What with soaring fuel and food prices, an economy on the brink and the way both the Republicans and Democrats are hell bent on bankrupting this country, I've been taking an increasing interest in going to a simpler, more self sufficient lifestyle. To that end, I've been doing/planning/thinking about the following:
Saving money for land to grow a few things (doing).
Getting a scooter or small motorcyle (thinking about, shopping around)--you can get them for under $2k and they get 90-100 MPG.
Reading FOXFIRE, BACK TO BASICS and MOTHER EARTH NEWS (doing).
Planting a garden (doing).
Making compost (doing)--this has been my most successfull adventure along these lines.
Turning down the thermostat (I can do that now that the wife has given birth and no longer has the pregnancy hot flashes).
Trying to make soap (doing)--without much success.
Trying to make a basket with native materials (doing)--without much success.
Researching to compile a "FOXFIRE" book for South Louisiana (Doing at the library)--so far I can tell you how to make candles with a wax myrtle and how to build a pirougue!
Going to the Lake Charles Farmer's Market (doing)--mostly a rip off. All but one guy buys crap at the grocery store and sells it to unsuspecting folks. You can, in fact, find more locally grown food at Market Basket, a local (LA and TX) grocery store chain.
AND NOW, MY CRUSTY COMMENT ON BLOGGING. I think blogging is a big disappointment. It has so much potential, but it tends to suck up a lot of time and you run into 50 blowhards for every rational person. So, if you are wondering if I'm "blogging again", I'm not. I'll post or comment when the spirit moves me.
Love,
Crusty
5 comments:
The wife is good at soap. Ask her for her secrets.
Since you're "greening" it, how about the name "Crispy" instead of "Crusty?"
Hey bro,
It sound like you are interested in a lot of the same thing Phillip and I are interested in. Have you read anything on permaculture? It's the idea of gardening raising livestock and food in really small, often urban spaces. One example is having a hen house, covered by an arbor with a grape vine for shade, which the June bugs are attracted to. Then you can just shake the arbor, and the June bugs drop into the hen house, and hens love to eat June bugs...so wa-la! You have a great little cycle. What's this foxfire thing...sounds as if it's on-line? I’m out of the loop on that one. Here's the address for a blog from a family who is growing all their own food in their front yard that might interest you. http://beyondthelawn.blogspot.com/ I can tell we will have lots of things to talk about the next time we get to visit. LOVEc
Four depositions, a sick wife, and a day spent negotiating with a landlord and briefing the media to keep an old lady from being evicted, I'm back with brown bag lunch in hand!
I also thought that I should add that I am walking to work now and the wife and I are thinking about becoming a one-car (and one motorcycle) family.
Jared: Maybe it ought to be "crunchy", though I was refering to my gripes about the blogosphere. Ask Jen where she gets Lye. Red Devil no longer sells it and Drano has other ingredients.
Christi: I have heard about permaculture. With any luck I will be able to buy land before doing that to my backyard tropical retreat. I'm off to check out http://beyondthelawn.blogspot.com
Crusty!, I suggest Backwoods Home Magazine. While I don't subsribe, I know someone who does and often read their old issues. Very resourceful - although not quite the urban style survivalist.
http://www.backwoodshome.com/
Bravo, Civis! My wife and I made the jump from city to country five years ago. We've got 20 acres in rural Utah-- a far cry from our 400-unit condo complex in Culver City, CA. We've installed solar and wind (the latter currently offline yet again while the wind howls outside), are raising goats and chickens, learning to garden in a harsh climate, and loving life.
Speaking for myself, my biggest failing is lapsing back into the big city pace that I spent 25 years in-- I create my own chaos.
I appreciate your blog. I also invite you to visit mine. We may not (and probably won't) agree on everything, but I'm always open to lively discussion.
Post a Comment