Jar, I used to have an old friend who grew vegetables and strawberries also some other kind of berries in his rear plot and both sides of his house.
 
 He had been heating his home with a coal fired furnace.  Had more than enough veggies, pies and berries for almost fifty years from his 'farm'.
 His secret was to save the fine ashes from the furnace and every winter rake the white dust (And a few 'clinkers') into the three plots.

A treat to stop by a spell and scoff down a big slab of pie and rinse it down with a beer. I think the only thing he ever bought at the grocer's was the beer?

 His dear old housfrau not only could cook up a storm, but she wove her own fabric on a giant loom in the basement not far from that old furnace. (It looked like a giant spider) with all manner of fluepipes spanning across the ceiling then turning up to the upper rooms in the house. 

He had built the loom by himself, using packing crate lumber he brought home from his job in a  cotton mill in town.

When he wasn't tending the 'farm', he would repair bicycles that people donated. Lawn mowers and all kinds of pumps and machines were in various states of repair and for sale.
 I bought my first Atlas lathe from him and years later bought a German made (Maybe Swiss) miniature lathe with all the attachments from  my pal Roman.

Now I remember!  The lathe was a UNIMAT, which are still sold, albeit, not anyway near of the quality the original ones had. 

Rant is over Sorry, but I got a bit nostalgic Ed from Ct.