How Back-To-Basics Could You Be?

[CCc girl]

HIW I am with you on that! You can buy a stovetop still on ebay right now with free youtube video instructions.

You can barter skills, too. DH is a certified master auto tech, I sell auto parts. I can also fix computers to an extent.

Only 10%? They all must live here in the Adirondacks.

[hotzcatz]

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Things like:

Growing your own food?

We are already doing that, although we only average about 20% of our food. Should we need it, we can grow more and we are in a climate that allows food production all year. We can also grow food without importing fertilizer or water.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Preserving your food?

Well, we can can but we can grow more just as easy. We do a bit of preserving by drying as well as canning, but most of our food preservation is just planting more.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Making lye?

That's easy enough and you can use the ashes afterwards as bio-char.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Making soap?

No problem. We've even got lovely things like aloe and lavender to put in it.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Hunting? (I could easily go without meat if there were plenty of veggies)

Does trapping count? It's easier to trap than to hunt.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Cooking from scratch? Cooking without being able to buy items like baking soda/powder and other inexpensive everyday items?

Yup, a lot of scratch cooking happens around here. And it's tasty, too.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Making yeast without starter?

We've got sourdough starter, how do you make yeast without yeast?

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Is your current house adaptable to going without electricity, gas, municipal water, and sewer?

Not so much in the municipal water department but we do get a lot of rainfall. We've got several months worth of gas, however with no power, no computer or TV but everything else will do fine. I suppose the generator could keep things going for awhile, but that wouldn't last for more than a month or so if we lost gas supplies to the island. 'Spose we could do wood gas for the generator, though.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Can you make your own clothing?

Forget the clothing, I can make my own cloth. A treadle sewing machine can't do doodly without thread - and I can make thread - as well as yarn. Yarn knits into clothing, as well weaves into fabric. We also have the fiber critters and plants and can keep them going without any feed imports.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Are you good at recycling/reusing?

Just about everything we own is used/recycled/repurposed, etc.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Alternative medicine when no health care provider is available?

To some extent, I don't think I want to try "at home" dental work, although we can grow kava which does a pretty good job at numbing your mouth.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

Do you have old fashion tools and kitchen items that don't require an external power source? (Hand egg beater/mixer, wood working tools, etc.)

Yup, know how to use them as well as repair them, too.

Originally Posted by Everdeen

If there was a serious disruption in our current way of living, would you have the skills to adapt? What other skills do you have that would come in handy if you had no access to our modern conveniences?

Another thread got me thinking. I can't do all the above things (and probably many more that I couldn't think of off the top of my head). I'd like to be able to, though.

I always wonder why folks seem to forget about doing laundry during emergencies.

[monkeywrenching]

Growing your own food? I do know how to grow my own food.

Preserving your food? I do know how to salt, water bath can, pressure can and pickle foods

Making lye? cant say I know how to make lye.

Making soap? cant do this either

Hunting? (I could easily go without meat if there were plenty of veggies) I do know how to hunt, whether it is with 4 legs or 2 legs.

Cooking from scratch? Cooking without being able to buy items like baking soda/powder and other inexpensive everyday items? I cook from scratch now.

Making yeast without starter? yes I do know how to make yeast without a starter.

Is your current house adaptable to going without electricity, gas, municipal water, and sewer? yes it is, I currently have a woodstove with a water reservoir , and a concrete cistern on my land.

Can you make your own clothing? I do know how to make clothing, but prefer to just buy when I need them or go into my stockpile for more clothes.

Are you good at recycling/reusing? pretty good at recycling.

Alternative medicine when no health care provider is available? yes, natural medicine is usually better for a persons body.

Do you have old fashion tools and kitchen items that don't require an external power source? (Hand egg beater/mixer, wood working tools, etc.) yes, I have both on hand.

If there was a serious disruption in our current way of living, would you have the skills to adapt? What other skills do you have that would come in handy if you had no access to our modern conveniences?

I do not have all the skill sets, but I have enough to get myself by, and with the help of family and friends, most of those other skill sets will be covered.

[509]

It is interesting to think about it. However, reality is much more brutal.

We have a nice off-grid home. Totally self-sufficient. I hunt. Have guns. We have grown our food in the past. Even with that I have a short list of folks I will invite to share our home.

That said. For most people it will be a Grateful Dead existence. The Dead will feel Grateful that they are no longer alive.

My grandmother lived in an isolated farm in the 1920's as society degenerated into war and chaos. They were set. Totally independent of society and living a pretty nice lifestyle.

Then the Communists showed up one spring and took all the livestock and horses. They came back the following spring. Shot my grandmother and scattered the family to the winds. My father was an orphan at 10 living in the swamps of the Caspian Sea. Then the Communists took ALL the food and killed another 10 million people. Finally, the German Army showed up and my father took the opportunity to escape to Nazi Germany. For him, it was a step up.

Brutal. Don't ever wish for society to fall into chaos. Very few end up surviving.

[Everdeen]

Originally Posted by hotzcatz

We've got sourdough starter, how do you make yeast without yeast?

Yeast is ubiquitous.

Survival Food Series: 3 Ways To Naturally Make Yeast | Ready Nutrition