Keeping a smallholding is no longer confined to a select few with a chunk of spare land, as many more of us are becoming entranced with growing more and rearing more of our own food by using spare corners of our gardens.

Lots of us are turning our hands to being more self-sufficient, whether that means growing some of our own veg, keeping a few hens, even all the way up to generating our own electricity.

We intend to feature all of these activities and many more over the coming weeks and months.

Initially, we will publish the column at the beginning of each calendar month so that we can include plenty of seasonal tips and advice, so that it can be of practical use to those trying to create a little bit of the Good Life for themselves.

For many of us, when people refer to smallholders, among the first images to spring to mind are the characters from the popular 1970s television series, The Good Life. This series, starring Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal, documented the trials and tribulations of Tom and Barbara Good as they tried to be self-sufficient in Surbiton.

So why are so many of us so keen to follow in Tom and Barbara’s footsteps? Well, it’s partly because it’s nice to know where our food comes from and what went into its production from a health and environmental point of view, but also because having a smallholding – even a tiny one – puts us back in touch with our natural surroundings.

For many of us, our busy modern 21st century lives take us far from even just our grandparents’ generation when it comes to being more self-sufficient and self-reliant.

But with businesses as urban mainstream as Tesco now selling chicken coops along with live chickens to put in them, you know that this trend of environmental isolationism is starting to be rolled back.

So what topics will we cover in the coming year? We will look at growing fruit and veg, keeping livestock for food production, sustainable technologies for the householder and possibly even some of the more traditional country crafts that we can learn, to help save money and be more environmentally friendly and, of course, have fun and help keep healthy at the same time.

Our tips and advice will come from a panel of experts with proven specialist knowledge on everything from keeping poultry, pigs and bees to growing your own delicious vegetables and fruit.

We will maintain an updated diary to let you know of any useful events taking place in the Borders, such as Potato Day, Apple Day, and so on.

We will welcome comments, contributions, stories and tips from fellow smallholders which we can share with what we hope will be a growing band of readers.

And, although the initial intention is to publish the column monthly, if it proves popular and the demand is there, we will consider changing it to fortnightly.

One final point – we still need a catchy name for the new column.