I really miss my little veg garden, called Haddock's.
It is surprising how little space one needs to grow a few fruits or vegs.
In front of our row of four 'bijou homes' are about 4 square metres of tiny gardens, where there are plenty of herbs, tomatoes, soft fruits, and two apple trees. We may not be able to feed ourselves 100%, but we do our bit.
My late father always claimed that a person with 10 acres could be self-sufficient. Personally I think it could be done with far less. As a child we never had more than about an acre of garden, but we grew a lot. That's where my love of 'self-sufficiency' comes from.
At my first farmhouse in France, I had just One Hectare of partly sloping land, with a small patch of old grafted Chestnut trees. I grew Wheat and Maize. I also had a large Vegetable patch, a run-full of Chickens, and a few Fruit trees. We weren't self-sufficient, but we were close.
At our present cottage, I grew even more, on far less land. Haddock's (above) was better organised, and I planted a lot more fruit trees, and soft fruits. I also 'perfected' the art of preservation. The actual growing area at Haddock's covered an area of about 50 square metres, which supplied an extraordinary amount of food; enough even to give a lot away.
Our store cupboards were always filled with preserves, the freezer held even more, and wooden boxes were filled with onions, squashes, and fruit. There were always plenty of eggs. I suppose we were classic Smallholders/Homesteaders. It was a way of life that I loved, without depriving ourselves of the little luxuries that we all enjoyed as well.
Such a lifestyle is not to everyone's taste, but given the chance I would do it all again. But I would also love to do it all off grid.
12 comments:
Growing vegetables feeds your body and your soul. I love being outside.
We have a typical 1930's size garden arond 100' long but that is just for flowers.
We also have a large council allotment. We have been allotmenteering😂 for 22'years. Grow all the usual things but the year we have grown loofah and melons.
We have won the best allotment on our site and only two points of winning first prize for the whole borough.
I would have loved to live the lifestyle you lived over the decades you were there.
For me it was pure heaven. I spent my time painting, mowing, and growing vegs. Life has changed a bit now, but we still make plenty of different jams, chutneys, etc.
I miss our lifestyle block although our 750 square metres is more manageable and we grow a lot of vegetables. At least we have the backup of the Growers' Market
Growing your own gives you a warm feeling when you bring your produce to the table - "I grew that". It better connects us to The Earth and our ancestors too, makes us more appreciative of Nature.
Yes, I miss our old veg plot. Now we only have half a dozen tomato plants, a couple of courgette plants and a strawberry bed.
Here in Brighton we have a 'growing area' of about 1 sq Metre, but we grew lots of Tomatoes this year, and we have some herbs. But nothing like Haddock's.
I loved it. There wasn't much I didn't grow. These days I have to rely on Mr Sainsbury.
I like you would love that lifestyle, sadly not my hubby, who would hate it.
I'm planting Peach trees at Haddock's these days. We never have enough Peaches.
No, it's not everyone's cup of tea. I was brought-up with a big garden, orchards, Chickens, and Ducks. It's always been a part of my life.
I thought you'd be relying upon Mr Marks, Mr Spencer and Mr Waitrose.
Them too, but they are more Lady M's domain.
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