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Yes, hazelnuts must have been a hugely important part of diet in the more northern climes, as the archeological record hints. An important food supply for anyone journeying in those times too, the original trail mix ingredient! Hemp is a curious one, it almost seems to have been deliberately...

No you're not, as evidenced by the rest of your post. The answers to all the questions you have asked are in "The Humanure Handbook", which can be downloaded for free (the author's desire, to educate and promote good practice). Read it and understand it fully, do not potentially pollute...

You're likely meaning arable crops, but I have a feeling that hunter gathers would likely have been increasing the abundance of other useful plants- such as hazlenut trees- long before the rise of 'farming'.

There has been a huge shift in mindset and acceptance in the last 10 years or so. When I was setting up to live in a caravan in a 200 acre wood for a while, the responses were 'how will you manage without electricity', 'how will you do your washing' etc etc. Now, restoring a very derelict...

I do wonder if this thread is serious or whether you're having a laugh with us. You've gone from the verge of planting up every last space with willow a few posts ago, to using a couple of acres of bog to grow all your own food which you'll defecate over? You stated at the start of the thread...

Why not follow the excellent advice you've been given more than once in this thread, and actually spend some time getting to know the land throughout the year before deciding what to do with it, if indeed anything does need to be done with it? The fact you are repeatedly asking a bunch of...

Yes, we've still got the 'fat is bad, carbs are good' myth echoing around..... And sugar is a cheap bulking agent!

Yes, consider a steak or mince from a cow which spent its whole life eating grass on steep UK hillsides which as you say would not support other food production methods. Compare that to something from the 'plant based' section of supermarkets, a factory-made product based on soya transported...

Yes, derelict Victorian cottages and empty glasshouses! What potential!

It's a part of the world with a very rich agricultural history, and some amazing soils! Sadly they come with flatness, otherwise I'd be tempted ;)

Well, we've been human for 300000 years upwards depending on definition, small scale farmers in small communities for over 12000 years, and living in an industrialised society for 250. No surprise we haven't evolved to adapt yet, and physical and mental health problems result. We've had...

Got it in one! We can't feed the population sustainably. Ultimately nature will put a stop to unsustainable farming if the population issue isn't addressed. In the meantime very small scale stuff has to be the answer for those in the know, and with any luck land prices will fall as the Clarksons...

I maintain the 1970s 12' cut combine on a local 250 acre farm, a machine which has a value of less than my annual outgoings (skint peasant). They make good very good money! Crops are spelt and longstraw wheats which are tolerant to droughg and floods and do well when modern varieties fail. They...

My point entirely- that field is in the wrong hands if it isn't profitable. It would be better off divided into two mixed holdings working it much more intensively (intensive in a positive sense, i.e. heavy levels of stock for maximum muck and fertility). I'm sure there are plenty of people who...

I hope the opposite might be true, the end of farmland as tax avoidance might allow more newcomers to get a foot on the farming ladder. The land ownership situation in this country needs a huge shakeup, something drastic needs to happen...

Don't worry, there is a big revival in 'vintage' aeromodelling, balsa building, control line and free flight are still quite popular, as is machining model aero engines from plans... The stronger the culture, the stronger the counter-culture!

Sounds a wonderful way to be, I sort of come from a similar place but my life is the reverse- towards the end of an engineering degree I decided I wanted to become as self sufficient as possible and make a simple living from traditional crafts. Somehow I've just about managed that way of life...

Search the internet for 'upside down tomatoes/cucumbers'!

Horrible? I've been reading everything I've come across relating to the history of farming and the countryside since childhood. I agree that by modern standards, the life of a typical Ag Lab (parish record notation for 'agricultural labourer') was unrecognisably tough, with long hours, heavy...

Sounds like your area would support a viable business, it would only need 5 acres of vaguely suitable land to supply most of the veg and fruit for your village and maybe a few others nearby, with some poultry to help with the muck situation. I've noted a few references to the higher prices in...