Best Place to 'Homestead' for Self-Sufficiency in UK Suburbs.

You get it. You know WHY you may want to homestead or have a cottage garden and live the ‘good life’. But WHERE is the best place to do that in the UK? Or rather, in what setting? 

Here’s the thing; A homestead (garden and home working toward providing SOMETHING for you and yours), can be whatever you want it to be!

Where depends on a few options and possibilities. If you’re in the UK like myself and husband, your first consideration is cost. Let’s face it; land of any size in the UK is priced at a premium. No point thinking about it until you know what space you have.

Location wise, all southern parts of England and Wales are famous for being the best places, but I have seen fantastic edible gardens as far north as north-east Scotland and a few in Northern Ireland. In my Observations blog, I cover how you can observe your location and situation to inform the type of garden you grow.

There are different ways of living a homesteading life in the UK and I’m going to suggest a few options.

Yes, you CAN homestead with an allotment. If you don’t have a garden at home, an allotment can be invaluable for growing food. As long as you keep it in good cultivation and weed free, you'll be fine with the committees.

The catch would be allotment committees or other plot tenants. Some are lovely, others high on authority. All allotments come with rules and expectations. Others are more relaxed and open to alternative growing methods, not just strict traditional straight lines.

There’s the potential thieving (Hubby and I have had experience with that). I know there are more lovely sites with wonderful people and community spirit. Do your research.

We quit ours because for a while we didn’t have a car and couldn’t face the long walk everyday to water in the height of the season. We wanted to explore more growing techniques and types of plants the committee wasn’t keen on. That brings me to...

At least there’s a shared responsibility and benefit in a community garden. There could also be a similar situation to having an allotment. Facebook and other platforms might be a great place to find your local community garden. Even better if it's close to home. 

See my eBook for more details.

If you can’t do that, maybe consider asking a friend or neighbour, again as I’ve mentioned in a previous blog and in the Introduction to Suburban Self-Sufficiency eBook.

Using someone else's garden has the potential to become unpleasant due to disagreements.  It may be a good idea to have a contract even if it’s a family garden. Finally, I come to my favourite option. I'm biased in this respect. 

This is the BEST PLACE to homestead in my opinion. Of course I'd say that! There's nothing as freeing as being able to design your own garden and grow what you like (within the law of course).

What a blessing to grow your own just outside your door, even if only in a tiny courtyard or a balcony. There's a catch here too and I don’t want to burst your bubble, but even in your own garden and home, there may be restrictions.

If you own it, the only restrictions are those set by your local authority as far as planning for outbuildings and keeping animals are concerned.  I cover animal 'livestock' briefly in the eBook but go deeper in the next one of the series specifically to do with the garden.

If however, you rent then your landlord also sets restrictions or conditions. Check your tenancy agreement and even so, call your landlord to double check. I’m sure they require getting written permission in most cases.

It also depends on the type of tenancy you have. If not secure or indefinite, you might want to grow a container garden that can be moved when you do.  You could always prioritise the plants over furniture! 

Homesteading isn’t about the garden alone. It’s as I’ve said a number of times, about what goes on IN the home in connection with the garden. A wonderful blog and site called Happy Homestead wrote an article on the definition of homestead and there's an online dictionary description of the ancient roots of the word. These clarified and decided why I call my home and garden a homestead.

It is possible to live a sustainable, self-sufficient homestead life in a flat (apartment) or on a smallholding or anywhere you have space. You decide. I hope I've given you enough information and ideas about the type of homestead you want and more importantly WHERE you would like live the lifestyle.

Ultimately, Homestead is where the heart is. Many more related blogs and books are on their way. 

Just how and where do or will you Homestead?

As always, I love to hear from you.

Until next time...Happy homesteading!

From your fellow ‘good-lifer’,