This week
Self-sufficient eco-twins
A degree course in nutrition and food science at Oxford Brookes University sparked Dave Hamilton's interest in cooking and growing food.
Now 33, he and his twin brother Andy remember making nettle soup with their grandmother, who made pickles, chutney and jam.
After leaving school early, they went through a succession of jobs.
Andy was a double-glazing salesman and steel worker, while Dave travelled around India and Nepal, then did hair-braiding and ran a market stall in Camden. Then the move to Oxford reawakened Dave's interest in gardening. He studied with two profesional chefs and became vegan. "I couldn't afford to buy it so I convinced my landlord to let me plant up the entire garden with veg," he says.
"I began to grow herbs and potatoes at first, as I only had a limited amount of space.
"After my course finished, I began an experiment in urban self-sufficiency where all my fresh food was to come from the allotment or foraging."
Dave has since moved near his brother in Bristol and the pair have published The Self-Sufficient-ish Bible: An Eco-Living Guide for the 21st Century (Hodder, £30).
The book has a natural feel, but is filled with colourful pictures and attractively laid out. It distills the twins' own practical experience with tips from their website www.selflsufficientish.com. One refreshing difference from other eco-living books is that it is firmly aimed at town-dwellers, and it's also pretty wacky. I particularly liked the computer wrist rest made from old jeans.
11:36am Thursday 1st May 2008
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