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| Home made chili sauce |
Why bother?
Self sufficiency is a passion of mine. The world is running out of food and food is becoming more expensive for all of us every year. Increasing numbers of natural disasters such as Cyclone Yasi and the snow storms in the US are now creating even greater problems when combined with a relentless growth in world population. We have heard a lot about peak oil – this is peak food
Self sufficiency is not only about saving the world it is also about cutting costs for each of us. Let’s do it.
Where and how?
These ten suggestions are good for people who live in the city with an apartment or small garden. A balcony will support these activities. Anything that you do will help. Even one trough with lettuces or one lemon tree in a pot can help along with some of the other suggestions. Pick the ones that suit your life and make a positive difference!
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| Lettuces and herbs in troughs |
1. Make your own compost. Stop using an In-sink-disposer and buy a black plastic compost bin. If you have no room for a compost, get a couple of Bokashi bins for under the sink. A friend of mine makes all her own compost this way. It’s easy and not smelly. They are designed for apartment living.
2. Grow your own stuff. As much as you can in pots and troughs. Salad, vegetables and fruit will all grow well this way with fertilizer and good watering.
3. Grow high value food in preference. Where space is limited, check out the prices of food to find the most cost effective use of your pots. For instance, potatoes are often cheap whereas limes are expensive. Grow limes.
4. Freeze or dry produce. When you produce too much or when things are cheap to buy, get into the habit of preserving them. Two years ago we grew 6 pepper plants. They produced enough chilies for us, our family and friends and we dried the remainder. We have been using them for the past two years and still have plenty. This is a sensible way to save money.
5. Make preserves. Save bottles and containers to make jams, chutneys and bottled preserves from any remaining produce. This is also good for those times when there is a large box of very over ripe cheap tomatoes at the local shop. Make tomato sauce and bottle it. Cheap!
6. Buy in season. Only buy fruit and vegetables in season. This works best if you prioritise local produce and get to know when certain crops peak in supply.
7. Make meals from scratch. Stop buying pre-prepared food. Make everything from basic ingredients. There are plenty of TV programmes and books on this subject for those afraid that this will take too much time. It shouldn’t if you keep it simple. Money that you save from this habit will more than pay for the time anyway.
8. Start a local co-operative group. Join a group of friends or neighbours who can exchange different produce. This is great fun, builds community spirit and cuts costs down even further.
9. Track the metrics. You will get a kick out of saving money through your own creative methods, but only if you measure before and after. Track food budget costs before and after growing to see how much you save.
10. Involve the whole family. I used to love growing my own contribution to the family’s food when I was a child. I had my own salad bed and grew lettuce and spring onions. It is a healthy option to sitting at a computer or TV! Make it a game from a young age and children will grow up with the habit. Good luck with existing teens – they may not take the invitation quite so readily!
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| Peppers in pots |
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| Tomato in a pot |
I hope I’ve encouraged you to have a go wherever you live! Please add any other tips and ideas you have for self sufficiency in the comments…