Becoming self sufficient from scratch-my diary

MRSMCAWBER

oooooooohhh no ALIBOBSY ..I was hanging my nose over the greenhouse too and drooling
Have you seen the "dream fund" thread on here? we are doing what you want to do... saving towards a smallholding -or in my case a hose with a bigger garden ...whilst gardening where we are and trying to think of ways to save more money

ALIBOBSY

Yes Mrs M another thread I keep going over to but we have alot of other things to put the cash towards first lol.
After the holiday is paid for, the car fixed and taxed, greenhouse bought and garden sorted, DS and DD1 birthdays/parties are sorted, cash for christmas saved plus some money put away for baby no 4 (due oct) the dream fund it next on my list (along with making overpayments on the mortgage to reduce what we owe on this house) rofl.

ali x

bonsibabe

Moozle - thanks for the encouragement, you sound like you are going great guns as well. Hubby came home from work tonight and got changed and went straight into the garden! He bought some stuff (don't ask me lol) but he's laid it on the grass to kill the grass off so he can turn the ground over.

We really need to get it all turned over and leveled out before we can think of a little lawn patch for the kids. I'd happily pave the lot and have all our veg and herbs growing in pots but no he wants to build some raised beds so he can grow things "properly"!

My compost bin today got a good dose of some ripped up paperwork that we no longer need, couldnt be bothered getting the shredder out and wasting electric so just ripped it up by hand and threw it in the bin, going to do another load tomorrow and that should take me to 50/50 ratio almost. What I aim to do from now on is for every kitchen caddy worth of peelings, i'll put an equal amount of paper in. My next door said to me today that she is going to keep all her tea bags and loo rolls as well for me, she has 3 kids and goes through loads of loo rolls in a week just like me! So I'm not going to rip them up am going to use them for getting air into the pile!

Note to self - get hubby in the bin tomorrow to mix it up a bit and poss get a little moisture in there as well.

Another good thing is that I am finally getting the inside of the house sorted! We moved in here just a few days before christmas last year and with my bad back (couple of busted discs!) it's been slow work. But my mam came round today and blitzed the stairs and my oldest's room so tomorrow the little one's room is getting done and anything else we can manage between us. And our council have finally agreed that I need an extra wheelie bin, after 4 months of arguing with them so that will be delivered this week as well! Bonus!!

Hope you are all well and enjoying this half decent weather we are having. I say half decent because up here in the north of scotland its been dry but breezy today, but at least no rain!!!

xx

scattymam1

Glad this thread was posted in the newsletter as I have been totally inspired. Grew a few things last year but would love to try more and become self-sufficient. I have a herb garden going on my window sill and dd is growing strawberries that are coming along great.

Have plenty time over easter to get on with garden. I was waiting to get moved house to start my self -sufficiency plan but in the current market I don't think that will ever happen. So I'm going to make do.

Jobs to do this week -
rake and weed earth plot
rake, fill holes and seed lawn
buy chicken wire to prevent dog digging anymore holes in lawn or eating seed (crazy beagle)
Sift through soil in big bin ready for potatoes (potatoes are chitted and ready)
root and re plant some of my herbs to make more!
re plant my aloe vera plant that I think is pot bound (I use on dd's scrapes and cuts)
have lettuce, onion, chilli and carrot seeds to plant in pots, troughs or bags
plant some planting garlic I bought from home bargains

This will do for this week I think until I learn a bit more about creating my vegetable garden.

marigoldhen

I have really been enjoying reading everyones efforts of self sufficiency. I too am one of you having turned my front garden over to growing fruit and veg much to the amusement of the neighbours. The back garden has been turned over to the chickens (3 of them) and 2 small greenhouses.

On the subject of chickens - what to do with the surplus eggs when they all get laying again properly. If you get fed up of baking cakes and putting them in the freezer you can actually freeze the eggs. Seperate the yolks and the whites and freeze them. They will then hopefully last you through the winter when the girls aren't laying regularly. Obviously defrost them before use but it saves wasting. You can also make lemon curd with the yolks and freeze that and then make merignues with the whites and freeze them as well.

If you are on the look out for seeds, don't get them from the garden centre as they are really expensive. Have a look at www.moreveg.co.uk where they have over 500 varieties of organically sourced seeds with over 270 of them from 50p a packet. If you order is below £5 postage is 85p, if you order is over £5 postage is free. It's a great site and you can get all your veg from one place at a fraction of the cost of the garden centres and big boys.

Register with your local freecycle. It's amazing what people get rid of. I've just picked up a 220 litre compost bin for nothing and a car boot full of kindling wood.

Hope this helps. I've got loads more info on not spending money in the garden but it will have to wait for another time. Got to go now.

Sazbo

Hi there :hello: Is it ok if I join your lovely thread, Moozle?:) As others of you have said this is so inspiring to read. Self-sufficiency is a very long-term aim for me at the moment and I'm starting off in a very small way, but it's a still a start lol. After many years living in a small flat with no outside space, I'm now very lucky to have a lovely garden. The whole gardening thing is quite new to me, but I've always taken an interested in it and so this year I am taking my first few steps.

In the longer term, like TheBees said, I'd like to have some raised beds at the side of the lawn, but I'm using pots and grow bags this year partly to see where the sun is and what grows where, but also because I was worried about trying to take on too much, too soon.

So last month I planted some seeds. My lovely o/h made some makeshift propagators for me out of 2L drink bottles split lengthways to put on windowsills and I much to my amazement I now have tomato, chilli, lettuce, spring onion, pak choi and spinach seedlings! :j I too used leftover bits of plastic bottle to make plant labels.

Am planning to give some of these plants to friends and colleagues - one of whom has kindly given me some raspberry plants in exchange. This month I want to get some beans, cucumber and courgette started.

Funny thing is, can't remember why, but I bought some fancy organic herb seeds on paper tapes - and they are the only things that haven't germinated:o lol but I'm not unduly worried about that.

Would love to keep some chickens - but I think that's a project for another year! I think next on my list is to get a compost bin going - will have a mooch on MSE for help with that. My o/h was very by inspired that documentary "Farm for the Future" on BBC2 last Saturday and I would like to do what I can to create a self-sufficient, sustainable future.

I find it so therapeutic spending even a little amount of time in the garden each week, especially when work gets a bit stressful.

Anway, sorry for the long ramble and thanks for being so inspiring all of you! :T

Sazzy x

sccarig

This thread is great - good luck with your garden everyone!

Do you know of a good way of marking the labels? The so-called 'permanent' markers disappear in the sun & pencil seems to fade & wash off. Any ideas gratefully accepted as i've got loads of pots with blank labels & mystery contents!

We try to grow as much as we can - both veg & flowers - & it's nice to produce your own stuff. It's therapy too - an hour or so pottering always makes me feel much better.

I find if you're brave enough to ask people are usually happy to let you take a cutting or a few seed-heads - gardeners seem to be a very sharing lot.

Sazbo

sccarig wrote: »

Do you know of a good way of marking the labels? The so-called 'permanent' markers disappear in the sun & pencil seems to fade & wash off. Any ideas gratefully accepted as i've got loads of pots with blank labels & mystery contents!

lol that's good to know - i only used the permanent marker method 2 weeks ago - so I guess not enough time for it to fade yet. The other thing I thought was to use tippex? But only coz there was already some in the house not being used for anything else. I wonder if writing on a piece of plastic tape with a permanent marker and then sticking the piece of tape onto a firmer plastic label might be more durable? I could give it a whirl and see I guess...

Saz x

sccarig

Hi Saz,

Tippex sounds a good idea - must try that.

Maybe you'll be luckier than me with the marker - our garden gets full sun which is nice but it can be a bit relentless at times!

Sccarig

Lotus-eater

sccarig wrote: »

Do you know of a good way of marking the labels? The so-called 'permanent' markers disappear in the sun & pencil seems to fade & wash off. Any ideas gratefully accepted as i've got loads of pots with blank labels & mystery contents!

It depends what you are writing on.
I use the cheapy labels from wilkinsons, 50p for 50, I use pencil on them and it lasts all year easy, next year just rub off the pencil with a rubber.
They last years.