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T H E
SELF-SUFFICIENT
LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT
JOHN SEYMOUR
WITH WILL SUTHERLAND
ALICE WATERS
FOREWORD BY
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Contents
Foreword by The Illustrated Index of Vegetables, Goats 206
Alice Waters 7 Herbs & Fruits 57 Pigs 208
Prefaces to the 2018 Edition 8 The Edible Parts of Plants 58 Sheep 215
Prefaces to Earlier Editions 10 Roots 62 Poultry 220
Introduction 12 Stems 64 Rabbits 226
Leaves 66 Bees & Honey 227
CHAPTER 1 Flowers and Vegetable Fruits 74
THE MEANING OF Seeds and Pods 76
CHAPTER 4
SELF-SUFFICIENCY
Fruits 80
FOOD FROM THE FIELDS
The Way to Self-sufficiency 18 Green Manure Crops 88
Clearing Land 232
Humans & the Environment 20 The Cultivation of Vegetables 89
Draining Land 234
The Natural Cycle 24 The Cultivation of Herbs 143
Irrigating Land 236
The Seasons 26 The Cultivation of Fruits 155
Making Use of Woodland 237
The Urban Garden 28 Caring for Fruit Trees 178
Hedging & Fencing 240
The Community Garden 30 Vegetables through the Year 180
The Working Horse 244
The One-acre Farm 32 Winter 182
Horse & Tractor Power 246
The Five-acre Farm 37 Spring 184
Preparing Land & Sowing 247
Early Summer 186
CHAPTER 2 Late Summer 188 Harvesting 250
FOOD FROM THE Fall 190 The Cereals 252
GARDEN The Greenhouse 192 Wheat 254
The Food-producing Garden 42 Milling Grain 255
CHAPTER 3
The Deep Bed 46 Oats & Rye 256
FOOD FROM ANIMALS
Sowing & Planting 48 Barley 257
Growing under Cover 50 The Living Farmyard 196 Corn 258
Protecting from Pests 52 The Cow 198 Rice 259
Pests, Fungi & Diseases 54 Beef 204 Growing Crops for Oil 260
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Growing Root Crops 261 Making Jams & Syrups 314 CHAPTER 10
Grass & Hay 268 Bakery & Desserts 316 CRAFTS & SKILLS
Meats 317
The Workshop 354
CHAPTER 5 Fish 318
Building 356
FOOD FROM THE WILD Vegetables 319
Springs & Plumbing 359
Game 274 Knots & Ropework 360
Fish & Sea Foods 276 CHAPTER 8 Basketry 362
Plants, Nuts & Berries 280 BREWING & Pottery 364
WINE-MAKING
Mushrooms 282 Spinning Wool & Cotton 366
Brewing Basics 322
Dyeing & Weaving 368
CHAPTER 6 Malting Barley 323
Spinning Flax 370
IN THE DAIRY Making Beer 324
Curing & Tanning 371
Making Wine 328
The Hayshed & Cowshed 286 Making Bricks & Tiles 372
Making Hard Cider & Vinegar 332
The Dairy 288 Working in Stone 374
Making Butter & Cream 290 Working in Metal 376
CHAPTER 9
Making Cheese 293 Building & Thatching 378
ENERGY & WASTE
Scything 380
CHAPTER 7 Food for the Garden 336 Woodworking 382
IN THE KITCHEN The Dry Toilet 338 Household Items 386
The North-facing Storeroom 298 Managing Waste 340 Making a Pond & Fish Farming 388
Harvesting & Storing 300 Saving Energy 342 The All-purpose Furnace 389
Making Bread 302 Power from Water 344 Becoming a Self-supporter 390
Preserving 306 Heat from the Sun 346 Glossary 400
Freezing 308 Power from the Sun 348 Index 402
Canning 310 Fuel from Waste 349 Resources 407
Making Pickles & Chutneys 312 Power from the Wind 350 About the Authors 408
A NOTE ON THE TEXT:
The text in this book was first written by John Seymour in the 1970s. DK has republished
his words with only minimal changes. However, some of the references to pesticides and
chemicals Seymour recommends in the book are no longer recommended or readily
available, and the publisher has made every effort to identify these by inserting asterixes
throughout the text.
If you are in any doubt about these or any other recommendations given in this book, in
light of today’s changing world, please seek current advice. The publisher does not accept
any liability for any damage or injuries resulting from the use of pesticides or from
following any of the advice in this book.
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THE SELF-SUFFICIENT LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT
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Foreword
Foreword
I became aware of John Seymour’s book shortly after it Hidden under the guise of modern convenience and
was first published in 1976. Sadly, I never met him— efficiency, these sorts of insidious values had already
but the magic of his writing is such that I felt like caught hold in the 1970s when John first wrote this
I knew him, and felt a sort of kinship from afar. His book, and they have become more and more ingrained
sound common sense, profound depth of knowledge, in our world over the past four decades. It is horrifying
and deft, light touch are what have made this book the way fast food culture infantilizes people—it tells
such an important touchstone for the counterculture you that you can’t cook, that you can’t build
over the years. things for yourself, that you can’t make the steady,
I have always had so much respect for the back-to- incremental changes that will lead you down the path
the-land movement that John Seymour and others to a more sustainable lifestyle. But you can! This book
pioneered in the 1970s. I never felt I had the fortitude that you hold in your hands is the antidote. You can
to be utterly off the grid—not without electricity or grow your own food, even if you live in a cold climate;
running water or heat. But with this book, we are here you have helpful growing and harvesting
given the permission to adopt as much as we feel we instructions for hundreds of fruits and vegetables and
are able. It is a beautifully laid-out road map, without herbs, and on pp.192–93, you’ll even find instructions
moral judgment, that gently guides us toward a for building your own greenhouse. You can forage for
simpler, more humane life. And I absolutely had that delicious wild berries, or catch your own trout—all
desire to live more simply. Much like John, when the guidance you need is right here. And once you have
I started my restaurant Chez Panisse in 1971 I didn’t experienced the pleasure and satisfaction of doing
have a conscious drive to change the way people ate. some of those things, perhaps you will want do a little
In opening a little French restaurant with my friends, more; perhaps you will want to start brewing your
buying food from the small, local farmers nearby or own beer, or raising chickens or goats or cows, or
foraging food from the fertile California landscape making your house more energy-efficient, or dyeing
around us, I thought that I was dropping out—I was your own fabrics with vegetable dyes. Every chapter of
disillusioned with the corruption of politics at the this book is so empowering.
time, and we felt we were opting out of all that, What I love more than anything about this book
reverting to a simpler, more pleasurable way of living. is the deeper message that John conveys. Embedded
But just like John, I learned over time that what in the text are the sort of slow, patient, earthbound
I thought was dropping out was actually its own act of human values that have sustained us for millennia
social and political resistance. I realized that each of us and given meaning to our lives—you can see them in
has the opportunity to change the world every time we the lovingly meticulous illustrations of sorrel and
eat—and through the small, daily choices we make as runner beans and greengage plums, in the instructions
we go about our lives. for kneading bread dough, in the descriptions of the
Here we are now, forty-two years after the first helpful little garden animals and plants that protect
publication of the book, and these writings are more crops from pests. There is a reverence for the beauty
relevant and needed than ever. Every day we are and diversity of the natural world that emanates from
indoctrinated in the fast food culture that has come to every page—and a deep respect for the traditions and
define our world, and we are deprived of living skills of our agrarian forebears. And that, ultimately, is
harmoniously with nature. Fast food culture the power of The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live It. This
encompasses so much more than just food. Fast food book helps us fall in love effortlessly with nature; it
culture creates the invisible moral structure underneath teaches us to trust in and grow our own innate
us, guiding us all subconsciously and feeding us human abilities; and it transforms us into capable,
falsehoods that affect our whole lives—and imperil confident, and joyful stewards of the land for future
our planet. We are told that bigger is always better; that generations. I can think of no greater gift.
everything is disposable; that time is money; that our
natural resources are limitless; that uniformity should
Alice Waters
be valued above all else; that work is drudgery.
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THE SELF-SUFFICIENT LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT
Prefaces to the 2018 Edition
Will Sutherland
I first met John Seymour in 1991. I had just resigned from Now, so many years later, John has sadly passed away—
my job in the City of London as a Senior Management in 2004 at the ripe old age of 90. We buried him on his
Consultant and was organizing a conference on old farm in Wales and fortunately, with help from
alternative political ideas where John was one of the Dorling Kindersley, we were able to improve and expand
main speakers. I had previously discovered John’s The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency with The New Complete Book
writings and was immediately attracted to his common of Self-Sufficiency in 2003. So John’s work lives on and,
sense, wisdom, and wide knowledge of the world. John’s indeed, has probably never been more important. His
message was direct and simple—people (like you and ideas may have seemed marginal or even outlandish
me) can change the world by changing what they do in when they first appeared in print but they are now
their own lives. We don’t need to wait for governments rapidly entering the mainstream.
or giant corporations to tell us how. The only problem is Of course, my own journey did not end at Killowen.
that most of the skills and knowledge we need to do this I realize now that this was only the beginning of a new
have been lost in the consumer frenzy that has dominated and better way of life. In 2001 Angela and I were
the last 50 years. The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency, married and we now have two grown-up children who,
published by Dorling Kindersley in 1976, was, and in true self-sufficient style, we educated at home until
remains, John’s answer to the problem. they were teenagers. In 2010 I left Killowen to live in
After I had attended the first UN Earth Summit in Rio France but I continued to run the annual series of self-
I decided it was time for me to explore the book’s sufficiency courses that we started with John more than
philosophy for myself. I will never forget that first trip 20 years ago. Today I run these courses in a beautiful old
to visit John and his companion Angela. The blackest of Victorian kitchen garden in Northumberland. It is
winter nights swallowed up my old BMW motorcycle heartening to find that now, in 2018, there is much
as it lurched onward more serious interest in what people (and even
unsteadily through a governments) call “well-being” rather than a continuing
remote Irish farmyard mad rush to acquire more consumer goods. There are
knee-deep in cow also many more courses on growing and gardening!
slurry. With all the Most of those who come to the self-sufficiency
studied objectivity of course are already highly successful in conventional
my old days as a terms. The one thing they have in common is a feeling
government civil servant, that some key ingredient in their lives is missing. Busy
I weighed the prospect of business people want to take back control of their own
ending my first trip to lives. They want healthier food and closer contact with
Ireland lost in bottomless the natural world. They have a belief, a dream if you
manure! But the fates like, that they can do this by getting out of the office,
were kind, the slurry out of town, and into the air. Dreams can, of course,
released me, and a kind easily become nightmares, as many a popular sitcom
Irish family redirected me to the smallholding here at has shown! It is the aim of this book to give you the
Killowen. Supper was delicious, the stove was warm, knowledge and some gentle guidance to ensure that
and I found myself part of a totally different approach to your dream does not become a nightmare. If you are
life and living. We had eaten home-reared beef, drunk wise you will not be hasty. Don’t be surprised if your
home-brewed beer, and supped extraordinarily delicious desire for change takes you in unexpected directions—
homemade ice cream. Over a whisky after supper John it is the unexpected, after all, that gives life its sparkle.
took out his accordion and Angela sang songs. So pick up your spade and live!
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Prefaces to the 2018 Edition
Anne Sears
It was not what you might call a normal childhood, with good friends and neighbors, and follow our
growing up in the household of John and Sally individual creative pursuits.
Seymour, and early on I realized that we were following Although written more than 40 years ago, my
a different path to the consumer-led mainstream. father’s methods and ideas are still relevant. Inevitably
However, as time went by, there was increasing interest some practices are dated, as times and opinions have
in how my parents had chosen to live. It was a puzzle changed. A lot of insect and disease control and animal
to me that people were drawn to the so-called “Back to feed that he advocates using are not seen as organic, or
the Land” movement. I could not really understand at all desirable, and others not even legal anymore.
why there were visitors beating their way to our door Some, such as using peat, are not sustainable or ethical.
having read The Fat of the Land, as much fun as it was to In my own garden I use netting as a barrier against
have them to stay. When The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency cabbage root fly, cabbage white butterfly, and carrot and
was published, there was a new wave of interest which onion fly, and it works against birds, too. Other people
brought us a modicum of fame. A stream of film crews might prefer an approach more in tune with
and reporters and more visitors came to meet our permaculture principles. After all, “weeds” and “pests”
family and experience the exciting and fulfilling are life-forms too—just living in the wrong place
self-sufficient life. In my world as a teenager, in the according to homo sapiens. As we learn more about
1970s, one was supposed to be famous for artistic what keeps us healthy, our eating habits are changing,
or literary endeavors, bold bravery by handsome with a modern take on age-old methods. Sourdough
heroes—not growing food. But of course it was so bread and other fermented foods including sauerkraut,
much more than that. kimchi, and kefir have become popular. They are
As far back as I can remember there was always a delicious and easy to digest, and are said to have
feeling of abundance and purpose on the farm. Ours enormous health benefits.
was a life consciously chosen by my parents, with a will John worked tirelessly to raise awareness of the
to continue age-old farming practices and to integrate damage that we are inflicting on our environment. He
new ideas and technologies into our life. It was an saw that there was a much simpler, more satisfying way
informed decision to live a moderate, worthy existence to live, working in harmony with nature, not against
in a world of increasing extravagance and waste. her. Always practical and outspoken, he inspires
Working together, and for the right rewards, was a confidence and self-reliance, enabling people to realize
pleasure. John and Sally didn’t see physical work as any their ambitions and giving them the courage to follow
kind of hardship. One of John’s maxims for a happy life their dreams. His books are lighthearted and accessible,
was to “sit down to your meals hungry and go to bed but the underlying message is urgently serious, to be
tired.” I clearly remember John and Sally discussing the ignored at our peril. John would be delighted to
various different ways to tackle a job, combining their see how parts of the establishment are now embracing
individual skills or figuring out the best methods his ideas and those of his friends and like-minded
through trial and error and sheer determination. All peers, including Fritz Schumacher, Leopold Kohr,
the family lived every minute of the story as it unfolded, and Satish Kumar. Local communities are working
the struggles and triumphs, and the rewards. There is toward sustainable food systems, energy, and
nothing to equal the sense of achievement felt by all transportation—environmental awareness is increasing.
who have worked toward the common aim of bringing We are being encouraged to take responsibility for
fresh food from the land to the table. We had nutrient- ourselves and our planet.
rich vegetables, happy animals, and healthy soil, and John said, “Live simply with nature and find pleasure,
we made time to celebrate the passing of the seasons comfort, and true civilization in simple things.”
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THE SELF-SUFFICIENT LIFE AND HOW TO LIVE IT
Prefaces to Earlier Editions
FOR THE NEW COMPLETE BOOK OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY (2003), John Seymour
This book first came out over sorry scheme of things and then remold it to our
25 years ago, created by hearts’ desire,” as old Omar Khayam said it.
Dorling Kindersley, with a To allow ourselves to be dependent on some vast
little help from me, but “Thing created by the Merchants of Greed” is madness.
published by Faber and It is time to cut out what we do not need so we can
Faber. It is now being live more simply and happily. Good food, comfortable
delivered into the new clothes, serviceable housing, and true culture—those
millennium kicking and are the things that matter. The only way this can
screaming! Since I first wrote happen is by ordinary people, us, boycotting the huge
THE FIRST EDITION (UK) it the book has certainly multinational corporations that are destroying our
The cover of the first British
edition, published in 1976. gotten around. I have traveled Earth—and creating a new Age—an Age of Healing in
in at least dozens of countries place of the current Age of Plunder.
since I wrote it (to say nothing of four continents) and I would like to acknowledge my fellow self-
in every one of them people have come up to me with supporters, Will Sutherland and Angela Ashe, for their
their copy for me to sign. I have been delighted to find unfailing help over the last three decades. They have
wine stains on the wine-making pages, and good shared the trials and labors as well as the joys of this
honest dirt on the gardening pages. I have indeed way of life, and have come into partnership with me
updated it for the new millennium, but have not to start a school of self-sufficiency in Ireland, to which
sacrificed any of the techniques and tips that have stood all honest men, women, and children are welcome,
me well all that time and continue to do so. provided they can find the fees!
Since I first wrote the first version of this book Of course, I have learned a lot since I wrote it (when
back in 1975, I now think there is a far more urgent you cease learning things they take you away in a box),
reason for it. Very few people today can fail to see that and I continue to live a pretty self-sufficient life. There
the present course that man- and woman-kind is are very few processes described in this book that
embarked upon is unsustainable. We are changing I have not performed myself—albeit, perhaps, some of
our atmosphere with frightening rapidity—we are them ineptly. I have embarked on many an enterprise
altering the world’s climate—we are burning up the without the faintest idea of how to do it—but I have
Earth’s enormous stores of carbon as quickly as always ended up with the thing done and with a great
possible. We are utterly dependent on cheap fossil deal more knowledge than I had when I started.
fuels, so any interruption in supply would bring Would I advise other people to follow this lifestyle?
disaster. Imagine trying to feed and service our huge I wouldn’t advise anybody to do anything. The purpose
cities if the fuel ran out! It is now urgently necessary of this book is not to shape other people’s lives but
to dismantle the whole fabric of world trade and simply to help people to do things if they decide to. This
replace it with a far less fuel-hungry, less polluting, way of life suits me—it has kept me fighting fit and at
less dangerous arrangement. least partly sane into my 88th year, and it has prevented
Most people know all this, but they are afraid that me from doing too much harm to our poor planet.
their quality of life will decline if we change course. I would offer this advice: do not try to do everything
Well, the purpose of this book is to show that this is at once. This is an organic way of life and organic
not the case. We could live without pillaging our processes tend to be slow and steady. I would also
planet—and live very well indeed! We have allowed like to offer this motto: “I am only one. I can only do
ourselves to get where we are because of the “blind what one can do. But what one can do, I will do!”
workings of the market.” But we are not blind, so we Happy grub-grubbing! (Better than money-grubbing
must now start using our good sense to “break this any day!)
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