What Percentage??????

[johnporter]

JC's post on wanting to homestead has really got me thinking. I would like to know, what percentage of your food comes from a supermarket or convenience store?
To be truly self sufficient, one must forget about how easy it is to jump in the vehicle and run to a store. Provisions must be rationed to an extent and alot of todays lifestyles need to be changed.
I, myself became self reliant 15 years ago. My first step was to become completely debt free and learn to only use currency to make my purchases. Credit cards are way to easy to max out when your living this type of life. Once one becomes debt free it is really easy to make the transition to not really on anyone for a steady paycheck. I pick and choose when and where I want to work due to having my needs met by living off the land. My average month grocery list is just the staples(sugar,salt,pepper,flour,corn meal and a few odds and ends). For meats, I eat alot of wild game and also raise a beef critter. While living in Maine, it was a 100% diet of wild game as moose took the place of beef. A garden is my supply of vegetables and I also forage for mushrooms and berries.
So my percentage would be around 10% comes from a store, be it a grocery store or co-op..... Whats yours?
John

[Admin]

When I lived in my backwoods cabin, I spent very little at the grocery store. I ate a lot of critters & rice. Venison is our main staple in our household and we put up a lot of vegetables from our garden but still spend a lot at the grocery store. If I can make my plans materialize and go back to living off the grid, I'll have to do a lot of restructuring to my lifestyle. I hate to admit it but realistically the percentage at the present time is probably 55% home harvest and 45% storebought. I need to make some changes here to acheive my goal.

[johnporter]

The hardest part for me was my mind set. It was alot easier to go buy something then to weed the damn garden all summer. After I did research on some veggies like corn, it was time to grow my own.
Its a great lif when you can want nothing and be 100% happy..

[Russo_Outdoors]

What a great thread John. I would first like to congratulate you on being debt-free. The borrower is slave to the lender. As you stated being debt-free you are able to choose the job you want. You don't have to worry about where the next dollar is going to come from to pay the credit card bill. That's why all these fast food restaurants are accepting debit cards and credit cards for payment. It's proven that the mind doesn't see the card transaction as it would a cash transaction and people tend to spend more.

When I was growing up I spent time with a family during the summer on a hog farm. They had pigs for meat, chickens for eggs, and cows for milk. They even had their own gas tank that they used for the trucks and tractors. I wish I could say I didn't rely on the grocery store for anything but I can't. Great post karma coming!

[derekdutton]

Mine like JC's is way too much.

We eat alot of wild game and more fish than one could imagine. We grow vegetables and put up some not all. I seem to give away too many to neighbors and family. We usually butcher a hog or 2 and a beef once a year. It took my wife a long time to come this far as she grew up with a grocery store 2 blocks from her house. They bought food every couple days. She has come around though. about the only thing we buy at the store is basics like you stated john. with occasional rice,beans, and some sort of noodles thrown in.

[derekdutton]

speaking of self supported living.

I heard some talk once about a wind mill that produced electricity. Do any of you have any info on any of these?

The conversation these 2 guys had while i stood there was it hooked into your lines somehow and when the wind would rotate it of course it produced electricity which fed down into your meter. If you were not using as much electricity and was being produced it you would be credted for it cause the extra juice went into the main grid.

There was supposedly a man here in southern IL the power company paid to remove his. It was producing so much his neighbors got some of the free power. Not sure about you guys but the price would have had to of been mighty high for me to take it down.

My oppologies john for running a bit off topic.

[johnporter]

www.electricityforum.com/windmill-electricity.html

this site right here derek, will steer you in the right direction.. ;D

[bigpat]

It has always been my intention to become self reliant. By the end of this year I hope to buy less than 10% of my food.

[mooreorless]

John, this is an excellent post! It's something I feel I need to do for my family. Having 5 kids, debt free living and the freedom that comes with it, would be huge, that's a long term goal. For short term goals this year we hope to get laying hens and meat chickens as well as a couple of hogs, not to mention doubling garden size. I'm afraid with the size of our family at this time of year we probably rely on about 90% coming from the grocery (maybe 60-65% in the summer with the harvest). Realistically,I hope to get it down to that by next winter.
I love seeing these kind of threads.We all need to work harder at being less dependant on outside sources. It's nice to see all the different ideas to do so.Have a karma,John.

[Admin]

It's enlightening to see so much enthusiasm focused on down sizing and living the simple life ;D. Most folks these days want bigger and better things and more and more of them. Nice to see we have so many people here that are on the same wavelength. ;D Living simple and not beyond my means has enabled me to retire at 42 and spend my time doing the things I want, while I'm young enough to enjoy them. I know so many people that work at a job they hate so that they can make enough money to afford to live some place that they don't want to live while they dream about a simple life in a backwoods cabin . I mean look at how many people work their asses off 40 hours a week so they can afford to have everything but then the second they have time off from work they pack up and head for the hills to a camp that has nothing . Then on Sunday, head back home so that they can bust balls for another 40+ to afford the place that they can't wait to escape from . There's no way that I could afford to live where I don't want to live so I'll stay in the woods where everything's paid for and I don't have to work to afford it ;D

[bigpat]

Seems like every week there's some kind of "scare" with the food we buy. Either mad cow disease, or E.coli in spinach. My plans for the near future include a big garden, pigs, chickens, and rabbits. As JC has mentioned we have a liberal bag limit on deer here in NY. I always have venison to eat, but plan to start eating even more. I have 2 upright freezers, a couple food dehydrators, and a good stock of canning supplies. There is a section of my basement which I plan to make into a cold cellar. Long range plans include beef cows, dairy goats, sheep, and a couple of fish ponds. I'll get there eventually!

[derekdutton]

Thanks for the link john.

Ok here is a question that will make me look dumb LOL.

Do you guys know of any material be in videos, books with high detail, web sites, ect. that would help be in the butchering department LOL. I have a book i bought a few years ago that is a outstanding recomendation but im looking for more detailed info like the cuts of meat and such. I am one hell of a de boner LOL. That and the roasts, i would like to learn how to make the more specific kind of cuts.

here a link for the book i was talking about, and look around in there they have some other good books and processing stuff.

www.lemproducts.com/product/315/books

[Nutso]

One of my favorite websites is www.lehmans.com ....they have quite a bit of info there. I know that they have a great book on slaughtering and butchering. Good luck!!

[johnporter]

www.amazon.com/Home-Butchering-Preservation-Geeta-Dardick/dp/0830627138

They have books on butchering and homesteading here...Good Luck

[derekdutton]

This is a interesting time for this topic. me and my wife are expecting again....yes thats right gonna be a dad again....and we were talking about a new bigger house, and such things as living cheaper but better.

I am in the midst of planning a new pole barn type house. and such things as changing the whole layout of our property to better accomodate the chicken yard and such.

[johnporter]

This has been an awesome topic, thank you all for your participation. I had the chance to seat down today with a butcher who deals in organic raised beef and poultry. Let me tell you, this was a true eye opener of what is put into feed at those huge feed lot farms. Radiation,pesticides, and growth hormones was only the tip of the iceberg.
I grew up on a hobby farm where we raised turkeys,goats, chickens,beef and hogs. If it was in the yard it was fair table fare come fall. Heck even our pet ducks got eaten over time but the eggs were the best thing for cooking cakes with.
Once again, thanks alot for all the great information in this topic..
John

[mooreorless]

[/quote]

This is also something that I've put some thought into. I've had people tell me that there property taxes are alot lower, because of the pole barn status. Not sure how that works, but it sounded good to me. My bro-n-law and sister put a two br, one ba, lr,kitchenette living quarters attached to a 60x100 pole barn fully ins., heated, steel liner,concrete floors the whole sha-bang. It was SWEET! ;D They done it pretty reasonable for what it was. Had everything, shop space galore,basketball hoop, rec area, my kind of dream space. Kids loved it, ride bikes and play basketball in the dead of winter,what's not to love. Great for family get togethers. Of course mine would have to be 60x200 and it would be packed.

[derekdutton]

we are also tossing up the ideas of a central boiler for heat. Cleaner and more efficient than regular wood burning and of course cheaper bills lol.

we are currently getting bought water...they are laying water lines up our road, which is unbelievable considering where i live. I opted to hook up to it but am keeping my deep well. Our water is good but 425 feet deep and we get alot of rust from the casing and always clogging something up. So thats one bill we will have, that we never had before.

I wish i could be better at growing vegetables. where i live i am on top a big friggin rock lol...nothing wants to grow here very well. I try every year and it seems to get better every year but i am going for a new idea now. I will post it in another topic to not get to off base here.

[mooreorless]

derekdutton said:

we are also tossing up the ideas of a central boiler for heat. Cleaner and more efficient than regular wood burning and of course cheaper bills lol

If you go with a central boiler make sure you figure in the solid black water line set. Don't get the cheaper line set it's a whole lot more work and it is the weakest link. The best is well worth the money, sure wish I would have.

[hounddog25]

i am with you folks.....got the homestead paid for and am debt free.working on long term plans....i am growing catfish in my pond and this has been a fun project.the more simple things are the better it is.i love gardening and stuff like that...i may try shrimp in my 300 gallon tank this year.

[mike692]

Excellent thread!!!! ;D


I'd like to think I'm at 50%. Between things that store well and canned goods we're in pretty good shape.

John is right on about the condition of our meat supply. If it were up to me I would NEVER buy meat from a grocery store. Well, bacon maybe.

I grow everything organically. Last year I even found a local supplier of organic broiler feed. It is twice the price of conventional, but I have to say, this is the best chicken I've ever eaten.

[muskrat24]

Quite a bit comes from the store at our house. For some reason mom refuses to cook, eat, or even look at game or even livestock I have raised.

[johnporter]

I would be lost without wildgame...