Six Steps To Urban Self-Reliance and Freedom
by James Smith
With the rising costs of food and people having less to spend, more and more of us are entertaining the idea of growing our own. However, not all of us are fortunate enough to live on a farm or have lots of acreage in the countryside.
Container Gardening
Vegetables, for example, lettuce, tomatoes, potatoes, and squash can be grown in pots or in barrels.
Container gardening will open up opportunities to you, allowing you to grow food virtually anywhere with much greater control and flexibility, and with less disease and pest issues.
Solar Oven
The second step is making a “solar oven”.
Use the sun’s energy to heat up a tasty treat with this simple solar oven! Have you ever heard the expression that it’s so hot out you could fry an egg on the sidewalk?
Well what if you could cook on a daily basis using nothing but the Sun?
Related: How to Build a Solar Oven
Keep Chickens
Before you start, you need to be aware that chickens need some care and attention every day, just like a dog or a cat. Before buying some hens for the first time you should give some serious consideration to where they are going to live, how you will feed and water them should you go away on holiday
You could build your own chicken coop out of pallet wood, it really does not matter! As long as it does the intended job which should be to provide dry, draft free (but well ventilated) accommodation for your chickens.
Practice Simple Living
People who aspire to a life of simplicity often consider themselves practitioners — in the sense that a doctor might say she practices medicine, an unclutterer might say he practices simplicity.
At the same time, living simply requires practice. No one goes to bed one night in complete chaos and disorder and wakes up the next morning master of an organized and clutter-free wonderland. Transformation doesn’t happen over night, and achieving and maintaining it most definitely takes practice.
Bulk Buying
Besides offering shoppers lower prices, bulk products reduce the amount of waste going into landfills and take less energy and other resources to produce.
The type of goods you buy affects whether you should buy in bulk. Perishables, like grocery items, need to be used up fast to avoid spoilage. Certain food items do not spoil quickly and can be purchased in bulk to save items. These products include grains, nuts, pastas, spices and canned goods. Your variety is typically limited when buying in bulk.
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12 Urban Survival Mistakes You Need to Avoid
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Eight Deadly Survival Myths About Water
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This is barely readable
You’re right. I’m sorry for this. I’ll correct it right away.
ERMERGERD! Learn English. This is brain numbing to try to decipher and patently rubbish what I could understand.
GREAT VIDEO! GREAT CONCEPT IN ACTION! I applaud this family for doing what is right for them and for all of us. I hope to emulate them here in San Diego. Thanks for publishing this.
This was the worst piece of journalism I have ever laid eyes on. A 4 year old produce better, more legible and entertaining article. You should be ashamed of allowing this on your website. The title says “Six Steps”, the article claims seven and in reality gives five. This alone should have enticed a proof read or two.
Pathetic and shameful.
I had been living off the grid since June 2009 in my house of 34 years 15 minutes from a Midwestern city. Love it!
No grid electricity, gas, water,no garbage removal..no UTILITY bills. I use solar lamps for light at night, I bike everywhere, collect my rain water (I drink only 10 gallons/months), heat with wood stove and barter for wood with friends…