Phone: 01758 721898
Tim & Dot Tyne, Ty’n -Y - Mynydd Farm, Boduan, Pwllheli, Gwynedd.
Tim was brought up on a productive smallholding in North East Essex, where his family consistently achieved a high level of self sufficiency. Having gained additional valuable practical experience on a number of other farms and smallholdings in East Anglia, he then went on to study at the Welsh Agricultural College, which is where we met.
At the end of our studies we moved to the small offshore island of Bardsey, North West Wales. Our geographical location, together with the fact that our primary role of shepherding the island’s sheep flock gave us an income of only £2,000/year, meant that a high level of self sufficiency was not only desirable, but essential. I think we came as near to total self sufficiency as is practical in this day and age. During the years we spent on Bardsey, we produced all our own meat (including bacon, ham, and sausages), all veg and soft fruit, all milk, yogurt and some cheese, all eggs, fish, jams, chutneys, wines and beers. All bread, cakes, biscuits etc were home baked on a
Tim was brought up on a productive smallholding in North East Essex, where his family consistently achieved a high level of self sufficiency. Having gained additional valuable practical experience on a number of other farms and smallholdings in East Anglia, he then went on to study at the Welsh Agricultural College, which is where we met.
At the end of our studies we moved to the small offshore island of Bardsey, North West Wales. Our geographical location, together with the fact that our primary role of shepherding the island’s sheep flock gave us an income of only £2,000/year, meant that a high level of self sufficiency was not only desirable, but essential. I think we came as near to total self sufficiency as is practical in this day and age. During the years we spent on Bardsey, we produced all our own meat (including bacon, ham, and sausages), all veg and soft fruit, all milk, yogurt and some cheese, all eggs, fish, jams, chutneys, wines and beers. All bread, cakes, biscuits etc were home baked on a
driftwood fired Rayburn. We managed our own water supply, had a generator for electricity and composted all our waste. We had no toilet so that was composted too! We learnt very quickly not only how to do these things, but perhaps more importantly, what was worth doing and what was not. We aim for a similar level of self sufficiency on our current holding.
The Autumn of 1998 saw us move back to the mainland to take on our own holding, Ty’n-Y-Mynydd
The Autumn of 1998 saw us move back to the mainland to take on our own holding, Ty’n-
Farm, on the Llyn Peninsula. Since then we have expanded our farmed area from just over twenty acres, to a peak of almost two hundred in 2005, whilst remaining true to our ideals of self sufficiency and sustainability.
We now find ourselves bridging the divide between the smallholder and farmer, which has enabled us to take sound commercial farming practices and adapt them to suit a smaller scale enterprise.
We are now offering an advisory service to smallholders. This is something that has gradually evolved from the contract shepherding we have carried out for many years - much of our sheep work has been on smaller farms, with the result that we have often been called back to advise on other aspects of a self sufficient system.
We now find ourselves bridging the divide between the smallholder and farmer, which has enabled us to take sound commercial farming practices and adapt them to suit a smaller scale enterprise.
We are now offering an advisory service to smallholders. This is something that has gradually evolved from the contract shepherding we have carried out for many years -
