UK Grab Bag Checklist: What to Pack for Leaving Home
A practical grab bag guide for ordinary UK households, with a pack-ahead checklist, last-minute essentials and adaptations for children, pets and personal needs.
Read article →Grow a little. Make something. Learn as you go.
Niki Wilkinson
Practical ideas for growing, making and building a more self-reliant home. Find something useful for the space, time and budget you have.
How to Plan a Vegetable Garden to Save Money
Build a small vegetable garden around the food your household actually eats, with practical crop choices, realistic costs and a plan for using every harvest.
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Kitchen Scraps in the Garden: What to Do With Coffee, Eggshells and Whey
A practical guide to reusing coffee grounds, tea leaves and eggshells in a small UK garden, with an honest look at my whey experiment and…
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Preparing for Rising Food Costs: A Calmer Plan for Your Household
An expensive food shop has a way of following you home. You’ve put everything away, but you’re still thinking about the total on the receipt…
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7 Essential Jobs To Do In Your Garden Before Winter Hits
As someone who gardens in a normal back garden with an allotment on the side — and who has just spent the last few weeks…
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DIY Ivy Dish Soap: The Free Natural Cleaner You Can Make Today
When it comes to cleaning, it’s easy to fall into the trap of using chemical-laden products, but what if you could make your own cleaning…
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Small-Space Homestead Planning for Ordinary UK Homes
Building a small-space homestead isn’t about land ownership or grand plans — it’s about learning what’s possible in the space you already have. After years…
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Behind on Spring Gardening? 5 Calm Fixes That Work
For the past several years I’ve grown food in small UK gardens, raised beds, containers, and even troughs — often starting later than I meant…
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October 2024: How We Manage Self-Reliance (even in our hectic weeks)
Welcome, good lifers! If you've found yourself here, you're probably a bit like us at Castle Good Life: juggling work, life, and an unwavering commitment…
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Food Storage and Food Preservation: What Is The Difference Between?
In a world where food prices are steadily climbing and sustainability is on everyone’s mind, managing food waste has become a shared concern for many…
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