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Humour me - I've been debating something with myself all day!
Many of us dream about self-sufficiency - made popular by John Seymour so many years ago in a book that is subtitled "The classic guide for realists and dreamers". Most of us can only dream of acres of grain, orchards and a cow and sheep, if indeed that is what you'd like! The realists set their sights a lot lower. Maybe self-sufficiency in courgettes, lettuce or beans.
John Seymour went the whole hog - his self-sufficiency was independence from the "system" in which most of us have to live.
My inner debate has been about the difference between "sufficiency" and "sufficient".
If we think about keeping hens for eggs - from experience the optimum number of hens for me is 3. Each hen will lay 4-5 eggs a week and a dozen eggs for me is ample. So 3 hens is sufficient and gives me self-sufficiency in eggs. When I've had 6 hens, I have had an over-sufficiency of eggs and given them away - but that isn't the aim, the more hens you have, the more the feed costs and the effort involved in keeping their housing clean. The issue is knowing what would be "sufficient" and what is not.
Trying to apply this to whatever you grow is more difficult. I was picking courgettes and beans when I starting having this debate. Am I growing too many courgette and bean plants or are they sufficient for my needs? Every year differs - weather, pests etc can affect productivity. This year has been good for courgettes and beans but poor for soft fruit because there have been so many birds and squirrels pinching them before me. The netted raspberries have done well though. So to have "sufficient" soft fruit I need to net the bushes. Every netted bush would give me more usable fruit than 10 un-netted ones.
I've cut back on tomato plants this year because I've been growing so many that I'd end up leaving them outside the gate for passersby to take. As nice as it to be generous, if I use the GH space to grow something different (DFBs and aubergines this year) I'm improving my chances of self-sufficiency.
If "sufficient" means growing as much as you need and can use, not more, that is going to be my aim.
I'm not expecting anyone to reply to, or even follow my waffling - but writing it down helps me to understand my argument with myself.
Not sure which one of me won the argument though!!
Many of us dream about self-sufficiency - made popular by John Seymour so many years ago in a book that is subtitled "The classic guide for realists and dreamers". Most of us can only dream of acres of grain, orchards and a cow and sheep, if indeed that is what you'd like! The realists set their sights a lot lower. Maybe self-sufficiency in courgettes, lettuce or beans.
John Seymour went the whole hog - his self-sufficiency was independence from the "system" in which most of us have to live.
My inner debate has been about the difference between "sufficiency" and "sufficient".
If we think about keeping hens for eggs - from experience the optimum number of hens for me is 3. Each hen will lay 4-5 eggs a week and a dozen eggs for me is ample. So 3 hens is sufficient and gives me self-sufficiency in eggs. When I've had 6 hens, I have had an over-sufficiency of eggs and given them away - but that isn't the aim, the more hens you have, the more the feed costs and the effort involved in keeping their housing clean. The issue is knowing what would be "sufficient" and what is not.
Trying to apply this to whatever you grow is more difficult. I was picking courgettes and beans when I starting having this debate. Am I growing too many courgette and bean plants or are they sufficient for my needs? Every year differs - weather, pests etc can affect productivity. This year has been good for courgettes and beans but poor for soft fruit because there have been so many birds and squirrels pinching them before me. The netted raspberries have done well though. So to have "sufficient" soft fruit I need to net the bushes. Every netted bush would give me more usable fruit than 10 un-netted ones.
I've cut back on tomato plants this year because I've been growing so many that I'd end up leaving them outside the gate for passersby to take. As nice as it to be generous, if I use the GH space to grow something different (DFBs and aubergines this year) I'm improving my chances of self-sufficiency.
If "sufficient" means growing as much as you need and can use, not more, that is going to be my aim.
I'm not expecting anyone to reply to, or even follow my waffling - but writing it down helps me to understand my argument with myself.
Not sure which one of me won the argument though!!
The Moneyless Chicken says:-
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.
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