Self Sufficiency

Help tips and advice on self sufficiency in the home and garden. Be self sufficient, save energy, save money and reduce your carbon footprint!

Self sufficiency is about providing the essentials for everyday life at no or very little cost. This can be acheived by growing your own vegetables, keeping animals, or even producing your own electricity.

Now the Christmas celebrations are over a lot of us will need to tighten up on our spending, and what better way to do it than being self sufficient! Spring is looming and now is a good time to start planning your self sufficient lifestyle for the year ahead. Why not make a new years resolution to reduce your carbon footprint and energy bills? See the energy section of this website for more details.

Grow your own...

In the hectic life styles that the majority of people live today, we all find it easy and convnient to go to the supermarket and grab the items we need off the shelf. Supermarkets are getting better at providing fresh local fruit and veg, however, it is nowhere near as fresh and local as it could be with a little work on your part.

Spending a few hours one sunny weekend planting some carrot seeds, peas and onion sets can mean in a few months time you can be eating your own freshly dug produce. All it needs is a bit of care and attention, watering and weeding and you can soon be well on your way to being self sufficient with your food.

The reality is that there are very few people who have the time to grow enough produce to become totally self sufficient, however, with just a little time spent on growing your own it can all help to reduce the weekly shopping bills and of course, it tastes much better!

For more details on growing your own produce, see the Fruit and Veg section of the website.

Energy...

Building your own wind farm in your back garden may be the picture that is conjured up when you are told about being self sufficient with your energy usage. It isn't strictly an accurate image, and this shouldn't put people off looking in to alternativ energy sources.

Being self sufficient isn't just about growing your own vegetables and eating fresh produce, it's also about saving energy and cutting down on your energy bills. The most simple way to do this is to ensure you are getting the best deal from your energy provider. Companies like U-Switch are a good place to start looking for better deals on you electric and gas. Make sure you compare the prices on the market and get the best energy rates possible.

Once you have the best deal possible, you can now look in to producing your own energy. This doesn't have to be a huge expense and comprimise on the aesthetics of your home. There are many options including Wind Turbines, Solar Panels, and Heat Pumps. See the Energy section of the website to find out more information about how you could save.

Make sure you also look in to the possibility of renewable energy grants. These are becoming more widely available, and the benifts of them are becoming greater. Put a plan together of how much energy and money you could save and work out your payback period, then find a suitable grant to help with the capital outlay. You could soon find yourself well on your way to becoming totally energy self sufficient!

New grants are also starting to become available which can be worth the time to look in to. The government are proposing zero carbon loans to help introduce people to renewable energy with little cost to them. There is also a "feed in tariff" being proposed where the producer of electricity from renewable sources could feed it back in to the grid and get a direct and decent amount of money for it. For this reason alone, it is worth looking in to photovoltaic panels and even wind turbies to produce your own electricity.

General advice...

You don't have to completely transform the way you live to be self suffcient, but small changes can make a significant difference to your lifestyle and bank balance.

The key to self sufficiency for the novice is to start off small and experiment with different projects. The idea behind it is not to be a chore, but to be something enjoyable and rewarding.

Follow the links below to find out more about having a self sufficient lifestyle...

         - Energy

         - Vegetables & Fruit

         - Animals