spacekadet blog

My friend and her boyfriend recently bought a house in Colchester and were
gracious enough to have me and J over last Saturday for a pajama-party sleepover. I spent a large part of Sunday morning chatting with the boyfriend about home ownership, DIY projects, and sustainable living. I must be growing up, because the older I get, the more I want to own a house. It’s not about the house, though, it’s
about owning a bit of land, free to grown my own food (”live sustainably” as their calling it these days), and free from the money toilet of monthly rent.

So in the middle of all this dreaming and scheming, the boyfriend hands me a copy of Paul Waddington’s 21st Century Smallholder. Less of a how-to guide and more of an inspiration, the book is a sampler of how one can go about becoming self-sufficient. From the garden to the compost heap, Waddington manages to inject a dry sense of humor into his outline, which covers cost, space, and time considerations. For example, Waddington considers bees to be the gateway livestock drug. A beehive is cheap to set up, requires a small amount of space, and beekeeping is an easily attainable skill (however, they do require a great deal of patience and “tenderness”, which is why women are often considered better beekeepers than men!).

I don’t know if it was the book or the conversation or the instant coffee, but I really felt inspired that morning. I came back to Stoke Newington, bought some dirt (for lack of my own compost heap), and checked out a book from the library on vegetables and herbs. I also designed a new t-shirt.

Okay, “design” may be a strong word here. But there you have it: the “make compost not war” organic t-shirt, just in time for summer. There are some girly tees, too, at the Compost Heap shop.

Related posts:

1. New blog: Live Free
2. Burning money in Covent Garden …
3. how ’bout a song to set me free?
4. My dream
5. “You’ve got a helluva view from 62 miles.”