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# Good Life Tasters offer introduction to small-holding
- URL: https://thegreenparent.co.uk/featured/good-life-tasters-offer-introduction-to-small-holding/
- Published: 2026-09-03T18:30:04.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-03T20:54:45.000Z
- Description: A working small-holding and glamping site in West Wales is offering prospective small-holders the chance to come try the lifestyle to see if it’s for them.
- Author: The Green Parent
- Tags: gardening, lifestyle

**Good Life Tasters** provide those considering such a ‘Tom and Barbara’ move with a try-it-first opportunity on a 25-acre holding that keeps hens, grows much of its own fruit and vegetables and produces its own firewood, while managing the land for nature. This is alongside growing hay for a nearby horse-training school.

 Orchid Meadows near Tregaron is offering both residential and day-visit introductions to living and working on the land, running through the autumn and winter. During the **Good Life Tasters**, topics explored will include self-sufficiency, conservation work, wildlife protection, meadow management, no-dig vegetable production, apple tree pruning, woodland management, firewood production, hen-care and more. And participants can gain practical skills by helping out with a hands-on task.

 The following tasks are on offer:

- Sphagnum bog management. Available September
- Hawthorn jelly making. Available September
- Apple juicing. Available October
- No-dig vegetable bed maintenance – manuring and preparing for winter. Available November or December
- Planting for tall trees. Available January
- Living willow sculpture work. Available February
- Willow pollarding and woodland management. Available February
- The art and science of firewood production. Available March
- Devil’s bit scabious potting-up and turf-seeding for a marsh fritillary reintroduction programme. Available March

Site owner Stephen Hounsham said: “There are so many different things happening on a small-holding – some more glamorous, others more hard graft and some rather mucky – but together they reward you with an unbeatable lifestyle where it feels you’re in your own little world. We’re offering people the chance to see if it might be a world they’d be happy in.”

 The first day begins with a detailed guided discovery tour of Orchid Meadows. After a shared vegetarian lunch of Orchid Meadows and other local produce, a small-holding task will be undertaken at a relaxed pace and with full instruction. The following day the task is completed followed by the chance to revisit any parts of the small-holding operation people may be particularly interested in. Participants can stay onsite or visit during the daytime only.

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1e/bb/1ebba405-ff23-468a-88e6-3b9236c9e23e/content/images/2026/09/Speckled-hen.JPG) 

##  “There are so many different things happening on a small-holding – some more glamorous, others more hard graft and some rather mucky” 

A residential **Good Life Taster** costs £105 per person, which includes two nights’ accommodation, breakfast and lunch on two days, plus a jar of Orchid Meadows chutney, jam or hedgerow jelly to take home. A daytime visit alternative costs £45, including lunch and a jar of preserve. 

Anyone interested can find out more at[**www.orchidmeadows.co.uk/taste-the-good-life**](https://www.orchidmeadows.co.uk/taste-the-good-life?ref=thegreenparent.co.uk)or by contacting Orchid Meadows at[**hello@orchidmeadows.co.uk**](mailto:hello@orchidmeadows.co.uk)

***Orchid Meadows is a small-holding, nature reserve and glamping site near Tregaron in West Wales. It is run by husband and wife team Stephen Hounsham and Lynn Thornborrow and their three cats.***

For more information, visit[**www.orchidmeadows.co.uk**](http://www.orchidmeadows.co.uk/?ref=thegreenparent.co.uk)or call 01974 209220.