2009 the big Selfsufficientish Year - one month challenge

[Peggy Sue]

Rabbit stew sounds good...

[hayacohen]

hi i am new to this fantastic site , however, i read Nevil sweeney's storty about growing cotton in a very small scale and would like to get in touch with him and ask him some questions .also, I am now in the process of growing barley in a different form and would be happy for any suggestions advices

[Millymollymandy]

Hi and welcome - you can contact Nev by sending him a Private Message through the forum.

[Russian Doll]

me and the kids are gonna try this...i cant go fully self suff...but were aiming for a month of home made foods...bartering for veg from our allotment which is next door..i think it would be great for the kids to experience it may even get them to keep diaries

[Wombat]

hi i am new to this fantastic site , however, i read Nevil sweeney's storty about growing cotton in a very small scale and would like to get in touch with him and ask him some questions .also, I am now in the process of growing barley in a different form and would be happy for any suggestions advices

Howdy!

Yep, PM and I will be happy to answer questions if I can!

Nev

[Flo]

So what is happening - has this idea gone away? died from lack of inspiration or planning? has the enthusiasm got up and gone? or does it all seem too much when you actually come to do it?

Thinking about it has made me realise just how much I could do with very little input from elsewhere. It's also made me be far more careful about buying local produce or as second best, buying British. Things like sugar and flour for instance. It's also made me realise how many protein foods that I regard as essential as a vegan are not produce of the UK.

[Andy Hamilton]

Nope not gone away and in fact still wanting to carry on and try and be selfsufficient for a month later in the year. Every day life (earning money) and actually working on my allotment has got in the way.

I would have liked to make this a very big project and got people up and down the country on board as it is I think I will just try it and if anyone else gets involved then great!!

[Flo]

Perhaps if we could have the five different levels that you thought about in the first place then we could all work against these and post our failures or even successes. It could then work rather along the lines of not buying anything new and opening a new area would allow us to post sort of daily or every few days to see how we go.

It would show any glitches in the planning and then we could go for broke next year and really develop the idea.

Ah yes - earning a living does get in the way of a lot of things doesn't it?

[Peggy Sue]

Nice idea, and we could pledge a commitment to a certain level then report back/confess after.

That way a bit of research now could open a few doors for the future so it would be 2 steps forward but only one back sort of thing

[Green Aura]

Should we set a date so we can work our way up to it?

[Flo]

You know I like both of those ideas.

[prison break fan]

I really like the idea of a set date. Ever since the new year I have been using up stuff from the larder and freezer, trying not to shop, but I don't seem any better off!! I am also sick of lentils, especially when I read a recipe and it says add lentils, what lentils? there are so many sorts. pbf

[Andy Hamilton]

I think originally we had a set date as August 15th running until September 15th.

We could perhaps set up a series of blogs that people write in the run up and on the dates anyone up for writing one?

I also think it is a great idea to have this as a trial year, get us all raring to go and more importantly get us all learning how to best do it before diving straight in. The blogs would be a great resource to go back to even just as a personal diary account.

[Flo]

I don't mind a bit of blogging if it will help you.

[Gert]

Will definitely have a go at this. Sounds like it could be fun. Well right up to the point when I am sitting down for my 15th plateful of nothing but courgettes.