Merrist Wood College

Posted on 29th June 20153rd July 2015 by Suzie Baldwin

We had a fantastic fun evening with Luke from Merrist Wood College and his smallholder group who were all presented with their certificates of achievement. Well done and lovely to meet you all, I hope you all enjoy my new smallholding book x

Merrist Wood is a 400-acre, multi-award winning College specialising in the land-based industries.

The College is widely recognised by industry specialists for its training and for its many successes at RHS Chelsea and Hampton Court Flower Shows. Work from the estate is known across the country and in other parts of the world.

Animal magic in the garden

Posted on 6th June 201530th January 2024 by Trevor Baldwin

Garden designer and BBC Radio 4 Gardeners’ Question Time panelist Bunny Guinness wrote a piece in The Telegraph last weekend about Suzie Baldwin’s new book – “The Smallholder’s Handbook: Keeping & caring for poultry & livestock on a small scale“

“You don’t need acres of space to keep enough livestock to live the good life”

“Suzie Baldwin’s new book The Smallholders Handbook tells you all you need to know to get started. Suzie who is passionate about people discovering the immense satisfaction that comes from producing your own meat, wisely suggests you begin with a few chickens, then perhaps graduate to a few cade lambs^* and go on from there.”

Bunny goes on to discuss her and Suzie’s suggestions for sheep, pigs and cows…

* a cade lamb is an orphan lamb reared on a bottle

The Smallholders Handbook – now available

Posted on 28th May 20158th February 2016 by Trevor Baldwin

Now available - chicken expert Suzie Baldwin's new book "The Smallholder's Handbook: Keeping & caring for poultry & livestock on a small scale"

You can order from Amazon and we also have them in our Hollywater Hens shop at our smallholding on the Surrey/Hampshire border.

Suzie Baldwin grew up on a farm in Devon where, from an early age, she cared for a menagerie of animals. These included chickens, sheep, ducks, horses and even ferrets. She has kept chickens for more than 20 years and has recently moved to her own Hollywater Hens smallholding on the Surrey/Hampshire border.

The Smallholder's Handbook is a detailed manual to start, plan and manage your own smallholding. Suzie explains the level of work involved, how much space you need and how to prepare your land. There are chapters on keeping poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese), as well as pigs, goats, sheep, cows and bees. She also explains why having a variety of animals makes the best use of your resources and how many of each type to keep. Comprehensive advice includes choosing breeds, transporting, feeding, housing, daily care and wellbeing, as well as international legislation that applies to livestock.

The Smallholders Handbook – 1 month to go

Posted on 14th April 201524th June 2015 by Trevor Baldwin

One month to go to the publication of chicken expert Suzie Baldwin's new book "The Smallholder's Handbook: Keeping & caring for poultry & livestock on a small scale" on 14th May 2015.

You can pre-order from Amazon now.

The Smallholder's Handbook is a detailed manual to start, plan and manage your own smallholding. Suzie explains the level of work involved, how much space you need and how to prepare your land. There are chapters on keeping poultry (chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese), as well as pigs, goats and sheep, cows and bees. She also explains why having a variety of animals makes the best use of your resources and how many of each type to keep. Comprehensive advice includes choosing breeds, transporting, feeding, housing, daily care and wellbeing, as well as international legislation that applies to livestock.