How To Be Self-Sufficient: DIY Baking, Crafts, Gardening And More (PHOTOS)

From Self-Sufficiency: A Complete Guide to Baking, Carpentry, Crafts, Organic Gardening, Preserving Your Harvest, Raising Animals, and More!:

More and more families and individuals are being drawn toward a lifestyle that is greener, cleaner, and more aware. We want to know where our food is coming from, even be able to touch the dirt that it springs from, if possible. We want our children (or nieces or nephews or godchildren) to understand that eggs come from chickens--not just from cardboard cartons on supermarket shelves. We love the idea of building things with our own hands, of picking our own berries, of making fresh bread and spreading it with homemade butter. We are, in short, longing for self-sufficiency.

Whether we live in the country or in the heart of New York City, there are many easy ways to incorporate independent living practices into our daily lives. Here are ten simple ways to engage in self-sufficiency, wherever you live.

Buy Self-Sufficiency: A Complete Guide to Baking, Carpentry, Crafts, Organic Gardening, Preserving Your Harvest, Raising Animals, and More! for even more great tips.

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Start A Kitchen Herb Garden

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Herbs will thrive in containers if cared for properly. To start your own kitchen herb garden, poke holes in the bottom of any container (if they’re not already there) and fill the container three-quarters full of potting soil. Bury seeds about an inch in the soil, leaving a couple of inches between each seed. Add water until it begins to seep out the bottom. Set in a sunny place, such as a windowsill, and water every few days.

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Shell Drill Ship

A Festive Steak Dinner

Rainbows

Herbs will thrive in containers if cared for properly. To start your own kitchen herb garden, poke holes in the bottom of any container (if they’re not already there) and fill the container three-quarters full of potting soil. Bury seeds about an inch in the soil, leaving a couple of inches between each seed. Add water until it begins to seep out the bottom. Set in a sunny place, such as a windowsill, and water every few days.

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This Tip

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I'd Rather Leave It To The Machines I Feel More Self-Sufficient Just Reading This!

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Comments

[anti politricks]

12:50 PM on 12/27/2010

ahhh love it! going to try at least 4 things from the list

[Robin Feltner]

08:44 PM on 12/21/2010

A kitchen garden can be so beautiful (and convenient). Just assure they get sunlight....it's key!

[Cam Mather]

02:08 PM on 12/20/2010

An excellent North American resource for self-sufficiency is "Thriving During Challenging Times, The Energy, Food and Financial Independence Handbook", a roadmap to making yourself more resilient to the shocks our systems are experiencing. http://aztext.com/thriving.cfm

[dragonmaster]

07:38 AM on 12/20/2010

In the future- with climate change- and the chaos it could bring- disruption of water and food- & transportation - the need to be self sufficient will almost be a must.

Small agrarian communities will develop in states and regions suffering less impacts from severe weather- that will be able to grow enough food- and also keep domesticated animals.

See also http://climateprogress.org/2010/12/18/where-would-be-the-best-place-to-live-in-2035-2060/#comments

[dragonmaster]

07:32 AM on 12/20/2010

I am trying to figure out why my last entry was removed from this subject??
The moderators need to establish some rules here.

What I said was what the posts over at Joe Romm's climate progress.org have said- is Huff Post too unsophisticated for that?

[Travis Maxell]

08:49 AM on 12/18/2010

So, you all thought you could learn to be totally self-sufficient from one slide show? I think this was meant to be a few easy tips to get you started--a little inspiration to whet your appetite. They're fun ideas. If you want details on things like constructing wind turbines, building chicken coops, and growing grains, buy the book these tips were excerpted from (I own the whole series--it's actually pretty good).

[Alex Zhang]

02:57 AM on 12/18/2010

lol, be self-sufficient! Make floating candles! LOL...

[The Rewd]

02:46 PM on 12/17/2010

The most self sufficient action?

Quit taking government handouts and GET A JOB.

[ZiloRS]

07:44 AM on 12/18/2010

Sigh. Not another one of your type...God you never go away.

[klbrz]

07:29 PM on 12/23/2010

So many millions have been trying that lately, but there appears to be more people wanting jobs than there are jobs to be had. Perhaps you have another suggestion?

[ZiloRS]

07:18 AM on 12/17/2010

This is the most unrealistic article I've ever read in the green section.

[deweydecimal]

12:27 PM on 12/17/2010

How so?

[ZiloRS]

07:55 AM on 12/18/2010

Same as other posters have said: it's not really being "self sufficient". It's a misleading title. And even when they come close to something that would help with it, it doesn't go into any kind of depth at all about what it realities of doing that action (like raising chickens--I'm pretty sure it's not as easy as they'd have you believe). And those floating candles (not even tapier candles, *floating* tea cup candles!) and bath salts were just ridiculous. A few, like the trick irrigation system was interesting, but overall, it doesn't live up to the title.

They need to change the title. What I was expecting was more along the lines of:
how kill your own game, how to grow a garden, how to make your own chips/candy (for fun), how to pay down debt faster, how to make your living space sustainable, etc. You know, all things that make actually lead to some degree of self sufficiency.

[The Rewd]

02:47 PM on 12/17/2010

The green section is like reading "The Onion".

[elcerritan]

03:29 PM on 12/17/2010

I tend to agree.

[padrushka]

04:05 AM on 12/17/2010

There is someone who was actually paid for this very lame article. If hp is going to jump into the back to the land arena,at least do it well. Please do not try grinding grains with a mortar and pestle unless it is the only thing you do.

[elcerritan]

03:30 PM on 12/17/2010

They forgot the part about building your own mill, complete with water wheel.

[Reelcanajun]

11:17 PM on 12/16/2010

Hilarious! I've just finished up canning a batch of trout that my husband and I caught ice fishing a couple days ago. The next good catch go in the smoker. Venison finished hanging a couple weeks ago; it's butchered and in the freezer, except the 20 kg. that went into making sausage. Herbs were harvested, dried and frozen. Veges from garden; likewise. Neighbors chickens are still laying; we share veges with her, she shares eggs and chickens with us. She also makes the best cream cheeses in the world...from her own milk cows. The wild berry crop was harvested and frozen; likewise the raspberries from our patch and strawberries from the farm up the road. Wood is stacked and ready if we ever lose power. Emergency candles....ditto.
Water supply...ditto. These are what really make us self sufficient; the ability to live off the land, if necessary. But what is really most important is to have a community of friends and neighbours who share with each other and support each other if we hit a rough spot.

[Vickster]

01:14 AM on 12/17/2010

You sound like my kind a person! I trade goat cheese for eggs and chickens with one of my neighbors. Thinking about getting back into raising birds next year, but I'm leaning towards squab, ducks and geese. Meanwhile, there's three lambs in my barn that will be butchered on New Year's weekend, weather permitting.

[FIGI]

11:19 AM on 12/17/2010

Hope you have a generator and plenty of stored fuel to power your freezer when the lights go out.

[Reelcanajun]

12:46 PM on 12/17/2010

We do, but at present it's -23 and will probably stay that way until April. The freezer is in the garage, and we generally unplug it from November until April. No worry about power. My husband and I have talked about what we'd do if there was an outage that threatened our frozen stuff; we'd just take the meat and fish out of the freezer and brine it and smoke it. Got to run; going fishing.

[ecotopian]

05:25 PM on 12/16/2010

I made cheese from yogurt once. Not to be self sufficient, rather it was a new taste that I wanted to try. It comes out more like cream cheese and is used in the same way. If you want to try it, use a paper coffee filter instead of a cheesecloth. It's easier to cleanup with those. You can also use this method to make Greek style yogurt. Just let the yogurt sit there for about two to four hours.

[EcoCatLady]

06:20 PM on 12/16/2010

I may give it a try... but what I don't understand is why they didn't list making yogurt from scratch... it's ridiculously easy.

[julieintx]

01:28 PM on 12/17/2010

I was thinking the same thing. And then you can use the whey for sauerkraut starter.

[Yasgur]

05:06 PM on 12/16/2010

Thanks, previous posters (especially elcerritan). I haven't laughed so hard in months. If this slide show defines "self-sufficiency," the human population is doomed. Floating candles? Really!?

Left out of the tutorial:

1. Self-sufficiency often--no *usually*--requires substantial initial costs. That simple chicken coop, for example. You're out lumber, nails, roofing and chicken wire (they neglected to mention "nesting boxes," but if you want eggs ...), time and labor, and a plastic wading pool that requires burlap (to make the bottom non-skid), a heat lamp, a waterer, a special chick-sized feeder, chick feed and a bottle of cod liver oil--all of this before ordering a box of chicks, which don't come free of charge.

2. Self-sufficiency requires actual, physical labor. Hours and hours of it. As many hours as you can stand, even while knowing that more hours are required. Repeat daily. Looking around at the US in general, many people aren't into physical labor. Exercise, maybe, but not labor. And how many people have hours and hours to spare?

3. Self-sufficiency doesn't translate to "cash." You're still going to have to figure out how to pay your property taxes and buy things you can't produce. I practice Point 2 (above) a lot, but have yet to make my own toilet paper.

I guess this feel-good slide show appeals to some, and it's nice in theory. But, geez. Let's get real, here.

[klbrz]

06:00 PM on 12/16/2010

Howdy, Yasgur. I was just wondering how you all were doing, hope everyone's doing well.

The candles were a little confusing, and the flour, too. I'm not sure I feel the need to be that self sufficient.

[Bellanova]

08:03 PM on 12/16/2010

"That simple chicken coop, for example. You're out lumber, nails, roofing and chicken wire (they neglected to mention "nesting boxes," but if you want eggs ...), time and labor, and a plastic wading pool that requires burlap (to make the bottom non-skid), a heat lamp, a waterer, a special chick-size­d feeder, chick feed and a bottle of cod liver oil--all of this before ordering a box of chicks, which don't come free of charge."

Instructions on how to make all these necessary supplies from scratch will be included in the next installment of the series, I'm sure.

Meanwhile, enjoy your home-made lavender salt bath in the soothing light of the floating (in the same bath, to save water, which was taken from your trickle irrigation system, of course) candles. :)

[bills4ever]

10:59 PM on 12/16/2010

I raised chickens for 50 years. I wish to God I could do it in the tony suburb where I now reside. It's easy, with simple improvised equipment, a minimum of scavenged lumber, and nests can be as simple as cardboard boxes which can be changed out frequently. I never heard of a "wading pool," and don't have a clue what it would be used for. A heat lamp is not necessary unless you're hatching or ordering baby chicks. A nearby farmer's market auction sells adult hens at reasonable prices.. they might be "in moult," but will begin laying soon. If I weren't so old, I'd sign up with AmeriCares, or a similar organization, and help others learn poultry husbandry.

[My Good Babushka]

04:31 PM on 12/16/2010

We can't be self-sufficient, but we can be Cittaslow. I'm all for local, environmentally responsible, community sufficiency, but these are more like tips for homemade gifts.

[elcerritan]

05:13 PM on 12/16/2010

Tips for home-made gifts! That's perfect!

[Vickster]

01:24 AM on 12/17/2010

That's what I was thinking!

[I3addog]

04:27 PM on 12/16/2010

I'm going out and getting me some whitetail deer to eat and then I'm going to make me some underwear from the hide.

Self sufficient enough ?

[nailinpalinnow]

05:12 PM on 12/16/2010

You'll definitely be by yourself. ; )

[elcerritan]

05:13 PM on 12/16/2010

Don't forget to turn the antlers into toothpicks. We can't be having any waste, now.