really old style living?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

mardatha wrote: »

What do you think should/could be first to bulk buy ? Let's get a short list and try to get this lifestyle started before winter gives us other priorities (I have stocks of porridge, lentils, flour, and tea already).

i was thinking of..( depending on how long you want to go without shopping)

25kg sack of sugar
2 sacks of potatoes
butter/ block and spreadable( can be frozen)
pasta
rice
cheese ( can be frozen)

semi-skimmed milk ( can be frozen)
powdered milk ( ideal for making up and using for baking etc)
toilet rolls:D ( curently £2.50 for 9 on approved foods)
flour
tinned tomatoes
mince beef ( and freeze in portion sizes)
Jam
cooking oil
onions
rice pudding rice ( can use the dried milk powder)

got to go ...but i have got the ball rolling with some staples i would get in...

ceridwen

tru wrote: »

Our garden is 60' x 30', has 2 sheds, 2 greenhouses (all approx. 6' x 8') and a veg patch. Last year, we picked 251lb of fruit and veg from the garden, plus stuff we didn't weigh like chard, spinach, spring onions, salad leaves, sprouts, chillis, celery, bay leaves and herbs. We also foraged about 65lb, mostly cooking apples. Our chickens gave us 106 eggs.

We can't afford to move for quite a while yet, so we're doing the next best thing - selling and bartering our plants and eggs to people we know. Does that count?

You'll be taking a leaf out of this bloggers book then will you?:

http://thirtyfivebyninety.blogspot.com/

.....note to self: stop coming out with bad puns ceridwen:D

I'll get me coat...

calleyw

I would love to live more like this.

But the main problem is I am lazy and it is very hard work when you have animals. As even going away for a day is hard to plan let alone a weeks holiday.

Also I don't have enough room. I want to combine the two a nice looking garden with one that I can grow veggies in.

I have two raised beds now and one is full of goodies. I have yet to plant anything apart from sunflowers in the second one.

I have no winter crops which is a bit of shame. My second raised bed has only been finished in the last couple of weeks. And did not want to grow brassicas in the same soil.

Any how I do my little bit. I will have rainbow chard and mange tout to go with my dinner tomorrow yum yum yum.

Yours

Calley

pumpkinlife

I used to really want this lifestyle, until I realised there were some aspects I just hated the idea of. I think we will try this in Suburbia in the next few years.

I am currently putting together a spreadsheet of basic foodstuffs that we store (I do a big pantry shop online every 2-3 months and stuff my cupboards full) and how much of each I need to buy. We eat loads of pulses; and I have realised that 1 portion a day for 2 adults and a toddler is 1/2 a kilo a week!

Have you seen Down to earth? There are lots of articles about stockpiling and organising a similar lifestyle.

I like the crafty aspects of this lifestyle, not so much the food producing, though I think a lot of that is because it can be a struggle in my little container garden and tiny kitchen. If I owned the house (2 bed terrace) and had free reign, I could probably make it a lot easier and more enjoyable.

Interestingly enough the city had a massive powercut a few weeks go. The hospital where I work was inundated with calls from people who had electrical medical equipment at home and were panicing. It hit me that we think it is perfectly safe not to have a independent source of power. In many other countries (rich ones included) I understand its considered prudent to have backup genarators and the like. I think most people here would struggle to keep a supply of candles and matches.

ceridwen

I guess everyone has come across the Dervaes family by now?

http://urbanhomestead.org/journal

if you google for "Path to Freedom" + "You Tube" then you get a Google Page listing various clips by them on YouTube. The best one is their 10 minute long explanation of "why?" entitled "Homegrown Revolution".

They DO have an advantage to us - living in California's sunny climate.....but worth viewing for a bit of inspiration.

Their Urban Homestead website is huge - many happy hours of viewing there...

Gigervamp

I'm planning on buying wheat grains by the sack and mill them as and when I need flour. Lakeland have got a mill reduced price atm, so I've ordered that.

We're now self sufficient in eggs and I'm planning on planting some fruit bushes and rhubarb. We're surrounded by brambles and there are hazelnut, sloes, pears and crab apples nearby. A couple of miles way there are plum and sweet chestnut trees too, so there's plenty to forage.

I'm growing a few veggies in pots and planters and it looks like I'm actually going to get tomatoes this year! (The last two years have been a washout as far as tomatoes go.)
I'd like some milk goats but I don't know if that will ever come to fruition.

pumpkinlife

ceridwen wrote: »

I guess everyone has come across the Dervaes family by now?

http://urbanhomestead.org/journal

QUOTE]

They are very inspiring. If you google or search Youtube for 'Peak Moment' there are a few good videos about aspects of homesteading and off grid living. Lots of American Survivalist websites too. Depressing but good information on food storage etc.

mardatha

I'm already in a lot of survivalist sites, they throw up some interesting ideas as well as a lot of nonsense I just asked the OH if he'd take me up the back road here one day to get some brambles...he was dead affronted and said that was for bairns - and did he not give me enough housekeeping to buy a jar of PROPER jam ?

Vaila

im planning of getting through this month on spending as little as possible, as apart from bills etc, i dont really need to buy anything, my freezer and cupboard are stocked well enough to see me through and i can always add to this from veg grown in my garden, will see ho this challenge goes..still early days !!!

Soubrette

You can even live offgrid in some places in the UK

http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/easy-living-the-truth-about-modern-communes-2020668.html

Sou