The good life tv comedy programme could this be done today

COOLTRIKERCHICK

ooo i was addicted to castaway....

but i must admit i was a bit miffed when they were demanding chocolate and beer in the rations they were allowed to have...

i personally thought they should have only been allowed to have the very basics.... not treats like chocolate etc...

Ben fugal sp? came out of it smelling of roses... and i must admit i was suprised at that, as he was a city type of guy working tackler mag i think

lostinrates

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

Ben fugal sp? came out of it smelling of roses... and i must admit i was suprised at that, as he was a city type of guy working tackler mag i think

Well, lots of city types have country/frugal loves too :wave::wave: and like to test limits...he's done a lot since that many wouldn't strive towards. He was a photographer, his dad's a well known vet, and his mother was a model.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

lostinrates wrote: »

Well, lots of city types have country/frugal loves too :wave::wave: and like to test limits...he's done a lot since that many wouldn't strive towards. He was a photographer, his dad's a well known vet, and his mother was a model.

mmm sorry it did sound a bit naff didnt it...lol...

that explains a bit htem with his father being a vet.... who was his dad? I thought his mother was an actress?

Ben fugal allways reminds me of the woman who does escape to the country, the very thin blonde one....

Mamabear

Ben Fogle's mum is (the lovely and talented) Julia McKenzie - Fresh/French Fields etc

ceridwen

Lotus-eater wrote: »

I was reading John Seymours, guide to self sufficiency last night and I thought I'd treat you to some quotes, it seems apt.

"Self-sufficiency does not mean "going back" to the acceptance of a lower standard of living. On the contrary, it is the striving for a higher standard of living, for food which is fresh and organically grown and good, for the good life in pleasant surroundings, for the health of body and peace of mind which come with hard work in the open air and for the satisfaction that comes from doing difficult and intricate jobs well and successfully"

"If it ever comes to pass that we have used up all, or most of the oil on this planet, we will have to reconsider our attitude to our only real and abiding asset - the land itself. We will one day have to derive our sustenance from what the land, unaided by oil derived chemicals can produce."

"Self sufficiency is not only for those who have five acres of their own country. The man in a city apartment who learns how to mend his own shoes is becoming, to some extent, self sufficient. Not only does he save money, he increases his own satisfaction and self respect too. Man was not meant to be a one job animal."

Written by John Seymour in 1975

Precisely so.

The pity is that more people werent aware back in the 1970s that our way of life simply isnt sustainable and havent been preparing since as far as they are able to...

I look back in astonishment at how much extra work I have crammed in over the years on top of a full-time job in order to earn the money I needed to pay off the mortgage/get my house reasonably in order/etc before the current Crisis came along - all that TIME gone from my leisuretime:eek: - but I am SO thankful that I planned and worked over those years and ignored the "chorus of derision" from other people that accompanied all that planning.....(they're not telling me I'm stupid any longer......more like asking for how-to hints...)

ceridwen

mardatha wrote: »

First, the Good Life wasn't a documentary, it was a light sitcom intended to make us laugh. (But if it makes some of us aspire to a slower more old-fashioned way of life then that's good too). If they had made it all 100% true to life then it wouldn't have been funny & we wouldn't all remember it so fondly
Balance is the way to go here - we can go as far and as fast as we want on our own road to a more simple life. Nobody is forced to slave in hot fields all summer and thick freezing muck in winter any more. (Except farm workers LOL)!

Errr.....actually - i do have to interject there and point out that we will be going back to organic farming soon (whether we like it or not - and I gather it WILL produce as much food as chemically-grown food) - but many of the new jobs it is necessary for our Society to come up with will be "back on the land". The thing is to see if we can work out ways to go back to a much more labour-intensive type of farming than we have had in recent years - with what we can "hang on to" of adapting methods because "traditional style" farm work IS hard physical labour out in all weathers.

I am still trying to "square that circle" in my own mind of knowing that a lot of people will HAVE to go back to that hard physical labour because that is what their own economic necessity/Britain's need for food will dictate - whilst being aware that I will be retired from work myself - and wondering as to what ways I should be voluntarily helping to ease that particular transition.

Hence - all the learning to cook from scratch (and I do mean "scratch"....) and how to preserve foods that I am currently doing...as I see that as being one role that older people can fulfil - to ensure we are contributing (should we either choose to do so - [as in my case]- or need to do so from our own POV) to help "back up" the younger people working out on the fields.

EDIT: I'm hoping that anyone with stray bits of Council-owned land - eg road verges - is now "eyeing them up" ready for when Councils stop spending money maintaining them - and will be using them for growing food for the local community. Having read recently that Councils are likely to be looking to abandon care of bits of land like grass verges in order to save money - and the threat that they might try to concrete them over as a way to save on maintenance costs for them without the area "looking like a tip". Would hate to see land that is currently in the form of all those little bits of grass just being concreted over - so a mini-opportunity in the making for some people to do that community foodgrowing there...(some of those strips of land are small enough that even a reasonably fit older person could manage to cultivate them....and I think could be turned over into mini permaculture-style Forest Gardens..so wouldnt take that much "labour" after the initial set-up work)

ceridwen

...and no sooner had I commented about planting up street verges and gone on to read a Transition Movement newsletter and I found:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eodaJ4RkGcE

Looks like the Australians have an official "Adopt a Verge" thing going - started by local government....way to go...

zarazara

what a fabulous idea.

olly300

ceridwen wrote: »

EDIT: I'm hoping that anyone with stray bits of Council-owned land - eg road verges - is now "eyeing them up" ready for when Councils stop spending money maintaining them - and will be using them for growing food for the local community. Having read recently that Councils are likely to be looking to abandon care of bits of land like grass verges in order to save money - and the threat that they might try to concrete them over as a way to save on maintenance costs for them without the area "looking like a tip". Would hate to see land that is currently in the form of all those little bits of grass just being concreted over - so a mini-opportunity in the making for some people to do that community foodgrowing there...(some of those strips of land are small enough that even a reasonably fit older person could manage to cultivate them....and I think could be turned over into mini permaculture-style Forest Gardens..so wouldnt take that much "labour" after the initial set-up work)

Many city councils do nothing to that land already hence the guerilla gardening movement - http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

Due to much of the land being near the road side and heavy car pollution it's generally only good for flowers. However the flowers have use as it helps the population of bees and other pollinating insects required for crops.

cootambear

ceridwen wrote: »

Precisely so.

The pity is that more people werent aware back in the 1970s that our way of life simply isnt sustainable and havent been preparing since as far as they are able to...

I look back in astonishment at how much extra work I have crammed in over the years on top of a full-time job in order to earn the money I needed to pay off the mortgage/get my house reasonably in order/etc before the current Crisis came along - all that TIME gone from my leisuretime:eek: - but I am SO thankful that I planned and worked over those years and ignored the "chorus of derision" from other people that accompanied all that planning.....(they're not telling me I'm stupid any longer......more like asking for how-to hints...)

I`ve heard this throw away comment used many times, but just why isnt our way of life sustainable? see this article for the folly of the myth of limits. (add www to the front) .spiked-online.com/index.php/site/article/7723/

Lets look why you have had to work so hard to pay off your mortgage.

1. House prices are effected by supply and demand. Since councils had to flog off their housing stock under thatchers dictat, the stock of social houses has collapsed, and few are being built, pressuring prices on the lower end of the market.
2. Wishing to improve their lives from renting decrepit slums, at the turn of the last century working people began to club together to form friendly societies to build their own houses. They are now known as building societies. Alarmed at the prospect of these sweaty dirtyhanded labourers becoming their neighbours, the ruling class enacted a number of `Green Belt` laws designed to keep them in their place. House building and therefore the readly supply side of the equation are diminished.

The above is over simplified of course, as there are many other contributors to the ridiculosely large price we have to pay for of houses - notably credit tightening and laxaty.

But serious commentators agree that there are simply far too few houses.

So, lets relax building restrictions in the `Green Belt`. Let more enjoy a bit of fresh air. And what else would benefit? Flora and Fauna.

Farmers do not grow 20 different crops on their farms giving space for wildlife, they grow 1. Birds and insects to them are pests. Despite only 15% of the land being urban, our gardens are home to 50% of our wildlife. So we can have a better life, reduced mortgages, more diverse flora and fauna, who could argue with that?

Hmm lets see, the tories, labour, the libs, the greens etc.