I see people post about being self sufficient...

[Ridgerunner]

As far as farmer's markets, check out the local rules. Some are highly regulated and organized. Others are pretty loosely organized, if you live in the immediate area and grewit yourself, go for it. There is one of each in this immediate area. Of course, the highly organizedone with all the requirements is the one that has enough traffic that you can actually sell quite a bit of stuff. There are also state laws to consider. I strongly suggest you talk to someone affiliated with the specific farmer's market to determine what their rules are.

I am all for growing all the food you can and making all the other stuff you can. I think one big thing that is changed from those days so far ago is that now you need cash. Cash to pay for things related to school for kids, lunch money, activity fees, pencils, paper, or clothes, for instance. Cash to pay for electricity, unless you can provide your own.

A real hard one is medical care. My mother was raised in a very self-sufficient environment, way back in the hills. She did get through fourth grade at school. This was before they had electricity. She helped care for her father who had a stroke one September. They could not afford medical care so he stayed at home until he died that December.

As I said, I am all for as much self-sufficiency as you can muster, but when someone starts talking about those idealized times that used to be, I sometimes think of my grandfather and the effects of him laying there had on his wife and six kids that survived past the age of two. Three kids did not survive to be that old.

 

[elizabethbinary]

Quote:
Around here, you can get canning jars for about 20 cents a piece at garage sales. New, they are $7-9 per dozen. A water bath canner is less than $20 at WalMart, and a cheap pressure canner is around $60-70. I just started gardening and canning two summers ago. It is amazing how much food you can put up (this year, for instance, I ended up with over 10 gallons of sweet relish

). I also watch for fruit on sale at the grocery store to make jam. Canning really isn't hard. And gardening is much easier than I expected, too.

See, this is where I'll trade you homemade jam (and eggs hahahaha) for some sweet relish! Now we're both more self sufficient!

Canning jars are like $12 for 4 here.... or more. And you can't get them at resale shops - people know their value and they tend to stay in families. *sigh*

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

Batering is a great idea for the canned goods since it is so regulated to sell it legally. Even though your Farmers Market is lax on things doesn't mean there arent state laws and it's your responsibility to know what they are. I think it is pretty standard requirement everywhere to process in a certified kitchen to be legal. You also have to use those new lids. The ones that come in 2 pieces are not allowed. I don't think they even allow hot water bath on a lot of things. Our state also requires you to take a food processing class. Besides, without liability insurance you don't want to take the chance of anyone getting sick or you are burnt toast.

 

[The Fairy Godmartyr]

Just for informational purposes, in case anyone else was interested. In my state (Ohio--but I saw references to other states with similar laws) you can produce "cottage industry" foods such as cookies, jams, jellies, and canned goods within certain pH levels from your home kitchen without any regulatory testing. It must be labeled as a cottage industry food and contain your address and the ingredients contained in the food. Cottage industry foods can be sold in a variety of places, including farmers markets, your home, and even some stores.

 

[Cowgirlgrace]

You are very lucky! Thinking I'll move to Ohio.

 

[cluckin_crazy]

Quote:
I raise mealworms... SUPER easy and a great source of protein.

unfortunately, I'm nowhere near as self sufficient as i would like. I don't have land and have to live in a stupid sub-division but I have chickens and solar panels, a garden and fruit trees. that's about all i can do in my small backyard but i would LOVE to have land where I can raise almost everything I need.

 

[mandelyn]

You can also raise 999 birds for food if people buy from your house without licensing. At least you can until someone screws it up and does something wrong. You need to be real careful when you're selling stuff to not damage the "freedom" small operations can have in some states. It's all fine and dandy until someone gets sick, or several someones, and they throw a big fit over it and change the regulations.

But for now, you can reserve a farm fresh pasture raised Turkey for the holidays, or raise them yourself. You can drive out to a farm and get fresh eggs. Jams, jellies, things like that at small produce shops, we're lucky enough to have one right around the corner until I learn how to do it myself.

It's not near as easy to sell things at market like it was 50 years ago. But there's still a lot of possibilities to make some extra money and feed yourself. My great grand parents did it in TN, milk, butter, eggs, chickens running wild (still some around on the side of that mountain) plus the garden. They also grew tobacco for money and my mom remembers picking slugs off the plants. No pesticides or any chemicals.

 

[nop169]

We also try to be as ss as possible and like many of you raise our own beef/mutton/poultry/garden. Our dream was always to be totally SS but that being said, we now have modified the dream to be as ss as we can on a daily basis - in other words the reality of being ss in today's world/economy is very difficult - not because we are not & do not work hard (after our 60 hour work week) but because of the costs of things we do not control such as land taxes (ours tripled in 2008, 2009 & back to normal 2010 & 2011) Insurance both health & life & automobile. Electric has almost doubled & although we burn wood - one must be home in order to utilize it full time. We thought we would be able to be more SS toward retirement (morgage paid etc) but now we realize that college for DD will take us working until we drop. I am not sure being totally SS in the usa is a viable option today - so we modified the dream. We are frugal, we can, raise crops/animals for consumption & try to be informed & careful in the things we pay for. No satellite tv but do have cell phones. No internet at home but yes at the business. Christain schooling for DD but no "man toys" or boats or lavish other toys. We do go out to eat occaisionally as a family. We are what used to pass for middle class (verging on poor)! We now live week to week with no resources left but have retained our home/land & business and still can say God is good. So what I encourage friends who are interested in our life & becoming more SS is to incorporate SS practices in there present life - do what you can do & be proud that you have contributed to the frugal mindset, to having a greener life and not squander resourses. For us, this works and has releaved the stress of trying to achieve what in my area has become impossible. Good luck in your effort!

 

[WV_Chicken]

It's a process to learn to be self-sufficient. Learn one skill or provide one food then move on to the next.

 

[UrbanGrower]

This is awesome! I'm definitely with like I'm with like minded people on this website. Thank you BYC!