What do you think?

[Katmazdo]

What some essential skills that homesteaders should aquire, in your opinion?

Our ultimate goal, as a family, is to become self-sufficent. I have taught myself many things in an attempt to become more self-reliant. What are some of the things that some of you feel is essential in being able to be self-sufficient?

 

[Chick Charm]

Truly self sufficient is very difficult. As in, work from dusk till dawn. A good work ethic is paramount.

Wish ya the best.

 

[RichnSteph]

As chick charm said to be truly self sufficient is difficult. When my wife and I started looking into it we went and rented "Alaska the Last Frontier" just to see what it was that had to be done to live "off the land". Even just watching what the producers decided to put in front of the camera and omitting everything that went on that we couldn't see made us realize it's going to be extremely work intensive.

With that said you're going to need to know some basics.

1) You have to be able to tear apart and rebuild/repair everything on your homestead.
2) Harvest your own food of course.
3) Preserve the food you've harvested. (smoking, canning, etc..)
4) .... everything else??

I know that post didn't really help you.

My advice is just start reading and once you've got some basics down start practicing (i.e. read up on canning, try canning some veggies, see how well they taste in a few months.).

 

[OwlandBear]

Learning to appreciate what you've got, and what you're trying to accomplish, and let go of the luxuries, is important, I think.

Appreciating the stiffness of clothes dried on the line.

Savoring the fresh strawberry you picked in your garden.

Overcoming the squeamishness of snipping tomato hornworms or squishing grasshoppers with your bare hands (because you didn't anything handy to smoosh it with, and those suckers move too fast to think too much about it).

Taking down a jar of green beans or corn when you're snowed in.

Understanding that your hands will never truly be clean.

And, yes, being able to field dress your equipment, and not be surprised when you have to turn the garden with a shovel because you can't get the tiller to start for love nor money.

We have been taking it slowly, and are far from there, but we have pork and chicken in the freezer, and preserves and pickles in the pantry, and I make as many of my household cleaners and soaps as I can, and my grocery bill is slowly coming down.

 

[MoonShadows]

Realize Rome wasn't built in a day!

You need patience especially if you weren't raised in this lifestyle. Patience with just how much you can accomplish in any given day, week, month or year; and patience with yourself. Take everything a day at a time. Self-sufficiency is not a destination; it is a journey.

 

[whtdragn]

Take your time, accept mistakes and learn from them.

 

[Katmazdo]

I love all of this. Thanks for all the replies. I know it will be hard, it will take time and sometimes I imagine I may feel defeated but it is the life I want and I am committed.

 

[Ole and Lena]

There are so many, but it's late, I've had a long day of syruping so I'll just give one for now, and I think it is THE most important skill for any sort of off-grid living.

One must know how to safely and efficiently build, maintain and utilize fire. It is such an underappreciated skill in our modern age where your fireplace may have a remote control to turn on the gas, and your campfire is often lit with a fire starter or Boyscout juice.

One should be able, with a minimal amount of wood or other suitable solid fuel, to cook a meal (a real meal, not roasted weenies), keep warm, disinfect water and utensils and do a myriad of other chores using our oldest tool. Know it, learn it, play with it safely, use it. Start by weaning yourself off charcoal and onto wood when you grill. You'll learn a lot about controlling air/fuel/heat/smoke that way. Also cook Sunday breakfast over the fire ring in the back yard on an iron skillet. That'll start your learning curve too.

I'll also lump the use of cast iron cookware and dutch ovens into this one as it is so closely related to use of fire.

 

[Ole and Lena]

~~OK, I lied. Just one more of my pet peeves tonight. Learn how to sharpen stuff without turning the steel blue. Leave the darn grinders in the box. Learn how to use wetstones, emery stones, sharpening steels/ceramics and files. Especially learn how to properly sharpen a proper knife without buggering up the grind angle or leaving a burr. A dull knife is a dangerous and ineffective knife. And don't let me catch you pulling a file the wrong way!

 

[RichnSteph]

~~OK, I lied. Just one more of my pet peeves tonight. Learn how to sharpen stuff without turning the steel blue. Leave the darn grinders in the box. Learn how to use wetstones, emery stones, sharpening steels/ceramics and files. Especially learn how to properly sharpen a proper knife without buggering up the grind angle or leaving a burr. A dull knife is a dangerous and ineffective knife. And don't let me catch you pulling a file the wrong way!

Ah yes! Another lover of a sharp blade. My wife quickly learned that there isn't a knife in the house (except butter knives) that isn't sharp enough to shave with. From my butchers cleaver and 14" brisket knife down to the little de-boning one all of them are sharpened on a whetstone and cleaned up with a sharpening steel both before and after each use. *laugh* I can't count the number of times someone has been helping me clean something and cut themselves with one of my knives. I always get the "Why in the hell would you have a knife that sharp!?" comment.