The Good Life by Gillian Swinton

Gillian Swinton and Hamish, her partner, are modern homesteaders who are passionate about living as sustainably and self-sufficiently as possible on their rural 2.7-hectare property in Central Otago. In The Good Life, she tells their story.

Her book is arranged according to the seasons, and each season is further divided into three parts: Garden, Paddock and Kitchen. She has packed it full of practical advice, including how to plan a vegetable garden, composting, making your own seed-raising mix, keeping chickens, calf rearing, and beekeeping.

They have become part of the community by sharing their surplus veggies and herbs, and working together with their neighbours to pick and preserve all the fruit from one fruit tree.

Modern homesteading has been a big learning curve, and Gillian hasn’t shied away from telling it how it has been so far, their successes, but also their failures.

'We have lost many crops when planting too early, and sadly, the odd lamb to the weather too, but with every failure there is something to be learnt.'

By passing on her knowledge and skills of what has worked successfully for them, and some pitfalls to avoid, she has created a wonderful resource for others keen to start on their journey as modern homesteaders.

One year ago, my daughter and her husband sold their house in Auckland and were able to buy a large home on a 2-acre block of land in North Canterbury. As well as working full time to run their business from home, they are busy planting vegetables and fruit trees and are looking after four chickens and two lambs. My daughter is preserving, canning, and dehydrating their surplus fruit, and making her own yoghurt and cheese. Like the Swintons, their new lifestyle and being part of a friendly rural community has brought them so much joy. Gillian Swinton’s book would have been an invaluable source of information when they were starting out.

But such a move would be an impossible dream for most of us. The good news is that anyone can be a modern homesteader in their own way. Gillian Swinton tells us that you don’t even need to have a garden. Just growing your own herbs in pots on your windowsill can save you lots of money by reducing your grocery bill. And if you learn how to pickle and preserve fruit and vegetables you can have organic, healthy produce throughout the year.

She has included more than 25 recipes for pickling and preserving, as well as some delicious dishes that you can cook as vegetables come into season. I’ve already tried a few and they are so good!

Herb bombs: When she has a surplus of herbs, she freezes these in miniature silicone muffin trays to add to meals when needed throughout the year.

Herb salts: She infuses salts with fragrant herbs. These add an enticing herbal flavour to many dishes! They are especially delicious on steaks and roast potatoes!

Lazy garlic recipe: Making your own garlic paste is a doddle (15 minutes plus freezing). What a great way to ensure you always have some on hand to add to your recipes!

Courgette crumble: Courgette crumble for dessert? Courgettes can be a rather bland vegetable so I wondered if this recipe would measure up to her glowing description. It did. Our whanau loved it.

Banana Peel Tonic: The easiest recipe in her book (but not for human consumption!) is for a banana peel tonic peel to feed your plants. They are full of calcium and magnesium. My plants are thriving!

Her goal in writing The Good Life was to inspire you, wherever you are, to incorporate more self-sufficient practices into your life. You don’t have to have your own farm; you just need to have some imagination. And she has richly achieved this. I found her book a joy to read. It is truly inspirational.

And the gorgeous illustrations of their life on the farm add greatly to the pleasure of reading this book. It would make a wonderful gift to encourage friends and family to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle.

Reviewer: Lyn Potter

Allen & Unwin