5 First Steps to A More Self-Sufficient Life

By Carolyn Thomas
Homesteading Family
 5 First Steps to A More Self-Sufficient Life

5 First Steps to A More Self-Sufficient Life

Whether you are living in a hundred-year-old farmhouse on 120 acres of land in

the countryside or you are in a studio apartment in the middle of the city, there
are steps that everyone can, and should, take to increase their self-sufficiency.
Here’s our list of the first 5 things you need to learn:

1) COOK IT- Start cooking your food from scratch.

Seriously, this is probably one of the most important steps towards a more
self-sufficient life that you can take. Your health will benefit GREATLY.
Your budget will slim down. Your waste will reduce. You will start gaining
skills in the kitchen that will allow you to move on to more advanced food
prep (like cheese making!). And if you start inviting friends and family over
for your home-cooked meals, you will create community around you!

When you shop, be sure that you look for only items with NO INGREDIENT
LIST. Fresh veggies, fresh fruit, whole grains and meats should fill out the
vast majority of your shopping cart. Even baked goods can be significantly
healthier if baked at home from simple ingredients. Remember, meals
don’t have to be complicated to be great... simple meals, made with fresh
ingredients are often the most memorable.

If you currently buy a lot of convenience foods, start making your own so
that you have a backup on hand for busy days... freeze a few dinners, can a
soup for your shelf, make some simple granola for a quick breakfast.

2) GROW IT - Grow something.

It can just be a few broccoli sprouts for your sandwiches, a little patch of
fresh basil or rosemary by your front steps or a few tomatoes plants on

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 5 First Steps to A More Self-Sufficient Life

your balcony... you don’t even need to have a plot of earth (although that
does help!) but grow something! Even a few small herbs will teach you the
basics of growing food.

Of course, the more the better as you head towards a more self-sufficient
lifestyle. The more organic, homegrown food you can grow (and eat!) the
healthier you will become, the less money you will spend on your groceries,
the more delicious your food will be AND you will be that much less
dependent on the grocery store to provide all of your food.

Start by focusing on growing plants that do well in your area (ask other
local gardeners) and that are heavy producers. Zucchini and tomatoes
often fall into this category. As you gain some gardening skill, start to try to
extend your garden season so that you can be eating something fresh as
much of the year as possible... greens such as kale can survive
temperatures well below freezing and can keep you eating fresh greens
year round!

3) PRESERVE IT - Preserve some farm fresh food.

Even if you aren’t yet growing enough to preserve out of your own garden,
make a habit of preserving some of the local foods at the height of their
season. Check out your local farmers market for great in-season, bulk
produce buys. The flavor is amazing, they are cheaper, and you will have
the chance to learn how to preserve foods and fill your pantry with healthy,
local foods.

Fermenting, canning, freezing and dehydrating are the most common forms
of food preservation, with brewing, infusing, salting and smoking right
behind. Learning a little about each method can leave you with a pantry
stocked with everyday basics AND the little luxuries that make even
impromptu meals with friends a memorable experience.

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 5 First Steps to A More Self-Sufficient Life

Don’t forget to make yourself some easy convenience foods. You can safely
can meats, soups and whole meals to keep healthy and easy to grab meals
on hand for those busy days!

4) HEAL IT - Start using natural remedies instead of OTC

or prescription drugs
Did you know that there are a lot of very safe and yet very effective
medicinal herbs out there? Chances are, there are several of them growing
within a few feet of you right now. Get to know the plants that are growing
around you and their uses – especially those hardy weeds – AND START
USING them!

Even apartment dwellers can grow a little peppermint to help with

digestion or pick a lowly plantain leaf for an insect bite. Every ailment that
you learn to handle naturally with plants is another step away from
dependence on the big pharma medical system and another step towards
greater self-sufficiency.

5) REUSE IT! Measure your self-sufficiency in your

trash reduction.

Remember the old saying... “Make do, do without, use it up or wear it out.”
This was the motto of many households during a much more self-sufficient
time of history. Either repurpose waste or don’t bring it into your
household in the first place. Turn your worn-out jeans into a cute quilt
instead of throwing them away. Create your own reusable napkins instead
of buying the disposable paper kind. Donate items that are no longer
needed or wanted. Repair everything you can instead of throwing it away.

There is never any reason for any food waste... even if food gets old and
cannot be eaten it should be composted, add to the worm bin or fed to
animals. Recycling and reusing everything you possibly can will not only
keep items out of the landfill, but it will help keep a lot more money in your
bank account and give you the skills of repairing needed items.

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 5 First Steps to A More Self-Sufficient Life

With each of these first steps, start small. Tackle one item at time. Start
making one meal a day from scratch, start with growing 2 or 3 herbs in a
pot on your kitchen windowsill, etc. Learn and troubleshoot as you go.
Every time you start to feel like you have a handle on what you are doing
try doing a little more... move to 2 meals a day from scratch, start
preserving more foods in different ways, try to heal a different health
challenge with food or herbs. Before long you will be living a significantly
more resilient life.

While each of these things will take you a large step of the way towards a
more self-sufficient life, we have a saying around our home “self-sufficiency
is a myth.” In our highly system-dependent culture it is a great thing to
reclaim both the freedom and responsibility for our basic needs... but you
never want to do it alone. Remember to always be building a community
of like-minded people around you (online community is great, but try to
find some local community, too!). Make connections with family, friends
and neighbors who are interested in some (or all) of the above steps and
nurture that relationship, learning together.

The most important step?

GETTING STARTED! You’ll be glad you did!

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