SELF SUFFICIENCY

Self-sufficiency doesn't have to mean you need to own a smallholding. It can start with as little effort as growing herbs or salad vegetables in a window box or patio pots and lead to as much or as little as you want in the way of growing your own food over time. It can, however, also incorporate animals should you desire and if you have the space. This could be a trio of quail in a large rabbit hutch, a trio of chickens in suitable housing, or even a turkey or goose for Christmas dinner should you have the time and space to accommodate them. You can grow some of your own fruit too on a small scale with some raspberry canes or a gooseberry bush, and if your garden or land allows it, plant some apple, pear or plum trees.

Foraging for food in 'safe' hedgerows can also provide you with ingredients to make puddings, jams and other preserves and sauces for use over the winter months. Self-sufficiency isn't just about what you have room to grow on your land outside your home. There is much to be learned from what you can achieve from within the home too. Cooking your own meals from scratch in large batches and then freezing them for a later date is a time saver in the long run, making soups or stocks from vegetables that would otherwise go to waste, storing eggs safely when you have a glut, or turning eggs into cakes and deserts when they are fresh and putting them into the freezer ready for Christmas or a Sunday pudding.

It can also be rewarding and much cheaper to make your own household cleaning and body cleansing products too, if you have the knowledge. These also make great gifts. And did you know that pine cones dipped in melted wax from spent candles can make free firelighters for your woodburning stove!
 
If you prefer, you can save on some things and still splash out on others. The idea of becoming more self-sufficient entirely depends on what you want it to be based on how much time you have to throw at it, how much money you want to save and how much pleasure you will get out of the 'mend and make do' attitude.

If you would like any advice on how to start a small holding or how to start on the road to self-sufficiency, drop us an email.