How self sufficient can we be?

[golemmings]

OK. I am on mat leave, we have 2 small children and DH is not currently working. Basically between us we have some time and very little money and we're looking to grow as much food as possible to reduce our outgoings.

We've grown veg in the past but only as a hobby and probably wasted about half what we grew either because dh was away and I didn't eat our veg on my own, or because he cooks and would buy veg rather than remembering to go and pick it. This year we need to up our game and actually make the veg patch really viable and a significant food resource.

Our veg garden comprises:
A border along the fence containing summer fruiting raspberries, 3 cordon apple trees, a cordon plum tree, 2 black currants (all of which are productive and one apple tree produces storable fruit). The trees are underplanted with strawberries which did sod all last year apart from produce runners

A small bed with 2 gooseberries in it which were in pots last year and suffered from sawfly

A bed 2m square which had potatoes in last year

3 beds 3mx1m one of which is half filled with last years' brassicas and one of which I've planted 8 rows of garlic in (it had beans in last year).

There is a back flower bed which needs some tidying up and sorting out but that I could plant some veg in. We also have a multitude of pots and containers too which could be pressed into service.

The soil is quite clayey in places but we've mostly not double dug it. Brassicas do well now that we have a fine mesh cage for them (although the romanesco has bolted badly and we failed to make good use of psb. savoy cabbage, sprouts and kale still in the ground), broad beans have been good, garlic is great. Last year we tried sweetcorn which failed totally. the plot is south facing. One year we grew broad yellow ripple currant tomatoes which have gone ballistic in the beds and just keep coming up and producing a tonne of toms.

Realistically how self sufficient can we be and what can we grow to maximise the productivity, including underplanting etc?

Underplant salad leaves (if you eat them) to give a bit of shade. I use a punnet of the cut and come again salad that supermarkets sell as they are a variety of what is basically little plants. Plant every 3 weeks or so for a continuous supply. Rocket does pretty well on it's own, and many are hardy and self seed. I'm a big fan of herbs and have lots of clumps of chives. I stopped cutting them in December, until we had frosts, and have been cutting the new shoots for a couple of weeks.
imo only grow what you like and is relatively expensive and not too much of a struggle. E.g. this is the first year in 4 that we are without purple sprouting broccoli as we missed planting them at the right time. So, on principle I will not buy them at the shop price. doing without will teach us! I now prefer french (bobby) beans to runner (which we also grow) Combined the 2 in a 8 cane wigwam last year and will do the same again. A compost heap of course..... I can feel the sap rising

Hens? Courgettes? Herbs? Spring onions? Leeks? If you are in the UK then Wilkinsons is an excellent source of seeds etc (I dont work for them by the way!)

Dont forget hedgerows and other free sources. Blackberries, surplus apples and other fruit can all be had for free or for very little.

Keep an eye out for surplus seedlings/plants - you often see these for sale or for free at garden-gates.

You could aim to become self-sufficient in a few more expensive things rather than things which are cheap in the shops. For this reason I grow a lot of fruit but dont grow carrots. I am self-sufficient in jam!

Dont forget to use succession planting (planting a few seeds at a time across the season) to avoid having huge gluts. Some gluts cant be avoided, plant on how you can save these. If you have a freezer dont forget to clear it down before harvests start.

Good luck and enjoy it!

Grow what you actually want to eat! Write a list of what veg you actually buy and use up and start from there. Sarah Raven has surprisingly sound advice on what to grow and what not to bother with.

It sounds like you are growing lots already, but not using it. I mean 'probably wasted about half what we grew either because dh was away and I didn't eat our veg on my own, or because he cooks and would buy veg rather than remembering to go and pick it'. Get in the habit of picking what's ripe then using it. Sounds like you need Hugh's book more than you need gardening advice.