The New and Improved Questions List-The official thread

[KnightMare]

Here goes....

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? USA... 4 seasons, short growing season.Farming/rural area
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status? Does this matter?
3. How would you define self sufficiency? Being able to live on your own...make what you need, barter the rest
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? Farm, read and make stuff in my shop
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? yes, and yes
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? Yes to MiG, Stick and Oxy-Acet. No Tig
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? My parents suffered through the "Great Depression" I decided I didn't want to Suffer through the next one...
8 Cloth or paper? CLOTH. It implies good breeding.
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? Well, I have a nice garden, tools to work it and enough ground to enlarge it.
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? SEX
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs? Makes sense to me. I am the "ant" not the grasshopper
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? in my shop or in my garden
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? Yup...can plow a straight furrow, too!
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? I'd be happy to teach anyone anything I know. They'd need to be interested and willing to learn. Not many folks are interested these days.
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? Yes...some of each...
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? both
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? I only grow what I can eat. Kind of a Function over form type
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? Both...depends on what the fish look like and where they live and who they are...
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? Own. No debt.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? Technician
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? No specialty. I like to be "well rounded".
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? I'd probably go to an Ag school and learn how to do stuff...
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? All of it
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? Yup. I grow a number of herbs and medicinal plants. Spent a long time learning to ID many of them.
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? Where I am NOW.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? I can if I need to. I've prepared for that contingency and a few others as well.
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? McGyver/BHO
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? Nope, they think I am "out to lunch" on this. They don't even come to visit me. I make acquaintances easily. Friends are a bit harder to come by...if you know what I mean.
29. Do you like to cook? Yes, but don't get much time to do it.
Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? Yes, all of them.
30. What was your MOS? 8404/91Z5S and a few more
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? only if I have to...
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient? See above. Over my lifetime, I have acquired a unique skill set which makes me confident that as long as my health holds out, I will be able to deal with whatever is coming...maybe sooner than we would like...
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? Not sure what that means...I'm kind of a "Be Here Now" kind of person.
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? Solar is the way to go...
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England? That depends on the wind speed and direction. European swallows generally don't get coconuts because they only grow in the tropics...
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? yes/yes/ and I can if I have to do it again.
37. In what do you trust? G*d
38. Do you make things yourself to save money? Absolutely. I was brought up to fix what I have and to take care of what I have. I was taught to be a good steward of the blessings G*d has given me.
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? You bet. Why do you think I am doing it?

 

[naturegirl]

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like? Western Cape, South Africa, and the climate ranges from freezing in the winter to about 45 Deg Celsius in the summer! We also have a lot of rain! In fact in the second week of January we had 3 floods in four days!
2. How many people are in your family? 2 now, our kids are gown up and have flown the coop! Marital status? Married - 29 years!
3. How would you define self sufficiency? Basically feeding ourselves from our land, as well as supplying our own energy from the ample wind and sun we have here!
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed? Huh?? What spare time? Otherwise my spare time is spent reading and gardening.
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to? We have never built our own home from scratch, but have renovated our home that we live in at the moment, and will be building on our small farm.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet? Nope!
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient? Grew up in the life style, both my parents came from farming stock, and my mother always fed us from her garden and by raising rabbits for the pot! At one stage my parents lived on a small farm and all our food apart from flour, sugar, rice and coffee came from it.
8 Cloth or paper? Both
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more? Have a vegetable garden at our town house, and have always grown vegetables.
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient? Not sure, am willing to try everything at least once!
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs? Yes, will definately be doing so!
12. Where do you end up when you sink into yourself, away from the outside world? Far away from civilisation!
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi? Yes, a semi, have never driven a tractor, but willing to learn, and in fact will have to!
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these? I sew and have taught my daughter to do so as well.
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds? Yes we can. We are allowed to keep six hens in our area (Cape Town), but do not have any. My seaman says to wait until we get to the farm in 2 years time, meanwhile my 3 dogs, 3 cats, 3 parrots and other birds and fish will have to keep me happy!
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood? My seaman can. Wood
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing? I have ten green thumbs, and love to garden, both vegetable and ornamental.
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives? Yes, and WHAAATTT? Who on earth uses explosives to fish!!!!!
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country? City - 1000 sq metres Country 15 acres
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL? Huh? Not sure what you mean?
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn? I am a gardener, and know how to raise chickens, rabbits, pigs, cattle.
22. If you could create a degree and curriculum, what would you major in and what classes would you take? Anything to do with plants and animals.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet? I love to restore old furniture.
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine? Yes
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be? On our little farm in Riversdale
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking? Gas in Summer, and a restored dover stove in winter for both cooking and heating.
27. What would your ideal super hero/villain be? No Idea
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency? My brothers are very interested, as they grew up the same way I did.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs? Yes, Yes and YES!!! Love to cook and experiment, and also love to bake bread, preserving, etc.
30. What was your MOS? ????
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs? Have foraged a lot in the past, but never hunted.
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient? Gardening, raising animals, restoring old furniture, sewing, renovating a house. Am very resourceful, can turn my hand to most things.
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live? Never though about it.
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy? We will be using both solar and wind power, as well as staying on the grid to a minimal degree.
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England?
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to? Yes we have, as a little girl back in the sixties, and I felt sorry for my poor mum with 5 small kids. In those days they did not have the resources we have now, and am very willing to live off grid completely. We have ample wind and sun to make our lives easier.
37. In what do you trust? My husband, nature and common sense.
38. Do you make things yourself to save money?Yes
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending? Always have tried to be more self sufficient to a degree, so that will definately change my attitude once we get to the farm.

 

[CJ1]

Can we use the old list if we choose for our own journels?

 

[sumi]

Sure!

 

[treerooted]

1. What state/province/country are you in and what is your climate like?
southeastern Ontario, Canada. Four distinct seasons: hot summers, cold winters, wet springs, and gorgeous falls. Hardiness zone 5(a)
2. How many people are in your family? Marital status?
I'm married and we have one active toddler.
3. How would you define self sufficiency?
I don't.
4. What would you do with your spare time if you had any resources you needed?
With unlimited resources I would probably do a lot of traveling.
5. Have you ever built a house , or other types of building? Do you want to?
I have not, but would like to under the right circumstances.
6. Can you weld? Steel, aluminum, MiG, TiG, stick, Oxy-Acet?
No, but my partner can!
7. Who or what inspired you to become more self sufficient?
I think it's just a natural extension of the general values and skills I grew up around even though it was in the burbs.
8 Cloth or paper?
Depends.
9. In what ways are you self sufficient now and in what ways would you like to learn more?
Getting started on food self sufficiency which is by far the main goal. Chickens, garden, and maple syrup are all we have started so far. Beyond food; some general skills that allow us to build, create and repair. My husband is a mechanic so that comes in very handy.
10. In what way(s) will you never choose to become self sufficient?
Energy won't really be a possibility for us. We're felling our own trees for heat, but electricity will still come from the grid...though we are looking into getting some solar panels.
11. Are you interested in stocking up for future needs?
Yes - for one year. I have always liked persevering the fall harvest. It's a must in cold climates.
13. Can you drive a farm tractor or a semi?
I have driven a farm tractor but only a couple times. Unfortunately I'm not strong enough to drive our current 1950's tractor (it needs some repairs). But my partner uses it.
14. Do you make crafts or useful items? Would you want to teach others how to do these?
I crochet, but I certainly couldn't teach anyone anything better then the internet could I do I have a friend I've promised to teach though.
15. Can you have legally livestock where you are at? Do you have any? What kinds?
Yes! So far a flock of 29 chickens. Half are layers and half will be for the freezer.
16. Can you operate a lathe? Metal, wood?
No.
17. Do you like to garden? If so, what do you enjoy growing?
I do like to garden but I wish I was better at it. What I want to grow is one of everything lol
18. Do you fish? Bait or explosives?
I don't fish.
19. How much space/land do you have or rent? City? Country?
Just bought a 63 acre property out in the country, about 1/2hr from the city.
20. Are you a Novice, Technician, General, Advanced? ARRL?
Novice.
21. What is your self sufficient specialty? Or what one would you like to learn?
Same as previous question, I'd like to provide most of my own food.
23. Do you do wood work? framing, finish, cabinet?
No, but I would love to. I've refinished a couple things.
24. Are you interested in herbal medicine?
Not really, at least not for any serious ailments. But for mild symptoms I may use something such as herbal teas. (I don't take any medication regularly, and very little irregularly.)
25. If you could live any place you chose, where would it be?
I don't know, it depends.
26. Do you use a wood stove for heating or cooking?
Wood stove for heating (and keeping my coffee hot).
28. Are your family or friends also interested in self sufficiency?
Family grows, cans, and freezes.
29. Do you like to cook? Are you interested in whole foods and natural foods? raw milk? farm fresh eggs?
Sometimes I like to cook (if there was more time), mostly I like to eat Oh I can't wait for our first egg. I'd like to cut out as many highly processed foods as possible.
31. Do you forage or hunt for part of your food needs?
I don't; I just don't have the skills. I've done a tiny bit (lavender tea, straw/rasp/blue berries, queens anne lace, clover)
32. What skills do you have that help you be more self sufficient?
I'm really not sure, beyond what I'm trying to learn.
33. In which fictional universe would you most like to live?
Too hard.
34. Do you have solar panels? Plans to use solar energy?
No, but looking into it.
35 What is the mass/weight ratio of a European swallow carrying a coconut from the tropics to England?
I don't know but your father smells of Elderberries.
36. Have you ever lived completely off grid? Would you like to?
No and depends on the circumstances. Wait, does camping count?
38. Do you make things yourself to save money?
Not much, but I don't buy a lot either.
39. Has trying to be more self-sufficient changed your attitude or habits about money/spending?
No, though we're living off one income at the moment so we have had to give up on a few "extras".

 

[Medicine Woman]

I don’t know how to copy this.

 

[tortoise]

I don't think I even did this. Just tell us about yourself.

I hate the list. It's so overwhelming and I forget everything I've read about someone new!