- You can control the herbs you grow, avoiding chemicals or pesticides.
- Monday, I talked about some of the things my family does to build a self-sufficient, homesteading lifestyle. Check out the list below for changes you can make that will help propel you to that way of life too.
- Learn to grow your own food and herbs. Start small, with just a couple of plants, and build your garden slowly. Make the most of the space you have available to you.
- Learn how to bake bread from scratch. Get a second-hand bread machine to help you get an easy start.
- Consider purchasing a wheat grinder and grinding your own wheat.
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A natural, homemade clean is easy! Check out Lehman’s in Kidron, Ohio or Lehmans.com. Learn how to make homemade soap. Once you’ve got that mastered, maybe you can learn how to make lye from ashes!
- Learn how to cook without electricity. Get yourself some good cast iron pans and a dutch oven while you’re at it.
- Practice using herbal and natural remedies to treat your family’s ailments.
- Get a water bath canner and start canning by learning how to make jellies. Then learn how to can other things. Work your way up to using a pressure canner for canning your own meat and meals-in-a-jar.
- Practice drying/dehydrating foods to preserve them.
- Plant a few fruit trees and berry bushes in your yard, if you are able.
- Learn how to milk a cow or a goat. Even if you don’t have room to own an animal where you live, there are small farms out there who are willing to share an animal with city dwellers.
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Easily moveable, this coop will keep your birds secure. Click on the picture for more details. Get backyard chickens and start eating your own fresh eggs. From there learn how to butcher your own meat.
- Learn animal husbandry, even if you only have room for a couple of rabbits.
- Consider learning how to keep bees and harvesting your own honey.
- Put up a clothesline and hang dry your clothes.
- Learn how to make your own household cleaners. There are tons of recipes online to help you get started.
- Determine to cook from scratch instead of eating expensive processed foods.
- Learn how to make candles.
- Learn how to sew. Start with hemming pants, and work your way to sewing your own skirts.
- Learn to barter. Trade goods or skills for the things you need.
- Learn to be content with less, to do without, and to make the most of what you have.
- Become familiar with the wild edible plants that grow in your area. Learn how to identify them, and practice using them in your meals.
- Consider what you can make or grow yourself and sell your goods at a local farmer’s market.
- Practice composting your leftover fruit and veggie scraps and lawn cuttings instead of throwing them into the garbage.
- Build your home library with books on gardening, herbal remedies, animal husbandry, preserving food, soap making, and anything homesteading and self-sufficient living related.
- Install rain barrels to catch water for your garden or for emergency drinking water.
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A primer for going off grid! Practice living without electricity. Have a non-electric backup plan to get you through your daily necessities.
- Use alternative energy, like solar, wind, and hydro power.
- Learn how to hunt and fish. Go to a hunt club if you don’t have land to hunt on.
- And my final words of advice get rid of your t.v. You can’t imagine how much more productive your days and your minds will be without the trash we are fed through that thing.
Throwing in the Paper Towel
It’s been a year since my husband and I decided to say “No†to papergoods in our home. And to tell you the truth, we’ve hardly noticed a difference…
