Building SOUL

On the weekend of April 28-29, 2012, we were very excited to build an 8’ x 8’ solar shower, as it was our first workshop off-site and the largest one yet! Learning from our previous workshops, we planned a lot of the process in advance so that we could ensure all of our helping hands kept busy.

Our project was situated on an Wheelbarrow Farm in Sunderland  and consisted of ten people (although one was only 6 months old and hung off her mother’s back for most the time!), many of which had very little building experience, so this was a great opportunity for them to learn.

Our first day started sunny but crisp as we gathered in a circle to meditate and get to know one another. We were then put into building groups, each responsible for a wall or floor. Each group had one experienced member and two beginners, which worked out well for teaching purposes. By lunchtime, most of us had finished a wall! This was going great!

After lunch Ingrid gave a presentation about how to build with wood in a sustainable manner and the different options available.  Very interesting information about what kinds of woods are from where and the cause for concern about our depleting resources, relating softwoods and hardwoods to the  different building types that evolved throughout the world.

For the rest of the day, we worked in our groups and moved on to help others when we finished, and eventually assembling the walls to the floor, cladding them and started building the roof rafters. Thanks to our thorough organization, everything was going smoothly!

The following day was beautifully sunny and we were all prepared to get to work. As we started to install the windows and doors, we realized that the style of bathtub that the farmer had purchased 2^nd hand was interfering with the door as it opens – a typical design problem that called for lots of discussion and re-considerations. This was attributed to not co-ordinating the correct dimensions of the door, which was an extra large exterior insulated door, or the bathtub in advance.  In the end we decided to move the bathtub to the middle of the space rather than the end and have the door not open fully.  We had a discussion of the value of mistakes as golden learning opportunities that will never be forgotten.

 After an incredible lunch by the farming staff, the rafters were notched and secured above, ready to receive the roofing materials. Since the overhang on the side of the roof was to be a foot wide, it was decided that our sheathing alone would not support this cantilever and we now had to build a secondary roof support system!  A little more materials than we had accounted for, so it’s a good thing we bought extra! We ended up building a whole frame for the roofing materials to fasten to and stay supported.

The frame did not take long to build; the hard part was getting it in place on top of the rafters. Brad, the Host Building Instructor, had to climb up and move it around with the help of everyone pushing from below, an inch this way or two inches back, whichever direction Ingrid told us after measuring each overhang. After about a half an hour we got it in place and started securing it.

After that, there wasn’t much to left to do – just finish the layers on the roof, install the plumbing and paint it! Enough work for another day, so we called it quits and started cleaning up our mess of tools.

Everyone was getting tired and a little sun burned, so we finished off the workshop with a closing circle to get some great feedback and discussed points of improvement for next time. We are always learning just as much as those we are teaching, and even though this was our best workshop yet, we still learned lots to make the next one even better!

The following weekend Brad went back for a day to help the farmer complete the roof and plumbing. Now wheelbarrow Farm has a beautiful shower house to clean off in with enough room to sleep in, which the farmer had to try out on the first night!

Great Wall of China - With Rammed Earth

On Wednesday May 16, I am offering a short talk on Building with Earth in Toronto at Eco-Existence, 766 St. Clair Ave West (at Arlington) from 7 to 8 pm.  There will be a short presentation afterwards on EMF Protection from 8 to 8:30 pm.

There are many different ways to use earth as a building material. From Straw bale wall systems that include earth plasters, to earth clay wall systems, to cob, to rammed earth and earth bag.  Earth is a truly grounding material that provides thermal mass as well as hygrophilic abilities that allows moisture to wick in and wick right back out again.

The earth itself has been used recorded as use as a building material since before 8000 BC! Standing still today are many buildings throughout the world that are at least 500 years old.  The Great Wall of China was built with rammed earth construction in parts across the plains. Over the last few decades, people have been coming back to discovering that living with a home that has earth in the walls has many desirable properties.

The many advantages to building with earth are (Source: http://www.solidearth.co.nz/earthbuilding-advantages.php);

• Earth is a 100% Natural Local Resource

• It has a very low Carbon Footprint

Earth buildings use very little by way of manufactured or processed materials; the amount of energy consumed in construction is low therefore reducing the environmental impact

• Earth is great for indoor Climate

• Climatic control

As a high mass material earth evens out temperature fluctuations by time-delayed releasing of absorbed solar energy thus providing a stable and comfortable internal temperature (passive solar heating)

• Moisture control

Earth has the great ability to absorb and release moisture from the indoor air thus stabilizing humidity inside rooms and providing a healthy living environment (prevents mould)

• Excellent Noise control

Earth buildings have very low sound transmission levels

• High Fire resistance

Earth walls are non combustible providing a lower fire risk factor for the building

• Earth has a verh Detoxifying effect

Earth walls are completely breathable and have the ability to absorb toxins and smells from the indoor air

• Earth is very Affordable

• Low Life cycle cost

Low maintenance and heating costs equate to a low lifetime cost for the building. As energy costs rise, energy efficient buildings will have a greater value

• Earth is a Zero Waste material
• Natural Earth has Beautiful  Colours & Textures

The presentation will entertain you with mud buildings from Yeomen, the  Hopi Indians, to the sod houses of the prairies.

We will explore the differences of building with solid earth to make buildings with dried, fired or compressed earth bricks.  There is a wonderful earth bag building technique from California that is so simple to create.  Buildings made with earth alone is good for southern climates, but here in the North, we also need to add insulation to these walls.  There are systems that make rammed earth walls with insulation inserted inside the middle and there are also systems that add straw or wood branches or chips integrated into the earth to enhance its insulative properties. My personal favorite is the straw or wood chip clay wall system that has evolved from Germany.

And there are earth plasters that we can place on the surface of a wall – whether it is a straw bale wall, or a fired brick or concrete block wall, or even a drywall surface.  Plasters come in a range of mixes that depend on various ingredients used for what your desired end goal might be.

Please come to my talk and find out so much more about why you might prefer to be Building with Earth!

I recently came accross an incredible concept of people working with organic food products to make buildings out of them – like mushrooms!  Philip Ross is creating building blocks out of nontoxic, fireproof, mold- and water-resistant  fungus – a type of mushroom!  He is mostly interested in  the “fungi’s thin, white rootlike fibers”  known as mycelium. These fibers make great building blocks! Once dried they have remarkable properties such as the fact that  it traps more heat than fiberglass insulation and it is much stronger than even concrete!  Sawing them into shape with metal rasps continuously errodes even the metal!

Now, Gavin McIntyre, co-founder of  Ecovative Design, (based in Green Island, N.Y. since  2007),  has created a unique product of working with the mycellium of mushrooms.  He has developed the ‘Eco-cradle’ a mushroom derived product that can be used in shipping containers instead of Styrofoam.  He “claims that his company’s products require 10 times less energy to make than plastics and foams, emit eight times less carbon dioxide, and are compostable at the end of their life cycles.“ In 2013, he hopes to come out with a mushroom based insulation board called “Greensulate”, for construction.

“….a mycelium-derived high-stiffness alternative for medium-density fiberboard, which already has met the specifications of the California Air Resources Board. McIntyre says this product would target the furniture and cabinet industries…”

Hi company Ecovative “grows” the packaging or fiberboard base, by injecting mycelium into agricultural waste products  They then place the mix into a mold where it expands and fills the mold in about one week.

I love making buildings out of trees!  There is a whole world out there of truly fascinating buildings that are made out of branches, living tree’s and more.  In Germany there is the Willow Palace Project.  Architect Marcel Kalberer and his group Sanfte Strukturen are re-envisioning the how to work with living building materials and techniques.

“Kalberer began his first construction in 1984 and since then has built more than 70 structures around Europe. He has also shared and explained his technique to others, and according to Kalberer, there are now more than 10,000 small willow constructions at schools and in private gardens around Germany. “ 

Check out this website for more pictures as well as a side bar full of all sorts of incredible living tree kinds of structures;

 http://atlasobscura.com/place/auerworld-palace

This week, we are starting to build our own unique tree structure.  It is not out of living trees, but will be constructed out of poplar tree ‘sapling’s, which grow like weeds in the forests around here.  We are building a large half sphere bandshell for the Barrie EcoFest & Georgina Splash Water Festivals.  It is 24′ in length and 12′ in height!  It will come apart in 4 sections to be able to be transported.

The base structure will be woven with grapvines and attached, on-site with green branches the day of the event – simulating a living tree building.  The intent is that this bandshell will able to last for several years and is easily transported and stored for various temporary events.

This Sunday is a FREE day-long experience (bring your own bag lunch) where you can learn, with us, how we will construct this incredible outdoor shelter.  Please contact us ASAP at  info @ somaearth.com if you would like to be involved! It will be a fabulous and funtastic experience!

“.…on April 13-14 a high speed solar wind stream is expected to hit Earth’s magnetic field. NOAA forecasters estimate a 20% chance of geomagnetic storms  around the poles.” (from http://www.spaceweather.com/ )

Are you aware that the geomagnetic activity of the sun affects our thoughts and body physiology as well?  The electromagnetic affect of solar flares can detrimentally affect the Central Nervous system (and stomach lining) as well as brain activity and our physical, emotional and psychological responses. The distortions of the magnetic fields of the earth are increasing in intensity continuously, affecting our circadian rhythms, sleep, focus, immunity and general groundedness.  I suspect many people feel a constant overwhelm due to this.  You may have noticed more intense mood swings, greater feelings of sadness, fears, anger coming up faster than ever before – with little ability to feel like you can control it at all. For even more information on this, check out some of the following articles;

• Solar Flare: The sun touches our psyche 
• Scientific Study Shows Solar Activity Affects Humans Physical and Mental State
• Does the Earth’s magnetic field cause suicides?
• How Recent Solar Flares Are Affecting Humans

Thermal Scan of brain with cell phone on ear

With the increasing use of the internet, GPS satelittes, cell phone towers, free Wi-fi, our bodies are being constantly bombarded with Electro-magnetic Toxicity!  We are being surrounding by an intensity of microwaves bombarding us with low wave frequencies affecting the very essential life force of our body cells.   The world is only beginning to become aware of the serious, long term dangers of these issues and if you are a highly sensitive person, as I am, you will have felt the effects on your body sooner than most people – like the canary in the mine phenomena!  Here are some weblinks describing this in more detail;

• http://emf.mercola.com/sites/emf/emf-dangers.aspx
• http://www.emfscience.com/

I would like to tell you about the Safe Space products that I am now offering for sale.  They are very unique in how they can truly protect, support and even enhance your beneficial biological response to all the EMF pollution that harms human beings through your cell phones, in your home and work spaces, on your land, on the street or while you drive your car.  I can’t say enough about how genuinely helpful these simple and permanent, tools are.  They will help you sleep better, focus better, feel calmer, enhance your immune system and much more. They truly have helped me personally a lot.

These products are not readily available in Ontario and we are distributors because we have researched this subject for years and we can’t find anything like this anywhere else that will truly protect and harmonize your body, home and landscapes – permanently! Safe Space products work much like how music is created on a CD with a laser light technology that creates a subtle energy pattern in the form of a holographic imprint. This imprint establishes a new carrier wave that induces a frequency with a corrective resonance to restore balance and coherence that neutralizes the detrimental biological effects of EMF’s on our bodies. Click here for more detailed information from Safe Space on how this all works.
If you would like to physically see the products and haven’t heard about them, you can find out more about them at my upcoming talks in Toronto, on Wed. April 18 at 7 pm (Ecoexistance store, 766 St Clair Ave West), or at the next UDGC Meeting in Uxbridge on Monday April 23 at 6:30 pm (Uxbridge Library, basement at rear).

Below is my price list.  I recommend the Cell Phone Patch and Safe Space 2 at the very minimum.

• The Cell Phone Patch is the most critical item to prevent the brain from heating up and causing brain cancer.  I personally can’t use a cell phone without one of these without my head starting to get an immediate headache.
• The Safe Space 2 is a good starting item to get as well as it covers about 100 SF (covers 1 room, office space, a computer or car).  Very handy for travelling also in planes, airports or hotels.
•  If you have a large house, Safe Space 1 covers up to 1000 SF
• If you have land, the Georesonator Pack covers up to 1 acre. I can’t say enough about how incredibly good this feels on my own land!  Makes a huge difference.
• One Electric Energy Strip on your electrical panel causes the entire house electricity to become beneficial.  And one on your main water source lines ensures that the water you drink has no radiation or carries any toxic energies from other detrimental earth energy sources.
• The Appliance Patches on all your electrical fixtures and appliances ensures that all the electrical machines around you won’t throw your energy off (by the way, using a blow dryer causes over 60 Hz in your energy field and it is highly recommend to use them as little as possible and to rebalance your energy field if you do!).  An average 1 bedroom home may need about 12 – 18 patches.
• The Food/Liquid Amplifier is extremely handy and very helpful if you are concerned about the toxins in the food you buy or eat in restaurants.
• The Protectoplex card is worn on a string around your neck or in a pocket to protect you from all detrimental energies as you walk outside .
• The Neutralizer Plate helps to change your biological response (conscious or not to you) to environmental toxins in your environment such as formaldehyde, perfumes and more.
• The Attunement Card is not listed on their website, but it essentially helps you to rebalance yourself when you feel ‘out of it’.
• And finally, the Ecolaser is an incredible tool that looks like a pen with a green laser light that can transmute any material instantly for several days (it’s not permanent) – it is excellent for travelling for use on the plane, in hotels, seminar or workshop spaces, Dr or Dentist offices,  hospital rooms (extremely toxic electromagnetically!) on your body, wherever you might be mobile and need something only temporarily.

Click her for more FAQ’s and here for some testimonials. Click on each item below to get more information about each one from the Safe Space website;

To Launch this product I am offering a 10% discount by email until April 23 and at the events on April 18 &  23 as well – however be aware that you will be ordering with a 50% deposit and the first order will take 3 – 4 weeks before delivery.   For now, you can send me your confirmation by replying back to me with your order request with this order form.  You can pay by Cheque, or interac email.

When people visit me at my home and on my land, they all notice a palpable calm and ease when they are here.  These products really help!

Giant Eggs on top of the de Torre Galatea - Salvidor Dali Museum, Spain

As we are taking greater care with the quality of the food that we put into our bodies, we can also take greater care with the quality buildings that we construct.  Not only for the health benefits of enhancing our physical bodies, but also for the greater good of a healthier earth that we can be shared for the next generations and more.

Organic Food is slowly becoming more main stream….people are discovering the importance of food that has no synthetic pesticides or chemical fertilizers, that is non-GMO (genetically modified organisim), with no chemical food additives, or processed with industrial solvents and that is also farmed in ways that are sustainable for the soil and the long term health of the environment.  Especially for those that have had serious illnesses or who have food allergies or chemical sensitivities, what we ingest in our bodies is coming under increasing scrutiny.  What was once ‘normal’ a hundred years ago, is now an extra, added expense, due to the need to mass produce our food and increase its speed of growth, control detrimental pests and increase shelf life.

Did you know that not only do they add arsenic to the feed in chickens, they also use the chicken litter that contains this arsenic to cows for factory beef that is then also ingested by humans – who are then eating, second-hand chicken sh*t!  Makes you truly never want to eat another non-organic chicken or beef ever again!  This is one of the reasons why we have just built our own small chicken coop.  The picture above is our first chicken peaking her head into our new coop! We are still working on some finishing touches and I will blog later on about this small sustainable building that we created to begin to have control of the supply of some of our own food on our property.

And, like organic food, the building industry is becoming ‘greener’.   Our building industry has created standards to enable the mass production of cheap buildings – to the detriment of our earth and our personal living environments. Now, there is an increasing awareness of the need and interest for buildings that have more energy efficient materials and building systems, there is also an increasing marketing aspect where companies are often ‘greenwashing’ their products on order to catch more market share and interesting news profiles.  Greenwashing is a form of green PR spin that promotes a product to have a sustainable component that is used deceptively and is used to ultimately increase a products profit-ability.  There are programs and systems such as the Green Guides that try to define what is green and what is greenwashing.

Like food that is purported to be natural and healthy, building products and how they go together to make a building is now also beginning to be scrutinized and defined as what is really green and what isn’t.  Standards like LEED and the Living Building Challenge are trying to create a real system that offers an ethical truth to what is being built these days.

Organic Building is a term I like to use to describe a form of building that is about a supporting a deeper ecological impact.  Kind of like deep green building. For me, organic building encompasses a variety of aspects from;

• Using only all natural building materials such as wood, earth, straw, stone, glass, ceramic, etc.
• Finding materials with the lowest carbon footprint, lowest embodied energy, is as local as possible
• Being inspired by Nature in some form – through shape, sacred geometry, cosmic influences, seasonal accommodations, structural forms, organic growth, etc.
• Uses Building Biology Practices – an emphasis on healthy building materials & systems with an awareness of other subtle energies including EMF  & geopathic protection.
• Works with Passive House Principles – working with the sun passively and ensuring the house has a strong, tight seal.

Passive House Principles

Like Salvador Dali’s museum in Spain (first picture at the beginning of this article), buildings can inspire people to reconsider what is natural and what is real or what is greenwashing!  A building topped with giant eggs and stippled with a pattern of buns on the outside truly challenges one’s notion of what a building can be.

The 'buns' on the outside of de Torre Galatea - Salvidor Dali Museum, Spain

For more information on Organic Building, come to my presentation Seminar on April 18, 2012 at Ecoexistence in Toronto (766 St Clair Ave West) and learn even more about green washing, building biology, low carbon foot print, zero energy, low embodied energy, passive house principles, non-toxic building materials, EMF & electrical protection, including gentle impact living and natural building.

I invite you to be inspired with a brief history of ‘organic architecture’, be enchanted with how Nature can inform design, as well as become up-to-date with the practical basics of the growing movement in sustainable, natural building.

Spiral House

May you all have the courage to live through your hearts, let go of what no longer aligns with your true soul path and find ways to cultivate an abundance of Joy every day!

December 21, 2012 is the end of the 13,000 years of the Mayan long count calendar. We are in very tumultuous times with great changes occurring in increasing intensity all around us. There is a growing chaos of erratic world weather patterns, catastrophic earth plate shifts, economic dissolution’s of countries and so much more.  And at the same time there is also an increase in holistic healing modalities, environmental activism, people who are choosing to operate from their hearts more than their heads.  I have been studying various writings on these subjects and will be mentioning some of them throughout this year in my blog.

Here is a link to the first 2012 article;  The Feminine Energy & 2012

To live ‘wisely’ in these times, it is important to develop tools that help to ground and centre you for the many dramatic shifts that are occurring around us in a variety of ways – including emotional/spritual/energetic as well as physical illnesses. To be ‘Resilient’ to these changes, it requires a body and mind to be strongly grounded in this reality while remaining open & flexible to be able to quickly shift or change as required.  Resiliency work is about building up your healing systems and healing team to assist you through difficult times on many different levels.

Below is what represents the breadth and depth of holistic and healing modalities that I have personally explored and continue to highly recommend and use myself. Some of these various methods are included during my various talks, teaching & training programs;

1. To begin with, please refer to this link in my blog that I wrote in 2003; Grounding Strategies for Overwhelmed Systems.  Below is what I am adding to that original list….

2. I highly recommend the Flower Essence 2012 by Andrea Mathesion, as well as any courses, events or personal intuitive sessions with her;

1. Here is a quote of what this flower essence embodies;
1. “New Year 2012 is an unprecedented time in the history of humanity and our planet, a pivotal moment of prophetic fulfillment. The Mayan calendar indicates that we are at the cusp of a new age where everything is in flux. As the Earth moves into the intensity of renewing Herself, we human beings are called to do the same.
   “Our focus on money and currency-exchange of every kind is being challenged. We are not buffered as before. Self-worth based on material wealth is being stripped away. As collective illusions disintegrate, we find ourselves exposed, raw and sensitive to the shifting currents of Life as never before.
   “This is a time of great opportunity — a time to open to the spirit of Creation. A time to let ourselves be held and guided, even as we are broken open. It is not a time to act like children, to pretend that we are helpful and do not understand. Greatness lives within us — swollen, ripe and ready. This is our primary reference now, the sweet intensity of Life, pressing to be born. Shed the old with graceful course. Step into your new Life, moment by moment, on a wave of deepest pleasure.
   A prayer for these times: Our wings wide-spread, moist soil beneath our feet, red hearth-fire in our breast, we make the great leap forward — Joyous Shapers in the Dance.”
2. Here also are a few links to youtube video slide show presentations that are a lovely expression of her work; 2012 Flower Essence, A love Affair with Nature & Welcome to Grey Heron.
3. She can be reached at andrea (at) ravenessences (dot) com and her website is ravenessences.com and also checkout her events/blog
3. Donna Eden’s Energy medicine – really great body of work.  Highly recommend to learn how to do the 5 – 10 minute daily routine
1. 5 minute routine –  Video
2. triple warmer calming technique – Method 1 & Method 2
3. Basic Energy Medicine Kit 
4. EFT – Emotional Freedom Technique – such a handy self-help tool to immediately shift an intense emotional reaction to something and to help change old habits
1. Basic Protocol 1, Basic Protocol 2 & Basic Protocol 3
2. Free Google ebook by EFT Founder, Gary Graig – The EFT Manual
3. for anxiety – Free download – Audio & script
4. for insomnia – Basic Instructions & Good General Article
5. Meditation – there are a  very large variety of methods;
1. Tibetan buddhist forms, teaching heart centered & present moment living;
1. Shambhala.org
2. Zen meditation forms, the following is a more modern influence with integrates western psychology awareness work with voice dialog and Zen Buddhist consciousness work toward enlightenment – really great work!
1. Big Heart, Big Mind – bigmind.org
3. Hindu meditation forms
1. Sahaja Yoga – great free online video courses are very helpful here
4. Shamanic journeying forms
5. Guided audio and/or visual meditation forms
6. Walking meditation
7. Body felt sense tracking
6. YOGA, YOGA, YOGA – I can’t say enough about the importance of stretching and strengthening the body slowly and carefully through the various forms of yoga.  My personal favorites are Moshka & Hatha forms, but there are many others that are also very good
7. Tong Ren - fascinating long distance healing method
8. Access Consciousness - wonderful consciousness clearing and inspiring work
9. Biogemetry – biosignatures - Egyptian Feng Shui for the body with sacred geometry shapes
10. Body/mind integrated therapies – very important for deep healing of core issues and integrating the ‘gap’ between the body and mind more
1. Bioenergetics (my core therapeutic training that I can’t say enough about how important it is to understand)
2. Core Energetics (Similar to Bioenergetics but also including a spiritual dimension of the Pathwork Teachings and includes another dimension of the bodies invisible energies & Chakra’s)
3. Somatic Experiencing (very, very good for healing deep, core trauma work – especially for children and large groups)
11. And consciousness development, therapy work – meeting the dark, shadow self and integrating it with compassion
12. NMT – Neuromodulation Technique - worked with this for years to clear many levels of  pernicious synaptic patterns (PSP’s)
13. Connecting with Nature daily – walks, meditations, sitting by a tree or water
14. House clearing & protection methods – important to keep your home, as well as your body, energetically clear (including clutter clearing)
1. EMF protection tool links
2. soma earth ENERGETIC  SPACE BALANCING [My own book]
3. aromatherapy oil diffusers & oils – grounding = pine, fir
4. Clutter Clearing
5. large grounding stones can be helpful under the bed or the couch- garnet, obsidian
15. Vigorous physical exercise – very important for good grounding and reality clearing
1. cardio
2. muscle strengthening

A Rural Homestead Vision with Permaculture Principles

What is ‘Homesteading’ and ‘Self Sufficiency’?  It is the new way of how we can learn to live ‘lightly’ on the earth.  And, it is the old way of how people used to live off the land with what the land could give, in balance, back.  To ‘Homestead’ is to create a way of living where you most of your shelter and food needs are supplied within your own property.  To become self sufficient is to learn how to live off your land – either independently, or in community with others.  It is about living, eating and working within the local constraints of where you live.

Tiny House Homesteading

Homesteading can be defined further as;

“Over the last hundred years or so, the term “homesteading” has evolved to a new meaning, and there are about as many interpretations as there are homesteaders. To us, the modern homesteader is someone who strives for autonomy; to become as self-sufficient and self-confident as possible. We don’t mean by this that all folks calling themselves homesteaders are automatically enrolled in some sort of worldwide self-sufficiency contest, either. Each person has to decide just how far he or she wishes to take self-sufficiency…To us, “homesteader” might be the antithesis to “consumer.” Even the term “consumer” implies that one only consumes: continually buys, uses up, and buys more. A true consumer gives nothing back to the planet in return. A homesteader, on the other hand, creates, nourishes, and nurtures. A homesteader is a worthy steward to the Earth.” — Skip Thomsen and Cat Freshwater, The Modern Homestead Manual

Self Sufficiency can be defined further as;

“Self-sufficiency by definition is a state in which someone or something can self-sustain oneself without using outside resources. If you take that statement literally, it is impossible to obtain. Each and every living creature on this planet is dependant upon outside resources in order to survive……

We can be self-sufficient by using our own physical and mental skills to produce food, shelter and warmth in order to sustain one’s own existence. It means not relying on others for things that you can do yourself. It is a way of life that reduces our dependency on external resources in order to live. Self-sufficiency for most homesteaders means rekindling the skills once commonly used by past generations: growing, raising and preserving food, making and repairing tools, cutting and drying firewood, mending and/or making clothes and even building a house or a barn…..

What is gained by self-sufficiency? A greater sense of freedom and greater control of one’s life. You will also eat healthier knowing what went into growing and raising your own food. You will reduce your dependency on money and reduce your need to work a stressful, 60 hour per week (or more!) job. Instead of paying a repairman to fix something, you take pride in fixing it yourself.”