Let me count the ways.
Having soil that you can stick your fingers into and touch a worm almost every time.
Having your own leaf corral.
Having a rhizosphere.
Having your second garden being a Chinampsas garden.
Having the wet area to have a Chinampsas garden.
Having that natural chemical high from playing in the soil all day and sitting down in the midst of it with intense satisfaction.
Having Monarchs and other butterflies frequent your garden.
Having a food forest; no matter what size.
Having your own energy sources.
Having a crafts area to make your own boots, belts, various materials made with needles, tanning, and wood and metal work.
Having goats and/or kine to tend to and having your own milk, butter, cheese, yogurt, kefir, and the like.
Having hiding places that only you know the whereabouts.
Having kestrel perches.
Having toad homes.
Having a bounty of yellowjackets in the evergreen stand on the north end of the garden.
Having many varieties of bees call your home their home.
Having most of your meals out in the garden.
Having a root cellar.
Having a canning and preserves operation.
Having year-round herbs for flavor and healing.
Having eggs that you can eat raw if you want to do that.
Having refuge from the lunacy.
Having to not be concerned if the roads aren’t plowed for two weeks.
Having neighbors wanting to hook up to your power grid.
Having a T1 line (This one may baffle many, but if you were in the place to have one, then you would understand another level of self-sufficiency.).
Having the aroma and warmth of a homemade wood stove to soothe your tired bones and muscles after a long and fulfilling day.
Having large geese as your security system.
Having an eerie quiet just before your eyes close at night.
I am terribly sorry for only having a few still pictures to place here. I do have some videos, but I do not want to be regarded as a spammer by some. I am not a Luddite, but I have not yet figured out how to get a still from a video AND THEN be able to have it postable.
When I was in Malawi, even though I was a visitor at different folks' homes, I got to have composting operations, Zai holes, and tend to various fruit and crop plants. There was actually more of a true sense of sustainable living there; as incomplete as it was. My plans are for Latin America. Still, I could definitely go back to Africa. Now if I was there again, I would farm fuel wood for the neighbors as well as have multiple wells. I have an eye on crocodile farming. I was on the verge of alligator farming years ago and the land prices doubled virtually overnight.
It will be nice to have a community of actively engaged preppers and homesteaders who eagerly want to learn and teach. I have had the privilege, for years, of being with such on Investors Hub. If you check my profile and follow the rabbit you will be able to contact me. I am here to serve. Be well.
