The Project
In spring/summer 2009 three out of four of us read a book called Living the Good Life by Linda Cockburn. In this Linda, her partner Trev and their son Caleb attempted to live for six months out of their yard (garden) in Queensland, Australia. Our daughter, aged 9, having just finished the book suggested we try to do the same. My initial reaction was that it was an over whelmingly large project for us to take on and we were no where near as far down the sustainable line as them, and we lived in Central Scotland not Queensland and.... and... The outcome was that in 2009, after our summer holiday we set about trying to eat out of our garden for 2 months.
2009
Our rules for the 2009 project were that we could buy fruit or veg in season that we could grow ourselves but hadn't grown enough of, dairy produce, oil, salt and wheat based produce. We provided all our own vegetables other than tomatoes as our 6 foot by 8 foot greenhouse was too small to provide enough tomatoes for us.
This proved a very enlightening experience. I learned to do a hundred and one different meals with courgettes, I also loved standing at the top of the garden and looking down thinking what am I going to cook tonight. At that time we produced no meat of our own so we were vegetarian other than when we visited people, the last bits of meat from the freezer and two joints we were given by friends after doing some work for them.
We managed from end of July to mid October before we started to struggle. We saved a small fortune in not popping to the shops for a small item and coming out several pounds lighter. As we hadn't really prepared for it and both my husband and I were still working we were very pleased. For 2010 we looked to doing it for longer and providing our own meat.
This proved a very enlightening experience. I learned to do a hundred and one different meals with courgettes, I also loved standing at the top of the garden and looking down thinking what am I going to cook tonight. At that time we produced no meat of our own so we were vegetarian other than when we visited people, the last bits of meat from the freezer and two joints we were given by friends after doing some work for them.
We managed from end of July to mid October before we started to struggle. We saved a small fortune in not popping to the shops for a small item and coming out several pounds lighter. As we hadn't really prepared for it and both my husband and I were still working we were very pleased. For 2010 we looked to doing it for longer and providing our own meat.
2010
2010 was a much more serious attempt at living off our land. I had stopped work the previous January to take over the growing etc. So in the spring we got 12 one day old meat chicks which we brought up to slaughter weight. We also started out with bees that year and extended our beds to grow more veg. We had bought a fruit steamer at the end of 2009 as we found chopping and pressing apples messy and labour intensive.
So 2010 rules are that we can buy dairy and wheat based products, and supplement our fruit. We also looked at running it for longer, though our son was not keen for it to impinge on Christmas.
As it was we did well to start with fulfilling our own rules and providing loads of our own fruit and fruit juice. The onions ran out at the start of November but the snow at the end of November stopped the project - we couldn't even get to some of our stored crops as they were under so much snow. We will need to think about storage again before next year.
So 2010 rules are that we can buy dairy and wheat based products, and supplement our fruit. We also looked at running it for longer, though our son was not keen for it to impinge on Christmas.
As it was we did well to start with fulfilling our own rules and providing loads of our own fruit and fruit juice. The onions ran out at the start of November but the snow at the end of November stopped the project - we couldn't even get to some of our stored crops as they were under so much snow. We will need to think about storage again before next year.
2011-2019
Much of 2011 to 2017 we developed many areas of our lives. These are documented under their individual headings, but included winning a national environmental award, the prize allowing us to double to size of the solar array we put on our roof, an wood pellet boiler to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and expanding our growing season and variety of produce. Along side this, with a friend we established a Community Garden.
In 2017 our daughter received excellent grades in her Highers paving the way for her to go to university. Financially supporting your children through university in no small undertaking. With this is was agreed I would return to work as a GP. This meant my work in our garden and at the Community Garden had to reduce and our development of the food growing had to change.
Much of 2011 to 2017 we developed many areas of our lives. These are documented under their individual headings, but included winning a national environmental award, the prize allowing us to double to size of the solar array we put on our roof, an wood pellet boiler to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and expanding our growing season and variety of produce. Along side this, with a friend we established a Community Garden.
In 2017 our daughter received excellent grades in her Highers paving the way for her to go to university. Financially supporting your children through university in no small undertaking. With this is was agreed I would return to work as a GP. This meant my work in our garden and at the Community Garden had to reduce and our development of the food growing had to change.
2020
The end of 2019 and start of 2020 is a time no one on the planet will forget. All of our lives were turned upside down, but all in very different ways. For many of us we saw shortages in the shops, in Scotland this was as much due to over buying as actual supply problems for day to day products but this was not the same for others. If you are familiar with our website you will know we have been prepers for many years. This didn't mean we were untouched by the relative scarcity of produce, it did mean between the garden and our store cupboard we were not at risk of running short of food. We also, as a family, made the decision to all come back to the family home to pool resources and resilience.
The end of 2019 and start of 2020 is a time no one on the planet will forget. All of our lives were turned upside down, but all in very different ways. For many of us we saw shortages in the shops, in Scotland this was as much due to over buying as actual supply problems for day to day products but this was not the same for others. If you are familiar with our website you will know we have been prepers for many years. This didn't mean we were untouched by the relative scarcity of produce, it did mean between the garden and our store cupboard we were not at risk of running short of food. We also, as a family, made the decision to all come back to the family home to pool resources and resilience.
2021
This year has brought new challenges. As we try and learn to live with Covid19 our lives have changed forever. For many of us we have been reminded of what is of most value to us, in our house hold that is primarily family and friends. It is also a time of change as my husband cuts his working hours as, due to his work, he is able to retire early on full pension. How that impacts on us as a family, me as a GP and our project is work in progress.
Covid19 isn’t the only threat to our lives. Climate Change feels so big that as individuals it is impossible to know where to start. As a frontline doctor I see a third challenge, our health in the Western World is being damaged by the way we live : stress, indoor sedentary lifestyles, polluted environments, industrialised diets, antibiotics and lack of sleep. These are in fact the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine. Lifestyle Medicine is a discipline within mainstream medicine affecting all specialities. We have all seen the articles on people who give up smoking after having a heart attack, loose weight after being diagnosed with diabetes or take up running after open heart surgery. These are all facets of changing our lifestyle to make ourselves more healthy. How do we stop ourselves getting these illnesses when our lives are so busy and pressured? And how does this kink into climate change? Over the coming weeks I am going to restructure our website to help show what we can do to make ourselves healthier and happier while reducing our impact on the climate. As we change our own lives for the better others will follow.
This year has brought new challenges. As we try and learn to live with Covid19 our lives have changed forever. For many of us we have been reminded of what is of most value to us, in our house hold that is primarily family and friends. It is also a time of change as my husband cuts his working hours as, due to his work, he is able to retire early on full pension. How that impacts on us as a family, me as a GP and our project is work in progress.
Covid19 isn’t the only threat to our lives. Climate Change feels so big that as individuals it is impossible to know where to start. As a frontline doctor I see a third challenge, our health in the Western World is being damaged by the way we live : stress, indoor sedentary lifestyles, polluted environments, industrialised diets, antibiotics and lack of sleep. These are in fact the six pillars of Lifestyle Medicine. Lifestyle Medicine is a discipline within mainstream medicine affecting all specialities. We have all seen the articles on people who give up smoking after having a heart attack, loose weight after being diagnosed with diabetes or take up running after open heart surgery. These are all facets of changing our lifestyle to make ourselves more healthy. How do we stop ourselves getting these illnesses when our lives are so busy and pressured? And how does this kink into climate change? Over the coming weeks I am going to restructure our website to help show what we can do to make ourselves healthier and happier while reducing our impact on the climate. As we change our own lives for the better others will follow.
