Joel_BC
Super Self-Sufficient
My deciding factors were: wanting to live in the country, not wanting to work for cash at a “job” all of the time. Simple upshot: need to economize, budget, and acquire knowledge and skills.
See, my mother had grown up in a small town, and was the daughter of cattle ranchers who had moved into a town and set up a leather-tanning enterprise. My dad was raised on his uncle’s poultry ranch (but he wanted to escape that and see the big city). True, we always had relatives in the small towns and countryside. As a kid I liked making and fixing things. I learned how engines worked, some basics of electricity, how to mark and cut boards, and bits of this and that.
But my dad had wanted to be rid of the messy facets of country life and be clean at both ends of the day—and prosperous, if possible. But money was usually pretty tight. For me, having jobs from a fairly young age was encouraged. In my late teens, I got to know some people who lived out in the countryside, were friendly, and had interesting minds. I became convinced theirs was the kind of environment I wanted to live in.
But before it was possible, I got drawn into the money-earning possibilities of the city. I swerved into a job in an organic-foods store, and was able to rent a tiny, cheap country cottage. Part of my job was to truck produce from the farms to the place I worked. My cottage was on a small farm, and I learned gardening from books, from the farmer's wife, and trial & error. The farmers had me milking the Jersey too.
Then I found a valley in the eastern mountains where people were friendly and land prices very affordable, and I sunk everything into a piece of land. Took on various jobs for various stretches. I learned more about gardens and started keeping chickens. I learned carpentry, water systems, how to wire buildings for electricity, and more mechanics (basics of cars, trucks, small engines). I was married by this time, and had a daughter. We sold the original land and moved down the valley to a spot with better soil, better neighbors, and a shorter commute to off-land employment. While here, my practical skills increased and I learned basic metal-working, including welding.
So you get my drift… my shift into SS was a result of the fact that I never liked the hubub of the city, nor the cramped limitations of the suburbs. The city and modern suburb offer education opportunities, concert halls and movie theaters, big bookstores and libraries, shopping opportunities (tools and supplies, clothes, reconditioned cars) — but they also present many distractions and irritations. And nature and the sources of human sustenance can seem very remote in those places.
SS knowledge and skills save you money. In a lot of ways, the cities are more expensive settings. To me, the alternative is learning to raise and preserve food, learning to use tools, shopping for secondhand when you can, and all the things that we talk about here on SufficientSelf.
See, my mother had grown up in a small town, and was the daughter of cattle ranchers who had moved into a town and set up a leather-tanning enterprise. My dad was raised on his uncle’s poultry ranch (but he wanted to escape that and see the big city). True, we always had relatives in the small towns and countryside. As a kid I liked making and fixing things. I learned how engines worked, some basics of electricity, how to mark and cut boards, and bits of this and that.
But my dad had wanted to be rid of the messy facets of country life and be clean at both ends of the day—and prosperous, if possible. But money was usually pretty tight. For me, having jobs from a fairly young age was encouraged. In my late teens, I got to know some people who lived out in the countryside, were friendly, and had interesting minds. I became convinced theirs was the kind of environment I wanted to live in.
But before it was possible, I got drawn into the money-earning possibilities of the city. I swerved into a job in an organic-foods store, and was able to rent a tiny, cheap country cottage. Part of my job was to truck produce from the farms to the place I worked. My cottage was on a small farm, and I learned gardening from books, from the farmer's wife, and trial & error. The farmers had me milking the Jersey too.
Then I found a valley in the eastern mountains where people were friendly and land prices very affordable, and I sunk everything into a piece of land. Took on various jobs for various stretches. I learned more about gardens and started keeping chickens. I learned carpentry, water systems, how to wire buildings for electricity, and more mechanics (basics of cars, trucks, small engines). I was married by this time, and had a daughter. We sold the original land and moved down the valley to a spot with better soil, better neighbors, and a shorter commute to off-land employment. While here, my practical skills increased and I learned basic metal-working, including welding.
So you get my drift… my shift into SS was a result of the fact that I never liked the hubub of the city, nor the cramped limitations of the suburbs. The city and modern suburb offer education opportunities, concert halls and movie theaters, big bookstores and libraries, shopping opportunities (tools and supplies, clothes, reconditioned cars) — but they also present many distractions and irritations. And nature and the sources of human sustenance can seem very remote in those places.
SS knowledge and skills save you money. In a lot of ways, the cities are more expensive settings. To me, the alternative is learning to raise and preserve food, learning to use tools, shopping for secondhand when you can, and all the things that we talk about here on SufficientSelf.
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