Welcome

I've secretly been a hippy forever, but it's time to come out of the closet and openly admit, I am definitely a hippy. I think we should all be more concerned about what we eat and the environment. A normal job pays the bills, and I've had a 'normal' job for years. But I'm not really convinced 'jobs' as we see them now are the best for people or the planet. Certainly 2020 was a bit of a wake up call on how we all work. 

As I've become older the hidden hippy in me has become more apparent. I've learnt to keep bees, I've built an aquaponics farm, started planting the garden on a permaculture basis and brewing cider (hopefully beer soon too). Working towards being as self sufficient as possible. Those old enough will remember the TV sitcom 'The Good Life', in my imagination, that's what I'm working on here (Tom & Barbara Good are definitely my heroes!).

Am I any good at it being a self sufficient tree hugger? Well it's 4 years since I got my first bee colonies and some things have gone well, others not so well. But you can see the progress I've made so far and what we're planning. I've been fortunate enough to have plenty of friends with far more knowledge and experience than I have give me their help. My better half also tolerates and supports my eccentricities! One real positive I think I can take from the experience is that, if I can learn to do this, anybody can. I'm also planning to occasionally open up our little plot of land, so anybody that's interested can come along for the day and see what I'm doing!

Will I be giving up my day job any time soon, unlikely, but who knows what might happen in these uncertain times. That I have some self sufficiency skills is a small comfort. Whatever happens I'm going to see just how self sufficient we can become. Hopefully reducing our food miles and caring for the environment.