I saw this link on facebook the other day of ways that people can cultivate their self sufficiency skills. I tend to think that we really don't do as much as we could, so I surprised myself as I was reading the list and mentally checking off the skills we have learned in our quest to become more self sufficient these last 2 years. I thought it would be fun to share the list, and you can read the original article here.
- Growing your own fruits and vegetables *** we added 4 fruit trees last year, and are expanding our garden area this year.
- Canning, drying, lacto-fermenting or freezing their produce *** We can and freeze produce every year, and I am learning more and experimenting with lacto-fermentation.
- Learning to store your own root crops *** We have plans to build some sort of dirt root cellar this year...we just have to figure out the perfect place in the yard for it!
- Making your own lacto-fermented beverages and creating herbal teas *** I have been brewing Kombucha for almost a year....yum! I want to experiment with water kefir, and lacto-fermented root beer and ginger ale soon.
- Pressing cider and juices *** Last year we had plans to rent a press from the brew store here in town, but we couldn't find a good source of organic apples. The hunt continues this year, it would be awesome to make our own cider!
- Making jams and jellies *** Yes, we made strawberry, raspberry, and two kinds of blueberry jam last year.
- Raising livestock and poultry *** Chickies are on the way....cheep cheep!
- Smoking meats *** I don't have a huge interest in this because smoking meats can introduce cancer causing compounds...but it might be something that we would look into for occasional use in the future.
- Making cheese, yogurt, butter, and kefir *** I don't have the best track record with cultured dairy, kefir was a failure, and the butter I made out of some cream from a local farm was questionable (but then again, so was the farm). On my long list of things to try this year is cheese and yogurt making...
- Making soap and non-toxic home cleaning products *** I am learning how to make my own soap now (I have two batches done already) and have recipes cards cued up for homemade cleaning products. I made some a few months ago with some friends, but I wasn't overly impressed with them. So the search is still on for that perfect cleaning recipe!
- Keeping honey *** I think this means keeping bee's, which is on the list for next year.
- Keeping dairy cows or goats for the family’s own use *** Oh, I wish! Goats are now legal in our town, but Matthew totally isn't on board with the idea. I will keep working on him.... =)
- Keeping chickens for meat or eggs or both *** Eggs layers are coming soon, meat birds are 50/50 possibility this fall.
- Cutting their own firewood *** No, but we should.
- Making toys *** Haven't really done this, other than a few small things here and there. It would be fun to find some toys that the kids could help make.
- Creating their own entertainment rather that dependence on commercial alternatives *** I think we do an okay job of this, but we could definitely do less tv/video time (for us and the kids). I think we will try a month of tv free time this summer, and see if its something we want to continue.
- Learning and applying principles of herbal medicine *** I am planting an herb garden this spring, and although it will be very small, I am excited to learn more about using herbs for medicine.
- Sewing and mending clothes for family and others *** I have a great sewing machine, but still don't really know how to use it. Maybe I should add "take a sewing class" to my ever expanding list.
- Knitting for family or for profit *** Same thing as above. I took a class, but promptly forgot it all and haven't picked up crochet needles in over a year. I want to make the kids some blankets for Christmas some year...maybe Christmas 2011 will be the year!
- Repurposing used clothing *** No...and I wouldn't even know where to start on this one. Its not high up on my list...
- Building your own house, barn, shed, or out buildings *** We are building a chicken coop this weekend, but have no plans for any other buildings, although a Matthew would be head over heels if we put in a brew shed!
- Composting *** Yes, but not as effectively as we could.
- Quilting and crafting *** No...I never feel like I have time for this crafting, although I would like to do it more. Quilting...maybe when I am 60! :)
- Baking for your family *** All. The. Time.
- Cooking for your family *** See above - I make dinner from scratch every night, unless its one of those crazy days where we make sandwiches, or the even crazier times when we go out to eat (which probably happens once every couple of months or so).
- Many other skills too numerous to list or even know about yet. *** Hmmmm...this is pretty open ended. The above list pretty much covers it all, but these are three more self sufficiency skills that I think would be important:
- Basic animal butchery, which I have done and feel confident about, at least as far as chickens are concerned.
- Homemade beauty items, like shampoo, skin care items, toothpaste, deodorant...the list goes on. I haven't delved much into this, but will be in the next few weeks...watch for new posts!
- Learn to make homemade versions of store bought goods. This list could be endless, but a few things that come to mind are soaking beans instead of buying canned, making homemade tortillas instead of store bought, homemade bread, crackers and buns, homemade soups and chili's, homemade snack items like granola bars. We do okay here, and I think we are usually really good about limiting processed foods...but there is always room for improvement!