Self sufficiency

[BlueCoyote 0]

Anybody thinking of this life style think long and hard. It's not a Macho thing. It's a life style.

 

It suit's me, that all I know.

God, thats the truth, and its not any easier when you have people agree to live this lifestyle only to get halfway and start whimpering about how difficult it is, how much time it takes, and they dont "feel like it right now"

 

i've been trying to become self sufficient in the meat and veggie department but its not been easy for the above reasons!

my husband is a city kid and hasnt got much knowledge in country things. he's smart enough to figure it out, thankfully. he's learned to build and fix fences! however he doesnt see a need for us to raise our own food. even after all the food poisoning and toxic chemicals coming from China he still doesnt see a need to grow our own food.

my mom, who had the brilliant idea in the first place to move here and have a "hobby farm"* has lost all interest and spends more time bitching about all the work than actually working.

i'm the only one enjoying myself!

 

*i hate the term hobby farm because if it involves live animals then it should not be considered a hobby.. hobbies are things like... chess, yo-yos, painting, restoring old cars..... things you can put down and leave alone for days, weeks, months if you cant afford them.... you cant do that with animals.... well.... you can, but its not very responsible to say "I dont feel like feeding all those rabbits and goats tonight.. i'll do it tomorrow afternoon..."

Edited December 22, 2008 by BlueCoyote

[Jim Grant 4]

Coyote.

Thats how it is. Get is done today. Livestock will not be happy tomorrow if they are starved today.

 

The woodburner needs logs, just before it goes out.

 

Water supply filter has to be cleaned, or shit sticks in the pan, and you cannot wash your hands if they go through the newsprint.

 

Long drive to get something to eat if it's not in store, or in the ground.

 

Like I say it suits me, plus I get some meat from my shooting and the running dog.

[mattydski 560]

Coyote.

Thats how it is. Get is done today. Livestock will not be happy tomorrow if they are starved today.

 

The woodburner needs logs, just before it goes out.

 

Water supply filter has to be cleaned, or shit sticks in the pan, and you cannot wash your hands if they go through the newsprint.

 

Long drive to get something to eat if it's not in store, or in the ground.

 

Like I say it suits me, plus I get some meat from my shooting and the running dog.

 

 

 

I have to say Jim's lifestyle is the closest to any person's that I have met that can claim to be self sufficient..

I do as much as i can, but no way near Jim's efforts..

I can only but try to emulate his lifestyle, unfortunately my family are cash hungary at present, so a full time job is an essential requirement.

 

[Jim Grant 4]

Matt

 

Trying to generate cash for a family and to try to achieve self suffiency is something I would not like to try to achieve.

 

You have to be prepared to have the arse hanging out of your breeks to make it work. The bad news, so will the family. Perhaps not, but change in direction required for even partial self-suficiency. Bunny hugging doesn't work, got to eat the fecker.

 

You can invest large amounts of cash to provide Electricity, water and sewage (septic tank) to allow you some breathing space, but you need the veg garden and a bit of rabbiting permission or shooting to get the protien to fill the stew pot.

 

I really don't want to sound too macho but it not something that you can get down the supermarket.

 

It's a bugger but gives you enormous fill-up when it works.

 

[BlueCoyote 0]

my mother, when she was a kid, had to grow up in a pretty archaic way of life. she and her family lived on a farm in Alabama and for many years had to haul water from a well, heat it on the stove and take baths in a big metal wash tub in the kitchen. they also had just the farm animals on the place for food and a garden plus what ever veggies they could can.

She and her siblings are bitter about having to live that way for so long. their father worked for the government and made good money. but his job took him away from home, he had a lot of girlfriends, and the money never seemed to reach his family. my grandmother was working in a sewing factory and that was all they had to subsist on.

one story my mom tells is the morning when my grandmother hit a deer with her Volkswagen while on her way to work.. she threw it into the trunk, took it home, and made her son stay home from school that day to butcher it.

 

there were other stories like that that my mom used to tell me when i was growing up. i guess she thought i would learn to appreciate what we had instead of wanting extra. it didnt have the effect she desired. i was fascinated with it all.... living on a huge HUGE farm.... complete with livestock and what ever you need..... i was also interested in the whole concept of missing school in order to keep things running smoothly

 

i guess i'm just strange lol

 

sure there are some things i wouldnt want to lose.... hot steaming showers for example.... and my dish washer.... and of course this stupid computer....

But if i had to lose it all((and i've come close!!)) i know i wouldnt be miserable. i can grow a garden, i can sew, hunt, fish, cook, and build shelter and fires, and even know how to forage. i read a lot of stories by Jack London and one thing i always wanted to do when i was a kid was run away from home and live in the Canadian wilderness. i would've probably been eaten by a bear..... but a kid can dream!

Edited December 22, 2008 by BlueCoyote

[Jim Grant 4]

Perhaps I was lucky to have left it long enough not to effect the kids. Both of them got through University and managed decent degrees. At that point I gave up the city. Bought into the country and if she didn't want it lets setttle the whole thing. Cost me but what the hell. Got this place and it works, with a shit load of effort.

 

I suppose it may be a feeling of having beaten the basterds before they managed to grind you down.

[BlueCoyote 0]

Perhaps I was lucky to have left it long enough not to effect the kids. Both of them got through University and managed decent degrees. At that point I gave up the city. Bought into the country and if she didn't want it lets setttle the whole thing. Cost me but what the hell. Got this place and it works, with a shit load of effort.

 

I suppose it may be a feeling of having beaten the basterds before they managed to grind you down.

 

the way i see it is.... you can waste your life away behind a desk, getting fat off cheese burgers and making money for some jerk in a suit who takes expensive vacations.... or you can move to the country and actually live like a human being was meant to live....

i worked in a factory on an assembly line for two years, had a nice pretty home in the city and i was f*cking miserable! never again!

[mattydski 560]

Perhaps I was lucky to have left it long enough not to effect the kids. Both of them got through University and managed decent degrees. At that point I gave up the city. Bought into the country and if she didn't want it lets setttle the whole thing. Cost me but what the hell. Got this place and it works, with a shit load of effort.

 

I suppose it may be a feeling of having beaten the basterds before they managed to grind you down.

 

 

That...or the accountant in you... lol