Where do I start?

[Poison Ivy]

Found this forum today and I'm in LOVE...... I love all it stands for!
I am dying to live a self sufficient life, the whole thing, raising my own meat, vegetables, a solar or wind powered home and even making a living off the land if possible.
Am I being naive to think I can do this??
I feel like I can't breath in this city anymore and want to run away I have son in school so I can't run too far, maybe a few acres, seeds and trowel will do my spirit some good, but winter will soon be here in NJ.
Would love some suggestions to get me started in the right direction.
Poison Ivy

 

[miss_thenorth]

Where do you want to start? do you like to cook, bake, garden, read? What??? I'm sure you already do some that you might not even be aware of.Winter is approching, so gardening might be out of the question right now. What interests you the most? We are very good at enabling

 

[FarmerChick]

Yes most people in the city who want out have this vision.

I always think of that movie Funny Farm with Chevy Chase haha

no, if you get some land, you can live as you wish within financial strains and other family obligations etc......what you want might not be exactly what hubby wants etc lol but ya compromise.

yes you can have a more SS life....you can start in the city also!!

everything you purchase, think of city ways to replace them with things you can do yourself.......balcony garden when it is time, learn to change your own oil in your vehicle, cook from fresh scratch, learn to can/preserve/make jams from low priced sale items when they hit....many ways to start now. Seek out those mini farms in the city--they are there and if you find them you can buy fresh honey etc.....

good luck to you and welcome to the forum

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

start where you at, use whatcha got, and do what you can.

winter is the PERFECT time to start researching and planning.

welcome!

 

[FarmerChick]

darn Ohio you posted right on top of me
hahaha

we like lightening!

 

[TanksHill]

Welcome!!!


g

 

[AL]

I am pretty new as well, so welcome!! Would an indoor herb box be feasible for you as a start up? Definitely spend your winter reading up and knowing what you want to do and having an idea how you want to do it.

 

[Wifezilla]

Am I being naive to think I can do this??

You CAN do it...it's just that without a buttload of money you can't do it all at the same time. Start slow, learn, and most of all ENJOY YOURSELF!!!

If you are miserable, what's the point?

Hubby and I have a small house and a small lot and we still have managed to have grape vines, apple trees, a pear tree, garden beds, 7 ducks and 5 quail

For us it is about doing as much as we can despite our space restrictions.

 

[miss_thenorth]

yes, there are quite few here on the forum who live in the city and lead a fairly SS lifestyle. there's plenty you can do!!!

 

[patandchickens]

Hi, welcome to the forum!

Depends what you mean self-sufficient. If you mean Mountain Man Trapper Jim, or Little House on the Prairie, then no, you are not going to be hunting elk or working a team of oxen in the city LOL

But if you mean *being self sufficient* to a greater and greater degree, cities are a GREAT place to do that, because although land may be in short supply, MATERIALS are not. It is ever so much easier to scrounge stuff and find secondhand and repairable items in the city or 'burbs than out in the country. In some ways your inexpensive-food options are wider, too.

So, if you just want to become more self sufficient in the broad sense (as opposed to picturesque homestead-goat-farmer type daydreams ) you can certainly do lots of stuff!

Learn to sew and do repairs and alterations... Alterations especially, since the fabric in thrift-store garments is often significantly better quality (and one heck of a lot cheaper!) than buying fabric by the yard at Joannes or whatever. (It is almost impossible to find GOOD quality garment fabric in retail stores these days, sigh)

Learn to cook more from-scratch old-timey type foods, including doing pickling/sprouting/fermenting/canning if you are interested.

You can do a surprising amount of gardening in containers on a balcony or in a postage-stamp backyard, particularly if you select your crops based on what will do well in your situation as opposed to Gee I've always wanted to grow a watermelon or Wow that corn looks beautiful in the catalog photos

Work on improving your mechanical and tool-using skills; carpentry, plumbing, electrical, small engine repair, all that kind of thing. City is a GREAT place for this because raw materials are often free at the curbside every trash day

And other things too, of course, depending on your exact situation

Good luck, have fun,

Pat