anyone here a homesteader? farmer? survivalist?

[anoninnyc]

as a city girl i know way too little about this sort of thing. interested in learning how many of you are self-sufficient or could be. grow your own food, etc.

[zoloko]

as a city girl i know way too little about this sort of thing. interested in learning how many of you are self-sufficient or could be. grow your own food, etc.

I LOVE YOU!

Well, right now I´m living alone in an apartment. But I know how to grow my own food, how to milk cow´s and goat´s, how to keep animal´s, cut sheep, knit, sow, make food from basic,eatable plants, also a bit about natural medicine. So I would be able to do all that under the right circumstances!:)

THANK YOU!

[danielg]

as a city girl i know way too little about this sort of thing. interested in learning how many of you are self-sufficient or could be. grow your own food, etc.
Being self sufficient is a lot of work. I'm not, but I knew someone who was JUST self sufficient and he had a pretty big growing patch and was out every day debugging his veg patches and other chores. Couldn't afford a patch that big myself.
There are a few easy foods sources though, like growing mushrooms on dead wood in your garden or woodlands, buying juicers to juice grass and pine needles. Lenny Horowitz writes that grass is the best food in existance, we just can't digest the fibre, the goodness can be extracted from the juice. Wheatgrass and Barley grass seeds are cheap when bought in 15/20kg bags and can be sprouted in 3 days, which are 'superfoods'.
Bramble bushes are always a free meal (blackberries) in the right season and they grow everywhere too. Learn to identfy fruits and edible flowers and fungus in the wild and the worlds your oyster.
http://www.green-shopping.co.uk/books/book_pages/gardening_%26_cultivation_b.html

[synergy777]

danny its true. my grandad had veg patch in his garden, i wish i knew these skills. skills like gardening, building, plumbing, electrical, mechanics, carpentry etc are very important skills, they should be more valued.

[cruise4]

"i wish i knew these skills. skills like gardening, building, plumbing, electrical, mechanics, carpentry etc are very important skills, they should be more valued."

Absolutely right. It's no mistake they aren't valued currently. You can't have everyone being independant when they need cogs for their machine.

Conversely, look what is valued in today's society. What a useless bunch of core skills the vast majority of jobs now entail. Civil service = a service useless to civilians.

[anoninnyc]

danny its true. my grandad had veg patch in his garden, i wish i knew these skills. skills like gardening, building, plumbing, electrical, mechanics, carpentry etc are very important skills, they should be more valued.

yes synergy this is my point. i garden a bit, but i am helpless for the rest.

[cheesedanish]

My dream / goal is to buy a small green house and grow all my own
Veggies - so they can fresh - hopefully I have a Green Thumb
and the plants can flourish - I don't have to worry about Gm or
pesticide or high pricing of food.

Now where can I keep the cow and chickens? mmm

[chris]

Every one of you people need these books...

http://www.pilgrimsway.com/books/city_survival_s.jpg

http://shop.navyseals.com/images/products/54.jpg

This guy is the shit. He puts Ray Mears to shame, he was raised by an apache indian...I've read many of his books...He is the shit.

His website...

trackerschool.com

[danielg]

He's okay but he doesn't touch John Lofty Wiseman for knowledge. Compare the ratings on the amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/SAS-Survival-Handbook-Survive-Climate/dp/0060578793/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-4197138-4318847?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187439628&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Sas-Survival-Handbook-Survive-Climate/dp/0007158998/ref=sr_1_10/105-4197138-4318847?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187439628&sr=8-10
to
http://www.amazon.com/Browns-Guide-Suburban-Survival-Guides/dp/0425091724/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_2_txt/105-4197138-4318847

[garth]

danny its true. my grandad had veg patch in his garden, i wish i knew these skills. skills like gardening, building, plumbing, electrical, mechanics, carpentry etc are very important skills, they should be more valued.

Come on guys, you can learn all these skills off the net, there has never been an easier time to access everything you need to know. Believe me there is a blog or forum for everything out there. Start a project, get your hands dirty, get the information you need & learn. These are all "hand" skills, you've gotta do them to learn them.

They are valued to BTW:D

[infinitetruth]

I am planning to become self sufficient. We are getting our garden ready at the moment, it will take a while. we have composting bins for producing our own compost, we have a large garden where we hope to grow veg, keep chickens and a goat. We live in the town too though.

[danielg]

wwoofing is a decent place to start if you're wanting to get some practise on growing/ cultivating food, or even building sustainable homes...
www.wwoof.org

[auron]

Some good books here:

http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showpost.php?p=98226&postcount=17

[them]

I mix farm/smallhold. Sheep, for pedigree Rams & Ewes - mostly - as well as the pot. Chickens, mainly Bantams for eggs & food. Goats are bastards, but I have a few :) A couple of Pigs each year for rotavating services, waste disposal & then the pot..

Half an acre of veg keeps us going through most of the year, although all the spuds have had blight so far this year. A small Apple Orchard & mixed fruit plot.

I have a few bibles I couldn't do without..

New Complete Self-sufficiency: John Seymour (http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/367522/New-Complete-Self-sufficiency/Product.html)

Food for Free: Richard Mabey (http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/281045/Food-for-Free/Product.html)

The River Cottage Year: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/538331/The-River-Cottage-Year/Product.html)

I only recently added this one, but it's the best I've had so far for veg
The Complete Vegetable Gardener: Jane Courtier (http://www.play.com/Books/Books/4-/744288/The-Complete-Vegetable-Gardener/Product.html)

A solid website

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/index.php

http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/assets/croprot.gif

[edit]

[CENTER]
http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/assets/croprot.gif

Plot --> in Slavic is -> Fence

language http://www.seshat.ch/home/lascaux2.htm


Let me begin with my definition of language from 1974/75:



Language is the means of getting help, support and understanding from those we depend upon in one way or another – and every means of getting help, support and understanding may be called language, on whatever level of life it occurs.



Language, then, is a basic feature of life, and so I assume that language evolves the same way as life forms do. Human evolution occurs mainly outside the body, in culture, and so the language we use goes beyond body language, yet the mechanisms of evolution in human language are the same. I follow the evolutionary model proposed by Nils Eldrege and Stephen Jay Gould on the basis of earlier authors: a new species arises in a relatively short period of time (punctuation of the equilibrium) and can then persist basically unchanged for eons (stasis).



Homo erectus may have communicated via humming (a speculation of mine). Neanderthals had high, melodic voices (a hypothesis I read about). Homo sapiens sapiens of the Blombos cave, South Africa, Middle Stone Age, 75 000 BP, may have used words of one and two letters, for example



KA --- sky, beyond, out of our reach, also inside rock, in a well, or deep inside ourselves, accessible to a shaman in a trance



KU --- woman, life-giver



A or AA or A-A --- water, thirst, to drink



(AN --- hunger // ED --- to eat)



CroMagnons may have used words of two letters



CA --- sky // AC --- an expanse of land with water



and of three letters



PAD --- activity of feet, to go, pad along, pad pad pad pad … (onomatopoetic) // PAS --- everywhere (in a plain)



One Holly identified the earliest writing known so far, a domino five in the Brunel chamber of the Lascaux cave, with my hypothetical word PAS for everywhere (in a plain). The additional dot may be read as CA for sky:



O O O

O

O O


http://www.seshat.ch/home/menhir6n.GIF


ChAR RACh, ChRA ARCh, ARCh ChRA --- fence (http://www.seshat.ch/home/lascaux2.htm)



ChAR --- poles for making tents and huts and a fence around a camp, some poles may have been decorated with figurines carved from wood; ancient Greek charax for pole, palisade, charis for grace, Charis one of the graces



RACh --- intertwined thorn branches used for a fence, filling the spaces between the poles; ancient Greek rachos for thorn shrub, hedge



ChRA --- to ward off (purpose of a fence); ancient Greek chraismeo for I ward off, hold off (…)



ARCh --- being strong enough to ward off animals; ancient Greek arkeo for I ward off, help, am strong enough



RChA --- small openings in the fence where people could pass, closed by night; ancient Greek rox rogos for opening, crack, crevice, fissure



AChR --- area inside the fence, area of the camp; ancient Greek agros for field, land, estate (while AC for an expanse of land with water was the land around the camp)
cyclops > http://www.seshat.ch/home/cyclops.GIF
dwellings of

[chris]

He's okay but he doesn't touch John Lofty Wiseman for knowledge. Compare the ratings on the amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/SAS-Survival-Handbook-Survive-Climate/dp/0060578793/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-4197138-4318847?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187439628&sr=8-1
http://www.amazon.com/Sas-Survival-Handbook-Survive-Climate/dp/0007158998/ref=sr_1_10/105-4197138-4318847?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1187439628&sr=8-10
to
http://www.amazon.com/Browns-Guide-Suburban-Survival-Guides/dp/0425091724/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_k2a_2_txt/105-4197138-4318847

lol, amazon ratings, Tom Brown would drink the guys piss without him knowing.

[quest]

When I moved to the hills, I had splendid ideas of how cool it would be to become self-sufficient! Two years on, it's not quite what I expected! I'm really hopeless at growing things and the wind-swept landscape can be a bit gruelling

On the positive side, I love gradually getting to know more about nature and allowing myself to open up to new ways of doing things; becoming more patient than I ever was in the city. I've even started to laugh at how clumsy I am when it comes to all manner of DIY projects! The ever-changing landscape, peace and quiet, complete absence of street lights and seeing the stars in all their spectacular glory has made it all worthwhile.

When I first came here, a friend gave me this quote from a contemporary Peruvian Shaman which perfectly describes my experience of slowly turning into a country-dweller (there's still a while to go yet though !!):

"One has to develop a relationship with a certain place, where the land knows you and experience that the trees the Earth and nature are extending their love and light to you, to know there is so much we can receive from the Earth, to fill our hearts and souls .."

[fenriswulf]

When I moved to the hills, I had splendid ideas of how cool it would be to become self-sufficient! Two years on, it's not quite what I expected! I'm really hopeless at growing things and the wind-swept landscape can be a bit gruelling
.."[/I]

That sounds very familiar to me!!
It takes a long time to get in tune with the land and the weather, 5 years so far for me. But it is so rewarding.

My advice for anyone is to start with things that are easy for your location, check out what other people in your area are growing. It is depresing investing time and money into something that promptly dies on you, but it is fantastic harvesting your own crops when it does go right.

Potatoes are a great starter as they are fairly low input and it's so much fun to go treasure hunting when they are ready, you never know what you will find. Beans are good too as you get a lot from a small area and can team them up with other plants like corn.

A good website
www.selfsufficientish.com

[danucrom]

That sounds very familiar to me!!
It takes a long time to get in tune with the land and the weather, 5 years so far for me. But it is so rewarding.

My advice for anyone is to start with things that are easy for your location, check out what other people in your area are growing. It is depresing investing time and money into something that promptly dies on you, but it is fantastic harvesting your own crops when it does go right.

Potatoes are a great starter as they are fairly low input and it's so much fun to go treasure hunting when they are ready, you never know what you will find. Beans are good too as you get a lot from a small area and can team them up with other plants like corn.

A good website
www.selfsufficientish.com

Things that are hard to grow in your climate can be grown in a polytunnel. They are not that expensive.

[fenriswulf]

http://i280.photobucket.com/albums/kk183/beachwomble/potato002.jpg[/IMG]

This is some treasure I found yesterday.

I have a small glass house which is fantastic, have thought about a poly tunnel but it is likely the wind would shred it in a few years.
Wind is a big cause of plant damage and reduced growth. I am planting trees for shelter as much as possible, it's a juggling act, allowing sunlight in and keeping wind out.

[exmicrochipmafia]

danny its true. my grandad had veg patch in his garden, i wish i knew these skills. skills like gardening, building, plumbing, electrical, mechanics, carpentry etc are very important skills, they should be more valued.


I tell ya, I used to be pretty inept at these things- plumbing, electrical, etc until I became a superintendant of a couple of apartment buildings. Now I swear these are skills everybody should posess, and they're not too difficult once you get the hang of it all.

[quest]

Thanks for the URL fenriswulf; very useful site, exactly what I was looking for, seems great for projects. re your photo: what a remarkable specimen indeed!

My potato 'crop' last year was too small to mention! Not to be put off: as soon as the winds and rain die down, I'm determined to grow something! I've got various seeds inside a mini greenhouse in the living room that I'm hoping might get me off to a good start.

re exmicrochipmafia's points: it's certainly a case that one can learn a range of skills e.g I'm doing really well with plumbing (only flooded the bathroom once) and electrics (only given myself two shocks so far); now, dying (sic) to learn to use a chain saw! (Monty Python King Arthur time I reckon!).

[them]

I Lamb quite late compared to most. Here are the first of this years arrivals :) Less than one hour old when I took this footage and they're already on the teat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93aPnqBKc-w

If any of you are based in the countryside keep your eyes peeled for fallow ground. There is a good chance you could rent/lease it if you're tenacious, and polite, enough ;)

[garth]

now, dying (sic) to learn to use a chain saw! (Monty Python King Arthur time I reckon!).

Dude, do yourself a favour and a have quick read on how to operate a chainsaw safely. Chainsaws are awesome for getting work done but are probably the most lethal of all tools on the market, you don't want to get on the wrong side of your saw. happy chopping mate :)

http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/naturalresources/DD2487.html

http://www.workcover.tas.gov.au/attach/sb027spdf.pdf

[quest]

Thanks for the advice and the URLs Garth. The articles are really useful.

When I told my daughter that I was planning to buy one, she burst out laughing and later reminded me of some of the accidents I'd had doing DIY jobs in the past! As you can imagine, I'm still taking my time over deciding whether to buy a chainsaw or not :)

[the itinerant shrubber]

as a city girl i know way too little about this sort of thing. interested in learning how many of you are self-sufficient or could be. grow your own food, etc.

Ive been bushcrafting for a numer of years and grow my own food and catch my own meat when I can.

Buy this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Complete-Book-Self-Sufficiency-Realists/dp/0751364428/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210952453&sr=8-3

and this: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Outdoor-Survival-Handbook-Resources-Navigation/dp/0091878861/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1210952521&sr=1-3

If people start raiding your garden,you're going to need to know how to live as a hunter gatherer and not just a farmer.
Although Im not truly self sufficient at the moment,I know enough to not let this so-called food shortage worry me in the slightest. I keep ferrets and a Terrier to keep me supplied in rabbits. The only thing I'd like now to feel completely secure is a good crossbow which could bring me in deer too if it all goes to hell and I really need to be self reliant.

This site is a goldmine also. http://www.ssrsi.org/index.htm

[popeye11]

I've got a green thumb but we are running out of water here. Where I live, by LAW, we have to have a lawn, but you can't water it. This kind of logic seems to be typical lately.

[rixxmixxhell]

Hi, i have about 60 survival pdfs, covering everything from growing food to self defense, email me if you want them! (rick1hart@msn.com, title it survival books please!) ill host em on a blog for you to download. Or ill burn em to disc for you....~(i started a blog but lost interest, http://decidetolivefree.wordpress.com) but i have a few on there allready like blue planet project etc)

rick1hart@msn.com, title it survival books please!)