Sustainable Living

me

[cyborg]

Any freepers have some really good ideas/links/sources for sustainable living? Self sufficient living, mountain living,etc.etc. My interests are in living off an organic garden and perhaps a dairy goat to fulfill the occasional craving for raw cheeses. I'm also interested in solar heating and hydroponic growing for the winter time.

Thanks.

[flashbunny]

http://www.backwoodshome.com/

[cyborg]

Thanks. I was trying to remember the name of a magazine and that's the very one!

[pissant]

How ya gonna get Petronski to give up his Vienna Sausages and Twinkies?

[cyborg]

LOL

[YankeeinOkieville]

My favorite magazine with relevant articles used to be Mother Earth News. I still have some old ones stacked around and refer to them every now and then.

[GSlob]

For sustainable living the same table as for mortgage payments applies, but in reverse:
Estimate your needs, your remaining life span and the rate of projected investment return, give yourself a safety margin to compensate for returns and longevity uncertainty, then invest the necessary capital and sustainably live off it ever after on the investment returns and [initially slow] capital depletion.

[cyborg]

thanks... looks interesting.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/

[cyborg]

Well right now before I get married, I'm paying off my debt. I learned a lot of lessons in having to live on very little income this summer. Having a vegetable garden helped when tomatoes got very expensive. I see your point.

[Petronski]

Musser's seed catalog actually has a new varietal coming for next spring that produces Vienna sausages, even in shorter growing seasons like ours. Plenty of 5-10-5 and no harsh sunlight produces an abundance of little sausages by late August. Avoid overwatering.

They have to be started in February, indoors, but hey, we do that with tomatoes now anyway.

[TheOracleAtLilac]

1. Get thee to a friendlier climate

this'll get you started

building I

building II

[Cagey]

and hydroponic growing for the winter time.

"Kewl"

Just kidding, Cyborg. The whole setup really does sound great.

[cyborg]

I got that idea from the potheads actually :-)

[shezza]

Check out these books:

Living on an Acre: A Practical Guide to the Self-Reliant Life (U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, edited by Christine Woodside)

The Encyclopedia of Country Living (Carla Emery) It's listed on amazon.com as "an old-fashioned recipe book" but it has everything from planting an efficient garden and raising farm animals to building a chicken coop and buying property. Oh yeah, it also has some old-fashioned recipes.

Your Money or Your Life (Joe Dominguez, Vicki Robin) -really a good book...if you can get past the eye-rolling liberalism, it's full of practical advice on getting out of debt and quickly building a nest-egg of savings so you can focus on living your life to what you deem to be its fullest.

Good luck! (If you're interested, check to see if your library has these or can get them via inter-library loan...or check on www.half.com, where you can find things for a few bucks. Or I can loan you my copies.)

[Lil'freeper]

Well, a classic tome is Carla Emory's Encyclopedia of Country Living. Other's have mentioned Mother Earth News - it's a little lefty but fun. I've made extensive use of Janet Greene's Putting Food By. Also, the Foxfire books are a neat read.

[babyface00]

Cyborg,

I've been doing research along similar lines.

backwoodshome.com is an excellent resource. I plan on purchasing their archive dvd. Plus, the owner of the site appears to be pretty darn conservative.

Motherearthnews isn't bad either - interesting archives on the site.

I found a site today called www.smallfarm.com. Its a subscription printed magazine, but check out what's in the 'Opportunities' button.

IMHO, if practical in your area, I would try to find a property with a natural gas well. There are downsides, but you usually get free gas. That can heat your home for free and potentially run a generator, which might be less expensive than running wires a long distance.

I don't think solar electric production is as cost effective yet as I would like, but solar heating - either via heating water or heating air - can be done relatively inexpensively, and some aspects can be done by a handy D-I-Y'er.

One more thing you might want to consider...I can't see myself living in a rural area without a fs truck. The new chevy silverado hybrid has a built-in power supply. Its only around 20amps, if I recall, but that's enough to keep the furnace running in an emergency, or to let you use power tools on the 'back 40' or 'back 20' or 'backyard' as long as you can get the truck there. Might be worth the extra expense in the long run. Of course, there are other ways to do that, but if you're not mechanical, that comes in a nice package that you can get serviced at the gm dealer.

[Tax-chick]

Try "Worms Eat My Garbage" for information on composting and organic gardening.

You might also look at your county or state fair. Often local state university branches will have free information on agriculture/gardening. Also your county Department of Agriculture office, and organizations like Master Gardeners. You should have a county Garden Society that can help.

[Treader]

Backwoods Living is a great source of knowledge. To get locale specific, will be your first task. All the best to you & yours on a great adventure!

[Tax-chick]

ping for later

[brwnsuga]

What Sustainable living looks like to Brwnsuga


Walmart ...Brwnsuga.... the Mall

;-)