(DF) FOOD FROM HOME: Homegrown and wild harvested

With grocery prices (and prices of everything else) soaring, it is sometimes hard to decide what to cut back on to stay within budget.  However, on the farm, it is possible to avoid having to cut so many corners on food. 

As an example, last night I had a tasty, nutritious and satisfying meal, with very little outlay of cash.  By very little, I mean almost none.  All of the main ingredients were either from the garden or wild harvested on the property.  The only exceptions were a little butter, a couple of teaspoons of natural sugar, a dash of salt and a very small amount of flour.

The green beans were fresh picked from the garden, as was the garlic which was cooked with them, while they were spiced with stone mint harvested in the woods (I use it like oregano).  The mushrooms (chanterelles) were also harvested in the woods on the property.  The eggs and milk used in the batter were from my own chickens and goat.  The blackberries were picked in the pasture, and the milk they were served with was, once again, from my goat.

A little salt in the mushroom batter and beans, some flour in the mushroom batter, the butter the mushrooms were sauteed in and a bit of sugar for the berries, were the only ingredients that did not originate here on the farm.  Potentially, in the future, even those ingredients will be produced here (or a substitute for them) with the exception of salt.  Yet another goal in the journey toward self-sufficiency.

For now, this is pretty close to being a completely homegrown meal.  Did I also mention that it was delicious?  It was absolutely delightful, and made much sweeter by the fact that it was grown here on the farm.  The only thing missing was meat.  We haven't gotten to the point of major meat production yet, but it is cool and rainy today and the local wildlife better watch out.

As a caution, I must warn you to be careful when picking any wild edible.  While there are many plants and mushrooms that are edible and tasty, there are, of course, some that can be quite deadly.  Be sure you know what you are picking, and if there is even the slightest doubt, don't eat it.  There are no known antidote for the toxins in some of the bad ones, so be extremely careful.

(DF) HOMADE SOLAR PANEL UPDATE

I know that some of you have been wondering how things turned out with my cheap homade solar panels.  The fact is that the panels turned out fine, but the hookup is still in progress.  As some of you may be aware, this is one of my pocket change projects, which progresses in stages as accumulated pocket change allows.  During the time between stages, I have been learning more about how the process works, so the time isn't wasted.

Initially, there were two main reasons I decided to work toward going solar.  The first and most obvious, was to cut the energy bills.  The second, based on laws requiring power companies to pay for any extra power that a person generates, was the hope of making a little money.  Lets face it, everyone knows it would be totally sweet to get a check from the power company instead of the other way around, even if the check was only a few dollars.  Turns out that it is not quite that simple.

Obviously, to send power back to the power company, there has to be equipment connected to the grid to convert the power to a compatible form.  This equipment is known as a grid tie inverter.  These are expensive and are supposed to be hooked up by licensed professionals who are trained accordingly.  For the record, I AM NOT that trained professional.  Needless to say, the cost of such a system would be far beyond the scope of a pocket change project.  There had to be another way.

Searching for "another way" led to the consideration of what is called a plug and play grid tie inverter.  The purpose of this device is to convert the electricity to the proper form and send it back to the power company through the wiring in your home, shop, etc, by plugging it into a power outlet.  This sounded great, and best of all, the expense would be manageable.  Awesome, right?  Not so fast.

In the process of researching the grid tie inverter, I found reference to it not being legal to use.  Not legal is a bit of a drawback, to say the least.  My first thought was that if it isn't legal to use it, it shouldn't be legal to make or sell it.  More research was in order, because as much as we rely on computers and the Internet, anyone can say anything on the computer, but that doesn't necessarily make it true.

Thus began the search for the legality of what I hoped to do.  To say that such information is not easy to find would be an understatement on a galactic scale.  Finding someone who could shed light was not nearly so easy as finding those who could (and would) make it more obscure.  With any search, there are bound to be set backs and side tracks, and one of the more disappointing of these was a clause in the net metering law itself.  Hold that thought for a few minutes>

The only concrete information I could find about the legality of plug and play inverters was that they apparently had not been tested enough and though legal to use, the power company has the option of disconnecting the service if you do.  I never found the actual law involving this, but it was at least a consistent understanding from a number of sources.  The side track, however, made it a non issue.  It seems that the net metering law which requires power companies to pay for extra electricity sent back to them, also has an exemption for electric cooperatives, and you guessed it, my power company is a cooperative.  Instead of paying for the electricity, they are allowed to credit the extra power to your account to cover times when you don't produce enough.  Alright, that sounded good, all the extra power of the sunny summer months could cover the winter months when there is not as much sunshine.  Great, maybe even worth the investment for the professionally installed inverter, even without a check coming in.  NOT SO FAST!!! 

That might work great in some states, but I live in Oklahoma.  Under Oklahoma law, the electric cooperative doesn't have to roll the credit over for a year (like most states), they only have to roll it over for the month.  In other words, extra power produced on a sunny day in August, is only credited until the end of August, and only covers low production days for that month.  Any unused credit for the month is lost, and the power company gets it free. 

Sorry, but the power company doesn't give me electricity free, so I do not intend to give it to them.  Fair is fair. Another option, the one I have chosen, is to use a regular power inverter.  With this option, I can have separate systems for different usage areas, making it unnecessary to run wires for long distances.  It also allows me to get the bugs worked out of one small system before spending the time and money to set up the whole farm.  My first usage area will be the well, which should show a return on the investment, in the form of a lower bill,  in the first billing cycle, and one more small step toward self-sufficiency.  Water is used every day (though we try to conserve as much as possible), and the well pump pulls a significant amount of energy each time it starts up.

Tomorrow, I am supposed to pick up the battery, and I have already purchased an inverter and charge controller.  Today, I finished the final welds on the mounting frame, though I may have to drill a couple more bolt holes to adjust the angle.  Yes, it is getting close to the moment of truth.  As soon as the system is operational, I will post pics and some details of the hookup.   Wish me luck.

(DF) HONEYBEES IN THE HOUSE WALL (PART 4) Disaster!

By the time the bees were settled in their new home, it was Memorial day weekend.  All seemed well, so I left the bees to themselves during this busy time.  I did not have plans to be away for the weekend, but others did which added to my workload somewhat (taking care of my daughter's critters while she was gone), and there was some catching up here before the middle of the following week when I knew I would be away a lot.

Wednesday morning was finally warmer and almost sunny.  My first thought was to check the bees, but my sister had an appointment in Tulsa that morning so I drover her.  What I found on Thursday, when I opened the hive to try and locate the queen, was devastating to me.  There were hardly any live bees, lots of dead bees and the brood comb, which should have supplied replacements, was completely taken over by some type of maggots.  All the brood was dead, most of the adult bees were dead and the rest, including the queen, were dying.

Devastation, sadness and discouragement were the order of the day (and for several days to come).  It is hard to imagine being so broken up over a bunch of insects, but I am still sad when I think of it.  Life goes on, but for several days I replayed in my mind the procedures of capturing the bees, searching for anything I might have done differently that could have had a better result.  There may have been something, but I was unable to find it in my mind or in my reference books.  It seems that I handled it correctly, based on my personal experience and the information I had available (though under other circumstances, I would have chosen to do it a bit later in the season).

Sometimes a captured colony just doesn't survive, whether something is done a little wrong, the colony just isn't strong enough for the stress, or for any of countless reasons that we may not even understand.  Of course, on the flip side of that coin, sometimes they do survive and thrive.  It is this thought that will not let me give up.  The number of honeybees pollinating flowers here and the lack of local bee keepers, tells me that there is a bee tree nearby.  You can bet I will be looking for it.  If I don't find the bee tree, early spring will find me looking for bees to purchase.

Working with bees again, even for such a short time, reminded me how much I have missed it the past several years.  Beekeeping is a part of me that I lost but certainly intend to have back.  As an added bonus, it is a SWEET addition to the quest for self-sufficiency here at TwoFarmsOne. 

(DF) HONEYBEES IN THE HOUSE WALL (PART 2) assessment

Tuesday came and I went to look at the bees.  The house is an old two storied house, in need of repairs and with plenty of small openings for bees and other such creatures to make themselves at home.  I was led to a point on the outside wall where the bees had been seen.  Sure enough, there they were, lovely creatures, flying in and out between bricks nrar a corner.  The bricks in question covered the outside of the wall on one side of the corner, the other side, a narrow wall outside the star well, was covered with siding.

Where the bees were entering through a hole in the brick mortar, made it appear that they were going straight into the wider wall behind the bricks.  With bricks in the way, we went inside, where I listened to the wall with a stethascope.  Turns out that the walls were plaster and lath, covered with a layer of drywall.  No sound a colony of bees could make would penetrate that wall.  Next, we drilled small holes through the plaster so sounds could get through.  Still no sound, not in the wall or the floor, not upstairs or downstairs.  Could they be between the bricks and the wall?  Maybe there would be room 

there 

After a few minutes on the ladder, removing a few bricks, it became obvious that they were turning behind the bricks and making their way into the narrow wall of the stair well.  At least the bricks would not all have to be removed, though those at the corner would have to be pulled out to allow the siding and underlying boards to be removed.

By the time we had found the entrance, it was late afternoon so we decided to wait until the next morning to start ripping out walls.  We were all hoping I could get to the bees by removing boards from the outside of the house.  The alternative would be opening the wall inside the star well which would let the house fill up with unhappy bees.  I don't have to explain the drawbacks involved with this method.  In short, it is always better to keep stinging insects (no matter how beneficial) on the outside of the house.

During the drive home, my thoughts were filled with visualizations of how much of the space inside the wall might be filled with honeycomb and bees, what removing the boards might entail and hopes of a good night sleep.  Tomorrow would not be an easy day.

(DF) HONEYBEES IN THE HOUSE WALLS (PART 1) preparation

First, in answer to the obvious question, no the bees were not in mine or Anna's walls.  This story started last Friday when Anna called me, all excited at the prospect of bees.  But wait, there is a bit of history/background before I start.

Several years ago (actually more than several), I started beekeeping.  My first bees were captured from a bee tree in my woods.  After several years of successful beekeeping, disease wiped out my bees and life and finances got in the way of starting back up.  That was almost 20 years ago.  About four years ago, I decided to make new hives in my workshop and get bees.  Delays and priorities worked their magic but I managed to get most of the woodwork finished for one hive.  By "most of the woodwork" I mean everything wooden except the bottom board.  These hive parts have been sitting on my workbench waiting for me to finish.

Now, forward to last Friday.  I had taken time in the middle of my work day to pick up parts for the truck so I could fix it over the weekend, and was on my way back to work when the phone rang.  It was Anna, sounding excited so I pulled to the side of the road to talk.  The excitement was because of a post on a facebook page she had set up for garden discussion.  Someone had posted that there were honeybees in their wall and they needed someone to remove them.  Anna had told them she would ask me if I was interested, and promptly called me.

Honeybees are always a good addition to a self-sufficient farm, and of course I was interested.  Only one problem.  Remember the bee hive on my workbench?  That's right, no bottom board.  Limited time and lack of the preferred material (cypress is best for bottom boards) would make timing an issue.  Also, there was the matter of foundations.  Foundations are sheets of wax stamped with honeycomb pattern for the bees to start the comb from.  These attach to frames in the hive, and though the bees are quite capable of designing their own honeycomb, the frames and foundations give guidelines to make working with the hive easier for the beekeeper and safer for the bees.

The only option would be to buy the bottom board and foundations from a bee supply.  Finding bee supplies locally is not an easy thing.  You just can't go down to the corner store and pick up hive parts, so all the suppliers I knew of from my beekeeping past were mail order.  Shipping time would be an issue with ordering by mail or online since the people were in a bit of a hurry due to sting allergies.  Extermination was even mentioned.

Anna went on line in search of bee supplies while I finished my work day.  Searching online led to a small, home based business in Tulsa.  A bit of a drive but worth the time savings, if they had what we needed.  Monday would find me on the phone to Ozark Bee Supply in hopes of finding the needed parts in time to save the bees from extermination.

Bright and early Monday morning found me on the phone.  Of course Ozark Bee Supply had what we needed, but being a small home based business with no set business hours, they would not be there that day.  Disappointment was hard to disguise in my voice I am sure, but in light of the circumstances, arrangements were made for me to pick up the supplies that afternoon.

There are reasons I like small businesses and dealing with real people, accommodation, quality products and reasonable prices are a few of those reasons.  I found all of these with Ozark Bee Supply and an added measure of helpful advice.

By early afternoon I had picked Anna up at her house and we were on our way to Tulsa to pick up bee supplies and do a bit of other shopping.  The other shopping stories will have to wait for another time.  Meanwhile, at the end of the day, though there would be some required assembly the following morning, we were almost ready to attempt the rescue.  With equipment in hand, I called the homeowner to make arrangements to assess the situation.  We agreed on a time for Tuesday. 

(DF) BACK TO THE CORPORATE GRIND

After a couple of months holding down the couch, and a couple more in physical therapy, the doctors finally released me to return to work.  Saturday morning, I showed up at the large corporate retail store where I have been working, ready to start my first day back at work.  It took a little time, but they did manage to decide where they wanted me working for the time being, though I still don't have an actual schedule.

With my leave of absence properly applied for and approved, my employer was required to hold my position for up to twelve weeks.  Unfortunately, I was off much longer than twelve weeks.  My position has, as is standard procedure, been opened and filled, leaving me with a job at the company, but not the SAME job.  What this means in the real world of the vast here and now is simple.  I am working again, but at a lower wage, at least until I can transfer back into a higher level position.

Four months off work, especially in the summer, could have been a wonderful and productive event here on Dave's farm, had I been able to work during that time.  As it turned out, very little work was accomplished here on the farm (at least until the past couple of weeks).  At this point, I am back at the corporate grind at a lower pay scale, which leaves little time (especially with the shorter days of fall and winter) or money to make progress on the farm.

At the end of the day, I must honestly say that I am truly grateful to be physically able to work again.  The situation could have ended much less favorably.  My time off work has been quite an ordeal, but it is now time to start moving forward again, working to pay the bills and building toward mine and Anna's self sufficient life together, a life eventually free from the need for a paycheck from the  corporate world.

(DF) WHERE HAS DAVE BEEN HIDING?????

For those of you who have been wondering where I've been hiding, what I've been doing, or worse yet, haven't thought of me at all, I am still here.  Yes, I have been lax in posting, but I am still here behind the scenes while Anna is working hard to hold the site together.  THANKS HONEY!

While I have not been posting, there have been a few things going on.  OK! quite a few things going on.  In short, I have been busier than a cat covering sh__, meeting myself coming back and so on.

During my apparent absence, I have continued to work at the previously mentioned large, corporate department store in order to keep paying the bills.  At this point, I no longer work in the garden center.  I transferred to the claims department at the first of the year.  Lots of new stuff to learn, better pay and a better schedule.  My days off are no longer on weekends when Anna is tied up with her business, so we can actually spend time together getting things done.  The only real drawback (other than having to be there at all) is the blatant, shameful (and yes, I will say it), SINFUL waste of this world class corporation.  It is appallingly clear to me in this department and frankly, it sickens me to the depths of my soul.  Sorry about the soap box ------ ok, sorry is much too strong of a word.

I am not sure that I mentioned that I am a massage therapist.  My practice fell off sharply a few years ago through circumstances (and people) beyond my control, and for some time now I have only had a few clients who only schedule a couple of times a year.  Recently, business has begun to pick up quite unexpectedly, giving a glimmer of hope that it may actually pay the bills at some point in the future.  Though rebuilding a practice takes some time away from the farm, it is helping fund some projects and could eventually allow for far more time at home instead of feeding the corporation.

The forge here at Dave's Farm has also been up and running recently.  Believe me, it feels good t be pounding hot metal again.  As an added bonus, a young co-worker is anxious to come out and learn the basics.  Always good to see young people wanting to learn old ways.

Yes, of course, and absolutely, I am still working toward self-sufficiency.  The first order of solar cells arrived a couple of days ago.  Now we will see if I am smart enough to put together panels that will really work.  This will be my first attempt, so maybe we will all be able to learn something from my fumbling.  I will try to post pictures of this process.

If by now, you are asking when I find time to see Anna, I must confess that I don't know how I find that time, but thank goodness I do.  We don't get to spend near enough time together, but what time we have together is quality and very precious.

When you add to all of this, the efforts to prepare the garden for planting, preparation of high quality compost, clearing fence rows for goat fencing, and many other projects, it isn't hard to see some reasons for my lack of posts.  While I can't promise that I will have a great deal of time to write, I do apologize for being so lax in posting.

Meanwhile, thank you for supporting our site with you views and comments.

(DF) COMPOSTING TOILET UPDATE!!

Before I get into the actual update, a little background might be in order.  Hopefully, this will bring those of you who haven't read my original post on the subject up to speed, while refreshing the memory of those who, like most of us, have plenty of other things to think of and may not fully remember.

The recently past summer was a hot, dry one here in the central U.S., including the part of Oklahoma where I live.  The near record drought led to increased water usage, which in turn led to decreased water availability in my two wells, making the need for conservation absolutely necessary.

Thinking of ways to save water reminded me of a book which a friend had recommended years ago, "The Humanure Handbook".  This particular work is an excellent source of information on the environmental hazards of conventional sewage systems, composting toilet systems, gray water systems and composting in general.  A must read, in my opinion.

I, being a natural born skeptic, decided to test the simplest of the composting toilet systems described.  Simply put, it consists of a bucket, seat and cover material (saw dust is preferred but I chose dry leaves).  The reason for this choice of cover material is because I live in the woods and leaves are always available.  Sawdust, on the other hand is not as readily available and isn't always free (remember, I AM a tightwad).

Deciding to do early testing outside, I used a portable camp toilet.  It is the type that consists of a bucket which sits in a slightly larger container with a seat and lid, and while being designed for use with a bag and chemicals, it served my purposes nicely.

A point to remember is that this was done in extreme summer heat.  If anything is going to stink and draw flies, it will be in summer heat, right?  Well, believe it or not, there was very little smell and to my amazement, the kitchen scrap bucket drew far more flies than the toilet.

When the bucket was dumped in the compost pile, it did smell bad, but only until covered with more leaves.  Within a couple of days, the composting process had produced temperatures high enough to kill any pathogens that might have been present.

I continued through the rest of the summer with this system, looking for some down side.  The only one I could find was the trips to the compost pile.  This would only be a down side if I wasn't already making those trips with kitchen scraps and such anyway.

By the time cold weather arrived, I had confirmed another up side in addition to water savings, environmental benefits and the prospect of rich compost for the garden.  The well pump kicks on every time the toilet is flushed, using electricity.  The savings on the electric bill was about nine dollars per month.  Nice bonus.

With cold weather, I made a plywood seat with a hole in it for an old dining chair and placed a five gallon bucket under it, and yes, I placed it in the bathroom beside the flush toilet.  Behind the bathroom door, I placed a garbage can full of leaves for use as cover material.  In an enclosed area, I fully expected the stench to be horrible and was prepared to remove the bathroom's new addition.  To my pleasant surprise. there was no more smell than with a flush toilet, and much of the smell is from the leaves (a smell I find pleasant).

With considerations of added high nutrient compost, and the savings of water and energy, it seems more than worthwhile.  Add to this savings the environmental benefits, and it seems to me a most excellent addition to our self-sufficient lifestyle.

Please let me know your thoughts, opinions and experiences.  Even with the best of things, there is room for improvement.

(DF) FIRST ATTEMPT AT MAKING CHEESE WITHOUT ANIMAL RENNET

I began making cheese several years ago.  At the time, I was living off-grid and had a couple of good milk goats who were giving an abundance of milk, so I really needed a way to preserve the milk without refrigeration.  My sister had tried her hand at cheese making and bought a fairly large supply of rennet, which she passed on to me.  Yes, much to the dismay of a few vegetarian friends, it was animal rennet.

Over the years, I made some good cheese and learned a great deal about cheese making, mostly through trial and error.  Experience is, after all, the best teacher.  I always intended to try making cheese using local wild plants to set the curd, thistle being my first consideration.

Several sources insisted it was a difficult process and only certain species of thistle could be used, while other sources implied that almost any thistle could be used.  The main point of agreement was the part of the plant used, a decoction of the dried bloom.

During this past summer, with the supply of rennet running low, I decided to experiment with thistle.  I know it would be easier and maybe better to just find a good recipe, but it is my nature to experiment.  So off I went to find thistle blooms.  By late summer, the particular plant was quite obvious.  A fine specimen of tall thistle, Cirsium altissimum was growing and putting on blooms in my somewhat overgrown front yard.  This is likely the most abundant species of thistle native to the area, and having often gathered the young leaves as a part of the wild greens mix that I pick in the spring, I knew it wasn't toxic.  Just before the blooms opened, I harvested several and dried them for future use.

Last week, with my daughter being too busy to spend much time at my house (my daughter usually drinks up most of the milk), the milk supply built up enough that some cheese simply had to be made.  After bringing a pint of water with a large bloom in it to a strong boil then letting it simmer for a little while, I turned off the fire, put on the lid and let the decoction steep overnight so it would hopefully be plenty strong before straining it into a clean jar next morning.  The yield was about 1 1/2 cups.

By mid morning, I heated a gallon of the milk and added about a half cup of the decoction, stirred it in and went about my business, fully expecting to come back in a couple of hours to very nice, firm curds.  I found no such thing.  In disappointment, I reheated the milk and added another half cup, stirred it in and went about my business.  A couple of hours later, the results were the same.  Now you must understand that I am not always quick to take the hint.  A third time, I heated the milk and added the rest of the thistle decotion, and once again, went about my business.  Once again, no curds.  By bedtime, still no curds, so I left it sitting out with full intentions of giving the chickens a treat of bread and milk in the morning.

Chicken feeding time came around and what do you suppose I found in the cheese making pot?  I had a pot full of curd/  This was not the nice firm curd I had hoped for but a very light fluffy curd.  Considering that soft curd is better than no curd, I strained off the whey and squeezed a bit.  .

Yes, it was cheese and a pretty decent yield, though not the nice firm cheese you can press, certainly not the beginnings of cheddar, colby or even mozzarella.  Instead, it strongly resembled a pretty decent ricotta in appearance, texture and flavor.  Ricotta is not my favorite but it does certainly have a place and I can hardly wait to see how well it works in lasagna (Anna will have to make it though as lasagna is not my best dish).  There is also the excitement of being independent of the rennet supplier. 

Now, with my first cheese without animal rennet turning out to be something resembling cheese, I can hardly wait to improve on it.  Some nice, firm pressing cheese would be nice.  Any information or advice is certainly welcome.

(DF) COOLER FINALLY!!!!! but not much rain yet

Late Thursday evening (August 9th) a cool front  finally made it through, bringing rain to the area.  Notice I said the area instead of my place.  I got a sprinkle in the evening, while I actually watched the bulk of the rain pass by to the east and enjoyed the cool damp air from it.  On my way to work later (yes, they have me on night shift temporarily), I found myself driving on wet pavement and looking at puddles a mile east of my road.  The glorious rain we could hear from inside the store for a half hour, later in the night, split in a north-south line over my place with a decent rain on both sides but only a quarter inch here.  Believe me, I have never been so grateful for a quarter inch of rain.

With the rain came the cool.  After over a month of temperatures over 100 degrees and several of those days around 110 degrees, Friday's high of 94 and the Saturday morning low of 60 felt a bit like winter.  That was a week ago and the time between has remained cooler (highs in the 90's) but still mostly dry, though there has been rain "in the area".

This Thursday night (August 16th) was different.  I actually got a little rain, almost an inch in fact.  That was less than the amount in town 5 miles away, but excellent just the same.  Unfortunately, Anna didn't get a drop of rain where she lives, the storms just kept passing her by completely.  We still need rain both places but the forecast for the next week looks like all the rain is west of Tulsa, and we are both east.  Enough of complaining about the weather and on to better things.

Ok, still a little complaining to do.  The heat and lack of rain are absolutely devastating to water supplies.  More watering to do and less water to do it with.  There are two wells here, one for the house, complete with electric pump and an old hand dug well with a hand pump, which I use for watering livestock and plants.  Neither well is particularly productive, though generally adequate.  Notice I said "generally".  With the necessity of hauling a 55 gallon barrel of water to the horses every day and about that much carried to the garden, the old well has become inadequate for the task.  It now only produces enough for the horses, leaving the garden dry.  The house well only supplies enough for the house, so no help there.

With lack of  rain and limited well water, there can't help but be plenty of consideration of alternative sources.  Though I have not yet prepared a viable rain capture system, there are barrels under the eves of buildings to catch a good amount.  Problem is that you can't capture rain that doesn't fall.  With self-sufficiency in mind, it doesn't make sense, even if the money was available, to hook on to an already overloaded rural water system.  That leads to considerations of better conservation of what is already available.

I have never been an extreme water waster in terms of what is considered acceptable water usage in our society, but we could all do better.  When I look closely at water usage, I see that a daily shower, though nice and hygienic, runs quite a lot of water down the drain.  Likewise, washing dishes and the routine rinsing of this and that while cooking adds up to a fair amount of water.  Even flushing the toilet several times a day gets rid of quite a few gallons of perfectly good water.  With these water losses identified, I determined to find a solution.

Water from showers is easy, I just plugged the bathtub during the shower, then dip the water out into buckets and carry it to the garden.  The use of environmentally friendly (or better yet home made) soap is better for the plants and at least they get some moisture.  As for the kitchen sink, dishpans work well and it is surprising how much water can be recycled in that way.  Flushing the toilet, on the other hand, takes a bit larger leap.  My answer, which saves a lot of water and has other, more far reaching environmental and agricultural benefits, is to simply compost.

Before you say YUCK!!! and decide that I have finally gone too far, there is a book I highly recommend that you read.  "The Humanure Handbook" by Joseph Jenkins, is a well researched, well written volume packed with information that brings all the technical and statistical details to the front and also (and this is the important part) translates all the academics into the simplest, most practical form possible so you don't have to have a degree in environmental science to use it.  Even if you never use a composting toilet, you should read this book as a really good guide for other forms of composting and conservation.  It will also heighten environmental awareness, which is always a good thing.  With that being said, I will save the details of this and other conservation topics for future posts.

On a much lighter and (in my opinion) more cheerful note, my garden has produced a bit, in spite of the weather.  In the midst of everything, I have managed to can some green beans, several quarts of tomatoes, some salsa, and have dried okra and sun dried tomatoes in olive oil to show for the hard work.  The tomato plants are still alive and just waiting for enough rain to start producing again.  The garden is also ready to be replanted for fall crops, and now that I am back working days, I may actually be able to get some planting done after work, especially if it rains enough that my time isn't spent watering.

UPDATE:   I spoke with Anna a few minutes ago and she told me she got the really good rain that passed to my southwest last night.  Maybe she can take a few days off from watering.

(DF) A NEW JOB, MIXED BLESSINGS AND QUESTIONS OF PERSPECTIVE

As most people can vouch, the economy is not as good as it once was and it is harder to make ends meet. Economic factors as well as supply and demand issues have also made my personal level of self-employment much less lucrative of late. Lack of funds have been an increasing issue over the past few months to the point of placing me among the ranks of those seeking employment.

Today, the seeking became the finding and I stepped into the ranks of the employed. I am now working in the lawn and garden department at the local store of a rather large retail store chain. This is where the consideration of mixed blessings comes in.

There are, as always, trade offs and opposing views running through my mind. From one very clear perspective, I really need, and am truly grateful for, a job. With steady work (and paycheck), the bills can be paid and funds will, over time, be available for a number of projects to further mine and Anna's goals. On the other hand, it takes precious time away from projects that need to be finished quickly. It also feels like a huge step backward from goals of self-sufficiency, in some respects, all the way back to self-sufficiency level II.

A friend of mine who served in the military would smile and call it a "strategic deployment to the rear", but honestly it FEELS like a retreat, and yes, just a touch of bruised pride to top it off. Feelings aside, the practical reality is pretty clear. Though a steady job will limit time and delay projects, it will also provide for the bills that just keep coming due, as well as providing funds for projects such as fences, livestock, fruit trees and vegetable seeds, tractor fuel, and alternative energy projects, to name a few.

At the end of the day, even with the pros and cons, I am truly grateful to find a job when so many who are in need are having so much trouble finding work. It is my sincere hope that everyone in need can have such good fortune.

(DF) BREAD PRICE ALTERNATIVE

Today, with a cold wind blowing and me already dealing with a nasty chest cold, I opted to work on some projects, mostly inside. I did however have to go into town for a few errands and thought I would pick up a loaf of bread while I was there. Overcome by the distaste of paying more for a loaf of decent bread (and I am not talking specialty bread) than the price of a 5lb sack of good quality unbleached flour, I opted for the flour with the intent of making bread.

I fully realize that many people are intimidated by the prospect of making bread from scratch, but it doesn't have to be hard. Yes, it does take some time, but not really that much. I have also heard many times that the recipe has to be exact, and I beg to differ.

Arriving home, I checked my yeast. It has been in the fridge well over a year past the use by date, but not to be swayed, I put some raw sugar in a cup of warm water and added some yeast. When I say I added "some" or "a bunch of" something, I mean just that as I am not big on measuring ingredients. As soon as the yeast started to bubble and grow, showing it was still alive, I put a bunch of flour in the mixing bowl, added a little unrefined salt and a little olive oil. In went the yeast and sugar from the already mentioned cup along with enough additional water to make a proper dough. The dough was then kneaded, oiled on top with more olive oil and placed in a warm area with a damp cloth cover to rise.

The process took less than fifteen minutes and I was back at other projects, looking in occasionally to see if the dough had risen. When it had a bit more than doubled, I spent another five minutes or so Kneading the dough back to original size, cutting it in two and placing it in oiled loaf pans to rise again, and back to my projects.

When the dough had almost reached double size, I turned on the oven, waited a few minutes, kneaded the dough down again and popped it in the oven. Then back to projects until time to pull out the finished product.

The point is that with a few minutes here and there between projects, I made bread for much less than the cost of ready made. Not using a recipe insures that my bread is different every time, but it has only been inedible once. That instance was simply because I forgot it was in the oven and it turned to charcoal.

Please understand that, while edible, my bread does not in any way compare to the wonderful loaves Anna makes. With that said, if I can throw together bread that is edible, with no recipe or measurements, between projects, think what you can do with a good basic recipe and a little time.

Bear in mind the other benefits of making bread. It is a calming activity, saves money, you know it is fresh and you know what is in it. These are things you just can't get from buying bread off the shelf. So, if you have thought of making bread but thought it was too difficult, take heart and give it a try. Nothing quite like fresh baked bread.

(DF) HAMMER REPAIR IN THE BLACKSMITH SHOP

Throughout the past week, a week frantically filled with ranch work, car repair, warm weather prep for a strong cold front and numerous other frantic activities, thoughts of working at my recently set up blacksmith shop remained simmering on the back burner. There was also a nagging in my mind in terms of the rough texture of the small item I produced while testing my new forge parts. The problem was not with my technique, but with my tools.

It has been a few years since I have done any smithing, and in that time, my hammers have continued to be used for other things. Some of my hammers are wonderful antiques I have picked up at flea markets or that have been passed down through my family, while others are somewhat newer. They all have one thing in common, ABUSE. The amount of damage to a hammer face is not all that noticeable when hammering stubborn parts into place, straightening shafts or striking a chisel, but every stroke on properly heated steel will show every imperfection. With these things in mind, I decided to set aside a portion of the weekend to address these issues.

Needles to say, there were a lot of imperfections, making the work at hand also imperfect. The answer to this consideration is simple, fix or replace the hammers. If you will notice at this point, I said SIMPLE, not EASY.

Replacing sounds like the easiest of the choices, at least on the surface, but there are two major drawbacks. One of the big drawbacks is price. Of course, the value of good tools cannot be overstated, but when you consider the variety of hammers used in the blacksmith shop, the combined price would be quite high. Another drawback is quality and availability. Most hammers made these days are not used in the blacksmith shop, so the quality of material and workmanship is geared for other purposes. The finish on the face of many new hammers is another issue. In short, if you can see grind marks on the hammer face, you can also see them on your work, so you have to work on them before use. Add to these considerations the fact that many of the more specialized hammers are no longer produced and those passed down through the family are not replaceable. The option of replacing suddenly becomes not so easy after all. Besides, repairing the old ones gives a much better appreciation of what you have.

With the decision made to repair instead of replacing, I was truly appreciative of a good bench grinder. Yes, I know that is a departure from the handcrafting way but with serious time constraints, it came in pretty handy. The bench grinder, used carefully so not to overheat the metal, was quite effective for re-shaping the faces and getting past the chips and dings, but the grinder marks were another issue. One by one, the hammers were placed in the vice and gently attacked with a good flat file to remove the marks left by the grinder. When the filing was done, you may have already guessed it, there were plenty of file marks left behind. This had to be remedied with the use of very fine emery cloth and lots of elbow grease.

By the end of the weekend, all of the hammers I currently have in my shop for working metal, now have brand new shiny faces that I can see my own face in, and no dings or grinder marks. It was a lot of work, but though it took most of the weekend (leaving barely enough time to plant a few potatoes), the time spent was certainly no more than would have been spent making money to buy new ones. The satisfaction and sense of accomplishment that bringing these old tools back to life gives, simply cannot be measured.

Needless to say, there won't be a great deal of tolerance for people using my hammers incorrectly and the handles of those used for shaping metal and those used for chisels and such will be color coded for easy identification. A sign is in the works which will read, "Ding my tools, I'll ding your head". Of course I won't likely ding heads, but I may well hand the culprit a file and some emery cloth and make them fix the dings.

Though my antique anvil, passed down from my great grandfather, has a few imperfections that can't be addressed at this time, it isn't too bad. At first hint of an opportunity, I will have the neighbors wondering where all the noise and coal smoke is coming from. And I will smile while I am doing it.

(DF) "FORGING" AHEAD

With the holidays over and the new year just started, there are all the plans of things to be done. Unfortunately, there is the small and rather annoying matter of bills to pay. Nothing gets in the way of productive plans quite like having to spend time working simply to pay bills that will be due again a month from now anyway. Sometimes the best we can do is try to forge ahead through the work week, in hopes of accomplishing some of the important stuff on the weekend.

This past weekend was one of those times. After working at the ranch all week, doing everything from feeding and working cattle to hauling equipment, Saturday morning finally arrived. Of course, there was a long list of things to be done in the nature of playing catch up. Very frustrating but necessary.

For some time now, I have been gradually working on getting my blacksmith shop up and running. It has been a slow process with lots of set backs, squeezed in between the higher priority items. Frustration takes a major toll, and I have been trying hard to remain philosophical about the whole thing. At this point, you may have realized that I truly believe patience is a virtue, JUST NOT ONE OF MINE! The most recent set back, after finally getting most of the equipment in the shop last week, was the realization that the tuyere grating (the thing with holes for the air to flow through) on the forge was pretty much burned out, and not a part you can just go down to the local hardware and pick up. This meant I would have to make one, and as luck would have it, the axle cap which was in my metal pile, salvaged from an old truck, looked like just the material for the project.

So, the weekend rolled around, with its pile of laundry, wood cutting, errands and hundreds of other things which were far behind by now, all needing done immediately. Somehow, I managed to do most of them and still find time to make the part for the forge and even fire up for a little practice. Not much practice, just enough to knock some of the rust off the tools and my skills. I'm not sure how I managed to get so much of the work done, but it sure felt good to finally be back at the forge again.

Today, I went back to work at the ranch, to make more money for bills AND for some much needed rest after the weekend.

(DF) BAMBOO HARVEST

Today has been crisp and sunny, an all around beautiful day to do almost anything outside. There were a multitude of things here needing done and, as usual, not enough time to cover it all. I was not surprised when my step-grandson called to say he needed to stop by and pick up some things from me, because someone is always stopping by wanting something. It did however add to the frustration of things I needed to be doing, as most of them were away from the house, so I was left to think of what to do while I waited.

With a few seconds thought, I remembered the bamboo just outside the front yard fence. I planted a couple of small starts several years ago and it has since spread a bit. Though it has not reached the size this species is capable of, it is respectable. Last winter's extreme cold (extreme for here, at least) had killed back the leaves on some of the taller canes. Leaves didn't grow back through the summer, though the canes were still green, so I decided to harvest the damaged ones this winter. Today, while I waited, seemed like a good time for such a project.

So it was off to the bamboo patch with the pruning saw. What a tangled mess! Brush and vines had woven the thick growth of bamboo into a near impenetrable wall. With some work and patience (as if I really have patience), I soon worked my way through to the canes needing harvested. Within a short time, 29 freshly cut bamboo canes lay piled in the driveway.

Trimming the branches with a machete went quickly. Soon, the bundle was tied every couple of feet so the canes will keep each other straight, and ready to hang up in the dry. Now, the bundle is hanging from the rafters of the blacksmith shop. Yes, I did say blacksmith shop, but that is a subject for another post.

Now if Anna and I can just figure out what to do with the bamboo.

(DF) MANY LEVELS OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY ------ part 6, some final thoughts

Throughout this series, I have made many statements that could be interpreted as attempts to discourage readers from trying to achieve self-sufficiency. This could not be farther from my true intent. In fact, my only purpose for posting my thoughts on this subject was to inform and to encourage people to reach the highest level of independence their capabilities and personal needs allow.

If you haven't achieved level eight, don't feel bad, neither have I. Personally, over the years, I have achieved bits and pieces of every level, never any complete level above the lower end of the scale. There are many reasons, the excuses are endless. Lack of knowledge or skill, lack of money, lack of time, lack of energy, lack of a like minded partner, and the list goes on. Not that these and others aren't valid considerations but none, or even all, of them can take the full blame.

To be self-sufficient means that you can, and do, provide for all of your own needs. The fact is that there is not enough time in the day or skills and varied ability for a lone individual to provide everything. This fact makes it necessary to include others, making self-sufficiency for the individual difficult if not impossible.

There is one, more important reason, genetics. Yes, I am going to blatantly and shamelessly play the, "it's not my fault, it's genetics," card here. As a species, we are social creatures, we need companionship and preferably of like minded people. John Donne said it nicely; "No man is an island." Humans need each other, in order to remain emotionally and psychologically healthy. The interaction between humans in terms of spiritual beliefs promotes a strong, healthy spirituality.

When considering the apparent hopelessness of individual self-sufficiency, perhaps the outlook would be brighter if we looked at the possibilities small groups or communities provide. Looking at a group of like minded individuals with varied skills, knowledge and abilities, it would be much less difficult for the group to achieve higher levels. A word of caution; if the group gets too large, it becomes a society with all the political issues we are trying to get away from.

With that said, it is my sincere hope that the opinions I have expressed have increased awareness, answered questions, or better yet raised a whole new set of questions. The act of questioning is the beginning of the learning process.

Happy self-sufficiency!

(DF) MANY LEVELS OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY ------part 5

No matter what type of energy you choose, no matter how much or how little energy you use, tools are most helpful items. If you have chosen to continue using lots of expensive energy, it is possible to purchase quite a variety of power tools and modern farm equipment. On the other hand, if you have chosen to use more tools powered by people and animals, it is possible to make many of your own tools.

LEVEL VII: Level seven is about making tools and other items that are truly needed and usually purchased. Even for the individual with extreme skill, energy and resources, there are things that can't be readily produced, but it is possible for most items to be made at home.

With a few blacksmith tools, some coal (or charcoal if coal is unavailable), steel and a measure of skill, most metal tools can be produced and repaired on the farm. With metal tools in hand, wooden handles and other much needed items of wood can be produced. The types and variety of tools you can make are endless, including garden tools, wood working tools, cutlery and even horse drawn farm equipment.

Obviously, metal can not be produced on the average farm or by the average individual, nor can coal, thus making metal tools is not truly self-sufficient. There is, however, something very satisfying about working with tools you made with your own hands.

While on the subject of things produced with one's own hands, it bears mentioning that if you raise livestock for meat, there are also skins available for making leather and furs. The main requirements are raw materials and the necessary skills. Depending on the type of tanning and the desired end result, you may or may not need to obtain some products from others. Proper tanning is a smelly process and a lot of hard work, but the end result can be more than worth it.

With some types of animals (sheep, angora goats, alpacas and angora rabbits to name a few) you have the raw materials for making clothing. Yarn for knitting, crocheting, or weaving can be easily made from the hair of such creatures. The process is simple. The tools for making yarn can be an elaborate spinning wheel, a simple drop spindle or anything between. This can be a truly self-sufficient process from start to finish. Even knitting needles and crochet hooks can be easily made by hand.


LEVEL VIII: In level eight, we reach a point of individual self-sufficiency. This level is not for the faint of heart or feeble of body. It is basically known as stone age, and for good reason. To be truly self-sufficient requires being able to find or make everything necessary for life. For water, one only needs to find a clean spring or stream (not easy but possible) and for food, there are wild plants. Shelter, warmth and clothing are another matter. Tools and weapons for hunting and defense, as well as for producing construction material will be needed, however, and the raw materials are plentiful in many areas.

Stone tools are the most ancient known on this planet, and are simple to make. A few properly placed impacts on even a low quality piece of flint or chert can produce a cutting edge sharper than any steel. with such a crude cutting tool, wood can be cut for fire, shelter or other tools (axe handles and spear shafts come to mind). Other plant material can be cut and stripped for cordage. Animals can be skinned for meat, clothing and rawhide for use as cordage and bow strings. Better quality flint or obsidian can be processed into very fine arrow heads and knives. In short, with knowledge and physical ability, one can quickly make the tools and weapons for hunting, planting crops, providing fuel and shelter, clothing and other necessities, using sticks and stones for material. There needs to be enough land to provide wildlife and the right general type of stone is needed, but beyond that, the limits of survival and comfort soon become only those imposed by ourselves and not by resources.

I am not saying anyone should go back to the stone age but to learn and practice these skills a bit can lend a new awareness and appreciation of what is really necessary. As an added bonus, in the unfortunate event that you are stranded in a vast wilderness, you will be prepared to provide for your needs and the needs of others.

Thank you for letting me share the levels of self-sufficiency as I see them. In the next and final installment, I will attempt to pull these five sections together with some, hopefully, valid points. I hope you will join me for part six.

(DF) MANY LEVELS OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY------ part 4

If you found part three a little discouraging, take heart. There is still hope for a greater level of self-sufficiency, though it will require leaving some of the trappings of modern life behind. Simply put, modern life, as we know it, runs on electricity and petroleum to a great extent and if we can't produce it in a self-sustaining way, perhaps we should re-examine our use of it.

LEVEL VI: In level six, there is a need for a very large shift in mind-set, and it needs to be shifted gradually so as to not be too overwhelming. Choosing to live without electricity instantly removes many things we take totally for granted, many of which we don't really have to have. It is the same with petroleum products. The things we DO require can be produced without modern energy.

Obviously, without electricity from some source, there isn't tv, movies, stereo, or video games, so entertainment becomes a little harder to get (or at least requires some thought and planning). Also, simple things like alarm clocks can no longer be taken for granted. These things are not among the basic necessities, but trust me when I tell you that you can feel pretty lost without them when they are suddenly not there. It takes a couple of weeks to come to grips with it, and yes, it is experience talking.

Lights, refrigerators, washers, driers, microwaves, mixers and a wide variety of thing we use every day, including warmth, hot water and cooking if you live in a total electric home, also cease to exist. If your water comes from a well with an electric pump, water becomes a problem very quickly.

Elimination of petroleum products obviously changes the face of transportation. Moreover, if you don't live in a total electric home, the moment of relief you may have experienced at the thought of not losing heat, hot water and cooking ability along with the electricity, just evaporated with the petroleum. Also, keep in mind that plastic is petroleum based. Look at everything you use that is plastic, and if there is a gasp of panic, you are not alone. Plastic is hard to replace at this point in time simply because so many things we use are made of plastic and nothing else, but keep in mind that many of these plastic items are not among the necessities.

Don't despair, there are other ways of providing for these needs. Light has been produced with candles made of beeswax or tallow, and lamps designed to burn animal fat or other oils, for many centuries. Food has been kept cool in springs and cellars for thousands of years and there are many preservation methods that don't require refrigeration. Clothes can be washed by hand and dried on a clothes line, water can be pumped with a hand pump or captured from rainfall and carried in buckets. There is also the fact that flush toilets require running water, so outdoor or composting toilets would be needed. Wood can be used as fuel for heating, cooking and hot water, but keep in mind that the wood will have to be cut with hand tools as chainsaws run on petroleum.

Without petroleum, transportation becomes an activity powered by people or animals. Walking is good for getting from point A to point B, but horses or mules (I personally favor mules but that is another story) can carry more than you can, and can also pull wagons and farm equipment. They can't haul the big loads a truck is capable of but they do alright. As for raising crops, draft animals are very effective though you have to produce enough grain and hay to feed them, so more land is required. Farming practices can also be entirely people powered. You can't farm as much land but you don't need to.

The information above is very simplified and I DO NOT recommend that anyone make such an abrupt change. I would, however, like to promote an awareness of all that we take for granted and encourage the gradual shift away from mindless use of modern energy. You may be surprised at how much you will gain in physical fitness, personal satisfaction and awareness (not to mention financial savings) as you lower your dependence on energy.

(DF) MANY LEVELS OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY ------part 3

LEVEL V: Energy provides a particularly tenacious set of challenges for self-sufficiency. As a society, a nation and as individuals, we are addicted to energy. Level five is about providing our own energy for heat, appliances, lighting, technology, motor fuel, etc., without dependence on others.

Lets start with electricity. Electricity is easy to produce, as any high school science student will agree. Simply stick two metal spikes of appropriate material in a potato and hook up the wires. A very small electrical charge will be produced. This process was also done in ancient times in the form of what archaeologists refer to as Baghdad Batteries, which consist of large earthenware vessels filled with wine vinegar. Electrodes were then placed through the lid into the vinegar. These apparently produced enough power to electroplate gold. However, neither of these methods efficiently produce enough electricity for practical use with most modern appliances.

Solar and wind are reasonable alternatives, and they are both free and reasonably constant. Add to that the consideration that the main equipment can be assembled by the average do-it-yourself-er in the garage and this seems to be the answer. ONLY ONE PROBLEM! I can not (nor do I know anyone who can) make all the components from scratch. So much for true self-sufficient electricity. I am still looking for a way, though I can't make appliances to run on it either.

Motor fuels are another challenge. Gasoline engines, I am told, can be adjusted to burn pure ethanol, AKA any good 190 proof grain alcohol. Before you break out the old distillation unit, consider how much of your production will have to be used for producing the plant material for ethanol production, and if you don't use a solar still, you will use yet more of your product to cook off the next batch. Also, with most modern engines, ethanol can cause problems, so use an older engine if you choose this alternative.

Bio diesel is great. It is made from cooking oil, treated with chemicals (methanol among others) to make a fuel that can be used in diesel engines. Non-petroleum, environmentally friendly, cheap to produce and can be done at home. Where is the problem with this? Production of methanol and other chemicals at home, in a sustainable way is out of reach for most of us. Also, there is the same problem as with ethanol, you have to use too much fuel to produce the cooking oil in the first place, so still not self-sustainable.

Fuel for cooking and heating is simple enough. Options include nice, clean burning methane, and of course, wood. Though methane is naturally produced by the bacterial breakdown of organic matter, it is difficult to safely produce in sufficient quantities for reliable, continuous use by individuals in a self-sustained way. Not that it can't, or shouldn't be produced. It is a good alternative, but without equipment components manufactured to reasonable standards, safety is a serious issue. Please don't be discouraged if this is something you want to do, just do the research and get good equipment.

That brings us to plain, old fashioned firewood. Certainly one of the oldest (if not the oldest) fuels used by humans on this planet. What could be more simple or sustainable than wood? This is probably the most natural and reasonable of all possible choices of fuel for self-sustained living. There is a problem however, and that is the harvesting of this wonderful fuel. Unless you have a readily available supply of wood that is small enough to be manually broken into short enough lengths for your facilities, or you are prepared to cut it with stone tools you have made, (possible but difficult) you will have to rely on some type of saw. This will at best have been produced in a factory somewhere, and if it is a chainsaw we are back to the question of motor fuel.

Peat, in areas where it is readily available, is a good source of fuel for heat and cooking, as it can be harvested by hand with simple tools in sufficient quantity. Those of us who live too far from the nearest peat bog simply have to make do with less simple fuels.

I almost forgot to mention coal. It is an excellent fuel for heating, cooking, and my favorite, forging metal in the blacksmith shop. It is, unfortunately, not readily available in many areas, though where it can be found naturally without mining, it does lend itself to self-sufficiency.

Please don't get discouraged. I am not saying that any or all of these (and many other) options won't work or shouldn't be pursued. Each has its own merit and validity. I am simply pointing out that none of them are readily adaptable to a self-sustained lifestyle, especially for individuals or very small groups.

I look forward to your input, and hope you will bear with me a bit. Hopefully, level six will be a bit more encouraging.

(DF) MANY LEVELS OF SELF-SUFFICIENCY ------part 2

Before I begin, I would like to thank all of you who viewed and commented on part one of this post. I would also like to mention that these levels of self-sufficiency are not intended to be, nor can they be, rigid. The levels mentioned in all parts of this post are intended as a tool to promote awareness of levels beyond where we are, on the path to self-sufficiency. Once on such a path, it is hard (if not impossible) not to prepare and work toward aspects of various levels at once.

LEVEL IV: Level four is where the skills and hard work come into play. Yes, I did say hard work. Lets face it, if it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Level four basics include shelter and many things associated with that shelter, such as the cleaning and decoration of that shelter and anything else that makes that shelter a home. Actively providing for such basic needs is the essence of this level of self-sufficiency. By "actively", I mean physically doing the work (construction, maintenance, upgrades, etc.) to provide shelter for yourself, your family and your animals.

Obviously, not all of us are physically able to build houses, barns and fences, or dig cellars to shelter and store our produce. Even for those who are able (and for the less physically demanding aspects) it takes some degree of knowledge and skill, an appropriate mind set and a good measure of awareness.

If you don't have the ability and/or skills, what do you do? Have you thought of barter? Barter is, in my opinion, a form of alchemy. WAIT!!! Before you start envisioning Pagan rituals and evil spells for turning other metals to gold for the sake of greed, here is Webster's second definition of alchemy. "A method or power of transmutation: esp., the seemingly miraculous change of a thing into something better." Turning surplus vegetables, jelly, soap or products from the blacksmith shop into materials and/or labor for fixing the hole in the roof (or vise versa) sounds like pretty much the same thing to me. Granted, getting the roof fixed in exchange for things you CAN do, instead of doing it yourself, is not truly self-sufficient, but it does get the job done and provides a higher degree of personal satisfaction than mindlessly paying whatever price is asked, in the form of cash, card or check. As an added bonus, you get interaction with others which, by the way, is one of the basics of psychological health. Not a bad swap, huh?

I hope to see you here for the next post, where things start to get more difficult, and if anything, less self-sufficient. At least temporarily.