Do you seek sustainability for your sustainability?

[Bubblingbrooks]

While I like to be as SS as possible, I have no desire to go off-grid and become a hermit.

I like my toys!

You certainly do not need to go off grid to attain a self sufficient agrarian community.

Personally I want to go off grid, but it would mean starting from scratch. Setting up the property to work properly from the get go.

 

[BarredBuff]

One of these days when I am older like you guys, Im planning from scratch. Starting with water, preparing land, build the house. The plant crops that take a while to mature, then start adding animal structures with fences. Start a garden, start chicken flock and goat herd. Then add Ducks, Rabbits and honeybees. Thats how I will start one day....

 

[FarmerChick]

say all that when you are 45



start youngest you can, cause this backbreaking work takes a toll on ya big time. when you get exactly where you want to be on your farm, you are so darn crippled up that you want to go back to the conveniences...

heck I am doing that now...hit 49 and said, no way Jose, I am done.

 

[FarmerJamie]

say all that when you are 45



start youngest you can, cause this backbreaking work takes a toll on ya big time. when you get exactly where you want to be on your farm, you are so darn crippled up that you want to go back to the conveniences...

heck I am doing that now...hit 49 and said, no way Jose, I am done.

BB, listen to the wisdom. My BIl grew up on a farm, worked like a dog - he and my sister when they were first married, gleaned cornfields to fill up the bed of his truck for extra cash selling the corn. His back and neck are in horrible shape and he is younger than FarmerChick. The goal is noble, but the toll can be high.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

One of these days when I am older like you guys, Im planning from scratch. Starting with water, preparing land, build the house. The plant crops that take a while to mature, then start adding animal structures with fences. Start a garden, start chicken flock and goat herd. Then add Ducks, Rabbits and honeybees. Thats how I will start one day....

I think its best to plan on small scale grains. Fields require big equipment.
Don't just plan right now. There is lots you can do now.

Here is a true story that you might find interesting.
A young man at the age of 13 decided who he wanted to marry. He was dead serious.
Though he did keep this quiet and between him and his parents.
With the permition of his parents, he began working jobs appropriate to his age.
Every penny was saved and invested.
He began the process of buying land and saving to build a house.
At the age of 15 he began courting the young lady in question.
At the age of 18, they married and set up housekeeping in the home that he built himself.
They have no debt either.

Not all the above will apply to most people, but if a person is able and mature, there is no reason they cannot begin the homestead process at a young age.
The teens and 20s are the prime of life when it comes to physical ability.
Be smart about it, and network well.

 

[Wannabefree]

James instead of working so hard for your money, start learning to save save save right now and make your money work for you. Get in the chicken business or whatever you can to make cash. Keep your eyes on the future, not right here and now. Put your wants aside, and only purchase your needs. In 5-10 years, you'll be able to buy your first home DEBT FREE. Getting in the game arly and saving so this can be a hobby when you are grown, is the key. I know you love what you do. Keep it up, and stack some cash little bro, and you'll be lightyears ahead of every other guy your age when it comes time for the bigger decisions in life.

 

[Beekissed]

We lived off grid and we weren't hermits..... Everyone always classes off grid or backwoods living like a total isolation from everyone, jobs, transportation, etc.

All it really means now days is that you pump your water from a well, light with kerosene(yes, you can buy things when you live off grid!!! Who knew? ), poop in a hole in the ground, and grow a lot of your own foods. You don't pay for electricity, phones or gas to heat your home. You do pay taxes.

What part of that says one can't have an outside job, insurance, cars, toys, etc.?

It doesn't have to be an all or nothing proposition. Yes, we know it can rarely be done to be completely self-sustaining....it doesn't have to be that literal.

I always find it amusing how many people discourage anyone on this forum that brings up that subject! This is the SS forum, last I checked.

Yes, one can be as self-sustaining as possible, live off grid without resorting to costly solar arrays or windmills, and not have to depend on the power grid and high technology...and it doesn't mean you can't have a job and live pretty much like normal folks do. You just don't have all the bills they have and your life is a little more peaceful and slower.

Hard work never killed anyone and neither did it cause injury to their bodies....regular exercise of lifting, bending and just moving are beneficial to the body and will extend mobility and vigor. Improper lifting of weights that are too heavy or trying to lift without proper toning are the only things that injure one's back and neck.

I say, Barred, it is a noble goal to plan to live more sustainably and not be tied down by all the strings that a "normal" life can bring.

 

[FarmerChick]

Bee it was asked how can it be done with as little outside interference as possible.....that means if you want OUT of the interference, then you don't opt to buy into the conveniences. Like insurance, staying on grid and paying the man etc etc

of course there is tons of levels of being more SS---everyone must choose their own.....but if you truly, truly want out of the system and be left alone with as little interference as possible, then it means not using the system. Some people honestly want away from others and society's hold on them thru paying bills for the grid etc.

hard work can kill and maim ya big time lol not many office people get a hurt with axes etc...lol


but I know what you are saying.....you can live off grid in the middle of a neighborhood if you want too. there are tons of ways to accomplish this goal of being way more SS--if you want it!

 

[Beekissed]

it was asked how can it be done with as little outside interference as possible.....that means if you want OUT of the interference, then you don't opt to buy into the conveniences. Like insurance, staying on grid and paying the man etc etc

As possible seems to be the key phrasing. I don't think anyone can go all the way and still remain sustainable. I don't find insurance to be a convenience, really. Not like turning on a light switch and having light happen or flushing a commode.

That is a life choice that merely requires a monthly payment....sort of like putting money in a Christmas account or paying for music through Lifetime. Contrary to what folks may believe, one can still have mailboxes and checking accounts when living off grid with as few conveniences as possible.

All I can picture here is that many of you believe that paper or writing utensils are a convenience! Maybe living off grid should only involve chiselling one's payments on a stone? You still make payments on cars, land, insurance when you live with as little conveniences as possible. You still have jobs, cars, lives to live while living with as little conveniences as possible.

As far as injuring oneself with an axe...office staffing can surely drive home to their off-grid home, pull out the axe and get busy on a pile of stove wood like everyone else. Of course one get injured doing hard work if you cut off a limb....you missed my point.

 

[FarmerChick]

I didn't miss your point on the getting hurt. Anyone can get hurt with hard physical labor. A farming type life is very hard on the body. I know and many of my farming friends know this too...between the bad backs and knees and more it is not just a whim saying farming is hard on the body. Of course, a person loading heavy boxes into a UPS truck can get hurt just as bad in these situations.

no one swings a 70 lb bay of hay when older the same way they do over 45 I know this to be true! I used to carry 2 bales to feed. Now I can barely handle one bale... and forget hay season, I run now. I can't throw bales off the hay wagon and stack anymore, I leave that to the youngins'----then of course an older nurse working in a hospital can't turn over a heavy patient without assistance like she might have done when younger.

of course you can have a car, pay the insurance, get off grid etc.

no, living without interference does not mean giving everything up...but again, each person has their own limits and takes on how far you might go.

Insurance to me is a convenience. It is man made. It is something you purchase as an option most times...now car insurance, if you want to drive you pay the man cause you must have it on your vehicle to drive your vehicle. and pay the registration, and pay the taxes on that vehicle.

as I said everyone has their own ideas of what "without interference" means. you can't just assume your opinion is correct.....everyone has their own personal idea of what "without interference" means.

I guess it does come down to everyone's own opinion of "as little convenience as possible" so many want more SS but would never give up the power company. more SS but would never give up the school system and opt for homeschooling etc.

so everyone has to make that choice of "how low will ya go" to get out of the rat race and live without interference. And how you consider what "conveniences" are in this world

geez, this thread goes in alot of directions :bun