[Mazzie]

A question for those who have been growing for a while as im curious.

So how self sufficient are you honestly with veg and fruit? 

[JaK]

My honest answer is- not very. This is because I have very limited space for growing at the moment. During the warmer months we grow all of our own salad stuff (family of 4), enough courgettes to feed us and the neighbours and lot's of other veggies and fruits in very small amounts but we usually have somthing to eat from the garden each day for I guess 6/7 months of the year.

[solway cropper]

With what goes in the freezer we are largely self-sufficient in veg. and self-sufficient in fruit for about half the year. However, we are completely self-sufficient in jams, pickles and chutney and I put enough liquidized veg. in pots in the freezer to make a soup base for much of the year.

I have a good-size rear garden and a large lean-to greenhouse so it is easier for me than many folks. My aim is complete self-sufficiency and I keep pinching bits of lawn each year. 

[mumofstig]

I have enough frozen veg (french beans, sugar snap peas, sweetcorn for another couple of months, but ran out of potatoes last week  Alas, I only have a 1/4 plot so no room for more
I still have 4 winter squash in store and a large pumpkin.

I have bought no tins of tomatoes or jars of pasta sauce since last harvest and still plenty hiding at the bottom of the chest freezer 

I had as many raspberries as I could eat, and enough to make jam, next year I will have strawberries as well

I'm still eating salad leaves and chard from the greenhouse and there are 5 cabbages still on the plot. Think that covers it all

[mashbintater]

Up til this year I've grown from a small garden roughly 12' x 12' plus lots of containers. Success has varied a lot, but we ate a few tasty meals from my efforts. Maybe this year we'll excel  .

[Aunt Sally]

95% self sufficient in everything but

cauliflowers, sweeds, winter salads, some fruits.

[Kristen]

I reckon we managed for about 10 months of the year. If we put more effort into freezing we would probably get close to 12-out-of-12.   Doesn't stop my Personal Shopper from buying strawberries at exorbitant prices in the middle of Winter - and then complaining how tasteless they are though.

[andy135]

Spuds and onions lasted untill Christmas. I now have another half plot and will grow more this year. I still have about 12lbs of rhubarb in the freezer, 5lbs of sliced courgettes, and enough french and runner beans to feed us for about two years.  Guess who won't be growing beans this year? 
Going to make a big effort with carrots and swede and brassicas this year.

[Muddylou]

I still have Potatoes, shallots and a little bit of garlic. I should have frozen lots more French beans as I ran out before Christmas. How do you freeze runner beans? Podded or unpodded, if you know what I mean. 

[mumofstig]

I freeze them sliced in the same way as french beans, personally I don't think they are as succesful, but if you have loads .............

[themoog]

Depends on the year. Last year I had enough potatoes to last until February but this year had 2 potatoes suitable for storage  . I also don't have the space to grow much fruit, especially as we get through about 2 kilos of apples a week  .

So...entirely self-sufficient in veg  (from 1/4 plot and a couple of raised beds in the garden) July-October, fine for greens and frozen veg October-March and have to buy most of our veg April-June.

Actually, looked at like that, we grow more than I thought  !

[Ian_A]

totally now. Took a while with planning for growing enough, plus extras in case of failure

[plum crumble]

I really don't think runners freeze well. Any excess goes to family, work colleagues, neighbours, etc
Self sufficient in pickles, chuntneys, jams, passata. Usually same for 10 months of the year with spuds and onions - but poor crops last year, and rot in storage saw me run out at Christmas this year. 

[JayG]

I don't expect to buy much in the way of vegetables from about early June onwards, although I only have room for first early spuds so they've all gone by about August.

After September, it's really just the leeks, parsnips and herbs remaining (man cannot live on autumn raspberries alone!)
I haven't got either enough space or the right sort of soil for winter brassicas so there's a big void in that department

I still have plenty of ex-takeaway boxes of home-made tomato/onion/courgette(!) sauce in the freezer which makes a good basis for pasta dishes, but I give away excess runner beans as I think that after freezing they are a very poor substitute for fresh.

So, over an entire year I'm a long way off being self-sufficient, but boy do I love it when it is all coming thick and fast! 

[rowlandwells]

i think we are about average for being self sufficient  we had some soft fruit off the lottie some  spuds a few cabbage some parsnips beetroot good crop of onions and runner bean still picking leeks  but  broad beans Brussels and most of the brassicas crop failure last year looks like the winter cauliflowers have sec-um to frost damage to have a few spring cabbage in pots ready to put out in the spring

so we have had some veg off the lottie not as much as i thought i would looking forward to see what 2011 brings forth surprisingly i had a good crop of winter cauliflower in pots the early part of last year that produced good heads left them  to grow in the polytunnel

if you plan your lottie and depending on the lottie size you should be almost self sufficient i was always told a good gardener should have something on the table all year round obviously I'm not a good gardener but still a learner after many gardening years can't win um all