What I Did This Year to Be More Self-Sufficient, Part 2


Last year I shared five things I did to be more self-sufficient.

Colorful plastic clothespins on a laundry line

How are you doing on your goals this year?

Each year as the end of the year approaches I take a look at my goals and see how I'm doing. The new year is a way off still but that gives me a little more time to work on some that I haven't finished up yet.

One of my overall goals is to be more self-sufficient. There are things I want to do, acquire, and learn, and each year I choose a couple of those to work on and cross off my list. I want to be able to produce as much of our needs as we can.

Here are the things I've been working on this year:

Cabbage growing in a raised bed garden. The leaves have some obvious insect damage.

1. Gardening - I've continued working on the "enlarging the garden" project. When finished, we'll have double the space we had before. I've been working on this one since last fall and I'm not quite finished yet. I've added fill to the low spot in the corner so the slope isn't as steep. I've built raised beds although I still need to fill several of them. 

I grew squash and cabbage for the first time ever this year, and learned about squash bugs and cabbage worms. I have plans and materials for a cold frame and hope to have that finished before the end of year.

A sliding chicken coop door that allows the flock to go in and out of their coop, but can be opened from the outside. I built that!

2. Learn how to use power tools - I used a power saw and drill to build the raised garden beds and the sliding door for the chicken coop, and have made some repairs where needed.

3. Learn how to save seeds. By no means am I an expert but I do have an expert friend and I'm learning all I can from her. Knowledge is something that can't be taken away from us.

A huge pile of fresh grass clippings that will be layered on my compost pile.

4. Composting - Although I've known about composting and had some basic knowledge about it - I failed miserably at a worm bin a few years ago - I have now successfully turned kitchen scraps, manure and grass clippings into garden soil.

5. Bees - I've talked about getting bees for more than a year, so this year I took a class on beekeeping, picked the brains of one of my daughter's friends in another state who has a hive, and hubby and I decided on a location for the hive. Hubby is giving me the hive and other equipment for Christmas, and I'm on a waiting list for my bees!


What did you do this year or plan to do next year to become more self-sufficient? Leave a comment below and let me know.



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