| Author |
Off the Grid/Homesteading Skills:  Everything I want to do is illegal book  |
|
batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
 Posted - Dec 31 2011 : 09:27:10 AM
|
i just started reading this & wondered how many of you dear hens have also read it & what did you think?
I realized everytime I buy a can of corn, beans, cereal ect that I am helping the big companies that want us to so depend on them that being completely off grid is just a pipe dream in america. We can pretend to go back to the old pioneer days but we can not really ever get to where we truly want unless we go to a 3rd world country. Its a shame cause if not for the farmers/meat raisers the companies wouldn't have a hold over us...they want us to buy thur the stores not go to a wonderful disease free farm to get our healthy foods because each time we do that we take away from them & the farmers they have hired to work only for them or the gov't.
Its scary to think our country would rather us get our meat that has been butchered in a slaughter house where bacteria/disease run wild than let us make the choice to get away from that.
Let us eat spinach that is so dirty with stuff it can send us, our children & parents to the hosp & may end up killing us than let us buy it from a healthy grower.
Make it such a ugly crime in some states to get raw milk cause they want to cook it to the point its useless then add Vit D again, than let us have the true form of it that has proved to be so healthy for centuries.
Everywhere we turn their is permits, licencing, rules more rules then more rules to do just what you want to do to live a healthy free life.
Kill a farm animal on your property & get thrown in jail for animal cruelty but its Ok to send it to a slaughter house where they bulldoze it into the building.
Yes alot of this I already knew but seeing that its so evolved thurout america with different rules where ever you move is mind numbing...what is legal down the road isn't where you are, Wanting to take control of your life & the lives of your children is no longer your right without lawsuits, court dates, check book open & lots & lots of depression.
About the only way now to be completely & legally off the grid is to be homeless, think NY homeless where you can disappear to where the gov't has no idea where you are or who you are. so they can't come after you for what you do or don't do.
I realized my time as a Peace Corp volunteer was the only time I will ever truly have of being totally off grid...no businesses watching me to see if I am using their electricity, fuel, food ect...everything was done pioneer style where I was pretty much...I don't even think the Chief in my village had any modern thing...you cooked outside with wood you gathered....food was what you collected or bought at the village open air market...fresh fruits/vegs...cows & goats were milked if they were carrying milk,
You had to depend on yourself or your village to have the things you needed......Its a hard life but for me it was a good life, you depend on what you can do & not worry about the other stuff...you go to bed tired but content knowing you had a full day with time to stop & enjoy what was around you.
I hate that someone can come along here & tell me what I am doing is wrong to the county, State or Gov't when all I am doing is surviving the way I want to but because I am taking money away from someone its no longer my right to live out my years as I choose....If I want to live in a barn, collect water from a stream, cut firewood to cook with & grow a small garden without chimicals that should be my right...I am not hurting anyone except for not giving out money left & right for the things They think I should have.
Anyway tell me what you thought if you read this book....Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
|
|
Room To Grow
True Blue Farmgirl
974 Posts
Deborah
Kingston
Georgia
USA
974 Posts |
Posted - Dec 31 2011 : 2:10:30 PM
|
AMEN!!!!!
Deborah
we have moved to our farm...and love it |
 |
|
|
alterationsbyemily
True Blue Farmgirl
686 Posts
Emily
Thomasville
PA
USA
686 Posts |
Posted - Jan 01 2012 : 12:33:10 PM
|
Second that!
---
Farmgirl #2951
No longer renting, offical farmgirl. |
|
|
|
Ursula Norsedottir
Farmgirl in Training
37 Posts
Amanda
Nebraska
37 Posts |
|
|
kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jan 01 2012 : 12:54:09 PM
|
I'll have to see if the library has this book. I have seen it and wanted to read it. I love Joel Salatin and all he stands for. I totally agree with you, Michele. I have been thinking about making my little house next door into a commercial kitchen so I can make and sell cheese. But then I will have to be inspected all the time and have them on my farm. I will have to spend thousands to get it up to commercial and then inspectors here all the time... I don't know. I can make and sell cheese without going to all that expense, but if I want to sell to restarants I need to be commercial. Do I want to do that? No. But I want to make money too. It is a big dilema for me. I hate that out country has made food to be so hard to get from the farmers who grow it. It's made to look bad and unhealthy and full of germs. What are we supposed to do?
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
|
|
|
RedHoopWoman
True Blue Farmgirl
513 Posts
Kathryn
Yoder
Colorado
USA
513 Posts |
Posted - Jan 01 2012 : 1:55:46 PM
|
It's a great book,I just read it a few weeks ago and am currently reading "Folks,This Ain't Normal" also by Joel Salatin,he also has another good one called "Confessions of a Lunatic Farmer" or something like that which I read some time ago.
Joel is right on about alot of the challenges facing the small farmer,I've dealt with alot of the same frustrations in raising rabbits and chickens for meat and running a raw milk share program,we're bound up by governmental interference every which way we turn!
I wish everyone would read Joel Salatin's books,he has some wonderful ideas and really throughly explores what is wrong with the industrial food system and offers ideas to set it right and develop our own local food systems,I hope the sheer momentum of people wanting locally grown food and bucking the industrial food system will really help to change things!
"Today's Mighty Oak is just Yesterday's Nut" |
|
|
|
hoosiercountry
True Blue Farmgirl
572 Posts
karla
north port
fl
USA
572 Posts |
Posted - Jan 01 2012 : 4:22:19 PM
|
| I have to give another big Amen. |
|
|
|
FarmDream
True Blue Farmgirl
1085 Posts
Julie
TX
USA
1085 Posts |
Posted - Jan 01 2012 : 10:14:44 PM
|
Michelle,
I hope that we are learning for every can of food we buy, we learn how to can that food. It seems overwhelming but we have to break it up into parts and pieces of things to learn. I hope enough of us can learn before it's too late.
~FarmDream is Farmgirl Sister #3069
Live Today, Cherish Yesterday, Dream Tomorrow
http://naturaljulie.etsy.com
http://julie-rants.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2012 : 09:27:17 AM
|
you are sooo right Julie, for everything we do or buy it would be nice if we all knew a way to do it ourselves....Yes to make & sew clothes we have to buy fabric but I don't know a fabric store or company that is trying to make up dependent on them or trying to take away any rights we have...I love canning but again if you think about it we need supplies which make us dependent on someone...its such a awful circle that makes us all trapped in one way or another...but you hit it on the head very well the more we do ourselves without the BIG businesses in our face the more we are free in a sense. Each of us that cooks from scratch. gardens, sews, bakes, makes our own healthy cleaners or has a small farm is a plus for those who want the dream of being more independenton ourselves instead of businesses & Gov't rules. Now do not get me wrong I am not bashing our Gov't & what our country stands for but I do wish our country/gov't didn't let big business has such a voice that it hurts the very people it is suppose to protect. I don't think any farmer ever wanted what the gov't & business has done to the products they raise or grow. They wanted a good healthy safe produce to go out in the market to feed others or they would never have been farmers...they love the land, the crops, the animals & that way of life & want all to benefit from it...Now have all these rules/regulations that have proved to be more harmful than safe. I am not old, only 52 but I have seen alot in my life as a city girl & a farm girl & anytime someone wants a bigger piece of the pie things fall apart, gets ugly & only the one with that larger slice wins. I honestly believe when schools had to give up their home-ec classes that began the down fall to many girls learning about how to provide for their families in a good way...they took away the ability for girls to learn to sew, cook & raise children/babies. Not that I am saying we have bad young mothers but that part of their education was never there for them to learn. As a retired teacher over the years I can see why many have gone back to home schooling...even as a teacher if I had small children I would rather home school them than send them to a town school....I know that the teachers are doing the best they can with the situation they have to deal with but its no longer teaching for the love of it, its teaching to pass tests & get rid of the non-important things like home-ec....Like said even small changes over time make them into big things, learning to can can go on to create another new thing we learn....in the long run its all about what we want to occur in our lives & those we are caring for....Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
Edited by - batznthebelfry on Jan 02 2012 2:54:09 PM |
|
|
|
RedHoopWoman
True Blue Farmgirl
513 Posts
Kathryn
Yoder
Colorado
USA
513 Posts |
Posted - Jan 02 2012 : 11:01:05 AM
|
Michele you are right on about alot of these things,I grew up in what would nowadays be considered an "unconventional" upbringing,my Father was a rancher and very much a "back to the lander" of the seventies so I grew up raising and butchering animals,baking bread from scratch and canning and other food preservation methods I learned from my grandmothers and other women in our tribe,on the reservation alot of people still live fairly communally and we always shared what we had and worked together on alot of things so it was a big shock when I moved away and encountered the fact that alot of women didn't know how to do these things,I thought all women knew how to bake bread,preserve food and grow a garden,castrate calves and dress out a chicken!
I don't mean to put down those who don't,I'm just saying that we really lost something when we became removed from the farm and like you said,they quit teaching home ec or placing any importance on domestic skills,agriculture,etc..we really lost something as a culture when these changes took place and we gave away too much for the industrial complex to take over.
I'm trying to teach my Daughter these things so she knows how to do for herself and her eventual family,I sure hope the lessons stick like they did with me.
I sure am glad to see so many women (and men,I'm not about to be sexist here)learning and being excited about these things again,one of the reasons I like the Mary Jane's Farm magazine is because it stirs our memories of our Grandmothers ways and reminds us that we forgot how to live the good life,even if we never set foot on a farm before in our lives I think those old ways of living are in our blood and we can remember them and learn again to live that better way!
"Today's Mighty Oak is just Yesterday's Nut" |
|
|
|
countrymommy85
True Blue Farmgirl
898 Posts
Krystle
MT
USA
898 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2012 : 08:38:16 AM
|
Yep, it's crazy how many "freedoms" we really don't have. It should be personal choice to consume raw milk or not, consume organic or not, grow organic or not. Live next to a field and not have round-up sprayed next to your house or not. More importantly be able to choose to live off the grid or not. Buying land out west that won't cost you an arm or leg just because it's out west and the people are subdividing property in 20+ acres for rich people wanting a summer cottage when there are still people who just want to make a living and live off their land. . . Well I could go on but I would be preaching to the choir! :)
Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee. ~Author Unknown
http://countryrenaissance.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunflowersAndHoney |
|
|
|
rksmith
True Blue Farmgirl
858 Posts
Rachel
Clayton
GA
USA
858 Posts |
Posted - Jan 06 2012 : 4:33:19 PM
|
I've not read any of his books, but will definitely have to check them out. It is beyond horrible at the "rules and regulations" for "safety" that are imposed on everyone and yet are we as a nation any healthier or safer? Heck no --we are far worse off these days than we've probably ever been I think. I am so sick of being told what I can and can't do or eat or drink or think.
Rachel
Farmgirl Sister #2753
True enlightenment is nothing but the nature of one's own self being fully realised-- His Holiness the Dali Lama
http://madame1313.wordpress.com/ |
|
|
|
naturemaiden
True Blue Farmgirl
2568 Posts
Connie - Farmgirl #673
Hoosick Falls
NY
USA
2568 Posts |
|
|
batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Jan 07 2012 : 11:34:03 AM
|
Thank you Connie...xoxo...& as for preaching to the Choir you all keep it a comin'...I was reading about Pennsylvania & the ruling that we do not have the right to own a cow, board a cow or even drink raw milk...it is not a constitution right but now a gov't right issue....what a shame that our beginning in america to live free, make our own choices without British rules now has come to the point what they stood for is wiped out with big business making so many of the rules because they have big pockets full of money.....each time a product food wise is recalled it is a stain on what we originally stood for......When fast food, candy, soda ect became an accepted food we lost the game for a healthier life style that we want & deserve....I am not saying each person that sells meat ect off their farms to the public is always the right move especially if they are in it for the money & not concerned with food safety but when we know a farm ect that produces high quality, safe products I feel it is our right to choice them if we so wish without the gov't or big business saying we can't because they don't control it which in turn means they aren't get money from it.......To me its a sad affair when we punish the small farmer/grower because they don't want to be part of the gov't hoopla....Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
|
|
|
countrymommy85
True Blue Farmgirl
898 Posts
Krystle
MT
USA
898 Posts |
|
|
StrawHouseRanch
True Blue Farmgirl
1044 Posts
Paula
Holt
Missouri
USA
1044 Posts |
|
|
batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Jan 21 2012 : 9:34:16 PM
|
thank you for the info Paula :)...the more I get into this the madder I get over what we all assume is a natural right...I mean how natural is it to shove food into our mouth but now I see its not the idea situation I grew up thinking it was.....& too think that the situation never stays the same...each time a new person comes in to head the FDA ect the rules change as to what they see the info says....its so confusing & the wording can be taken anyway a person wants to it to be on what we can't eat or can eat......I love how Joel states that our fore fathers didn't add any of this because they assumed we would always have fresh meats/vegs/fruits on the farms so why worry about decades/centuries later someone getting a big head & deciding we were too stupid to think for ourselves.
I mean really, when processed cheese came in we were in trouble not to mention 'the' so called foods...but i still can't seem to get my head around how someone who has access to caviar & thinks its a wonderful food thinks farm grown beef is a killer & we have to be stopped.....just sayin.....Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622 |
|
|
|
msdoolittle
True Blue Farmgirl
1143 Posts
Amanda
East Texas
USA
1143 Posts |
Posted - Jan 22 2012 : 8:48:46 PM
|
I haven't read it yet, but I would like to.
the entire problem with this country is that everyone has sold out on convenience. I was a child of the 80s, and my diet was almost all processed (though my mother did cook). We were not taught that we could make bread, or cheese, or any of those things!
The further we get from the source of our food, the worse we all are. We have to keep on standing up and fighting for what we KNOW is right.
FarmGirl #1390
www.mylittlecountry.wordpress.com |
|
|
|
countrymommy85
True Blue Farmgirl
898 Posts
Krystle
MT
USA
898 Posts |
Posted - Mar 05 2012 : 9:29:12 PM
|
I FINALLY got the book from inter-library loan because there were quite a few holds on it before mine. Well I just finished reading it and what a great read!!! I loved it!!! I probably wouldn't have heard about it for a while so I'm glad you posted it so I could get it when I did :)
Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee. ~Author Unknown
http://countryrenaissance.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunflowersAndHoney |
|
|
|
batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - Mar 06 2012 : 2:22:16 PM
|
So happy you were able to get the book Krystle, its a head bender thats for sure but it sure makes you think about all the things you just thought were normal or right & to see that they weren't/aren't & that so few have so much control over our lives....I love how he wrote the book so its not so technique that you get lost in the pages with a headache & he uses humor throoughout...I set mine down for a bit & need to get back to it again.......Michele'
Chickens rule!
The Old Batz Farm
Hen #2622
http://theoldbatzfarm.blogger.com |
|
|
|
Lexi Lavender
True Blue Farmgirl
92 Posts
Lexi
Bangor
Maine
USA
92 Posts |
Posted - May 01 2012 : 5:16:23 PM
|
Hi ladies:
along those lines is the book by Barbara Kingsolver. Animal, Vegetable, Mineral. She documents her families decision to leave New Mexico and return to the Southeast US to a farm for 1 year. She provides lots of information about big pharma, federal government and legal decisions that have shaped our lives. We have the Joel S books as well.
Silverweed-Alexis...Farmgirl#4034
A weed is just a plant that no one has found a use for yet... |
|
|
|
batznthebelfry
True Blue Farmgirl
1257 Posts
Michele
Athol
Ma
USA
1257 Posts |
Posted - May 02 2012 : 03:09:17 AM
|
oh will have to check that book out Alexis...I love reading what other people are doing to make life more their own......I have been reading alot about what people are doing to prepare for the end of America as they see it...I find a lot of problems with some of their thoughts...especially about guns & bullets...they think they can hoard enough to save them from home invasions/evil wanderers ect....sort of 'us against them' ideas....I understand it but also know eventually no matter how much you store you will eventually run out & then what?...No matter what you store or collect it will never be enough for your family, children, grand children & so on...I see a lot of fear type writings that just add to everyones fear instead of trying to tell you that you can make it with some thought to what is next to come...If we lose electricity, telephone, gas & become a 3rd world country again then we will adjust after the first shock of it.....some will have a harder time while others will go on as they do & hopefully help those who are in their area figure out ways to make it on what they have or have access to......this whole 'us against them' concept is surely to be a down fall in the mist of a disaster I think.....
This total gov't control concept if happens we will learn how to care for ourselves or leave the country.....I guess what I am saying is I am glad that those that write here are not like some of the other sites I have seen....instead of putting fear in to everyone...here we try to show that we are strong women who will do what we need & to show how to help others if & when we can....Fear is such a dangerous feeling & can create so much more damage than the actual event that is happening...thank goodness I am surrounded by farmgirls/hens who have a strong head on their shoulders....Michele'
Chickens RULE!
hen #2622
theoldbatzfarm.blogspot.com |
|
|
|
rphelps4
True Blue Farmgirl
620 Posts
roxanna
westport
indiana
USA
620 Posts |
Posted - May 02 2012 : 06:35:14 AM
|
| That is all so crazy, mt kids were raised home grown everything, we used to have to take turns on who got the creme on top of the raw milk we drank. I never had to worry about what was going into my kids bodies because I knew where it came from. Roxanna |
|
|
|
Cherime
True Blue Farmgirl
1222 Posts
Cherime
Wasilla
Alaska
USA
1222 Posts |
Posted - May 02 2012 : 09:06:36 AM
|
When I was a kid there was a dairy in Lompoc CA where we lived for a while and I loved going there and getting fresh milk right out of that big vat. The cream was so thick just taking it home in the big gallon jars began bringing the butter up. Dad was a farm kid and when we got home he would make butter for us by just shaking that cream in a jar.
All my life I have been cultivating the skills needed to get by without so much dross in my life. It is great to be able to can veggies. I can stuff to get myself through the winter from our local U Pick farm. But I also dry stuff as well then freeze it. keeps a lot longer that way.
CMF |
|
|
|
naturemaiden
True Blue Farmgirl
2568 Posts
Connie - Farmgirl #673
Hoosick Falls
NY
USA
2568 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2012 : 03:29:32 AM
|
i just bought this book from amazon,and cant believe this has been going on! i think that it is ridiculous that what use to be a way of life can now be illegal. i can understand the fda wanting food safety, but this has gone way too far. i'd buy from a farm instead of a supermarket anyday. i get so angry when i am in the supermarket and i see the prices, and not knowing what kind of chemicals/additives are in my food. i grow as much produce as i can in my yard, and i will tell you, the carrots in the supermarket for example are nothing compared to one you grow yourself.
connie
http://www.naturemaiden.com/ - Soap & Candle
http://modern-day-laura.blogspot.com/ -My Personal Blog
http://www.prairiefarmherbs.com/ -Herb Plants for the Home Garden
http://www.thriftyfarmgirl.com/ -My Online Thrift Shop
|
Edited by - naturemaiden on May 09 2012 06:24:50 AM |
|
|
|
countrymommy85
True Blue Farmgirl
898 Posts
Krystle
MT
USA
898 Posts |
Posted - May 09 2012 : 06:18:07 AM
|
This makes the whole fight for kids wanting to work on farms a lot more relevant. I didn't know stuff like that was going on at all! I worked on a farm during my high school years and by far that was my most favorite job in the world!
Mothers are those wonderful people who can get up in the morning before the smell of coffee. ~Author Unknown
http://countryrenaissance.blogspot.com
http://www.etsy.com/shop/SunflowersAndHoney |
|
|
|
Off the Grid/Homesteading Skills: Everything I want to do is illegal book |
|
Everything I want to do is illegal book
