Inspirational!! Using Our Past to Preserve Our Future

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Pupsnpullets

Pupsnpullets

Songster
11 Years
Mar 9, 2008
1,076
22
193
SoCal desert
OK, I hate this helpless feeling I'm getting from some of the other threads relating to times ahead so I want to be more optimistic and proactive.

I want to gather ideas for self sufficiency, communal living, neighbours helping neighbours and that sort of thing. Anything that inspired you! That tiny little article you found on a scrap of newspaper in the ancient outhouse you were demo'ing to a lecture you heard at the local community college. An old copy of Mother Earth News to your great grandfather's favourite story of how he kept the skunks out of the henhouse. Your favourite book (I know I'm enjoying the Omnivores's Dilemma by Micheal Pollan) or just something you've always done on the farm that works for you and perhaps is criticised by others, less aware, as being unorthodox.

Where do you get your ideas from?

Barb
 
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I get a lot of my inspiration from blogs. One day I googled homesteading blogs and viola! A whole new world of amazingly useful information and friendly people opened up to me. It's amazing the wealth of information, help and inspiration available online.
 
I like this thread,,,,I hope it becomes a long long thread,,,,,,,for now I will mention one thing,,,,,,,,,,I got a magazine subscription as a present,,,,,the magazine is Orion

www.orionmagazine.org


I would recomend this as an excellent magazine packed with good insightful articles and a dash or two of hope,,,,check it out,,,I think you can order 1 free trial magazine

Sometimes when I get the magazine in the mail I just devoure it right away!
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The Orion online page I like the Making other Arrangements-how people are living healthy and sustainable lives in the world today-articles people write in about what they are doing
 
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looks like you live in a nice area to build a straw/hay bail/adobe house. I dont know what your situation is though. At this time I cant afford to do that but boy that would be the ticket for me if I could. People have boughten a small piece of land in New Mexico or around that area and then did the work themselves to build the house (not sure where to find info). They built a foundation with some sort of heated ekectric floors, and they added something to the concrete so it wasnt all concrete (that really saves on the environment). The walls are hay bales and adobe, the design takes into account the sun angles for winter and summer to heat and cool the house solarly. It was a smaller square footage but planned well and was very neat and energy efficient. It was a very cheap house to build but if you dont have the means it could be insurmountable. I always thought that idea was soooo coooool.


Then there are these people that selll their electricity back to the power company!!!!! I have heard of cheaper and cheaper solar powered and wind powered items that can be used to generate eelectricity. And the big G is probably giving tax credits if people install something like that in their home.

I guess you need to use straw

heres a good start sight
www.balewatch.com
 
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I found the first 25 mother earth news magazines at the library book sale,,,,I leant them to a friend but later when I get them back I can go through them,,,,,,,boy I sure wish I would have kept all of them,,,,,
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I guess you can figure about how old
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I am by that comment
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I found agriculture journals from the turn of the century which were in great shape considering their age. I gave then to my father, a retired farmer, to read. He loved them but I never saw them again:(

Barb
 
I think I've found a lot of inspiration and ideas for sustainable living in the people I've met. I used to work at the only health food store in the county (well, still do, just not during business hours so I really don't see customers anymore) and boy does that store attract the most diverse crowd! All ages, ethnicities, incomes....conservative, liberal....from one end of the spectrum to the other! To say I've met a lot of interesting people with a lot of great ideas is an understatement. One woman in particular is very self-sufficient. I think that she grows and produces somewhere around 80% of their own food??!! Honestly, if the rest of the world but her 10 or so acres just fell away, I think they'd get along just fine without any grocery stores or modern conveniences. She raises chickens, turkeys, and sheep for meat. She gardens (massive, massive, gorgeous garden), has fruit trees..she spins wool, weaves, knits. Nothing is wasted, period. She only grows heirloom, non-gmo veggies/fruits and only raises rare heritage breeds of animals. They even grow their own Christmas trees.
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And that's not even half of it! I'm so amazed at her knowledge and energy, and her passion for preserving what we're going to lose if we don't do something about it.
 
thats neat Crunchie!
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I watched Oprah Winfrey today because I needed to rest from all my work,,,well,,,,she had an inspirational show on and I thought of this thread,,,,,,12 teenagers raised $8K and went to Kenya and built a school house,,,,then came home and raised $5K more for a new well for the town inKenya. It was all about these kids that can make a big difference with a small number of people.

www.oambassadors.org

and this guy wrote a book Me to We ,,,,he said it is becoming a movement
 

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