I got this out from the library last year when I probably fit into the "dreamer" catagory. I am not slowly trying to make my way towards the "realist" and want to buy this book! It really is a fun read. Very practical. I particularly liked how it showed you how to best utilise land of differnt sizes. i.e. if you have this much land you can do this, if you have more you can also do . . . . . It had wonderful diagrams, drawings and charts too.
I liked the first version but I like the re-write even more. Between the two, he had a long period of severe depression and did a number of interviews about it's effect on him and how he motivated himself to write the update. How sad it is that he then died before really enjoying the impact the new book made.
Last edited by Tigger on Sun Apr 23, 2006 10:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
Self sufficiency is for dreamers. In this modern age it is impossible to live without money. In the days when it was legal to slaughter your own animals it was possible to have meat completely produced by yourself but today you have to take sometimes many miles to have the beast slaughtered at a licenced abbatior and that costs a considerable amount.
Even if you are a vegetarian you have to sell large amounts of your produce in order to be able to live.
They used to say that an acre would keep a family of four but that can not be said today and to have more than an acre under cultivation is a full time job and I doubt you could even earn enough to pay your council tax.
Certainly you can produce an awful amount of produce and maybe keep yourselves in vegetables. I subscribe to a small meat producing syndicate and have home produced Beef, Lamb and Pork but at a price that is considerably more that if I bought it from the butchers. Up until this year I have been self sufficient in vegetables with the aid of a freezer and this year I have decided that I will only grow a few things.
To be self sufficient you have to have a considerable income from another source.
I read John Seymour's book years ago but he really was a dreamer and not much else.
Johnboy,
Some interesting words, but one thing that I do ask is the legality to slaughter your own animals. I was under the impression that you were still allowed to do this as long that all of the meat is for own consumption, i.e you cannot sell, barter or give away. I may be wrong, but this is my understanding.
When we moved to this house in 1983 we did the self sufficiency thing - goats, sheep, a cow, ducks, chickens, pigs, turkeys, guinea fowl, anything that moved or clucked plus fruit and veg. Apart from the fact that we had to get up at 5am every day to feed and muck out, our electricity bills were enormous and the MEB didn't want paying in eggs. Eventually, we were feeding over 400 mouths and there's only two of us, so we ate the stock, increased the veg and fruit areas and made the rest into garden.
It's hard work if you have to earn a living as well and even harder if you want to earn a living from it. We're happy with the balance now - practically self sufficient in fruit and veg but not dependent on it.
Hi Rod,
I am about to go down to the Pub for my usual Sunday Pint(s) and I will meet the local Butcher who also own the Abbatoir in the Village. He will know the letter of the law. If I am sober enough this afternoon I'll mail back.
Hi Rod,
As sods law decrees the vital man had been dragged screaming and kicking to his mother in laws for lunch today.
I will give you an answer later on in the week.
Hi Johnboy,hope the pints went down well,you're very lucky to have an abbatoir in the village,here on the Isle of Wight we no longer have an abbatoir(it closed some years ago because I believe of the cost of complying with EU regs.)so all stock for slaughter has to go on a long lorry and ferry ride to the mainland ......and then be shipped all the way back!
So,incidentally,does our mail!!
I think you can only slaughter your own if you are going to eat it all,personally...just yourself..on your own...not even your family can join in.
