New chapter for SS - Suggestions welcome!

[sumi]

Hey everyone. SS is under new management I love this community and I would like to work with you all, current active members, new members and old returning members (welcome back btw!), to rebuild and revive this wonderful community. I want this to be a team effort and I am very interested in hearing you all's ideas for what we can do here to make this site better, what you would like to see changed, added, etc.

 

[Wannabefree]

And doughnuts from time to time would be nice.

 

[NH Homesteader]

I would love to see a section for kids on the farm. Either roll the homeschooling thread into it or have another. There is a lot to talk about regarding family on the farm, and the homeschooling title brings up mostly curriculum ideas. Some people might have cool ideas about ways to raise kids on the farm, that aren't necessarily "homeschooling".

 

[NH Homesteader]

Maybe a simple living in small spaces section? An emphasis on doing what you can to make small steps towards being self sufficient/living better? It could discuss indoor gardening, buying from local farmers, etc. Things anyone can do, even in the city!

 

[Beekissed]

I think a "skills" section should be included....seems a lot of people want to learn certain homesteading skills nowadays, but we have no specific place to place those.

I'd also like to see the homesteading animals have some subforums...when I want to talk about chickens, I don't want to have a thread get lost in the bigger forum of livestock on the homestead. When I asked about that years ago I was told I could talk about chickens over on BYC. Same with other specific livestock...was told to go to BYHs. Same with specifics on gardening....head on over to TEG. If we are to be a diverse but distinct forum, we'll need to have categories on these things here and fill them appropriately, develop an actual identity.

I'd also like to see us have a place on our own profiles where we can find threads we've started...."your content" is so vague and one has to search it for hours to find an old thread.

The "Roll your own" forum heading could sure use a new title...sounds like we've got a bunch of smokers here.

 

[tortoise]

I'm also in favor of changing homeschool section over to farm parenting / next generation. Homeschool is a narrow topic, with few members homeschooling and radical difference between family methods, there isn't much common ground at all and even curriculum recommendations are of little help to other members. I don't think we can do "homeschool" justice as a topic or subforum. There are much better sources to get homeschool information and help.

However, raising kids outside the realm of intensive helicopter parenting.... not much out there on the internet for that! Even things as apparently simple as "what chores are appropriate for my 10 year old" are difficult questions. Internet tells us a 10 year old can do one (only one!) chore per day at the difficulty level of loading the dishwasher, yet my Amish neighbor's approx 10 year old kids are handling a team of 5 horses and plowing 20 acre fields without supervision (and are faithfully polite to wave to all the neighbors).

I see a lot of potential to rename "homeschool" and add new threads to encompass all of "farm parenting" - which of course may not happen on a farm.

 

[Wannabefree]

I used to homeschool too, and regardless whether a kid attends public or private school outside the home, ESPECIALLY if they live on a farm, they are, at least somewhat, home schooled.

 

[FarmerJamie]

Well, even with the folks here, everyone has their own journey and where they are in the journey. I do like the Simple Life theme. My current circumstances don't allow a garden or animals, but I do try to do simple cooking and preserving when the local farm markets are in full swing. Someday hope to get back into it.

Not sure how this demographic gets worked into the site.

(Making chicken soup right now. 5 years ago, I would have produced all of the ingredients except for salt and pepper)

 

[sumi]

Maybe a simple living in small spaces section? An emphasis on doing what you can to make small steps towards being self sufficient/living better? It could discuss indoor gardening, buying from local farmers, etc. Things anyone can do, even in the city!

I like this idea too. A lot of people, myself included, do not have space to do more than grow a few things and keep a few hens for eggs along with whatever can be done in the kitchen. With the majority of people living in urban areas, small steps and small scale ideas and discussions would be great

 

[baymule]

We are going in a good direction here. Lots of good ideas, it will take time for Sumi to get oriented. Don't worry Sumi, we are patient and know you can't do it all at once. We're here to stay!