Or: How tf will I be able to do all this?
Lofty goals. Always had em, always will. Sure I’ve re-prioritized frequently, but the long term stuff is always big.
This blog itself is one lofty goal; the next is farming property. And an app. And a community farming program. Don’t get me started.
But you have to start small. In your community and at home. Going from Whole Foods pre-chopped produce to (fingers crossed) slaughtering your own food is no small transition. Getting to a DIY life is tough work, especially when you have no clue where to start.
I’m not going to preach self-sufficiency while I order take out every night (which I enjoy sometimes, don’t get me wrong), or buy only Walmart meat while I can hear cows moo through my open window.
How to get started today
We really mean it when we want to DIY as much as we can. Some surprising ways we have empowered our creativity and lifelong learning, by switching from “hiring out” to DIY:
- More cooking, less packaging
- Budgeting and meal-planning
- Watching hair, make-up, nail videos on YouTube (much less waste!)
- Encouraging the kids to craft and build with no “example” first (Swannie, 7, figured out some basic dress making by paper crafting for her dolls)
- Gardening and lawn care as we can
- Canning more (and more, hopefully)
- Increasing sewing and mending
- Learning
Don’t fret if all you can do DIY-learn
I used to worry all this reading was a bit of a waste of time. But as things progress, I’m really glad I have a base knowledge in a wide array of categories.
I feel like if someone gave me a chicken, I could take care of it while securing my knowledge with review. I could figure out a moderately simple sewing pattern.
So sometimes I feel a little silly, reading about soil nitrogen levels while I live in an apartment. But learning is a big part of how you can prep for free, no matter where you are.
What is one step you’ve taken, or would like to take, towards self-sufficiency? Have any of those goals changed because of the current ‘lockdown’-type situation?
