What is self sufficent mean

[uncle Will in In.]

I keep reading people say they want to have a homestead and be self sufficent. What makes anyone self sufficent?? Is it more than raiseing their own food??

[KimTN]

I don't think anyone can truly be self sufficient. When I speak of self Sufficiency, I'm actually just trying to provide as much for myself as I can. There is no way I could ever grow my coffee or provide some of my other "needs". I have connected with other like minded folks that do various things well. We like to trade back and forth and that provides us with more things and gets us just about as close to self sufficiency as we will ever get. I think that it is what most of the other people here are talking about as well.

In some cases, I think people are saying they are self sufficient if they provide most of their own food. Other people would consider themselves self sufficient if they provided their own power and water. There are various degrees to what kind of self sufficiency people can obtain. For us, moving toward self sufficiency is a work in progress. We tackle one problem at a time (food, water, energy), but in the end, no one person is an island. I think self sufficiency is better obtained with in a community of like minded people who can barter goods and services.

[texican]

As long as we have property taxes in this country, some form of income is necessary to pay them. To make that income, most people need to travel elsewhere to provide either goods or services... which requires vehicles or horses, both of which require upkeep and maintenance.

Imho, the idea of self sufficiency brings to mind what happens if our entire economic systems 'changes' or ceases to exist. I want as much infrastructure in hand before the fall... gardens, pastures, orchards, lakes, woodlot, barns, sawmills, and livestock... and the skillsets to survive (butcher, baker, candlestick maker, etc....)

[dndweeks]

I think self-sufficiency is a bit different for each person. For us, it would be the ability to put a roof over our head, food on our table and everything we need to do those two things without relying on outside sources. For example, having a house without owing the bank money; growing, canning and freezing our own produce; raising chickens for eggs and meat; raising goats for milk and meat; solar and/or wind for power; having a clean water source, etc. I don't know if we'll ever reach the level of self-sufficiency we desire, but we will certainly do what we can to work toward that goal.

[jd4020]

The dictionary defines the word sufficient as: enough to meet the needs of a situation or proposed end.
I believe God provides shelter, food and clothing. All He has provided, or made possible over the years has been sufficient. Adequately & abundantly so.
Using the word self, would indicate I am going to depend on myself to be able to "gather enough to meet my families needs". I may be able to do that, or I may not.
Since I depend on God, I would use the term self to pray for my situation and then be able to "see" what God wants me to see, in being able to have "enough". That is how I think of how God & I work together.
Even though I think I may not have enough, usually, I do. I remember how Jesus fed all those people with just a few loaves and fish and how much was left over. And I have at times followed Jesus' advice to "look in the mouth of a fish".
And I have found even if I have little but still tithe it or give it away, I have found I have always had "enough".
God bless,
jd

[highlands]

We are self-sufficient in that our family can produce all of our needs from our land. Everything else is gravy, extras, luxuries. I like chocolate, I like having a computer, but I don't need either. It is critical to understand the difference between needs and wants.

I do not try to be an island. We farm livestock and timber. We buy stuff in. We sell our products. This lets us pay our taxes and buy the luxuries we like. But if worst came to worst we could sustain ourselves indefinitely.

Cheers,

-Walter Jeffries
Sugar Mountain Farm
Pastured Pigs, Sheep & Kids
in the mountains of Vermont
http://SugarMtnFarm.com/

[Maura]

Self sufficiency means being able to take care of yourself to the best of your abilities. It means when our children left home they knew how to do their laundry, wash dishes, and do their own homework. They knew how to cook some, how to shop, how to find what they need. One should have the confidence of being able to find a roof and prepare food. This is the beginning.

In a larger sense, the more you can do for yourself, the more self sufficient you are, and this can change dependent on location and age as well as responsibilities. It could mean being able to change a flat tire, changing the oil in your car, buying insurance on the car. It means taking care of yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually so that you can face the challenges that you meet. As you get older and wiser you learn many ways to take care of yourself including avoiding people who suck the life out of you, and enjoying kindness. If you miss the boat on that, the biggest garden in the world isn't going to save you.

In a strictly physical sense, you would take care of your body, you would garden, you would learn how to trade.One doesn't have to know how to do everything well, just a few things and buy or trade with others who are good at what they do. I don't have cattle myself and don't want to, but I know where my meat comes from. My neighbor is happy to trade my money for his beef. If the monetary system collapsed, we could barter with hay.

[Tabitha]

Self suffiency means you take care of yourself 100%. Nothing comes in from the outside. anything you need to buy, feed, hay, seeds, fertilizer, water, diminishes your level of self sufficiency. On a scale from one to ten, how self sufficient are you? I buy chickenfeed.
My chickens roam and eat grass and bugs, I may be 40 % selfsufficient in chicken and egg production. If I grew all my chicken feed I would be 100%. I think I could be 100% but we would have to get rid of two thirds of our flock. We have too many anyway.
I buy amendments for the garden. I buy seeds. If I grew feed for a horse and used the horse's labor to till and plow rather than buy gas for a tiller, I might be closer. You can not be self sufficient if you are dependent on something to grow, raise, produce for your needs. My 0.02 cents worth.

[emdeengee]

"able to provide for your own needs without help from others"

There are many levels of self sufficiency. It can mean very different things for different people at different times in their lives but it really all boils down to taking care of yourself. Interactions with others as in trade for services or goods is still self sufficiency.

Self sufficiency is raising sheep, spinning yarn, weaving cloth and sewing your own clothes. You can also work as a doctor for which you earn income and they buy your clothes - possibly from the person who raises sheep, spins yarn, weaves cloth and sews clothes. Or you could barter your medical services for the clothes. Also self sufficiency.

[Callieslamb]

We've always considered ourselves as self-sufficient. DH has always had a job and provided for our family's needs. We carry life insurance so he can keep on doing that after he's gone. Caring and providing for yourself comes in many flavors. We are all only self-sufficient to a point, then we need others. Sometime, somewhere we all need someone else. Our goal is to provide for ourselves as much as we possibly can.

To be self-sustaining is a different idea. What we do on our little acreage isn't sustainable. We have to have too many outside inputs. Each year, we try to eliminate a couple more.

[unregistered168043]

Total self sufficiency is very possible, it has been done. Here is a family that had absolutely no contact with the outside world for 40 years http://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...188843001.html

It wasn't easy or pretty but it is possible, there is no doubt about it.

I do think that self sufficiency can be done in a much more comfortable way than the family in this article, as they had to run to the hills in fear of their lives without any planning and very little equipment. Their story is an extreme.

Although many here consider anyone who makes a living to be 'self sufficient', perhaps in one sense they are but the term "self" sufficient implies that you can meet all your needs YOURSELF, without any outside inputs. If you can produce all your own food, clothing, necessary materials and pay your property tax from your land then you are self sufficient. Most of us are partially self sufficient, working towards total or near total self sufficiency.

[haypoint]

I believe Self sufficiency is a goal, not a destination. Sometimes having the ability to do something for yourself, while not actually doing it is a reasonable goal. Take soap making or wool spinning, washing clothes with a tub and scrub board or pumping your water by hand. Good to have the skill and the equipment, that affords a lot of security, but also having modern conveniences allows you to focus on projects that don't entail needless drudgery. Just because you have a parachute doesn't mean you need to jump out of a plane every day.

[Marilyn]

I see self-sufficiency as being able to make a life by doing whatever it takes: grow and preserve food, provide heat, clothing, shelter, cook from scratch - and always wanting to be able to do more with what we have available. In other words, self-reliance.

[Vosey]

Originally Posted by Darntootin

Total self sufficiency is very possible, it has been done. Here is a family that had absolutely no contact with the outside world for 40 years http://www.smithsonianmag.com/histor...188843001.html

It wasn't easy or pretty but it is possible, there is no doubt about it.

I do think that self sufficiency can be done in a much more comfortable way than the family in this article, as they had to run to the hills in fear of their lives without any planning and very little equipment. Their story is an extreme.

Although many here consider anyone who makes a living to be 'self sufficient', perhaps in one sense they are but the term "self" sufficient implies that you can meet all your needs YOURSELF, without any outside inputs. If you can produce all your own food, clothing, necessary materials and pay your property tax from your land then you are self sufficient. Most of us are partially self sufficient, working towards total or near total self sufficiency.

Thanks for posting their story! Pretty amazing when you think of the harsh climate there. Must have been so, so cold. Hadn't thought of how to cook without metal....

[jd4020]

To add to this, part of our goal of self sustaining, is we can grow enough food to feed the animals, which in turn would feed us and each other.
For example, I would have to buy the seeds to begin with, but would also start the practice of saving the seed for each years needs. The grains & grasses would feed the cows, goats, horses, rabbitry & fowl. The extra milk would supplement the chicken and pig food. Extra eggs, old hens and rabbits would feed the cat & dog. If one had bees and maple trees, that would take care of any sweetening needs. The garden waste and excess would go to feed human and animal. Saving garden seeds is a givin. Animal waste would be composted to feed the garden and fields. Fiber animals would provide milk, meat and wool for clothing needs. Also any processing of animals would add leather/furs for clothing/shoe needs.
Gathering materials for baskets and knowing how to make them.
The knowledge of these skills, food preparation, seed saving, animal husbandry, making of cloth, blacksmithing, and organizing ones time to be able to make this all successful would be most important.
I believe it is possible to be totallly self sufficient (in producing on farm for all human & animal needs), if that is ones goal. The trades would be to only sustain oneself in the environment one is in. Example: If I can't grow coffee or cocoa beans, then I do not have coffee or chocolate. No whining about it, it's just not there. I can always have a hot cup of tea from some of my herbs & rose hips I have growing in the garden, sweetened with my honey or maple sugar.
If I can't produce my own power, electricity, with wind, animal, pedal or solar, then I live off grid. I live around the rising and setting of sun for light.
We have achieved some of these goals, but not all.
It's a fascinating web of how everything is so interconnected; or could be. It's a lot of work, but if that is the goal, then, why fret about it? If it is to be then a lot of it is up to me.
The following, I have only read this in books, I have not tried it, but it makes sense.
In reference to cooking with out metal pots, one could cook in very tightly, well made baskets. The water would swell the reeds. You don't cook over the fire but heat rocks and keep adding them to the basket and taking them out when they cool. Like to heat water, cook soups or stew. You have to be careful about the rocks as they can crack and pop apart. One can make a ground oven to cook meats & veggies much like a luau (in Hawaii). I think of it as an early crockpot. Much can be cooked over the open fire on spits. Women have baked bread on a heated flat rock by the fire for hundreds of years. Now, I am thankful for my pots & pans and stove, but I know there are other ways of cooking food should I have the need.
Just some of my thoughts to add to the discussion.
God bless,
jd

[Maura]

The story of the Lykov family points to the necessity of knowing how to be self sustaining. They did not know how to make a bow and arrow. This knowledge would have made their lives much easier. Even knowing about using a sling would have allowed them to hunt. They would have had meat and when they found a large animal, leather and hides. When the kettles gave out, they did not have the knowledge to make a basket and make crude pottery. With hides they could have made a teepee, if they had any knowledge of how to make one. It's sad to know that the Lykov's did not have the knowledge that humans in Siberia had only a generation before Karl.

[unregistered168043]

Originally Posted by Maura

The story of the Lykov family points to the necessity of knowing how to be self sustaining. They did not know how to make a bow and arrow. This knowledge would have made their lives much easier. Even knowing about using a sling would have allowed them to hunt. They would have had meat and when they found a large animal, leather and hides. When the kettles gave out, they did not have the knowledge to make a basket and make crude pottery. With hides they could have made a teepee, if they had any knowledge of how to make one. It's sad to know that the Lykov's did not have the knowledge that humans in Siberia had only a generation before Karl.

Absolutely, thats why I believe that self sufficiency can be done much more efficiently than the family in this article. But their story does prove that self sufficiency is very possible even for those with less than optimal preparation/circumstances.

Now compare that to your average American homesteader like some of us, we buy bagged feed, have internet and electric, telephone, supermarket goods, and then go on a web site claiming that self sufficiency 'isn't possible', or its a 'goal to aspire to' not one to be reached. I'm not totally self sufficient, but I'm not going to fool myself into thinking that I cannot be or that it isn't possible. That would be giving myself alot of credit for doing the best that can be expected, when it isn't even close.

Self sufficiency is possible, but most of us will CHOOSE not to do it because it is too difficult.

[haypoint]

Self-Sufficiency is a goal we all move toward. It is possible. None of us want total self-sufficiency like the Lykov had it. Even with preparation, skills and tools, it would be a bleak survival challenge.
There is power in being able to be mostly self-sufficient, even when you don't need to be. Sort of like owning a 4 wheel drive vehicle on a snowy drive home. you might not need to put it into 4 wheel drive, but it sure feels nice to know you have it and know how to use it.

[salmonslayer]

Originally Posted by haypoint

Self-Sufficiency is a goal we all move toward. It is possible. None of us want total self-sufficiency like the Lykov had it. Even with preparation, skills and tools, it would be a bleak survival challenge.
There is power in being able to be mostly self-sufficient, even when you don't need to be. Sort of like owning a 4 wheel drive vehicle on a snowy drive home. you might not need to put it into 4 wheel drive, but it sure feels nice to know you have it and know how to use it.

Your metaphors are spot on today!