Being self sufficient

[Beekissed]

I would have to agree with me & the gals viewpoint....even though I was raised in a log cabin chock full of "self-sufficiency" I am pretty proud of what I can do now, in the present time, to promote family independence. I'm not roughin' it anymore, but I feel like I have the edge on those around me who are struggling to maintain, or pay for, homes, cars and gagdets that I have learned to live without. That I make my bread by hand, not by a machine. That I can live on so little that it is laughable by other's standards. That my boys are learning more than their peers about how to make do on little or nothing, how to work instead of sit, and how to save on utilities by heating with wood and cooling with a fan. Its the little things, really, that add up to more and more self-sufficiency.

 

[purr]

yup, i agree i'm not roughing it anymore either, but i tought my daughter how to light the woodstove and cook on it. How to make a pie crust from scratch and she finally wants to learn to sew. yeah!
But mostly i think i taught her that you don't need something just because everyone else has it.

And evertime I do something the way my grandmother taught me I feel like i've truly accomplished something to be proud of.

And I know I save us money everytime I do these little things and if that helps the environment then all the better.

 

[chickymama25]

I agree with the post about the Amish not being as self sufficient as everyone thinks. At least here in NY, we often see the Amish at Dollar General buying up lots of cereal and at the local grocery store, as well as the local hardware store.
I absolutely think that many people need to become more self sufficient because Lord knows the government and nobody else is going to fix the damage done to the country and to the Earth for that matter.

I am glad to see that I am not the only one preparing for an uncertain future...

 

[Carolyn]

I'm a farmer's daughter now a grandmother. I was grown before I knew how poor we were. It is hard to have a concept of being poor when you eat choice beef, pork, fish, poultry, eggs, fresh fruits and veggies with plenty put by for winter. We didn't make our own fabrics but we did raise cotton and I can only remeber 2 store bought dresses before my teenage years and one of those was a gift. We stayed warm by the wood stove in winter and an ice storm or other electrical outage never proved to be much of a disaster. Frugal and hard work were a necessity for all. As a result we never had much energy left to get in trouble. As the oldest girl I felt very comfortable as a new mother because I had been caring for siblings and cousins since my pre teen years.

Some of those characteristics carried over the years; for instance I could not imagine living anywhere without growing at least some of the food we eat. I do agree that it is a goal and rarely a reality to be totally self sufficient in our society. However, my ideal is never going to Wally World; learning the difference in needs and wants: and knowing how to survive if (when) our society falls apart.

We have multiple generations in our nation who have neither the knowledge nor resources to survive on their own. We need to do everything we can to be more self sufficient and to teach our children the same.

End of soap box; thanks!

 

[Beekissed]

Hear, hear!!!

 

[JennsPeeps]

My household is *far* from self-sufficient: I live on an urban city lot that's just 35" wide by about 70" deep. It's something like .16 acre, if that. On our little lot we garden and raise chickens. Luckily for our community, there are still farming communities nearby, though they're rapidly becoming housing developments & warehouses.

My parents used to get blueberries every summer & I remember one year when we drove to the blueberry farm for our annual stash & the farm was nothing but tract housing.

If you don't buy local produce and support local farms, you are destined for strip malls & highways where the farms used to be.

This thread made me think about how DIY, preserving, frugality, and other values skipped a coupel of generations. I'm 33. Today I made my grandmother's strawberry-rhubarb jam recipe and canned it. My 32 yo brother recently started making his own beer. I'm planning to try my hand at some hard cider this fall. My parents had a kitchen garden when I was a kid but haven't for years now. Isn't it funny how older values are returning (re-using plastic baggies, making your own clothes, etc.) to a central focus?

I, for one, think it's fabulous.

 

[purr]

oh don't get me started on plastic bags

I use canvas bags, I would consider it a great favor if everyone who reads this post would please use those instead of plastic. Pleeeeease!

I even use canvas when I go to target. and home depot.and torrid and the flea market and the pet store , well you get the idea

 

[purr]

AAHHHH my smilie won't work, darn!

 

[Oblio13]

I don't think it's possible to be completely self-sufficient (if anyone out there actually is, I'd love to make a pilgrimage and meet them. This is an area that fascinates me) but I think it's psychologically important to be at least partially so.

Any of our Alaska members remember that fellow who used to live in the park in Anchorage with nothing but stone age technology? He wasn't completely successful and was probably certifiable, but also a fascinating personality who carried bushcraft to an amazing level. (He eventually concluded that too much knowledge had been lost to modern man and committed suicide.)

There's something fundamentally wrong with being completely disconnected from direct participation in life, and it affects us on a primal level.

Talking on a phone in a cubicle in order to earn pieces of paper that can then be redeemed for food wrapped in plastic is what I mean by "disconnected".

Gathering eggs, raising a garden, hunting, fishing and cutting and splitting firewood are examples of "direct participation"

My wife and I built our own house and heat it with wood from our own trees. We have a decent garden, and quite a variety of tree and bush fruits. We've become fairly accomplished foragers and mushroomers. I do a lot of hunting and fishing.

 

[dixygirl]

Looking ahead at being self sufficient this winter... do wood stoves heat a whole house much better than a fireplace?

Can you set a wood stove in front of a fireplace and tube the exhaust up the chimney?
Thanks
dixy