I am not the first to say that our world is in serious disarray lately- and there isn’t projections of it getting better. This has caused so many of us to begin learning how to care for ourselves as we put modern food production, technology, large corporation propaganda and much more aside. My favorite things to do, purchase and learn about are all things self sufficiency and homesteading related. And lately I have found so many awesome products that have aided in my journey so much! Today I will share with you six ways to grow your self sufficiency! These are quite a few products that have seriously changed the game for me and can do the same for you!
With lots of products I have added to my homestead that are bound to grow your self sufficiency
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Six ways to grow your self sufficiency
Let’s have a heart to heart moment before starting this post. When I tell you that things are so crazy in this world today you know I am not over exaggerating. At the same time we have never been more reliant on government systems and large corporations to take care of our every need. It’’s time we begin diluting the amount of power they hold in their hands to take care of us, feed us junk, brainwash in school systems, and break apart families. The large corporations- the governments- are poor caretakers.
“Self-sufficiency is the greatest of all wealth..”
Epicurus, an ancient Greek philosopher
With this, let’s get into the ways in which you can begin to take back autonomy of your life, your food, and your family.
1.) Next level bread making
The first thing on my list is making your own bread. We have learned how to make our own sourdough starter. Made bread from scratch and now we have moved to the next level. I am learning to do this with flour that we have milled on our own. I recently purchased a grain mill and I have never been more sure about a purchase in my life. The reasoning may be different than you excepted. For many of us we still have to buy the wheat berries for the grain mill but the shelf life is extremely long (pretty much they never go bad). Flour you buy at the store has, not only a poor shelf life, but also many nutrients stripped from it. Having your own Grain mill ensures that you know exactly what you are eating. That all of the nutrients that should be in our flour are! This also means you can have this in your pantry for a lifetime as long as it’s kept from any animals or bacterias!
2.) Gardening as much as you can
Secondly, not having a garden is a big way in which the larger corporations get us to buy from them. Junk foods, fruits and more pumped with chemicals that aren’t naturally found outside of a lab. Having a food source that is good for you, and full of things you know about because you planted them is a big step in growing your self sufficiency. Having the proper tools to garden is a big part of it as well. We have a ton of manual tools that work super well and don’t rely on fuel, electricity or anything outside of ourselves. Though we do have electric tools as well it is always smart to own tools that don’t rely on anything besides you to use them and take care of them. This also teaches you now how to manually care for a garden. The larger manual tools will do most of the work but some parts of gardening are tedious and micro- these jobs are easier finished with a smaller sets of tools.
Related Post: 13 of The Best Backyard Vegetable Garden Must Have’s
Growing your own food opens a million doors to delicious uses for that produce. Dehydrating purées made with homegrown fruits and veggies creates delicious food leather. It also can be stored for a long time and you can place the leather back into water to have soups. Do this with pumpkins, squashes, and tomatoes for example. Canning and drying goods. Jams, teas and more! The list is endless.
Related Post: 11 Must Have’s for your at Home Apothecary
3.) Canning
That point being the perfect transition into number three. You don’t even have to garden to be able to can your food. Buying in bulk at a market is what a lot of people do. Canning gives you access to shelf life of years for everything you can. It allows you to preserve purées, jams and jellies, sliced foods, meat, eggs, even water for power outages. Having pantries full of food that you can yourself is next level sufficient and the more you do the more so you will be. It makes hard times easier to endure, winters you save money, you know what is in it, and you rely so much less on outside sources for your family to eat from.
To set yourself up for success the best way to start is with a water bath canner (this one comes with all the accessories you will need) and the Ball’s canning and preserving book. After you have these in time make sure you also get a pressure canner! Some items cannot be sealed in a water bath but the pressure canner can be more intimidating at first. You also want to get jars. There is a few different sizes, I recommend having a good amount of every size.
- 8OZ Jars are for jams and things similar
- 16OZ Jars are used a lot for purées, jams, sliced fruit and more.
- 32OZ Jars are for things like apple cider, pie fillings, soups, and so much more as well.
4.) Preserving through Dehydration
If you have followed my posts long enough you knew that this would be on here somewhere. I am a major lover of dehydrating foods. Doing this allows you to make home remedies, all your own teas, spices and more! It is also my go to anytime we have something on the counter that is about to go bad. I know I will not make the banana bread so into the dehydrator the slices of banana go! This makes a healthy treat that can be stored. If you want to grow your self sufficiency this will be a major game changer. It is the easiest thing to add to your home. Gardens take time and canning is a lot of knowledge (all worth it!)- but dehydrating foods does not take much at all. It is a great way to start or grow your self sufficiency journey.
Since there is a million on the market I have three links for you of highly rated dehydrators from Amazon. The first one is the cheapest and the third is the most expensive! All of them good quality with different features to bring to the table.
- Commercial Chef Food Dehydrator
- OSTBA Food Dehydrator, Dehydrator for Food and Jerky, Fruits, Herbs, Veggies
- COSORI Food Dehydrator for Jerky, Large Drying Space with 6.48ft², 600W Dehydrated Dryer
5.) Forms of Entertainment outside of Technology
This is a fun one I haven’t seen anyone else make a point on in a post like this. Having ways that don’t require technology or electricity to have fun with your family or to occupy kids is a must. Games, drawing, hiking and more. Learning to disconnect from technology to enjoy family and to be present in the moment is something that is missing greatly from our society. It isn’t just something we need to do for our futures but for our now. We don’t know for positive that a day will come when we don’t have any form of entertainment except what doesn’t require technology. But this point isn’t just for then but for now. A strong and joyful family is exactly what is trying to be abolished in todays world. So learn to have fun with each other and to fill your time in other ways. Read the Bible with your family or by yourself everyday. Learn new skills and play a board game! We have to learn to rely less on technology and electricity again because most of us wouldn’t make it without either (haha)!
6.) Learn to Hunt and Fish
Lastly, learn to hunt and fish. I didn’t learn to fish until my late teen years. Now we do it so often. It costs such a small amount and with the ability in some places to fish and keep up to five of your catches per day it is a great way to fill the freezer. There is a ton of regulations and you should respect the rules not bend or push them but learning this skill is incredible.
Hunting goes hand in hand with this. Learning not only how to hunt but learning everything that goes with that. Learn the rules, learn what tags are available, learn about public lands in the hunting spaces around your area. These are things for fishing and hunting that will keep you from breaking laws and also give you greater chances of taking food home. There is some tags that you can purchase and some that you raffle for. There is some places easier to hunt than others. Same goes for fishing. Large rivers often require a tag of their own to be able to fish and there is even more restrictions beyond that often times. But learn these things and you will absolutely not regret it. Honestly, this is one of the most important on the list because it requires very little money and space to do. Just some time, a rod and a little freezer space can get you many meals for winter days and beyond.
For fishing you need to remember a pole, reel and tack box! Hunting includes lot of other equipment and takes a more thorough research!
Just like that this was six ways to grow your self sufficiency!
We hope this was a helpful read! What have you done to grow your self sufficiency? God bless your sweet readers!
