My husband, Todd, and I have six children (ages 1-13). We are busy just like you and just like you, we are figuring out how to make self-reliance a part of our busy lives. Many of the things we are doing are inconspicuous, but a few of them are fairly noticeable.
We live in a subdivision, but each year we seem to figure out yet another place in our yard that can help us become more self-reliant. At first it was a few garden boxes; now we have a garden along the side of our house from the front sidewalk to the backyard. At first it was a few berry patches; now berries have also replaced flowers in flower beds and grass in the mow strip (between the road and sidewalk). At first it was a few fruit trees in our backyard; now we have a “mini-orchard” in part of our front yard. At first it was a dog and a cat; now we have a flock of chickens along with beehives. Hmmm. . .what to do next?!
Over the last few years, we’ve gotten a lot of friendly teasing for having a “farm”. (Keep in mind, we don’t live on that big of a lot--1/3 acre.) We really don’t mind any of the teasing, but it has been interesting to see how the ribbing comments have largely been replaced by positive feedback and sincere questions for help. So many questions in fact, that we wondered how we could better share some of the things we are learning.
We hope this blog will be beneficial as we share information on self-reliance topics such as gardening, pruning, food preservation, recipes, food storage, emergency preparedness, and more. We are definitely not experts in self-reliance, but we do enjoy sharing what is working for us as we continue to develop self-reliance ourselves. We hope you enjoy learning and developing self-reliance with us!
We live in a subdivision, but each year we seem to figure out yet another place in our yard that can help us become more self-reliant. At first it was a few garden boxes; now we have a garden along the side of our house from the front sidewalk to the backyard. At first it was a few berry patches; now berries have also replaced flowers in flower beds and grass in the mow strip (between the road and sidewalk). At first it was a few fruit trees in our backyard; now we have a “mini-orchard” in part of our front yard. At first it was a dog and a cat; now we have a flock of chickens along with beehives. Hmmm. . .what to do next?!
Over the last few years, we’ve gotten a lot of friendly teasing for having a “farm”. (Keep in mind, we don’t live on that big of a lot--1/3 acre.) We really don’t mind any of the teasing, but it has been interesting to see how the ribbing comments have largely been replaced by positive feedback and sincere questions for help. So many questions in fact, that we wondered how we could better share some of the things we are learning.
We hope this blog will be beneficial as we share information on self-reliance topics such as gardening, pruning, food preservation, recipes, food storage, emergency preparedness, and more. We are definitely not experts in self-reliance, but we do enjoy sharing what is working for us as we continue to develop self-reliance ourselves. We hope you enjoy learning and developing self-reliance with us!
Beth
