The New and Improved Questions List-The official thread

[Javamama]

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? Ohio. One extreme to the next with brief periods of heaven in between

2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? 5, married

3. How would you define self sufficiency? I'm re-evaluating it at the moment

4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? I don't know. I'm already doing what I like

5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? no, no

6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? no

7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? my love of country living

8 Cloth or paper? for what activity?

9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? I'm always learning about different things

10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? I will never be a seamstress, so will buy clothing as long as it exists

11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs?

12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? In my bedroom

13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?no

14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? no

15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? yes. yes, goats, chickens, ducks
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? no

17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? I don't like it, but I do it anyway - tomatoes and peppers are the best
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? no

19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? 1.5 acres between the counrty and the suburbs
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? of what?

21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? I do well with cooking and animals

22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? i dunno

23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? no

24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? yes

25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? home

26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?no

27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? someone who can defeat weeds and bugs. or control the weather

28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? no

29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? I cook very well with anything you give me. I love whole foods.

30. What was your MOS? uhhh?

31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? no

32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient? ability to learn

33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? I think I would be a hobbit in the Shire.

34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? no

35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England? I don't do math unless tortured or cooking. Not that I can't, I just choose not to.

36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? No way.

37. In what do you trust? Father, Son, Holy Spirit.

38. Do you make things yourself to save money? food

39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? not really

-Java.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

#8..Cloth or paper. I so mis-read that question, after hearing for years.."Paper or plastic?" We use paper..and I put all paper in the trash can. I do not flush anything down the septic, that just leaves fiance for that. We also buy and use those handy Baby Wipes....and we are both addicted to them. I do know how to make them from paper towels though, if ever the need arises.

 

[FarmerChick]

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?western NC, hot summers and mild winters
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?Married, with one daughter
3. How would you define self sufficiency?living off grid without any assistance at all, but that is not truly for most/all people, I re-define it for myself to mean taking some responsibility for your own foods, meats, do more yourself.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?build up my big pond but not as interested anymore
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to?built a few big barns, etc. we built alot
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?no, that is hubby work
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient?I farmed for income and realized I could save tons of money doing things more myself
8 Cloth or paper?both
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more?grow food/livestock, preserve etc. don't truly wish to learn more. I am in a new mode of life where having fun vs. work is more important now, and SS projects are not fun to me mostly
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient?a ton of them, off grid never, will always shop and buy etc
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs?I stock my bank account number 1 and do have a pantry for goods
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?I don't sink away from the world but a release would be horseback riding, swimming and camping.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?tractors, probably could a semi but never tried
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?I can but don't like crafts. no teaching
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds?total livestock allowed--did have over 400 chickens, 125 hogs, 120 Boer goats, 30 or so black angus...but all are sold mostly now...out of the farm biz.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?tried a lathe, yea I can run it, but don't want to bother
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?about 20 acres in all crops at one time, corn, hay etc. had small garden with the usual. now I have no garden, people are growing and giving me everything right now
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives?fish with bait
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country?about 60 acres in my name, about 100 acres in FILs name we will inherit but that is our total we farm, just under 160
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL?
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?never paying full price on anything (is that an SS specialty)
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take?not interested in doing so
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet?no
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine?a little, but modern medicine is more important to me
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?right here, I love my home, but when retired, beach
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?no
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be?don't have any
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency?not really, but they are being more frugal with economy etc
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?hate cooking. natural foods yes, on fresh foods
30. What was your MOS?
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs?hubby hunts, I don't like hunting
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient?strong and confident person so if there is more skills I want to learn I know I could...I guess that is a skill, learned to be a confident person thru life
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live?none, why?
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy?nope happy with electric
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England?why would anyone care unless it was very important to you. it isn't important to me
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to?at one time I thought yes, now it is NO and absolutely not
37. In what do you trust?my family and myself
38. Do you make things yourself to save money?yes but very choosy what I do make
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending?I am more SS to save money to spend on things I love in life like vacations for the family. I gave up alot of SS type situations to gain more time to live life to its fullest, the way I see fit. with the economy tough, saving money is very important to get your family thru hard times.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Movin' to the country,

 

[colowyo0809]

I already answered one list of questions in my journal, so I'll just answer these here

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?
North central Colorado and it alternates between wet and drought. Silly mountains.

2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?
This really depends on your definition of family. And for that matter marital status. According to the federal government, not only am I not married but I will never be married. Technically however, since my partner and I have been together for three years that would make us common law married As for family, right now it's just me and him here in this house, with our furry children

3. How would you define self sufficiency?
Expensive to start out? Hard as heck? Complicated and time consuming? Well worth the effort? Yes to all of it! It's a state of mind as much as anything else. You don't have to live a life where you live off the land and off the grid to be self sufficient. You could simply have an escape plan when TSHTF to move to a better place.

4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
Build an underground house, build a pond, plant some trees, redo the coops for the chickens and the ducks, put in really good fencing all over the acreage so we could move pigs from one area to the next without moving fencing, cure intolerance and hatred and bigotry and stupidity

5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to?
I build the chicken coop by myself, and the previous one with help from my partner. Yes, I want to build a shed to store stuff, a greenhouse to start seeds in, and a new house, preferably an underground one.

6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?
No, but my BIL can and I'm thinking I should take a college course in it

7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient?
To be honest, living where we live has inspired me to become more SS. We live on 8.5 acres, and while a small part of that is taken up by two trailers and a workshed there is still so much that can be done with it and isn't.

8 Cloth or paper?
Depends on what we are talking about, but usually cloth. However, having the paper bags from the store is kind of nice because we just scoop the kitty litter into one of those and toss it in the garbage. At least this way that is breaking down relatively fast at the garbage dumps

9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more?
We are raising ducks and chickens, and trying to grow a garden. I would like to learn more by learning how to kill and process my own birds since I have to drive for 20 minutes and pay someone to have them done. Also, we do do some canning when we get extra produce at the farmers market or the grocery store

10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient?
I don't know to be honest. I haven't given much thought to what I/we won't do. I want to raise pigs and sheep and goats and chickens and ducks and turkeys and bees and use gray water to water the trees and shrubs and flowers and grow a big garden and maybe grow some for the chickens and such and I want to get the dogs on the BARF diet and I want us to make our own laundry soap and dish soap and shower soap and shampoo and power the house and property with solar and wind powers and build what we need and such. I guess I won't do at home dental work

11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs?
Goddess yes! But we never seem to have the money to get this started!

12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?
In a good book, or playing WoW or in a nice deep bowl of chocolate pudding

13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?
I imagine I could learn if I tried, but I don't currently have the skills, no

14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?
Not really. I spend my time trying to fix things or just do things, I don't really have time for the crafting. But my SO makes plastic canvas christmas ornaments

15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds?
Are you kidding? We are in unincorporated Weld county! We can do a heck of a lot! right now we have just the chickens and the ducks, but I have hens sitting on Royal Palm turkey eggs (again) so we may have turkeys soon! And I want to build a top bar bee hive and invite bees to the property! And if we can ever manage to fence off the back acreage the way I want to we could have pigs as well!

16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?
I think I operated one in middle school, in woods class, so that would be a wood lathe. And if so, yes I believe I remember the trick

17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
yes, and apparantly weeds But I enjoy eating pumpkin and squash and cucumber and peppers and tomatoes and beets and corn and beans and peas so I like trying to grow these in the garden. Ooh, and carrots.

18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives?
I haven't fished in years! And we used worms unless we were fly fishing of course!

19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country?
8.5 acres. Technically we are in city limits, but since the in laws never incorporated when the city grew around them we are still county!

20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL?
I don't understand what this question means? If you mean for the SS lifestyle I would probably assume Novice. However, if you are talking about something else, I don't know

21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?
Raising and processing poultry

22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take?
Organic and Sustainable small acreage farming. Classes would include Stacking Livestock, Three Sisters Gardening, Pressure and Water Bath Canning, Processing Livestock, The Many uses of Sheep and Goats Milk, How To Mend Any Clothing Item, The Proper Way to Build your Buildings, Fencing Do's and Don'ts, How to Turn Wool into Something Useful, Herbalogy and Potions (or in muggle terms how to grow and identify herbs and plants and how to turn them into slaves, tinctures, teas, oils, and other useful items)

23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet?
No, not yet. I still need to perfect the art of building a chicken coop!

24. Are you interested in herbal medicine?
YES!

25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?
Either here, or New Zealand

26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?
No, but I've thought about incorporating one into my new house design

27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be?
All the people here on SS

28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency?
Not really, no. I have one friendsister who might be, but she lives in the Sacramento area and between working full time and school full time she barely has time to think about herself. I do know she does manage to eat organically flexigetarian though.

29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?
Yes, yes, yes, yes and yes, although i've found that I'm not sure I like raw milk

30. What was your MOS?
MOS?

31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs?
no, not yet

32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient?
I'm willing to learn anything and everything, willing to do what needs to be done, and I can be good with my hands when I have the right equipment

33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live?
Anne McCaffreys Pern

34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy?
Not yet, but yet but I definitly want to

35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England?
Why is the swallow carrying a coconut? Isn't the coconut as big or bigger than the swallow? I'd rather figure that out using a hawk and a chicken

36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to?
not yet, and yes

37. In what do you trust?
Myself, my SO, my familyfriends

38. Do you make things yourself to save money?
We do canned goods, for a while we made dishwasher soap and laundry soap. Occasionally we make a stew broth thing to put on the dogs kibble

39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending?
Yes and no. It has made me more aware of "What can I do with this item besides throwing it away/donating/recycling it?" and how much certain items cost.

 

[valmom]

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? We are in Vermont- cold, short growing season, long cold winters!
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? Grown children, one grandson (so far), and happily civil unionized. (I'm not going to start here on marriage and traditional ownership of spouses- I am not a cow!)
3. How would you define self sufficiency? I'm not sure true self-sufficiency is possible. It really does take a community of like minded folks to get all the skills necessary for survival.4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? Raise horses and have a band of high quality broodmares and foals.
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? Personally- I wouldn't be able to. I would love to be able to afford to have a house built for us!
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? Nothing at all like this!
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? I love knowing how things used to be done- before mechanization and factory-made stuff. It morphed into doing things for ourselves because it is cheaper and healthier
8 Cloth or paper? Depends on what-and I am slowly getting my SO on board with this. No more paper towels! I have transitioned to rags, and real cloth napkins. Paper- kleenex and TP are a wonderful thing!
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? I have some SS homemaker skills- fiber to cloth, soap, some home made foods (pasta, eggs, yogurt, kombucha). I would like to have the TIME to learn how to do more, especially hard things like solar electric and other feats of engineering.
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? I don't think we could ever raise and eat our own meat. I could probably hunt and be comfortable eating it or buy from someone else, but I can't raise my own.
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs? I am trying!
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? In a forest trackless and deep. Unfortunately, since my SO is a bit claustrophobic about forests and being lost I don't go there much in the real world anymore.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? Tractor- we just bought a bigger one that has a round bale grabber- I love it!
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? I love almost any kind of crafts, but I am a lousy teacher. I do most fiber crafts- spinning, quilting, weaving, knitting, crochet, and I used to do stained glass when I lived in a house with room to have glass spread out all over.
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? We are in Vermont. There are very few livestock rules. We have chickens and horses, but I wish for the time to have a milking animal, either goat or small cow.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? No, but it would be really cool to learn woodworking and turning.
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? I try to grow things to eat. It frequently doesn't work!
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? No, not really an appealing pastime, and the river here is too polluted- I wouldn't eat anything out of it.
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? We have 4.5 acres according to the town. Of course, when we bought it we were told it was 5 acres.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? No idea
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? I suppose my specialty would be fiber crafting.
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? I have enough degrees- I want to learn real life things now.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? No, but it would be cool
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? I am, but I don't know enough about it and I'm really not that good with plants.
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? I don't even know. It would have to be somewhere where my spouse and I are legal, so that leaves out almost anywhere warm. Except New Jersey.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? Love our Vermont Castings wood stove- it heats the entire house when we run it!
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? Don't really know
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? Not particularly, but if I can do something SS without too much disruption to my SO it goes easier.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? I hate cooking, but I am interested in the sort of "crafting" side of it. Making pasta, yogurt, kombucha, preserving. We have more eggs than we can eat and I would love to someday learn how to make cheese!
30. What was your MOS? No clue!
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? No. Not now.
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient? My best ss skill is that I am interested and learn quickly!
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? I don't know.
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? Would love to! Wish I could afford a grid tie system at least, since the actual maintenance requirements of an off the grid system seems beyond my engineering skills.
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England? LOL!
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? I would, but I doubt my SO would. We actually looked at a house up here when we were shopping that was off the grid, but it was way way off from anything like a job
37. In what do you trust? Myself and my partner.
38. Do you make things yourself to save money? I do! But don't tell my SO.
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? I don't think so, since I have always been a penny pincher. But, reading this site has made me more mindful of treading lightly on the earth and as a by-product making ourselves more SS

 

[cabinchick]

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? Northern Idaho. Cold, long winters, short beautiful summers.

2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? Married, three grown children, two grandchildren and another on the way. All live in another state.

3. How would you define self sufficiency? Not completely relying on the government or large corporatations. Being able to raise my own food, process and preserve. Using natural resources for most things.

4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? I would travel to the poorest third world countries and teach them sustainable farming.

5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? Helped build housing in Thailand and Chile after disasters, but never on my own.

6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? No, but Ive helped with stick.

7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? An inefficient and wasteful government and greedy corporations whose agendas I do not support.

8 Cloth or paper? Cloth, but always soft paper for the bathroom 

9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? Im pretty frugal, but would like to learn more about animal husbandry and food preservation, aslo butchering and processing my own animals.

10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? I dont want to isolate myself from friends and neighbors. In fact I think we need each other. And I wont go without toilet paper 

11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs? Yes.

12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?

13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? No.

14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? I wish I could. I struggle with being patient enough to make crafts, they stress me outlol

15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? Yes, pigs and chickens.

16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? No.

17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? Not this year, due to our move. But normally, yes. I try to grow everything suited to my climate in the gardening space I have.

18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? Yes. Bait.

19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? 15 acres of forest and meadow.

20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? Technician. KJ6ORY

21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? I dont have a specialty, Im here to learn all I can.

22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? Im enrolling in the M.Div program at Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary.

23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? No.

24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? Yes, but ACV has been my only really successful attempt. I use it topically, not orally.


25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? I havent been to everywhere in the world, so I cant answer that question. But I love it here 

26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? Heating.

27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? God is my super hero.

28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? DH yes, everyone else no. They think Ive lost it.

29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? Yes, yes, yes, yes.

30. What was your MOS? I dont know what a MOS is!

31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? Yes, berries. Want to learn how to hunt.

32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient? Im a tight wad.

33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? Narnia.

34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? No, but when I can afford it, absolutely!

35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England? Huh?

36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? I would give it a whirl if I had the opportunity!

37. In what do you trust? God.

38. Do you make things yourself to save money? Yes, frugal meals.

39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? Yes. See #3 and #32.

 

[SSDreamin]

I am unable to copy and paste anything until I rewrite some junk on my IP program and I am too afraid to do that, so I'll fill it out here:

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?
Michigan. Presently southern, but soon to be mid-northern lower peninsula. Here it is frequently sunny, usually hotter than most of the rest of the state in the summer and, strangely, we catch a lot of lake effect snow- it skips over the lake shore & hits us! Up north- cooler, less sun & less heat.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?
Married. DH, DS(11) and myself
3. How would you define self sufficiency?
Being able to rely on yourself for the majority of your needs, as opposed to outside sources
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
I would build huge, gaudy stained glass windows for obscenely rich people
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to?
Never built an entire house, just pieces and parts, but always wanted to
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?
No, DH can and he won't teach me
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient?
My Grandpa & my Dad
8 Cloth or paper?
Paper. I will go without a lot of things before I'll give up my tp
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more?
I grow a medium sized SFG garden (want it doubled), have a small orchard (again, double wanted), cook most everything from scratch, raise chickens, have a miniature jersey/lowline cross heifer, can, dehydrate, sew, have a small rainwater catchment system (which will be expanded into a rain fed cistern system once we move/get settled), DH hunts for 90% of our meat supply, that's all I can think of right now. Still want to learn so much; tops on my list right now is soapmaking
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient?
I have long ago learned to never say never. I TRY to stay open minded, although I may never keep bees because I'm allergic and must carry a stupid epipen everywhere I go
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs?
Absolutely. DH has lay offs regularly, and stocking up eases my panic attacks about them
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world?
I go to a quiet meadow and talk to my oldest son. I can't see him, but I know he's there and he hears me
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?
Grew up driving a tractor on a regular basis. Used to drive a school bus - that's as close to a semi as I want to be
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?
I do make stained glass items, quilts, needlework, various sewn items and some wood projects. I would guess that most people would prefer to learn from someone much more talented than myself! I have a 'what the he**' attitude - I'll try it and, if it looks anything like what I had in mind, it's a success! Maybe that's why my family hates my homemade gifts!?!
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds?
Yes. One heifer, 6 buff orp's, 2 columbian wyandotte's, one buff orp rooster, a miniature horse, I mean German shepard and a rescue cat.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?
No, but I would love to learn, especially wood turning
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
I really enjoy my garden. This year, I put in tomatoes, potatoes, okra, peas, beans (green, wax, pinto & navy), peanuts, onions, beets, peppers (green, jalapeno), carrots, cabbage, lettuce, radishes, peanuts, asparagus, cantalope, sugar pumpkins, cukes and butternut squash. I also have blackberries, blueberries, rhubarb & strawberries. I want to plant twice as much of everything next year
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives?
DH & DS love to fish. I can take it or leave it. I don't eat it, and it's good bonding time, so I let them have at it. Bait
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country?
We own our home on 3 acres here, just bought a place on 7.4 acres up north (for cash- I can't help feeling like we stole it - HUD is GIVING away property up home!) and we own 10 acres 1/2 hour north of that house that backs up to 1,200 acres of federal land that DH uses for hunting (accumulated over many years of working long hours and making do).
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL?
Let my novice license lapse years ago.
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?
I have no specialty. I would love to learn more about solar/wind/geothermal
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take?
I have always wanted to take writing classes. I have STARTED many novels, completed none.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet?
DH is a journeyman carpenter. He does beautiful work. I am his grunt/laborer when we do projects together
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine?
Very much so
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?
The foothills of the Smoky Mountains. Lived in Knoxville, TN for a while and fell in love withe area. Also found out I have vertigo, so foothills, and I will never be able to leave
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?
Have in the past (both), plan to again in the new house
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be?
The biggest villian in my life has always been fear, so Fearman???
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency?
My Dad was. Wife #3 is not, and makes fun of the small stash of food he has in their basement. MIL/FIL are to a small degree. All siblings think we are absolutely insane and never miss an opportunity to poke fun. Friends all think we've joined some sort of cult. Trying to talk to any of them is like, well, I'd rather have a nice long chat with a brick wall, because I'd get a lot farther!
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?
Love to cook, and I have the waistline to prove it! I am slowly changing my families diet to whole/natural foods. Can't wait until the heifer is old enough for a sp**m donor, becomes a mommy- I grew up on raw milk, fresh butter and home made ice cream (her name, BTW, is Ice Cream ) My little girls give me lots of yummy eggs, so...yes to all the above?!!
30. What was your MOS?
Never in the military
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs?
DH hunts. I have no patience for it. I used to forage - blueberries & raspberries when we lived in the U.P. & morels on my Dad's farm. Not so easy to do here
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient?
I have several, DH has many more. I am an idiot savant with cars, does that count? (I can tell you what's wrong with the vehicle and, most times I'm right. Don't let me fix it though, if you ever want to drive it again!)
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live?
I would love to live within the pages of Pride and Prejudice. I'd like to meet/talk to Elizabeth Bennett, she seems so fearless
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy?
Don't have any yet, but plan to. Want a solar pre-heater for my hot water heater and a small solar system as a minimal back up system
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England?
Isn't that from Monty Python?
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to?
Never have. Would really like to tell the electric company to shove it
37. In what do you trust?
God (although I've been working through a love/hate relationship with the big guy for a while now) and immediate family, as in DH, DS, and one or two others
38. Do you make things yourself to save money?
Yes, frequently
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending?
Yes! Money has become much more of a means to reach an end, rather than a way to stay on the treadmill of life a few more days

 

[LittleRoosterCroft]

Hello all,

I am not really sure how the journal thing works here, could someone explain that? I am a member over on BYC and BYH. I am learning to homestead on a rented acre of land, sharing and old farm house with my brothers until we can all move on and forward with our lives.


Okay, here are the answers!

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? Delaware/Delmarva Peninsula, hot in summers, been cold in winters lately - especially after the monster snow storms a couple years ago but overall moderate compared to most of the country.
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? single, no human kids...just fuzzy ones
3. How would you define self sufficiency?I would describe it as being able to provide much of your needs yourself or locally within community, not having to rely on big box stores and general economy
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? hmmm, spare time? Not sure what that is between working full time, going to school nearly full time, taking care of the homestead pretty much by myself and trying to have a craft business! LOL Ummm, I would do environmental clean up work...restoring wetlands, swamps, etc
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? I would love to build my own natural construction house but I have not done much building
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? no
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? As I started down the path of homesteading, not liking the food available to us, not trusting the food available to us from stores...it naturally extended to wanting to be able to not rely on big commerce for as much as possible.
8 Cloth or paper? cloth as much as possible
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? Until a couple years ago when I started raising chickens and turkeys, I was a vegetarian for nearly 25 years. Once I was able to raise my own and now eat meat, I started to look at more sustainable, natural ways to obtain the rest of my food. I grow what I can, I buy from local side of the road farms, I can and freeze what I grow/gather. I hunt and fish (not very successfully yet) I make as much of my own things as possible (soap, teas, jellies, face cloths/kitchen towels, recently yogurt, cheese, am working on sewing my own clothes, etc). I have a barter system set up with some local folks (fish for eggs, etc) I also have local sources for raw milk (goat and cow). I barter with friends further away for things like wool. I am going to start an aquaponics system - small just for herbs to start then hope to grow fish like tilapia. I would like to learn how to produce more of the food for my animals too.
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? There are certain foods I grew up with like avocados and mangos that I can't grow here, certain fish that I like (sushi). Other than food I can't produce myself, certain art supplies and books and things like that
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs? definitely, the country and economy are not giving me much confidence, if nothing else the big business and Ag have become scary with GMO crops and rules about small producers.
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? a watery world!
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? nope, but would love to learn how to drive a tractor!

14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? Yes, I make a lot of crafts, I have taught classes on glass etching and taught friends about candle making and soap making.

15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? Yes, right now I just have birds (chickens, turkeys, ducks and geese) and rabbits. I would love to have a goat for milk and I plan to have pigs next Fall.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? no, I can wood burn and dremel but not a lathe
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? I like to garden, I am not great at it...but am learning. I like to grow anything I like to eat! LOL I do love my irises and wildflowers though
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? Not sure if you would call it fishing...but I drown worms really well!
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? I rent an acre in the country, farms all around me, woods behind me.

20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? novice?
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? networking. everything! LOL aquaponics right now, raising up pigs next...then once I am done with school, goats to milk...when I finally get my own house again, solar/wind energy to be off grid electrically, water conservation using grey water systems, etc.
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? land management for the small land owner
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? like I said before, not so much into the building...not good at it but I can finish wood, decorate it, etc.
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? yes, I know a bit about aromatherapy, co-owned a store for awhile...learning more about herbs and growing them now
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? Scotland
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? not in this house, in the house I owned before we used the stove for all our heating and some of the cooking in winter
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? a true Steven Seagal type...getting the environmental big bad guys
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? some of my friends are
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? am really just learning how to cook but I enjoy experimenting and good food meals and cooking with my own or local healthy raised meats and veggies and milk. definitely raw milk, raise my own hens for super fresh eggs!
30. What was your MOS? ?
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? learning to hunt
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient? I am good at crafts, making things and have a very open mind and attitude
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? Anne McCaffrey's Pern or Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? no, I rent but if I am ever lucky enough to own I will be looking into solar and wind power
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England? hmmm
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? nope, would love to
37. In what do you trust? in my gods and that life is not always the way you want it to go but eventually you will get where you belong
38. Do you make things yourself to save money? yes and so it is more natural and higher quality generally too
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? yes, I am wanting to not spend money on useless things, to figure out what is really needed

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

Ahhh...we are supposed to start our journals with our list of questions/answers. That didn't even occur to me till now

 

[LilyD]

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? We live in Vermont and the climate here changes by the minute. Right now we are having the wettest year on history since 1938 which is making life interesting. Yearly we have from about May until September for our growing season so we have to make the best of it.

2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? I am married and I have a beautiful son who is 15.

3. How would you define self sufficiency? I would love to never have to go to the supermarket but rather to produce everything I need at home. I realize things like gas and cars I will never be able to produce, but it would be good to make as much as I can.

4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? I would run a garden to grow whatever food I needed plus making my own cheese, meat and pasta. I would love to go solar and rely as little as possible on buying to help me to survive.

5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? Not a house but I have built my own barns, tool sheds and chicken coops. I need to become a better carpenter before I try making my own house.

6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? My husband was a welder for over 16 years so he does whatever I need.

7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? My son had a transplant in 2008 and is doing amazing. Frankly buying things for him to eat at a store is scary due to all the recalls. One wrong item could kill him. He started me on becoming self sufficient and now I'm hooked.

8 Cloth or paper? Not sure what you mean by this, paper towels versus cloth (definitely cloth, they can be washed and reused)

9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? I grow my own eggs and chicken and process them myself when they are ready. I do not order the chicks but grow them myself from eggs raised on the property. We have pigs, goats, and sheep also for meat so we do not purchase meat products from the store. We also grow our own vegetable and feed both ourselves and our animals from what we grow. We have fruit trees and bushes and collect and preserve the fruit as they ripen. We also compost everything that can be composted so we do not throw out much. We make our own cheese and are learning to make our own soap from goat milk. I would like to learn more about other ways I can be self sufficient other than growing all our own food.

10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? I can't give up my car because I have to make it to work. Also my husband would not give up on television and internet because he works as a computer guru and needs those for his work.

11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs? Definitely

12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? Usually outside on my horse. Inside is too boxed in.

13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? Not a semi but definitely the tractor.

14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? We are learning how to spin wool and make cheese and dog food. Once I get good enough that I can be sure I won't mess up I would love to teach others.

15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? Yes, horse, goat, sheep, pig, chicken and soon to come will be turkey, duck, cow and possibly quail.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? I have used a wood lathe before but I am definitely not an expert.

17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? I grow vegetables, fruit, herbs, garlic, edible flowers and I want to grow nuts as well but have to find trees for my area.

18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? No sadly I am allergic to fish so I don't fish at all.

19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? Here at the house I have 2 acres. There is another property that we use that is 15 acres where we house the larger animals and do our processing.

20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? I am a definite handy man as much as I can be I hate calling others to fix things for me. Not sure if that's what you mean.

21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? Free range eggs and chicken. I sell to others what I have grown that is extra. Also jams and jellies and applesauce made from our fruit trees and canned pickles.

22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? Wow tough one there is so much to learn...probably animal husbandry, business, cooking, canning, hunting and field dressing, gardening and botany and herbal cooking and medicine. All things I hunt and peck for because I can't find it all in one place.

23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? Some but I am still a novice at it.

24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? Very herbs can be spiritual, healing, and great to eat too.

25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? I would love to live somewhere warm but I would miss my mountains too much

26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? No the house we bought has an oil furnace (ick) We would love to change it out and put in a wood stove for heat and cooking and it is on our house remodel plan. I was drawn to this place because it is an old farmhouse built in 1900 with a lot of history in it's walls.

27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? My ideal super hero would make everyone get along and end the wars and violence that's everywhere. My villain would steal the worlds children and make them kill people even if they didn't want to.

28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? They are slowly converting. They no longer look at me like I am the crazy women with all those animals hehe.

29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? Yes definitely. I can't do raw milk because of my son but I know how to home pasteurize it so that we can still drink it safely and we do grow our own eggs and make all our own food.

30. What was your MOS? Um...not sure ??

31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? Yes we have a lot of wild herbs in the wooded areas, plus there are mushrooms and vegetables that are wild around here. My husband hunts and I can dress anything out if necessary. It adds a bunch to our food through the winter.

32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient? I am a natural gardener and grow just about everything we need. I also can what I grow and freeze what I can't can. I can process meat myself as well so our freezer doesn't empty out ever. I make my own dog food for our dog. I also am pretty handy at fixing anything that breaks, which happens a lot here.

33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? I would love to live in a place where we were not dependent on others for things we need. Hard to do being dependent on pharmacies, gas stations and satellite for everyday needs.

34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? We are researching solar energy but right now the cost for that is more than what I pay for my regular electric bill. Still checking out all my options.

35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England? Ouch no clue lol

36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? No not possible since we need access to pharmacies, phones for medical support and internet to work.

37. In what do you trust? Myself my family and my capabilities not much else.

38. Do you make things yourself to save money? Yes we take our own meals to work and school and are working on converting to not spending in other areas of our life as well. We also sell things we make at the farm to support other areas of our life.

39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? Nah I have always been a Scottish penny pincher so to speak. I think if anything it has gotten worse. I would much rather save my own seeds for the following year rather than buying and if I can make it myself I do or if I need something I haunt the free sections of Craigslist patiently waiting.