Self-sufficiency: giving it a go

CheeseScone

We are living in uncertain times :eek: and I'm thinking that to protect my family we should aim to be as self-sufficient as possible. I'm not sure how far we will get. We live in a 1950's semi on the edge of a market town with a decent size garden and we also have an allotment. I'm thinking that we should aim to be totally self-sufficient with regards to vegetables and certain fruits. There are some things though that we are cannot be self sufficient in....gas, broadband, transport etc.

Are any of you self-sufficient or partially self-sufficient? What other things should I be considering?

Please merge with an existing thread if there is one:)

Living_proof

Even if you were vegetarian and could produce and preserve a huge amount of produce, there is always the question of replacing and repairing/maintaining existing items. Anyone can live off next to nothing until the shoes need repairing, there's a leak in the plumbing and the car fails its MOT. The children want a school trip. You are invited to a wedding. I think you need to do a very careful spreadsheet of your real expenses and then you'll see just how little you could provide yourself. Sorry to be such a downer, just realistic.

Mojisola

There are some forums dedicated to like-minded people -

http://www.cottagesmallholder.com/

http://www.selfsufficientish.com/main/

worn_out_mum

Our dream is to be self sufficient too, we grow a few fruits and veggies (currently carrots, onions, broad and runner beans, radish, tomato, potatoes, gooseberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, rhubarb, cherries and pears) but its nowhere near enough as we have three kids to feed. Our next step is a few chickens but we want to move next year so its not really an option atm, we live in a 1970s detached so by no means a huge garden.
I make our own bread, yoghurt and butter when cream is cheap, jam and pickles etc and dh shoots some land nearby as pest control for the farmer and the bunnies he comes home with are eaten either by us or the dog, tbh mostly the dog but at the moment the warrens have mxyamatosis so inedible to humans.
I'd say go for it, the websites above are good, can I add home farmer magazine as a great source of info as well as John Seymour's book and Strawbridge's too

Ilona

Also
http://www.downthelane.net/forum/index.php

Good for keeping chickens and growing veg, recycling and re using.

Ilona

CheeseScone

worn_out_mum wrote: »

Our dream is to be self sufficient too, we grow a few fruits and veggies (currently carrots, onions, broad and runner beans, radish, tomato, potatoes, gooseberries, blackcurrants, strawberries, rhubarb, cherries and pears) but its nowhere near enough as we have three kids to feed. Our next step is a few chickens but we want to move next year so its not really an option atm, we live in a 1970s detached so by no means a huge garden.
I make our own bread, yoghurt and butter when cream is cheap, jam and pickles etc and dh shoots some land nearby as pest control for the farmer and the bunnies he comes home with are eaten either by us or the dog, tbh mostly the dog but at the moment the warrens have mxyamatosis so inedible to humans.
I'd say go for it, the websites above are good, can I add home farmer magazine as a great source of info as well as John Seymour's book and Strawbridge's too

Sounds like you are doing pretty well already. We have just caught a few Mackerel down the beach, so they will be eaten fresh later and any left will be frozen.

worn_out_mum

we are trying but nowhere near where we want to be, hopefully we will be able to afford a couple of acres in a few years.
congratulations on the mackerel! Unfortunately we are 100 miles ish from the sea and the stream behind our house only has the odd tiny trout in it.

Gigervamp

Also, https://www.downsizer.net

You'll find a lot of smallholders also have jobs outside the home.

If you're on Twitter, check out @SmallholdersUK where a different smallholder runs the account each week. It's a good insight into the lives of smallholders.