I completely disagree. I am fully convinced that modern people can rediscover the knowledge once held by peasants, farmers, and villagers the world over. Something more sustainable in all senses of that word, and not just the trendy version of it.
I have seen the term thrown around in incredibly varied and often self-contradicting manners. To sum up, I believe self-sufficiency is developing the mental and physical fortitude and practices that provide for your own needs with your own land, and changing your identity from consumer to producer.
Those who want to start living in a more self-sufficient manner have many good reasons to do so. Make it an adventure. See what you can reclaim and add to your repertoire as the seasons and years progress. Every step forward is a success, no matter how small at the outset. The most obvious place to start, in my opinion, is with food.
Self-sufficiency can and does cover many areas beyond food, but it is probably the foundation of the entire endeavor. Growing your own fruits and vegetables is crucial to providing the vitamins, minerals, and delicious flavors that make dinner something to savor.
There are tons of resources and huge communities surrounding you that are willing to help you learn. Lots of articles here on Insteading, too! Of course, no discussion on self-sufficiency is complete without the million-dollar question: how big a garden do you need to be self-sufficient? Gardening styles vary in harvest-per-square-foot, every plant offers different nutrients, and the crops you can grow in your specific climate are as varied as the gardeners growing them.
A garden is only a step to self-sufficiency as far as you can maintain and re-grow it the next year, and preserve the harvest in enough quantity to get you through until the next season.
As I figure out how much garden space is needed to feed my own family, I focus on a few specific, key crops: tomatoes, leafy greens, squash, onions, and beans or whatever is key to you that your family eats the most. Find out how much you need in a year. Related Post: Garden Planners. Then, find out how to grow that amount in however much garden it requires … and you have your personal answer. Work on getting more in consecutive years until you reach that goal.
Does that sound like a huge project? Also, to expand your gardening potential, I recommend planting successive crops to get the most from your harvest. Start as early as possible with cold-tolerant plants, like kale, spinach, and peas. As the ground heats up, interplant with the tomatoes, peppers, and other heat-loving plants that will replace them as they wither. As the year cools down, replant more cold-loving plants to take the place of the frostbitten okra and tomatoes.
Be sure to fertilize and reapply mulch with every replacement, and you could get three harvests from a single garden plot! Once you get your gardening game going, I recommend switching entirely over to heirloom crops. Not only do these old favorites produce some of the most visually stunning vegetables, they also produce seed that is true, unlike the popular hybrids that you often find at the store.
Being able to save seeds from the best of your plants every year will not only give you plants that are specially adapted to your specific climate, but it will also ensure that you can plant the fruits and vegetables you need with the supplies you have. The best part is, once you get good at saving seeds, you may never have to buy seeds or starts for those plants again. This is the food that forms the backbone of your diet.
Staple food has taken tons of different forms around the world: maize, cassava, rice, wheat, millet, potatoes, and so on. The key feature of a staple food is that it supplies carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, and can be stored well for long periods of time.
What does that look like on your land? How do you process and store it? How much do you need to grow? If you grew up on wheat-based products, but can only get corn or millet to grow on your land, are you willing to relearn everything and start a new life with that dependable staple?
But I believe that self-sufficiency requires a relationship with domesticated livestock. When that form of living was more widespread, the earth was healthier and could support the huge, roaming herds of meat-on-the-hoof. Additionally, the manures produced by the animals you keep are a vital source of garden fertility, so the nutrient cycle of your land can be complete. As a side note, I should mention that you can manage good soil fertility with vegetable compost alone.
Figure out what animals you can and want to raise, and learn how to feed, house, and breed them in a healthy, sustainable way. Also, make it a goal to build up good relationships with nearby animal-keepers so you can trade breeding stock and avoid inbreeding.
Every creature has different things to offer the land: pest control, fertility, unwanted brush-to-manure conversion, and so on. With fewer animals, this is possible as a daily chore. Produce your own compost. Join a community. You never know when you might need to ask for assistance in a time of need. Many of them are also of a similar mindset to you and have years of wisdom and advice that they can share. You can also join local organizations to network with people and get a break from the isolation and loneliness that can come with living on a self-sufficient farm.
Learn to preserve food. Much of your vegetables, fruits and herbs will all ripen at once in the late summer and autumn. Learning how to can, pickle and smoke foods is critical to prevent them from spoiling. Harvest your own firewood. Set up sustainable energy. Get all of your water off the grid. Harvest rainwater. Building on the last point, rainwater harvesting can add to your water supply. You can use it to water crops and for other purposes.
Install a composting toilet. Having a septic system on your property will require maintenance and draining every three to five years. Instead, look into creating composting toilets or other more sustainable and self-sufficient alternatives. Use permaculture. Grow mushrooms. Mushrooms are a great source of protein, amino acids and other nutrients that are hard to find in plants. Not many other homesteaders or farmers in your area are likely growing them.
Learn woodworking skills. As well as making most of the furniture for your home. Milk cows and goats. Whether you just want some milk as an occasional treat, or a staple in your diet, will determine how many cows or goats you need. Keep bees. Bees produce honey that you can eat. Save seeds and grow heirloom varieties. You will have to let a few of each plant go to seed at the end of the season and then save the seeds for next year.
Cut your own hair. There are lots of little things like haircuts that you take for granted while living in the city. What can you grow to be self-sufficient? The top of your list should be some type of staple crop. The other thing that all of these crops have in common is that they can be stored for a long time as well. Salad greens and other vegetables provide lots of vitamins and nutrients. Learn to fix things yourself.
Most farmers learn to be handymen or jack-of-all-trades out of necessity. And it would be costly to do so for every little problem that you have. So a lot of it will be trial and error on your part. Make your own soap. The ingredients to make soap and the process itself is fairly straightforward. Grow your own herbs.
Eating plain wheat and potatoes every meal will get dull. Cook from scratch. So nearly all of your meals on the homestead will be cooked at home. Mend and sew your own clothes. So you will need to barter or buy fabric from time to time. However, learning to mend, hem and sew your own clothes can help extend the lifespan of your clothing for years. Forage for food. You can also use permaculture to add extra edible plants to your landscape. From spring to autumn, you can hang your clothes outside on a clothesline to dry.
In winter, clothes can be air dried indoors next to the fire. Going it alone with this would be massive risk. There are varied levels of independence and trade offs to be made for each. From Kazinski style to off-grid ultra rich Montana ranches. From "preppers" with stuff squirreled away to plain old poor folks who just don't need much.
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Advanced Search. View detailed profile Advanced or search site with. Search Forums Advanced. Page 1 of Last ». Advertisements Hey everyone, I've always loved the idea of being self-sufficient and living off the land.
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