Anyone concerned with sustainable living will at some point sooner or later come across the concept of permaculture. Permaculture is notoriously difficult to define, but the term is a portmanteau of the words ‘permanent,’ and ‘agriculture,’ although it was later expanded to include ‘culture,’ as it encompasses much more than just agriculture. Permaculture was
We don't just drive or heat with fossil fuels—we are eating them. Oil and gas prices are at record levels, and this is going to have a big impact on our diet in very short order because we don't just drive or heat with fossil fuels—we are eating them. Traditional US Homestead -
Our food supply is in crisis. First there was the panic buying at the start of the pandemic, stripping the shelves of everything from pasta to pinot noir. Now the shops are looking bare again as Brexit and Covid combine to drastically reduce the workforce, and industry chiefs are warning that shortages could last well
Whether you’re already on a homestead or dreaming of being a homesteader, homesteading skills are invaluable – and lots of fun! They give you a real sense of accomplishment, you save money, and you’re becoming more self-reliant in the process. Jump right in with the homesteading skills on this list. I’ve mainly included practical homesteading
Homesteading was once a way of life; gardening wasn’t a hobby, it was how you fed yourself and your family throughout the year. Your survival rested on your ability to grow crops, save seeds and preserve the harvest. The choices you made regarding which crops you grew and how many of them you planted
[I'm learning about Permaculture as I embrace the good life - I found this to be a very good summary. Trevor] Gardening will never go out of fashion. Anyone with a green thumb and a penchant for growing nutritious food will attest to that. However, conventional ways of farming can fall to the wayside when
[I found this article really interesting. Naturally I expected it to highlight the importance of growing your own food, plus pantries and freezers, but I thought the other ideas were also well considered. Trevor] Lockdown lessons shaping the future of housing As we find ourselves locked down amid coronavirus, there’s more demand on our
The best bit about growing vegetables, of course, is the harvesting and eating. Having set up our raised bed, planter and mini greenhouse by May, we didn't have long to wait for the first results. In June we picked our first cucumbers from the mini greenhouse. Our first cucumbers (Image: T. Larkum) In
[This article is a good summary of why I'm getting into the Good Life. Trevor] Make no mistake, a survival garden is not just any kind of beautiful backyard garden. A survival garden is one that is carefully designed to yield enough crops for you and your family to live off of in times
A few weeks after constructing the raised bed and planter, in April, I prepared them for planting. For the planter it was a case of lining it, to help protect the wood a little from moisture, and then adding a layer of old cardboard to provide some water retention. Raised planter with cardboard (Image: