From the time Stan and I were married, we dreamed of having the ability to be self-sufficient. We bought homesteading books, bought graph paper, graphed out gardens, orchards, houses, animal sheds, etc. I have to tell you that 35 years down the road, we're not as self-sufficient as we had thought we would be at this point in our lives. A bit disappointing.
There are only a couple of places we have lived that we haven't planted fruit trees and gardens, and those places were rented, not owned. We have always tried to live the 'dream' we had when we were first married.
Let me insert here the number of trees we have harvested fruit off of and processed that fruit...ZERO. Yes, sadly, but true, we have never harvested more than a hand full, if that, of any fruit which grew on the trees we planted. And usually, the bugs got the best of the hand full. I know we have planted well over 100 fruit trees in the years we have been married, but have always relocated before a real harvest could happen.
Here in Missouri, we have again planted...hope springs eternal...18 fruit trees. We have also planted berries and grapes, we are harvesting some of our first garden here. There is nothing like picking your own produce and eating it the same day. Absolutely knowing what is, or is not, in the food you are eating. Yesterday, we harvested a chicken we have been raising for meat, some potatoes and onions from the garden, and had a delicious lunch. We have been enjoying fresh eggs from our new hens for several months. There is something indescribable about the ability to produce and eat what you grow.
Now, having said that, I want you to all know that the learning process is a process, and there is a cost involved. Planting seeds and harvesting vegetables is nothing like killing an animal. And...the chicken we ate was much more expensive than it would have been had we bought it in the meat department of the local grocery store! Our eggs also cost more right now than what they could be purchased for.
I heard a true story of a women who said she wished people would quit butchering animals, they should just buy their meat at the grocery store like she does. So....where does that meat come from?
Part of self-sufficiency, the largest part, is not in the theoretical reading of a book. Reading a book will not give you the experience of failure, and with that failure, hunger. Reading a book will not guarantee your crops will grow. You have to put the knowledge of the book into experience. Seeds must be planted, weeds must be pulled (I've never had a weed free garden, quite the opposite, I've often had gardens with mostly weeds), the ground must be watered, in some way or other, and produce must be consumed, or preserved for consumption. If these musts don't happen, there is no self-sufficiency, there is nothing that will promote and preserve life.
The same is true of harvesting your own meat. There are books to guide, but in the end, you are the one who will need to feed, water, and 'harvest' the meat.
At this time of my life, I'm grateful that Stan is willing to be the harvester of meat. He doesn't enjoy the process of the harvest, it does entail the taking of a life, but we both enjoy the chicken dinner. I feed, water, and finish the cleaning and preserving process of the meat. And with these things, we have gained experience. There is no learning process that beats out experience. There have been many 'book smart' people who have not functioned well in the real world process.
So, self-sufficiency needs desire, research (book learning), and implementation...and there is always a cost involved. That cost is usually time, money, and many times failure. How many times do we really get it right the first time, with anything, no matter how much research we do?
We've learned a little bit about gardening in Missouri, way different than in Utah or Idaho, and we'll do it better next year. We've learned a little more about chickens. What they call a dual breed, eggs and meat, we disagree with. Next time we raise chickens for meat, they will be meat chickens. The dual purpose roosters, were really quite small considering the amount of feed that went into them. We have learned more about incubation, and we will hatch out our own eggs for our chickens, and the roosters will be harvested for meat, but we will not depend on them for our main source of meat.
Who knows if we will be living here when our 18 trees bring forth a good harvest? But we have always implemented (planted the trees) like we would be there for the harvest. I have preserved a lot of fruit over the years so that I will know how to put up my own harvest. If there is anything we have learned, it is that there is no crystal ball for the future. But we will plan on being here until the day we die, knowing that change has been the most common variable of our lives.
If the time comes that we need the survival skills of planting, growing, harvesting, and preserving, we will have both the knowledge and experience to be as self sufficient as possible. It has all come at a price, which we have been willing to pay.
There is another area of self-sufficiency, it is the moral, ethical, emotional, and spiritual self-sufficiency that I feel are more important than the physical.
I do not believe there has ever been a time in the history of mankind that these areas have been more important to become self sufficient in. There have been very few times in recent history that people have needed be grow their own food in order to survive. But to have moral, emotional, and spiritual self-sufficiency has never been needed more. There are so many people, organizations, programs, and political agendas that want to mandate what our behavior and even our thoughts and feelings will be.
I will make a stand using the source for my moral, ethical, emotional, and spiritual self-sufficiency the Holy Bible, The Book of Mormon, The Doctrine and Covenants, and The Pearl of Great Price, along with the Leadership of the Prophet at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. I will do this so, "That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" Ephesians 4:14.
The signs of the last days are all around us. If we have read and understood the scriptures, it is so apparent! All Christian religions are aware of things happening throughout the world which are in fulfillment of the prophecies which will usher in the 2nd coming of the Savior, Jesus Christ.
In my mind, one of the greatest is the scripture in Isaiah 5:20, " ¶Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness;" Today, if you make a stand for what you know to be right, in your heart, you are a bigot, or worse.
What do people not understand about, " For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?" Moroni 9:9. Or Hebrews 13:8-9 "Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines."
Too many people are like small children, who depend on their parents to feed and clothe them. They are depending on others to form their moral, ethical, emotional, and spiritual conduct. Some things may be legal which are neither moral or ethical, and which erode emotional and spiritual well being.
What I believe, I hope is apparent in how I live my life and treat everyone around me. Not just those of my own religion, or any given set of circumstances, but everyone. There are those who I strongly disagree with, but I will not be intolerant of them, nor will I condone what I believe is to be wrong. Hopefully, they will allow me the same privilege.
Viktor Frankl said, “Being tolerant does not mean that I share another one’s belief. But it does mean that I acknowledge another one’s right to believe, and obey, his own conscience.”
There are so many who would like to sway me and have me carried away with their 'wind of doctrine'. I hope that my inner spiritual, moral, ethical, and emotional self sufficiency, which I have paid a high price for, will be enough to carry me through all the times ahead when I will be pressured to set aside what I know to be right.
I know that these are areas where it will become increasingly necessary for me to stand on my own, to truly be self sufficient in my own testimony of Jesus Christ and His Church on the earth today!
