Cutting back and getting organized

This past week has been productive and fulfilling for the most part. Seth and I have cut off the water heater, the AC and we're getting ready to cut off the refrigerator. I borrowed a book from a friend, Bill Mollison's Introduction to Permaculture.
I was very familiar with the ideas and concepts of permaculture but had yet to actually study it in a book. This is a good book to start with, especially if you're comfortable with the school textbook sort of layout. It's set up in that way, but also very pleasant and easy to read.

We've been thinking, researching and planning. When we get home from our trip (we are visiting my family for a week) we are really going to get to work on the garden and landscape. I am excited. I've really been looking forward to fall and winter planting and the time is upon us!

We'll see if we can cut our electric bill in half or less and maintain it there. I've been using hot water from the hose instead of installing a legitimate solar water heater. It works well but I only get about a gallon of hot water at a time and I have to make that stretch for dishes and some clothes.
I've adapted to washing up with cold water. It doesn't bother me much.

We also have a great compost bin going. Everything goes into it. I've even been digging through the trash to salvage things that I think would be better suited to compost or something other than trash. As a result, this past week we haven't produced a single full bag of trash.

In a few months I plan to make a graph of how we are using certain resources. I've got about 6 months worth of monetary expenses and about 4 months of electricity, so I need to start looking at the quantity of trash we are disposing of.
In 6 months I'd like to cut our output to about half of what it is. Spending half the money, using half the electricity and disposing of half of the waste-- all while *increasing* production of other projects. Let's see how this goes....

Technology or simplicity?

An issue I see a lot in the area of homesteading, ecovillages and survivalism is the relationship between technology and simplicity.

There are some who believe, in simple terms, that the way to impact the environment the least, and/or achieve the greatest self-sufficiency, is to return to an old way of doing things and perhaps even shun technological advancements.

The opposing view is to use technology to improve our ability to live in harmony with nature and create a sustainable human civilization.

I wouldn't argue that either of these approaches are wrong. Realistically, however, we have to find the right balance. No doubt the current lifestyle of western colonial countries, specifically the U.S., cannot be sustained as it is. We cannot keep buying endless products, consuming goods imported from around the world, and driving from place to place in a frenzy. It's not economically sustainable, environmentally sustainable, socially sustainable and it's not emotionally sustainable for the individual.

They've been telling me this since kindergarten.

I believe the first step is reduction and simplicity. We all have to take the time just to reduce all the input. We have to reduce the amount of trash we bring into our homes, and thus dispose of. We have to reduce our consumption of food (I'm one to talk :P ), reduce our consumption of water, electricity, fuel, toiletries and material entertainment (TVs, computers, DVDs, CDs, hardware and gadgetry of all sorts).

We have to reduce our dependency on others, most especially for food, water and energy. This does not mean isolation, but it does mean that if the greater system is disrupted, people will be able to survive individually until the system can be restored or recreated. For long-term survival, food water and energy would be produced on-site rather than exclusively purchased and stored from outside.

I am not against technology by any means. I am against technology when it replaces knowledge or skills needed for survival. Many in the western world don't have to think about the people who have worked, struggled and even lost their lives to provide our food, fuel and consumer goods. We don't have to have a clue about the agricultural process to enjoy a pizza loaded with products from Mexico, Brazil, Guatemala, etc.

People don't have to know a thing to survive these days. A lot of people don't even cook their own food, much less produce it.

Technology and science (including financial, political and social sciences) have obscured the basic processes required to sustain human life. As a result, those of us who rely on those processes are completely vulnerable even when it appears that the shelves will endlessly remain stocked.

In my opinion, advanced technology, especially complicated information systems, medical tecchnology and agricultural management, should be used with much reservation. While there are many great benefits for the individual, leaping ahead at the rate we are and in so many different areas seems to be stretching us thin as a society.

We can't maintain it; we can't even understand it.

IF the society breaks down, everyone who hasn't escaped dependency is in for rough times.

What do I do?
My solution is to cut back. As an individual, I cut back in every area that I possibly can. I'm not saying that I live a spartan lifestyle, because I don't. However, I do have an idea of how much I need to maintain my family, and that's where my focus is right now on the homesteading.

A few little steps at a time. I first look at how I can make something with the fewest outside resources.
Food was an easy start. Since college, eating out had become a HUGE problem for me. I didn't even start preparing many of my own meals until last year. I feel like I've come pretty far at this point. We keep a lot of grains on hand, some spices, and throughout the week we supplement with veggies and fruit, some eggs and some meat.

We are keeping chickens now to replace the eggs from outside, and we will probably either convert to vegetarians or suck it up and start killing our own chickens. As soon as I get my act together the veggies and fruit will be growing.
It has taken us much longer because we have few tools and few things on hand. For the chickens, we've done quite well and we have decent shelter for our flock of 13 without having spent much money at all ($10 I think?).

The garden is lacking because of human labor, because of limited tools, and partially because I have big plans and haven't yet figured out how to focus and get things done (except I have planted some fruit trees!).
I've spent a lot of time researching and looking for information on local, wild edible plants. It's surprisingly difficult to find that kind of information on my own. I suspect this is largely because of the overwhelming influence of modern agriculture which has essentially devalued other food sources and as a result the information has been lost.

I am interested in wild edible planting because it's the most natural and most efficient form of food production. A managed permaculture forest can, theoretically, provide much or all of what a human being needs for nourishment. After establishing the forest, if it is well-planned, it should require very little maintenance to continue production.

I've cut back in other places which haven't been as successful. In some ways, my reluctance to spend any money anywhere has made things much more difficult for me and probably ends up costing me more than actually investing a little bit of money in the beginning and having a long-term working solution.

This is where I believe in technology. Having a solar oven, or solar water heater, or something as simple as a well-designed clothesline would reduce our dependency on a energy but without complicating our lives too much. The upkeep required for those few items would not be unreasonable homesteading.

The organization of the homestead-- deciding where to start, where to invest initally, or whether limit ourselves to creating handmade objects from very local resources from the very beginning... it all gets overwhelming.

A modern homestead is a great puzzle. Goals, values, people and resources all complicate the process of moving forward.

Like starting a business, I imagine, and perhaps that's what we are doing here.

So here I am, a week later, still pondering.

Want to know about the homestead? Seth and I are planning on switching places so he's home and I'll be working outside. The chickens have all rotated, with the Barred Rocks being added to the original flock after 2 weeks, and the little chicks taking the place of the Rocks in the hayring.
I find Bitsy to be a joy to have around here but Seth doesn't much like her. We often have visitors-- the neighbor's dogs-- coming to poop on our driveway for some obnoxious reason.
Things are well. We're happy and inspired and I believe great things lie ahead.

Last week Seth and I watched a documentary called "A Family Undertaking" by POV, which airs on PBS. The documentary touched on the same ideas as explored in the New York Times Article: Home Burials Offer and Intimate Alternative. The point is that funeral homes in the US have a monopoly on the arrangements made after death, though after-death care by family members has been a traditional part of human life throughout history and offers incredible emotional benefits.

In my family the general attitude has always been "put me in a pine box and bury me in the back yard." I've never been subject to attitudes condoning spending tens of thousands of dollars on a funeral. I've never even understood why the costs would exceed 1k in any situation.

The film and the NYTimes article are inspiring in that they show that people in American really aren't afraid to care for their own loved ones in death. There is a growing return to that way of handling funerals and I'm happy to see it.

I think more people are starting to take responsibility for their own lives and their own humanity elsewhere as well. Perhaps it's just because of my personal interest, but I notice more and more people gardening, homeschooling and even expressing interest in homesteading around the country. Indeed, many of us are still in the earliest stages but at least there is the interest. What, ultimately, will be the result of all of this?
Are we finding our way out of this consumer madness? I sure hope so.

The lady chickens are doing well.
I'm taking a stab at growing some fall tomatoes. We'll see how this works out... hopefully it does some good. I am saving the rest of the seeds for next spring.

I would really like to work hard on getting a winter garden going. Nothing makes me happier than leafy greens and now is the time to plant broccoli from seed.

I'm working on looking for other sources of income so that we can get some of these things going. That's right, dirt and seeds cost MONEY! At least good dirt... all we've got here is clay and fire ants.

Another day on the farm.

I feel like things were going well for about two straight weeks. I managed to have quite a lot of time to update the blog and go on little adventures around the property. Now it seems like everything has changed--

Oh yeah, my husband got another job. Instead of him being home to share the duties of baby-rearing, I'm back to full-time during the days and along with it have come the blues. I started this blog knowing that I was going to have to admit to some setbacks and long periods of no productivity-- but actually admitting to it almost feels like a failure.

Of course there is no true failure here. I'm taking care of my baby and everything else around here as best I can-- absolutely worth it. It's just that in the process I've had to neglect a few things that would otherwise help to keep me motivated and keep my spirits up. It will take awhile to balance it all out again.

Callum is teething. Over the weekend he also had a low fever and seemed a little ill, then a doctor's appointment on Tuesday (regular checkup) and last night he broke out in a rash. Now he's miserable and teething.
Also over the weekend Seth and I were *both* sick. Seth more sick than I was, so I tried to help him and care for the restless little baby all day (I think it was Sunday.. or Monday).

Perhaps I'm getting used to it again. I wish I could take Cal outside and walk around but it's been in the mid- to upper- 90's here all week and it's just miserable. Early mornings are okay because we can find a few spots of shade at times. For the most part it's like walking out into an oven and just not pleasant.

Anyway, Seth is working! We aren't living off of our savings anymore so we might afford to spend a bit on some of our projects (yeah, or finish paying the bill for some of our old projects...).

We still have to finish the chicken house. We haven't lost anymore hens, and what we have works for now but it could definitely be better. It seems like we've hit a wall with this project. I suppose its because we've been trying to work out the cheapest way to do it. There are still some materials available around the property for us to use so maybe we can get it done without spending anymore... We will see.

Some rosemary that I started from seed are coming up. I only started a few because I didn't think it was a good time to start them, but there are two precious little seedlings now. All of the other plants are doing well. I'm looking to mulch everything soon because the heat is getting bad and I didn't have enough mulch to begin with.

All things coming along slowly... I hope to get some time for a very thorough update soon.

Progress.

This week has been so busy. We are finally making progress on the property. I called and set up appointments with a few companies on Monday, met with the guys yesterday and today and we will be getting the trees and brush cleared on Monday!
Not only that, but the guy we decided to hire is really awesome and he's going to be looking around for companies to do the water well, the septic tank and the electricity. This guy also does driveways and other site clearing, so we will probably have him do a little more work before then.

I'm thinking out next major investment on the property will be SOLAR ENERGY!! Because seriously, we might as well use the rest to get ourselves off the grid. Louisiana has a new 50% tax rebate on solar energy now too....

I'm excited. Being out there this morning reminded me just how beautiful that place is and how much I can't wait to be out there, and have Callum grow up there.

We'll be spending less per month on the loans for the trailer and setup than I would have spent on rent at my old apartment for less than 4 years. And we'll have it paid off in FIVE. Nice. 100% ours in 5 years.

Then solar, and trying to grow our own food and having a cute little family...