FSP resource: A Guide to Simple Living and Homesteading New England

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Too much info to copypasta, click through, I highly recommend it.


A Guide to Simple Living | Homesteading New England

http://www.yankeemagazine.com/artic...ign=New+England+Minute&utm_content=02-16-2016

Jan/Feb 2016

TABLE OF CONTENTS

by Bridget Samburg and Joe Yonan and Amy Traverso in Jan 2016

For the would-be do-it-yourselfer, our guide to homesteading, from cheesemaking to raising chickens to building your own (tiny) house.

Here in the land of Yankee ingenuity, the desire to be more self-sufficient is something like a birthright. Conspicuous consumption may be our economy’s primary driver, but the Puritan ethic still holds some sway. And in these times of uncertainty—environmental, financial, political—many of us are shifting toward simplicity, greener living, and self-reliance. It might be as simple as growing and canning tomatoes or learning to knit or dye wool, or it might even mean going off the grid. The collective do-it-yourself ethos is on the rise.

We may not all want to be homesteaders living off the land, but nearly everyone can still find ways to embrace a more handmade life. Yankee presents our guide to the simple life in New England—from cheesemaking and weaving schools to beekeeping and chicken farming workshops—plus essential reads and festivals where you can’t help but pick up tips and meet people who are learning by trial-and-error what works. No matter your interest level, there’s a book or a school or a craftmaking vacation that will inspire you to learn something new.
 
Posts like these remind me to be thankful of my childhood. I spent many summers hanging out with my grandparents, and as is true of most of that generation, making home made butter, cheese, gardens, ect were just natural habits from their childhood when it as was what you had to do if you wanted them.

As far as the free state project (loosely relate, I know), I agree with many people they really should have picked a more southern state. Warmer climate, longer growing seasons, access to the gulf, and extremely comparative population levels. I work from home, and my wife is medical....which means we can live pretty much wherever we wish. But sweet Lord, we hate the cold....lol
 
The memories of growing up! Yes spending time with Grandparents and feeling like Daniel Boone. The funny thing is what was once considered normal everyday issues or concerns could be taboo discussion nowadays. Maybe you remember a few months back I posted how many of my chickens and rabbits were massacred. I am confident that in years past a homesteader would discuss this problem with coworkers or people in the community. Today people think that discussing that your chickens were found decapitated is not conversation that should be in the workplace and probably should be censored. Conversations like that could probably get you fired if another employee considers it offensive.
 
But sweet Lord, we hate the cold....lol

That's gulf coast cold, which is the worst cold in the world.

I've been freezing my ass off in Louisiana at 30, and comfortable in NH at 0.

The nice thing about NH is, outside of Massholes, there are not millions and millions of half backs and other assorted god damn Yankees trying to move there, for the same reason you just mentioned.

Besides, you can always put more clothes on.

How do you survive without AC when it's 104° and 90% humidity?
 
That's gulf coast cold, which is the worst cold in the world.

I've been freezing my ass off in Louisiana at 30, and comfortable in NH at 0.

The nice thing about NH is, outside of Massholes, there are not millions and millions of half backs and other assorted god damn Yankees trying to move there, for the same reason you just mentioned.



Besides, you can always put more clothes on.

How do you survive without AC when it's 104° and 90% humidity?


I personally think the heat can be tolerated more easily than the cold. I would not move to a place with climate of + 100* and 90% humidity either. Growing up we never had air conditioning and we all survived without any problem. You cannot survive without heat when it is zero. The cost of heat and property taxes are a big issue for me.
 
I'm making plans to go to Alaska. I can take any kinds of cold. It's the stupid shit I live with down here that is killing me.
 
I guess if your job was gathering fuel for heat and tending livestock and such instead of that in addition to working outside the home, the cold could be managed. I am not sure of the growing season in Alaska. How do you get your essentials? Do you live out in the wilderness or a city?
 
I need one of these articles for the south too.. so much more laundry from putting on more clothes.. I'm more of a minimalist for clothes.
No AC over 100 degrees = swamp cooler.. siesta... lots of wet rags and always crossing fingers for that afternoon shower/downpour
 
I guess if your job was gathering fuel for heat and tending livestock and such instead of that in addition to working outside the home, the cold could be managed. I am not sure of the growing season in Alaska. How do you get your essentials? Do you live out in the wilderness or a city?

I definitely enjoyed the cold better when I was living at camp/homestead. Some of my favorite days were toting 10 gallons of water to the barn and chipping out the iced-over water tank, so cold my eyelashes would frozen together. I could stay outside all day, most days. Living in town cold is different. You can't dress right, either too hot or too cold, or takes you 4 minutes to transition.

Nice link, AF!
 
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