Hi everyone!

ScottyG

Lovin' The Homestead
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Hey, I've been posting a bunch here, and realize I should do the old introduction thing. So:

I'm Scott. I feel like a bit of a poser here, as I'm not nearly as self-sufficient as I'd like to be. My wife and I are both just out of grad school, and we're working as professors (her full-time, me part-time) at a small college here in Michigan. Meanwhile, in my non-teaching time, I'm a part-time stay-at-home dad, taking care of our little 6 1/2-month old sweet baby girl most days. But as we're just getting started, we're renting a place (so, no garden, and certainly no chickens or anything), and can't do as much as we'd like to.

But mostly I've gotten interested in self-sufficiency now that we're raising a child. So much of the commercial baby stuff just really rubs us the wrong way, and we're trying our hardest to do things ourselves. We make our own baby food, wash our own cloth diapers, I bake our bread and cook almost all our own meals from scratch, buy most of our meats, eggs, and produce from local farmers, and generally we are trying to forge our own way in that realm. We've eliminated most of the plastic toys and plastic food storage, and are trying to use more durable goods and make less trash. Eventually, we hope to own a home, and work on getting the rest of things up... I find all your posts on doing that inspiring!

It's great to read how you all are making such awesome life choices, and I'm so happy to be learning about all this stuff. Thanks for being such an open community!
 

TanksHill

Super Self-Sufficient
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Welcome!!
Sounds like your family is on it's way to making a huge difference. I am also new here but have found a wealth of information. Good luck to you and yours!!!
p.s. I have a brother named ScottG. :D
 

FarmerChick

Super Self-Sufficient
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Hi and welcome

you sure aren't a poser....anyone starting the way you are is actually applying themselves and that means you are a participant! good deal.

everything in good time. decide how and what type of lifestyle you want......saving for big farm, small farm, few acres or whatever.....research other farms on the internet and how others become more self sufficient.....and in the end after all that checking and such....you will have a magically engineered homestead of your own.

you found a great site...jump in and chat and have a blast!!!!

Karen
 

Quail_Antwerp

Cold is on the Right, Hot is on The Left
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Welcome!

Congrats on your baby girl! I say you are already making some smart choices!
 

krjwaj

Lovin' The Homestead
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Welcome Scott, and congrats on your new baby. Here is a homemade baby wipe solution to make you feel more "self sufficient" :)

Baby Wipes
10 cup container (ex: rubbermaid, w/lid)
1/2 roll of Bounty paper towels (remove the tube)
2 tbls of baby oil
2 tbls of baby bath
2 cups of water ( I boiled mine to get rid of any germs etc in the water)


Although this isn't the exact recipe I used with my daughter, it is close.
 

annmarie

Lovin' The Homestead
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Welcome Scott! It sounds like you already have some great baby-raising-without-getting-sucked-into-mass-consumerism knowledge which may come in handy for some of us, some day! ;) I don't think any of us are nearly as self-sufficient as we'd like to be, that's why we're here. It's always great to have a new person, and new ideas.
 

ScottyG

Lovin' The Homestead
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Thanks for the welcomes, everyone! Great to feel welcomed, and not ashamed of my not-so-sustainable-yet life. And krjwaj, I'm actually using cloth wipes too... it's way less difficult than it sounds... I just keep some cheap washcloths in a little container, and soak them with a mix of water and a few drops of "wipe juice" solution I buy from a nifty local business... and I just wash them with the diapers. But I may have to try your recipe for the liquid instead of buying it... thanks!
 

the simple life

Yard Farmer
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Hi and welcome!
Just that fact that you are checking out this forum and trying to educate yourself is a great start.
Hey by the time you get your farm;) you will be so well prepared to live off the land.:lol:
We are all learning here, please don't feel intimidated or anything.
Especially by our sometimes heated little debates, because really thats how all families function and the sufficient self family here is no different.
Sometimes we beat eachother up.:smack and then we're:cool:
If you have time, go through some of the old threads.
There is alot to learn on the sister sites as well in case you haven't checked them out.
Good to have you here.
Gotta get you some chickens.
 
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