Selfsufficientish.com

It's not quite spring here but the dandelions are putting up plenty of leaf growth - local town turns yellow in March.

I get the feeling I'm a few years younger than the majority of forum members so perhaps I see things a bit differently; who knows. The "make-do-and-mend" ethos was truly a dead philosophy for most of my life and has only really come around again with the rise of environmentalism. Also, I want to wo...

Yes but who has trained the people to cook that food?

So if kitchens are optional where does one start with people being self sufficientish in preparing a meal? If someone has nowhere to cook, there is no need to learn to grow or produce any food for oneself. This could of course explain why we are so self sufficient in waste that can't be recycled. Qu...

I suspect that a lot of people who want to start being self sufficient have not had the experience to know where to start. We do have a shop locally that has knitting classes. There are also local groups that have odd courses (sort of one off) for making chutney and jam and that sort of thing. Most ...

Bad planning Odsox - it takes thought and planning to be even self sufficientish.

On the other hand we walked or cycled everywhere or if it was too far, caught a bus. Now it's jump in the car and spew CO2 and NO in the process. I'm pretty sure the last time I was on a bus would have been in the early 70's, and on a bike ... probably about 1961. So most definitely swings and roun...

So - where do you start with being self sufficient. Probably not by reading books on the subject as these all seem to be for the seriously well off who can build a house which heats itself, cleans itself, has its own rainwater collecting system, deals with its own sanitation - you know the sort of t...

Hi Beewoman, I'd say that your extended livestock is enough to keep you busy. Having grown up as a farmer's daughter I appreciate anyone who keeps sheep as they have many ways to kill themselves. With that lot you won't have room for goats. Now goats are fun. If you like entertaining teenagers. :win...

Very High Winds. We do get them here and the greenhouse has been caught again. Sometimes the strong winds come up the entry passage between me and next door's back garden with more force than required. This time we seem to have lost the roof panel totally - it's not glass and we usually find it park...

It's the time and effort ( and the money) spent for very little real value that could be better spent repairing something people will actually use. I wonder if these programmes are designed to give people ideas above their station as used to be said. Like making people in two/three bed semis in the...

I'm sure that if they showed people how to repair perfectly mundane items there would be complaints about putting normal trades people out of work. Age UK used to run a "Men in Sheds" scheme which allowed people to get together to do simple repairs on household items where someone knew how to to it ...

Early to bed then before the midnight pips?

Ah tis the text message that is important for me.

What size van?