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Becoming self sufficient from scratch-my diary

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  • Gigervamp
    Gigervamp Posts: 6,583 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Perhaps the seedlings needed to be hardened off first? Where you put them outside during the day, but bring them in at night.
  • cafelady
    cafelady Posts: 126 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Hello all

    Lovely thread. Can I join the party please? Good luck with your growing Moozle. I love growing veg. I wouldn't say I'm self sufficient by any means, but do ok. Runner beans, tomatoes, garlic, chillies, strawbs.,redcurrants and rhubarb have been my best crops. Also sweetcorn, which the kids love but which does take up space. I have bought seeds this year that have 2 corn cobs per plant so should double productivity.

    From last year's crops we made courgette and tomato chutney (actually, a friend donated the courgettes as ours were rubbish) and summer fruits jam. Also froze lots of runners which have lasted us until last week, some corn on the cobs, chillis and basil. Also, still have loads of garlic hanging up. We still have lots of frozen fruit (reds, rasbs and strawbs) left, so will be making another batch of jam in the next week or two. The frozen fruit is also lovely for pavlovas.

    I have seedlings coming on in the greenhouse and am really excited about Spring! Trying beets and carrots for the first time so we'll see how that goes. It's really sluggy where we are so it's a bit of a challenge in the initial stages, til the plants get established.

    Great to hear about what other people are doing to raise their own food.
  • Hi Everyone. Well I have been so busy these last few days. But still keeping up with all of you greenfingered people. To date I have seeded up so many veg and flowers I have lost track. I have also cleared a second patch for veg growing and fenced off another piece of land for my unruly dog. The chickens have got the hump with me because I havnt let them out of there run. (They follow me every where and get in the way when I'm digging. To get the worms.) I have a load of rubbish to get to the dump. I am shattered but in a nice way. I have had loads of inspiration from all of you and I thank you for that. I will try to get some photos up as soon as I can fathom it out. Oh well suppose I'l have to succumb and ask the 13 yr old DD to help me. I am looking forward to reading more of your stories. Good luck everyone.:T
  • LizH
    LizH Posts: 24 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture Combo Breaker
    Hi Moozle,
    If you haven't got your chickens yet, source a local battery farm and buy them for about £1 each. They will come to you half bald and will need to be kept in the box for the first day or so and kept confined for a week or so as they tend to have heart attacks if given lots of space straight away ... I speak from experience, poor things. However, once they have got over the shock of space, tasty food and the warmth of the sun, they will reward you with lots of yummy eggs, double yolkers sometimes. You get the satisfaction of knowing that you've saved them from a short life ending in a pie or cat food. They are usually less than a year old when they are at the end of their commercial life. If you can bear to see it, it will pay back dividends.
    :cool:Tough Times Never Last, Tough People Do.:cool:
  • Moozle_2
    Moozle_2 Posts: 62 Forumite
    LizH wrote: »
    Hi Moozle,
    If you haven't got your chickens yet, source a local battery farm and buy them for about £1 each. They will come to you half bald and will need to be kept in the box for the first day or so and kept confined for a week or so as they tend to have heart attacks if given lots of space straight away ... I speak from experience, poor things. However, once they have got over the shock of space, tasty food and the warmth of the sun, they will reward you with lots of yummy eggs, double yolkers sometimes. You get the satisfaction of knowing that you've saved them from a short life ending in a pie or cat food. They are usually less than a year old when they are at the end of their commercial life. If you can bear to see it, it will pay back dividends.

    Well I have already ordered mine, however my sil is about to get some so Iwill perhaps mention it to her. Shes on an even tighter budget that me so £1 per bird would fit in with that.
    Mum to 3 children, 5 hens, 6 chicks, 6 eggs due to hatch, 2 cats, 1 dog, 9 fish and a husband...:eek: :o
  • COOLTRIKERCHICK
    COOLTRIKERCHICK Posts: 10,510 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    i brilliant htread i have been reading it all the way through, and would love to join in too, at the moment i am trying to save for a smallholding....i prob will not get one, but i can dream...

    this weekend i am hopefully going to plant out some things.. my potatoes, i have hardened my peas off so i want to plant them out too, and loads of other bits.

    i have been bought extra seeds so i can sell on my surplus plants to add to my savings pot.

    in reality i dont think we could grow enough food to make my family self sufficient in fruit and veg this year, but i am going to have a dam good bash at it...

    i have 5 ducks and 11 chickens:D and eggs coming out my years at the mo...

    going to make my first rhuburb crumble of the season this weekend too, as my rhuburb is looking.. mouth watering tasty. and later on in the season i tend to make a load of chutney when the rhuburb stalks get a bit thick..


    does anyone know how to work out how much you need to grow, or how many plants of each, to feed a family of 4 ( 2 adults and 2 teenage boys) to feed us for most of the year?

    I know there was a thread about potatoes a while back..



    one question. i bought 20 strawberry runners/plants on ebay and potted them up in individual pots which are in my greenhhouse at mo, when will be the best time to transplant them outside into a perminant spot?
    Work to live= not live to work
  • cafelady
    cafelady Posts: 126 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper
    Hi COOLTRIKERCHICK

    I would plant them now. Maybe you should harden them off a bit if they've been living in the greenhouse.
  • COOLTRIKERCHICK
    COOLTRIKERCHICK Posts: 10,510 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    cafelady wrote: »
    Hi COOLTRIKERCHICK

    I would plant them now. Maybe you should harden them off a bit if they've been living in the greenhouse.


    thanks will put them out during the day, will also give me a chance to re- arrange my greenhouse too..lol...

    i knew i shouldnt have got rid of my big greenhouse
    Work to live= not live to work
  • Megansmum
    Megansmum Posts: 327 Forumite
    100 Posts
    Hi,

    I have read this thread from the start and it inspired me to get an allotment and start my dream of self sufficiency.

    I would like to suggest people join freecycle.org and your local group. I have done this and have given away the extra onion bulbs i didn't need, and have been given wood to make reaised beds in my garden.
    It is a great way to reduce your carbon footprint too as you are getting used things and not buying new stuff with air miles and plastic packaging etc.
    Today is also my first post on any forum on here too! Good luck moozle.:T
    2009 - Attempting to grow my own Kitchen garden..... :o did it!!!
    2010 - Attempting to make my garden a beautiful place for dd2 to enjoy!
  • Gigervamp
    Gigervamp Posts: 6,583 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    Welcome to the forum Megansmum! I agree, Freecycle is a great resource.
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