some of the original books of the 70, like John Vivian's (not the best now to book) but a great book and helping us getting our act together. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to do as much as the book written I beleive in the 50s THE HAVE-MORE PLAN. If those of us who would like to be homesteaders but can't figure out how to do everything in one shot could follow their life one day at a time. I pretty much have all of Ed & Carolyn Robinson's down. Follow quite a bit of John Vivian's and a little of Carla Emery's(use hers for information only). After you master your homesteading carreer to that point you might check into ways of leaving that "job" and getting on the land fulltime. Hey you guys lets get back to staight homesteading and where we are in our homesteading careers!!!

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), November 14, 2001

Answers

Debbie,

There are at least as many approaches to living as there are readers of this forum. You mentioned 'straight homesteading,' but, like the average family with 2.3 children, that may be just an ideal.

I don't call myself a homesteader as I still am on the grid, have cable TV, and a (telecommuting) job a couple hours each weekday. (My friends might consider me to be one, or at least somewhat 'rural.') I'm actually a little closer to the Robinson's plan in that I continue to hold an outside job, intensively garden and fence a small 3 acre patch of land. I'm not seeking as much self-sufficiency as possible as a homesteader might, but rather trying to give myself and my family the best I can. That includes growing many foods myself, often cooking from scratch, keeping chickens and (soon) goats; but also using public utilities and buying clothes from stores.

I work to improve my soil by using good organic practices, but I also used a carbaryl insecticide once this summer when the cucumber beetles got bad. I recycle materials more than anyone I know, but we also use disposible diapers. What I'm saying is, many of us live somewhere in between complete dig-the-ore-and-smelt-it-into-slag independency and absolute if-it's-not-at-Walmart-I-do-without incapacity.

I have read, studied, highlighted and followed the books of authors you mentioned plus Heiney and Logsdon but much like self-help authors, the books show what balance THEY have created in their livestyles. Your path is going to be different and your challenge is to arrive at your own best solution.

-- Mark Sykes (mark@marksykes.net), November 14, 2001.

Mark, my family is just like yours. We are not off the grid but I do have alternative methods of keeping warm and cooking beings I was forced off the grid last Christmas due to an ice storm that took the ultilities for 13 days, it was quite cold too. We raise a good portion of our food, not sure if cheaper but definitely healthier. Husband has a full time job which can't quit yet, have two kids in college. I have started quite a few things that do make money on the homestead, we sell honey, sheep, beef have a blueberry u-pick and a christmas tree farm. I also have a small business that helps a tiny, I mean tiny bit. We are trying to place outselves in a situation that hubby can take an early out if offer. But, I not a total isolationist personality. We just love our country life.

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), November 14, 2001.

Homesteading as life , is what you make of it. I agree reading is good however it is best when coupled with experimentation and experience. Modern Homesteading, Fringe Society Dweller and Unconventional Self Sufficiency Tactician all can be descriptive of my pursuits. I do projects that modern society would think crazy (controlled indoor planting and root maximization of dandelion root) , plain disgusting (vermicompost... worm manure)or strange (square foot gardening), while "old time homesteaders" would never had thought of the possibilities. We all reference old time homesteading, yet tend to forget that homesteaders traditionally worked in as much harmony as possible with their environment to maximize output while reinforcing these elements to ensure future success at minimal overhead costs. As the environment changes , so must the homestead philosophy in regards to tools and knowledge utilized. These 'pooters are an excellent example of the philosophy advancements within the environment. Embrace the spirit of the past, yet always look to the future so that you can intercept it rather than it blindsiding you as your looking back.

-- Jay Blair in N. AL (jayblair678@yahoo.com), November 14, 2001.

I READ READ READ READ! There are stacks and stacks of COUNTRYSIDES, BACKWOODS HOME MAGAZINES, and their anthologies, and other type books beside my bed! I read myself to sleep every night!

I DO consider myself a homesteader even tho we are still connected to the grid. We have a wood burning heater as our primary source of heat (and I can cook on the top of it too), a propane kitchen stove, raise our own eggs and sell lots of them, and I'm learning to spin and knit my Angora rabbit's hair...

We have a big garden every year and we have apple and pear trees and grape vines that I make jelly from each year....

I do have a home office for the two newspapers I write for and if I ever go off the grid I'll have to have a solar panel and some back up batteries so I can still use my computer! I've seen a lot of advertising for "wireless internet" and hopefully in a few years that's what I'll have!

I spent most of yesterday morning getting used to the 1880 New Home treadle sewing machine we bought earlier in the year!

-- Suzy in Bama (slgt@yahoo.com), November 14, 2001.

You guys in Alabama seem to have it together. I am trying to work on not having to go to the grocery store! Have a friend in the area and was over at her house yesterday. This woman must have had enough canned food from her garden for an army. They also experienced the same ice storm we did last Christmas and they actually enjoyed the lack of ultilities. She has a woodburner that can cook a few things on top, plus her mom's lamps (I was lighting candles for 13 days!) still using kerosene but they had enough home canned stews, soups, meat, vegs, fruits and even canned desserts. I noticed alot of people in country (we are very rural) don't have to try to homestead like us they just do as a way of life, they don't even know they are homesteaders! Our family had to read, read and read because we are transplants from Los Angeles area which needs FEMA if anything goes wrong there. It's been 20 some years since I been away from that enviroment (thanks to Uncle Sam) but I thought I was together until I actually saw how some of the original guys in the area lived.

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), November 14, 2001.

Hey Debbie, use your friend as an example if you like what you see in her. Reading is great, I do a lot of it, but there is nothing that takes the place of DOING if homesteading and independence is what you are after. We simply LOVE it when the grid goes down, but I must admit I feel sorry for my neighbors that are "grasshoppers" and end up sharing with them.

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 14, 2001.

Well Diane, I am ready for the grid to go down now. That was one of the best learning experience's of our marriage. Common Sense is what got us through. I am piled high with wood, a nice pit dug out for Dutch Oven Cooking which I took a class on and we do for fun. A trillion candles and an alladin lamp too. A generator for the freezer. Which will also run the pump for water. Hand pump in case we do not have gas. Now I wish I had canned for last summer but will this next one. I probably still have more canned food than most though, I think. How do your help out those grasshopper next door? I didn't get any help last year but as I said common sense worked.

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), November 14, 2001.

Homesteading can be accomplished in different degrees. Depending on how MUCH you DEPEND on the establishment for daily living. Much like making a quilt. Some of us buy already cut out blocks, machine sew them together and take it to someone with a quilting machine to have it "quilted". Or you can hand cut the blocks, you can machine sew or hand sew the blocks together, you can hand quilt, machine quilt or hand tie the quilt. BUT if you really want to be authentic, turn off the electricity and sew by hand and by candle light. NOW you have really made a quilt. But so did the first gal that got it done in a weekend.

-- Belle (gardenbelle@terraworld.net), November 14, 2001.

"I feel sorry for..."grasshoppers". " Be very, very careful about this. It's a kind thing to do but with the world as it is today it may not be a good idea to publicize your self-suffiency. If a situation would develop in which the "vitals" would be in short supply for several weeks, the "grasshoppers" of the world would feel that the "ants" of the world owed them food, water, etc. If people need the basics they will do ANYTHING to get them. They will not ask you 'kindly' for food for their hungry children. You are wise, responsible, and self sufficient for the sake of yourself and family. If push came to shove I would do whatever to protect my family. In reality, the kindest action to take must be before a crisis. That action would be to educate the grasshoppers in taking responsibility for themselves. If they refuse to be responsible......(deep breath)...they must starve.

-- nofreelunch (spam@nospam.com), November 14, 2001.

Actually nofreelunch, by inviting my cold neighbors into my nice warm home and sharing our humble nice hot soup and warm baked bread, they have made some life style changes. I have never been taught to pick and chose who I share with. And yes, homesteading is like quilting....loved that analogy. The more I do the more I want to get to the roots of what I do. Like I have NEVER made soap and this summer a friend I made on the forum here came and learned to milk a goat at my house and I learned about soap making from her. (now of course I am wondering if I can make my own lye etc. lol)

-- diane (gardiacaprines@yahoo.com), November 14, 2001.

Hey Debbie, I have to admit, until that awful ice storm that took our electricity for those odd 13 days, we were wanta-be homesteaders that lived in the country. I concentrated more on cosmetic things around the farm than survival things. Then Y2K came and went. At that point, I didn't fear being without that blessed thing called electricity. Before that winter storm, it never entered my mind that I wouldn't be able to get water for any purpose without electricity. Everything's changed now. I have read so much it is all swimming inside my. I am looking at alternative sources for just about everything. And saving everything. And simplifying. It does take more to be self- sufficient, so why clutter up your life with things that take energy and don't contribute much to anything but clutter. My kids think I'm going through a phase. lol I'm so grateful for written information regarding this type of living and would be lost without it. I am a babyboomer who wasn't raised in the country, so I have to learn it all on my own. Iris

-- Iris (Sar_India@msn.com), November 14, 2001.

Iris, you must have been hit too. How many days did you go. There were people in the area that had gone 3 weeks. 13 days taught me alife time of lessons. Did you have a woodburner. Boy I would love to buy a Sweetheart Woodcook stove from Leymans, I have a spot for it but am hesitant (4,000.00 can make you hesitant).

-- Debbie (bwolcott@cwis.net), November 14, 2001.

Debbie, It was about 13 days, give or take a few. We stayed with my sister a couple of nights, but had to get back to the farm, so we decided to brave it. Thank goodness we have propane heat. Haven't installed a woodburning anything yet, but that is planned for next spring. We had to cook on a camp stove and haul water from my sister's place 30 minutes down the road. Besides the water issue, the silence was almost maddening. Going without the news or other chatterboxes for any length of time was kinda like going cold-turkey off coffee. lol It was really hard not having the internet connection to the family and friends who live far away. It taught me a lot about myself, I must say. lol Using one of those old timey phones where you couldn't walk around your house about drove me nuts too. And the windup alarm clocks. They made them soooo loud. lol We used oil lamps and candles for light and mainly read and talked and caught up on our sleep. We really felt so much better after it was all over. Hmmmm, I wonder if I should pretend to have an outage for a while. lol

-- Iris (Sar_India@msn.com), November 14, 2001.

Hello Debbie, My wife (Meli) and I built our cellar using Scott and Helen Nearing's, Living the Good Life Photo Album and Living the Good Life books as guides to slip form it. We used Kern's book, The Owner Built House to build our house. We used Gene Gerue's book, How to find you Ideal Country Home to select a site for our gardens and out buildings. We used Backwoods Home Anthologies for the rest! Now, we are homesteading and have found though all the books are useful, there is nothing better than on hands experience. Sincerely, Ernest

-- http://communities.msn.com/livingoffthelandintheozarks (espresso42@hotmail.com), November 14, 2001.