Andy, Martin and Crew,
Some good points about selfsufficientish homes.
I suspect that most homesteads would struggle to grow sufficient food on the land available. Great things can be achieved in limited spaces, but if you examined the typical annual food requirements, say veg alone, it would be a challenge for most folks.
I have met a few people with genuine eco-homes and although I admired their lifestyles, I had always wondered how I could possibly downshift all that way.
Ben Law's Woodland Cottage is an excellent example of what can be done on a budget of less than £30,000
http://www.channel4.com/4homes/ontv/gra ... odman.html
However, he had to fight the council for 10 years to obtain the planning permission to build it, and it must be demolished when he leaves (I suspect he'll leave it to his family).
I have a friend in Hereford, who bought a couple of acres, started with a 15' caravan, then a 25' shed, then another and finally a wonderful self-build straw bale/grass roof chalet eco-bumgalow.
At each stage, the accomodation was recycled, so for example the caravan became the "guest bedroom" when he built the sheds, then, in turn, the sheds became their workshops when they moved into the bungalow.
I also know some people at Tinker's Bubble in Somerset where they live in eco-huts in their woodlands, and live off the 10 acres of land, without the use of any internal combustion engines. They do have a very nice "portable" steam engine, that runs their saw mill.
Then a few years ago, I settled down in Suburbia, and it occurred to me that rather than chasing something unobtainable in life, I would make the most of the assets that we had - ie a solid 1905 suburban home.
Some of my aspirations are on my website
http://www.powercubes.com/homepage.html
Another influence on my aspirations is "The Yellow House" - an ex council house in Oxford
http://theyellowhouse.org.uk/
It just shows how you can patch up a less than ideal property, and reduce its environmental impact considerably.
For most homes in the UK that are more than 20 years old, the best thing that can be done is to insulate them properly. This is absolutely fundamental, and if the government just realised this, and gave the incentives to do it, it would not only reduce our domestic energy costs but create a load of jobs and boost the economy. A lot of inslation products are still made in the UK.
Finally, here are a list of ten things, good and bad, that have influenced my lifestyle
1. A good education in the 1970s and 1980s
2. Being at university during the Miner's Strike and Maggie Thatcher's governmet approach to short-termism and selling off everything of true national value
3a. Reading George Orwell's "Down and Out in Paris and London"
3b. Reading George Orwell's "The Road to Wigan Pier"
4. Building an electric car in the early 1990s
5. Building a model Stirling Engine
6. Being fired from my job
7. Travelling to China and California in the same year, 2003
8. Buying my first proper house at 35
9. Learning how to become energy self-sufficient and sustainable
10. Good and lasting friends who tell you the truth
Ken
(Yes, I have done that!!! Disgraceful, middle aged woman should know better. 
)