I think another aspect that people don't talk about often when thinking about self sufficiency, is community. If your neighbor doesn't have room to grow pumpkins and you do, and you share, often a barter system developes naturally. Sometimes it's produce for services. You don't have to be alone in this.
I agree with this, just today me and my dad were comparing the different tomato seedlings we have planted, I have sown cherry, he has a beefsteak and an average sized one, and we were talking about swapping some plants once they are more established. We also swap apples etc. after harvested as we grow different varieties.
Agreed. In my opinion, communities can be self sufficient, but individual people cannot. Even if one could be totally self sufficient, I think that would be quite a stressful, lonely, alienated existence.
My 6 yo likes watching these and now walks around our family garden with his little monster digital camera making home movies that are basically garden tour/how-to garden videos like this. 😂
@@HuwRichards you've inspired me, a 50+ in a tropical country to make a small start in backyard gardening-and now you're inspiring the younger generation! Wonderful watching. Thank you Huw!
I think self sufficiency with own produce is the most important thing one can do during this time. Not only it can save you some money but the psychological effect itself is helpful and healthy for one self. Seeing new growths (as anyone knows) is a sight to see and surely a natural serotonin inducer👌🏼😊
We save a lot of money in medical bills as well. Because we are eating a more healthy well-rounded diet could I allowed our bodies and our minds to thrive
Some great tips and suggestions on personal self-sufficiency. I was raised on a farm in a very large family, and we were totally self-sufficient. We grew and preserved all of our own fruits & vegetables, as well as our own mean & eggs. Grocery stores were not one of the places we frequented. And now, 7 decades later, I am still growing self-sufficiently. We grow too much food for just the two of us, but we provide the extra to neighbors and food pantries. Grocery stores are not one of the places we frequent.
I think a great idea would be to make videos! I think people would love hearing from a seasoned farmer. Im a year late commenting but i hope you are still planting :)
Thank you, my wife and I started homesteading 4 years ago and we've always maintained that we are working towards self-sufficiency and we try not to be upset about our lack of progress. Life happens and as long as we start replacing a few items from the grocery store we get closer and closer every year.
This helped me think about being self-sufficient in a different light. I don’t have to be self-sufficient in every area. It is less overwhelming that way. Thank you for this great video.
I so agree. If you can't garden AT ALL don't aim for full self sufficiency. Start something small and experiment more every year, see if you even like it.
We're going to be forced into it sooner or later, like it or not. Our processed fast food civilization is crumbling. Dirtpatcheaven at one time was a pioneer in the effort.
I once decided I needed to grow 36 cabbages to suit my needs for a year, so I set out growing different types for different times of the year. Turns out I definitely do not eat 36 cabbages in a year 🤣. Now I aim for about 10, more realistic 😊
Another focus when choosing your crops is ones that are typically “dirty”, difficult to find in stores grown without chemicals such as strawberries. Also produce which doesn’t ship well.
Thank you. I put together a portfolio of work to show them. I'm also a beekeeping so maybe I could offer to keep hives 8n their orchard and sell honey for them to raise money
Fabulous video Huw, I completely agree with you about starting with one or two veg and the part-time element - a perfect description of how to start. Seasonal eating - yes!
Such a good topic and more helpful to new gardeners than one would think. When I started growing things I saved my grocery store receipts so I could make a list of what vegetables I bought. I did this for about 18 months and It really helped me choose what to grow. It might seem a daunting task but it wasn't. Just a quick note when ever I got home from doing the shopping and then forget about it until next time. The list showed me I eat a lot of frosen peas during the year so this year my plan is to become self-sufficient in peas. I also eat a lot of peppers but that is not something I have had succes growing so those I'll be getting from the store. This is successful gardening for me.
Here in zone 6, I don't buy any vegetables from the store all year round, with the exception of onions. My best tip is to select for productive varieties, and then select from the best plants to save seed. I've got a variety of winter squash that now allows me to eat one (fifteen pound) squash per month from September to April. Also, learn to preserve food without electricity! Any veggie that's sliceable and firm (zucc, eggplant, etc) can be spritzed with salt and vinegar and sun dried, then packed away.
Thanks. I needed to hear this. I'm off grid & have some solar power. I do have a small fridge, but no freezer. Don't have a dehydrator. How do you dry veges so they'll keep?
I think there are so many people that don't want to even start because well, they can't be self-sufficient in everything. But to me, if you can be self-reliant in at least one thing, that's already great. Start slow and grow. Thank you for such an informative video.
I'd say starting small and realising it's not about "being" self-sufficient, but "becoming" self-sufficient really is key, as you said :-) Exhaust oneself starting from nowhere and hoping to be self-sufficient in one season is 100% guaranteed disappointment. I have personally started the process and am entering my 3rd season and I'm clearly not there yet at all, but here's what I've learned that worked well by me: 1) not being afraid of starting on a small, easier to manage surface, rather than having too much to look after and fill during springs and summer then having a whole lot of nothingness the rest of the year. 2) optimizing the surface you have first before expanding: i.e. replacing each row of vegetables with another (especially fast growing ones like salads, radishes, spinach, etc.) every time you harvest, so you can enjoy a bit of it all year round, and only then, adding new beds once you get used to it. 3) adding a few varieties, even only 1 or 2, each year to keep control of everything easily without being overwhelmed in the first years. I started with only spinach, courgettes and potatoes in the first year, and haven't regretted it a minute (what I didn't get in variety, I got in quantity!). 4) not being afraid of "not having enough", because overgrowing something can be quite overwhelming and equally discouraging. I started tomatoes last year, 30 plants, and it was unmanageable in terms of workload! I think having had 2x fewer plants would've preserved them better from sickness and I could've better handled the blight etc., obtaining more per plant while spending less time caring for them. It'd also have taken less space that I could've used for other, maybe less demanding veggies. 5) keeping it enjoyable before anything else! :-)
I’ve missed your videos. By far you are one of my favorite RUclips posters. You’ve made me less afraid to try and let me understand it’s okay to fail to learn growing food
I’ve also invested this year in a dehydrator and Kilner jars and 2 kitchen hydroponic gardens for growing winter lettuce / salad crops and also grew “mind the gap” plants in the greenhouse for winter greens. I dabbled in microgreens and sprouting seeds this winter and bought an additional grow light to help winter plants and for sowing seeds this spring indoors One tip I found was to buy heritage seeds not F1, which you can save for the following year. I buy these from a small family non-profit firm called “Real Seeds” & I have found them higher yielding and with unusual colourful varieties. I hope to become more seasonally self sufficient as I learn more. Thank you for all for the hints and tips I receive here which are invaluable . 👍🙏
I never bother estimating how much I will need for myself, I just keep sowing and planting as I have the space for. Any surplus is always gratefully received by people who cannot grow their own.
YES ! Even if all someone does is grow a few tomato plants... during the harvest time, they are flush with tomatoes. This reduces demand on purchased produce and increases taste and health for a period of time. Canning also will yield sauce for later use. I alsi like the idea of someone doing really well in growing a specific crop and bartering with others who do a different crop.
Thank you for acknowledging small steps toward self-sufficiency. It can seem overwhelming to the newbie, so going at it in stages will give people attainable goals. Well done!
Got your book as a birthday present from my husband and now I'm here watching all your videos! Well done! I'm fascinated with your work 👍🏼 Love from Italy 🇮🇹✨
I have bought clear plastic totes with clear lids. Then got a soldering iron and put a single hole 2 inches from the bottom of the tote for drainage and 2 rows of holes at the top for air flow. I use this as a seed starting greenhouse and it works perfectly. I also use them to grow salad year round. This year, I plan on getting more the same size as the totes I grow my garden in and putting 2 rows of holes in the bottom where I can attach them to the totes upside down and keep onions and garlic growing year round and my herbals. I tried something like this using soda bottles over my plants this past winter and they grew fine so I'm ramping it up. These totes can stack on top of each other if you don't have much room. Everyone's different and gardening is different for everyone. Everyone should b growing their own food especially with how crap is going now days. Save your own seeds folks.
Hey Huw! Only this week, I added the goal of finding out how much of what my family eats to plan on being self sufficient for this coming growing season. Thank heavens I saw this video and not charge forth with my usual bull at a gate mentality and take a more step-wise approach and not kill my passion. I have come so far in my cooking just growing my own food and your last point highlights that nicely. I started out just picking recipes out of my surfeit of cookbooks and magazines all year round which resulted in a lot of food waste. Now I base my choice of recipes on what is growing in my garden at any time. So instead of being slave to recipes, I find myself becoming more creative by swapping out ingredients. In the same way I keep a gardening diary and a gardening lessons learned document, now I write my own recipes down which at some point in time, may help someone else in the future. Cheers!
I can say that we are currently self sufficient in chilli peppers at the moment! From just six plants, I harvested and froze many, many chilli’s and I will still be using those chilli’s by the time my new chilli plants (and one overwintered one) are producing fruit! I’m lucky, though, to have a conservatory facing west, allowing me to provide the warmth and light the chilli plants needed. We’re going to experiment with how much of our staple vegetables we can grow this year and into next year, then experiment from next year with different varieties. I’m learning so much already, just from the batches of seedlings in my living room and cheap greenhouse, plus videos like this on RUclips and other resources.
Inspired by you, I cooked my first meal last week from home grown vege- tomatoes onions garlic potatoes eggplant peppers courgettes It was so satisfying. Just bought your book too. Thanks 🙏 for sharing your wisdom
Self sufficient in squash is pretty easy. I enjoy a squash soup so now I grow it every year. I still have two of the squash in my pantry right now, perfectly fine.
I just recently found you channel after having started gardening about 5 years now. I am really enjoying your channel and the intensity. I’m from “The States” and it feels like all the people with RUclips channels are high intensity. I feel your videos are very conversational and I enjoy the natural way you speak. Thank you!
My Great Grandpa had different levels of self sufficiency at different times of the year. He planted an orchard of 25 walnut trees to have cracked and dried nuts to sell just before the holidays. Sometimes he swapped with other local farmers. Sometimes he traded some of his crop for work done. My parents family actually knew each other before my parents met because my grandpa went over and graded my great grandpa's road in exchange for quite a few watermelon that my great grandpa was famous for county wide. When we would go visit he'd take some produce that he grew down to a neighbor in exchange for fresh cream from the cows so my great grandma could make waffles with strawberries and whip cream. Yummmmmmmmm. That lifestyle may be a thing of the past but you can still be creative and get some great deals when you have an abundance beyond what you need. Even in the old days self sufficiency was never about doing it all yourself. Everyone was good at something or had something no one else had and that was their strength to make it all work. You can also become excellent at learning the best ways to store your foods to last into winter and spring. You can freeze or dry most of your herbs for use year around.
That’s a lovely heart warming story Renee of swapping surplus,, I’ve had some dahlia tubers this morning from a chap on the allotments in return for a bunch of spring onions I had growing in my polytunnel ,, 👍🏾
Your great story brings back memories of my rural upbringing in New Zealand, many years ago. At harvest time, all of us would gather at different farms to harvest plums galore from one, walnuts from another, and so on. Everybody always had plenty, without having to grow and care for it all.
You always give wonderfully sensible advice, Huw. I think that when we look at the entire process of gardening we find that it is both body and soul nourishing. Appreciating each seasons bounty is part of that process.💕
You must be very healthy with that amazing homegrown veg. I'm just getting into it but can feel the goodness.I been eating purple spouting broccoli a lot and it's great.Cut straight from the garden.6-7 min of steaming and eat.Can't get better,no restaurant could do that even for the exorbitant prices they charge!Everyone should grow as much of their veg as possible. It's great : )
Excellent advice. Take one thing each year and try to amp up production of just that, such as, composting, berries, grapes, fruit trees, or just raising a new vegetable. Seasonal eating is a smart way to adjust to going with the flow of nature and reduces gardening/self sufficiency stress. Also, try to learn new preservation methods. Storage options are vital to self sufficiency.
I started gardening a few years ago and the thing I struggle with most is sucession planting. I started off trying to grow everything. Now I usually choose 5 or 6 things I know are going to do well in my garden from previous years experience but I plant massive amounts and get one bumper harvest. I usually do tomatoes, broad beans, shallots, runner beans and salad leaves. I'd love to get better at sucession planting so that I could spread out my harvests or plan better so that as one thing finishes I can stick something else into the space
I love how you embrace each season and much knowledge of the region you are in. I am forever learning how to grow in the city on a small patio. This year, I hope my blue berry plants come back as I have mulched heavily. They are in pots too.
I think of it as if shtf good and proper I can live off kale, onions, tatties. I strive to grow enough of that group for year round & you can add as you go. But, the biggest game changer in our short growing season is preservation! Fermentation, canning, dehydrating. After that, concentrate on perennial crops. I'm in middle of starting a new garden but, even so, still had my own coriander, spinach, chives, wild garlic, tatties & kale of my own between two different meals today plus blackcurrant chutney I made last season. 😄 Edit: EGGS! Forgot those. Had our own eggs today too. 😄👍
Amazing seasonal encouragement, Huw! In our bananas-and-peppers-year-round" culture, we forget to appreciate leeks, parsnips, and tart cherries, etc. That would be a cool personal challenge: eating just what's in season for a whole year!
I don't even blanch my leeks when i dice and freeze them and I have never had an issue. I love to freeze them and have ability to eat them all winter long.
I simply dont have the space to be completely self sufficient for my family for the whole year. But that doent bother me. I long ago learned that what I do grow in the garden is of better quality and tastes better most of the time compared to what I can buy in the store. The additional benefit of saving money is important. But the biggest benefit is being more active and the peace of mind I get just being around all the growing plants.
Where I live, with 5-6 months of full winter with deep snow and down to 25-30 C below zero, I would need a huge garden to be fully self-sufficient all year. I plant salads, spring onion, potatoes and peas for eating during the summer. Kale, tomatoes, peppers, squashes and garlic is ready in august-september. That is for autumn and winter, pickling, preserving and drying + fermenting some and eating some fresh. Autum is harvest season so many vegs is cheap to buy so I fill up with bought where my own harvest is lacking. Of course I could sow more but there is a problem with storing it, I already have three freezers for meat (hunting husband), berries and some mushrooms and vegs, a root cellar would be awsome to have!
Thank you very much for your very interesting and encouraging video's, I greatly appreciate your attitude regarding slowly adopting a more self-sufficiency pattern/ as a very elderly carer I am a great deal slower than younger folk and because of losing time because of same it can become somewhat frustrating trying to do the preparing, planting weeding between bad weather but so lovely when eating, achieving this, so you were most welcome. As for others who have closer ties to family and good communities around them, this too is very nice but a good deal of people living closer with ill or disabled people do not want this because the majority of people in today's world keep a great distance, for fear of adopting a burden. Well, you have a very encouraging attitude that does not come across as being too swanky but a very nice young man. Thanking you once more, Maureen
I can't tell you how much I needed a video on this topic. I've spent the past month planning my new garden at my new home and have felt completely overwhelmed by it and a bit depressed if I'm honest. Thanks so much for this!
one of the ways we can create 'self-sufficiency' is by comming together as communities to create 'comunity resiliency' by openly sharing knowledge, work and support across a number of people/famlies so that no one person/family needs to do all the work or have all the knowledge. Over time, sharing work and knowledge across the community means that in the end most people learn most of what they need to know to be self-sufficient without having to crash-course and risking possible catastrophic failure. When we work as resilient communities, where there is failure in one part there is often success in another and the weight is spread across the totality of the communitee/participants. We may need to know how to do this going forward as our climate changes. In time it also means that the resilient communites can share with those who individuals or communitees who have not yet become properly resilient. We are herd animals in the end and we do best when sharing our experiences. And it means that our ultimate wellbeing isn't all on our own shoulders - the wellbeing of everyone in the communitee is shared across the energy and strenght of the whole communitee.
We were raised eating in season. My Mother, and now I, canned food for winter. We had onions, and potatoes in storage. They lasted until spring. Then we ate fresh greens, and started all over again. The thing I learned from my Mother was to grow what we enjoyed eating. We also tried things to see if we would like them. At that time, we had never heard of raised beds or any of the modern methods. We did, and still do, practice Companion planting. No sprays, or anything. The only problem was always animals. Deer, Raccoons, and Groundhogs were the worst. GOD bless
I had a fall garden for 2020 for the first time. It is a wonderful way to extend the garden. My husband had never done it and he was the gardener in the family. With the lockdown I had time to learn and we are becoming more self sufficient. Thank you for the videos.
Thanks, Huw, for another brilliant video. I agree with Tina (below): the joy of growing is when you get a harvest you can share with neighbours! It's the fun of community engagement that makes it a pleasure, and learning from each other's failures and successes - and sharing the excess produce. I was touched when a neighbour blessed me with broad bean and runner bean seedlings, and another built a cold frame for me. I've been able to give away loads of apples from our bumper crop, and my neighbours love our rhubarb more than me. It was fun learning how to use a friend's apple press, which they came round to demonstrate, but I may not be so popular if I invite someone round to process my horseradish roots!!
What I'm really liking about growing vegetables is getting something back from something that I previously disposed of. That's the super interesting to me!
@@DConnor799 I enjoy how my perspectives have changed. One example is I’m not mowing the lawn, I’m harvesting grass for the compost. In not just planting but I’m investing in my future. We are not self sufficient yet but have made big strides in the last two years. Thx for sharing.
As I make and eat quite a few curries I often blend to a paste garlic and ginger in equal amounts and put in ice cube trays and put in freezer then put in bags and use as and when. Saves chopping later on.
In Idaho USA, onions are close to impossible to grow. The state Ag industry won't allow bulbs to be brought in and purchased seeds are non-viable so quickly. But I'm bound and determined to get a perennial onion in my garden and will keep trying until I succeed.
I don’t have space or time right now to be completely self-sufficient but so I’m focusing on crops that are easy (like garlic) and/or expensive or hard to find.
I’ve learned so much from your videos but also this year from US food “prepping” channels on ways to preserve and store your crops. I’m widowed and have limited garden space but have 3x 1 meter raised beds (square foot garden principals) a 10x8 Robinson’s greenhouse for tomatoes, aubergine, peppers, chillis, courgettes, cucumbers etc. and grow veg and herbs amongst flower borders, patio pots, bags, and hanging baskets/pouches. I’ve added each year to a varied fruit stock of mostly soft fruits and 2 patio apple trees. It’s quite amazing how much produce you can grow from seed in a relatively small space.
Wise words. I garden in Zone 10B, Los Angeles. I pretty can grow food the whole year round (I grow tomatoes through the winter) BUT I am also aware that some plants grow better at certain times of the year and more abundant at that time. Eating what is in season or what is doing well in the garden is the key.
Really great video, especially for those of us with very little space to grow so can not be self sufficient. This has really made me think how I can focus on certain aspects though. Thank you.
I try to grow as much as I can in the garden, enjoy it and eat loads of delicious nutritious things but my idea of self sufficiency is this: If something really happened where we couldn't get food at all, could I survive off the garden? Not would I be able to eat onions year round, etc.
Something else to consider with garlic is growing the bulbs you need to provide the cloves you'll be planting for next year's garlic crop. I've been growing on the same garlic for 27 year now, the numbers have changed over the years as the number of cloves and their size per bulb have increased, i now need fewer bulbs. Presently a bulb a week to eat for 52 weeks, average six large cloves per bulb so i need another ten bulbs for seed, and like you've done add in a few more as insurance, around 65 works fine, usually still have a few bulbs left at the time of the next years harvest, not the greatest at this point but still better than whats available for sale.
My goal is to become 100% self sufficient, hopefully with enough left over to trade for firewood. I've given myself ten years to accomplish this. So now, year one, I'm just doing a lot of experimenting. Lots of different crops, and some really obscure ones for fun. My main goal this year is to get a ton of seeds from what I'm growing, and also to improve the soil as much as I can. So that hopefully by next year I'll know more what I'm doing and have a good start without having to buy a lot of seeds or soil and fertilizer. Getting the infrastructure up will make for a good head start next year too, having all the beds and greenhouse and everything already in place. Not expecting a great crop this year, but will hopefully learn a lot and set myself up for success next year.
Start with a plan and work towards it incrementally. But also and I think it's worth saying. Try to split your garden area. You don't need a lot of space to grow a summer garden that supplies a lot of produce. The other half or less should be a perennial garden. Jerueselem artichoke, asparagus,herbs edible flowers, etc in a spot where there is little to no maintenance is a great gift for no or little work. Keep it mulched and weed free that's all and they just grow year after year. Also remember processing is a lot of time and work as well so pick crops that are prolific producers and easy to store makes your life easier too.
Yep - good one Huw. Great point about allowing for failures, too. I'd say you can come pretty close to self sufficiency in fresh veggies (just add oils, salt, spices, rice, pasta etc in the pantry). Being vegetarian is the way to go for this too. Also, lots of things will hold in the ground for you - carrots, parsnips, beetroot, leeks.. Nice.
Huw such wisdom from a young man, not everyone can be fully self sufficient as they do not have the land size or age / disability is an issue, so to hear your advice is fantastic. Thank you Huw
Great advice to start small! My mom and siblings have been gardening for multiple years now, and we did when I was a child. But, we are just start this year with our kids and decided to keep them happy and interested, will just be doing two 9 foot raised beds with our favorites, tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and herbs for eating. Keeping my fingers crossed my kids will enjoy it and we can keep the deer at bay! lol.. :)
Huw, very good advice. Making a start is better that starting with a market garden and failing, and progressively increasing it as you get more accomplished. And trying out new fruits and veges to see what you like and can be grown in your area adds to your choices. Because of climatic factors, it's almost impossible to grow everything, unless you want to spend bucket loads of money to create the climatic conditions required. Regards from Oz.
For me it's a hobby, I'm growing herbs, tomatoes, lettuce, garlic. I'm going very slowly, I don't want to get to the point where I feel like I have 2 jobs.
I'm a part time self sufficient gardener. I am working on getting more knowledge and at the same time growing more food at the right time and in the right season too.
Good morning Huw, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b 🌞 That was a beautiful presentation on self-sufficiency. I've been Gardening for over 50 years and I like to pot and small patch Veggie grow. I have different crops growing summer and winter. It's a joyful vs. stressful way to plant 👩🌾🌿👍
I like this idea of part-time self sufficiency, it take the pressure off the fun of gardening. Can you eat the green tops of leeks also? Thanks, always enjoyable, looking forward to more videos.
Yes the green part is actually the most nutritious. Anything dark green has more minerals. Same applies to spring onions as they are part of the same family. This way you waste less and it is great for the budget.
Quite simply, don't bite off more than you can chew. Excellent posts. I must admit, I only potter around in the garden, a few tomatoes, some garlic, spuds on containers etc. When I retire, only a few years away, I intend to ramp it up as I will have the time to put more effort and intend to use gardening as part of my exercise routine. One problem I HAVE noticed though, is horsetail coming up in my green house and I can't get rid of it. Any advice please?
Great video Huw! You made me realise how self-sufficient we are (and I wouldn't have described us as such). There are certain crops we don't have to buy for months as we are harvesting from the garden or eating what we have in storage. Very happy with this and wouldn't want to try to be fully self-sufficient, I think-unless I had to!😁 Part-time is good!
Looking forward to getting started. My lovely wife has bought me a book of yours and I have to wait a few more days for my birthday to get stuck into it. Looking forward to it.
Part time self sufficiency I love it!!! I want to be self sufficient in stored and fresh veggies in winter. I want to be self sufficient in flowers for my table. I want to be self sufficient in delightful unconventional flavors in spring and summer. I live in a city lot. I'll never v produce all my food. but i can make durability and stability in little things.
Brilliant video. I really enjoyed that Huw. This is my first full growing season after moving to a home with land last year. I cannot wait to get started. The aim is to become more self sufficient as opposed to completely self sufficient. I'm gonna start small and build year on year. There's no point in trying to run before I can walk. Cheers for the advice
I think another aspect that people don't talk about often when thinking about self sufficiency, is community. If your neighbor doesn't have room to grow pumpkins and you do, and you share, often a barter system developes naturally. Sometimes it's produce for services. You don't have to be alone in this.
I agree with this, just today me and my dad were comparing the different tomato seedlings we have planted, I have sown cherry, he has a beefsteak and an average sized one, and we were talking about swapping some plants once they are more established. We also swap apples etc. after harvested as we grow different varieties.
@@Nicereview763 Hello! Do you and your father Organic foods? Organic Apples?
(May you both be blessed) :)
TIna , "you don't have to be alone in this" -> i'd rather say : you must not be alone alone in this :)
Agreed. In my opinion, communities can be self sufficient, but individual people cannot. Even if one could be totally self sufficient, I think that would be quite a stressful, lonely, alienated existence.
Community sufficiency > self sufficiency
My 6 yo likes watching these and now walks around our family garden with his little monster digital camera making home movies that are basically garden tour/how-to garden videos like this. 😂
Oh wow this made my day haha!
@@HuwRichards you've inspired me, a 50+ in a tropical country to make a small start in backyard gardening-and now you're inspiring the younger generation! Wonderful watching. Thank you Huw!
I think self sufficiency with own produce is the most important thing one can do during this time. Not only it can save you some money but the psychological effect itself is helpful and healthy for one self. Seeing new growths (as anyone knows) is a sight to see and surely a natural serotonin inducer👌🏼😊
We save a lot of money in medical bills as well. Because we are eating a more healthy well-rounded diet could I allowed our bodies and our minds to thrive
Sadly self sufficient means you need NOTHING you can’t do yourself. So ppl buying dirt, compost, fertilizer etc. are NOT self sufficient
Some great tips and suggestions on personal self-sufficiency. I was raised on a farm in a very large family, and we were totally self-sufficient. We grew and preserved all of our own fruits & vegetables, as well as our own mean & eggs. Grocery stores were not one of the places we frequented. And now, 7 decades later, I am still growing self-sufficiently. We grow too much food for just the two of us, but we provide the extra to neighbors and food pantries. Grocery stores are not one of the places we frequent.
7 decades of growing food? I would love to learn from you... may I please? Is there a way I can reach you.. connect with you?
I think a great idea would be to make videos! I think people would love hearing from a seasoned farmer. Im a year late commenting but i hope you are still planting :)
Thank you, my wife and I started homesteading 4 years ago and we've always maintained that we are working towards self-sufficiency and we try not to be upset about our lack of progress. Life happens and as long as we start replacing a few items from the grocery store we get closer and closer every year.
This helped me think about being self-sufficient in a different light. I don’t have to be self-sufficient in every area. It is less overwhelming that way. Thank you for this great video.
I so agree. If you can't garden AT ALL don't aim for full self sufficiency. Start something small and experiment more every year, see if you even like it.
We're going to be forced into it sooner or later, like it or not. Our processed fast food civilization is crumbling. Dirtpatcheaven at one time was a pioneer in the effort.
@@donrad more reason to get out of the cities
I once decided I needed to grow 36 cabbages to suit my needs for a year, so I set out growing different types for different times of the year. Turns out I definitely do not eat 36 cabbages in a year 🤣. Now I aim for about 10, more realistic 😊
Another focus when choosing your crops is ones that are typically “dirty”, difficult to find in stores grown without chemicals such as strawberries. Also produce which doesn’t ship well.
I have an interview for my dream job as a head gardener of a market garden in a residential care home. I really hope I get it
Wow,, I’d love that,, good luck 👍🏾
So cool. Best of luck!
Yes, great job!
Good luck
Thank you. I put together a portfolio of work to show them. I'm also a beekeeping so maybe I could offer to keep hives 8n their orchard and sell honey for them to raise money
Fabulous video Huw, I completely agree with you about starting with one or two veg and the part-time element - a perfect description of how to start. Seasonal eating - yes!
Such a good topic and more helpful to new gardeners than one would think. When I started growing things I saved my grocery store receipts so I could make a list of what vegetables I bought. I did this for about 18 months and It really helped me choose what to grow. It might seem a daunting task but it wasn't. Just a quick note when ever I got home from doing the shopping and then forget about it until next time.
The list showed me I eat a lot of frosen peas during the year so this year my plan is to become self-sufficient in peas.
I also eat a lot of peppers but that is not something I have had succes growing so those I'll be getting from the store. This is successful gardening for me.
Here in zone 6, I don't buy any vegetables from the store all year round, with the exception of onions. My best tip is to select for productive varieties, and then select from the best plants to save seed. I've got a variety of winter squash that now allows me to eat one (fifteen pound) squash per month from September to April. Also, learn to preserve food without electricity! Any veggie that's sliceable and firm (zucc, eggplant, etc) can be spritzed with salt and vinegar and sun dried, then packed away.
Thanks. I needed to hear this. I'm off grid & have some solar power. I do have a small fridge, but no freezer. Don't have a dehydrator.
How do you dry veges so they'll keep?
Don't forget to take into account the number of Garlic heads needed for replanting the following year.
I'm so glad you said something because when he was doing the calculations in the video I was saying don't forget your seed garlic count
I think there are so many people that don't want to even start because well, they can't be self-sufficient in everything. But to me, if you can be self-reliant in at least one thing, that's already great. Start slow and grow. Thank you for such an informative video.
Could talk about the greenhouse in the beginning of the video. That looked really cool. I didn't see a video on the channel about it. Thanks
I had the same in mind 😊
Me too
At 0:23? It's called a polycrub or polytunnel.
I'd say starting small and realising it's not about "being" self-sufficient, but "becoming" self-sufficient really is key, as you said :-) Exhaust oneself starting from nowhere and hoping to be self-sufficient in one season is 100% guaranteed disappointment.
I have personally started the process and am entering my 3rd season and I'm clearly not there yet at all, but here's what I've learned that worked well by me:
1) not being afraid of starting on a small, easier to manage surface, rather than having too much to look after and fill during springs and summer then having a whole lot of nothingness the rest of the year.
2) optimizing the surface you have first before expanding: i.e. replacing each row of vegetables with another (especially fast growing ones like salads, radishes, spinach, etc.) every time you harvest, so you can enjoy a bit of it all year round, and only then, adding new beds once you get used to it.
3) adding a few varieties, even only 1 or 2, each year to keep control of everything easily without being overwhelmed in the first years. I started with only spinach, courgettes and potatoes in the first year, and haven't regretted it a minute (what I didn't get in variety, I got in quantity!).
4) not being afraid of "not having enough", because overgrowing something can be quite overwhelming and equally discouraging. I started tomatoes last year, 30 plants, and it was unmanageable in terms of workload! I think having had 2x fewer plants would've preserved them better from sickness and I could've better handled the blight etc., obtaining more per plant while spending less time caring for them. It'd also have taken less space that I could've used for other, maybe less demanding veggies.
5) keeping it enjoyable before anything else! :-)
I’ve missed your videos. By far you are one of my favorite RUclips posters. You’ve made me less afraid to try and let me understand it’s okay to fail to learn growing food
I’ve also invested this year in a dehydrator and Kilner jars and 2 kitchen hydroponic gardens for growing winter lettuce / salad crops and also grew “mind the gap” plants in the greenhouse for winter greens. I dabbled in microgreens and sprouting seeds this winter and bought an additional grow light to help winter plants and for sowing seeds this spring indoors One tip I found was to buy heritage seeds not F1, which you can save for the following year. I buy these from a small family non-profit firm called “Real Seeds” & I have found them higher yielding and with unusual colourful varieties. I hope to become more seasonally self sufficient as I learn more. Thank you for all for the hints and tips I receive here which are invaluable . 👍🙏
I never bother estimating how much I will need for myself, I just keep sowing and planting as I have the space for. Any surplus is always gratefully received by people who cannot grow their own.
YES !
Even if all someone does is grow a few tomato plants... during the harvest time, they are flush with tomatoes.
This reduces demand on purchased produce and increases taste and health for a period of time.
Canning also will yield sauce for later use.
I alsi like the idea of someone doing really well in growing a specific crop and bartering with others who do a different crop.
Thank you for acknowledging small steps toward self-sufficiency. It can seem overwhelming to the newbie, so going at it in stages will give people attainable goals. Well done!
Got your book as a birthday present from my husband and now I'm here watching all your videos! Well done! I'm fascinated with your work 👍🏼 Love from Italy 🇮🇹✨
Fantastic! That's great to hear. Best of luck with your growing :)
I have bought clear plastic totes with clear lids. Then got a soldering iron and put a single hole 2 inches from the bottom of the tote for drainage and 2 rows of holes at the top for air flow. I use this as a seed starting greenhouse and it works perfectly. I also use them to grow salad year round. This year, I plan on getting more the same size as the totes I grow my garden in and putting 2 rows of holes in the bottom where I can attach them to the totes upside down and keep onions and garlic growing year round and my herbals. I tried something like this using soda bottles over my plants this past winter and they grew fine so I'm ramping it up. These totes can stack on top of each other if you don't have much room. Everyone's different and gardening is different for everyone. Everyone should b growing their own food especially with how crap is going now days. Save your own seeds folks.
Hey Huw! Only this week, I added the goal of finding out how much of what my family eats to plan on being self sufficient for this coming growing season. Thank heavens I saw this video and not charge forth with my usual bull at a gate mentality and take a more step-wise approach and not kill my passion. I have come so far in my cooking just growing my own food and your last point highlights that nicely. I started out just picking recipes out of my surfeit of cookbooks and magazines all year round which resulted in a lot of food waste. Now I base my choice of recipes on what is growing in my garden at any time. So instead of being slave to recipes, I find myself becoming more creative by swapping out ingredients. In the same way I keep a gardening diary and a gardening lessons learned document, now I write my own recipes down which at some point in time, may help someone else in the future. Cheers!
Thanks Huw, self- sufficiency is what we need now. You are a heaven-sent...
Refreshing to see such a young man with so much wisdom and simplicity. Thank you Hew
I can say that we are currently self sufficient in chilli peppers at the moment! From just six plants, I harvested and froze many, many chilli’s and I will still be using those chilli’s by the time my new chilli plants (and one overwintered one) are producing fruit! I’m lucky, though, to have a conservatory facing west, allowing me to provide the warmth and light the chilli plants needed. We’re going to experiment with how much of our staple vegetables we can grow this year and into next year, then experiment from next year with different varieties. I’m learning so much already, just from the batches of seedlings in my living room and cheap greenhouse, plus videos like this on RUclips and other resources.
Inspired by you, I cooked my first meal last week from home grown vege- tomatoes onions garlic potatoes eggplant peppers courgettes
It was so satisfying. Just bought your book too. Thanks 🙏 for sharing your wisdom
Roast garlic and garlic soup have so upped my famillies consumption. Sorry I will try not to breath on you. Great chanel.thank you.
Self sufficient in squash is pretty easy. I enjoy a squash soup so now I grow it every year. I still have two of the squash in my pantry right now, perfectly fine.
I just recently found you channel after having started gardening about 5 years now. I am really enjoying your channel and the intensity. I’m from “The States” and it feels like all the people with RUclips channels are high intensity. I feel your videos are very conversational and I enjoy the natural way you speak. Thank you!
My Great Grandpa had different levels of self sufficiency at different times of the year. He planted an orchard of 25 walnut trees to have cracked and dried nuts to sell just before the holidays. Sometimes he swapped with other local farmers. Sometimes he traded some of his crop for work done. My parents family actually knew each other before my parents met because my grandpa went over and graded my great grandpa's road in exchange for quite a few watermelon that my great grandpa was famous for county wide. When we would go visit he'd take some produce that he grew down to a neighbor in exchange for fresh cream from the cows so my great grandma could make waffles with strawberries and whip cream. Yummmmmmmmm. That lifestyle may be a thing of the past but you can still be creative and get some great deals when you have an abundance beyond what you need. Even in the old days self sufficiency was never about doing it all yourself. Everyone was good at something or had something no one else had and that was their strength to make it all work. You can also become excellent at learning the best ways to store your foods to last into winter and spring. You can freeze or dry most of your herbs for use year around.
That’s a lovely heart warming story Renee of swapping surplus,, I’ve had some dahlia tubers this morning from a chap on the allotments in return for a bunch of spring onions I had growing in my polytunnel ,, 👍🏾
Your great story brings back memories of my rural upbringing in New Zealand, many years ago. At harvest time, all of us would gather at different farms to harvest plums galore from one, walnuts from another, and so on. Everybody always had plenty, without having to grow and care for it all.
You always give wonderfully sensible advice, Huw. I think that when we look at the entire process of gardening we find that it is both body and soul nourishing. Appreciating each seasons bounty is part of that process.💕
Salad, potatoes, onions, kale and herbs 👍
You must be very healthy with that amazing homegrown veg. I'm just getting into it but can feel the goodness.I been eating purple spouting broccoli a lot and it's great.Cut straight from the garden.6-7 min of steaming and eat.Can't get better,no restaurant could do that even for the exorbitant prices they charge!Everyone should grow as much of their veg as possible. It's great : )
Excellent advice.
Take one thing each year and try to amp up production of just that, such as, composting, berries, grapes, fruit trees, or just raising a new vegetable.
Seasonal eating is a smart way to adjust to going with the flow of nature and reduces gardening/self sufficiency stress. Also, try to learn new preservation methods. Storage options are vital to self sufficiency.
I started gardening a few years ago and the thing I struggle with most is sucession planting. I started off trying to grow everything. Now I usually choose 5 or 6 things I know are going to do well in my garden from previous years experience but I plant massive amounts and get one bumper harvest. I usually do tomatoes, broad beans, shallots, runner beans and salad leaves. I'd love to get better at sucession planting so that I could spread out my harvests or plan better so that as one thing finishes I can stick something else into the space
I love how you embrace each season and much knowledge of the region you are in. I am forever learning how to grow in the city on a small patio. This year, I hope my blue berry plants come back as I have mulched heavily. They are in pots too.
For someone with less space, you could cut down on your number of garlic plants by snipping off and using the greens occassionally.
I think of it as if shtf good and proper I can live off kale, onions, tatties. I strive to grow enough of that group for year round & you can add as you go. But, the biggest game changer in our short growing season is preservation! Fermentation, canning, dehydrating. After that, concentrate on perennial crops. I'm in middle of starting a new garden but, even so, still had my own coriander, spinach, chives, wild garlic, tatties & kale of my own between two different meals today plus blackcurrant chutney I made last season. 😄
Edit: EGGS! Forgot those. Had our own eggs today too. 😄👍
I like the celebrating the season bit at the end. Great video.
Amazing seasonal encouragement, Huw! In our bananas-and-peppers-year-round" culture, we forget to appreciate leeks, parsnips, and tart cherries, etc. That would be a cool personal challenge: eating just what's in season for a whole year!
Every place has its own microclimate. I've been here for a number of years now, and STILL learning what works best.
I don't even blanch my leeks when i dice and freeze them and I have never had an issue. I love to freeze them and have ability to eat them all winter long.
I saute my sliced leeks and freeze them in zip lock bags
I simply dont have the space to be completely self sufficient for my family for the whole year. But that doent bother me. I long ago learned that what I do grow in the garden is of better quality and tastes better most of the time compared to what I can buy in the store. The additional benefit of saving money is important. But the biggest benefit is being more active and the peace of mind I get just being around all the growing plants.
Where I live, with 5-6 months of full winter with deep snow and down to 25-30 C below zero, I would need a huge garden to be fully self-sufficient all year. I plant salads, spring onion, potatoes and peas for eating during the summer. Kale, tomatoes, peppers, squashes and garlic is ready in august-september. That is for autumn and winter, pickling, preserving and drying + fermenting some and eating some fresh. Autum is harvest season so many vegs is cheap to buy so I fill up with bought where my own harvest is lacking. Of course I could sow more but there is a problem with storing it, I already have three freezers for meat (hunting husband), berries and some mushrooms and vegs, a root cellar would be awsome to have!
Just found this channel and I 💖 it! That greenhouse is stunning 🌿 and the way you explained it all!
Thank you very much for your very interesting and encouraging video's, I greatly appreciate your attitude regarding slowly adopting a more self-sufficiency pattern/
as a very elderly carer I am a great deal slower than younger folk and because of losing time because of same it can become somewhat frustrating trying to do the
preparing, planting weeding between bad weather but so lovely when eating, achieving this, so you were most welcome.
As for others who have closer ties to family and good communities around them, this too is very nice but a good deal of people living closer with ill or disabled people do not want this
because the majority of people in today's world keep a great distance, for fear of adopting a burden.
Well, you have a very encouraging attitude that does not come across as being too swanky but a very nice young man.
Thanking you once more, Maureen
I can't tell you how much I needed a video on this topic. I've spent the past month planning my new garden at my new home and have felt completely overwhelmed by it and a bit depressed if I'm honest. Thanks so much for this!
On my second year, getting better at it and starting to harvest from my tiny yard using containers. No bending for this old bat.
Huw, what a great house! Please share a brief tour of your home. It looks fantastic from the glimpses in earlier videos!
one of the ways we can create 'self-sufficiency' is by comming together as communities to create 'comunity resiliency' by openly sharing knowledge, work and support across a number of people/famlies so that no one person/family needs to do all the work or have all the knowledge. Over time, sharing work and knowledge across the community means that in the end most people learn most of what they need to know to be self-sufficient without having to crash-course and risking possible catastrophic failure. When we work as resilient communities, where there is failure in one part there is often success in another and the weight is spread across the totality of the communitee/participants. We may need to know how to do this going forward as our climate changes. In time it also means that the resilient communites can share with those who individuals or communitees who have not yet become properly resilient. We are herd animals in the end and we do best when sharing our experiences. And it means that our ultimate wellbeing isn't all on our own shoulders - the wellbeing of everyone in the communitee is shared across the energy and strenght of the whole communitee.
We were raised eating in season. My Mother, and now I, canned food for winter. We had onions, and potatoes in storage. They lasted until spring. Then we ate fresh greens, and started all over again. The thing I learned from my Mother was to grow what we enjoyed eating. We also tried things to see if we would like them. At that time, we had never heard of raised beds or any of the modern methods. We did, and still do, practice Companion planting. No sprays, or anything. The only problem was always animals. Deer, Raccoons, and Groundhogs were the worst.
GOD bless
I had a fall garden for 2020 for the first time. It is a wonderful way to extend the garden. My husband had never done it and he was the gardener in the family. With the lockdown I had time to learn and we are becoming more self sufficient. Thank you for the videos.
You are such a brilliant man. You bring amazing perspective to every topic.
Thanks, Huw, for another brilliant video. I agree with Tina (below): the joy of growing is when you get a harvest you can share with neighbours! It's the fun of community engagement that makes it a pleasure, and learning from each other's failures and successes - and sharing the excess produce. I was touched when a neighbour blessed me with broad bean and runner bean seedlings, and another built a cold frame for me. I've been able to give away loads of apples from our bumper crop, and my neighbours love our rhubarb more than me. It was fun learning how to use a friend's apple press, which they came round to demonstrate, but I may not be so popular if I invite someone round to process my horseradish roots!!
My red russiun kale froze out early December. So much for my winter crop.
Thank you for your giving spirit:)
Self sufficiency = hard work. A person has to overcome the modern beliefs that you can get something for nothing.
Especially if you expect to go from nothing to self sufficiency in a season, especially if you don't know what you're doing.
@@dennisleadbetter7721 even if you know what you are doing and in more than one season it is hard work.
What I'm really liking about growing vegetables is getting something back from something that I previously disposed of. That's the super interesting to me!
@@DConnor799 I enjoy how my perspectives have changed. One example is I’m not mowing the lawn, I’m harvesting grass for the compost. In not just planting but I’m investing in my future. We are not self sufficient yet but have made big strides in the last two years. Thx for sharing.
As I make and eat quite a few curries I often blend to a paste garlic and ginger in equal amounts and put in ice cube trays and put in freezer then put in bags and use as and when. Saves chopping later on.
In Idaho USA, onions are close to impossible to grow. The state Ag industry won't allow bulbs to be brought in and purchased seeds are non-viable so quickly. But I'm bound and determined to get a perennial onion in my garden and will keep trying until I succeed.
I don’t have space or time right now to be completely self-sufficient but so I’m focusing on crops that are easy (like garlic) and/or expensive or hard to find.
I’ve learned so much from your videos but also this year from US food “prepping” channels on ways to preserve and store your crops. I’m widowed and have limited garden space but have 3x 1 meter raised beds (square foot garden principals) a 10x8 Robinson’s greenhouse for tomatoes, aubergine, peppers, chillis, courgettes, cucumbers etc. and grow veg and herbs amongst flower borders, patio pots, bags, and hanging baskets/pouches. I’ve added each year to a varied fruit stock of mostly soft fruits and 2 patio apple trees. It’s quite amazing how much produce you can grow from seed in a relatively small space.
Wise words. I garden in Zone 10B, Los Angeles. I pretty can grow food the whole year round (I grow tomatoes through the winter) BUT I am also aware that some plants grow better at certain times of the year and more abundant at that time. Eating what is in season or what is doing well in the garden is the key.
Really great video, especially for those of us with very little space to grow so can not be self sufficient. This has really made me think how I can focus on certain aspects though. Thank you.
I try to grow as much as I can in the garden, enjoy it and eat loads of delicious nutritious things but my idea of self sufficiency is this: If something really happened where we couldn't get food at all, could I survive off the garden? Not would I be able to eat onions year round, etc.
Something else to consider with garlic is growing the bulbs you need to provide the cloves you'll be planting for next year's garlic crop. I've been growing on the same garlic for 27 year now, the numbers have changed over the years as the number of cloves and their size per bulb have increased, i now need fewer bulbs. Presently a bulb a week to eat for 52 weeks, average six large cloves per bulb so i need another ten bulbs for seed, and like you've done add in a few more as insurance, around 65 works fine, usually still have a few bulbs left at the time of the next years harvest, not the greatest at this point but still better than whats available for sale.
My goal is to become 100% self sufficient, hopefully with enough left over to trade for firewood. I've given myself ten years to accomplish this. So now, year one, I'm just doing a lot of experimenting. Lots of different crops, and some really obscure ones for fun. My main goal this year is to get a ton of seeds from what I'm growing, and also to improve the soil as much as I can. So that hopefully by next year I'll know more what I'm doing and have a good start without having to buy a lot of seeds or soil and fertilizer. Getting the infrastructure up will make for a good head start next year too, having all the beds and greenhouse and everything already in place. Not expecting a great crop this year, but will hopefully learn a lot and set myself up for success next year.
You really broke it down! Thank you!!! Made it so much easier to plan out.
Great! Glad I could help! Good luck with your growing! :)
THANK YOU! Would love to see more beginner friendly videos like this!!
Start with a plan and work towards it incrementally. But also and I think it's worth saying. Try to split your garden area. You don't need a lot of space to grow a summer garden that supplies a lot of produce. The other half or less should be a perennial garden. Jerueselem artichoke, asparagus,herbs edible flowers, etc in a spot where there is little to no maintenance is a great gift for no or little work. Keep it mulched and weed free that's all and they just grow year after year. Also remember processing is a lot of time and work as well so pick crops that are prolific producers and easy to store makes your life easier too.
Yep - good one Huw. Great point about allowing for failures, too. I'd say you can come pretty close to self sufficiency in fresh veggies (just add oils, salt, spices, rice, pasta etc in the pantry). Being vegetarian is the way to go for this too. Also, lots of things will hold in the ground for you - carrots, parsnips, beetroot, leeks.. Nice.
Thank you for sharing Huw
Hello from New York State U.S.A. I enjoy your informative videos.
Huw such wisdom from a young man, not everyone can be fully self sufficient as they do not have the land size or age / disability is an issue, so to hear your advice is fantastic. Thank you Huw
Great advice to start small! My mom and siblings have been gardening for multiple years now, and we did when I was a child. But, we are just start this year with our kids and decided to keep them happy and interested, will just be doing two 9 foot raised beds with our favorites, tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and herbs for eating. Keeping my fingers crossed my kids will enjoy it and we can keep the deer at bay! lol.. :)
Huw, very good advice. Making a start is better that starting with a market garden and failing, and progressively increasing it as you get more accomplished. And trying out new fruits and veges to see what you like and can be grown in your area adds to your choices.
Because of climatic factors, it's almost impossible to grow everything, unless you want to spend bucket loads of money to create the climatic conditions required.
Regards from Oz.
For me it's a hobby, I'm growing herbs, tomatoes, lettuce, garlic. I'm going very slowly, I don't want to get to the point where I feel like I have 2 jobs.
Completely understand that! It's surprising how much you can achieve with just putting in a little time :)
This is such high quality content
Love the concept of "Part-time" self-sufficiency.
"..Gotta grow more!" True words as far a garlic is concerned. I am also very surprised with asparagus!
I so gree.
This IS a beautiful documentary!!
This was so motivational and encouraging. Small steps, small steps. It adds up! God bless!
You are a great teacher and I also think may be doing a podcast would be welcomed.
I'm a part time self sufficient gardener. I am working on getting more knowledge and at the same time growing more food at the right time and in the right season too.
That sounds awesome Deborah!
Good morning Huw, from Windermere, Florida zone 9b 🌞
That was a beautiful presentation on self-sufficiency. I've been Gardening for over 50 years and I like to pot and small patch Veggie grow. I have different crops growing summer and winter. It's a joyful vs. stressful way to plant 👩🌾🌿👍
I like this idea of part-time self sufficiency, it take the pressure off the fun of gardening. Can you eat the green tops of leeks also? Thanks, always enjoyable, looking forward to more videos.
Yes the green part is actually the most nutritious. Anything dark green has more minerals. Same applies to spring onions as they are part of the same family. This way you waste less and it is great for the budget.
Thanks Huw 🙏 I alway stress about how much to grow, & put pressure on myself......you always make sense & keep it real 😁🌱🌱
Quite simply, don't bite off more than you can chew. Excellent posts.
I must admit, I only potter around in the garden, a few tomatoes, some garlic, spuds on containers etc.
When I retire, only a few years away, I intend to ramp it up as I will have the time to put more effort and intend to use gardening as part of my exercise routine.
One problem I HAVE noticed though, is horsetail coming up in my green house and I can't get rid of it. Any advice please?
Great video Huw! You made me realise how self-sufficient we are (and I wouldn't have described us as such). There are certain crops we don't have to buy for months as we are harvesting from the garden or eating what we have in storage. Very happy with this and wouldn't want to try to be fully self-sufficient, I think-unless I had to!😁 Part-time is good!
You are a real farmer,Richard 👍from Roumenia (Transylvania).🍎🥕🍆🥦🥬🧄🍅🥒.
Looking forward to getting started. My lovely wife has bought me a book of yours and I have to wait a few more days for my birthday to get stuck into it. Looking forward to it.
Garlic has to include what you want to replant to have the same crop or more next year, extra number planted depends on number of cloves per bulb.
Thank you.
I would love if you can show a typical meal using produce from your garden.
Thank you From Calgary, AB, CANADA. I am growing more food as my yard is turning in to a yard of veggies.
Thanks very much for break down advice. Got encouraged to continue trying to learn with whatever small amount I can attend.
Part time self sufficiency I love it!!! I want to be self sufficient in stored and fresh veggies in winter. I want to be self sufficient in flowers for my table. I want to be self sufficient in delightful unconventional flavors in spring and summer.
I live in a city lot. I'll never v produce all my food. but i can make durability and stability in little things.
Good, practical, advice.
I'm forever experimenting 😁
Brilliant video. I really enjoyed that Huw. This is my first full growing season after moving to a home with land last year. I cannot wait to get started. The aim is to become more self sufficient as opposed to completely self sufficient. I'm gonna start small and build year on year. There's no point in trying to run before I can walk. Cheers for the advice