Subsistence gardening is gardening in which you only take what you actually need from your garden – and in which your garden supplies you with (at least some of) what you actually need.

The main advantages of subsistence gardening are, firstly, that it gives you a degree of independence from the global economy, and thereby restores a measure of freedom to your life, and secondly, it gives you the experience of being part of a natural ecosystem, rather than of being someone observing nature from the outside.

The basic principles which should be respected as far as possible are:

Do not grow produce explicitly to sell from the garden (and minimise products that you buy, or bring into the garden).

Do as much of the work in the garden yourself as you can – rather than using petrol-driven, or electric, machines.

If these principles are respected, the garden and the gardener are able to evolve together, each in their own way becoming richer, more dynamic, and in better health.

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Subsistence gardening in pictures: galleries