And the rest is history

As the summer kicks in and the veg box deliveries start, I grasp the stark realities of self employment, and the shear graft involved with market gardening. To ease pressures, and release capital, we reluctantly sell our holiday let, Gwalia, and endure a protracted sale. However, amidst this potion of stresses, I see the potential in this most rewarding rural enterprise, and am more excited than ever about the future of the newly named Pili-Pala Farm.

Although one of the reasons I moved to the remoteness of rural Wales was to get off the relentless treadmill, the last few months seem to have seen a return to my default position as a professional plate spinner with a broom up his arse. As the days lengthened and the sunshine intensified, the immensity of starting a small farm, growing produce commercially, and all that goes with it has really started to become apparent. Seed sowing plans, compost moving, pest control, weed management, irrigation, marketing, and countless general day to day tasks have snowballed into a crescendo of potential liabilities. Every day heralds a new conundrum. On top of this has been the expectation attached to what has now become a well-known local attraction. Earlier in the year we decided to change the name of the business from “Blooms and Berries” to “Pili-Pala Farm”, and the newly named enterprise has quickly become the talk of the town and attracted a number of random visitors. Despite minimal marketing, we managed to sell all our veg box shares within a few weeks, and make several partnership arrangements to supply our goodies. I am now known locally as “the Pili-Pala chap”, or even the “Pita-Patter chap” or “Pala-Pili chap”, depending on who’s doing the pronunciation. This is particularly ironic, as one of the reasons for the name change was to get away from people mispronouncing Blooms and Berries as “Berries and Blooms", “Bloom berries” and even “Blooming Berries”.

With all this anticipation of amazing and abundant produce and a reputation to withhold in this well connected community, I am losing sleep amidst nightmares of not having enough produce to sell, invasions of giant killer sheep, and fanged maggots emerging from the fruits as they sit on the shop shelves. To accompany the lack of sleep, the daytime hours have also been gruelling, with 70 hour weeks becoming the norm. It's been a bit of a lesson in naivety, with the work life balance plans becoming a laughable fallacy, and lost amongst the unrelenting pursuit of a rural dream.

Despite all this, I have to say, the broader picture can only be seen positively. We are managing to yield an abundance of produce, and I am regularly surprised when I appraise what we have picked. Perfect cucumbers, delicious strawberries, long smooth carrots to name but a few. Although financially, I continue to struggle to balance the books, I can at least see the couple of grands worth of sales each month boding well for the future, once the initial capital outlays ease, the numerous snags are ironed out and efficiencies improve. What's more I love it. I love the colour and abundance of the vegetables and fruits, and am regularly enthused and excited by what we grow. I love the smells and the atmosphere, especially as I make yet another early start as the sun rises over Cwm Nanat valley, and the swallows dance in the morning haze. I love the sounds of the sheep and cows as they talk to each other in the fields below, and I am entranced by the melodic chirping of the invisible crickets, when I take a short rest in the long grass. So, although it's full on, hard and constant work, it's also connecting and rewarding, and I have no regrets.

After a year or so of planning, It's also been invaluable to actually do this for real, as I can at last absorb the realities of this business model and make realistic forecasts and useful adaptations. I can see that an on-site "honesty" farm shop would be a great step forward, and am already making such plans for next year. The idea of picking the produce in the morning, and then placing it for a gentle trickle of customers to purchase is not just a lovely concept, but an incredibly practical one. Supplying the local town veg shop has also been a useful arrangement, with large orders and convenient logistics. The veg box deliveries have also been successful, but come with the most demands in terms of logistics, marketing and ongoing administration, and the sharp rise in fuel costs has raised some questions around the delivery model. That said, I can see how a combination of all these elements could form the basis of a resilient and sustainable business model, albeit with some significant adjustments.

Another key development over the last few months has been the sale of our holiday let, Gwalia. It's a poignant and somewhat sad stage in this evolving story, as this property was essentially the catalyst to our move here. Back in 2018, and from the sale of our French bed and breakfast, I cheekily put an offer on this seemingly unwanted townhouse, and made a substantial punt. In the spirit of seeking forgiveness - rather than asking for permission, my wife thankfully agreed retrospectively to this risky acquisition and, as they say, the rest is history. So, needless to say, the decision to sell, and the process itself has been a difficult one. Unfortunately, the burden of a second home, the demands of the holiday let business, and the need to finance our developments here at the smithy, have left us little choice - even despite the fact it was such a resounding success. At least I leave this life chapter feeling as if I've been a positive force on that lovely old building and, although our time was brief in its 400 year history, I sincerely hope it forever remembers the Edwards family, and the happy, and sad, times we had in its captivating walls.

The plan now is to focus on seeing the veg box season out without making any monumental cock ups, get the Smithy extension watertight by Christmas, and then ensure Pili-Pala Farm is in the best place possible to provide a profitable and sustainable source of employment for 2023 and beyond.