Moving towards Self-sufficiency

For discussion related to emergency preparedness, survival, self-sufficiency, food and water storage, guns, heat, light, building, gardening, etc.
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laronius
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by laronius »

dlbww wrote:I'm thinking no one is posting because they're too busy harvesting produce from their gardens? Our dehydrator has been going non stop preserving much of our excess. Tonight we'll harvest our leon millot grapes (2 x 150' rows) and then press it into juice and freeze it. Currently dehydrating tomatoes and yellow crook-neck squash. Some of our apples have been picked and are ripening in cold storage (our trees are still young so we won't get much more than about 300 lbs.; each year it seems to double). We've picked 80 lbs of blackberries off the property and have frozen them. Most of our meals for the past several months have been coming from the garden.
dlbww - I don't ever post on this thread as my current living situation does not lend itself to agricultural experiences but I do enjoy reading yours. I'm curious about your dehydrating squash: is there any special technique other than slapping slices onto a dehydrator? And how do you use them once dried?

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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Kingdom of ZION
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by Kingdom of ZION »

Mala_Suerte wrote:
Kingdom of ZION wrote:Sorry to see you drop out but I do understand... I know life in the real world demands much more. For only true Saints step up to the plate when duty calls. I will prophesy here but I will not declare who's words they are: We only have six years left to prepare before the start of the final week of Daniel. Make use of this time well, get really unattached to your possessions, gather people around you that you can trust with your life, or go it alone. If you have medical or dental needs, now is the time to get them resolved, find other natural remedies that may work, stock pile what you can. People think guns and bullets are all they need, but it is the little things, pain and cold medicines that are more useful. Everything with moderation!

And may El Elyon have mercy upon our souls and swiftly bring Zion, Aman!
I am not really familiar w/ Daniels final week, would you mind explaining or giving me a link. I googled it, but the results are all over the place.

Also, a close friend of mine mentioned 6 more years, but didn't really go into details as how he arrived at that number. If you don't mind, how did you arrive at 6 years? If it's personal, you don't have to say.
Sorry , I seem to miss the posted to this thread. A link: http://www.endtime.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Irvin has the best handle on End Time Prophecy over most preachers and teachers.

I was told by revelation 39 years ago the year of the coming of the Lord (Adonai). We have 13 more years, 6 years to the final 7 years. That is the prophesied 7 year peace treaty with Israel and 3 1/2 years into it we will have the abomination of desolation. That last 3 1/2 years will be the wrath of Satawn, ending in the final battle of Armageddon at Jerusalem. Then will come forth the Messiah at the mount of olives.

Shalom

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Awakened_Warrior
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by Awakened_Warrior »

Kingdom of ZION wrote:
Mala_Suerte wrote:
Kingdom of ZION wrote:Sorry to see you drop out but I do understand... I know life in the real world demands much more. For only true Saints step up to the plate when duty calls. I will prophesy here but I will not declare who's words they are: We only have six years left to prepare before the start of the final week of Daniel. Make use of this time well, get really unattached to your possessions, gather people around you that you can trust with your life, or go it alone. If you have medical or dental needs, now is the time to get them resolved, find other natural remedies that may work, stock pile what you can. People think guns and bullets are all they need, but it is the little things, pain and cold medicines that are more useful. Everything with moderation!

And may El Elyon have mercy upon our souls and swiftly bring Zion, Aman!
I am not really familiar w/ Daniels final week, would you mind explaining or giving me a link. I googled it, but the results are all over the place.

Also, a close friend of mine mentioned 6 more years, but didn't really go into details as how he arrived at that number. If you don't mind, how did you arrive at 6 years? If it's personal, you don't have to say.
Sorry , I seem to miss the posted to this thread. A link: http://www.endtime.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Irvin has the best handle on End Time Prophecy over most preachers and teachers.

I was told by revelation 39 years ago the year of the coming of the Lord (Adonai). We have 13 more years, 6 years to the final 7 years. That is the prophesied 7 year peace treaty with Israel and 3 1/2 years into it we will have the abomination of desolation. That last 3 1/2 years will be the wrath of Satawn, ending in the final battle of Armageddon at Jerusalem. Then will come forth the Messiah at the mount of olives.

Shalom
Very interesting being aware of what is going on, isn't it? I love reading your insights, keep them coming

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Kingdom of ZION
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by Kingdom of ZION »

Awakened_Warrior wrote:Very interesting being aware of what is going on, isn't it? I love reading your insights, keep them coming
The Signs of the Times are for you and me! There were over a hundred prophesies concerning the Messiah's coming in the Meridian of Time. They were all fulfilled to the letter (Jot and Tittle).

We have over a thousand prophesies on His return (sounds like He does not want us to have Him come 'like a thief in the night' to us! Because we are not children of the night (Thess.)). The Peace agreement will be made on the first of October so 3 1/2 years later on Passover, the third of April, there will be the stopping of the oblations and sacrifices. Then 3 1/2 years later upon the day of Atonement, Yom Kippor, He WILL come to save His people. Amon!

Shalom

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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minuet1
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by minuet1 »

A new program sponsored by the Church found here: http://www.justserve.org/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; gives an opportunity for all to serve in whatever capacity one feels comfortable in. Our Elders quorum has a wood cutting project where we harvest trees and turn them into firewood. Many in our community heat their homes with wood but for whatever reason may have difficulty procuring it for themselves. The idea behind self-reliancy is to use your particular skills to bless the lives of others.
I checked and it isn't "serving" Idaho yet. Was hoping to find some ideas in my area. My ward isn't involved in any humanitarian or serving projects, so I'm on my own to find something service oriented.

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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LiberMama
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by LiberMama »

Sorry for not having posted before..but I'm wanting to share with you, and continue learning from all of you. We purchased our property 6 years ago, in preparation for our eventual retirement -- working on it 5 weeks out of the year to make it eventually livable. Unfortunately, 4 years ago my husband lost his job and he decided we'd better move to our homestead so we can speed up the process. Meanwhile, we purchased a small restaurant in the rural town nearby so we'd have an income. Now, that we have worked in the restaurant more than we have on our property, along with learning more about the people here, and seeing some pitfalls of our choice of property my husband decided that we need to re-evaluate. Over the years since we got the land, we did put in a pole barn, had a well dug, put in solar system and battery bank -- it is completely off grid! The distance of the property to power and phone were certainly too expensive to even consider connecting to the grid. And we have yet to do a septic system, but we made the fatal mistake of buying a rocky place with a view -- we did not see past our noses at the time. We have since discovered (when we dug our well really) that to put in a septic system will be most difficult and expensive proposition.

Over the years, knowing we had to manually work to earn enough to just cover our living expenses, and no time for growing a garden (needing of much composting and soil amending to even create a viable place to garden) we have had tentative plans to put in a geodesic dome greenhouse so we can produce year-round. The homestead is 30 miles from the canadian border in the Pacific Northwest, we get pretty cold winters typically and the growing season here is relatively short as well as being high altitude makes for some interesting growing conditions. (AND since we have not been gardening consistently for years -- we have HUGE learning curve) I have been always doing reading/studying so that the methods, processes and information is at my fingertips, in preparation for living full-time on our own. Some of those resources are reading about Sepp Holtzer, who grows in high altitude and produces fruits and veggies never before considered possible - cherries, peaches, citrus, etc -- using those very same rocks we have difficulty with as thermal support for the tree roots, etc. We subscribe to Backwoods Home magazine, working to also get an anthology every year of back issues for our reference library. And a couple of other books by Eliott Coleman that he shows how to harvest by growing year round are the "Four Season Harvest", and "the Winter harvest". We got the Root Cellaring book as well as the one on Seed Harvesting that I'm learning from all while not being able to garden at all.... Hopefully, I'll have my brain ready for when we actually will be able to live on our own place fulltime!

So in re-evaluating our situation, my husband decided we should aggressively save every dime, so that we can buy a different plot of land and one with water or a creek on it, possibly one that already has a house or small cabin on it. Our business has been doing really well, and we were THISCLOSE to that comfy ride we were hoping for....but there must needs be opposition in all things... and our tiny town that can't support too many restaurants, someone has decided to open a competitive restaurant -- so we expect our business to decline... Its that time of year when there IS LESS business to begin with, why these ignorant people would START a restaurant in October is beyond comprehension. We focus on doing our best customer service, keep our quality consistent and we will keep our customers. (meanwhile, I've always insisted we feed the missionaries every week -- my husband grumps about it, but I've tried to explain that by helping the Lord by feeding them, is only for our own good in the long run -- and we will be blessed. So far, so good!

Now this past week has brought more tyranny by the voters in our state...and its giving me at least, more of a desire to find a new homestead elsewhere -- at least my husband was inspired for us to consider moving -- and now I'm sure of it! (I do not look forward to it) but that is the great challenge we must face. 1) how long we need to stay where we are to save $$ because we plan to purchase with cash--his original plan is 4 years of savings. and 2) where does the Lord need us to move (my husband is inactive, but he's been so good about storing up our food storage, and being prepared! - I'm counting my blessings for that!) He so wants to move to Alaska.... I don't know how far I can withstand a move that far! Someplace with a better growing season and not too far away from church access. A town with people that are not so crazy lopsided in their thinking that you wonder how long the ignorant can stay in a place with no jobs, and really they have no desire to work, they are perfectly happy living on someone else's money -- YKWIM!

So, we are prepared in principle but not at all in practice -- its just all we can do to this point. Thanks for letting me share and I'm just searching for what location we should move to. (OH and possibly taking our restaurant equipment with us, a small town, in a rural area that doesn't have a Pizza restaurant is the ideal situation -- we are a family run and we figure at least it something that if we NEED to bring it with us we can. -- otherwise, I'd LOVE to find a buyer to take this place off of our hands -- I'm tired -- and wonder how much longer I can do this -- when I'd rather be working on my homestead! BUT, we have got to have some income to keep the gas in the car and cover incidentals for basic living. So I'm also working on trying to come up with a different income source that one can do in a very low population area, my husband may get back into programming and do contract jobs to speed up our savings and departure from this crazy state!

OK I've rambled on long enough!

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by dlbww »

As I was outside early this morning listening to the birds singing and breathing the air that was filled with the smell of cut grass, cherry and Arbutus blossoms I thought I would start up this thread again to see if there was any interest and share a few updates. In our efforts to grow clean organic food for our family we fenced in a portion of our acreage (almost 2 acres) and filled it with fruit bearing trees, shrubs, vines, etc.; we live in the Pacific Northwest near the ocean in a USDA zone 9. This is our on going experiment.

I just recently received shipment of 300 Albion strawberry plants which I've planted in DeWitt 6300 barrier cloth (I cut the circles out with the end of a Tiger torch, worked really well) and have irrigation lines in place to make the watering easy. We've also been cutting down trees for next years firewood supply (we use about 2-3 cords/yr. which includes heating my shop) and to open up the property a bit more to let sunlight in to certain areas. I'm considering getting honeybees shortly (if I think I have time), we'll see how that goes. Between work, etc. I'm starting a lot of my plants in trays which I find easier than seeding directly in the rows and having to compete with weeds as the plants grow together. Also this year I ordered a large variety of heirloom melon and pepper seeds as I'm hoping to have a greenhouse in place towards the end of May (20' x 35' Gothic arch hoop-house/greenhouse) to transplant them into. Some of these melons require a lot of heat and a lengthy season and the greenhouse would supply both.

We've also added a new 54" mower to cut down on our grass cutting time (Hustler Raptor SD ZTR). This machine is amazing. Another item on my list is a large water storage tank so I can pump water up from the pond and have it gravity fed to the vegetable garden (about 10,000 sq. ft.) through drip lines. This should also save a lot of time.

And we just picked much of last winters organic kale crop, blended it into mash and are currently dehydrating it in a 9 tray Excalibur; 3 trays dried will make a little more than a quart and weigh just over a pound. An Internet search found organic kale powder at $100/lb. We add a small amount to our fruit/green smoothies each morning which also includes a couple of handfuls of frozen blackberries we picked last season, etc. (I picked 100 lbs. of them last season off two patches on our property).

Back to work.

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cyclOps
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by cyclOps »

One of my greatest dreams is to be self sufficient, live a simple life, and work the land and animals to support my family. No selfish excess wanted here. My wife and I, along with three small children, are just beginners on trying to achieve this dream. We have an acre, a third of which is pasture. We have a 20x30 garden we are planting as all corn this year, then 200 sq ft of planter boxes for other assorted veggies. We have a pear and a few plum trees. We have other space to plant squash and melons, possibly potatoes. I want to convert our old in ground jacuzzi to a root cellar. We have a small outbuilding my wife wants to turn into a cold smokehouse. We make jams and freeze our fruit. We can our veggies. We have laying chickens, but used to have laying ducks. We had meat rabbits for a season and took a break from those for now. We need to fix up our pasture and stable so we can get a milk goat or two. We want to replenish our strawberry patch and plant some raspberry, blueberry, and blackberry. Also add a few more fruit trees, maybe even a walnut tree. My wife is planting a bunch of edible and medicinal flowers. It's hard work but very fulfilling. Lots to learn still, and probably learn from mistake after mistake. Good to network and learn and be inspired from others.

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Mark
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by Mark »

dlbww wrote:As I was outside early this morning listening to the birds singing and breathing the air that was filled with the smell of cut grass, cherry and Arbutus blossoms I thought I would start up this thread again to see if there was any interest and share a few updates. In our efforts to grow clean organic food for our family we fenced in a portion of our acreage (almost 2 acres) and filled it with fruit bearing trees, shrubs, vines, etc.; we live in the Pacific Northwest near the ocean in a USDA zone 9. This is our on going experiment.

I just recently received shipment of 300 Albion strawberry plants which I've planted in DeWitt 6300 barrier cloth (I cut the circles out with the end of a Tiger torch, worked really well) and have irrigation lines in place to make the watering easy. We've also been cutting down trees for next years firewood supply (we use about 2-3 cords/yr. which includes heating my shop) and to open up the property a bit more to let sunlight in to certain areas. I'm considering getting honeybees shortly (if I think I have time), we'll see how that goes. Between work, etc. I'm starting a lot of my plants in trays which I find easier than seeding directly in the rows and having to compete with weeds as the plants grow together. Also this year I ordered a large variety of heirloom melon and pepper seeds as I'm hoping to have a greenhouse in place towards the end of May (20' x 35' Gothic arch hoop-house/greenhouse) to transplant them into. Some of these melons require a lot of heat and a lengthy season and the greenhouse would supply both.

We've also added a new 54" mower to cut down on our grass cutting time (Hustler Raptor SD ZTR). This machine is amazing. Another item on my list is a large water storage tank so I can pump water up from the pond and have it gravity fed to the vegetable garden (about 10,000 sq. ft.) through drip lines. This should also save a lot of time.

And we just picked much of last winters organic kale crop, blended it into mash and are currently dehydrating it in a 9 tray Excalibur; 3 trays dried will make a little more than a quart and weigh just over a pound. An Internet search found organic kale powder at $100/lb. We add a small amount to our fruit/green smoothies each morning which also includes a couple of handfuls of frozen blackberries we picked last season, etc. (I picked 100 lbs. of them last season off two patches on our property).

Back to work.
Can I come and park my motor home on your property for the summer and enjoy all the fruits of your labors? You sound like a good person to be around when things go south. :ymapplause:

Older/wiser?
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by Older/wiser? »

LDS cop good for you ,get it done while you have the energy, we have Nubian goats , best milk.ever ,our prepper .friend who has been on different pod casts got us to get Osterlop chickens he said they are the best, layers or meat and great mothers..we also have Belgian Horses and a wagon..I can't quiet do all that I. Could a few years ago, so I adapt we put in a well the best improvement we came up with was a 17,000 watt propane generator I got 2 500 gal. Tanks so now I can store a years worth of fuel and have power to get the water out of the ground, found our generator and tanks from Craigslist about $2,500..looking to get a goal zero yeti 1250 if anyone has a better solution on the solar generator let me know..

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by dlbww »

Many of the 300 Albion strawberry plants are now poking through the barrier cloth (a few didn't make it but I'll replace those with extras I have in pots); the makings of many strawberry fruit smoothies. The 1500 Imperial gallon water tank is in place above the garden and filled with water pumped from the pond (I made a large 4" PVC "T" to strap the submersible 10gpm pump onto so it sits about 6" below the surface). I've attached some of the fittings and am now waiting for the irrigation parts I've ordered. The lines to the garden with be gravity fed drip lines with pressures ranging from 5 to 10 psi since the garden is slightly sloping south facing. I'll turn them on in sections to keep the water pressure even for watering in that area and it should work well.

The greenhouse is on hold until early next year (too many other projects and work got in the way) so the melons and peppers will be grown outdoors on black cloth to warm the soil and provide more heat units.

The 170' of trellised Tayberries are doing very well, lots of flowers and berries developing. I bought some 1 1/2" schedule 40 pvc pipe (which I will cut into 6" lengths and bond end caps to with slots cut in the tops) to put on top of the T-bar posts to run a 9 gauge galvanized wire on which will enable me to run my bird-nets over without catching on the posts. Tayberries are amazingly good.

And our three year old Anna hardy kiwi will flower this year. I should remove the flowers but I just might hand pollinate some from a fuzzy male which will flower at the same time. I just have to know what these smooth-skinned baby kiwis will taste like. I currently have them growing up a T-bar post but will build a proper trellis later in the year as they grow taller. I have a 45' long trellis to build which will support the Annas and the Sanichton 12 kiwis.

The fruit trees (apple, plum, pear, fig, pawpaw, persimmon, nectarine, cherry) are doing well this year. It looks like a good year for pears (we have 5 different varieties, several of each) and it looks like we'll finally get some Seckel pears. And this week we'll spray many of the fruit trees (about 80 in total) with an organic product called Spinosad to control the coddling moth.

Also our garlic crop (we planted a little over 500) is doing good; we are growing Russian Red and Music this year. The raccoons made a mess of the row through the winter as they were digging for worms but we got it fixed and removed a few more raccoons, that's 27 since we started trapping them 3 years ago.

And the experiment continues ...

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LiberMama
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by LiberMama »

Well, I'll update our situation. We have worked our business another 18 months since our previous post. I knew coming to our little rural community that running our business would only last so long (and its still a vibrant part of the community even with a little competition... I'll explain more in a bit...) Meaning, that we've been running our business as a family-run operation. Our county is rural, NO traffic signals in the entire county! We are very well networked with other like minded individuals -- and in 18 months of time since our last post there has been a steady enough consistency of our business (enough to live on, but not necessarily much in the way of extras) we've lived comfortably.

Our area has ample opportunities for those who are looking to relocate to a rural environment, with options of buying raw land, or property with at minimum a home or at least a hunters cabin on it. Many people have come here to get out of the big city and to develop their own off grid property! There's many properties available that are more affordable than post places. So if you're looking... check out Ferry County in NE Washington.

HOWEVER, our youngest children (twins) are of age to leave home and they are wanting to in the next couple of months.....which means we've had to close our restaurant... its been the best transition from big city life to bring our family and working together to run a business (everyone had a job!)

Our twins were 13 yo when we moved here and at least one of our sons we consider was the richest kid in the county considering he worked and was paid for working the family business. (they are co-owners of the business and exempt from employee taxes, they got a % of the profits as did each working member/owner responsible for their own income taxes -- which their part time hours didn't earn them enough to even be required to file) of the family business. With a roof over their heads, food to eat and a job -- they've gained a lot from the experience! But now 5 yrs later they're ready to fly the coop -- which means we are going to become empty-nesters in 2016!

This also means that we're needing to sell the business. If you know of anyone who is looking for property to homestead and eventually become fully self-sufficient, in an area that is very rural -- and with an established branch of the Church.... this is the place! (we are also in the area that James Wesley Rawles calls the American Redoubt for maximum community and self-sufficiency. see: https://survivalblog.com/redoubt/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We're not quite ready to put the restaurant up for sale, but I'm wanting to get the word out there that it was really a nice way to transition into our rural lifestyle. Especially if the need is to have a source of income while deciding upon specifically where you want to buy a piece of land out here, the restaurant with adjoining apartment is ideal. (room for two adults and two - three teens.)

The Restaurant is a full service Pizza Restaurant, you can't beat paying a modest monthly rent which includes the restaurant AND the apartment!!! So coming here and landing with jobs immediately is an ideal transition. Buying the restaurant business is just that... the building for the business and apartment are a lease. The building owner would be glad to sell you the building too, but we're glad we didn't -- you just never know what may happen considering renting the space is less expensive than paying on a building mortgage!

We would like to sell the Pizza Restaurant outright, we will also include a period of good-will to teach you everything you need to know to make excellent pizza (our customers love us) basic book-keeping, the vendors you will need to purchase supplies, etc. If you're experienced in running a Pizza restaurant... keep in mind this is NOT the big city and big city ways will not work in this rural environment! If you're willing to learn (as we came here and bought this business with NO restaurant experience, all that we've done we has come through our 5 years of experience with this town/county/rural area) BUT, we have seen big city people come and try to run businesses here just like it was the big city and fail... there's just a difference in how something like this works in the rural community where the majority of the 6,000 people who live in a county the size of Rhode Island tend to live simply and mostly off-grid.

I'm happy to entertain questions and prospective buyers inquiries.

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harakim
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by harakim »

Older/wiser? wrote:LDS cop good for you ,get it done while you have the energy, we have Nubian goats , best milk.ever ,our prepper .friend who has been on different pod casts got us to get Osterlop chickens he said they are the best, layers or meat and great mothers..we also have Belgian Horses and a wagon..I can't quiet do all that I. Could a few years ago, so I adapt we put in a well the best improvement we came up with was a 17,000 watt propane generator I got 2 500 gal. Tanks so now I can store a years worth of fuel and have power to get the water out of the ground, found our generator and tanks from Craigslist about $2,500..looking to get a goal zero yeti 1250 if anyone has a better solution on the solar generator let me know..
Osterlops are good chickens. They only lay consistently for 1 or 2 years, so be aware of that. One of my chickens got out and was attacked by raccoons or dogs every day for a week but managed to live every time. I have silkies (sp?) now which are the worst chickens. They were given to us as a gift. I will get Osterlops again when we're done with these.

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by dlbww »

For those interested in my ongoing self-sufficiency experiment this is where we are so far:

Chickens are on my list (which I keep postponing) for next spring. I'm thinking about Marans because they will still forage outside when it's wet in the winter, unlike many other birds. However there are many good breeds out there and perhaps we'll do an assortment. I will build at least one portable chicken house based on a design I have which allows me to secure the chickens at night against predators. The design is built on a tubular aluminum frame to prevent the bottom of the house from rotting away.

Our Tayberries are ripening and we've been picking them/eating them for the past two weeks; we have 170' of trellised berries which we started from two plants. We've frozen a lot so far, they also dry well which we might try doing again to save freezer space. And then shortly after Tayberry season is over blackberry season begins. Last year I got up early (before the sun) in the cool of the morning, about every second or third day and picked 10 to 15 lbs. of berries which took about an hour and subsequently got frozen; used in our morning smoothies. We still have a few bags left out of the 100 lbs. picked and this years harvest looks like it will be better than last. Just a side note on blackberries (ours are mostly the himalayan variety), last year I dehydrated (to a crisp) enough to fill a few quart jars which we then ground into powder and put into a Moka pot and steamed into a wonderful rich drink we added cream and sweetener to which was amazingly good. I've also tried this with raspberries with great success.

And I had some extra space in the garden so I've planted another 90' row of potatoes (the lower section of the garden is 90' across and irrigated with drip lines) and I'm considering planting another 90' row of beets for fall/winter. The irrigation system for the main garden is gravity fed from a 1500 Imp. gal. tank which gets filled from a spring-fed pond which has a submerisble pump in it. This is a huge time saver and reduces my water consumption by at least 6 times I figure.

And I summer pruned our 450' of grape vines, mainly Leon Millot grapes which I'm considering surrounding with an electric fence to keep out the raccoons come harvest time (which is approximately the end of August for this type of grape).

I will start shortly in trays: cabbage, carrots, brussel sprouts, peas, purple sprouting brocoli, cauliflower, swiss chard, kale, etc. for late fall/winter harvest. I find these vegetables taste better when ripened in the fall/winter.

I recently took about 30 cuttings from each of our male and female hardy kiwi vines (Anna), prepped them and put them in water to see if they will root. I've had good luck rooting kiwis this way without rooting hormone or bottom heat. If they start I'll expand my kiwi trellis and sell the rest as pairs.

And our two 15 year old Montmorency (pie cherries) cherry trees are quite full and ready for picking. We will dry some, freeze some and make some into jam; they make superb jam.

And the experiment continues ...

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

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So the Tayberry harvest is almost completed except for some late ripening berries; I think we can remove the nets now. We've picked and frozen about 70 lbs. (this is the first producing year for the majority of vines) which is much more than I thought we would get and now the blackberries are just coming in. We're also picking our blueberries (15 bushes) which I've had to net as well.

And the raccoon trap is out by the corn. I feel bad about turning these animals into fertilizer and am considering an electric fence, especially for the grapes. There are no natural predators for raccoons on our Island and so we have a problem.

We are harvesting salad greens, cucumbers, etc. but the tomatoes and heat loving plants are way behind considering the cooler wetter weather the pacific northwest has had this year. Next year I definitely need that greenhouse, perhaps I have some time to build it over winter; 20' x 35' minimum is what I'm thinking, metal framed Gothic arch with poly over it.

After doing some research on root cellaring I've decided to experiment with two 45 gallon heavy duty plastic barrels and bury them into the ground on a shady west facing hillside. I'll make sure to properly vent them on the top and bottom and that will be my winter storage for potatoes, carrot, etc. Apples, squash, garlic and other items will be stored in our below ground level 15' x 15' cold storage room in the basement.

Some of the Fall garden is planted, the rest will be started within the next few days. I think I mentioned previously that I am fertilizing with an organic foliar spray and kelp liquid, seems to be working OK, I'm also using a compost tea of my own making for the corn that requires a higher nitrogen amount. I'm growing about 250 Supai Red plants this year (it's a parching corn) as an experiment.

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dlbww
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Re: Moving towards Self-sufficiency

Post by dlbww »

The gravity fed watering system is working better than I expected. Every couple of days I put at least a couple hundred gallons of water on the plants, this is done by simply turning a valve on. I try to keep the 1500 Imp. gallon tank filled (from our pond hidden in the woods) to keep the water pressure where I want it.

Early this morning we hauled two truck loads (about one cord) of split wood from the edge of the field into the wood shed, about 6 more loads and we'll have more than our winter supply in place. Tonight we'll harvest our garlic (Russian Red and Music, about 500 heads) and dry it in the shade before storing it. And more blackberries to pick tonight (we have family visiting and so we'll put them to work). I have a woodworking project to complete by Saturday so much of my time between now and then will be spent in the shop (except some time out to cool off in the lake near us).

And a little research on my root cellar idea suggests that I can store my root vegetables in Perlite. It will still be in the ground in storage containers but the medium that keeps the vegetables apart to prevent rot will be Perlite. I'll do this sometime in the Fall.

Back to work.

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