John Seymour! What a man! I have spent the last two decades sailing around the world-can you believe that I have given copies of his book to people I have met in the strangest of places to help them in their pursuit of self -sufficiency. His knowledge translates from the hills of Wales to the jungles of central America and the arid lands of Europe. Amazing. Life at sea can never be as self sufficient as my previous farming life in terms of food but the basic principles are similar. I fish and forage. Produce my own power and can even make fresh water from the briny sea. Am binging on your films-thank you, it's been fascinating watching your experiences.
Here's a worthy project that you might be interested in. I don't know whether you're familiar with any of Seymour's other books? I have read "The Fat of the Land" many times, plus more. He earned his living in the 50s and 60s by traversing Britain, on foot, in horse and cart or a wooden boat, seeking out and recording artisans and craftsmen of scores of fields, to chronicle their various traditional rural skills for posterity. This was under the auspices of the BBC. Both audio and video recordings were made. What a treasure trove this was! The like can never be repeated, since so many of these craftspeople and their arts have been relegated to distant history. With your experience, connections and passion, Max, you seem to be ideally placed to track down any of these archives that may possibly exist! I have searched in vain for any relic of John Seymour's work. The only footage of him that I have come across, is a training session at his Welsh farm where he is addressing a group of keen self supporter students, and also a speech he gave at some grand dinner. He was filmed by an Australian channel once, shortly before he died, where he was arrested for participating in a rural protest in Ireland. Tragically I missed recording this, not recognizing this tiny old man as the giant John Seymour, until it finished. Surely the BBC has a dusty warehouse somewhere, with reels of Seymour treasures?
Ditto, Max! Love that book. Our soil looks similar, One year, I felt like a potter moulding my garlic cloves into the soil! I try not to dig at all, à la Charles Dowding.
The first holiday my wife and I took (before we were married) back when we were just 19&20 I took that book with us. I read it twice through in that week! When we moved here my sister framed that picture of the 5 acre smallholding! One thing I've learnt about being obsessed with the subject of self sufficiency for the last few decades is I can't do it alone. haven't got your spuds in - what about some quinoa? Still just time to sow it. Great video as always.
I didn’t get spuds in. It was such a tricky spring. They were planted at a friends farm who has much more forgiving soil. We do need to have a John Seymour society. Such an inspiration for what is good and right. Long Live all self supporters as he’d say - sending my best. Max
We find your videos are a big inspiration to us. We moved to a house in the country two years ago with 3 acres with a dream of producing as much food for ourselves as we can. Our dream has come along later in life than we would have liked. It's taken until now to clear the land and get it fenced plus get the house livable. We are now beginning to plant our food and raise animals. Hope you keep doing these videos going after you have finished your challenge.
You are so right. I actually produced quite good wheat but couldn’t afford a proper mill so all my flour was milled in a Vitamix. Would love to get a proper small scale mill. Thanks for your words. Max
God it’s such a big step. But we are keeping it really small and manageable. I do know that I can’t go back to the super market and business as usual. Thanks so much for such an encouraging message. Max
I know exactly how you feel about that book. I stole $10 from my boyfriend to buy this in 1979, and my copy is much more bedraggled than yours. So many dreams, some triumphs, many times success eluded me in dramatic fashion. For one thing, I should have listened harder when he cautioned against getting goats. I knew it!! It is all too much for one person to accomplish, and John Seymour admitted as much. But all these years later, the yearning to live the self sufficient life, and do things the way my grandparents did, is strong. It always will be. But I remember that after their divorce, Sally Seymour returned to Australia, and started a very successful small holding on her own. Alas I am made of lesser stuff. For sticky clay, the remedy is spreading gypsum. At the rate of at least one tonne per acre, which = 250g / square metre. More is good, and it needs doing every year for several years, until the calcium sulphate has worked its magic. It gets washed down into the crevices, and begins to flocculate the soil into a good crumb structure. Best of luck with the embarrasse de richesse!
My book seems to be in the same condition as yours! I just love reading that book it gives me hope when things are not going well, to know that next year will be better and maybe it will and maybe it wont but there is always the hope. The community idea sounds great l wish it was possible here where l live but in truth so many people prefer the easy lure of the supermarkets to the graft of a home grown tattie or lettuce. If l were closer to you l would certainly join in, l'm self sufficient in green beans, onions/leeks, blackcurrants, gooseberries, tomatoes and can get a long way through the year on many other veggies and fruits. Look forward to the next instalment as you certainly get my brain thinking and it even looks as if we will get the polytunnel up today!
Unfortunately this book was bound very badly on inferior paper!! I've bought the hardback copy of "The New Complete Guide to Selfsufficiency" which is of better physical quality, but tragically has been reworked to be politically correct and EU-regulation friendly. Seymour would have HATED what they did to his masterpiece, long and loud!!
God bless us all there’s none like us. Just a teeny bit of self sufficiency makes such a difference to how we all feel about ourselves and the world. Thanks so much for your message - Max
