Talking point
Nancy Birtwhistle embraced ‘the good life’ in a bid to help the planet for her grandchildren. Now, The Great British Bake Off winner is adopting a make-do-and-mend approach across her home. She reveals how, in addition to being cost-effective, it can bring satisfaction and a sense of wellbeing
Sometimes I look at my grandchildren and think: what sort of world am I leaving them? For the last few years, their future has been my focus; I ask myself, ‘How can I live in a way that’s more conscious of the planet? How can I reduce my footprint on this Earth – not for myself, but for them?’
And here’s the truth: concentrating on their future has changed my own present – radically, and for the better. Today I’m pretty much self-sufficient; since the summer of 2020, during the pandemic, I have developed my garden, constructed a greenhouse and extended the planting beds. I’d always grown a lot of fruit and vegetables, but during lockdown I decided to try growing everything we needed – we being my husband and I, plus the children and grandchildren, when they’re here. We’re a blended family, so there are lots of us: five children between us, and 10 grandkids. We need plenty of food.
Right now, I have parsnips, kale, leeks, celeriac and sprouts in the garden; in the freezer, there are broad beans, French beans, peppers and tomato sauces for pasta. And in storage I have fresh beetroot, apples and potatoes in sacks. And then there are the rescue chickens I keep, which ensure we have a constant supply of eggs.
For me, being self-sufficient is mainly about the environment: it’s about eating what’s in season, rather than flying crops around the world and expecting to eat strawberries in the middle of February. And, of course, fruit and veg you’ve grown yourself taste a whole lot better than shop-bought. Added to that, we’re in a cost-of-living crisis and it makes economic sense to grow your own, to keep chickens and to make your own cleaning products. I spend a fraction of what I would if I was buying everything at the supermarket.
I live in Lincolnshire, in a rural area with plenty of wide, open spaces. I’m Hull born and bred. My 1950s childhood was played out against the backdrop of postwar austerity. Hull was very heavily bombed during the Second World War. Households had it hard, and when they were up against it they came up with all sort of fantastic innovations. As the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention, and there were so many labour-saving, cost-saving, spinning-out-food ideas that I absorbed along the way. I never forgot about them, but it’s only in the last few years that I’ve become more conscious of how important they still are, and how crucial it is to pass them on.
