Planning for being self sufficientish in 2015

[Flo]

Planning for the allotment or veg garden? Planning on using up your stash of craft stuff to make clothes or necessary stuff for the abode? Or planning on providing all your own wood for the wood burner? Perhaps foraging the hedgerows? Or looking for household goods on freecycle?

I have stocked up with all the required seeds for the allotment but not from seed saving as I have a lot of left over packets which are still in date enough to be used. I'm fully stocked with fertilisers but am being tempted by bocking 14 comfrey roots so that I don't need as much bought in in the future. I hope that I shall be able to do some seed saving come the end of the year - borlotti beans, runner beans and heirloom sweet peas would be a start.

The allotment compost heap from last year is ready to grow courgettes come the summer then for digging in as soil improver over the winter and there's a new compost heap growing well. I've become the biggest collector of plain cardboard in all the world for the compost heap. I used to be the biggest leaf sweeper upper in all the world but that has gone by the board as the council now clears the streets far to efficiently. For about five years I was self sufficient in leaf mould for soil improvement on the allotment. Till the council got itself together and a lot of trees were cut back in the area of the allotment.

This year I shall go blackberrying in the local hedges earlier before everyone else collects them all.

So what plans do others have?

[littlemissrose]

I plan on making a big succes of my balconyvegpatch this year. I've been trying for a few years now but this time it's gonna work . Also going to put up a wormery and recycle all of my trash. Going for a zero waste policy by the end of the year.

And off course keep all mycurrent projects going. Like making all our clothes myself, going cycling everywhere, cooking from scratch (and quiting my rediculously expensive take-away addiction).

Lots to do...

[sleepyowl]

Get back in the veggie patch as well as growing some cut flowers, make more bread, pasta, beer, wine, cordials etc

[ina]

Planning is always fine... Mostly it doesn't come to much in my case. Well, for the next three months I'll be far too busy to do anything much in the garden - I am hoping to plant at least one of my long-time potted fruit trees, as the shed is now in place. But the rest - new raised bed etc - will have to wait until after the term finishes, i.e. until after Easter. Equally, my living room decorating will have to wait until then, and once that is done, my sewing machine will have a space again, and I can do a bit more in the way of making clothes. and attacking the pile of mending...

[Flo]

But Ina who said planning had to work? But if you plan it might happen, otherwise you have to rely on happy happenstance.

[littlemissrose]

Yeah planning is the best (and easiest) part. I love dreaming... uhmI mean planning my future harvests and projects .

[Thomzo]

I'm really excited, I'm buying an extra plot of land from next door. An allotment would have been a lot cheaper but there's more chance of my tending it if it's just outside the back door. I've also found someone nearby who helps out with the garden in exchange for a share of the produce :-) Looking forward to a very productive year.

[glyn.c]

i HAVE to have a plan ! this year is the start of our first full season in this property so we are going to grow more veg ,very little winter veg was grown last year only a few swede ,some leeks and kale due to being to late starting to get any plants and beds ready ,planning to put another 14 apple and pear cordons in plus grow a few of our own meat birds ,along with what we did with the summer crops and hens last year. i am one of life hoarders ,i kept an oak top off an old tv cabinet years back and just found a use for it ! ive made a trug for the garden with some of it and going to make a cheese press with some of whats left as we really fancy a go at making our own cheese this year,also going to build a decent sized cold frame from 2 dg french doors we took out last summer

[Flo]

Are we all still just planning on growing things? No-one decided to buy material or clothes from charity shops and adapt?

I've sacked the window cleaner and decided to do it myself. Surely that's being self sufficient?

[Zech]

I've sacked the window cleaner and decided to do it myself. Surely that's being self sufficient?

Definitely!

I'm trying to avoid too much planning until I've finished my solar panel project, otherwise I'll get too distracted. I had hoped to get it finished by the beginning of March...

As for clothes, a friend of mine's recently started a stitch 'n' bitch group (she won't call it that but, y' know, it's one of those) and I had to wrack my brains to think of projects to take. I don't have a stash of materials - at least, nothing that looks much like the makings of a craft project, nor money to buy more, so I was mostly looking at old clothes. My jeans always wear through between the thighs and I can't bring myself to throw them out because the rest is fine. My plan is to combine several pairs of old jeans into one (or more, if successful) pair of patchwork jeans.

[Thomzo]

My jeans always wear through between the thighs and I can't bring myself to throw them out because the rest is fine. My plan is to combine several pairs of old jeans into one (or more, if successful) pair of patchwork jeans.

I was looking at a pair of jeans in exactly the same way earlier. Do let me know how you get on.

Cheers
Zoe

[ina]

My jeans always wear through between the thighs and I can't bring myself to throw them out because the rest is fine. My plan is to combine several pairs of old jeans into one (or more, if successful) pair of patchwork jeans.

I was looking at a pair of jeans in exactly the same way earlier. Do let me know how you get on.

Cheers
Zoe

When I still did a lot of cycling, that's exactly where my jeans wore out. All of them ended up with patches "between the legs". Didn't look great, but they then lasted another couple of years.

Another way of making use of these jeans is - use the bottom halves of the legs for making shopping bags. Just open up along one of the seams, sow together, use a bit of the rest of the jeans as handles.

[mulchingoverwinter]

Abit late to the party but I gave up my allotment this year as we are hoping to buy our first house, fingers crossed I get a garden. We’re currently staying with my sister so am putting two raised beds in her garden to keep my green fingers going. My sister is also getting quite into the self-sufficient grove and we will be hopefully doing allot more foraging and preserving this year which I'm looking forward to! Then hopefully next year I will have a cute small garden to start on!

[Flo]

Keep the faith mulchingoverwinter - good luck with buying the house. Do some of the other self sufficientish things like making soft furnishings towards your hoped for new house. Keep us up to date on how it goes.

[Crastney]

I had an old pair of jeans where the button had gone, and they were too tight, but the legs were fine, so I cut those up and used them as patches of the knees of a couple of other pairs of work jeans, and I made a very nice back pocket too - shame it's a brown pocket on dark blue jeans but there you go. such is life when being green.
I do plan to carry on doing what I can, but also in the long term I'm thinking of solar PV, and rain water butt, and sorting out our back veg patch which has been neglected for a couple of years due to having our first son.
we have a shed, in pieces down the side of the house, and once that is installed at the other end of the garden I will be able to get access to my bike so I'll be able to cycle to work and back, being environmentally green, saving money on travel, and getting fit all at the same time! hurrah!