 21st August and I have not yet had even an acknowledgment) so I still do not have the answer to how easy it is to transport a rabbit across Serbia.

I am happy that EU countries will be OK with me taking Sassy through their borders but still have to contact the Bulgarian embassy about importing her. I will probably get a pet passport anyway when I get her checked by the VET in the run up to leaving.

This blog post is long enough now so I will leave it there. I still have a lot of stuff to write about though so there will be a follow up.

What animals should I get straight away

As seems to be the regular situation I had a great response and discussion after my "Livestock Thoughts" blog post. I covered initial consideration of what animals I may keep at some point and this led organically on to multiple conversations about what might I consider getting straight away, within a month or so of arriving.

I have been concerned about taking animals on too early as I am aware I may have to come back to the UK to earn some more money (sadly) maybe over the first winter so this had initially thought I would leave off getting animals until I felt completely comfortable that I was settled and would not need to leave the country for any extended period of time for a few years at least.

However, and thanks to ClareyH for this impetus (amongst others) it has been pointed out to me that, should I have to leave for a few months I can just slaughter the animals for meat if I do have to leave.

So, with this alternative point of view in mind, which animals might I consider at an early stage and why.

First of all, pigs.

A pigsty, with lovely dug up ground

We had a long discussion about this as pigs are a fantastic method of breaking up really hard packed ground and introducing nutrients direct into the soil. The trouble with pigs is they are the Houdinis of the animal kingdom and are able to escape from pretty much any pen. Rampaging pigs through your veg garden is not a result to be looked forward to.

The proposed solution is to build an electrified fence (running from a small solar panel and battery so it can be moved anywhere on the land without trailing wires everywhere) as a compound and, as hinted at just then, moving it around the land to get the best benefit of the rotavation technique of the porkers.

Chickens and Ducks together

Secondly, and jointly, chickens and ducks. Having fresh eggs every morning (of both varieties) would really improve my living conditions and for that alone this makes keeping these creatures a good move very early in the piece. They are also relatively simple to look after and provide excellent manure as a by-product.

Ducks need to have some water to splash in but it doesn't need to be incredibly deep. They can co-habit quite happily with chickens too (according to my research - I am happy to be contradicted here if you know any better). There are a number of brilliant designs for duck and hen coops in the books I own which I could knock together from scraps around the property so the initial cost would be negligible.

And, as with pigs, chickens and ducks are very tasty so could be eaten should I need to shut the homestead down for an extended absence.

A pair of rabbits

Finally I may choose to get a breeding pair of rabbits, for the reasons enumerated above. In a very similar way to the chickens and ducks these are simple creatures to care for, and will provide me with meat variety and also some pleasure in the caring for them.

As with everything these thoughts and plans are tentative at the moment and I will revise and improve my plans with all the copious advice I am receiving from you, my lovely readers.

Thank you.

Itchy feet

Maybe it is because I am thinking so much about Bulgaria at the moment, maybe it's just because I can be an impatient sort, but right now I have substantially itchy feet.

I want it to be March 9th 2014 already.

Waiting...............

Today I went through the pile of packing materials and boxes in the corner of my bedroom to tidy them up. I did achieve separating out the different types of packing material (tissue paper / packing paper / padded envelopes (very useful for keeping screws for furniture in, not that I'll have much use for that) / bubble wrap and last but not least packing peanuts) but my attempt to leave the stack in a smaller space failed and it actually ended up taking more space.

I wish I was filling those boxes with things right now... every action taking me closer to the moment I leave this country and embark on the next challenge.

The frustration with the roof can't be helping, I don't think. I feel that every day is a wasted day at the moment and you can't get these days back, can you??

The onward path

I suppose the changes in my life over the last couple of months (covered elsewhere in this blog) and the fact that I am keeping my own company more and more are also making me ready for the challenge of being entirely self reliant and having the massive challenge of renovating the school right in front of me.

I'm also incredibly jealous of Dom's lovely other half who is currently ensconced in Bulgaria, having reviewed progress on a roof being put on their house. Oh it's just not fair that she is able to be there and I'm stuck here.

Finally, it appears that "Bulgarian Time" is following me even to the UK. Julian, who has been with my mechanic for over a week now, is still not ready and hasn't even had any work started on him. "I've been busy" is not an excuse when I am paying you to do the work! I have to have him back for this weekend as I'm going for my first long-ish road trip (camping with my dad - another "last" to be ticked off) and I have been promised that the very least they will do is oil change and new tyres. I would like it if they did the oil leak and the heater matrix but it seems the lesson I am being taught by everything and everyone is "patience is a virtue".

Anyway, this is going to be a short post as I really am not fond of putting too much negative feeling out there.

Here's to 186 days flying past with lots of positive energy and ideas, and less of the blah which has settled over me this evening.

I am determined to be positive

Target for this year

As I write this blog post I am facing up to the fact that I am definitely not going to achieve everything I had hoped to before the winter snows come.

I had planned on being able to replace the entire roof but because the architect has been exceptionally slow, and the nice man at the Municipality went back on his verbal agreement he made with myself and E when we met him and I do not want to risk the wrath of the planning department (who could put all sorts of problems my way if they decide to be awkward) I am going to have to aim for a lower target.

Frustration

This is incredibly frustrating. Particularly the delays with the architect who, having promised to work to an urgent schedule, and deliver the project to the Municipality so that I could have time to complete the roof even if I didn't get the go ahead to jump the gun with the roof, has since I saw her disappeared nearly completely off the face of the earth, with minimal updates only when I have nagged and chased my contact. She seems to think that, now I've agreed to work only with her, she doesn't have to do any work and I will just wait; if she doesn't pull her finger out soon I will just arrange to meet a different architect.. but anyway... rant over.

I have been thinking this through a lot and, in consultation with E, have come up with the following list of things I would like to achieve this year before the snows come. I am planning on going over for a week to help and hopefully these would all be done that week.

1. Connect electricity and padlock supply
2. Connect water, including padlocked clock
3. Dismantle the chimney
4. Prop up the roof in as many places as possible (use wooden props?)
5. Remove loose tiles
6. Attach polythene over holes in roof

The thinking behind the priority is as follows.

I can't do any work there without water and electric being hooked up and, if I can get these done now then the larger project which will start next year when I arrive full time will be quicker to get going.

The Chimney which must come down

The chimney is really rickety and I am sure would not last the winter. Where a fall of tiles and roof timbers are not likely to cause much damage to the concrete slab of the floors, if a chimney were to go over then it could do damage and may even go through the floor.

The props are needed (as regular readers will know) as the beams have started to sag and in some places snap completely; if I am to have any chance of avoiding a complete catastrophe where the roof collapses completely and I lose all the tiles (which are currently about 85% salvageable) then I will need to give these beams a little encouragement to stay upright. E has a couple of metal Acro Props which she is kindly offering to lend, however I think I'll need more so I will probably have to make up a number of wood props.

One snapped beam

If I only achieve these four things then I think I will be much calmer. With the chimney not about to collapse, the props in place, and water and electric connected but secured, I can hope that I will return to a site ready to start work in earnest.

If I can get time I would also like to remove loose tiles around the major hole, which are going to come down at the first weight of snow, and try to ensure the remaining tiles are secured as best I can. I would then like to try and attach a polythene sheet over the hole to keep the worst of the snow out of the roof space.

Part of me wants to try and get time to just take the roof down in its entirety, and put plastic sheeting over the concrete slab. This would mean that all possibility of damage was removed, and I would have less to do next year. My only concern with this is if the council think I'm jumping the gun and ignoring their requirements (as mentioned above).

Anyway, these are my thoughts at the moment. At some point E will be having a word with Bekir for me, maybe even going to the Obshtina and trying a kind word with our friendly man at the Municipality to loosen their determination for the entire Project prior to salvage work being started. This may all change, if that does happen, and I may be facing a few weeks of work to remove and secure the roof.

We shall see.

A word of advice; everything takes longer than you think. EVERYTHING. Even when you have cast iron promises and the appearance of a helpful person. I should have started the architect process the minute I won the auction, frankly. Shoulda-woulda-coulda huh.

Follow up to "Planning the Route"

First of all thank you to everyone who has made their knowledge and experience known since I published the "Planning the Route" post. It has been incredibly helpful to hear from you all and allow the benefit of your information to improve my decisions.

Please keep it up :)

To quickly summarise, I came up with three alternative routes; through Romania, through Italy/Greece and through Serbia. I discarded the Italy Greece route because the cost of the additional ferry was too high and so was left with a decision between Romania and Serbia.

Originally I was very against the idea of Romania as it was a long and difficult journey to get across to the ferry near Ruse so I was focusing on Serbia. To this end I sent an email to the Serbian embassy to find out about transporting my pet rabbit and my whisky collection through their non Schengen country. I have not yet had a reply to this email.

As intimated above, however, I had some interesting information which was you can get across Romania in day because the new bridge (I think I mentioned this in the last post) is now open and the roads across Romania to it are pretty good.

This has nearly decided me in the route I am going to take and so I thought I'd quickly detail it here and put it out there for anyone else to shoot down and say "you don't want to do that, you want to do this!" because they know something I don't.

So, without further ado:

Day One - Blackpool to Birmingham. 125 miles, 3 hours

Blackpool -> Birmingham

I am leaving from Blackpool where I am packing and driving to my parents house in Birmingham so they can go to church before starting the long drive. It is also going to be a good short comfortable stage where any problems with the packing will be spotted and we will not be in a rush. It will also be really nice to sleep in real beds for one more night...

Day Two - Birmingham to Brussels. 333 miles, 8 hours

Birmingham -> Dover

The first part of Day Two will be to get to the ferry. We will start early and aim to be there with plenty of time. Then, sit on the ferry for a bit and then...

Calais -> Brussels

... we aim to make a few hours driving through France and into Belgium as far as we can.

Day Three - Brussels to Nuremberg. 384 miles, 9 hours

Brussels -> Nuremberg

The third day on the road is the longest however it should also see us on the easiest roads; Autobahns are easy to drive on at 55mph, right? Anyway, this will break the back of the trip and leave us within striking distance of Austria

Day Four - Nuremberg to Liesing, Vienna. 300 miles, 7 hours

Nuremberg -> Vienna

Day four will see us heading even further south and east with the aim of ending the day in the region around Vienna.

Day Five - Liesing, Vienna to Szeged. 250 miles, 6 hours

Vienna -> Szeged

This is the key day as we need to end up at the end of a day at Szeged which is in Hungary just before you start driving in Romania. This shorter day should allow us to get some extra rest before the slightly more stressful following day.

Day Six - Szeged to Vidin. 300 miles, 7 hours

Szeged -> Vidin (avoiding tolls)

Day six is when we plan to tackle Romania. I am avoiding toll roads the entire way over and this makes about 6 miles difference on this leg. We will end the day over the new bridge and in Bulgaria.

Day Seven - Vidin to Kardjali. 300 miles, 7 hours

Vidin -> Kardjali

Day seven and the homeward stretch. Once I am past Sofia I know the route off by heart and I am expecting that to be a fantastic feeling as we coast down the E11 (I think it is?) towards Plovdiv. I may have to divert from this route if it is snowing as doing the Aceonograd pass in the camper and towing the trailer, in the snow, would not be my idea of fun. There is a less-mountainous route as an alternative.

So there you have it, seven days of driving which will result in me and my parents at my school in the Rhodope.

Obviously the maps here are pretty general, and I will not be going into places like Brussels or Vienna (sadly). As I get closer we will be looking for campsites in the general area we are aiming to end up every day, as well as some Geocaches for my dad. I have one more thing to share with you which is this really helpful link explaining how to take a route on Google Maps and import it into your satnav.

Please do add comments/criticisms/observations/suggestions below. I am desperate to learn as much from others as I can.