Symbols of Self sufficiency

Wombat · Post: # 9110Post **Wombat** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 12:59 am

G'DAy All,

It may just be me, but there are certain bits of kit that symbolise self sufficiency for me. They may not be practical for your set-up, but you want 'em anyway!

For me the top three are -

1. The Spinning Wheel - don't knwo why this one in particular, but it always has been for me. I was tickled pink when we got one some years ago and am even happier that I can use it now on home-grown cotton.

2. The Scythe - I picked up a brand new European pattern one in Belgium. Probably the association with grain growing does it for me!

3. The Wind Generator - Always wanted one and now I got it!

Do you have things that symbolise the SS lifestyle for you? How about sharing?

Nev

shiney · Post: # 9117Post **shiney** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:01 am

Nev, you are the most SSF person I know!

I think in my own small way it has to be the pile of recycling boxes in my back yard, my skinny leeks and my compost heap!

Next it'll be the chickens. It's a big step for me but along with the energy saving, they are my missions for this year.

Small steps, but positive ones.

Wombat · Post: # 9118Post **Wombat** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:29 am

Great news mate!

We all work by small steps, it's just that I've been at it a looooong time!

Nev

Andy Hamilton · Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:14 am

I think for you especially Nev mate you should also add the water butt.

shiney · Post: # 9125Post **shiney** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:49 am

Oh yeah a water butt.

I do have one of those as well!

Millymollymandy · Sun Jan 22, 2006 12:44 pm

I couldn't answer this earlier because I was thinking along the lines of tools, and that's not my thing!

Compost and water butts - hmmmmm well they are used by gardeners of pretty flowers too!

So for me the list is:

1. My hens because they produce food for us without us having to kill animals.

2. My nice new shiny chest freezer - I had to buy this to store all the fruit and veg I produced!

3. I'm getting stuck now but probably my cupboard (an old filing cupboard bought from a 2nd hand office supply shop) which is full of empty jam jars and other ones full of pickles, chutneys and jams!

catalyst · Post: # 9133Post **catalyst** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 5:21 pm

beehives :)

and hoes... and hose (pipes)

andy

Muddypause · Post: # 9151Post **Muddypause** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 8:15 pm

As I'm not one of Nature's natural growers, and as I firmly concede to only being on the foothills of '-ish', I'm not sure I can think of any iconic impliment that I possess.

I do love tools that do the job they were intended for, and some of my tools have proved their worth over and over again, but I think I've gotta say - my own two hands. I'm not the world's greatest intellect, and I can be a bit slow when it comes to figuring things out. But I am pretty sure of my ability to make, if not a silk purse, then at least a functional container out of the hearing apparatus of a pig.

catalyst · Post: # 9160Post **catalyst** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 8:40 pm

thanks stew... you reminded me that the true symbol of selfsufficiency is community...
i hate digging... i love writing... i have friends who hate thinking or writing... but love to have their hands in soil or cement !!
2 people working together do as much work easily as 3...
and in days gone by, and in countries like portugal, everyone works together...
community is what is needed to be self sufficient :)
we have a lot of wwoofers... but i'd love permanent co-operation :)
(and all the potential problems of a variety of human beings working the same piece of land)
andy

ina · Post: # 9162Post **ina** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 8:51 pm

Muddypause wrote:As I'm not one of Nature's natural growers

...

I'm not the world's greatest intellect, and I can be a bit slow when it comes to figuring things out. But I am pretty sure of my ability to make, if not a silk purse, then at least a functional container out of the hearing apparatus of a pig.

Stew, don't put yourself down: With that parsnip in the photo you must be quite a good grower (all mine were smaller!). And who'd want to be the world's greatest intellect anyway; common sense (and a decent sense of humour, and I don't mean the kind of humour that laughs at crude jokes) is a lot more useful.

Anyway, I don't think I could restrict my "symbols of self sufficiency" to three: The spinning wheel - yes; haven't got one yet, but hopefully will get round to borrowing my friend's some time this year (once I've learned how to process all that wool and cashmere I've got access to!). But then, just the spinning doesn't make the clothes and rugs yet: So my knitting needles are just as important, as would be a weaving frame, and the sowing machine. (Knitting and sowing is what I do at the moment.)

And then, of course, all the garden implements - maybe the hoe above all, and the compost heap.

Still hoping to get a water butt and some kind of power generator (cycle or otherwise

); they both belong to being self sufficient from my point of view. And some livestock that's more "useful" than my goats, i.e. hens, ducks and bees, which I would not need any additional land for.

Ina

Andy Hamilton · Sun Jan 22, 2006 9:44 pm

perhaps even the computer could fit in there these days. Shoot me down if you want, but it is a source for a lot of growing info and ideas. Stew did not sound that thick when I met him, perhaps he is thicko hiding behind intelectual thoughts and words????

ina · Post: # 9194Post **ina** » Sun Jan 22, 2006 11:03 pm

Forgot all about self sufficient transport: The bicycle! Extremely important! Even if I don't use it half as much as I should...

Ina

Muddypause · Post: # 9200Post **Muddypause** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 1:09 am

ina wrote:Stew, don't put yourself down: With that parsnip in the photo you must be quite a good grower (all mine were smaller!).

At the risk of hogging someone else's thread - Ina, be prepared to be amazed (I was). I pulled up the last of my parsnips yesterday. No graphic enhancement necessary:

Now I didn't do anything after sticking the seeds in the ground. Didn't even thin them out - nature did it all. Two came up this size - 18" long and 10" in circumference. Several others not much smaller. I didn't know parsnips could get that big.

and then Andy wrote:Stew did not sound that thick when I met him, perhaps he is thicko hiding behind intelectual thoughts and words????

I had a moment of epiphany a few years ago when I realised I wasn't very bright. It's really not a negative thing at all, it's one of the best things I ever did. At once I found myself liberated from thoughts of being a failure. I know dad was always disappointed that I didn't go to university, or 'make something' of myself. I failed most of my exams from the 11+ onwards. But then I realised that this is only failing if you think you should have succeeded at it. As I'm a bit thick (as Andy so eloquently puts it), then of course I haven't failed at all. All those burdensome aspirations that I always thought I ought be achieving and wasn't were immediately lifted from me. Realising I'm a bit dim was one of the brightest things I ever did.

Millymollymandy · Mon Jan 23, 2006 6:25 am

If you didn't pass English Language O level (or equivalent) then I'd be very surprised! You come across as very intelligent to me, partly because your written English is very good and also because you know a lot about 'stuff'.

Your parsnips aren't bad either!

ina · Post: # 9276Post **ina** » Mon Jan 23, 2006 10:10 pm

I love the way his one visible eye stares right at you...

Kind of - WE WANT YOU - pointing at you with his massive parsnip! How do you take these photos???

Stew, whatever you think you are, stay like it. You are just right. You know a lot of things I don't know anything about. I probably know a few others things - ergh, maybe about knitting? Or lambing? But does it matter? As long as we all complement each other. Would be soooo boring if we were all terribly bright and clever and knew everything - what the heck would we be talking about?

Ina