SS challenge! - 100+ steps to self-sufficiency

[sumi]

Hi all, I think if we all work together we can come up with 100 (or more) things, big and small, that can do be done to save energy and other resources, save money and make us less more self-sufficient. I'll start with a few things and would you all please add your ideas and tips.

1. Collect and save seeds from vegetables (either bought or homegrown)
2. Collect rainwater
3. Keep a few chickens for eggs and meat
4. Make your own bricks/blocks for building
5. Build an outdoor oven

 

[Britesea]

11. If you have room, start a woodlot
12. Free range your animals as much as possible
13. If you're gonna plant a tree, make it a useful one- fruit or nut or lumber
14. Learn what plants grow wild around you that can be foraged
15. Learn to fish (or as I tell my husband- he already knows how to fish, he needs to learn how to CATCH)
16. Build or buy a smoker
17. Learn to preserve food by canning, drying, smoking and/or freezing; and USE the knowledge
18. Learn how to sew your own clothes
19. Learn how to make some simple medicinals using herbs that you can grow or forage
20. Learn how to make your own cleaning supplies and/or toiletries

 

[baymule]

86. If no AC, you can sprinkle the bed sheets with water and turn on a fan. The evaporation will cool you off. I have lived with out AC at various times in my life and a spray bottle would take me from sleepless, sweaty, misery to cool restful sleep.

 

[milkmansdaughter]

Great thread!

Maybe it was listed but I'd say learn the dangers in your area and

a) be prepared to defend yourself and your own (not just from two-legged predators, but also from poisonous snakes, fire ants, wasps, scorpions, spiders, bears, etc...) Be prepared before there is an emergency.

b) Know more than how to use a bandaid. Can you set a broken bone, stop bleeding, treat a burn, identify a stroke or heat exhaustion? Do you know what to do for bites, stings, nettles, cuts? Could you protect the flock from coyotes? Save the chicks from snakes? Protect your own from human predators?

Accidents happen. Animals bite, kick, scratch, step on you, pin you to the side of a fence. Hammers attack thumbs. Ladders slip. Tree branches fall. Machinery breaks. Mud is slippery! BUT you're out there a part of it all, and the struggle is what makes the reward a reward. There's no WOW factor to opening a can of store bought veggies and dumping them in a pan, but there is when you open your own jar in February and know you planted it, weeded it, watered it, protected it from insects and disease, harvested it and canned it.

I'd also say that two more things set the people here apart from most of our neighbors. One is the willingness to learn. Looking up answers, asking questions, being willing to admit we don't know it all but being willing to learn. The second is being willing to WORK. In a society addicted to ease and comfort and convenience, it takes a different kind of person to get out of the house to weed a garden, shovel sh@#, fix a broken fence, build a rooster house/pigpen/outhouse, get out in the rain (or hurricane) to fix a roof or to check on animals, plant a garden, take care of it, harvest it and save it to feed your family through a winter. It takes time and money and effort to dig up weeds, clear land, and make it productive and pretty.

Hats off to everyone here for being different!

 

[Beekissed]

Most important tool for SS, IMO? The ability to change your mindset. Change it from the American dream, that's drilled into us from birth, and switch it to a different dream...one that isn't based on acquiring things in order to be thought of as a success. Living on and making do with very little that the world finds of importance will go a long way towards getting a person to that level of independence but few are willing to go there.

True success is contentment with whatever you may have. The man who can remain content, despite changing circumstances in jobs, health, family, status, homes, wealth, etc., is truly rich indeed and is well on the road to being more independent of the world. That ability to adapt and not feel anxious over things lost is one of the most valuable tools one can acquire for the journey.

Being prepared for any changes in your world starts in the mind and heart, not in what you have in your tool shed or pantry. The time to start that preparation is NOW, not when you need it during an emergency, but practicing it daily so it isn't a tool you aren't familiar with when you truly need to utilize it.

If you can start any sentence with "I just couldn't live without (insert gadget, food item, appliance, comfort item, etc.)" then you haven't started changing your mindset. I've found, in a crisis, there are very few things humans can't live without other than the essentials of food, water, shelter from the elements.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

We're getting close to hurricane season so this will apply to those of us living on the coasts...

67. Fill those gas cans
68. Fill those propane bottles
69. Get charcoal/starter...easy way to cook when the power is out
70. Solar landscape lights are great when you have no power
71. A French press coffee maker makes great coffee and doesn't need power - only hot water
72. If you have a generator and a freezer - make ice, lots of ice. You will use tons of it and can share it with those who can't get any.
73. Buy extra tarps.
74. Stock up on animal feed before any weather issues
75. Have extra lumber/plywood/roofing supplies on hand. (raid the reject bins at HD and Lowes like @baymule suggested)
76. Store as much water as possible. You will need it for sanitary purposes, drinking, and animals

 

[Mini Horses]

#79 Keep some water jugs/bottles frozen. They help keep freezer from over working day to day because a full freezer uses less electric. Can be thawed and drank. Can be used instead of ice in a chest to keep things cold, without using refer so much.

#80 They sell solar generators (pricey!) but can be used whenever to run things and keep electric down to help offset cost.

#81 Own a washboard, or know how to wash by hand for clothes, etc.

#82 Have a list of alternatives in case you run out of something -- meds, first aid, cleaning, etc.

#83 keep waterproof matches on hand. I have small propane cans for my weed torch, generally have 4-5 cans available. Fire can be a necessity.

 

[CJ1]

This isn't an addition. Just reinforcing keeping stuff frozen. Years ago when we moved from NC back to iowa daddy loaded his deepfreezes with ice to make sure his meat kept during the two day haul in July. But when we got back the power to our house still hadn't been turned on. Took two more days before they finally got it turned on. That's 4 days without his deep freezes running. And the ice he packed all around the meat had just started to melt. There wasn't more than a quart of water in the bottom.

A good deep freeze will keep cold a lot longer than most people would think.

 

[baymule]

89. Make a dehydrator with 2 window screens. The top one is to keep the flies/bugs off.
90. You can use the dash of your car, parked in the sun, for a dehydrator.

 

[baymule]

(101) Just went through the house with all LED bulbs. They are BRIGHT! It's like the morning sun, we love them!

102. This one to me, is VERY important. BUILD COMMUNITY. Know your neighbors, know who you could count on in an emergency. Know who neighbors strengths and weaknesses. Know who would need help and make provisions for that. After all, if your neighbor has 3 little children, are you going to let them go hungry or are you going to not only feed them, but teach them to feed themselves as well? It is not enough to sit on top of buckets of food if your neighbors starve. BUILD COMMUNITY.

Talk to neighbors now. Don't come across as a wack-job, come across as someone who is trying for a better life for your family. Talk about better food, and producing it. You will find out if they want to learn how to better provide for themselves and their families. If they are not interested in keeping pigs, garden, goats, chickens and so on, they may be interested in buying from you, and you will have gained a customer. BUILD COMMUNITY.