Self-sufficiency begins today

When I left Cowley Street  in 2009 to pursue a life of self-sufficiency, a sort of 21st century version of "The Good Life" in Gateshead, we knew we would have to set a date from which we would no longer buy food from shops. Well, that day arrived today, 1st August 2013. From now on, our food has to be grown by us, foraged for from wild sources, or traded with other local food growers. There are some minor exceptions. Some things we cannot produce ourselves such as tea and coffee. Though we will use alternatives some of the time (eg mint tea - even better when I add some of my honey) we will trade wherever possible with a friendly shop keeper (one is lined up) for our honey, jam, eggs and so on. Some things we will be producing at some point in the future - such as milk when we get out goats and wheat for flour were we to get the land we need to grow it - will need to be purchased now though we will strictly limit their use and use alternatives where possible. Our experience of living on a wartime diet for two weeks as an experiment in 2011 will certainly help us. I will be writing up our experiences each day for the next month on my allotment blog: www.self-sufficientinsuburbia.blogspot.com. The BBC has been following us since March to see how we get on as we build up towards the point where we become self-sufficient. More about that on another day but the programme will be broadcast in September.