Last week, I had the pleasure of learning about a cute little sort of self-sufficiency novel which is not only meant to help you learn about life on a homestead, but also be entertaining. It’s not The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency (nor does it attempt to be). Instead, it’s something you can read for enjoyment instead of just because you’re trying to learn more about the homestead life.
John Jackson is the author of ‘A Little Piece of England: A Tale of Self-Sufficiency’, which tells the tale of how the he and his family, living in a sliver of countryside in London’s commuter belt, came, over some ten years, to make the land and themselves self-sufficient. At the time, John was on the Board of Directors of the electronics company, Philips, and his wife was raising their three young children so it was the ultimate ‘spare time’ project.
John was kind enough to let me ask him a few questions while he’s out and about touring for the latest release of his book (and his first self-published version.
There certainly must have been some ups and downs over the last 1o years. What has been the biggest challenge you’ve faced while learning to live off your land?
The biggest challenge was learning how to cope with wet weather: rain affects everything.
I don’t know if I’ll ever be fully prepared for the rains here. In Florida you usually saw them coming and they’d be over in an hour — here in Germany the rains go on for weeks! What is the best piece of advice you’ve received or learned?
The best advice is – be patient: be prepared for disappointment.
Well, you can’t have no in your heart — but sometimes even the most well laid plans don’t go exactly as you want. What moment on your homestead do you often recall and laugh about?
When Shadow, our beautiful Jacob ram, escaped and ran wild in the woods, he startled young lovers playing with each other in the leaf litter. We laughed and laughed. Unkind perhaps but just imagine the scene.
I bet those two had the shock of their lives! What is the first thing you’d say to someone hoping to have their own homestead?
Try to find a situation which you can work up. Start small – vegetables and hens perhaps.
Very sage advice. Trying to take on too much at once is often the largest reason for failure on the farm. What is it that appeals to you about a self-sufficient lifestyle?
The feeling of being in charge of ones own destiny.
To find out more about the book, visit JJ Books on Facebook or Twitter! You can even get a sneak peak inside the book when you become a fan!
NEXT ON THE BOOK TOUR
Please be sure to check out the next stop on the the virtual book tour at accidentalsmallholder.net, on Wednesday 17th August. To buy the book, please head to amazon.com or amazon.co.uk, where it is available as an ebook or in paperback.
Note: The US government would like you to know that there are affiliate links in this post and I will receive a few cents if you buy this book via Amazon US. All opinions of the book expressed in this post are my own and no compensation was received for this post.
