Farmfresh
City Biddy
Born with it.
What got your attention to inspire you to go SS?
- Thread starter PunkinPeep
- Start date
me&thegals
A Major Squash & Pumpkin Lover
My birth family probably planted the first seeds. We grew up without a lot of "stuff" and learned how to work hard, garden, take care of jobs.
So, when I started my own life I already had that as a base. It has just grown from there. I think I always like to push things further and further. Climbing a corporate ladder is inconceivable to me, but finding more and more things to grow and "put up" or making soap or keeping bees seem like wondrous new achievements to work towards.
Mainly:
1. It save us a LOT of money, assuming that I would NEVER work in a full-time corporate job anyway.
2. It is really pretty gentle on the environment, and I care a lot about reducing how much harm I and my family do.
3. It is very satisfying, good, honest labor. It connects me to other people, my own family and earth/spirituality in a way that nothing else does.
So, there has been no "Big Bang" event that got me thinking this way, just a long, slow natural progression towards more and more self reliance and, in some ways (bartering, trading) interdependence.
So, when I started my own life I already had that as a base. It has just grown from there. I think I always like to push things further and further. Climbing a corporate ladder is inconceivable to me, but finding more and more things to grow and "put up" or making soap or keeping bees seem like wondrous new achievements to work towards.
Mainly:
1. It save us a LOT of money, assuming that I would NEVER work in a full-time corporate job anyway.
2. It is really pretty gentle on the environment, and I care a lot about reducing how much harm I and my family do.
3. It is very satisfying, good, honest labor. It connects me to other people, my own family and earth/spirituality in a way that nothing else does.
So, there has been no "Big Bang" event that got me thinking this way, just a long, slow natural progression towards more and more self reliance and, in some ways (bartering, trading) interdependence.
okiegirl1
Lovin' The Homestead
We bought a house on 2 1/2 acres. This lady was WAY overboard. She had the storm cellar full of freeze dried food, tons of 3 gallon buckets full of whole dried corn, rice and wheat. She had 55 gallon and 25 gallon water barrels, tons of books on bomb shelters, tons of canned food & wood piles all over the property. She just knew the "end of days was upon us". We bought the house contents intact, so we got all the stuff too.
Most of the food was spoiled or out of date, the water barrels had nasty stuff in them (leaves, dirt, etc) It tought me that I'm not near prepared enough if we were to have a crisis. Even just a power outage due to weather.
So, I'm trying to get as much advice as I can here, learn what I can, apply what we can and try to be prepared.
It's actually sparked something in me. That and the fact that you never really know if you'll have a job tomorrow and it's nice not having to worry if you can put food on the table is worse comes to worse.
The house will be paid off in 5 years and we'll be completely debt free. That is a very nice feeling. If nothing ever bad happens, my husband won't have to work until he's old. We'll be able to enjoy retirement.
Most of the food was spoiled or out of date, the water barrels had nasty stuff in them (leaves, dirt, etc) It tought me that I'm not near prepared enough if we were to have a crisis. Even just a power outage due to weather.
So, I'm trying to get as much advice as I can here, learn what I can, apply what we can and try to be prepared.
It's actually sparked something in me. That and the fact that you never really know if you'll have a job tomorrow and it's nice not having to worry if you can put food on the table is worse comes to worse.
The house will be paid off in 5 years and we'll be completely debt free. That is a very nice feeling. If nothing ever bad happens, my husband won't have to work until he's old. We'll be able to enjoy retirement.
Wifezilla
Low-Carb Queen - RIP: 1963-2021
Another vote for born with it. My parents WERE NOT. I think Grandma on mom's side was. My mom used to make fun of her for her Campbell's soup closet under the stairs and her soap stash in the upstairs bathroom. Grandma had a huge garden, a raspberry patch, huge apple trees, and she raised rabbits for meat for quite a long time.
My mom thought all that was stupid. I imagine grandma did it because of the depression. I remember the lean 70's with high unemployment, gas lines, etc... As a family we also went from comfortable middle class to poverty level. All these things just reinforced what was already there.
2dream
Flibbertigibbet
I have no clue. Just kind of always been that way. Not SS but like outdoors, gardens, doing different things. The constant learning process. Love raising animals. Always have. So its just kind of a natural thing for me.
Wolf-Kim
Lovin' The Homestead
Guess I just got that rare little gene that gave me the desire to be "independant" of the rest of the world.
Dad was raised in San Diego, mom grew up on a dairy farm and has spent the rest of her life burying it in her past. One of my all time favorite people in life was my 5th grade teacher, she was the mother I should have had! LOL She was intent that things are going to get back to the old ways, and people who were clueless were in deep trouble.
While I hope to run what I call a modern homestead, I don't have the want to completely "rough" it. We want electricity, and my husband wants his toys, and we both want to see the world. It's hard, but we're trying to find the balance in there.
When I brought up the 'idea' of having a composting toilet, hubby said NO.
We want to raise the vast majority of our food and get away from commercial products.
If the opportunity were to arise to be "off the grid" by means of our own energy source, that would be neat, but that's a big "if".
If the world went all to hell, we want to be able to live comfortably on our own. Yes, the zombie plan...
And I just plain have fun learning and practicing SS. I enjoy being around other people that enjoy it. I find that SS folks are some of the most friendly, down-to-earth, fun people there are in this world, and boy do they have some of the most awesome stories to tell.
Dad was raised in San Diego, mom grew up on a dairy farm and has spent the rest of her life burying it in her past. One of my all time favorite people in life was my 5th grade teacher, she was the mother I should have had! LOL She was intent that things are going to get back to the old ways, and people who were clueless were in deep trouble.
While I hope to run what I call a modern homestead, I don't have the want to completely "rough" it. We want electricity, and my husband wants his toys, and we both want to see the world. It's hard, but we're trying to find the balance in there.
When I brought up the 'idea' of having a composting toilet, hubby said NO.
We want to raise the vast majority of our food and get away from commercial products.
If the opportunity were to arise to be "off the grid" by means of our own energy source, that would be neat, but that's a big "if".
If the world went all to hell, we want to be able to live comfortably on our own. Yes, the zombie plan...
And I just plain have fun learning and practicing SS. I enjoy being around other people that enjoy it. I find that SS folks are some of the most friendly, down-to-earth, fun people there are in this world, and boy do they have some of the most awesome stories to tell.
farmerlor
Lovin' The Homestead
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2009
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Well, I was born into a family that practiced SS to some extent, lots of bartering and gardening and raising livestock. The older I grew the less I liked people and the less I trusted big companies who seemed to hold all the cards so I tried to move away from my dependency on them. When Bush got into office I really started ramping up the SS plans. Now I've come to realize that I'm a little too old for complete Self Sufficiency. Just can't do the work involved anymore so I too would like to keep the lights on somehow and I really like my running water but I guess if I had to I could get by without those things.
We bought a vacation cabin that was fairly self sufficient. Our original thought was to buy this gorgeous property, tear down the cabin and build our dream home. We got the SS bug and began attending solar tours which had homes that were really off grid. It was SS/off grid love at first sight!
We kept the cabin intact and added on. We had a high double income at that time and overbuilt. Now we have a great room that a high end lodge would construct, with the high maintenance costs but now a low income. So I wandered over this site for creative and DIY answers.
I have always gardened, with a thirst for learning. SS is a good fit.
We kept the cabin intact and added on. We had a high double income at that time and overbuilt. Now we have a great room that a high end lodge would construct, with the high maintenance costs but now a low income. So I wandered over this site for creative and DIY answers.
I have always gardened, with a thirst for learning. SS is a good fit.
noobiechickenlady
Almost Self-Reliant
Growing up with my mom always having a stash of food (storebought, as she refused to can & had a very small garden, tomatoes usually) taught me to be prepared. We were fine sitting in the house with ice 2" thick on everything after an icestorm. Here in Mississippi, that shuts the whole state down until it melts. If the lights went out, we'd cook on the propane stove for the hunting camp. There was always gas available. We lost lights for a while after Katrina, maybe a week? So there's that.
I also don't like the way our country is headed. Heck, I don't like the world is headed, which is what inspired me to take up learning older or DIY ways of doing things. I don't do all of them, I haven't made soap yet, haven't made my own dishes, don't sew my own clothes anymore, I don't grow grains or raise bees, but I'm learning as much as I can. That way, I can add 1 or two things here and there, or at least have the knowledge, should a long term disaster strike.
In addition, growing & processing (at least some of) my own food lets me be in control of what does & doesn't get put in it.
I also don't like the way our country is headed. Heck, I don't like the world is headed, which is what inspired me to take up learning older or DIY ways of doing things. I don't do all of them, I haven't made soap yet, haven't made my own dishes, don't sew my own clothes anymore, I don't grow grains or raise bees, but I'm learning as much as I can. That way, I can add 1 or two things here and there, or at least have the knowledge, should a long term disaster strike.
In addition, growing & processing (at least some of) my own food lets me be in control of what does & doesn't get put in it.
ams3651
Lovin' The Homestead
I grew up on a farm and we didnt have much, we had a garden, hunted, canned and froze. When i got my 2 acres I wanted to make it work for me and I especially wanted to get my hands back in the dirt. I took a SS book out from the library and thats where the idea of chickens came into it as wall as adding to the couple fruit trees already here. Theres also a sense of ancestory, this was my grandparents farm (well, part of it) they were farmers too. And saving money was a big part of it as well. I live on top of a hill and if I had the cash for a wind turbine you can bet your last nickel I would have one. To me I dont see it as much sustainable living as going back to simpler times and ways of doing things.
