I want to suggest the following book as a recommended read, it's not just about gardening but the lifestyle, the needed acreage etc.
New Complete Self-sufficiency: The Classic Guide for Realists and Dreamers by John Seymour (without him there would never have been Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...ink%5Fcode=xm2
Will start on the rhubarb smuggling caper later in the year!