How self-sufficient are you?

[Alison]

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Yes, could see I'd voted but thought I'd commented too

[shona_b]

I could never give up bananas to be self sufficient! or limes for the G&T! but this last year I haven't had to buy any squashes, potatoes, onions or garlic - although we are now down to the very last few and most have started sprouting! We have been OK for greens - various types of cabbages, sprouts, PSB etc are staggered to provide fresh veg throughout the year and swedes, parsnips and beetroots all keep us going for soups throughout the winter. Chillis and beans are all stored in the freezer as well as herbs although the parsley seems to have embraced the weather and is still going! the best feeling is when you see the price of new season asparagus or rhubarb and know you can go and collect a few stems for free

[bearded bloke]

Not very,I try hard but generally fail miserably but heyho if you stop trying you will never succeed,so onwards & upwards is the only way to go

[Jelliebabe]

I am self sufficient in beans, garlic gooseberries, rhubarb and sweetcorn! A small but (for me ) significant effort!

[Marcher]

I'm hopefully going to be self sufficient in peas, beans, tomatoes and onions this year. The other crops can only supplement what I buy, but I'm growing melons and only eat a few of those a year so hopefully should be able to provide enough of them.
One of the staples (potatoes) I can't be self sufficient in in the small area I've devoted to them though. I guess for most people, being self sufficient is either a choice of providing staple crops (such as potatoes or tomatoes) or providing supplementary crops that would cost more to buy in (ones which you can't really live off but that add to the diet such as courgettes or chicory).

[StaryD]

We are so lucky to have a very big chest freezer (that's along our wall in the front room because it was too big for the kitchen) so most of last years harvest was bagged in portions and frozen, and for the first year of having an allotment, I think we did rather well. We still have a few things still in the ground (mainly in the raised beds where they are out of the laying water).
Only thing we do have to buy is potato's, banana's and oranges.
Last years wet weather was so bad in our area that we lost all 10 rows of potato's as they just simply rotted away.
This year we have thought ahead and decided to grow our spuds in bags.

[green fingered]

We have extended our raised beds for vegetables this year for more produce to see us throughout the year. We have also made a bed to plant a huge variety of fruit and we are thinking of making our own chicken coop for around 6 chickens. The chickens then can get to work and get rid of the moss in my lawns. Hopefully I could then have several boxes ticked and save my money on the shopping bills

[JoeDaStudd]

Eggs pretty much self-sufficient depending on the weather and if everyone is in a eggy mood.
Veg wise come the early summer months we eat a lot of salads and light sandwiches so a majority of it is home grown.
Fruit only tomatoes and cucumber and only mid to late summer.
Last year was my first year experimenting with overwinter/winter veg. It was a surprising success with a small supplement of veg every week or so even when it didn't rise above -5C.
Next year more area and earlier planting should increase it to most days.
With 7 of us in the house its hard grow a lot of veg without dedicated veg patch or alloment, but I'm slowly reclaiming a patch of garden .


My dream is to have a self-sufficient log cabin (water butts, solar panels, geothermal heating and log burner) with large veg plot with large poly-tunnel, about a dozen chickens and some milk producing animals (goat or cow depending on land).

[spanish_gardener]

I try to grow enough beans, garlic, chards, chillies, peas, spring onions, leeks, strawberry jam, rhubarb jam and carrots. I try!

[binley100]

I try to grow enough ..... , strawberry jam, rhubarb jam and carrots. I try!

you wanna try carrot jam its lurvely .......I grow it with cardamon in

[spanish_gardener]

you wanna try carrot jam its lurvely .......I grow it with cardamon in

Sound delicious. I found a recipe on Google and it's made with oranges and lemons as well. Is it how you make it? What variety of carrots you grow?

[mistymoo]

hi newbie here!,
we have most of our own veg for around 60% of the year, tried winter growing for 2 years now in polytunnel, not much success in winter but gives things a good early start, then have to eat, harvest quick as they all bolt. We have 2 good old apple trees that keeps us and horses in apples for most of the year apart from 20012 which hardly had any on trees. Young pears and plum trees which have yet to produce fruit.
Our 50foot tunnel works well for us in summer on our 2nd year with this one, out 1st one was only small and we positioned it in the wrong place so will be moving that this year to near to our big one, plan to master the winter growing in the small one if i can keep mice at bay ! and to grow late toms in it as blight always wipes mine out every year in the big one, just get enough harvest for us and the freezer then come early September blight destroys the lot. very bad here in France for blight.
Gave up on spuds because of the blight as i think this caused my heavy loss of toms too having spuds close to PT. have own onions for part of year, aspargus been harvesting since christmas day from PT.
Had 2 pigs which we butchered ourselves, now eaten and lovely they were too! would love more if we have the time.
every year we have meat birds that keeps us in chicken all year round.
We have 8 layers and 2 cockerals so we will try hatching more chicks this year as done this once before with good success.
Now got 6 solar panels and small wind turbine so we get free power for lights and pcs for the some of the time. We have ready to install a large wind turbine and solar hot water so this should go in this summer if hubby gets chance as so busy felling damaged trees.
2012 was a bad year for the garden far to wet so am hoping for a better season this year.
have my new raised beds to look forward too with proper paths instead of the usual mud baths.
seeds this year so far have been very very slow indeed compared to most years.
going to spend my sunday in PT today where it warm and dry!!

[Feral007]

We aren't self sufficient, but I feel pleased that we have been able to give away a small amount of produce to people (to the ex, by the kids , to a neighbour who loaned us a trailer.)

And happy that all the things I'm cooking for the freezer today, and tomorrow will contain some of our own produce. Even if just herbs and the all purpose zuchinni

[polc1410]

What do we consider 'Self Sufficient' - sorry I'm in pedant mode this morning...

If I grow 200kg of Potatoes but only need 100kg and trade 50kg wit my neighbour who has chickens for half a dozen eggs a week am I still self sufficient?

What if I then sell the other 50kg for someone to fund something else on the Lotty rather than a direct trade?

Does buying seeds etc count as self sufficient? Same for the electricity to store produce over winter? Or do you need to sell some crop to fund those?

[Feral007]

Totally self sufficient might be dream for most of us. But I think being able to grow/trade most of your food is a good start. We're good with seeds for things like pumpkins/zuchinni etc, but others are too hard/difficult, so buy them.
I would so love to be off the grid for electricity. Not happening yet - but that would be my dream!