The John Seymour School for Self Sufficiency

Self sufficiency is how we reduce our dependence on huge corporations and governments.    It is a  path to healthier living - better food, more exercise and the added challenge of trying new things.     Whether you are growing, brewing, building or eating your own home cured bacon you are contributing to a better world and getting a good deal of fun in the process!

The School for Self Sufficiency will help you do all these things as well as meeting others who share your enthusiasm.     This summer the School is being run in the small village of St Leger near Bordeaux in the warm and beautiful French countryside.       Accommodation is in a lovely old gite just beside the swimming pool where you can cool off after the day's work.     For more details on the French venture click here.

What we do!

We dig and weed and build; we brew and cook and bake; we bottle and pickle and freeze; we sing and play and write. Above all, we try to share our experience with those who want to find a better way to live.

Our July courses have now finished and we are looking forward to running our final course for the year in September.   You will find more details by clicking on courses in 2010.  

Students enjoying lunch at St Leger

Day  Courses in Northumberland

    For those of you who may be visiting or living in Northumberland we shall be running a short series of day courses during September    We have spent the winter restoring a beautiful traditional walled vegetable garden at Little Houghton Hall near Alnwick and it is now in full production.     The growth has been simply phenomenal as you can see from the picture below.   For more details click here.

An Advisory service.

We also offer a service advising on choosing your smallholding (click here) - this can be done on a personal consultancy basis for those who may be going through the challenging and important task of planning their holding.