Are you dreaming about self sufficient life?

hmmm. u solve problem of fruit, vegetables and energy, but i think i need to be cobbler, blacksmith, weaver( to weave fabric). stitcher,scientist, etc u need to have bike, solar cell, material to keep water, sure u cant do urself. Thats why its said its society, people are dependant on each other. the best we can do that use the resources carefully and share with fellow human being so that "JUST DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES" can be prevailed and socirty must stay happy and content

yes i am. living a life away from bills sounds fulfilling. especially nowadays when gas & food prices start rising. it's nice if you can eat or drink without worrying if you still have money to buy more for tomorrow. how sweet to watch a television or surf the net without money leaving your pocket. much better if you can get anything you want without spending. money won't be of any use when that day comes.

You know what is sad..... I can't have my own garden I can't have solar panels on my house There are a lot of things that I would like to do (my house faces East-West [the worst direction a house can face]) that I have no control over because of where I live. One thing I have done is cut WAY back on the consumption of oil and gasoline and I would have to say (although I have not actually measured it) that I am paying LESS in gasoline then I was when it was at $2/gallon... that is how much I have cut back. There are things a lot of people can do and we are all different in what we can personally do and that is what is going to sustain us... not just all of us just doing one thing. Thanks for a great post. Zelo

Wow, polachicago, a topic after my own heart!! Am I dreaming...? You bet! Here I am struggling with veggies and seeds that don't sprout, and ants, and cats who dig up my veggie beds after I have painstakingly prepared them. Do I want a self-sufficient life? You bet! My greatest dream is to get a plot and make it green, and earn my living from writing, and get my food from my garden, and have plenty of animals around (even the pesky cats), and a few toddlers to pick my brains. Yup, that's the life! Cheers and thanks for this lovely discussion!

to get away from the gas pumps you could buy (or build) you own electric car, this could be charged by your solar panels so you not paying to charge it either.

Those are some very good ideas that you have there. I have always wanted a garden as I remember them from my childhood.

I presume you are already doing your composting to help feed your soil.Another idea is to go to the local woods and see what you can find to use there.Many people are practising recycling(which helps)but not to the fullest extent(I guess that is why they call it practising).Maybe create a bigger garden and trade neighbours for something with your overflow?The more self reliant,the more independant.Good success to you!

i think it will be nice if we can dream about freely life, free for everything war, sickness, global warming ect.

Vote for driling here and to get on with working with oil shale so we dont ddepend on any one no more

Our compound is not big enough for us to plant more plants. We have only 4 trees of different types of fruit. I have a small veggie garden where I grow many veggie plants which could supply some for our consumption. I plan to plant more for enough use. I prepare my own compost for the plants by using leftover foods, rotten veggie and fruits, peels of fruits, weed collect rain water for flushing and watering.

Pola, what beautiful and great ideas you have written. How interesting and satisfactory it is to get your own vegetables and fruits from your own garden. Solar panels, do help us save lots of enery. Owning a water filteration system, hopefully self-made is also a big achievement on your part. I am mostly dependent for getting all these facilities. I am not as self sufficient as you.

I am but if it's impossible for me to do and reach anything I dream about, I will not be sad also, I will just think that I have a very loving parents,supportive parents and very wonderful husband. They are all healthy, we have a house, got free air to breath, wonderful park to walk by and enough money to live in a descent way! It all depends on the person's attitude to have a sufficient life!

This is a great discussion, pola. I am not in a position where I can have a veggie garden and fruit trees, but I would love to. I do what I can by recycling, reducing waste and making the best economic decisions I can. It is frustrating to feel like one of the little guys padding the pockets of the powerful. We can only hope to make a change by banning together. Discussions like these are a great way to heighten contiousness. Thanks, my friend.

It is really a good idea.. and worth a try at least to take steps in minimum things that will cut short our bills.. we live in a small town,so the cost of living is relatively cheap and simple than in metros,... more over.. We have coconut trees in our house... and the fall outs from the trees are used to make hot water..... the firewood is available all through the year.. other than this no big savings we have..

I have stopped buying bottled water and have a couple of reusable containers. I fill the bottle half way and freeze it. It stays cold the entire day if you put it in a thermal bag. I am trying to get the hubby to put all of our waste foods into the mulch pile near the woods at our house. And of course to start recycling. It saves so much waste and helps the environment too.