A Word On Self Sufficiency

When we first started out trying to design our house in the woods we wanted to be as self sufficient as possible. We wanted solar electricity, solar hot water, no gas appliances, etc. We quickly realized that the cost for that level of self sufficiency was well beyond our reach. We then tried only solar electricity or only solar hot water. Still, pretty pricey. Then we really sat down and thought about what the most important aspect of self sufficiency was to us. We realized it was not living off-grid or not having utility bills. It was food. The ability to sever dependence on other people and organizations for our food supply. Not only will that cut out the largest bill we have other than our mortgage (food accounts for a higher percentage of monthly expenditures than all utility bills combined, and it always will) but it will also allow us to be healthier and happier thereby possibly eliminating medical bills in the future. So we made our house as efficient as possible and designed to to be able to add solar water and electricity in the future, like if we win the lottery or something :). Then we concentrated on our main goal, food self sufficiency.

There are several food related beliefs that my family and I have developed that might be outside of the norm. One is that as much as possible you should eat in season. I think our bodies were designed for this. In the late fall and winter we crave lots of protein and fat but less carbohydrates. Our bodies are trying to store some energy for winter when food might not be as readily available. Also since we typically become less active in the winter we don't need carbohydrates as much. Then once spring rolls around we start craving more carbohydrates and we start becoming more active. Studies have shown that we are healthier and happier if we follow the natural food rhythms.

This leads into our next belief. We have been slowly adjusting our diets so that we eat primarily home cooked food made from basic ingredients. Instead of macaroni and cheese from a box, we cook the elbow noodles and add cheddar cheese and milk and salt. Or instead of store bought bread, we make our own bread from fresh ground wheat, homemade butter, locally harvested honey, and so on. You can't really store several loaves of bread for a long period but you can store wheat and honey and make butter from your own milk. It is a lot easier and more flexible to store the primary basic ingredients than the finished products. It also is much easier to substitute in homegrown food when available which leads in to the next belief.

Growing our own food. Imagine only going to the store for some very basic staples like salt. Growing your own food can be a very high yielding investment. Once you start comparing the prices you will see that your return on investment is much higher than anything the stock market and yield, even before the downturn. If you venture in to some permaculture like fruit trees then your returns are even higher because you will have the initial investment up front but have many years of returns with no further investment. It is unrealistic to grow every bit of your own food but even if you grow only half of your food then that is half of your annual food bill. You can also try to grow items that are normally not available for sale in your local area or that are expensive. In our area bell peppers range from $.50 to $2 each. For two bucks I can get a whole packet of seeds and grow a hundred bell peppers. 

Food prices always go up. Always have, always will. I read an article recently that said we as a country are now net importers of food. The bread basket of the world now buys more food than we sell. I think there may be a time in the near future when food prices will be unbearable and if that occurs I for one plan on being prepared.

My First Post

Well, this is another attempt at starting a blog.  I want to sort of document some of the stuff that me and my family are doing to be ants, not grasshoppers. If you are wondering what that means check this out.

So anyway, here is a little story about us. We started off living in town on a small lot, about 125'X150'. I realized that was not enough space for me, my wife and son (now 2 boys and a newborn girl). We found 18 relatively secluded acres and built a house. We have managed to acquire a Jersey milk cow, 3 jersey steers and some chickens. We get all of our eggs from our chickens and will soon be getting most if not all of our dairy from Blossom (that is the Jersey cows name). At least one of the steers is gonna make a trip to the butcher soon (I am thinking the one named T-bone).  We have been storing some food and plan a pretty good sized garden this year. Possibly a small orchard as well. Our goal is to try to grow as much of our own food as possible.