What kind of SS are you?

[FarmerChick]

I tried a "true" homesteading forum
Yikes...I was told "homesteading" DID HAVE a definition
off grid, off food chain foods, off the "man" to all extents (except ya, they had to pay taxes and such...but they growled cause it was INvoluntary)

I was surprised that "homesteaders" don't think us SS are real. We are playing at something...oh well....

 

[dragonlaurel]

Not sure where I fall. We live in a apt. in town but used to live off grid in the hills and woods. I'd love to do it again. He's spoiled now. :/
I'm still growing some herbs and veggies in pots on top of the frig. Finally figured out it was the best light for them around here. I have to stand on a chair to water, but that's okay.
We do most of our shopping once a month then get more eggs and dairy later. The pantry is stuffed or lean, depending on the time of month. I want to work on that.
I use herbal medicines and can make mine when I need anything. I might make some extracts in advance since they store very well. He uses the pharmaceuticals. I worry about how he would get by if the supply was not available.

 

[hikerchick]

Not sure where I fall. We live in a apt. in town but used to live off grid in the hills and woods. I'd love to do it again. He's spoiled now. :/
I'm still growing some herbs and veggies in pots on top of the frig. Finally figured out it was the best light for them around here. I have to stand on a chair to water, but that's okay.
We do most of our shopping once a month then get more eggs and dairy later. The pantry is stuffed or lean, depending on the time of month. I want to work on that.
I use herbal medicines and can make mine when I need anything. I might make some extracts in advance since they store very well. He uses the pharmaceuticals. I worry about how he would get by if the supply was not available.

then he would use your herbals.

 

[hikerchick]

I tried a "true" homesteading forum
Yikes...I was told "homesteading" DID HAVE a definition
off grid, off food chain foods, off the "man" to all extents (except ya, they had to pay taxes and such...but they growled cause it was INvoluntary)

I was surprised that "homesteaders" don't think us SS are real. We are playing at something...oh well....

Yah I think we should change the name of this forum to the posers and delusionals forum.

 

[dragonlaurel]

They would have approved of how hard core we were roughing it. Our only electric was his radio and a small flashlight. We conserved the batteries by using an oil lamp at night and running on mostly "solar time". Going to bed within a few hours after it got dark.
We dug and piped a spring that had good water and cooked by fire. We grew and foraged some food but the area didn't have many animals on it. Probably was over-hunted before.
We dug our own out house too.
No phone. Used letters and went into town to mail them or use a payphone. We called our family monthly so they would know we were okay. Cell phones were just getting started, and were something doctors had because they were on call.
We didn't do this because we were so idealistic about it. We were broke. I wonder how many of the hard core homesteaders would be willing to live off grid without those electric systems.

I'm not a poser or delusional, but most people are not willing to give up their conveniences. My hubby doesn't want to give up his toys either.
He got to used to doing the Dr. meds. I don't have a recipe for herbal COPD medicine either.

fixed to make more sense( bad grammar).

 

[bibliophile birds]

we've got 2 family farms, and i grew up on both of them. the rest of the family lived on the one in East Tennessee, where i live now, while we lived on the one in West Tennessee, so my great-grandparents were the family members living closest to us at the time. i learned a lot from them about how to be SS. my favorite childhood activity was making sausage with the hand-crank meat grinder. we raised cattle and hogs and chickens and grew all our own veggies and most of our own fruit. the nearest major town was an hour away, so we did a lot of local shopping or making our own clothes.

we moved back to E TN when i was 6 and self sufficiency went out the window mostly. the E TN farm is mostly a horse farm with a few cattle and my grandfather's small, mostly-for-fun garden. so we went mainstream. i did, however, stop eating commerical meat when i was 16. 11 years later, i'm still managing to stick to that.

for the past 10 years, i've either been in college or traveling for work, neither of which are particularly conducive to living SS. this past spring i finally decided that i wanted to be more settled so i took a step back from my research position. this way i can be home at least 10 months out of the year. this will give me the chance to get back to my roots. and teach my neice what being a farmer girl is all about! (she's 2 1/2 months, so i've got some time to prepare) SS here i come!

someone mentioned their 5 year plan... i feel like i'm on month 4!

accomplishments: no city water (everything is rain or well), greywater system, small hydroelectric, chemical free (!!!), pastured organic chickens (eggs and meat), buying local food, composting, beehives
short-term goals: planting an heirloom market garden in the spring, learn to make cheese and how to preserve (canning and curing), getting more livestock (sheep! pigs, goats, turkeys, more cattle), strawbale cottage with solar and root cellar, veggie oil fuel (collected from my family's restaurant), composting toilets
long(er)-term goals: Farm School (afterschool/summer program for kids), solar panels on barn, bigger hydro water wheel

To be more SS, this spring I would like to grow my colonies through swarms rather than purchasing packages.

plus, it's a lot more fun! and satisfying. good luck!

 

[Wifezilla]

Now that I think of it her dad even raised rabbits for food and skins in their back yard. Right in the middle of suburbia!!

So did my grandma. E. Morris Ave in Cudahy, WI to be exact. It's a suburb of Milwaukee and they had meat rabbits, a raspberry patch, 2 large apple trees and a HUGE vegetable garden.

 

[TanksHill]

Wifezilla, it just goes to show what you can do right in your own back yard. This was in southern Ca. Not the norm thats for sure.

g

 

[me&thegals]

Yeah, I tell you though, last night I was chasing a rat around in the chicken building (got it! Score now stands at Pat 2, Rattus norvegicus 0, and I *think* that's all of 'em that had gotten inside) and could really have benefitted from a caddy standing there to hand me a good heavy club


Pat

I tell you! There's nothing like animals and children to make one's intelligence completely useless. I have chased chickens and turkeys around until I just had to laugh.

Pat, I could count on you to know the scientific name for a rat.

 

[me&thegals]

To be more SS, this spring I would like to grow my colonies through swarms rather than purchasing packages.

plus, it's a lot more fun! and satisfying. good luck!

Actually, I said that, but when Beekissed realizes her dream of beekeeping, she may very well feel that way, too.

Very great responses from everyone. Tankshill, I loved your post! And many others, too. It's so bogus that you have to live in the country to have some level of self sufficiency. For one example, I have to have a vehicle to live out here. Walking or biking everywhere would be way more SS.