The Simple Life Begins

There are so many books, articles and websites about permaculture, sustainability, self sufficiency etc that I've decided to focus more on the benefits of living a simpler life. Maybe you'll find something inspiring. Maybe we can laugh together at the blunders I make. But most of all I hope you enjoy reading this.

So a brief re-cap of who I am. Hi I'm Elizabeth. I'm 33 and have 4 children living at home from 4 - 11 years. Plus grandkids and friends who drop in regularly. Our family recently moved from a 16 acre homestead to a rural/suburban neighbourhood and into a rented house with a small garden plot, spectacular views and about a half acre of shale, steep hills and heavy tree cover. So not a lot of usable space. We raise chickens for meat and eggs in a shed and run that is now half run and half garden. The garden was terribly neglected and overgrown with weeds and thick brambles. Buried in there though we found some berries, a few odd roses, 3 kiwi vines and 2 large well established grape vines. Time will tell how much they bear and the type of grapes. There are a dozen fruit trees but they are badly planted in areas with inadequate sunlight and are dying a slow death basically. We may see a little fruit if we can keep the birds off it. Still, this house has somethings we've not had in a few years like municipal water and electric baseboard heat. It is a far cry from our trailer with a woodstove and well that runs dry for months in the summer. I've lived and worked on farms for a while though I was raised in the city. I love the country and want to get back there. I've always been interested in self sufficiency and my appetite was fueled by books mainly by John Seymour, without a doubt the father of the self-sufficiency movement and a very practical man and writer. I love his books and his no nonsense approach.

So here we are. Trying to be more independent and self reliant. How about you? Where are you at? If you're just starting out and thinking about how wonderful it will be to get back to the land I wish you luck, truly. It's an admirable goal. I'll tell you one thing about homeasteading though. It's not for the faint of heart or weak of back. It's hard work, and lots of it at inconvenient times. But the joys and rewards are worth it.

Question: Is going back to the land or seeking a simpler way of life just a cop out? OR is it going to become a necessity? Do you think it means giving up running water? Electricity? Your car? Growing your own veggies and having chickens running around your yard?

Well living a simpler way of life can encompass one or all or even none of those. A simpler life is just that... more simple. It doesn't necessarily mean giving up every convenience. What it does mean is eliminating things or expectations in your life that are not bringing you happiness or fulfillment or meeting your needs. In todays world we are so over stimulated, stressed, and over scheduled that we fail to see the joy in simple things because we're frankly exhausted. Sound familiar?

But where do you start?

Ok, so you recognize there's a problem. It could be that your relationships are strained and your kids never see you. Maybe your job is demanding so much from you that it's making you sick. Or have you just reached a point where you've realized that "money can't buy happiness"? Your quantity of life (ie. material possessions, vacations, fancy cars, nice house) isn't a quality life. It's just empty and the stress of trying to maintain your standard of living is wearing you down. Now what?

Decide where you'd like to be in 6 months, a year, 5 years. And be flexible because your attitude and expectations will change over time. While it's good to set long term goals, you also need to set some short term attainable goals, and 3 is the magic number. It's really hard to try to change everything at once, especially if you want this to be a permanent change and not just a "thing you tried one month". SO set 3 goals to work on at one time, in addition to your long term goals. YOu'll often find that your short term goals are the baby steps to achieving your long term goals. Once you've accomplished a goal give yourself a pat on the back or if it didn't quite work out, figure out why, learn a lesson from it and move on. If you're homesteading there's no time for regrets. Just learn from your mistakes and try something else. Perhaps you need more research. Perhaps a different way of doing it, or maybe something different all together is in order. It's up to you to figure it out.

So what are your goals? My long term goals are these:

Own a piece of land 8+ acres with a source of water, and a comfortable house.

Raise and grow most of my own food. I say 'most' because I cannot grow chocolate more's the pity.

Be debt free. A mortgage is ok for the short term.

Have time to really enjoy being with my family, particularly my children and grandchildren.

Here are my 3 current short term goals.

1. Sort, de-junk the house, and only keep what is essential. Details on this to follow in the coming weeks. Needless to say, a Garage Sale is in my future.

2. Get my second crop of lettuces, peas, beans and melons planted. And continue caring for the garden by putting up a pea fence and fertilizing this week.

3. Set up a schedule of activities for all the kids and register the kids for a one week program each this summer.

There's so much more to write but best leave it for tomorrow. In the coming days as time allows (I'll have 10 kids in the house, so maybe not a lot) I'd like to tell you about : What's in my garden and why. How to raise chickens and look after them. Deer and other garden pests. Sources of heat for your home. Edible berries and their uses. Propagating grapes and kiwi vines. Victorian gardening methods we can still use today.

Thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think.