Upping the ante

[Beesnaturally]

With energy costs lifting it seems without end, and commensurate food and fertiliser prices in lockstep, I think the economics of the traditional small mixed holding, with some new tech to assist, might come into its own. My first thought is that my soil is very poor (unimproved and unbroken chalk grassland). What are my best first moves?

 

[JamezF]

I guess growing as many of your own vegetables as possible is a good first step. Over the last couple of years (since it was obvious Covid was heading our way, basically), I've hugely expanded our veggie plot using ground that has been pasture for as long as anyone can remember. I've been doing it "no dig", which in my case has meant spreading cardboard on top of whatever vegetation already exists and then about 4" of compost in the first year, followed by 1" to 2" every year thereafter. So far for me that seems to be working pretty well. I did buy in green waste compost (from council green waste collections etc.) last year and the year before which cost me around £250 for six tonnes including delivery, but I'm getting better at composting more stuff (to the point where last week I extended our compost bins) and am trying to reach the point where pretty much nothing organic leaves the property. Waste management regulations make things a bit more tricky these days, but often the likes of tree surgeons, coffee shops, cafes and even hairdressers can be persuaded to part with their waste to go into a compost heap that will ultimately improve the fertility of your soil.

A greenhouse and polytunnel are good investments. Often it's possible to pick up greenhouses from the likes of Freecycle. I have two greenhouses, one of which I just use for propagation and the other for the actual growing crops. Between the main plot, polytunnel and greenhouse we manage to be self-sufficient in salad leaves all year.

I've also started buying some of my seeds from Real Seeds because they only sell seed for open-pollinated plants and give you instructions on how to save your own seed from them for future years.

Animals come with more complications. Chickens used to be easy, but these days you really need a completely secure area for them to live in during the seemingly inevitable bird flu restrictions every winter. They'll happily eat a lot of kitchen waste and fertilise the land as they go as well as providing eggs and meat. Ducks are similar but need access to a reasonable volume of water.

James

 

[blackcloud]

Have a back-up job.
That thing with Richard Briars and Felicity Kendal was fictional!

 

[enrico]

Have a back-up job.
That thing with Richard Briars and Felicity Kendal was fictional!

Or a good pension! We live the good life but our pension pays for non perishables!

 

[enrico]

With energy costs lifting it seems without end, and commensurate food and fertiliser prices in lockstep, I think the economics of the traditional small mixed holding, with some new tech to assist, might come into its own. My first thought is that my soil is very poor (unimproved and unbroken chalk grassland). What are my best first moves?

Go for no dig, we have gone for that this year and it is working really really well. Already eating spuds and cucumbers. Tomatoes are set, cabbage is ready when we want it. The onions, shallots and garlic are well on the way! In my opinion you can't go wrong but it is VERY HARD WORK
If you have the room pigs are a good meat, especially if you do all your own butchering. We had sandy blacks.

 

[JamezF]

I'd say most of the work in no dig is shifting the compost, which isn't too bad if you can do it over a period of months. The first year is probably harder than subsequent ones. I've not actually spread the compost in my polytunnel yet this year because I still have the remnants of the early spring lettuces growing, so I'll do it once they're finally over -- the tomatoes and peppers won't mind if I spread compost around them once they've got tall enough.

Good planning is really helpful too if you're going to try to get two crops per year out of the same space. I'm still working on that one because I keep adding more stuff that I fancy growing, but I'll probably have some winter brassicas ready to go in once early crops such as peas are cleared away.

On the other hand it does allow some spontaneity. I have had more winter squashes germinate than I have space for in the main plot so rather than throw them on the compost heap I'm going to put some cardboard down around a tree or two in the orchard and cover it with a good depth of compost to make some round beds about 5' in diameter, planting them straight into that. I can probably go from grass to planted bed in an hour or two. I might even do several and use them as beds for plants I want to collect seed from.

James

 

[Beesnaturally]

Or a good pension! We live the good life but our pension pays for non perishables!

That's where the bees come in!

 

[JamezF]

A few photos from October last when I created a new no dig bed for my asparagus plants to go in (and some currants, gooseberries and a perennial kale that weren't quite planned at the time). I'd saved up a load of cardboard that I just lay on the grass.

Then piled compost on top.

I made a 2' path of woodchip all the way around it, mostly because my father-in-law mows this area with the ride-on and he's not very accurate, so the path gives him a bit of "run off" area. To my surprise, this week I discovered that 2' wasn't sufficient.

A few weeds have come through the compost and woodchip, but very few really -- couch grass and a few dandelions mostly. I've found that even if I can't completely remove them, repeatedly cutting them off below the soil level with a trowel as they regrow and removing the top slowly weakens them to the point where they die. It even works with bindweed.

These are my compost bins, "mid extension".

My father-in-law built them (to replace my previous ones that were by then too small) using the wrinkly tin perhaps eight years ago, so I did a bit of shuffling of the compost to remove the dividers (also wrinkly tin) between the bays and used them to make the back and side for two new bays on the far end, then made removable dividers (to make it easy to turn the compost between bays) from some scrap decking timber. The far bay now contains a mountain of grass that we allowed to dry on the ground before collecting it (so it's hay, effectively) which I'm told means it counts as a "brown" compost input rather than the "green" of freshly-cut grass. For me that's quite handy as we always seem to have far more "green" than "brown". I did have a dozen dumpy bags full of fallen leaves collected last autumn hiding behind the bays that I was mixing in as a "brown", but those are running a bit low now.

I'm toying with the idea of adding a roof over the bays so I can save the water for use in the garden (and potentially put a temporary rack out of the rain over the top of a bay to put onions and garlic on to dry.

A while back I worked out roughly how much compost I'd need to continue "no dig" for the eight 1.2m x 15m-ish beds in the main plot, plus the 10'x10' greenhouse and 30'x14' polytunnel -- a growing area of about 140m² (apologies for the mixture of units). I think it came out at something like eight tonnes per year. If one of the compost bins is filled to the top it ends up about a third full by the time it has broken down and comes out somewhere around a tonne, perhaps a little more, so I'm still going to need to buy a little extra in for the time being, but I have plans

This evening I've been using the compost in the nearest bay to "earth up" my potatoes, but before I started I took this photo.

The tunnels are mesh to prevent pests (mostly flea beetle and aphids at this point) getting at the brassicas. Once they get taller I'll replace them with butterfly netting supported on stakes. The nearest bed in this photo is the one I was creating in the first photo, with the perennial kale at this end and a double row of asparagus going down the bed.

I don't appear to have recent photos of the main greenhouse or polytunnel, but these are of the polytunnel late last September. Mostly tomatoes and peppers at this point, but the triffid-like tangle at the back left is actually cucumbers and a butternut squash (the final two of which we ate last week).

James

 

[Beesnaturally]

James
[/QUOTE]

I guess growing as many of your own vegetables as possible is a good first step. Over the last couple of years (since it was obvious Covid was heading our way, basically), I've hugely expanded our veggie plot using ground that has been pasture for as long as anyone can remember. I've been doing it "no dig", which in my case has meant spreading cardboard on top of whatever vegetation already exists and then about 4" of compost in the first year, followed by 1" to 2" every year thereafter. So far for me that seems to be working pretty well. I did buy in green waste compost (from council green waste collections etc.) last year and the year before which cost me around £250 for six tonnes including delivery, but I'm getting better at composting more stuff (to the point where last week I extended our compost bins) and am trying to reach the point where pretty much nothing organic leaves the property. Waste management regulations make things a bit more tricky these days, but often the likes of tree surgeons, coffee shops, cafes and even hairdressers can be persuaded to part with their waste to go into a compost heap that will ultimately improve the fertility of your soil.

A greenhouse and polytunnel are good investments. Often it's possible to pick up greenhouses from the likes of Freecycle. I have two greenhouses, one of which I just use for propagation and the other for the actual growing crops. Between the main plot, polytunnel and greenhouse we manage to be self-sufficient in salad leaves all year.

I've also started buying some of my seeds from Real Seeds because they only sell seed for open-pollinated plants and give you instructions on how to save your own seed from them for future years.

Animals come with more complications. Chickens used to be easy, but these days you really need a completely secure area for them to live in during the seemingly inevitable bird flu restrictions every winter. They'll happily eat a lot of kitchen waste and fertilise the land as they go as well as providing eggs and meat. Ducks are similar but need access to a reasonable volume of water.

James

A great picture, thanks James. Rather than start with veg I'd like to jump right in with animals, and have them do useful tilling, weeding and fertilising work that will take much of the effort out of productive bed making. I think fencing, electric fencing and manure might be the main capital items (and a planning application for a polytunnel). I'm thinking a couple of pigs, a dozen hens and a few geese to learn on might be a good start for the first year.

That year can be also used to get more infrastructure in place, chiefly the polytunnel, and a second enclosure.

With perhaps a 1/4 acre cleared, manured and fenced, I'd like to try the Mayan combination of maize, climbing beans and pumpkins - all good storing staples and useful animal feed to boot.

One of the main things I want to achieve is systematic soil improvement. I don't want to be barrowing compost about endlessly, I want to chuck waste at animals and have them incorporate it as much as possible.

Does that sound too daft?

 

[Wilco]

Just a quick note on hens, it is illegal to feed them kitchen waste. Same is true for any livestock.

Lots of options... To get started, fence land, use pigs to clear it, eat pigs and their faeces fertilise it.

Build hen coop and run with a bird flu compliant roof, I have a timer door on the run so when there are no restrictions they can free range. However, foxes will come by day.

A bunch of hens will pay for themselves, especially if free ranging half the year. More so if you have a cockerel and sell hatching eggs too as well as eating ones. Use the old litter on the veg beds. Make sure feeders are rodent proof or you will have massive issues and a massive feed bill. I recommend the footplate ones. Also use nipple drinker buckets for water as they result in less waste. You can also have meat or dual purpose birds. I keep a mixture of different layers, some lay year round others seasonally.

Most stuff can be picked up cheaply or free if you are on the lookout.

Can probably initiate some soil improvement with horse poo, most yards have a skip of the stuff which they'll happily let you raid. Grab the stuff deep in the pile so the heat has killed most of the seeds. Likely to be worm rich.

Look into aquaponics.

Be tactical with the plants you grow so that there is crop year round plus as one ends you can put something else in. Butternut squash last really well. The old staples work too- there's a reason certain things were grown traditionally.

With livestock, start small and find someone locally who can advise. It's doable jumping in two feet first but a darned sight harder. Experience talking. It is also incredibly easy to overgraze land and end up with thin livestock which cost you money so keep stocking density low as you get a feel for the land. Livestock also must be checked daily by law. Mine are a way away so I have a data sim connected camera on a car battery to reduce travelling.

Good fencing... Don't underestimate the fencing and the right electric fence energiser. Electric netting works well with pigs.

Pigs will need rotating between enclosures if kept long term, alternate annually to reduce parasite build up.

Whatever you do, do it with expansion in mind but have an exit strategy.

 

[JamezF]

I loved keeping pigs, though they can be a bit of a handful once they start to get to a significant proportion of your own bodyweight, and certainly I felt that we had to waste as little as possible to justify having them, but that did mean a fair bit of additional freezer space, butchery equipment and kit such as a sausage-maker. It takes a bit of practice to get the meat to fat ratio right, too. You will almost certainly need to buy in feed for them which is going to get quite expensive at the moment I think. Making your own bacon, salamis and chorizo is loads of fun though. Lambs are probably easier if you have grazing, but sheep do seem to have an inbuilt desire to kill themselves in the most awkward ways possible.

Chickens are relatively easy though the bird flu biosecurity stuff can be a pain, particularly last winter when it lasted for five months. You're supposed to be able to keep different species of birds (ie geese) separate as far as I recall. Some people keep their chickens in a polytunnel when necessary, but my polytunnel is in use all year -- as soon as the tomatoes and peppers come out, the winter crops go in. Chickens would destroy those. You also need to be prepared to control rats and have some way to combat birds that would eat their food. Jackdaws and crows can be a major pain in the bum when they turn up mob-handed.

I suspect that you'll need a significant amount more input of material for fertility of ¼ acre than can be provided by the animals, which would mean regular inputs of manure (which must be dug in) or compost if you go the no dig route. For me, compost/no dig is much easier and using the cardboard makes for much easier weed control than I used to have when I was digging in manure. Those who are much more into permaculture may have other ways to deal with the problem, but that's not a way that really looked like it would work for us.

I grow my sweet corn and squashes together, but find beans are easier to deal with separately. Possibly that's not such an issue if you're growing most of the corn and beans for storage.

You perhaps shouldn't forget that there are other animals present on the property that have the potential to produce a large amount of material that can be used to improve soil fertility too. Joseph Jenkins' "Humanure Handbook" is a thought-provoking read.

Even if you want to start with animals, I'd recommend planting some fruit trees because they take time to get established. We have plums, cherries, cooking/juicing/eating apples and pears as well as some nut trees. We actually had nuts on the walnut for the first time last year. Apples and pears can be sliced and dehydrated to be stored for the winter if they won't keep whole.

James

 

[JamezF]

Just a quick note on hens, it is illegal to feed them kitchen waste. Same is true for any livestock.

My understanding is that the problem can be side-stepped if you approach it the right way. For example the other day my wife was picking spinach for us to eat, but removed the leaves that didn't meet her standards and put them in a bucket before she left the garden. We do the same with other vegetables. I don't believe there's any problem with that waste going to the chickens (or pigs).

Cooked food or other waste that may be subject to contamination by meat (for example) because it has actually been in a kitchen is definitely not allowed.

I'm not sure what the situation is if your entire family is vegan for example or if you have a completely separate processing area for vegetables that isn't part of the kitchen with its own set of "tools".

James

 

[Wilco]

My understanding is that the problem can be side-stepped if you approach it the right way. For example the other day my wife was picking spinach for us to eat, but removed the leaves that didn't meet her standards and put them in a bucket before she left the garden. We do the same with other vegetables. I don't believe there's any problem with that waste going to the chickens (or pigs).

Cooked food or other waste that may be subject to contamination by meat (for example) because it has actually been in a kitchen is definitely not allowed.

I'm not sure what the situation is if your entire family is vegan for example or if you have a completely separate processing area for vegetables that isn't part of the kitchen with its own set of "tools".

James

What you're describing initially is a grey area which is probably ok. It's usually described as any food that has 'been through a kitchen' cannot be fed to livestock. Doesn't matter if it's meat, exposed to meat, or not. You'd also need a separate kitchen and equipment including white goods for any food prep that's specifically going to livestock, rather than part of a kitchen but I just wouldn't go there - composting food scraps is safer and legal.

For example, if you buy some bread with the purpose of feeding it to the hens/pigs, it's ok but if you eat a slice of it, it's not. Any veg peelings or offcuts are out but the stuff you mention putting aside as you pick it, and keep separate to the rest, is technically ok (like feeding seconds grade veg to sheep or cows).

It's one of those things where the law is arguably broader than necessary as the risk posed by hens, for example, is low. However, this is because the costs of an outbreak of various possible diseases are deemed too great.

Swill feeding pigs is sadly out, even though it's really eco friendly. IIRC, it's thought that illegally feeding human food leftovers to pigs was the cause of the 2001 FMDV outbreak. There is also the risk of ASF and CSF in pigs, these would decimate our already beleaguered pig industry and the former is present in Europe at present, edging closer. Lower likelihood of mass recurrence, based on how it develops, but BSE was also linked to changes in the rendering process for feeding animal byproducts to animals and I think (slightly hazy on this) was a large factor in legislation banning feeding ABP to livestock.

The law may be overly prescriptive here but this is one to stick to.

 

[Hairy]

Joy Larkcom's Grow Your Own Vegetables is I think essential. How to for each veg and a planning guide.

We have an area of grazing untouched probably for 50 years which is hard to get rid of the grass, reeds and moss. Digging it up just exposes all the seeds buried and lying in wait!

Asking for used removals boxes is one way to get a lot of big cardboard.

Several people who hadn't kept pigs told me we should get pigs to clear the land. A bit more research suggested that not all pigs dig, and those that do won't choose to dig where you want them to so you may need a digger afterwards to level it off again. Many pig breeds take more than a summer to mature so you'd have to feed overwinter (cost).

Folk here with cows, sheep and chickens are all saying they can't afford the feed and bedding price increases. Local prices achieved for meat and eggs are not yet following the input increases. How much more than supermarket prices is achievable to sell or even for your use? There's even been a shortage of straw here.

Our greenhouse equivalent (a polycrub) is too hot for many things. Soon we will have a polytunnel too which is supposed to be cooler, and I'll put up more windbreaks (willow planted and pallet walls) for what should really just be outside. We'll also have a polytunnel framed netted area giving about 2 square metres per chicken when we get some fertile eggs soon. We could have maybe eight overwinter expanded in the summer for meat which should then be ok free range.

Trees should almost be step one once you've decided what is going where. Now is maybe the wrong time of year, but I've had trees and shrubs from the Agroforestry Research Trust and Buy fruit trees online. Organic fruit trees for sale. Wide range of fruit trees. as well as ebay but that is more hit and miss. The Trust list is enlightening on what might be grown, but you have to consider if you will get fruit where you plant them. Our local tescos sold golden delicious trees which my wife bought (£1.99) and planted and is not dead yet but I can't see that giving apples!

Buying bare root trees etc come autumn is much cheaper. Buy the RHS book on propagating plants showing all the different ways of dividing and multiplying either from what you but or from what you come across.

Under-story growing I think could be a way to reduce the competition around fruit trees, so daff bulbs followed by strawberries maybe. Plastic mulch mat pegged down might not be to everyones taste but makes a big difference around the plant you want by limiting its neighbours. As said above, the seed from likes of the Real Seed Company, or at least traditional varieties and not F1, could self seed if lyou leave some in situ to flower either at season end or year two. You may then get a messy but self sustaining food crop once established. Just like the Amazonians did (maybe )

Plant what you know you like to eat though. Experiment later.

Good luck.

 

[Beesnaturally]

This has all been brilliantly useful, thank you all so much. I'll expand on my project a little...

One of the main ideas that underlies my plans is that I have three hardworking and hard-pressed kids with growing families living nearby. I can be a helpful father/grandad by helping with food and woodfuel, and by being a living demonstration of the possibilities. So the guiding objective is: cut bills. The meeans of quatifying that is: Time (labour) and costs in: food (monetary) value out. So I won't be growing carrots - I can get seconds by the sackful at my feedstore - but fruit and protein will be persued.

Variety for its own sake will be ignored - I can - and have - lived on the same diet day in and day out for a year at a time.

Anything that improves the soil will also be persued, on as large as scale as I can manage.

Much early work has been done - I have 8 year apple trees, and a whole lot of topfruit rootstocks.

Underlying conception: a piece of land is essentially a solar collector. That's it. It collects energy from the sun and turns it into the energy forms you choose. The trick is to make it harvest lots of energy while minimising the energy (labour) and running cost inputs. Photosynthesis is the base operation; direct solar and solar pv will play their parts. (This fascination with energy has come about in good part by considering just what it is bees do!)

Permaculture can be used often. Hedges can be fruit-bearing, and edging trees can act as windbreaks, be pollarded for woodfuel and leaf-feed. Areas can be left to bramble - of course a healthy fruit-bearer is best. Nettle patches can be harvested for compost.

I've mentioned the Mayan staple cobination technique, which I think could really useful (climbing beans grown up maize, squash below). The beans will fix much-needed nitrogen; the squash (on cleaned land, point-irrigated with rainwater) will suppress remaining weeds and the units supply solid, storable staple carbs. I can see young plants going straight into animal-cleaned land with a dollop of nutrient, and needing no more attention than the occasional turn of a tap - and even that could be automated - till harvest time. I love the neatness of that sort of plan.

The local ecology is as important to me as anything. I love the re-wilded areas that have come into being simple as a result of excluding grazers. What appears is the self-seeded plants around that bees have pollinated, and birds and beasts have carried - and they are thus doing their very own gardening, expanding exactly those things that feed them.

I have badgers and foxes (as well as endless birds) onsite to contend with, and rodents, as mentioned, will need good control.

I would like to get into insect culture - for hen feed and as part of an aquaponic unit.

If I've learned anything from trying to wrest a living from a patch of land my number one rule is: You can't do everything at once. But a little every day goes a long way; and a sound short/medium/long-term plan-set is what really makes things happen. So many good thngs just happen on their own if you set up the initial conditions carefully.

Again, thank you! Any further comments/criticisms/ideas will be very much appreciated!

 

[Hairy]

I agree with your principles, but are you in Kent or are you where native Americans grew the three sisters? Aiming for what was grown in a totally different climate seems a bit contradictory to the rest of your ideas? Mirror the principle but with things that suit your climate, rainfall, soil, ph, tastes etc etc.
Also, have you grown your own carrots? I would not be eating horsefeed just because it's available compared to succulent little homegrowns!
You have a fairly focussed plan, how much of that is what the grandkids want to do, assuming involving them is part of that plan?

I was looking at Boston Seeds varieties of clovers yesterday, they suggest one at least I think for chalky soil.

 

[JamezF]

Also, have you grown your own carrots? I would not be eating horsefeed just because it's available compared to succulent little homegrowns!

This is certainly a valid point. Any number of vegetables grown at home taste so much better than those you can buy, and you can eat them at the point you want to eat them. I think I posted in another thread that I had a very successful year with sweetcorn last year and it tastes way better than anything we have ever had from any shop. Peas straight from the pod are the same. Whereas many commercially produced vegetables seem to be selected on the basis of "durability", pest resistance, ease of harvest and appearance, my first criteria is how good it tastes and I'll live with a few other inconveniences if that's what's required. My father-in-law thought it wonderful that he could get a thornless blackberry some years back, but they taste rubbish. It's still growing, but hardly ever gets picked. I'd rather have a bit of aggro picking brambles that have real flavour.

In the case of salads, I grow at least half a dozen different types of lettuce, plus a few mustard varieties, edible flowers and other salad vegetables which means when we have a salad it's a big mixture of colour, taste and texture that's enjoyable to eat. "A lettuce" may well be cheaper per serving when bought from a shop, but I'd never swap. If it were possible to buy the kind of salad we eat, I'd bet that the total cost of every one we have over the course of a year would more than cover what I pay for all my vegetable seeds all by itself.

Another thing that occurred to me today is that it's worth putting in a little bit of effort to make the veggie garden an enjoyable place to be and to work in. The more you enjoy being there the more you will be there and you'll notice little things that need doing, or if something isn't going quite right. I wander around mine at least once a day, even if it's just taking a bit of a circuitous route to and from the compost heap. This afternoon I noticed that there are a few weeds coming up in one of the mesh tunnels I have over some of the brassicas so I'll deal with those tomorrow. Because I'll get them whilst they're still small (and in my case because I'm no dig) it won't take very long and I probably won't even need any tools unless I find a dandelion or dock; maybe not even then.

James

 

[Amaranth]

Thank you for all the suggestions above. James you mentioned the Humanure Handbook. Excellent content, and well researched (he has a new edition out after more decades of research and practical use) but he does write in a rather long winded way. For those who would like a brief overview and some practical tips, I’d recommend the two short videos below.

 

[JamezF]

James you mentioned the Humanure Handbook. Excellent content, and well researched (he has a new edition out after more decades of research and practical use) but he does write in a rather long winded way.

Yes, I'm not sure I could deny that as a fair criticism

On the other hand some of the tangentially-related stuff in the book was quite eye-opening and certainly gave me pause for thought. In particular claims such as something like 15% of the world's population still having to "open defecate" (or "go behind a bush", as it were). And that we don't have the resources (particularly providing a sufficient supply of clean water, I think) for everyone in the world to be able to use a flushing toilet even if we could build the infrastructure to handle the sewage.

It did also make me start to wonder if we ought be looking to compost a few other things too. Like, err, dead people, for instance. I'd be quite relaxed about the idea of being composted when I die. Of course by that point I'd probably not be too worried about whatever happened, but it seems far more environmentally friendly than being burned.

James

 

[rossbyjove]

I guess growing as many of your own vegetables as possible is a good first step. Over the last couple of years (since it was obvious Covid was heading our way, basically), I've hugely expanded our veggie plot using ground that has been pasture for as long as anyone can remember. I've been doing it "no dig", which in my case has meant spreading cardboard on top of whatever vegetation already exists and then about 4" of compost in the first year, followed by 1" to 2" every year thereafter. So far for me that seems to be working pretty well. I did buy in green waste compost (from council green waste collections etc.) last year and the year before which cost me around £250 for six tonnes including delivery, but I'm getting better at composting more stuff (to the point where last week I extended our compost bins) and am trying to reach the point where pretty much nothing organic leaves the property. Waste management regulations make things a bit more tricky these days, but often the likes of tree surgeons, coffee shops, cafes and even hairdressers can be persuaded to part with their waste to go into a compost heap that will ultimately improve the fertility of your soil.

A greenhouse and polytunnel are good investments. Often it's possible to pick up greenhouses from the likes of Freecycle. I have two greenhouses, one of which I just use for propagation and the other for the actual growing crops. Between the main plot, polytunnel and greenhouse we manage to be self-sufficient in salad leaves all year.

I've also started buying some of my seeds from Real Seeds because they only sell seed for open-pollinated plants and give you instructions on how to save your own seed from them for future years.

Animals come with more complications. Chickens used to be easy, but these days you really need a completely secure area for them to live in during the seemingly inevitable bird flu restrictions every winter. They'll happily eat a lot of kitchen waste and fertilise the land as they go as well as providing eggs and meat. Ducks are similar but need access to a reasonable volume of water.

James

Real seeder here as well, great company.