Cha Cha Changes

[SterlingAcres]

Cetta and southern,
Reusing the washing machine water is known as greywater as far as I can gather. I'm also planning to do this myself.
Check here for some interesting details:
http://www.greywaterguerrillas.com/greywater.html

I'd highly advise googling 'homesteading blogs'. You'd be amazed what ideas you can come up with

And

to you too Cetta! LOL

 

[okiemommy]

oh! That was a great link! I bookmarked that one! Thanks Shellie!

 

[hcammack]

Changes:
new shower heads
Chickens for eggs to eat and sell
bigger better organized garden
eat more food from here
don't use cups use metal water bottles

What I would like to do:
Grey water system
Canning
Meat Chicken
Turkeyes
A goat or two
market garden
pigs

 

[Mom]

How does the washing machine go to the yard/garden?

Certainly not a fancy system but the drain on the washer goes into a pvc pipe that goes under the house and out. Attached to the end of the pvc pipe is a blue, flexible hose - like for a sump pump. When we aren't using it, we roll it up like a fireman's hose. I think they come in 25 and 50 ft lengths and we got ours at Tractor supply. Don't forget and try to wash with it rolled up - MESS.

Unroll hose, place it in appropriate spot, turn washer on and go - Don't use bleach for a "treasured spot".

A few fittings, a little effort and most anyone could do it.

 

[okiemommy]

sounds easy enough...Thanks for the explanation! I hope to read up on that link sometime today as well.

 

[Southern28Chick]

We haven't changed to much, we've always tried to be as self sufficient as possible.

I can't list everything we do because there's just too much but I will tell you this.

I go to the grocery store once a month and this is what I get:

~TP (gotta have it)
~Beer (DH is about to start making his own)
~Cheese and butter (That will change when I get my goats and can breed in about a year then I'll have milk for these things)
~Fish (I have stopped eating meat except for fish, we do not raise any animals for meat either.)
~Bacon (Only because my DH can't live without it)

(He doesn't eat any other meat except for fish)
~Bread (Only because my DH is crazy and doesn't like home baked bread...he likes it hot but won't use it for sandwiches)
~Borax (natural mineral cleaner)

I also order supplies online for making household cleaners and toiletries. I make soap, laundry detergent, shampoo and use only natural mineral cleaners such as borax.

All other food comes from our garden and eggs from the chickens.

If we stay on this property we plan on (in the future) selling our doublewide and building a small log cabin with solar panels for electricity. If we don't stay on this property we plan on buying at least 20 acres far far from the overpopulated concrete jungle we live near now and build our log cabin there.

Edited to add my every 6 month to a year shopping:
I go to BJs (bulk store) and stock up on sugar and flour.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Over the last several years I have been working on making many of the changes you guys have already listed. I found it was good to choose one new thing at a time and incorporate it into my lifestyle, so that the changes weren't too overwhelming . . . it does take more time to do many of these things, like line-dry clothes.

My latest biggest change was to stop paying for groceries with a debit card and use cash only. This has made me very aware of how much money I am spending. It also makes me very aware of how much of my paycheck I will save. I don't think I will be using a debit card ever again.

Lastly, I just want to say be careful if you want to re-use your greywater. It would be a good idea to drain it below the soil surface, whenever possible, as greywater contains bacteria. Also, in cases where you don't have an automated set-up, use your greywater as soon as you are done with your wash because the bacteria will multiply in the water after the wash is done.

 

[Coop-a-kick]

Quote:
Excellent point! DH and I used to go on about how nice it would be to buy from farms instead of the store but never made it work until this year. We have a long way to go, but... It's like we eat our food with more thanks and we relish it better, knowing that someone not so far away put a lot of work into making it!

And picking is fun.

In Florida we have a few you-pick berry places and IMHO it's the best way to start a weekend!

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I happened across an article today that discusses how our society will be forced to change and the author puts a positive spin on it, in the sense that change is just change and it isn't necessarily a bad thing. Just thought I'd share it with those who might be interested. I know some people were complaining about the economic talk getting depressing.

(you have to scroll down a little to get to the start of the article -- Making Sense of Collapse )

I hope someone finds this interesting.

 

[Mom]

Thank you - good article