Recreating the Good Life - Cash Crops


Harvest time
A full trug

After overcoming a potential disaster at the end of the first season of The Good Life, Tom has another pressing issue on hand – turning his surplus crops into the cash they’ll need to make it through until their next harvest. Although the Goods have reduced their consumption, and gone into bartering in a big way, they need hard cash to pay their rates (local taxes) and the feed bills for the animals. Tom reckons it will be easy to sell his surplus to a local restaurant, but soon finds it is harder than he thinks.

Smallholders these days might find life a little easier, as self-sufficiency becomes more mainstream and there’s lots of advice available on selling surplus allotment crops and farmers markets springing up all over the place. If you’re interested in starting your own local food project, then it’s worth getting your hands on a copy of ‘Local Food’ (you can read my review from Permaculture Magazine over at Transition Culture). You may also be able to barter produce for other services via a local LETS scheme.

And there’s always the option of a garden gate stall. I would recommend reading The Cottage Smallholder for inspiration on what might sell well.

Given that every plant and animal is vital to their household economy, Tom gets understandably upset when he finds out that they have a leek thief – every night someone swipes a handful of leeks. Tom takes matters into his own hands to deal with this two-legged pest, and ends up in prison for a few days! Hopefully that’s a drama that most people interested in self-sufficiency can avoid, but it’s fair to say that allotment crime is an issue that many have to deal with, whether it’s theft or vandalism. And the contaminated manure issue has affected, and no doubt will continue to affect, many people who are trying to live the good life.


Articles in the ‘Recreating the Good Life series’:
Recreating the Good Life: Cash Crops
Recreating the Good Life: Energy
Recreating the Good Life: Food Waste and Chickens
Recreating the Good Life: Pigs and Barter
Recreating the Good Life: Press

Posted 5 February 2010, 10:53.
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