Self sufficiency is an old concept which has recently experienced a boost in interest. Traditionally, self sufficiency will have been considered by some countries as a good military or economic policy. Today the concept finds favour amongst experimental agriculturalists, local food enthusiasts and the eco warrior. For my part, the idea of self sufficiency allows us as individuals to be le
ss dependant on others.
The scope of the book is very wide and starts with what it means to be self sufficient. John’s view that self sufficiency is a pursuit of a higher standard of living is perhaps a little too optimistic. By definition, self sufficiency requires us to make do with what we have and not to seek the things that we cannot produce ourselves. This might be more accurately described as a lower standard of living as today a higher standard of living means having a big house, a fancy car, owning the latest mobile phone and shopping at Waitrose.
The chapter on food from the garden is the largest chapter, spanning some 80 pages. It is a useful guide on how to grow food in your garden and what food you can grow through the year. Pages 80-83 contain a very useful and easy to read table of when your vegetables will be ready to be harvested.
The food from nature chapter explores how we can make the most of our surroundings and gather food from the wild. It may be argued that the advice on keeping your own pigs, poultry and rabbits found in this section is a little out of place. However, the chapter recovers with a delightful section on collecting honey from bees. A quick history lesson on the medieval method of keeping bees and the chapter moves on to feeding your bees, collecting honey and collecting wax which can be used to make your own candles. John suggests that these are perhaps the best candles in the world and I find myself agreeing with him.
In the same chapter, there is a short section on picking wild mushrooms. Whilst I would love to go out and pick my own wild field mushrooms, I am still a little bit of a novice and making mistakes in this area is not advised. A two page guide is simply too short to cover what is a fascinating, delicious yet dangerous pursuit for the sapling forager.
At first, the chapter on the kitchen seems tedious. Certainly, the first 33 pages covering making bread, how to freeze food and how to bottle food are. As we progress through the chapter though we come across the hidden sections on how to make your own beer, wine and cider. These sections should have had a chapter entirely to themselves as most of us have probably fancied concocting our own brew at some point.
The remaining chapters on energy and waste, crafts and becoming a self supporter are quite succinct. However, there is just enough space left for John to put in the ingenious section on creating a compost bin out of old tyres. As local authorities around the country become less willing or able to collect our rubbish in a timely manner, this tip (no pun intended) will be welcomed by most.
As a beginner guide to self sufficiency, John’s concise guide ticks all the boxes and I certainly recommend it. For the more studious eco warrior a heavier book will be required.
