luvinlife offthegrid
Lovin' The Homestead
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Welcome to the forum! Will you hate me if I tell you I'm posting this from my iPad? 
WhatUgawkinAt: Journal and the Beginning of an Awakening
- Thread starter Whatugawkinat
- Start date
Joel_BC
Super Self-Sufficient
Welcome to the forum. Great to hear about your leap into your new life and the role your fianc plays.
My take on the self-sufficient life is that it involves work, dedication, skills, good sense, enjoyment, self-responsibility, and all these things. But it need not be isolated. There is such a thing as 'voluntary interdependence' where you cooperate with neighbors for mutual benefit. We raise a lot of surplus pears, cucumbers, squash, garlic, berries, and leafy greens that we give away or trade - as well as lots of stuff we just can, freeze or put in the cellar (potatoes, corn, tomato sauces, carrots, onions, beets, pears, apples, and all). But where I live, one household may be raising a lot of free-range chickens or turkeys, another may be raising quite a few honey hives. And when you know a lot of people on organic homesteads, trading around can be natural.
You can learn from your neighbors, too. You can learn by trial and error, and there's learning from books or magazines or learning from videos. But in my opinion, best is learning from someone who will take the time to teach you (and also you can learn on the sly, by watching people who are good at something). These days, I'm helping a young man in his early 20s learn some carpentry.
Anyway, that's my little piece on interdependence.
My take on the self-sufficient life is that it involves work, dedication, skills, good sense, enjoyment, self-responsibility, and all these things. But it need not be isolated. There is such a thing as 'voluntary interdependence' where you cooperate with neighbors for mutual benefit. We raise a lot of surplus pears, cucumbers, squash, garlic, berries, and leafy greens that we give away or trade - as well as lots of stuff we just can, freeze or put in the cellar (potatoes, corn, tomato sauces, carrots, onions, beets, pears, apples, and all). But where I live, one household may be raising a lot of free-range chickens or turkeys, another may be raising quite a few honey hives. And when you know a lot of people on organic homesteads, trading around can be natural.
You can learn from your neighbors, too. You can learn by trial and error, and there's learning from books or magazines or learning from videos. But in my opinion, best is learning from someone who will take the time to teach you (and also you can learn on the sly, by watching people who are good at something). These days, I'm helping a young man in his early 20s learn some carpentry.
Anyway, that's my little piece on interdependence.
Dawn419
Almost Self-Reliant
Hello and Welcome to the forum! 
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Whatugawkinat
Enjoys Recycling
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I'm not saying I must be isolated, but prefer to be. Around here, isolated and heavily rural areas are basically "urban woods" with countless others dotting the landscape. The only difference is that they are isolated from modern communities, but have this expansive network of friends, family, neighbors and strangers working together to get any job done. This is one of the main reasons I love my state. It can be as rough, rugged and isolated as you can get...and as you go around a turn, BAM! Next thing you know you're in the heart of a major city 
I just want a piece of land isolated from visual contact..seclusion I suppose. I definitely want people around, but just prefer the peace of mind not feeling like someone's staring at my haha.
I just want a piece of land isolated from visual contact..seclusion I suppose. I definitely want people around, but just prefer the peace of mind not feeling like someone's staring at my haha.
Beekissed
Mountain Sage
FRONT door!!!
Dawn419
Almost Self-Reliant
I agree 100%, Bee!
Our place is on a "busy-at-work-shift change" 2 lane highway but I forget it's there until a police car, fire truck, ambulance or a semi hitting the jake brake goes by due to the trees that surround us. We only see the closest neighbors house when the leaves are off the trees for the winter or we happen to be walking the southern fence line. We like our neighbors so it's okay.
I'd love to be on a back road, in the middle of no where, but hubby's job requires him to be there no matter what, so we're where we need to be, for now.
Denim Deb
More Precious than Rubies
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I'd love to be where I don't have any near neighbors as well. We have neighbors on 3 sides of us and while most of them are getting older now (as in our 40s and 50s), there is one that's still young and sees nothing wrong w/having a noisy party til the wee hours of the morning, or having people blow their horns when they're leaving when the rest of us are sleeping.
