MY knowledge of smallholding has taken me to some interesting places but one of the most challenging turned out to be the BBC Cambridge radio studio on a wet, cold Sunday afternoon.

I'm no stranger to radio and television, especially whenever there is an avian flu outbreak, but this was really one of the most searching interviews I have given. This was for BBC Radio 4's "Farming Today" and they were exploring comments made by the president of the NFU, Peter Kendall, who seemed to indicate that hobby farmers may jeopardise the professional industry and should be licensed. A statement issued by the NFU later denied that Mr Kendall had meant to single out "hobby farmers" and that newspaper reports had taken his words out of context. But it was picked up by the broadcast media as well as turning into a huge debate on websites all over the net.

For me, it was very much a repeat of the questions asked at the time of avian flu where broadcasters seemed obsessed with the idea that people with even only one or two birds should on the Poultry Register. It kept coming back in interviews as though this would solve the avian flu problems in a single stroke. Of course, the whole situation is much more complex and as we saw, one of the worst outbreaks was in a highly commercial operation. So far, no smallholder seems to have been affected by avian flu. I was able to tell "Farming Today" that in the "Farm Practice Survey for Smaller Holdings", done by Defra in 2005 (and well worth reading if you haven't done so already), they state that "far fewer smallholdings are moving animals to market". It went on to say that "the proportion transporting animals for routine management is also lower for smallholdings than for farms in the main FPS, no doubt because smallholdings are less likely to be split between different parcels of land." The most common reason for moving animals turned out to be direct to point of slaughter and there was also a high proportion who competed in agricultural shows. Presumably we can rest assured that for this group their animals are in first class order then! The point is that smallholders do not move animals all that much and it is moving animals and birds that is a big risk factor in spreading disease.

In addition I had to point out that all the regulations that apply to commercial farmers also apply to smallholders. All cloven-footed animals come with their own large set of rules and regulations (see our cattle article this month!) and that includes alpacas. If you have more than 50 poultry - which actually is not a difficult number to get to if you are actively breeding pure breds or have a small egg-producing business - you have to be on the Poultry Register. Planning permissions are harder for smallholders than they are for their larger agricultural colleagues.

Personally, I hate the term "hobby farmer", though I understand that in Holland, smallholders are often referred to this way. In the UK a hobby often means something you do for a short time when you have some leisure and then it ends up in the garage, forgotten, while you move on to another hobby. Well, of course, smallholding is not like this. It is a way of life. I became a smallholder so that I could take charge of at least some of the food that we ate. You'll find a lot more about this on my new blog at www.smallholder. co.uk/news/bloggers. Twenty years ago it was much harder to find free-range or organic meat and most shelves displayed only intensively reared eggs, so it was really a question of "grow your own". When I meet smallholders around the UK I find this tends to be a very prominent reason for many of them as well. They also cite the reason, which of course is integral to smallholders, of wishing to keep and get to know livestock on a small scale, to work with their natural behaviour and they get pleasure from being with the animals and birds, as I still do even 20 years on. It's a great start to the day isn't it? I get up and every morning I marvel at the enthusiasm with which the ducks greet the new day when I let them out, as though they've never seen dawn before! It makes me smile, however I might be feeling. I spend an hour or so pottering round before I start work on "Smallholder" magazine and the contact with livestock, nature and the soil really sets me up for the day.

So what is a smallholder? The "Scottish Farmer" (15 March 2008) published a piece "You know you're a farmer when" They were all excellent but just to whet your appetite - "You know you're a farmer when you have a pig-weighing crate in your garage and the garage regularly doubles up as an emergency lambing area, stable or calf rearing pen, when you go round the supermarket in your wellies and the checkout person asks, what's that funny smell?', when your children know more about the birds and bees than their biology teacher does"

So let's have some inspiration from smallholders. I'll get you started. "You know you are a smallholder when a fellow parish councillor discreetly picks straw from your hair in a meeting" and yes, this actually happened to me to my embarrassment. There are some book prizes on offer for the best definitions and we will publish them in "Smallholder".

Let's try and really define what smallholding means!

We mustn't forget the garden though. Mr Fothergill's Seeds reported that there has been a 30 per cent increase in vegetable seed sales over the past five years with sales soaring in January and February where gardeners are planning rotations and keep growing through the winter. It's often known as the "Jamie effect" in tribute to maverick chef Jamie Oliver but, much as I appreciate what he did for poultry, I don't think he can claim all the credit. This desire to produce your own food, to take back control of your table, was rooted back in the seventies when obtaining smallholding equipment could be difficult and finding out about allotments could be a minefield but people persevered and we are now reaping the harvest of their efforts and enthusiasm. There really is no stopping us now!

Looking forward, the RWAS Smallholder and Garden Festival is on 17/18 May. I'll be on the stand to meet readers and answer your smallholding questions at 11am and 3pm each day. If you haven't entered the invention competition or the smallholders' pentathlon, then there might be still time. Check out our website (www.smallholder.co.uk) for full details.