Dear Melody, I’m worried about food security. Is it possible to live a self-sufficient lifestyle in the NE of England?
Your concerns about food security are entirely justified. This week the EU Preparedness and Crisis Management Commissioner Hadja Lahbib stated it was important to “make sure people have essential supplies for at least 72 hours in a crisis”. Curiously, the UK government has yet to make a similar announcement, though things here seem just as precarious.
Beyond stockpiling some basics such as tinned food and flour, exploring self-sufficiency is a commendable step. Living a self-reliant lifestyle in the North East of England is theoretically possible, though it does come with some almost impossible challenges and requires careful planning.
Hubster and I grow around half of our fruit and vegetables on our smallholding. The North East’s climate, which is increasingly unpredictable, is usually suitable for a variety of crops. Hardy vegetables like potatoes, carrots, kale, cabbage and broccoli can thrive. Seasonal planting and the use of polytunnels or greenhouses can extend the growing season and provide shelter from frosts for tomatoes, chillies and cucumbers. Bear in mind you’ll be at the mercy of slugs and caterpillars but don’t be tempted by pesticides and herbicides as they’re lethal for local biodiversity.
We usually get a good harvest of squash which we store in a cool room for months. Fruit, berries such as blueberries, blackberries, currants, strawberries and gooseberries, can do well in this region, along with apple trees. Plums and damsons can produce fruit but we live in a frost trap so are still waiting for our first harvest in over a decade. You’ll need to accept that there are crops you will never really be able to grow at this northern latitude, such as bananas or avocados and that leafy green veg can be served with almost every meal.
For additional protein, keeping chickens for eggs or even pigs is relatively low-maintenance, although there are a host of issues with bird flu and managing livestock so we don’t bother. Our crop of broad beans is great for protein even if the kids complain about the dreaded green smush. Depending on the space you have, you might also explore keeping bees for honey or raising goats for milk. There are now a zillion websites providing advice on permaculture and regenerative agriculture but, given a potential scenario of the collapse of our energy or communications networks, you might find a physical copy of an actual book would be helpful in a disaster scenario.
Water collection and conservation are essential, especially in dry spells. Rainwater harvesting systems can be installed to support irrigation, while composting and crop rotation will enrich your soil and make your efforts more sustainable.
If you’re short on garden space, community networks can also make growing food more accessible and enjoyable although there can be some politics in these groups (the voice of experience). Allotments are a wonderful way to access additional land if your space is limited, and local co-ops can offer seed swaps, advice, or even shared labour for larger projects. Don’t spend a fortune on any new kit, trawl the web to see if anyone local wants rid of theirs.
However, and it’s a big however, true self-sufficiency hinges on favorable weather conditions. Roger Hallam co-founded Extinction Rebellion in 2018 to address the urgency of climate change and ecological collapse. His background as an organic farmer exposed him to extreme weather’s devastating impacts firsthand. Losing crops year-on-year made him realise how unstable our food systems are and prompted him to become an activist.
Last year, we failed to harvest even one green bean, and our sweetcorn crop was dismal due to cold weather and high winds. The climate crisis is only worsening, and growing your own food demands nearly full-time labour. It’s this intensive commitment and reliance on weather that have made the consumer lifestyle so appealing. Industrial farming produces vast quantities of food with comparatively little effort, while self-sufficiency requires a significant, consistent time investment. Hubster and I are tied to the smallholding, especially over the March to September growing season.
In short, attempting to become self-sufficient isn’t for the faint hearted. Despite our dedication, we’re far from producing all we eat but we don’t starve either. With rising food prices and growing insecurity, if you’re prepared for hard work and the unpredictable whims of nature, it can be immensely rewarding to reap, and eat, the fruits of your labour. If you decide to give it a try, may your harvest be bountiful and your cornucopia overflow. Alternatively, it might be easier to buy a storeroom full of bottles of off-the-shelf nutritionally complete, plant-based food if you can stomach it day-after-day.
Regeneratively yours,
Melody
