Answer II - Where we're going

OK...I know I was way long winded on my last answer post. I'll try to keep myself in check here.

Q1: As I've been following you for some time, I know how you got here. I'm more curious about where your going? Where do you and A see yourselves, say, 10 years from now....ideally.
~farm mom

A1: A~ and I are dreamers. It is one of those things that we've loved about each other since we first came together. I can't think of a time that we weren't planning what we wanted to do or accomplish or where we wanted to be. Through time some of the plans stay the same and some of them change, but still we always seem to have a goal that we've talked about at great length. I like to say that "it's hard to get anywhere if you don't know where you want to end up."

At some point in the future, A~ and I want to move to a place with more land. Either by moving further into the country to a place with 10 or 20 acres, or perhaps just finding a piece of land locally that is in the 2-5 acre range, we're open to the possibilities right now. We want to be able to continue to expand and improve on our homegrown foods and sustainable, self sufficient lifestyle progression. Ideally we will find a good piece of land with no home on it and be able to build an earth sheltered, alternative structure, semi off-grid home where we can maintain a productive garden and keep a few basic animals. In a few years, A~ wants to be returning to the workforce and I would like to seriously look into some type of career change. Whether that means taking the root duties that I have now, I'm a web based applications programmer, and applying them toward some business that I am truly passionate about, or changing completely and perhaps indulging my passion for growing and working the earth, I don't know yet but have no doubt that it will happen.

On a more personal level, I have a lot of goals that I hope to realize in the future as well. We'd both like to complete the Master Gardener course at our local extension office, and I'd like to start a community garden of some sort and generally become more active in my community. I also want to expand on my writing. What form that will take I don't yet know, but I enjoy sharing my thoughts with others and think I would get a great deal of enjoyment out of it.

Whatever path our life takes us down for the next ten years, I'm sure there's bound to be changes to our plans. The point is, we have plans. We have dreams and goals and we thrive together as we work toward them. And hopefully, entertain you as as well as you get to read my sharing of it all.

Q2: I'm also wondering about the boys. As my kids are still little, this life seems completely normal to them. How is it for your older children? Do they love the changes you've made over the last few years? Do the goals you have and the changes you've made make sense to them? Or are you the "weird parents" they have to explain away to friends?

I actually went to the source on this one, the boys. They don't seem too scarred, and at times I'd say they actually enjoy it. They said "It's cool." but they don't like only getting candy on Saturdays (that's a thing we do.), and regularly complain that the clothes line ruins football games in the back yard. They do seem to realize that they're being raised a little different from their friends too. They love to have their buddies go out with them to check the chickens for eggs when they come over to visit, and regularly tell us how their friends at school say their spoiled because they get homemade cookies and bread all the time. I think they probably do have to do a bit of explaining from time to time, but I honestly can't see that it's ever bothered them. We like to talk to them about why we do the things we do, that way they are invested in the process as well; they are participants, not victims. The times that are the hardest are the times when they get caught up in the "stuff" that some of their friends have. We basically explain to them that we made a decision to be able to spend more time with them, rather than to be working all the time and be able to afford whatever we wanted. They get it, but their still kids after all and it can be hard.

I think it would have been great to have raised them this way from the start, and as far as the frugality things we really have. The rest, food production, sustainability, etc. we have implemented slowly over time and haven't been a shock to them at all.

Well, I hope that answers that for you. And I hope I didn't blather on too long like I did before.
Till tomorrow.
P~

simple...not easy

This weekend we did a lot of work around the house. Cleaning out the garage, pulling weeds, double digging beds, harvesting and canning spaghetti sauce, pickles and beets and making more progress toward our garden expansion goals for next year. It wears you out some days you know.

As I was working the garden beds this evening I was thinking to myself that this decision that A~ and I made last year to simplify our life together; to take more ownership of our food supply and to live a little lighter is a complex one. To say it plainly, it's called "simple living"...not "easy living". Oh we could just go about our way like everyone , maybe just have a little kitchen garden for some fresh tomatoes and peppers, you know, a hobby garden. But we chose to go big. Last year we headed off down a path that I don't think we really know where it ends and is a hard one to follow. We do, however, believe that it is what will be best for us and our family in the long run. Are we 100% in all of our goals? No. Are we improving every month? Yes.

I see around us, both in the neighborhood, and in the online communities, a surge in interest in this way of living. I want to make sure that, amidst pretty pictures of garden harvests and homemade goods, I give a realistic perspective on this stuff. It's a lot of hard work. There are times when we're tired or have an ache, or really just aren't motivated to get out and do what needs to be done. Plenty too are the times when we, or more specifically I, have to talk myself into completing the project I'm in the middle of because I'm just tired. This isn't our living, that takes the first half of the day. This is extra.

The rewards are plentiful though and are what really makes it all worth it. The surprise of gathering in fresh eggs everyday, taking our "garden walk" together every night after dinner or watching our boys learn responsibility and work ethic through caring for our animals and working in the yard. A~ and I enjoy exploring this journey together and learning what we can do and produce on our own and I think we're constantly surprised at just how independent we really can be. So be realistic if your thinking about taking these challenges on, but be optimistic too. It can be done, it can be enjoyed, but it will take effort and a measure of dedication.

Good luck and Grow On!

Full Disclosure

Somehow, I guess similar to the way that our children grow up and change on us, this blog seems to have morphed into something resembling an environmental action blog. I don't have a problem with this per se, and I’m sure that in time it will evolve further. I still hold to the vision I started with and laid out in my blog goals, and I think things like participating in the upcoming Low Impact Week holds with those goals. I have noticed that a large number of the persons coming to my site are from other sites like No Impact Man, (where I am not linked to but am a regular commenter) Crunchy Chicken and Exploring Not-So-Big-Living, both of which link to me. (There are a couple of others, and I appreciate each of them, but for the purposes of this entry they don’t completely apply.) This has come about, because I am very interested in the things going on at those blogs and, like I've said many times, am so stuck on my own opinion that I feel the need to give it whenever possible. Recently I was in a debate with another blogger over the issue of whether or not Colin at NIM should be getting chastened by so many people for possible future profit related to his NIM experiment. The debate came to a point where I basically called the person on the fact that while they claimed to not be able to afford a “$5.oo light bulb” (his words not mine) they were able to go on multiple amusement park/zoo trips to include a six hour weekend trip to Disneyland. I didn’t intend to embarrass the person and as far as I can tell he understood, although still disagreed with, my point. At any rate this exchange, coupled with the growing number of people that read me that are “environmentally conscious” has prompted me to feel like I need to come forward with some facts about myself and my lifestyle in the spirit of full disclosure so that you know where I am coming from, and so that I can maintain whatever credibility I may have earned thus far.

For the record:
1. I own a Full sized Ford F-150 v8 truck, and a v6 Mitsubishi SUV.
I don’t drive my truck other than for hauling things or going camping in the mountains. It is not a commuter vehicle. For one it would kill me to pay for the gas. But really I just don’t see the need for it. I drive an old Toyota Tercel that get’s great mileage, and am trying to ride my bike as often as I can. As for the SUV, I have three boys, sometimes four and they aren’t getting smaller. Really it’s just a practical vehicle for that reason. My wife and I are having her drive the Toyota whenever I ride to work, so although we do have the potential to consume quite a lot of fuel, I think that we are doing pretty well.

2. I have a movie theatre in my basement.
This may seem excessive to some; to me it comes down to dollars and sense (yes sense, not cents). Dollars in that with a family of five, a trip to the theater will cost us I the neighborhood of $50.00 and that’s with me and A~ sharing popcorn and a drink as well as the boys. That is a lot of money when you take into account the fact that we all LOVE movies. Sense, because for reasons I won’t go into, the collective sense of so many parents has gone out the window. I can’t tell you the number of times we’ve had terrible experiences in movies because of uncontrolled or crying children (Note to parents, 3&4 yr olds need not watch the Lord of the Rings with you, it will scare them!). So when we I finished our basement I put in a theater.

3. I hunt.
I think this explains itself. I also fish. I cannot think of a better or more rewarding way to gather a meal than to have to literally go out kill it and bring it home. You have earned the food, and will respect the life of that animal more because you will have a more complete understanding of its place in the life cycle. I think that is why so many hunters are such good stewards of the land. They are rarely hailed as such, and more often than not the beer guzzling party hunter is the guy shown on TV. This is not the norm. Notice also that I say I hunt and fish, not shoot and catch. In the natural world unlike the supermarket there is not guarantee.

4. I eat meat.
Well, yeah, I hunt don’t I? I have always been a meat eater. I always will be to some degree, although, I have been reading the Omnivores dilemma By Michael Pollan recently and have been rapidly getting disenchanted by commercial meat production. I am just about to the point of refusing to eat any meat that I have not either gathered myself from the wild, or purchased locally from grass fed cattle operations. (I am lucky enough to have a couple with in a very short distance.) Either way, I have reduced the amount of meat, particularly beef that I eat in favor of a healthier and more well-rounded diet. I feel great by the way and have lost nearly 20 lbs.

OK, break time, get a glass of water and go to the bathroom…
Better? Ok let’s continue.

5. I live in a dry climate and don’t have xeriscaping in my yard.
Xeriscaping, if you didn’t know, “refers to landscaping in ways that do not require supplemental irrigation.”
I like a garden, and I like fresh veggies. My wife and I have been working at introducing primarily low water requirement perennials. We also mulch to reduce water need, and drip irrigate directly to again reduce water use. But still, we have a lawn, and we water it with local reservoir water and our food garden uses a good bit as well.

6. I fly and drive long distances for vacation.
Yes, I do. And this summer I will be again. I have a long family vacation planned that will require us to drive almost 2000 miles. And unfortunately the vehicle that we have that is the most reliable is the truck. This will hurt, I know. It’s not a good thing for fuel consumption or my pocketbook, but it is the most reliable vehicle that we have and get’s fairly decent (15-17 mpg is good for a full size truck.) mileage for its size. My family and their safety come first. I have already stranded us in the middle of Nevada once before in a 76 VW bus, I won’t do it again, and I won’t apologize for it.

7. I am a conservative.
I know this may be my biggest crime to a lot of my environmentally conscious readers. I am conservative and I don’t think that precludes me from caring for the world around me. As a matter of fact, from my perspective, it obligates me to a couple of things. I need to be more self sufficient; since I believe in reducing the size of government and keeping them out of my business and my decisions, I need to be able to be responsible for myself and my family to make up for that. This includes taking responsibility for my actions and being available to care for not just our children, but our parents should the need ever arise. I believe that we need to also be more self sufficient as a country meaning that we need to take responsibility for our habits that continue to drive the need for foreign oil. We won’t eliminate the need for it, oil that is, but we can certainly begin to change habits that will mitigate the damage and move us toward energy self sufficiency. As for as social issues, there are too many to cover, but I am conservative. I don’t always follow the party line so to speak, and even when I do often times it is for my own reasons.

8. I voted for Al Gore.
Wait a minute; I said I was a conservative didn’t I? Yes I am, and I was at the time, I just didn’t know it. This would be my biggest crime to any conservative readers that I have. That election cycle was the first time that I ever bothered to get out and vote. I didn’t pay attention to what candidates were about, or what the parties were about for that matter, I just voted. After 911, I began paying a lot of attention to what was going on in the world. The more I heard what the positions were, the more research I did. The more research I did, the more I realized I was a conservative and had been for some time. I wouldn’t do it again, but I won’t kick myself for it either.

Well that ought to give you a pretty good perspective on me. More than anything I just wanted to make sure that at some point I don’t end up shocking someone with this or that, or get accused of playing to an audience. The things I say I stand by and believe in; I will never tell you what I think you want to hear, only what I think. I am a work in progress so to speak, these are just some of the brush strokes that have been painted so far. I appreciate the time you’ve given me, and I’m flattered to see that I have a small group of readers that regularly return. I hope I am able to give you a positive message at times and that at others we can disagree; but always to be honest and open.
Thanks.
P~