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Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Completely self sustainable living

is it possible? well of course it is for heavens sake people have survived on this planet for a LONG time before electricity and before tons of other things that we take for granted now like running water. but have you ever given TRUE self sustainable living more than a passing thought?


What would this mean ? let's start with the beginning of the day what do you eat for breakfast? do you shower? what do you wear? where did these things come from?

What does independent sustainable living mean to you?


Does it mean not having anything produced by anyone else but you? then think do you know how to weave your own cloth? do you have the ability to sew it into clothing?


does it mean eating only foods you produce ? This one I must say intrigues me the most. and then I have to stop and think

what do we eat? what convenience foods can we do without?


Well we eat bread I can make bread I make really good and very pretty bread I can even make bread without using my stand mixer or a bread machine! (how's that for impressive) Then I stop and think what would do to get what I need that goes into my bread? the flour , don't grow wheat,the milk,I don't have cows,the sugar,I sure don't have sugar cane ! the yeast ! uh oh

Well there goes that idea (and yes I made that bread pictured above)

I know that for my family in order to be more self sustaining we would need a few things that we are currently working towards We need vegetables we buy a great many canned goods mostly things like soups cream of chicken soup cream of mushroom soup etc we use a great many potatoes I go through about 20lbs of potatoes a month we use them for everything hash browns home made fries baked potatoes mashed , I use them in things like when I make soups etc potatoes help stretch our food budget

we also eat a great deal of Italian style foods pasta is a biggie again I could make my own I am sure (never tried) but again pasta takes flour ....

I know that in the meat and fish area we would be fine chickens pigs(we have slaughtered and processed our own) and with hunting and fishing the boys would do great and Dave would be thrilled

much like energy independence I think being completely independent from things from the store would require more thought

In order to make things like cheese and butter I would need a milk cow in order to get used to living off the land I would need to either alter the diet we are used to eating or acquire the things we are used to having

I took a tentative step toward that today I bought two indoor trees. again I do not know if this will work both trees are tropical plants and will probably not survive here for long on a cold winter night but even if they do not produce anything they will still be pretty

I need to work toward more independence from stores for food this is something that takes practice and work on my part as the main menu maker and cook . This is not something that is easy to do because thinking about it almost everything we eat I cannot produce on my northern farm

I can make things like tomato sauces I can grow spices and herbs even fresh in the winter time I can grow potatoes and carrots and peas and spinach and lettuce and I even going to do my darnedest to get cucumbers to grow (mine usually die before producing)

I think about things my kids like and how can I give them those things I cannot make peanut butter but I can make jelly granted it would be blackberry jelly (we have tons of blackberry bushes on our land) I can make apple pies (we have 3 apple trees and are getting more this year)

I think growing my "energy garden" to save us miles on our vehicle and money at the store will help out I think we should encourage everyone we know to attempt the same Similar to the victory gardens grown to aid the families during WW2 this would be a step toward something better for all of us

plus nothing tastes as good as a meal you made from things you grew or gathered yourself

4 comments:

Laura said...

It's funny that you mentioned the Victory Gardens of past, as a friend of mine who is living in Ireland was wishing that she could have one of her own.

I am planting my onions today and this weekend, we are going to cut the plot for my berries (which we are getting from a friend), potatoes and probably herbs. I spend ALOT of money on herbs... so this may work, I hope. I haven't had the best luck growing herbs from seed in past years, but maybe I'll manage this year.

My mother used to have a kiwi vine in our backyard when I was younger. And she had one of those little lemon trees in our sun room. And we had a peach tree, apple trees and grapes. The grapes never worked out for us, the birds got to them first. :(

Another thing that i spend too much money on is frozen veggies. Of course, I use them mostly in the winter, but I use alot of them. So the thought was to grow my own peas and I can trade with my friends for corn. The peas are healthy and growing, but the birds used a portion of my peas as an all-you-can-eat-buffet. So... my shelling pea crop is going to be smaller than I hoped.

What is your lattitude? And have you tried cold frames yet?

Sue said...

I live in Northern Wi near a city called Rhinelander I have no idea what latitude is LOL I have used cold frames made out of simple things like straw bales with an old shower door over it I did not like that much so I just balanced the shower door against our south facing wall of our house and planted some things there We go through a LOT of fresh spinach my kids love it and I use it in a lot of cooking to sneak my veggies in for myself (I hate vegetables)

I have had no trouble with herbs honestly there are some herbs that are just difficult to grow and really picky I have found Rosemary to be just a fussy plant and I am lucky if I get any from several packets of seeds . I have terrific luck with Basil and this year is the first time I have had lavender actually grow past germination without rotting (we are planning on making some soap this year LOL) I have 3 thyme plants going and my sage died off so i have to start over
As I have said my tomato plants are doing so well they are taking over our house every available window sill is taken over by tomatoes
I also ahve grow lights going to help the plants along I have only one south facing window in the house and it is so pathetically small the other one my boys will not let me use it is in thier room but I am wearing them down as I said "do you all like to eat?"

Mint is another thing that is doing terrific here

We have blackberry bushes gallore around here and asparagus grows wild on the road sides

for getting rid of birds and things put wind chimes and whirly gigs in your garden the different noises and movements frighten them away I also know you can get things that flash or make noise at movement but that is expensive and whirly gigs work well so do scare crows

djs0925 said...

Hey Sue!

Could you please post the recipe and instructions for the gorgeous bread you made? Thanks to my hubby's grandma I can make 8 loaves at a time, but I haven't tackled anything as pretty as yours yet.

Sue said...

Oh Darn I guess I will have to make bread tommorow and take pictures of the process

no problem I would be happy to share

Sue