So Your New To This and Your Looking Where To Begin?

Like Peddlers peddling all sorts of Elixirs for everything that is wrong with you, so are people blogging and giving the information they know or think to believe to be true.

Recently a community member said you didn't need to buy books, everything was on the internet for free.. So than I posted a photo of a home library with a quote from Cicero "If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need." I know there is a lot of bogus material out there, I know there is a lot of people not evening do what I am doing and sitting in their home just posting and not living the life they suggest they are living.

Here is the deal, I am a real person, with real idea's, that is living and sharing how to be more self sufficient as I desire to be. I am not going to tell you what level to live it on or where you need to be, that is up to you. If you just grow a tomato plant and that makes you happy, right on. If your sitting up in the middle of Canada's back country, off grid, in a Yurt  and your living your life they way you want, right on. My goal isn't to push any one more into being SS (self sufficient), my goal is to show you how you can do it if you want.

So am I going to do things wrong sometimes? Yes, although I strive to end my task to be fruitful and moving forward with my SS living, I make mistakes. When I make them, I admit that I made a mistake and try to move forward with a solution or take it as a lesson not to do what I did. Do you remember the anti-chicken rat traps I made? That was a flop and a costly mistake. Problem was I didn't think like a rat and so I solved the problem another way and now my coop is rat free.

So, what advice do I have for you on your first step? Decide to do it or not. If you decide to take it on (any level), remember a few things. Your going to have to get dirty and do some work. Your going to have to read, and a lot of it. Your going to have to understand, and not be afraid of failing, face it your going to make mistakes. The amount of tears that have made mud puddles in front of my knees are uncountable. You just have to roll with it and make your way through it. Remember what I said a few years ago? Making a mistake means that at least your trying to do something to change the out come of how your living your life right now.

Now make a plan and write it down, Danielle has a list that says "make a list for this" no kidding, but look write it down and hang it somewhere and look at it for a couple days.
1. What is your end goal?
2. At what level do you want to live SS
3. Are you willing to make small investments and gather materials from where ever to make stuff?
4. Are you willing to ignore the silly comments your family/friends might make?
5. Why do you want to change?
6. Can you see yourself working hard earning your way through hard work?
7. At what level are you willing to give things of comfort up, in exchange for less but more rewarding?

When you read these over and over, hang them by the can if you want, talk to yourself about them.

If you asked me some years ago about my proudest moment, and I have owned land and property before. But what I was most proud of, I would have told you it was buying my land. Today that question has a very different answer. Today I am proud of yesterday because I made a choice and I decided to stick with it through injures, tears, sweat, failures, property disputes, risk, and accomplishment. My land has shaped me as much as I have shaped it. It has given back to me what I have given to it.

When you step forward, I will suggest a book for you to start from. Why? Time tested methods of doing the task the way they explain it. It will teach you many different aspects of living more SS. Once you thumb through it a few times, start writing down some things you want to change, now you can begin.
 

                                                               

The Old Canning Jar Project, Be A Interesting Host

I want to get right into it, and I am willing to share the links after we stroll through the project so you can get those products if you want or bookmark this page to follow up on a later date.....

So I only had a few jars that I could no longer use for canning, I donated the other two to make this project practical and fun. I did this project outside....

I started out with a few different jar sizes, but they have to be widemouth in order to make this project work.

I know the original idea, no I didn't make this up, had said to spray the outside of the jars, but the flawed idea behind that is that you can only get Interior Frosted Paint...

So I decided to spray the inside after I tested it on the outside where it was exposed and scratch very easy. I jumped in and started spray and the runs showed up. So I lightly sprayed the inside a few times.

I let them dry and opened the lights, I got these on the fly from the Flea Market last week, but I discovered even cheaper ones that function even better and have more lights. Well that happens sometimes, and I will share that link with you.

So I opened them by twisting them apart to locate the two sided sticky tape and remove the pull tag so they will light up.

I pulled the tag, removed the double stick doughnut.... I twisted the light back together and applied the double sticky doughnut to the back, and removed the protective tape on the other side.

I took one lid and fastened the light to it....

I did this for the rest of my lights.... So I had to test them to see what they looked liked, even though it was daylight....

Pretty dang cool looking... So to save the photo by photo, let me explain, this is a great idea. You can Host a party and have these so people can see a path, see steps, use them to draw attention to a nice area on your property during a party, boundary lights, use any season and have one on the night sitting table....

Re-Claiming and Makng Useful Stuff (Pictures)

There is a lot to be said about keeping things you "might" use in the near future, then comes along the rules of how long to keep it. I know on at least a half dozen times, I have stuck to the rules. But wouldn't you know it in the near future I would need it. Sometimes, that is my luck... So I decided how rare or how many things could I use it for and what was the chance I was going to include it in a project.

I had some manure delivered a couple years ago, and the driver backed into my gate and crushed it, breaking off the post it was attached to. After bartering, I got another load for free and replaced the gate but I held onto the crushed one.

It was a 12 foot gate and too large to store, so I cut it down, did some tree pulling on it to pull out the bends as best I could. I attached a come-a-long with a strap around a large wild cherry tree and the other end to another big tree. Using a nylon industrial/farm strap, I positioned it several times along with the other strap to pull out the kinks. Some I couldn't get out, some I just repaired.

After I repaired them, I stored them away in my out building for a few years. They were out of the way because I hadn't remembered them until I needed them. When I built the new coop pen, I used both of the now two parts for entrance and exit gates as you will see.

 So each gate would have been around $70 retail or more, and the installation went quickly. 

Now the finished product is keeping my Silky Roo in with his girls and the critters out!

From Downspout To Sap Out, Interesting Useful Idea

While winterizing this year, confident in my acquired skills of maple syrup making, spotting and marking of maple trees on my own property (more than four I have tapped in the past). Thinking of my resources on hand to start building my sugaring supplies, not wanting to spend more money, I decided to take one of my rain barrels and keep it out of storage for sap gathering. I will need to buy one large barrel to put in the shanty for holding sap while cooking it down. But I decided to spread the idea so that you can take advantage of my newly thought of idea.


In truth, maple syrup making is a skill handed to me by my grandfather. So as you might know, I planned to be at this point a year ago, but the murder of my parents put my life on hold. My feelings of their deaths has been a roller coaster at times, and time does allow us to learn to except the way things are. I still get angry and upset at times, if I didn't I wouldn't be human. I miss them and wished they could share life with us. Being as it is, perhaps they were saved and are watching us from heaven.

Realize that putting a hold on my path of being self sufficient has not taken hold of my ideas and made me put it down and surrender my diet and lifestyle to big corporation. Learning the skills needed by pioneers of the past days keeps me excited and the rewards of my hard work keeps me going. I will have a plan to share with you for what/where I want to be in the next year. I know that I want to expand my diet to include more dried beans.

I am in a better mental state and find myself getting back to normal something to look forward to. I miss my folks but I know although they are gone, they would want me to keep moving forward in my own life.

Hope you hang in there with me while I get things back together in my own life. Peace be with you, and spread some love. Life is too short to hate. Jason

Stakes And Gates, Making Money From Being Self Sufficient, Easy Peasy..

I am going to open this by telling you about my SS (self sufficiency) fund. My budget started out at $3000.00 and I could only barter, trade, or sell to add cash to the fund. When I would do shows I would sell my homemade jam for $3 pint, and so forth. I will dumpster dive, barter, or even beg if need be to get anything as cheep as I can. I will even set up a veggie table at the flea market to sell my goods. A trick to do, or a few. Grow something that isn't common, take it to sell. Have a working cook station to share how the finish product will taste, take lots of the norm stuff, but having something different brings attention to your stand. Be active and say words like organic, heirloom seeds, and other words that will draw in people who know organic is wholesome.

So first I am going to share a project that I decided to spend my money on. I did a couple proto types, and some anchoring ideas. For years I have been tied up in knots with spending money on a fencing system I just can't get the nerve to buy one, the stakes alone, the thin metal green ones are 9.79 each. I can't see pounding them in the ground and expect a 20 year life out of them.

So I designed my own system, and picked up some plastic 48" fence from the flea market at 50% off retail a few weeks ago. Because my garden changes yearly, I wanted a removable system so when I want to change it, I can without removing dug in post.

These Medevil/Roman looking staff/arrows are my removable stakes. Although they cost me $14.79 to make, they will out last those cheap ones 10 to 1, making this a cost effective build in years to come.

This next project started out as a serous problem created by a truck driver who happened to be a few bricks shy of a load. Personally, his company solved the problem right away, but I think he was on something. He hit my ten foot gate, and driving  a big truck like he was, it didn't take much to destroy it. The post broke off and the bent gate was pushed onto the ground. Within 2 hours a new gate and post were up, and I saved the bent gate.

With my tractor, and a tree,  a couple slings, I took the gate which was shaped like a parallelogram tied one of the slings to the top, the other to the bottom, and pulled it slowly back into square. The pops and kinks while bending it back into place weren't alarming. So I took the gate into the shop, did some hammering, bending and some spot welding to increase the strength. I also welded some 3/16 by 1 1/2 flat bar to one side after I cut the gate in half with a cut off wheel. I now have two gates that I need for a couple projects in the planning phases.

Today was a good productive day for me and I am pleased with the amount of work I did, even thou it didn't get warmer than 34, the sun shinning made me do it... LOL...

If you might have read, or might not have, I am a Coppersmith by trade and own and operate a Copper manufacturing shop as well as metal fabrication company. So I do have more machines at my hands than the standard gardener.

I also wanted to share a picture of a lamp I built for my own house four years ago. The patina is correct and beautiful, the shades on the sides is amber mica, and the bottom is green/white/yellow stained glass. Its very pretty at night. Day and night photos

Kindle Readers, No More D.T.B., Living Off The Grid, Most Popular Topics

So my blog has been available quite sometime now for people to down load and read on their Kindles. I have noticed that the readers for my blog that read it on their kindles pay a small fee of $2 a month to have it at their finger tips. That is a compliment to me, and I just popped in to say thanks to them. I know that I had some period that I stopped writing, but that was because I wasn't doing anything to write about. With some positive changes in my life after my parents deaths, I am back on track ready to go. Many kindle readers are done with dead tree books forever. Kindles are very green in many ways as well.

I can imagine as I sit here in my farmer built rancher, you are sat in a window space in your log cabin reading my blog and about my own self sufficiency. Whether the day light is cloudy or the suns shining Kindles can be easily read in most any light. So with your self made woollies on, warm cup of tea/coffee, your own quilt at hand you sit to read on the latest of tricks up my sleeves.

Perhaps not, perhaps you live in a shanty shack in the woods, and bought a kindle to save money on buying books. Perhaps you got it as a gift, and decided to use your kindle as a means to learn to survive these times. Perhaps your in a remote location without power, and left all the real world behind. Your not worried to much because you have a 3G model or when you cruise through town you pull over to hook up on some ones wi-fi. Perhaps you live in the city, and have a kindle because you enjoy having a library at your finger tips. With well over 800k books ready to down load at places like amazon, google books, and project guttenberg.

Either way, I am glad your with me and I hope along the way I can teach you, or you can teach me something about how to live a better life, the way we like to.

Also, how about a new solar power Kindle charger for less than $20? How great is that?


What may interest my readers is the different topics folks come here and search for, you know what is it that people that don't read my blog when I post, those that come here searching for something? Well, I am about to share with my readers a few popular topics.


One topic, root cellars, seems to be off the charts on my blog. Even the term self made root cellar is up there. The second most popular is making a living while being self sufficient, that is interesting.... Food pantry comes in at a sliding third along with homemade bread and pantry.

I will need to write more articles about these topics in the future.

Bartering Goods, Equipment and Food, Pay Taxes On That Too??

Considering bartering as a method to give what you can, and get what you need? The following link is for your interest in reading what Uncle Sam says you must do. I am not going to even mention your state laws, though I will mention my own, here in the great state of Pennsylvania

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc420.html

I pay my taxes, all of them, and when it comes to bartering, I wonder what nut job came up with that one. As I researched this briefly, tax stuff bores me, I found that a few centuries back, bartering was considered a form of income. I say okay.... But this law needs to be changed and updated, as the shear number of people bartering is not as common as it use to be. I say its a self sufficient skill that shouldn't be taxable as income.

Why fill out senseless tax forms, only to show that you gave the money, and they received it, and has no other purpose. I mean that is pointless and a waste of paper, fuel, and energy....

Am I having a rant on my government about taxes, yup, and from my point of view its a good rant too.

See, we, you and I have a huge problem on our hands that humans created, so those of us trying to fix it should pay more taxes, thats crap.... next thing they will tax is recycling goods we give to trash companies for free... Oh Virginia already taxes people that recycle... How sweet is that?

Reclamation & Salvage Yards, We Need More Here In The USA, Find Treasure!!

Whether you’re after lighting, tiles, bricks, ironwork or other elements of a home and garden, salvage/reclamation yards is the perfect places to track down what you need – plus plenty you’ve never even dreamed of. Adding to your own style by adding decor that speaks "you" from another time era.

Rummaging around salvage/reclamation yards is a greate way to shop for your home. Instead of being thrown away, the building materials and contents from old houses and other buildings have been saved so they can become part of the fabric or interior of a different building – a green solution to improving your home.

Using pieces that don’t have the shine of newness will also give your house character, and you can bet you won’t go round to friends and find they’ve got exactly the same piece when you shop this way rather than on the high street.

Make sure you’re dressed for the occasion: for salvage/reclamation yards this means putting on boots and gloves so you can have a good look around.You may get a bargain, or the opportunity to ask for a better price if you’re buying lots at one go. However, be aware that in this case secondhand doesn’t necessarily equal cheap. Age and character can come at a cost.

At salvage/reclamation yards you can buy everything from the smallest finishing details for your home, such as door furniture, to building materials like roof tiles and timber flooring.

Consider looking for buys like: Fireplaces, Tile, Stained glass, Bricks, Garden statues, Lighting, Furniture, Radiators, Doors, Door knobs, Kick plates, Fireplace inserts, and the list goes on and on...

Keep an eye out too for interesting re-uses of original pieces – for example, mirrors made from sash windows. Or, if you want to give a dining area character, why not think about using church chairs or pews, both of which are plentiful. And if you want a custom feel in your home or garden, old signs and even classic wooden benches can be tracked down.

In Europe, there are these yards everywhere, and here in the US are some place like Habitat For Humanity and few odd and ends small stores. I think it would be great to have a store like this for every city that has a population over 1,000... Even a store hub in major locations would be great. It would be nice to take in some stuff we want to recycle, get a little cash, and bring home some great stuff..

Maybe I should start a small chain store like this, got junk is everywhere now and it started with just a handful of people and an idea of recycling goods to make money....

Seed Catalogs, 2 a day arriving, uses....... Junk mail??

I have excluded myself from as many junk mail list as I could. Its not just green but self sufficient as well. So with the other stuff I get in the mail I place them on a pile that I will use later on in the garden this year to keep the weeds down. I also make my own homemade paper pots Year after year you will enjoy using these easy to make and use pots.

Junk mail ideas are wanted???

Cold Frame Veggies Are Coming Up!!!

j

So as you can see just in 9 days with night temps in the mid 20's to mid 30's and day time temps in the mid 40 to lower 50's we have food growing!!! My total cost for this project was about 32 dollars, I expect this will keep growing my veggies for a few more years without repairs, and may need to do some repairs then. I am excited!!!!!