Self sufficiency? No such thing. I call it good stewardship. Using the resources you have been blessed with to the greatest advantage. To that end, my husband and I live frugally, and always have. That's not saying we don't have things that we enjoy. He has his guitars, I have my gardens and animals. We built our home, and paid off the 15 year 15K mortgage years ago. We use a combination of wood, pellet and oil heat, relying mostly on wood heat. I am super blessed in that hubby is skilled in many areas, and he takes the time to teach me. ( I shy away from mechanical stuff, but love to do wood based projects, and love to work with tile.) He can take care of almost all electrical, plumbing, and some automotive repairs.
On the home front, we have cleared a fair amount of land to get more sunshine, remove problem trees from around the house. That cleared land has opened up the space for me to plant an orchard. (on less than optimal land, but... the trees seem to be doing ok.) I am also working on a hugel kulture mound.
We built an incubator, and I've been hatching my own chicks since 2012, Though, I occasionally purchase chicks to increase the genetic diversity of my flock. I sell surplus eggs, and have sold older hens, and some chicks. Cockrels go to the freezer.
Garden style is deep mulch, which is being converted to BTE, and the orchard is BTE. This spring, I have planted: a peach tree, 2 Cornelian Cherries, Cranberries, Wine Cap Mushrooms, Fiddleheads, and still have 2 Lingonberries to plant. My gardening goal is to be able to preserve enough produce to carry us through the winter. I'm still enjoying raspberry jam and peach (purchased fruit) salsa from last season. It's spoiled me for ever buying such things from the grocer. Last year, I ventured into pressure canning and dehydrating.
I am an avid dump forager: Thermopane door and windows for my chicken coop, lots of building materials, wood chips, wonderful compost, and some very functional furniture have come from what we lovingly call our "Town Mall". My most recent find was a Maple wood night stand which we are refinishing, and an orthopedic kneeling chair which I have always wanted. I think they stopped making them about 30 years ago. I would say that I've found everything but the kitchen sink there. But, those can be found as well. I brought home a beautiful bathroom sink, which I intend to build a cabinet for so I have a place to wash my veggies before bringing them into the house to finish processing. That will keep the soil, the water, and the leaves and such out in the garden, where they are intended to stay.
My long term goal is to be independent of the grocer. I am scrambling to get the land tamed and productively planted while my body still has the strength to do so. (I am 61 y.o. and have many aches and pains. Some days, getting out of bed is a challenge.) We will always have a financial burden, medical being the greatest challenge, as hubby requires some very expensive meds which he could not live without.
But, I trust it all to God. He has met our every need, and I am blessed beyond all measure.
