Whether you approach it from the point of view of conservation, entomology, crop pollination or simply a love of honey, beekeeping is an engaging pursuit and a fascinating window on the natural world.
So what does it take to become a beekeeper?
The essentials are simple enough: some sort of hive, a hat and a veil, an [...]

We do what we can at self sufficient ‘ish’ to give you ingenious money and environment saving ideas.  This is why our resident cartoonist Spencer Hill was commissioned to draw this card. Click on either of the cards for a bigger versions and wait for it to load. Now print it off and glue it [...]

A couple of years ago I wrote about Selfsufficientish Christmas ideas. This year I have given Christmas my own twist and called it Ishmas.  Ishmas is sustainable and thoughtful and it is more about the person than the gift, many of the ishers celebrate Ishamas (of course).
Free Wrapping paper.
For the last few years [...]

Does Father Christmas/Santa exist? Of course he does. However, he has to deliver to 1.8 million homes so we want to help him out. Here’s a few ideas and Mr Christmas if you are reading this I actually do want socks this Christmas and I have been a good boy (pretty much).

An extract from the selfsufficientish bible available here.
One of the biggest dilemmas that parents of a newborn baby have to face is the question of nappies (Dypers). Most people opt for disposable nappies, because they’re more convenient. However, this is having very damaging effects on the environment – around three million nappies in the UK [...]

Even if you are not environmentally conscious you will no doubt be happy to lower the cost of those bills. In the last 6 months my gas and electricity for a two bedroom house has cost less than £70 that’s less than £3 a week, here is how I did it.

When we are skint (poor, broke, brassit) many of us will like to have a glass of something to take our mind off it. Just because we have a book out does not make us any different, there are not many authors that do it for the money!
Equipment – What you will need (Basics)
Beer – [...]

The Fruit sharers (Aka the Bristol Fruit Sharers) were inspired by a similar project in Sheffield known as Abundance. We have exactly the same aims and as such I rather than re-invent the wheel I have copied their mission statement which we will be using as our own.
The Bristol Fruit Sharers are” a project to [...]

Saving cash in the kitchen – Part 1.
I can never understand why people would waste money by wasting electricity. Let’s put aside any environmental benefits for one second and think in just monetary terms. You could be working overtime, or worse doing without a night down the pub just because you don’t run your kitchen [...]

The generation that lived through World War 2 are sometimes referred to as the Great Generation. Indeed they suffered hardships we can no longer imagine. To us this latest recession means that we might have to do without a night at the pub, sky television or a foreign holiday;  at worst it means changing our [...]