It’s February already, but seems like only yesterday it was Christmas Eve and we were fifteen foot up one of the cider apple trees precariously harvesting our very own mistletoe.

But with the New Year has come the challenge of making a new start at The Secret Acre, or at least making a proper start on the plans to be more self-sufficient.

Last year all the focus was on the eco-refurb of the house, giving us a good excuse for doing less than originally planned in the garden. Now fully moved in, the pressure is on to start making some progress out there.

Fortunately we are already heeding the advice to take thing slow. Or at least trying too! For if there is one thing we have learned from other smallholder blogs, it is make a huge monthly task list, but don’t beat yourself up when you don’t do much of it.

The parallel challenge of moving focus from house to garden, is pondering what we now want to blog about ourselves on that journey? Some smallholders like an old work colleague at Self-Sufficient in Suburbia produce useful guides for newbies like us to follow. Then there’s the more artistic approach of Home Grown Heaven with lovely photographs and recipes. Others simply wibble a random steam of consciousness.

I suspect we are going to be wibblers!