Originally posted by oconnection
I love talking about this sort of thing. I was telling my parents for years and years, my parents have finally come to there senses. I've been
helping them build there garden in there back yard. =)
There are places, at least where I live where you can rent a plot of land and grow your own garden if you have space limitations.
We can do the same here, allotments, but again it is time that is my greatest enemy.
Originally posted by oconnection
Pumpkins grow like weeds up there, that's strange? Hehe
They seem to grow like weeds in my garden too…the blooming thing is almost three metres long, very nice though, I put it in a fairly shady corner
thinking that’d keep the size down, but no, it likes shade!
Originally posted by oconnection
Free health care in my country exists but you guys are much further ahead of the curve than my country. Yet we have billions/trillions of dollars
playing the world's police man.
Consumers indeed hold the power in there hands but the problem is most people lack the time and/or are lazy. Most consumers don't even bother to
think where this product comes from, what material it's made out of, ect. Globalism has brought us many evils.
I also think that it is ‘safer’ to blame others or the government for your situation. My Mum is a terror, when I try to stop her buying cheap
clothes etc and explain why, her argument is that these people would starve if they weren’t working in sweatshops…little girls I tell her, sewing
on buttons, when they should be playing or in school…to no avail…she reads the Daily Mail and still thinks that Maggie Thatcher was good for this
country, I have little hope for converting her, stuck in her ways and born of the protestant work ethic, this life is hell and she hopes to god that
there is an afterlife to make the suffering here worthwhile. What can I do?
Originally posted by oconnection
My great grandmother lived passed 100 but at the cost of taking 50+ pills a day. Sadly in her later years she was a walking mushroom.
I've decided to go through the difficult task of research which products are made from certain countries. I tend to want to support products made in
my own local economy not because I hate other countries but because I want to support my local country and it's less likely sweat shops are used.
My mother as a child was given an unhealthy amount of antibiotics as a child and a young adult, as a result her health has suffered. My mother in her
later years has had to rebuild her health. Through many natural products she's a pretty healthy woman. She's overcome "Chronic Fatigue" and
"Fibromyalgia" through the direction of a natural medicine doctor. My mother spent 20+ years, going through one doctor after the next. Finally
after exhausting every main stream solution I encouraged her to finally listen to me and take a more natural approach.
Today her depression, her energy, and health as a whole is much better. I thank God that she finally found a solution!
There has to be a balance, in the UK the National Health Service (NHS) is stretched to the limit, mainly because it is over used for minor ailments,
by people who do not trust their own instincts. A doctor can do nothing for a cold or flu or many other viral and bacterial infections, and anything
that they can do is much less effective than finding a natural dietary alternative. I don’t even use pain medication, if I have a headache or any
other form of pain, I know that invariably if I think about it the solution will come to me as in most minor ailments you are lacking something in
yoru diet. Plus I take the odd supplement, vitamin C if I have a cold, Evening Primrose if I am feeling a little down. Touch wood I haven’t had
any major illnesses, but for me, that is what the NHS should be for, the big things that we can’t help ourselves with. But again the problem is
that natural remedies are not free, why spend on a supplement when you can get a pill full of synthetic chemicals for free? But mostly, I think that
people don’t listen to their bodies and find out what it is that is needed, they would much rather someone in a suit told them what to do.
I have a similar attitude to insurance, I hold a policy in case my house falls down, but as far as contents are concerned I don’t bother. The cost
of insurance for a year I could replace most of my belongings that can be replaced, my books, which are the only thing that I really value, are
largely irreplaceable anyway, so why go to the expense for an unrealistic sense of ‘safety’.
Originally posted by oconnection
I'm still perfecting my bread making but I make a killer organic bread. There are many recipes online.
I love making bread, it is very therapeutic knocking the # out of a piece of dough, but sadly I lack the time. I’d love to try growing my own wheat
and milling it myself if I can get hold of a grit stone. One day perhaps… I was once bought one of those breadmaking machines, took all the fun
out of it, I tried it once then gave it away.
Originally posted by oconnection
Ah but it is all within our grasp! I will show you a film that is more on the "extreme side" Have you seen Survivor Man? This fellow takes a plot
of land and makes a comfortable living for him and his family so they can live "off the grid".
I think that it is too, it is one of those things, short term loss for long term gain, or short term gain for long term loss. It is harder in the UK
because of land planning laws. What I intend to do, buy a piece of woodland and build a low impact home, and a permaculture garden to supply our food
(plus chickens for eggs and ducks to keep slugs at bay) will essentially mean that I will be living on the land that I own, illegally. Luckily it is
hard to have someone removed from land that they own, but assuming I don’t find the locals friendly, it could be made very difficult for me. I
don’t intend to do anything that intrudes upon anyone else, so I think I will be fine, but it is still a gamble. Worth it in my estimation though.
Nothing ventured nothing gained, as they say.
Originally posted by oconnection
There are many cheaper ways of doing this. I will admit that one of my last steps will be to buy a plot of land and build a self reliant system. I
currently have solar panels. I wish I lived in an area which I can gather enough rain water so I can have my own water. I've surveyed my land for
wells but it's dry. But solar panels simply makes sense. It's sunny at least 300+ days here.
I am debating on solar, most panels only have a lifetime of 15 years, which for me is still pretty consumable, I would like, ideally a micro-hydro
system, but that depends on the land gradient and a water course, or I quite fancy building a wind turbine…wind is something we have lots of in the
UK. In both cases I will need to store access power and it’ll be a 12 volt system, so most appliances, computer etc will need adaptors, but in both
cases, they are fairly simple to construct using recycled materials, so are much cheaper to set up than solar panels. And, perhaps more importantly,
I don’t think I’d get enough consistent sun light, though some of the cells that you can buy for heating water are great, they force the water
through the cell itself and can heat water even with total cloud cover.
The area that I am looking at moving to has high rainfall…about 30 to 45 inches a year so no problems there, and it is rich in underground water, so
hopefully I will be able to put in a bore hole for drinking water which will be gravity fed to the house itself. Heating and water heating will be
via woodburners.
Originally posted by oconnection
edit: I should of read your last paragraph more closely. It's great to hear your are going after this dream of yours!
Anyways enjoy this film.
Survivorman - Off The Grid
I am watching it in bits…I am very interested in how the children adapt, as that is my major concern.
Originally posted by oconnection
You and I share the commonality of being a "loner". I think many loners are like minded in wanted to be self reliant, not wanting to depend on
anyone else for what they need.
I also think that it is important that you are mentally self-sufficent. I can go days without uttering a word because I am so content in my own head,
my Mum says that sending me to my room as a kid was no punishment because I could while away hours without even noticing, I haven’t changed much.
My major concern in the respect of taking on such an isolating existence is my son, but I figure he is six and he’ll adapt now much better than if I
leave it any longer. I hope that by the time he hits puberty we will be better integrated into the community around us and he can take himself off.
But for the first few years it’ll be hard, though I hope we will have visitors, I don’t intend to cut myself off completely. Can you tell that I
am still talking myself around? Haha.
Originally posted by oconnection
I'll give some encouragement and tell you yes it's worth it but it's more work than your realize. When you start down this road you'll find how
many subconscious attachments you have. If your convictions are deep then it is of course possible. There are, like you know whole communities out
there that are for the most part willing to help you out.
I do realise that it isn’t going to be easy and that it will be almost solid, back breaking work to begin with, but that is really what I want, the
physical challenge is part of what is driving this in me. I have already begun contacting other groups who live in this way in the UK and the
responses so far have been very positive, most run courses, like the renewable energy one, and permaculture design, so I am hoping that next year, in
between me selling the house and buying the land to spend a little bit of time going around the country, developing skills and building contacts. It
is one thing to be a loner, another to refuse help that is available and willingly given, that would be just silly.
This is the type of house I want to build, the guy who built this, Simon Dale, did so in about 3 months at a cost of £3000…not bad. He dug into a
hillside and as you can see it is a raw timber frame and then the walls are hay bales rendered with lime plaster (far more breathable than modern
plasters). I reckon, with minimal help, I can do this. He helps others to build them and invites volunteers to come along to help, which is what I
would like to do to see how he selects materials etc, though I would like to build my own house largely by myself. The house in the pictures was his
first and he did it with only help from his father in law. So if he can, why can’t I? Besides it appeals to my pioneer spirit and the romantic in
me…or perhaps I just watched too many episodes of Little House on the Prairie and Grizzly Adams when I was a kid…lol.
Anyway, I think you’ll be suitably impressed.
www.besthousedesign.net...
To me that is perfect, and when you have so much space outdoors, you only really need somewhere to get out of the weather when it is hard and a place
to sleep of course.
Originally posted by oconnection
Let me know if you have any questions.
Don’t you worry, I will. Thanks, it has been wonderful talking about this with you. I need to get as much positive feedback as I can, I know that
once I am on the land and ‘doing’ I’ll be fine, but it is the getting there and the necessary downsizing, storage of stuff while I get settled
etc etc that is currently wearing me down. But you’re right it is will be worth all the effort and I know in my own heart that it is right for me
too, who needs to dip a toe in the water when you can dive straight in.
Probably overkill in this case.
says the seed vault is for "them" and not "us" and Monsanto's job is to ensure what's
outside the vault is lifeless food. 
