Remember The Good Life series on TV?
read this article from today's Daily Mail
Good luck to them. It would be far more interesting to see how this couple get on rather than watch yet another re-run of the original series.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/a ... ge_id=1770
The Good Life
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oldherbaceous
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Well i hope they soon go and buy themselves a decent fork and spade. 
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.
There's no fool like an old fool.
There's no fool like an old fool.
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peter
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How big is the garden?
I recall an article some time ago debunking the programme which stated the garden was just not up to self-sufficiency.
I presume that as they are on an "organic veg box" scheme they are fully aware of this and do not want or cannot get an allotment as Tom & Barbara did.
Every little helps I suppose, but I reckon they will spend more in £ and CO2 than they save over the time they will be in that house. Still their choice and they are trying.
A lad I know argues at length that the CO2 cost of onw of those big offshore wind turbines far outweights thay payback in within the design life of the mechanics. Concrete is very enegry intensive.
I recall an article some time ago debunking the programme which stated the garden was just not up to self-sufficiency.
I presume that as they are on an "organic veg box" scheme they are fully aware of this and do not want or cannot get an allotment as Tom & Barbara did.
Every little helps I suppose, but I reckon they will spend more in £ and CO2 than they save over the time they will be in that house. Still their choice and they are trying.
A lad I know argues at length that the CO2 cost of onw of those big offshore wind turbines far outweights thay payback in within the design life of the mechanics. Concrete is very enegry intensive.
Do not put off thanking people when they have helped you, as they may not be there to thank later.
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I support http://www.hearingdogs.org.uk/
Threre is a lot to be said for doing all that you can to 'go green', particularly in health terms, but total self-sufficiency is a foolish dream. The people who do best out of this sort of thing are those who write books, publish articles, run courses etc. and make their money out of it that way. But growing your own potatoes etc, not on foinancially. I wounder if this couple would do best bu 'setting it all up' and then have demonstrations, open days etc.
Allan
Allan
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alan refail
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Thank goodness they will be making sloe gin 
We've just one bottle left - fortunately we are surrounded by blackthorn here and don't have to grow it.
Hic
We've just one bottle left - fortunately we are surrounded by blackthorn here and don't have to grow it.
Hic
Cred air o bob deg a glywi, a thi a gei rywfaint bach o wir (hen ddihareb Gymraeg)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
Believe one tenth of what you hear, and you will get some little truth (old Welsh proverb)
How about this:-
Friday, 30 March, 2001, 17:57 GMT 18:57 UK
The Good Life house for sale
A bee colony is included in the price of TV house
The self-sufficient home featured in the 1970s sitcom The Good Life has been put up for sale.
The four bedroom detached house is on the market for £570,000, complete with vegetable patch and bee colony.
The characters of Tom and Barbara Good, played by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal, supposedly resided in Surbiton but in fact the house is in Northwood, Middlesex.
Barbara and Tom got back to nature
The pair gave up their middle-class comforts to live off the land, much to the amusement and horror of their neighbours.
Only the outside of the house was ever used on screen as inside scenes were filmed on a studio set.
Character
Shots of fictional neighbours Margot and Jerry Leadbetter, played by Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith, were not filmed in the same road.
Nicholas Hill of estate agents Peter Robson described the property as a "fine character house".
He said: "It has a garden over 100 feet in length and which is wider than many homes in the area, giving plenty of room to grow things.
"It would be ideal for someone with green fingers.
"This is a first-rate area where property prices have always been strong.
"It has a touch of fame because of The Good Life, but even without this it would be a very good buy."
Friday, 30 March, 2001, 17:57 GMT 18:57 UK
The Good Life house for sale
A bee colony is included in the price of TV house
The self-sufficient home featured in the 1970s sitcom The Good Life has been put up for sale.
The four bedroom detached house is on the market for £570,000, complete with vegetable patch and bee colony.
The characters of Tom and Barbara Good, played by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal, supposedly resided in Surbiton but in fact the house is in Northwood, Middlesex.
Barbara and Tom got back to nature
The pair gave up their middle-class comforts to live off the land, much to the amusement and horror of their neighbours.
Only the outside of the house was ever used on screen as inside scenes were filmed on a studio set.
Character
Shots of fictional neighbours Margot and Jerry Leadbetter, played by Paul Eddington and Penelope Keith, were not filmed in the same road.
Nicholas Hill of estate agents Peter Robson described the property as a "fine character house".
He said: "It has a garden over 100 feet in length and which is wider than many homes in the area, giving plenty of room to grow things.
"It would be ideal for someone with green fingers.
"This is a first-rate area where property prices have always been strong.
"It has a touch of fame because of The Good Life, but even without this it would be a very good buy."
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Primrose
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I wish this couple luck but I also think living outside the system is virtually impossible these days. Council Tax is prohibitive and even limited use of gas, electricity, etc. will be expensive. I think the best most people can achieve is to limit their use of utilities, grow as much of their own produce as possible and possibly opt out of the consumer/VAT paying society by buying clothes from charity shops and not buying all the current fashionable "must have" gadgets". But the way this government is implementing stealth taxes, many individuals will be forced to go this route anyway, even if it is not by choice.
Maybe we are lucky to be growing on a bit of farm land devorced from our house, we don't pay any rates or taxes there, not even for the caravan (non-residential). It occurs to me that the small vegetable patch which we nickname The Allotment is bigger than the Goods' whole garden, there are 3 more acres in that field, a total of nearly 20. We do have to have public liability insurance and water is on a meter but no sewage surcharge. Telephone is by mobile phone. No TV so no licence for radio.