Becoming self sufficient

[cws451]

hello everyone So im looking for some ways to save money but also have fun doing it. I have started with chickens and turkeys and Im starting a garden here shortly. Does anyone have any idea of stuff i can do with low start up costs?

 

[jenneverett]

ARRRRGGG! I need to just cancel my Internet connection or my wife might go nuts.... or have me committed. SHE wanted chickens... well OK we got 6 chicks and I have taken very good care of them. i raised them in the dog bath until about 4 weeks then i moved them to the large dog kennel until 8 weeks. Now i have put them in the coop and have a movable fence so they can get to other areas of the yard each week.

So then i started a Meal Worm farm to provide treats that help with protein and is self sustaining with just a little attention from me.

Then I started Fermenting the feed for the chicks, and drinking some ACV everyday for myself...

NOW after reading about Sprouts and all the health benefits for both human and poultry.......I think about that nice big bag of oats that i use for FF and think... huuumm i can germinate some of those!

And don't make me tell you about how much i want to start a aquaponics system. my wife wants to have a veggie garden and i want to get the best from everything i do so.... AAAARRRRGGG!

all the great things i see here and on just a few other sites just make me want to drop off the grid and live like a frontiersman.

 

[GerbilsOnToast]

Hello everybody! I very much enjoy all the info everybody has posted!! Its a lot to take in, but Im defiantly taking notes! I live in the Middle of the city so I am struggling with room issues right now , but I have started with chickens and ducks. I am an avid hunter and love to fish, but a very poor gardener. I have a raised planter box ( Wood found in dumpsters and road sides, and craigslist, etc.) But nothing has grown. I very worried that nothing will grow

I’ve read lots of book, but I am the type of person that always put the cart in front of the horse. Also there is not a lot of talk about putting rain barrels in place, are they a good idea? I am also very confused about canning. I’m reading some books on it now, but it still a little scary. So if there are any more tips how to "get off the grid" keep them coming!!

Learn to grow what you like to EAT. If you don't fancy eating it, unless it's very easily and compactly preserved (read: dried) and therefore store-able & swappable, it's a waste of your time. Forty-eight quarts of green beans aren't of much use if you hate green beans - but they still cost you four dozen jars & lids, plus time & energy to grow and can. If you're short on space, google/explore vertical gardening. There's a number of systems made with 2-litre pop bottles that' are darn near free & very space and water efficient for growing things like salad greens. If you like Kale, that's an excellent starter crop in any system. I don't - but my chickens do, and because it grows well into the winter, kale and sprouts allow me to provide them green foodstuff all year around. Sunny days are going to be pretty intense where you are; try rigging 30% shade cloth over your young plants until they're hardy enough to handle it (6wks+)

Easiest way to learn canning - buy a copy of the Ball Blue book; it's magazine-sized, and will contain the most recent recommendations as well as many 'recipies' Make your first project either a fruit jam, or a high-acid fruit (tomatoes is the traditional starting point & can be canned in a water bath) As you gain confidence, take on more challenging projects.

"Off Grid" is pretty difficult in a metro area - wind and solar are your only viable options, and both can be expensive; plus the utility companies serving most areas have mandated 'buy-back' programs that will cost you more to register for than you can ever recover - they don't WANT to have to deal with you. Small-scale wind generation (think old-time farm windmill size, not 200 foot turbine blades) might be viable in your area, especially for outbuildings; check out (1970's) old Mother Earth News articles for more information & instructions. In the old days,

TMEN showed you how to build things instead of just telling you where to buy them. Too tired right now to dig out the index; but you can probably google that, too.

Because "struggling with room issues right now" sounds like you intend to change your situation - if you do get more space, explore wood gasification. Much safer than methane, and a very well developed technology - most cars in Europe ran on it during WWII because petroleum products weren't available; probably the only reason it's not in widespread use is that nobody can get a stranglehold on it for the profits. You can buy a system with all or part of the components pre-fabricated, or if you can weld, build it all yourself, and it can run a truck or run a generator for your house - but you will need a source of wood and the ability to have a small engine running most or all of the time.

Go to your local library and see if you can get your hands on the Foxfire books - you will learn a LOT. Put rain barrels everywhere you can - but also get a good filter system if you think you may ever have to drink it. Get one even if you don't think so. Find an organic dairy and ask them for plastic barrels - often you can get some free, certainly less than the ~100 new cost, and most of the compounds & cleaners used don't wreck/contaminate the barrels or the environment. If you do get some, google the name of the prior contents to find out how to neutralize it, and make sure it can be neutralized/thoroughly cleaned. See if you can find a local small farmer who could use a few hours of volunteer help on weekends - you will learn how to grow things! She/He can't afford to hire help, but always needs it, and will likely offer you fresh veg as a thank-you. Learn everything you can about 'real life' skills from anyone who will teach you, and remember the old saying "Rome wasn't built in a day". Every step from here is forward... After decades of skill acquisition and eight years putting it all into practice, we still regularly buy tea, rice, peanut butter, razor blades and footwear; complete self-sufficiency takes a very long time to achieve and in the end it may require simply giving up some things you can't produce. (but I'm planting peanuts this year)
Best of luck on your journey!

***editing to add:
Did some more thinking... There are many goals, and 'Self Sufficiency' is commonly a catch-all. If one applies it with the definition option of a 'collective', then trading among people *of the goods one has produced* is part of it. as is paying for things with the proceeds of the sale of one's produced goods.

'Total Self-Reliance' wouldn't allow for that option.

'Preparedness' would - but I believe use the practice differently (random trades as opportunity arose, not regular commerce)

We are fully self-sufficient by definition with the collective option - everything we consume is either produced by us, or acquired with the value of actual goods we have produced. We accept no subsidies, grants or any form of outside support to operate and neither of us work off-farm nor has since day one.
Total self-reliance would require more learning (boot making), time (tea and peanut production), purchase with learning (straight razor) and sacrifice (rice). And, so long as there are taxes, we will have to sell goods to pay them.
Preparedness - meh. What will be, will be; we'll deal with it as best we can when we have to.

 

[UnlabeledMama]

I am new to the self-sufficiency bandwagon, but I've always been one to dive head first into a project!

Things I have started in the last year:

Chickens for eggs
Garden
Raising rabbits for meat and to sell
Planted fruit trees
Canning
Line Drying clothes

Things I have always done:
Making soap
Herb garden
Composting
Cooking mainly from scratch
Stocking up my pantry from sales

That's all I can think of off the top of my head!

 

[cstronks]

hello everyone So im looking for some ways to save money but also have fun doing it. I have started with chickens and turkeys and Im starting a garden here shortly. Does anyone have any idea of stuff i can do with low start up costs?

I don't know what your resources are, or what you consider a relatively low cost, but if you are looking to raise food then you should check out aquaponics. This is basically small scale fish-farming. Breeds like tilapia and catfish work well. Aside from a large Rubbermaid water tub (100 gallons for like $50), or any other stock tank, all you need is a filter and fish. Aquaponics guarantees that the seafood you are eating is not genetically engineered (or OVERPRICED)!! You can also grow a variety of garden plants over the water. I've seen many people grow lettuce on top of ponds because the roots feed the fish and the entire system takes care of itself. Definitely something interesting to look into in regards to growing your own food!

 

[bachbach1]

Being self sufficient means a lot of different things to different people. Being able to produce meat, and veggies is great. But in my humble opinion you need a significant food storage to be truly self sufficient. Mainly because any supply line can be interrupted. Odds are we will never see bare store shelf's, or have problems with our animals (disease feed shortage) or garden problems that can shut down our food resources. I have a food stash, grow a garden, and am getting back into chickens, probably pigs, and even a few cows. I have lots of cow experience in my past, LOL big boys. Anyway, dried goods like beans and rice that can be bought in 50 pound bags at Sams Wholesale, Also other items like wheat, and corn are great too. These are cheap, and they can keep you going and allow you to get over any crisis in food supply. I also can a lot, and I can a lot of meat. Rotate your stock, on all of it. Other things like mashed potato flakes, and oatmeal are good storage items too. All these type foods go a long way.


So raising foods, garden, eggs, meat is great, the food storage gives you a buffer to be able to be truly self sufficient. I would look into a large modern pressure cooker, and learn to can. After all if you produce a surplus, you need to store it. Canning can be done over any fire in adverse conditions, and during normal times it can be done on a regular stove. What you are able to can is almost endless. I have caned smoked turkey, pork, ham, beef, corned beef, pastrami, even some sausages, and chicken. Then all the normal stuff jam, and fruit. Me and my family could go a long time without buying anything from a store before we were hurting, that is a good feeling.

Anyway just a few thoughts about what I view as self sufficiency.

 

[shmooborp]

I have never really quilted before, but I love the way they look, and my bed spread is AWFUL LONELY! I feel like a good quilt is something a person can have for decades. I also have yet to make my own soap. Wood soap? that sounds neat! As far as wool items go, living in the northwest it gets cold and wet in the winter so spinning wool into yarn and knitting hats would be way too much fun. I haven't the slightest idea as where to start. I don't have sheep or alpaca or anything, and I don't know anyone who has any, but the year has only just started so who knows who i will cross paths with!

 

[bachbach1]

A few things for this year that I would like to learn how to do ( or learn more about) without spending an arm and a leg-

-apiculture ( bee keeping)
-home made cleaners and soaps
-Working with wool / fibers- shearing/cleaning/spinning etc
-gardening more! ( efficiency in small spaces)
-sewing ( quilts anyone?)
-Herbs for homeopathic
-CHEESE MAKING
-Slow cooker meals

and probably a whole bunch of other things that I will discover and geek out about.

My departed mother, always said everyday is a challenge, because she always challenged herself by learning. Learning new things is a great way to travel through life, I know I watched it, and I do the same. Go for it, and keep your list, checking off items as you accomplish them, and adding new challenges along the way.

 

[HiyokoInNippon]

This looks like my kind of thread!

Self sufficiency is where I am aiming. Right now I am just working on turning my brown thumb just a bit greener while I save up money to buy my homestead.

 

[GerbilsOnToast]

Wow! There are more like me!!! I try to cook everything from scratch, have a veggie garden, getting ready to plant eddible landscaping, we have a pig that will probably be dinner in a few years, just got our coop built (haven't gotten chickens yet). Been talking about composting but right now it's just a pile of stuff out on the edge of the yard. This weekend I am going to attempt making laundry detergent and shampoo/conditioner.

My husband calls me an addict. Would love to do solar panels but that is a costly startup.

Your pig will not need 'a few years', only one (or less). If you let it get too big, the lard it will yield will be plentiful, but of very low quality and difficult to deodorize. The lard is as important as the meat - it can replace everything you use shortening for, and much of what you use GMO vegetable oils for. It's not cost-effective to keep it growing until its' huge because it's creating more low-quality fat than meat, and while very useful, you can only use so much, and less if it's stinky. This is second-hand information re: growout time - We don't raise pigs, just cattle, chickens and turkeys. My best friend raises the pigs and (forcibly!) shares her excess lard when she can't get them in to the butcher on time.