Greetings from South Africa

[Terence]

Hi Everyone,

So ive been contemplating going into self sufficiency for quite a while and finally started researching and came across this site.

I am from Johannesburg, South Africa. My wife and I have an approx. 1000 sq m stand with a small 2 bedroom house on it, it has a pool which is currently not in use and in need of renovations which we are looking at doing in the winter. Our stand consists of majority grass so we are looking at making a few small veggie gardens to start off with. The previous owners had a small one but its located in a spot where there is barely any sun so not much grows there so we plan to relocate it with a few additional gardens so its less grass to cut LOL, take me a few days to get the whole yard cut.

Im also planning to make a few small DIY green houses with stuff i have laying around for the seedlings to grow before replanting into the gardens.

I am very new to this and have absolutely no clue what im doing so im here to learn and gain as much knowledge as possible.

My parents live on a 'sort of farm' not too far away from us and have been growing their own vegetables for years and we usually get from them but now I think its time to start our own garden. My dad has encouraged us to do our own for ages and will certainly help out where he can so we lucky there.

Thanks for reading my story LOL

 

[ClissAT]

Hi Terence and welcome!
We have other members from Cape Town, as well as Johannesburg, and another town there too.
It might pay you to look through this Introduction section to find them.
We all started our journey into self-sufficiency at the beginning!
You are planning well and obviously know it's best to have modest expectations to begin with.
Each thing you grow will increase your knowledge and give you gratification and courage to carry on, even if it doesn't grow the best the first time.

Being able to say that everything on the table and the plates for a particular meal was self grown is a wonderful and rewarding feeling.

 

[Mark]

Hi @Terence and welcome to SSC!

 

[Kasalia]

Welcome to the forum Terence plenty of info here.

 

[OskarDoLittle]

Hi Terence...well done for having a go. We have a similar sized suburban block to you - and it is a little difficult to be completely self sufficient with food depending on the amount of sun you get on your block, and other conditions. (Plus my other half won’t let me take over the whole garden with food plants - so I’m limited to an area about 30m2!!)
When you’re planning, think about whether you want raised beds (easier on the back) and the cost this might entail v. beds at ground level (much cheaper and quicker to get up and running).
There’s also a number of theories/techniques about “the best” way to grow. At the moment I’m trialling “No dig” (google Charles Dowding) but for raised beds something like Hugelkultur might be of interest. Or a combination of them both if you have raised beds up & running. There are also some good ideas about garden layout in permaculture...kitchen garden for herbs/veg closest to the house, food forest beyond, then animals etc. It’s much easier to get this right at the start than having to transplant things or relocate greenhouses later. Also think about placement of things like compost sheds if you have room - if it’s too far from the garden you’re less likely to use it.