The Road Home

The Road Home
There is no place like home.

Saturday, February 2, 2019

Homestead Delusions

It takes a long time for a big ship to turn around, or even change course. So, let's look back at some thoughts we have posted before. What's coming is still coming. That ship is still coming. Here is an article we wrote a while back. Hope you enjoy.

Originally posted November 25, 2013

Hello Everybody, Frank here.

You think you're going to move out to the country and be totally self-sufficient? That is not going to happen. We do many things that decrease our reliance on the 'things from the world' but we cannot do it all. Here is a reality check.


So you're going to move out into the woods and build you a cabin. You're going to trap that fresh spring water. Hunt and live off of the land. What a great life! It is if you're on a Hollywood set somewhere. I'm sorry. Hate to burst anybody's bubble. But it's just not going to happen.

1972 on Pinterest | Cabaret, The Godfather and Helmut NewtonMost of us have seen the older movie, Jeremiah Johnson. It's a great movie about a man that is not happy with the way life was and, "It should have been different." Like I said, great movie, beautiful scenery, good story line, but that's the Hollywood version of it.
The book version, Mountain Man, by Vardis Fisher goes into more detail about the story. In the book, on occasion, he has contact with and trades with the Indians. He goes to a town for items like flour, tobacco, whiskey, black powder and the whole gamut of things that a person cannot make for themselves.




When I say cannot make for themselves, yes, most things can be made. An axe head, for example, can be manufactured. But it's one of those skills that takes years to acquire, and you're not going to carry the equipment necessary to forge
  an axe head on the back of a horse heading up the side of a mountain. Don't get me wrong, it would be nice to be totally self-sufficient, but man has been trading with other men since the times of Cain and Able. 

So. I think a person could do it for a couple of years. But it's still going to be real, real difficult. You have to have vegetables. What I mean by that is a lot of us tend
to think that man lives by meat alone, and I happen to be one of them. But I remember reading an account of Lewis and Clark when they were just shy of the Pacific Ocean and were holed up for a winter. The men complained about only having elk meat to eat. In our time right now, elk is considered one of the finer meats of the deer family. But can you imagine eating it for every meal for weeks and weeks? These guys weren't a bunch of little, sissy boys. The Lewis and Clark team were veteran, experienced outdoorsmen.

A number of years back, we were camping with another couple in an extremely remote part of Alaska. This guy was a biologist with the Federal Fish and Game in the area. I was about to drink from a fresh stream flowing from the melting snow when he advised me, "I wouldn't do that if I were you." It seems that most wild animals have been exposed to man and the viruses and parasites that he carries, and that there are very, very few safe streams to drink out of anywhere. So I took his advice and filtered my water.


Now what about that log cabin you're going to build? Do we even need to talk about nails, screws, windows, doors, flooring? So, let's say you don't build a cabin and you have a nice little homestead. Do you know how to garden? I know it seems that you stick a seed in the ground and when it grows up it will feed you. But did you know that rabbits like squash? And so do deer. And I'm not sure, but probably even elk like a nice, tasty squash. Not to mention the gazillion bugs that also like squash. Okay. So. Too much water. Too little water. Too hot. Too cold. Give it some
thought. What kind of fertilizer are you going to use? Are you going to buy it by the ton at the local co-op? Are you going to scrape it out of your chicken house? Oh, by the way, chicken manure has a very high nitrogen content and you can't apply it directly to your future squash plant, it will burn it. That's assuming you have a chicken house and you have chickens and you have chicken feed. 

Yesterday I doctored a chicken's hiney. There is a gland right at the top of the tail of a chicken's hiney. And for some reason, I don't know why, chickens like to peck
this area. Occasionally, when pulling out a feather there will be a little blood spot. The color red to a chicken is similar to a matador's cape to a bull. Which is the reason you don't see ranchers wearing red shirts, but that's a different story. I just made that up about the rancher. But the chicken blood, is real. Chickens will obsessively peck at the color red until they eat that chicken. So, do you have Pick No More in your pocket to treat that chicken's hiney? Didn't think so. What are you going to do?

Okay, but, back to the chicken manure that you can't put in the garden because it will burn the seed. What are you going to use? Compost? Yep, compost will work.
 I'll just get me one of those little green barrels and fill it up with organic matter and twirl it around once a week. Through the magic of mother nature and decomposition, you have compost. But you open up your little plastic barrel and it looks just like it did when you put it in there. Well, gee willickers! I guess mother nature is smarter than I am. I have tried to compost unsuccessfully for decades. I know the guy on the TV gardening show makes it looks easy, but remember they have the ability to edit, I don't. Could I learn how to compost? Probably. Have I ever been successful? No. 

That squash looks a little tougher to grow all the time, doesn't it? When I'm spending all day long trying to forge that ax head, I'm probably not going to have a lot of time for that squash seed. And I'm getting real tired of eating elk meat, but by golly, I'm going to get that ax head made if it's the last thing I ever do. And it might be the last thing you ever do.

Okay. So we decide to give up and we're going to drive down the hill in the car where the gasoline came from the Middle East, transported in a super tanker
made somewhere in Greece, with an electronics navigation system made by a Japanese company outsourced to China. And what about the tires on that car? The good Lord only knows where the tires were manufactured, but the rubber for the tire came from somewhere in some jungle that I can't say. Gettin' hungry yet? By the way, the Lewis and Clark expedition was complaining about eating boiled elk, not barbecued. So, how is that squash seed doing?

You want to be self-sufficient? Are you going to develop a photovoltaic cell for your solar panel? Okay. So you don't have a photovoltaic cell for your solar panel, and you're going to eat off of a wood burning stove. Where are you going to get the wood? I know, I know! You're going to chop the tree down with that imaginary ax head that you never got forged. Then you're going to cook boiled elk and squash for dinner.

Now what I've done here is taken two items, a squash seed and an axe head. Do you know how many hundreds of thousands of items that are in our houses and cars everyday that we take for granted? Nuts, bolts, thread, wires, metal, plastic, wood, and the list is endless. If you want to read a good series, read Laura Ingalls Wilder - about seven or eight little books. It will give you a pretty good idea and perspective about a self-sustaining type of living. These were tough, tough people.

Okay. So. Let's say you have a house, a chicken pen, you've got some goats, your garden's growing, you've had some water wells dug and they're producing. Now you've got a chicken pen for your chickens. For your goats you've got a barn, corral and adequate fencing. And you're good at repairing your fence that your neighbors cut during deer season. Life is good. 

Then one day here comes walking up the tax man. You will never, ever be totally self-sufficient. Not to mention all of the items that you use every day of your life. At some time or another, most will need to be replaced. And that is if you have good health, no problems, you never need to go to a dentist or doctor or a psychiatrist. Okay.


But I want to let you know that it is fun trying to be self-sufficient. I wouldn't trade it for the world.

We'll talk more later. Frank

18 comments:

  1. I am so grateful you are back blogging. Thanks for the re-post.
    Blessings, SJ in Vancouver BC

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  2. I love the "Little House" series. I reread "Farmer Boy" last summer and was reminded of all the work required for those country people back in those days. No wonder they had such large families as it took many to do all of the daily and seasonal tasks. Truth be told, most of us are wimps in comparison. And they were on their own...no government handouts then! I truly admire those who do their very best at living as self-sufficiently as possible. It is an extremely satisfying but difficult way of life. Thank you for the repost... CWfromIowa

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    1. Yes, CW, that is part of the differences between now and then. People had to do for themselves, virtually no government assistance, and some people starved and froze to death. That was just the way it was. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the Little House on the Prairie series. It was packed with information and it was clean and wholesome.

      Take care, Frank

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  3. SOOOOO glad you guys are back. I about jumped out of my skin when I saw you on the blog roll on Rural Revolution. Can't wait to hear more from you.

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    1. Might want to do a little tuck on your skin there. There are some things I would pay to see. Thank you, Frank

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  4. I think the time will come - maybe sooner than we think - when we all will have to be as self sufficient as possible. I am amazed at the number of people who don't know how to sew on a button or bake a loaf of bread or use a wood burning stove. It might be a good idea to learn as many of the old ways of doing things as we can, and put them into practice before heading out into the wilds to 'live off the land.' Great article!

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    1. Old ways are always valuable. Little things, like fishing, skinning an animal, a lot of people can't or won't do it. I wish other people could see. Thanks for sharing, Vicki.

      Frank

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  5. people have always been clan people just as bees are hive creatures. we depend upon each other and specialization powers progress.
    that way needs are filled and more efficiently.
    if people want to be hermits i try to remind them that we need many thing, doctors, medicine, fuel, everything you can think of that you use and have not the means to make for yourself.
    for a 350 horsepower car you need enough stable room. grooms. farmers. et cetera to house 350 horse . parse that out over everything we have and it is thousands of people and machines just for our daily needs.

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    1. Deborah, thank you for sharing. I don't understand the purpose for a lady bug, but God made the lady bugs so there must be a purpose. God made the hermit, too. I understand exactly what you're saying, and I agree. There are some that just choose to avoid human contact.

      Take care, Frank

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  6. We know a couple that are nearly ready to retire(both 65)and they have decided they are going to buy 40 acres of property and learn to homestead. These two have lived in the suburbs their whole life and, bless their hearts, haven't a clue! Right now they hire someone to mow their grass. We try to support their dreams but still try to tell them that the older you get the more difficult it becomes to do what they want to do. We've tried to inspire them to do little things while they are still in the suburbs, like repurposing items, mowing their own lawn, having a small garden, learning to can and bake bread. We tried gently to help them realize that if you're not already up and running and know what you're doing, at their age, it's really tough. I get what they're feeling but whoa boy!! It's hard work and you gotta really desire it! I suppose everyone learns at their own pace and if they can do it we'll stand by them.

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    1. Hi, Nina. Your advice sounds solid for these folks, but remember, they are adults, they have gotten this far in life, and if this is their choice, then I would encourage them. You learn a lot from failure, probably more than you do from success. Hopefully, everything will work out okay. If the folks have thought it out and planned this for a long time, then maybe it is best for them. Just wait and see. And if they do make some mistakes along the way, just remind them that everybody makes mistakes. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and get on down the road.

      Thank you for sharing. Interesting situation. Frank

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  7. So good to see you back. I look forward to reading more about your life changes.
    I've lived in the country all of my life and was blessed with a grandma who seemed to do it all. (She didn't.) But she taught me a lot.
    I now live in a community where most of our neighbors are on board with the whole self reliance thing. We have agreed to help each other in the areas where we aren't able to do things. Such as...I don't care to raise bees, been there, done it. My neighbors two mile to the west have bees. We trade produce for honey. Networking opens up so many more ideas and friendships.
    From Glory Farm

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    1. Hi Odiie. We have also raised bees, and just to show you that some of us are slow learners, we raised bees a second time, too. But not any more.

      I'm envious that you have a community that you feel comfortable with. Fern and I do feel comfortable, but we have quit sharing our philosophy locally. The vast majority of our neighbors are good decent people, which means that there are a few that aren't.

      Wish I had known my grandparents better, but at the time it was just not important to me. I guess that's the way most people feel about old and young.

      Appreciate your comment. Frank

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  8. I have missed your posts more than I knew.
    The world of Youtube and Vlogging has glamourized homesteading in a dangerous way.
    We were very lucky when we found our land here in Kentucky. Much smaller than we thought we needed but now we are here its more than enough to keep us super busy.
    We are blessed with a large Amish community that has benefits we never thought of. However even Amish are "Modern"...solar power is big in this area....but solar panels have to be manufactured somewhere.
    We are thriving on the challenge and gaining every day. We have had failures. We learn from them.
    As to totally self reliant...my Father taught me to blacksmith, I know how to make an axehead but I never packed the forge, blower, tools or steel up the mountain so to speak.
    On reason humans had done so well is their ability to build community. We can trade.
    Times are going to get much harder and we are never going to be as ready as we hope. Your right though...its a joy trying.

    God Bless you both.

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    1. Times are going to get much harder, Fiona, you are right about that. Glad to hear you two are getting things up an running on your homestead. Lots of work and daily chores are required to live this life, but we wouldn't trade it for the world.

      You know how to blacksmith?? What a skill to have.

      Good to hear from you, Fern

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  9. So glad you are back!!!!! You felt like friends and I've missed yous so! I learned so much and have so far to go. I'm 75 so better get back on track!

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    1. Hi, Mary Ellen. 75 and still learning, eh? Good for you! You are an inspiration to us all.

      Frank

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