Cut it out.

When my husband and I decided to move and commit ourselves to learning how to be self-sufficient... We had so many PLANS. We PLANNED on growing our own food, raising our own chickens and making our own much-used dairy products (probably 80% of our protein and fat consumption is from dairy products). The problem with succeeding with your plans is that you actually have to DO them.
So, first, the things we planned on doing that we are actually making steps towards doing.

1) Stop using paper products and use unstead reusable ones. We have achieved not purchasing any more paper towels, and use regular ol' terry cloth washcloths instead. We are using washable rags for wiping (pee only!) in the bathroom, but only part of the time, it hasn't really stuck as a habit yet because we ARE still providing TP for the OTHER business and guests... Planning on looking up reusable TP for all use and the care thereof this week, so I'll update about that when we succeed. We are using cotton handkerchiefs instead of tissues (this is a BIG money saver for me because I have pretty severe allergies and go through boxes and boxes of tissues in the spring and fall). We had been using cloth diapers instead of disposables until our drier broke a few days ago, and now I've reverted back to the hateful disposables. Naw dang. I've been thinking about this one a lot because not only do I want to stop using disposables that I hate, but I want to have already considered how I'll be drying our diapers when we don't have any electricity and it's winter... We don't currently have a wood burning stove here, so I can't just put a drying rack up by the stove... We recently tried putting up a line across our living room, but it took one load ALL DAY to dry, so that's not a very practical solution.
2) Stop purchasing bread from the store. This we've been working up to since moving and now it's become a real practical part of our lives. I make bread for the hubby's lunches every Monday, and make the whole weeks worth. The only part about our current routine that I don't like is that I'm still using instant yeast. I've been growing a wild sourdough starter for a few weeks, but so far I'm not thrilled with the texture. It's real... cakey. We're discussing my taking Wardeh's online sourdough course.
The other things we're working on are of course, growing our own food and getting ready for our new animals, but that's a whole other post.
Thanks for reading! Be thoughtful! Be blessed!

Little blessings

Well, today I marched my butt out the door with determination to finish double-digging the beds for our greenhouse. As I pickaxed through foot after foot of old roots (note to self: if there's an inexplicably bare patch of earth in your yard, consider the fact that there might have been a tree there previously. Dur.) I started getting tired and LESS determined. Now, there's no one here to encourage me in this digging but myself, so I just made do with what I had -a loud voice. I started shouting with every swing "I WON'T let my children starve! I WON'T let my children starve!" and yes, at this point, in my mind, that is what I will be facing if I don't get my act together and learn these skills (like gardening, and calculating correctly how much food we'll consume in a year, etc.).
Again I was starting to get tired, and I could feel the blisters rising up on my palms, so I hammered that axe down into that soil and paused for a breath when my eyes were suddenly opened to what was around me.
See all my little blessings!
Signs of life:
Grass and sage sprouting out in the lawn.
Bees, BEEEEEES!! And other insects buzzing around.
WORMS!!! Tears literally sprang to my eyes when I saw those beautiful little garden helpers!
Other little blessings:
The first three feet of soil is sooooo soft and crumbly and delightful, I can't WAIT to get all these sprouts off of my kitchen table and out into that yummy dirt!
The neighbor's adorable little daughter came running over while I was out there and gave me a half-bushel of apples! Whatever shall I do with them, hmmmmm? I think we've got some PIE in our future!
Our lettuce and the popcorn had a 100% germination rate!! BOOYAH!
We get free five-year-matured manure tomorrow from Craigslist to spread, as much as we want!
And lastly, not only did BOTH of my children sleep through all of this digging, but they also slept long enough for me to write this. Yay!

Ooohhhhh MAN, spring can't come soon enough!

Oh YEAH I'm doin' it: an intro.

Is it absurd to give yourself an intro when you start a blog? I don't know, I've never started a blog before... But I'm going to do it anyway.
My journey to independent living, clean and free of harmful chemicals/people/environments started the day I delivered my firstborn son. I guess here we can call him by his nickname, Bubbalubba. Being raised under the viewpoint that we are in charge of our own lives by a take-charge kind of woman (my mom is a midwife) certainly gave me a particular way of thinking and decision-making BEFORE I started having kids, but AFTER?? My whole life changed. I grew up growing a garden whenever we had the space, and choosing homeopathic medications over chemical ones... But after I had children I realized how many things I was doing completely thoughtlessly. What chemicals I was storing to clean my home with, what was in my shampoo, and where my food was coming from.
It's amazing how having someone else's life in your hands can change the way you see the world.
This year I'm planning on growing 75% of the food we consume, plus practicing dehydrating, canning and root cellaring.
I'm gonna find the perfect sourdough recipe! I'm gonna build my kids a mud-kitchen to play in while I garden... And I'm gonna find a foundation that isn't slowly poisoning me, hahaha.
Wow, this seemed pretty serious! Whoops. Well, I believe in natural!