Gardening your way through life

07:49 7th July 2008

If ever a story of a gardener making good was to vindicate the passion of us all, the story of Gay Cossins is the one.

Ms Cossins is a 64-year-old grandmother who lives in a four bedroom bungalow in Steyning, West Sussex, and lives for under £20 per week by using her garden for almost everything.

She grows her own vegetables and makes beauty products from plants.

"I hardly buy anything from supermarkets as I grow my own vegetables - I was brought up following the war so we had to be creative during the rationing years," she said.

"That's basically what I'm doing now - using the skills my mother brought me up with."

She uses nettles and elderflowers to make cold medicine and face packs from strawberries and egg yolks.

Other inventive garden produce made by Ms Cossins includes lavender with honey and ice cream as well as dandelion coffee.

She spends just £86 per year on energy after insulating her house with lamb's wool and burning scavenged wood in her log burner.