Anyone feeling the "need" for self-sufficiency?

PLM - I'm green with envy!! Way to go. Once upon a time we had a similar set up but had to give it up to save my marriage. I've always prayed to get back to that position but now know it will never happen. I do the best I can on two lots in town with a big garden. No room for fruit trees except in the front yard which would put them over the sewer line ... not a good plan. We do have a rhubarb, a cherry tree, red raspberries and a sad sort of strawberry bed. Is it a thread drift to ask - why do you feel the need to be self-sufficient? Anything specific?

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This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Interesting, I did too, but in 68

Having heard/ watched on the mass media device [television] mainstream news last year in May that the credit of the united States had run out but it was being extended until August of 2004, of course i have felt the need to be self reliant as much as possible....wondering just what is headed "down the pike" and just what willl happen in the not to distant future.

I was raised with beef to eat, and garden produce to eat, but even then we still went to town for things we did not or could not raise for ourselves, then when we were ousted off the farm in the 80's I vowed one day I would again be able to raise food for my families needs...... its been hard, niegbors dog decided my chickens were for killing, not for laying eggs, so ive had to start agin.... the garden may get big enough or good enough this year to provide most of what we eat, depends on how the soil and the weather hold out.... just got the tiller out today to mow the weeds and grass down that took it over this spring...... and been pondering SQFT method just for weed reduction if nothing else.

Self sufficiency can most likely never be attained, at least not for myself, i am not a cobbler, nor do I have the tools to make my own shoes other than moccasins which ive done before, we do not have a spinning wheel, so making our own clothes from wool we could grow is also at this time not an option, our 5 acres is just bigg enough to grow an oil crop that would be enough to harvest it, replant, and maybe have enough fuel left over for running a genset or other diesel device a limited time, therefore we would have to rely upon others for fuel, and or for feed crops. Solar panels are nice and work to an extent but this far north they are limited in winter use, wind generators do not create enough power to run an electric pump as deep as ours is for much more than household use so irrigation is not an option.....there goes the garden..... my horses that i have beleive theirs is only to be pretty and eat the grass that we dont cut down for their winter hay, so if attached to a harness i dont have [probably could make one from a fire hose to serve our needs] im not sure they would understand that they could actually work for their keep.

Im not trying to be flippant, i am a realist, and providing every need for the family in my case as we are set up, is not an acheivable goal, getting close would be a different story..... and I understand getting close is about all anyone could do.... anyone that has acheived actual 100% self suffientcy has my respect and admiration. Yes one day i would love to be only needed off the farmstead a few days a year, but until then all i can do is keep trying.....

William

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Upon the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions, who when on the dawn of victory paused to rest, and there resting died.
- John Dretschmer

Rising energy prices should be on everyone's radar at this time. With the continuing hostilities in the Middle East, oil could reach 50 dollars a barrel or more very soon, so the experts say. And if we see continuing Arab solidarity over the mess in Iraq, there may be some serious repercussions. Of course, things may settle, and oil prices may fall. However, remember the Arab reaction to US support over the '73 Yom Kippur War. They slowly turned off the taps. That is unlikely to happen again, but the Middle East is such a voliatile place that only a fool would make a guarantee on what will happen there.

Alternative energy sources and self sufficiency are the way to go now. Enron, grid failures, Middle East craziness. Who needs that?

High energy costs, growing inflation, and a dangerous national deficit combined with terrorism, an over-heating Chinese economy, and dubious political leadership may make homesteading seem like a very wise choice. And maybe do what my Chinese friends do: put your savings in gold. They may have a point.

By the way, farmers here in Thailand have been running a diesel/palm oil mix in their tractors, as Thailand has loads of the palm oil. Cuts down on costs. My friends have also been putting solar cells in remote villages in the north. Enough electricity for lights and a radio. The locals love it, they are off the grid, and they can maintain it themselves.


Tiger

Bangkok, Thailand. A former tropical paradise, but now Land of Bird Flu. May 27 million chickens rest in peace.

Another thing I forgot to mention is that my wife (age 30) remembers a time during her childhood when everything on the table except for the salt was raised by them.

The points about having to rely on the outside world for some things are valid, but that's where good relationships with neighbors and the ability to adapt to doing without some things we now consider necessary that may not really be necessary all come in.

I try to learn new things every year too, increase our hand tool supply and raise more fruits and veggies. I definitely don't feel prepared to be self-sufficient. We gleaned very little self-sufficient knowledge from our parents and grandparents (and both DH and I were raised on beef farms.) They were glad for progress!

I would think that the whitetail deer population could be wiped out in short order around here, though. It's common to see 5 does at a time now about anywhere you go on our acreage. I would have to consider taking care of our family first and that alone would be hard.

The bright side might be we'd all go on a diet!!!

I grew up in Washington, D.C. in the 50's and 60's. The threat of Nuclear Armegaddon was everpresent. Only a fool, (which I am not!) would not have considered it necessary to learn self reliance in as many areas as possible.

And yes, I feel that need to be ready to meet whatever challenge - maybe a bad hurricane, maybe a terrorist attack, maybe a worldwide depression...it has caused some marital strain as DH feels that the Publix will always be there....

I too, worry about what the future will bring and my SO and myself have been trying to prepare for whatever may happen. I have a huge garden, red and black raspberry bushes, strawberrys, grapes and fruit trees. I can anything that I can get my hands on. We don't have any livestock but we want to start raising chickens and maybe beef for our own use. My SO bought some solar cells and build a small solar panel. In the winter, we can run the blower on the wood stove and the lights in the downstairs (and the TV! must have that, you know for about 10 hours on one day's charge. It has worked out so well that he has ordered another lot of cells and is going to build another one. What we really need to do is to figure out the easiest way to get water from our well if there is no electricity. He has been pondering on that. I hope I'm just being an alarmist, but if not....
Leay

I think chickens are not allowed in town here, either, but there is a house in our neighborhood that has 2 ducks and 2 dogs in their backyard. They are right by a main road, and everyone can see the ducks if they just turn their head while driving past.

I need to ask them if the ducks are for eggs or what?

One of my other suppliers of eggs lives in an area with so many trees and other greenery around it, that you would never know they produce several dozen eggs every day! Right here in town.

Yes, thats true.

The most precious metal is lead, with a copper jacket around it... :-)