s/o More Self-Sufficient and/or Sustainable Living

[HS Mom in NC]

This is a spinoff of this recent thread: Has the pandemic made you rethink where you live?

What steps have you taken so far? 
What steps do you plan to take in the future?
What considerations or trade offs have you had to take into account before taking those steps?
Any surprises along the way? 
Any sources of inspiration you'd like to share?

[Denise Still in Florida]

The pandemic has forced me to slow down and really consider my goals and where I spend my energy.  Before the shutdown I always kept my schedule busy, busy, busy. I still like the thrill of trying 'all the things' but now I am keeping a tighter focus. 

Food resilence:  I am taking the Extension Office Master Gardener classes right now. I am exploring foraging and designing an edible landscape. 

My oldest daughter, 29, works in live performance theater and has had all contract cancelled through summer 2021. She normally bases out of Denver, CO but had closed down her apartment and was living temporarly in Los Angeles when the venue closed, she caught one of the last flights before shelter in place and came home to stay with us. 

Daughter and I have been having fun with fermenting, sourdough, kombucha, quilting, carpentry, etc.  She plans to buy a small homestead outside Denver when this is over. 

Trade offs: 

DH took early retirement about 5 years ago and he and I have been building several small businesses (all local in person stuff) to create multiple incomes. 

We are now wondering if we will stay in Florida or take the experience we have gathered and move back West. Perhaps Colorado or New Mexico. In the mean time we are trying to speed up building the businesses.

Our debt payoff plans and retirement funding have taken a hit this year so we are having to do a lot of reworking. 

Surprises:  I enjoy a slower lifestyle and really like 'slow food' cooking. 🙂

Inspiration: Remembering stories my parents told me. They both grew up on farms in Kansas during the Dust Bowl and Great Depression. Some of their stories really keep me from getting too 'sorry for myself" and keep me from panicking. These are NOT the worst times ever. 

 

[Corraleno]

The pandemic has actually made me much less inclined to move. I'd always assumed that once the kids were on their own and settled somewhere, I'd downsize to a condo near one of them. But current events have made me really appreciate where I live — I've been very happy with how my state has handled things and how cooperative everyone has been here. Plus I've got a decent-sized backyard where I could grow food if necessary, and the climate is fairly mild with plenty of rain. I doubt this will be the last pandemic in my lifetime, and I feel like I could be reasonably self-sufficient here if I needed to really hunker down for a while. And the extra bedrooms mean the kids could always move back if things got really bad.

In terms of practical day-to-day changes I've made, I have definitely stocked up on food (and TP, lol). I have enough grain to keep me in bread and pasta for a long time, along with lots of rice & quinoa, dried beans & lentils, kale & broccoli seeds for sprouting, canned & dried tomatoes, dried fruit and nuts, freeze-dried veg for soup, etc. I also try to keep the freezer stocked with frozen fruit & veg — for some reason there still seem to be intermittent shortages of frozen veg around here.

[Shoeless]

A long time source of inspiration for me as been The Prudent Homemaker.  Her blog is always positive and calm. 

I started getting back into couponing and built up a stockpile right before the pandemic hit.  I've done my best to maintain it over the last few months, and streamlined my coupon system so that I shop fewer stores.  I also started shopping for a few things at Dollar Tree, and buy a 6 month supply at a time, (dental floss, fluoride rinse, toothbrushes).  

I discovered that I do not like gardening in Texas (too many stinging, biting bugs, extreme weather), so we started growing things hydroponically indoors.  I think it's working out pretty well.  We had a few missteps in the beginning, but results have been encouraging. We actually have fresh things to eat!  That's pretty exciting. 

There are only 3 in my family, so I've had to think carefully about what things make sense to DIY and what things are better left to buy at the store.  Some things make sense for a large family to do, but not so much for a smaller family.  

We have gotten take-out three times since March, (sandwiches one time, and I got fries at McDonalds for kiddo 2 times). That's it. I have lost my taste for restaurant food. I've learned how to meal plan and streamline my shopping list.  My husband has become less picky, which helps.  Prior to the pandemic, cooking for him really stressed me out. 

I have been thinking more about how much packaging and plastic is coming into the house, and then going out. I'm trying to make more eco-friendly choices at the store without making myself crazy in the process. 

[Denise Still in Florida]

5 hours ago, Corraleno said:

The pandemic has actually made me much less inclined to move. I'd always assumed that once the kids were on their own and settled somewhere, I'd downsize to a condo near one of them. But current events have made me really appreciate where I live — I've been very happy with how my state has handled things and how cooperative everyone has been here. Plus I've got a decent-sized backyard where I could grow food if necessary, and the climate is fairly mild with plenty of rain. I doubt this will be the last pandemic in my lifetime, and I feel like I could be reasonably self-sufficient here if I needed to really hunker down for a while. And the extra bedrooms mean the kids could always move back if things got really bad.

In terms of practical day-to-day changes I've made, I have definitely stocked up on food (and TP, lol). I have enough grain to keep me in bread and pasta for a long time, along with lots of rice & quinoa, dried beans & lentils, kale & broccoli seeds for sprouting, canned & dried tomatoes, dried fruit and nuts, freeze-dried veg for soup, etc. I also try to keep the freezer stocked with frozen fruit & veg — for some reason there still seem to be intermittent shortages of frozen veg around here.

I keep bouncing back and forth about moving or staying put.  On one hand dh and I are building businesses here and I have been working on a permaculture food forest and edible landscaping. We also have a four bedroom house and the girls can come and stay as long as they want. 

On the 'move' side, I would like to be back out West where our families are. I had planned to downsize if we moved but now I want to keep a larger home so that family can move in if they need to. I have also considered the possibility that we might combine households with my sister and her husband as we get older. 

Another plus to getting or keeping a large house would be to use the extra bedrooms for air bnb if needed. 

 

[Shoeless]

Oh, I forgot to add that I suspect we will become a one-car family in the future, (at least, we will if I have my way). DH is really resistant to this idea and insists that after we move, we'll "need" a truck.  We don't "need" a truck.  We're not hauling anything.  We don't have livestock or giant dogs or farm supplies that need to be transported.  If he's working remotely and I'm homeschooling, then why do we need 2 cars?  We don't, and we certainly don't "need" a truck.  Ugh.   

 

[HS Mom in NC]

23 minutes ago, MissLemon said:

Oh, I forgot to add that I suspect we will become a one-car family in the future, (at least, we will if I have my way). DH is really resistant to this idea and insists that after we move, we'll "need" a truck.  We don't "need" a truck.  We're not hauling anything.  We don't have livestock or giant dogs or farm supplies that need to be transported.  If he's working remotely and I'm homeschooling, then why do we need 2 cars?  We don't, and we certainly don't "need" a truck.  Ugh.   

 

We've got a food forest going and we needed a truck....once. We just rented one for the day for $20.

[HS Mom in NC]

We've been buying reusables as much as possible: handkerchiefs for at home, cosmetic rounds, napkins, bidet with washcloths for drying, air filters, kitchen towels, trash can liners, hemp coffee filters, tea balls, tupperware for storing bulk cooked freezer meals. It's really nice to know that I can just wash them instead of having to buy more of them.

We bought a cardboard shredder (looks just like a paper shredder) for composting more browns. I buy dishwasher soap and laundry soap in pods, shampoo and conditioner bars, and shaving bars,  all packaged in carboard boxes so they're no waste. We compost all our veg and yard waste scraps too. 

We're looking at DIY green house designs and are probably going with an Ana White design.  We may use another of her designs for a poultry and possibly a goat run in the future. We're looking at Jumbo Cotournix quail. They one serving each, quiet, and can be easily skinned instead of plucked.

We've got a permaculture food forest going.  We like James Prigioni in NJ, Mark in Queensland's Self-Sufficient Me, and Edible Acres for inspiration.  They all make us feel like we rally can do it. Any trees we cut down in the woodland garden  or along our septic and waterlines we put into hugelkultures.  We've planted other trees (several fruit) for almost every tree we've cut down. We're on chipdrop.com for free woodchips for our food forest and have gotten a few loads so far. The tree cutters win and we win.

I want a stocked pond in the future. I have Robert Pavlis book on building no-pump "natural" ponds that will include old, discarded carpet to pad under the liner. I want some ducks to make their home with us just like in Make Way For Ducklings.  Maybe we'll get some domesticated ducks to full time it.

We're looking at some water harvesting and solar options.

[Shoeless]

1 hour ago, Homeschool Mom in AZ said:

We've been buying reusables as much as possible: handkerchiefs for at home, cosmetic rounds, napkins, bidet with washcloths for drying, air filters, kitchen towels, trash can liners, hemp coffee filters, tea balls, tupperware for storing bulk cooked freezer meals. It's really nice to know that I can just wash them instead of having to buy more of them.

We bought a cardboard shredder (looks just like a paper shredder) for composting more browns. I buy dishwasher soap and laundry soap in pods, shampoo and conditioner bars, and shaving bars,  all packaged in carboard boxes so they're no waste. We compost all our veg and yard waste scraps too. 

We're looking at DIY green house designs and are probably going with an Ana White design.  We may use another of her designs for a poultry and possibly a goat run in the future. We're looking at Jumbo Cotournix quail. They one serving each, quiet, and can be easily skinned instead of plucked.

We've got a permaculture food forest going.  We like James Prigioni in NJ, Mark in Queensland's Self-Sufficient Me, and Edible Acres for inspiration.  They all make us feel like we rally can do it. Any trees we cut down in the woodland garden  or along our septic and waterlines we put into hugelkultures.  We've planted other trees (several fruit) for almost every tree we've cut down. We're on chipdrop.com for free woodchips for our food forest and have gotten a few loads so far. The tree cutters win and we win.

I want a stocked pond in the future. I have Robert Pavlis book on building no-pump "natural" ponds that will include old, discarded carpet to pad under the liner. I want some ducks to make their home with us just like in Make Way For Ducklings.  Maybe we'll get some domesticated ducks to full time it.

We're looking at some water harvesting and solar options.

 

Do you have a link for the cardboard shredder?  I didn't know such a thing existed.  For the cardboard packaging you compost, does it have any kind of printing on it? Or is it just plain, brown cardboard?  

I didn't know that reusable coffee filters were a thing.  I will try to find a brand that fits the iced tea maker.  I have a reusable cup for my Keurig. 

We don't have a lot of veggie wastes to compost because it all goes to my chickens. 

We cut way down on paper towel use just by taking the kitchen towels and putting them in a basket next to the sink.      

Edited September 23, 2020 by MissLemon

[HS Mom in NC]

11 hours ago, MissLemon said:

 

Do you have a link for the cardboard shredder?  I didn't know such a thing existed.  For the cardboard packaging you compost, does it have any kind of printing on it? Or is it just plain, brown cardboard?  

I didn't know that reusable coffee filters were a thing.  I will try to find a brand that fits the iced tea maker.  I have a reusable cup for my Keurig. 

  

Shredder: https://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-24-Sheet-Cross-Cut-Shredder-Pullout/dp/B07WJ4NLFX/ref=sr_1_4?dchild=1&keywords=cardboard+shredder+24+sheet+capacity&qid=1600871286&sr=8-4
We shred all carboard that has no shine on it.  Sometimes they’re colored and sometimes they’re all brown.

coffee filters: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07VQPCGP8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[saraha]

The biggest thing I think I have taken away from this experience is the idea that our home is our family's home base. Right now all of our children still live at home, and it is plenty big enough for all of us. We grow/raise about 50% of our food, have room to put up other buildings if we need to, have a water source etc. I have started talking to the kids about no matter where they go, there will always be room here to come back to, and that at some point in the future, they will need to work on creating their own home base for their families. I don't know if I am explaining this right. Like, we are your home base while you are getting established, but your ultimate goal should be to have your own home base so that your children have a safe place to come back to if the world, or just their world, goes crazy. Does that make sense? So as my kids are starting to adult, I don't want them to be worried about having a safe place in case they need it. When they are starting their families, I want them to know that they have a safe place. At the same time, I want to make sure that dh and I do all we can to help them create their version of a home base when they are ready. Without realizing it, we had this with dh's parents, their farm is just down the road from ours, but while we lived in lots of different places before we settled here, we always knew in the back of our minds that if we needed to, there was a place for us that wouldn't be a huge burden. And when we settled here, my fil was ready with help and advice when we needed it. I don't think it was a conscious thing on anyone's part, just what we did. I plan to make it a conscious thing to work towards for our kids.