The Self-Sufficient Skills thread (new name, old thread!)

[Iceblink]

FYI. it's illegal to sell dog hair or products made with dog hair in the entire USA.

I'll bet there is a funny story behind that law......

 

[Farmfresh]

I had my wool sheep processed on Saturday, I asked them to save the skin for me, and I plan on shaving it. They put it in the freezer for me, has anyone done this? Will the wool be damaged from being sheared post mortem, post freezing?

I did this with my sheep hides, but then I tanned them as wool on hides. I don't see why the hair should be damaged by freezing.

 

[FarmerDenise]

We raised and butchered our own meat birds last year.
Made my own ACV.
Made mead.
Canned more food than I ever have before.
Dehydrated more food than I ever have before.
Harvested and used our own grasses for rabbit feed. Almost had enough for the year.
For the most part we just focused on honing and using the skills we already had.

This year's goals are:

Learning more about butchering and cooking our own birds

Raising goats (dairy), starting with 7 day old bottle babies

Raising more animal feed

Raising more grains for us and the animals

Making wine

Pressure canning for the first time

More holistic health care for myself and our animals

To do more of my own vet care

Make more of my own seasonings

Try out more recipes with ingredients we have on hand (mostly homegrown, bartered or foraged)

Buy even less stuff at the grocery store

Can more variety of stuff and more of it

Dehydrate even more stuff

Scrounge for more food stuff that we don't grow ourselves

Make rainbarrels

Fence in another section of our field for summer pasture for the goats and chickens

Enclose the metal carport structure (currently covered in a tarplike material, that is shredding more every day) in something more solid, to be used for storage and or a green house.

Clean out and organize as many rooms/spaces as time allows.

Get more CSA subscription customers

 

[Iceblink]

Ohh, I'd love to hear more about tanning. I've been thinking about trying it, but I've had a hard time finding recent information.

 

[gettinaclue]

I was reading an old MEN mag the other day and found a neat article about making yarn from the brushings of Great Pyrs. The lady was using her pottery wheel to make the thread/yarn.

Anyone else using nontraditional fiber like rabbit or dog for their yarn?

I read that article. It was very interesting and spinning sounded like something I wanted to try. I went and priced spinning wheels...I still haven't gotten over the shock.

I may get some angora rabbits in a couple of years...I've been thinking on it for a while now...but I'll definately be making a drop spindle.

 

[On Our own]

I took a canning class this last fall, what I canned tasted great so it was all gone by Christmas!! So next lesson: put up more food!!

I learned all about chickens and raising them. I learned about tensing and harvesting and then canning heritage grapes. (Dang seeds!)

I learned how to make awesome breads - many different kinds in a masonry bake oven. Actually, I learned how to cook most of my food in that thing, so we're good on that level.

 

[hwillm1977]

I was reading an old MEN mag the other day and found a neat article about making yarn from the brushings of Great Pyrs. The lady was using her pottery wheel to make the thread/yarn.

Anyone else using nontraditional fiber like rabbit or dog for their yarn?

I made about 5 feet of yarn with golden retriever fur once... it was the first yarn I ever tried to make and didn't hold together all that well, but it was pretty and soft

 

[cmjust0]

Things I have learned how, and often how NOT to do:

Run a tractor
Fix a tractor
Plow new ground
Run a bushhog
Grow a garden
Raise goats
Build a hayfeeder
Run a chainsaw
Sharpen saw chains
Fell a tree
Put up fences
Tear down fences
Build a coop
Raise chickens
Minor electrical work
Minor plumbing work
Install a woodstove
Install a chimney
Process a deer
Participate in a farmers' market

Um..

Those are the things that come to me, off the top of my head. There could be many subsections under each of those...they're more like topic headers than statements, really.

Or chapters.. :/

Hey, maybe I should add "write a book" to the list.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

I know how to preserve veges without canning or dehydrating!

Lets see, I will list what I can think of right now.

Sew
Knit
Cook from scratch, using traditional methods
Firewood from beginning to end
Basic framing
Gardening
Hunting
Fishing
Basic Animal husbandry

 

[urban dreamer]

Within the last year I have-

Killed and processed a deer
Built a chicken coop stared keeping chickens
Learned to can jellies and jams
Learned to make gumb bread
Hand-tilled and started a garden
Learned to knit

I want to-

Hunt more
Learn to make soap
Learn to can veggies and meats
Learn to make other breads and possibly sour dough
Learn to sew
Learn basic first aid
Learn to dry/dehydrate food, possibly without a dehydrater

...And a whole bunch more stuff I can't think of right now.