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The mr and I are seriously considering a gradual move to a more self-sufficient lifestyle.
Any grapes "been there & done that"?
I'd really like to hear!
Any grapes "been there & done that"?
I'd really like to hear!
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You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata
blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/ -
OWG is I think and Sewer Rat is sort of as well. All I can reccommend is two good books.
John Seymour - The Complete guide to Self Suffiency ( classsed as a bible on the subject by most folks)
And Katie Thear wrote a book called The Family Smallholdin a few years ago, she was going to update it I don't know if she did.
There's another I've got at home but I'm damned if I can remember the name of the Author !! (Old age I guess)ntg
Never be afraid to try something new.
Remember that a lone amateur built the Ark.
A large group of professionals built the Titanic================================================== -
Ta - I've ordered one by Katie Thear.You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata
blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/Comment
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john seymours is really good, its our dream eventually, funny that you have to do the rat race thing to buy the land so you dont have to do the rat race thing, irony?
good luck, also try a web site we found called accidental smallholder, sorry dont know exact address its a couple who have been doing it a few years now but its very well written and informative.Yo an' Bob
Walk lightly on the earth
take only what you need
give all you can
and your produce will be bountifullComment
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I agree, yoanbob!Originally posted by yoanbob View Post
It's also a young mans/womans game. I read Seymours book many moons ago (About the same time as The Good Life was on telly) and hankered for that sort of life, even to the point of getting information on Scottish crofts that were available very cheaply at the time. I think a secondary income is a necessity and I intended to use my Blacksmithing skills as a back up and to bring in a little bit of cash to keep the wolf from the doors! Unfortunately OH was/is a bit like Margo, so it never got off the ground.
I have made up for it a bit in later life by luckily getting the chance of two allotments where I can grow the majority of my own veg and eventually keep a few chickens!
My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)
Diversify & prosper
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Hi Heebiejeebie
I'm not quite doing the self suficiency thing, but have started growing veggies for a living ( I hope !)
There is currently lots of promotion of the crofting lifestyle up here as they (The Crofters Commission) are trying to get younger people to take on crofts - and it seems to be workingto a certain extent.
However, there is rarely a week goes by without a notice appearing in the Ross-shire Journal (the county newspaper) where somebody has applied to decroft an area of land for the purpose of building a house, or at least selling a plot for housebuilding.
I know a few crofters up here, some quite into the self sufficiency thing, but they all have an outside income coming in as well, to supplement what they can make on the croft. They also have sidelines such as crafty type things, wood-turning, making bird tables / boxes which they sell at the various craft fairs and farmers markets too.
As Snadger says, you have to join the Rat Race to get out of it !! Although there are quite considerable annual grants available too I believe.
Might be worth looking at the Crofters Commission website for some more in depth articles.Rat
British by birth
Scottish by the Grace of God
http://scotsburngarden.blogspot.com/
http://davethegardener.blogspot.com/Comment
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Ta!
The mr will still have a "proper" income, although flexible working, and the idea is that I gradually shift to part time or supply work and use the rest of the time to work whatever land we can afford. There's not much in this area though! Initially we're looking to produce all our own veg and reduce energy consumption. There are a lot of big houses with big gardens here, occupied by people who probably don't have time to do the maintenance themselves so I was also considering hiring myself out as a gardener to supplement the income.
Still at the ideas and "oh no!! change!! can we do it?" stage!You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata
blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/Comment
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I spend far too much time looking at www.ruralscene.co.uk which has properties with land for sale all over the country. Unfortunately, we don't even own the house we living in, so just pipe dreams for me.
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Wow SarzWix - what an addictive website!You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata
blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/Comment
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Hi
[QUOTE][Unfortunately OH was/is a bit like Margo, so it never got off the ground./QUOTE]
I hope she dosn't read that.
TigerellaComment
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The mr and I spent a good hour salivating over some of the properties for sale - we can actually afford the cheaper end ! I bet the land would need some serious work though, but I'm prepared to do it.
You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata
blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/Comment
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Hi HJ!
We haven't gone totally SS, especially as we both work full time and at the moment can't afford not to work.
But we moved from a small town to a little coastal village, and bought a house with about 1/3 of an acre. There are some pics
We've got a huge (but rotten) greenhouse, a small orchard and a paddock. We've turned about 1/3 of the paddock into an allotment and chicken run.
We're hoping to get started on some solar/photovoltaic panels etc in the next 18 months or so (hopefully), and also maybe a wind turbine (someone not far from us has a huge turbine already!)
We recycle/reuse as much as we can and would like to grow 90% of our own fruit and veg (can't manage bananas unfortunately!)Comment
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Sounds good, OWG
Our first step is to see how productive I can make the allotment, then we'll think about moving somewhere with land. Then come the chooks and ducks and piggies... We want to be able to manage on one income (his) with as little expenditure on food and fuel as possible. Eventually. We currently live in a conservation area so we can't put up solar panels and I doubt if a wind turbine would be cost-effective here.
The more I think about it, the more I want to do it.You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
Max Ehrmann, Desiderata
blog: http://allyheebiejeebie.blogspot.com/ and my (basic!) page: http://www.allythegardener.co.uk/Comment
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I'd love not to work (or, more correctly, to work at home!) but seeing as my wage just paying the mortgage (and his wage pays everything else) we're stuck in that respect!
Mr OWG would love a couple of piggies - defintely something we're looking into, and hopefully we'll get our chicken run sorted this year and actually have something in there.
There are a few of us in our road who have looked at wind turbines (as we're really windy here on the coast almost all the time), and there was a little bit of talk about getting one huge one to share between 3 or 4 houses.
What a shame you can't put up solar panels
Maybe if you move somewhere with land you could have a heat-exchanger in the ground?Comment
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