These are my plans to bring me as close to self sufficiency as I can get in my current house. It might take me two years to reach my goals, it might take me five.
As this is December and I have moved house not too long ago I don't have anything in the ground at this moment in time. That is except for a couple of rhubarb plants and raspberry canes that I seem to have inherited, and some overwintering onions. The rhubarb will be removed to make space for my potatoes in the spring. I will hopefully replant a rhubarb plant at the bottom of the garden when the mess has been cleared. A couple of the newer raspberry canes will be kept but the rest will be removed.
I do have some plants remaining in my dads garden that I planted before I moved. Namely, a globe artichoke, three purple sprouting broccoli plants, three kale plants, half a dozen parsnips and one sad and lonely savoy cabbage.
I currently have three 3 x 4 foot raised beds (one of which has over wintering onions in it) and plans/space for four more raised beds three more 3 x 4 and one 5 x 5.
I have a large soil boarder that will house flowers, broad beans, (I have the toilet roll tubes waiting) kale, globe artichokes, Jerusalem artichokes, chard, hopefully an achocha vine growing up the fence and maybe some dwarf French beans if I can squeeze them in.
On the other side of the garden I will be training cordon apples, plums and pears. And I have an 8 x 6 greenhouse in which i will put tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers and hopefully an achocha and melon.
In the raised beds I'll have Chinese cabbage, spinach, potatoes, onions, carrots, parsnips, turnips, beetroot, swede, squash, sweetcorn, french and runner beans, peas. Leeks and shallots.
In the garden I also have three rescue ex-battery hens and plans to hatch a few more in the spring-time, I am very wealthy in Chicken manure and I think I will be able to produce plentiful amounts of garden compost over the next year.
In the front garden I hope to plant flowers with some cabbage, cauliflowers, kale and Brussel sprouts inter-planted amongst it all.
I know that this will not be enough to make me completely self sufficient in food. I will have to buy more veg in the winter and spring. I'm a vegetarian so meat won't be a problem although if I hatch any roosters I am prepared to dispatch them (in theory) and eat them. My boyfriend does not feel the urge to join my self sufficient exploits and will be buying his food from the shops, although I am sure he ill help me eat the rooster.
I will obviously have to buy in flour, sugar and dairy. Although I am searching for a field on which to keep a cow or some goats. I am also looking into making flour out of sweet chestnuts. I have had my name down for an allotment for the last six months although I bet I'll have many more months or years to wait before I get some more growing space. I have amaranth seeds in my mighty seed stash so I could grow a tiny amount of my own grain, but probably not enough to make it worth it until I have more space.
I try to bake as much as I can from scratch including bread, pastry, cakes and cookies. I try to make much of my food from scratch, although I am guilty of having some frozen quorn and vegetable pies in the freezer, and some supermarket foods in the fridge. I like to make different types of home made wines and I have two sour-dough starters in my fridge that I use regularly.
Some time in 2015 I will be investing in a wood-burning stove to reduce any Gas central heating needed. I am hoping to build a small cob oven in the garden which will help reduce the electricity spent on the indoor oven. I will be having solar panels installed on the roof and finally I walk almost everywhere I need to get to so petrol use is not going to be a problem for me at this point in time.
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