12.08.09

THE 21ST CENTURY GOOD LIFE (ACCORDING TO JAMIE OLIVER)
- B&Q research reveals the Home Farmer revolution -

New research by B&Q to celebrate National Allotment Week (10th to 16th August) shows that recession hit Brits are going back to basics and embracing The Good Life with a third (33 per cent) confirming they are growing their own this summer.

While Tom and Barbara Good have been the archetypal home farmers since the 1970’s hit TV series, today’s self sufficiency converts are more likely to be inspired by Jamie and Jools Oliver; 57 per cent of those questioned said they thought the Olivers were the modern day version of the Goods.

43 per cent of Brits who grow their own say their primary reason is to save money – and the average estimated amount saved is a whopping £65.

Grow Your Own enthusiasts don’t want to stop at growing fruit and vegetables, 17 per cent would like a chicken coop, seven per cent dream of starting a vineyard and four per cent considering keeping pigs

Sales of B&Q’s chicken coops have increased a quarter over the last year and the retailer is considering introducing Pig Arcs in 2010 to address the trend for back garden pig keeping. The company is also looking at bee hives and goat sheds as possible introductions into the expanding Grow Your Own area of its stores.

Katharine Poulter, B&Q Director of seasonal said: “Our customers have readily embraced the Grow Your Own trend. Whether it’s on an allotment or a city centre balcony there is something for everyone to grow and enjoy.

“Our research tells us that Brits are ready to get their hands dirty and take the plot to plate revolution one step further with back garden pigs. Home farming is a trend which is going to get more mainstream over the next few years.”

The keeping of home pigs peaked some years before The Good Life, during WW2 an estimated 130,000 pigs, producing 10,000 tons of pig meat annually, were reared in over 5,000 community pig clubs on allotments and gardens. Similarly in 1943 about a quarter of all eggs eaten in Britain came from home coops.

The Good Life, starring Richard Briers and Felicity Kendall, ran for four series on the BBC from 1975 to 1978 and was an instant hit. In the series Tom Good decides, on his 40th birthday, that he's had enough of the rat race and that he and wife Barbara will become self-sufficient. The pair convert their garden into a farm, get in the pigs and chickens and grow their own crops.

At the same time as the country was watching the TV series John Seymour wrote The Complete Book of Self-Sufficiency (published 1976), a guide for real and dreaming down-shifters. Sales of the new book exceeded all expectations, it is still in print today, has sold over a million copies and is still considered the most authoritative tome for would be home farmers.

Top ten Grow Your Own essentials on allotments and in vegetable plots in the UK

1. Tomatoes 47% (percentage of plots grown in)
2. Lettuce 23%
3. Potatoes 23%
4. Strawberries 22%
5. Carrots 20%
6. Basil 19%
7. Chives 19%
8. Parsley 18%
9. Beans 14%
10. Onion 14%

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