Self Sufficiency, What's It Mean to You?

[MountainDon]

The phrase "be more self sufficient" has been bantered about. I wonder what that means to other folks.

To me self sufficiency is an impossible goal today. We can choose select areas to become dependent on others for everything.

Food: People live too close together in cities and towns for the most part. Many could supplement their food supplies with a garden in the back yard, but even then you're not going to grow wheat to grind your own flour, because most of those homes don't have that kind of space.

Heat: Most areas of the country need indoor heating for various amounts of time throughout the year. Natural Gas, Propane, Electricity and Fuel Oil are the main fuels used today. To become self sufficient in this area means burning trees. Perhaps coal if you have your own little mine. If everyone tried heating with wood, then we would end up with declining forests. We would lose all the progress made in increasing forest acreage. I wonder what that would do to the air quality, even if all stoves were EPA approved?

Anyhow, that's just scratching the surface. I'm off to the mountains to work on the cabin, split some more fire wood and think more on where I'm going to bury my water cistern. 

[StinkerBell]

I do not have a big enough yard to grow my grains and have veggies, but I can store wheat berries and other items. I can do it on a 7 year rotation schedule. I also can trade my goods for other goods.

If I have my own septic and well water then its an issue of electricity. Wind, solar. Depends. But it does not matter I will always have to pay property taxes.

[cholland]

I agree that self sufficiency is not attainable for everyone.  But good intending individuals can still strive for the best.
I've got almost 20 acres with a mix of pine, oak, and open fields.  So wood and space to grow crops, raise animals is there.
It's a full time job to do all that so a person needs to be debit free and have some type of income.  Could be you raise more of whatever.
bartering would be important for a lot of reasons... meaning you would have to be close enough to civilization.

Self sufficient is also different from self sustaining.
or maybe just self reliant.

My goal is to be as self sufficient as possible.  I'm nowhere near yet, but soon.
To me that means having resources available, be it wood, solar power, water.  Growing a pretty large garden.  Raise a steer, pig?  Keep chickens.  As much as I can for myself.
But I dont plan on raising grain for flour or milking an animal everyday.
There are always going to be those things you need like sugar, salt, flour, milk, cheese, bannanas, peanut butter, chocolate.

I thinks its best to know how and be able to do those things.... just in case.

[ScottA]

My goal, unlikely that it is, is to live cashless. If you can find the right folks to trade with it could be possible but then there's still taxes to deal with. Best we can hope for is to live by using and doing as much for ourselves as possible. The less that needs to be bought the better. Grow what we can grow make heat with the wood we have without being wasteful and practicing careful forest managment. I belive barter is the way around the government tax slavery scam. Just need more folks to realise it.

[wildbil]

I believe self sufficiency to me means that if the markets crash and the grids fail that I am not affected by it. Ill always have a job, but itd be nice if I wasnt as dependant on the cash that comes in like I am now.

Scotta..Look into the mesa in new mexico. I agree totally with you but there arent enough people willing to do Anything for themselves anymore.

Don...How deep you setting that cistern? do you have a well or are you going completely on rain collection?

[glenn kangiser]

I do not have a big enough yard to grow my grains and have veggies, but I can store wheat berries and other items. I can do it on a 7 year rotation schedule. I also can trade my goods for other goods.

If I have my own septic and well water then its an issue of electricity. Wind, solar. Depends. But it does not matter I will always have to pay property taxes.

How many boxes of Depends are suggested, Stink? 

[glenn kangiser]

I want to be at a point where in the event the gov. destroys itself I won't be at a loss.  We have a year round garden and solar.  If we don't have to slave for the gov. and can expand our homestead style we will continue on.  Some trading, barter etc will be unavoidable as even the native Americans bartered for goods they did not have.  Best to set up  some of your networks now.

[StinkerBell]

I do not have a big enough yard to grow my grains and have veggies, but I can store wheat berries and other items. I can do it on a 7 year rotation schedule. I also can trade my goods for other goods.

If I have my own septic and well water then its an issue of electricity. Wind, solar. Depends. But it does not matter I will always have to pay property taxes.

How many boxes of Depends are suggested, Stink? 

Considering "Depends" have multiple uses it depends . They work great for as a pad for bleeding control of a wound, as a pad for cleaning a wound. You can use them to stuff under a door so the cold air stays out, or you can bundle them at the end of a stick and use them as a torch.

[NM_Shooter]

i think that true (sustained) self sufficiency is pretty much impossible. 

The best that I think that I could do is probably a three month period before I would need some pretty decent reinforcements. 

I think a small community of like-minded individuals could do better.  The real breakthrough in civilization occurred when specialization happened.  Some folks are just better at some skills than others, and barter and trade allowed them to trade pelts for beans (or whatever).

[glenn kangiser]

I do not have a big enough yard to grow my grains and have veggies, but I can store wheat berries and other items. I can do it on a 7 year rotation schedule. I also can trade my goods for other goods.

If I have my own septic and well water then its an issue of electricity. Wind, solar. Depends. But it does not matter I will always have to pay property taxes.

How many boxes of Depends are suggested, Stink? 

Considering "Depends" have multiple uses it depends . They work great for as a pad for bleeding control of a wound, as a pad for cleaning a wound. You can use them to stuff under a door so the cold air stays out, or you can bundle them at the end of a stick and use them as a torch.

I've never thought of them in that manner.  Now that is thinking out of the Box, Stink.  How many in a box? hmm

[peternap]

[/quote]

Considering "Depends" have multiple uses it depends . They work great for as a pad for bleeding control of a wound, as a pad for cleaning a wound. You can use them to stuff under a door so the cold air stays out, or you can bundle them at the end of a stick and use them as a torch.
[/quote]

I've never thought of them in that manner.  Now that is thinking out of the Box, Stink.  How many in a box? hmm
[/quote]

If the Depends surprise you Glenn, I'll give you thr gusses what is best to stuff in a bullet wound.

[glenn kangiser]

....ummm.... uhhhhh, not my finger....

I'd have to bleed to death, Peter.... I just can't go into a store and buy them....

[harry51]

Would the bullet wound treatment be cayenne pepper to stop the bleeding?

[glenn kangiser]

I know --- They Call Me Trinity --- the movie.  The Bambino pulled the bullet out of the cartridge with his teeth, dumped the gunpowder into the bullet hole in the Mexican's arm and lit it.  Works every time....

[peternap]

....ummm.... uhhhhh, not my finger....

I'd have to bleed to death, Peter.... I just can't go into a store and buy them....

If you think it's hard to buy em, try explaining why they are in your first aid kit.

[cordwood]

i think that true (sustained) self sufficiency is pretty much impossible. 

The best that I think that I could do is probably a three month period before I would need some pretty decent reinforcements. 

I think a small community of like-minded individuals could do better.  The real breakthrough in civilization occurred when specialization happened.  Some folks are just better at some skills than others, and barter and trade allowed them to trade pelts for beans (or whatever).

There are a lot of them around now. Kind of like old west towns where there is a person with a building and a service for most any need. Problem is the Salloon and the rooms upstairs made all the money!

[StinkerBell]

Dearest glenn,

I have no idea ow many "Depends" come in a box.

Love
Stinky

[glenn kangiser]

My Dearest Stinky,

Could you do me a favor and pull one of your cases out and count?

xoxox

Glenn

[StinkerBell]

Dearest glenn,

Have you run out of your own supply to check?

Love
Stinky

[glenn kangiser]

Stinky, my dear,

You know I can't count past 21 and there seems to be more than that.

Love always, Glenn

[Whitlock]

Is this what self sufficieny means to you people


Dang hijackers

[glenn kangiser]

Planning for old age and sufficient quantities, Whitlock.

My girl, Stink is trying to help.  I'm not sure what's up with her reluctance to help me count.

hmm I guess I'm not being very self sufficient, eh? 

[MountainDon]

Don...How deep you setting that cistern? do you have a well or are you going completely on rain collection?

Cistern: deep enough to put three feet of dirt on top, but some of that may be bermed... have to do something with the excavated earth.

Well: We're going to give collection as prime source a try. There's a neighbors well down the hill a ways that we can truck from. Well around here in these mountains tend to be deep. 266 to 585 feet are the shallowest and deepest I know of. There are springs around but they are on national forest land. The guy with the 266 foot well used to have good water from a shallow 45 foot well. It was probably spring fed and something happened and it ent dry a couple years ago. Water's never come back.

[MountainDon]

There's a plethora of Depends available.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=depends&x=0&y=0

[glenn kangiser]

Springs have been drying here in a few places also...places they never have in years.