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Across the Fence:  How hard would it be for you to......  |
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Patsy
True Blue Farmgirl
592 Posts
Illinois
USA
592 Posts |
 Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 09:26:44 AM
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I posted this on another website I visit everyday and most of the answers were "no way" "never" "I am not a camper" "couldn't do it". Now I come to the farmgirl website and I expect very different responses to this.
I know we all COULD do without the modern luxuries of life but how hard would it be for you to do....
Without Electricity
Without Indoor plumbing
Walking or riding a horse and/or buggy instead of a car or bus
Growing your own food and canning
Sewing your clothes
Splitting wood for a wood heating or cookstove
Actually cooking on a woodstove
Taking care of chickens or other farm animals
Doing without most of things we now have?
Patsy
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 09:35:37 AM
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Well...for one, I'd have to quit work out side the home to accomplish all that one needs to do in a day to live like this, but I think I do most of it with the exception of the plumbing..I'm not an outdoor potty kindof girl :)
I would also have to hone my sewing skills, otherwise we'd be walking around in curtains like Carol Burnett!
Musings from our family in the Bluegrass http://sweetvioletmae.blogspot.com/ |
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vegetarian farmer
True Blue Farmgirl
249 Posts
Jane
Freedom
pa
USA
249 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 09:46:25 AM
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At one point in my life I have done all of those things and right now with the exception of we do have indoor plumbing and we are in the middle of installing solar, I am still doing them. Some of my favorite things to do are on that list, like canning, cooking with wood, and riding a horse instead of a car. I find it funny what people think is 'hard' these day. For me using a cell phone is "hard".
http://hardworkhomestead.blogspot.com/ |
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Sheep Mom 2
True Blue Farmgirl
1534 Posts
Sheri
Elk
WA
USA
1534 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 09:54:07 AM
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Actually when we were building this place we did without indoor plumbing for four years. I cooked on a wood cook stove and I still raise most of what we eat. I think the power issue would be hard simply because of the pump in the well. Solar wouldn't work very well here in the winter when we would need the power the most. I'd love to be able to put in a wind generator but that is one to put on my "if I get rich someday" list. We built this place out of logs from this land. We did the whole back to the land homestead thing back in the early 80's.
Blessings, Sheri
"Work is Love made visible" -Kahlil Gibran |
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melody
True Blue Farmgirl
3324 Posts
Melody
The Great North Woods in the Land of Hiawatha
USA
3324 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 09:58:33 AM
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Just recently we had a horrific wind storm that lasted for 3-solid days and we had no power all that time. At first it was exciting! I pulled every last candle I could find in the house, lit two antique kerosene lanterns, and diligently kept up the fire in our wood stove located in the living room and then I snuggled down to wait it out. By the end of day two it was getting pretty annoying, laundry piling up, I wasn't able to make myself a cup of tea and keeping a constant 24 hour watch on the wood stove began to wear on me. I could "do" without TV, phones, computers, but doing without electricity that was a hard one for me!
Melody
Farmgirl #525 |
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Karrieann
True Blue Farmgirl
1900 Posts
Karrieann
Northeast
Georgia
USA
1900 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 09:59:16 AM
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...if that was my only option, life would just go on and it'll be just fine because thats just the way it be.
Now in saying that...right now I have different option and it is what it is.
Karrieann ~ Farmgirl Sister #766 (29 Sept 2009)
My Blog: ...following my heart, dreams and Jesus
...http://karrieann-followingmyheartandjesus.blogspot.com/
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lilwing
True Blue Farmgirl
1403 Posts
Brooke
Fulshear
Texas
USA
1403 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 10:01:26 AM
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I could do without most if not all, but the indoor plumbing part would be hard, as well as splitting wood for firewood because my health would give me problems with this! We went without alot of things when our last hurricane hit and it's amazing what you can "make do" with!
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Proud Farmgirl #775
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beekeepersgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1423 Posts
Luanne
Cresco
PA
USA
1423 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 10:46:07 AM
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I have very dear Amish friends and spend a lot of time with them, so I can honestly say I could do without just about everything on the list. Like Jonni, I'd have to improve my sewing skills - I can sew seams without much trouble, but button holes and zippers drive me crazy!! I guess I would also miss having a telephone since my Mom lives 300 miles away and I don't get to see her often, but we talk on the phone several times a week.
Luanne
beekeepersgirl #691
Pleasant words are as an honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
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Fiddlehead Farm
True Blue Farmgirl
4562 Posts
Diane
Waupaca
WI
USA
4562 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 10:47:14 AM
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Isn't it funny that my goal when I was younger was not to do any of those things and now as I get older it is my goal to do most of those things. It all has to do with living a simpler life.
http://studiodiphotosite.shutterfly.com/
farmgirl sister #922
Happy to be a "Raggedy Ann" in a Barbie World!
I get up every morning determined to both change the world and have one hell of a good time. Sometimes this makes planning my day difficult.
- E. B. White |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 10:47:29 AM
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I think I would love that lifestyle. If we had the land and the animals we wouldn't need to work outside the home- it would have to be a lifestyle where we were self sufficient and self sustaining. I would assume that we would probably barter or sell some produce/animals to get other things we would need/like such as cloth or different oils.
We would certainly have to have a house that would have a wood stove that had a cooking surface as well as an oven and I would get really good at banking the fire to give heat at night and not die- but I am sure I would wake up to a cold hearth a couple of times!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
Put your pin on the farmgirl map! www.farmgirlmap.blogspot.com |
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Melina
True Blue Farmgirl
435 Posts
Melina
USA
435 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 11:38:19 AM
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For me, the hardest part would be an unmentioned but related thing. Laundry, especially in the winter and with small children. I lived through 8 days of an ice storm with no electricity, made do quite well for most of that time, but the laundry sure piled up! I knew it was temporary, so I did not tackle that mound until the lights came back on. I can't imagine if I'd had a couple of wee ones in diapers.
The morning breeze has secrets to tell you. Do not go back to sleep.
Rumi |
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natesgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
1735 Posts
angela
martinsville
indiana
USA
1735 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 12:19:38 PM
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I would be so sad to see my freezers go, but I could handle it. I am learnin to can everything I can get my hands on already, so I guess the meat could be canned. I love havin my chickens, so other animals would probably not be too bad. I think the sewin my own clothes would be my downfall. Maybe I could trade for that with someone for doin their cannin! I am lovin the cannin right now!
Farmgirl Sister #1438
God - Gardening - Family - Is anything else important? |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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dutchy
True Blue Farmgirl
4427 Posts
4427 Posts |
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emsmommy5
True Blue Farmgirl
1547 Posts
Angie
Buckley
WA
USA
1547 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 2:21:34 PM
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Well... I could and would make do with out any of the things on the list. There are some things we'd obviously need to change around our home because right now we don't live that kind of lifestyle.
The hardest for me would be not having a car at this point. Of course, if I didn't have one, then I would have more time to stay home and do all the other things I'd need to do instead of racing off to the fire station when the tones go off.
I have ALWAYS wanted a homesteading off the grid lifestyle, but i married a city boy without the same goals. Of course he was agreeable to the concept until we had been married a few years and then announced he wasn't so hip on it after all. I guess he figured being agreeable was what I wanted to hear at the time. I wish he would have just been honest. WOuld have saved alot of tears over our marriage.
SO now I just do all the homemakingish stuff I can on our little spot in town and try to bloom where I am planted. But one of these days there WILL be a wood cookstove in my house. I just have to sneak it in when he's not looking. lol
Do what you love, love what you do. |
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CountryBorn
True Blue Farmgirl
1545 Posts
Mary Jane
New York
USA
1545 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 2:37:25 PM
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Most of the things on the list I have done, some for long periods of time others for short periods of time. I will be honest most of the things I could do even at 62,but, do I want to, no. I like growing veggies and canning and freezing things. Love my woodstove and heat totally with it all winter.Cerainly don't mind lugging in the wood.But,I like the modern things too. I don't want to scrub on a washboard, love my dryer, love my electric,love hot water in a flash for a bath! All the things we can enjoy nowadays. I fully admit it. I think if you want to live like that wonderful! It can be very rewarding. Knowing I can do these things is a good feeling.But in my heart I also know how much really hard tedious and tiring work that doing these things day in and day out can be. I am very thankful we all have the choice to decide !!
MJ
There can be no happiness if the things we believe in are different from the things we do. Freya Stark |
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sue5901
True Blue Farmgirl
122 Posts
Sue
Wellingborough
United Kingdom
122 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 3:03:30 PM
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Like many of you I have done all of them for short periods of time and would be OK to do it again as long as I didn't have to work outside the home at the same time.
The hardest would be laundry - I could do it by hand but it is a real chore and thats without having young children.
But I would definately miss having a hot shower avaliable all the time instantly the most.
Sue
Dance like nobody's watching! |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 5:04:31 PM
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I couldn't do without a car. I need it to get to work and I wouldn't want to walk, since the place I work is in a bad part of town. I also need a car to take my dog to the vet. I seriously doubt that I could ever learn to sew my own clothes--I do some embroidery but I'm not good at sewing anything bigger than a breadbox.
Cindy
"There is more to life than increasing its speed". Mahatma Gandhi
Visit my blog at http://www.farmerinthebelle.blogspot.com/ |
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Violets November
True Blue Farmgirl
342 Posts
Violet
Exeter
California
USA
342 Posts |
Posted - Nov 03 2010 : 8:44:49 PM
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I agree with CountryBorn, MJ.
I have lived all the things above, and I can do them all. Except for the horse and buggy. I rode a bicycle. And the thing I would least like is splitting wood. In fact, I have never split wood. My husband did that. But on all other counts, if we had to do it, we could. Maybe at a slower pace, but we would know what to do.
~Violet~
Farmgirl Sister #1669
My blog, http://hiddenacre.blogspot.com/
Our Organic Jewelry, http://www.etsy.com/shop/GaelicForge |
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Annab
True Blue Farmgirl
2900 Posts
Anna
Seagrove
NC
USA
2900 Posts |
Posted - Nov 04 2010 : 03:39:40 AM
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I sometimes do wish we had an outhouse!
When our only bathroom was being remodeled, I had no qualms about going outside. Aqnd if it rains hard for more than 2 days the toilet doesn't flush, so I'll go outside
Would LOVE to ride a horse to work. we have at times ridden bicycles from work, which is about 18 miles.
We continue to chop wood for our waterstove that heats our domestic water and also provides forced air heat in the winter.
And you just can't beat getting your eggs the same day, or sometimes the very second they are layed! We get our meat from a friend each year.
We maintain a garden for summer and winter crops. I like to can as a hobby, but could do it if it had to be done in order to survive just fine
Now if only I could sew.
So Patsy, you are right. I bet well over half of us on this site think nothing of the lifestyles we continue to live, which send the city slickers packing for another location when times get tough I bet! |
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KayB
True Blue Farmgirl
540 Posts
Kay
Del City
Oklahoma
USA
540 Posts |
Posted - Nov 04 2010 : 8:32:53 PM
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I'm with the majority - I could do most of it if I don't have to work outside of the home. Some of the stuff I already know how to do, but quite a bit of it I don't but I'm slowly but surely picking these art forms up.
I would be okay without all of that.
KayB
Life's a dance you learn as you go |
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LynnDinKY
Farmgirl in Training
46 Posts
Kentucky
USA
46 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2010 : 2:29:47 PM
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I don't post often, but I had to respond to this.
I would be totally lost. I've got some learning to do. ;D
Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Proverbs 31:30 |
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Okie Farm Girl
True Blue Farmgirl
1674 Posts
Mary Beth
McLoud
Oklahoma
USA
1674 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2010 : 3:43:34 PM
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I have done without all of those things, but can't say that I would want to do that forever! However, like many on here, I would adjust with peace and joy because it would be what it was. I think the hardest thing for me would be to do without my freezer. Also, so many of the things that would be required would be very difficult for me because of my back problems. I think that I would be in a world of hurt if I had to chop wood.
On a funny side, since I was a Girl Scout all through school and learned how to make a 'reflector oven', my family was camping a few years back and I baked biscuits in one that I had made out of a box. We were in tents pitched next to the most gorgeous and huge camper you ever saw. As I was cleaning up breakfast in my big pots of soapy water and rinse water, the man in the camper came over and said, "I couldn't help but notice that you had really pretty biscuits for breakfast. Where in the world did you cook them?" I pointed to my reflector oven and he yelled at the camper where his wife was looking out the window, "She cooked 'em in a box, honey! In a box!!" :-)
Mary Beth
www.OklahomaPastryCloth.com
The Sovereign Lord is my strength - Habakkuk 3:19 |
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pnickols
True Blue Farmgirl
808 Posts
Patricia
Parma
Ohio
808 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2010 : 3:50:18 PM
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| I'd miss electricity and indoor plumbing, I sew my own clothes, have taken care of animals, could master cooking on a woodstove, cook from scratch a lot and would love to drive a horse and buggy instead of a gas guzzling car that just costs me money to keep running. |
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Cindy Lou
True Blue Farmgirl
2325 Posts
Susan
Lonsdale
MN
USA
2325 Posts |
Posted - Nov 06 2010 : 5:29:57 PM
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Patsy, neat idea!
I know we all COULD do without the modern luxuries of life but how hard would it be for you to do....
Without Electricity - I could if I had to, but am pretty spoiled on this one, it wouldn't be by choice. Candles and lantern light are beautiful but even our cornburning stove needs electricity for the fan.
Without Indoor plumbing - Friends of ours did this. In Minnesota its a bit more challenging than farther south. All winter they carried a toilet seat out to the biffy and back in on each trip so it was warm. Not pleasant but possible, but the potty chairs for their little kids were worse.
Walking or riding a horse and/or buggy instead of a car or bus - I've been crazy about horses all my life and we seldom travel really far so I think I could enjoy this for the most part except one daughter is 300 miles away and that would make it tough.
Growing your own food and canning - We have a huge garden, do a lot of freezing and canning. I'd have trouble with wheat for flour and would have to barter for that.
Sewing your clothes - I'm pretty much OK with this one. I love sewing but its gotten pretty hard to find good durable fabric these days.
Splitting wood for a wood heating or cookstove - We have a wood burning furnace and a gas powered splitter so I could do this though I prefer to leave it to my son and husband.
Actually cooking on a woodstove - I'd need to learn. I think woodburning stoves are fascinating. It would take more time but I've heard its well worth the trouble, though I'd need to have it set up out of the kitchen for the hot summer days.
Taking care of chickens or other farm animals - I grew up on a farm so this is pretty familiar to me. When our kids were home they were in 4-H and did most of the animal care. We've gotten lazy though and know people who raise chickens, hogs and organic beef so we pay for them to do it.
Doing without most of things we now have? - I'd really miss my computer. I cherish good medical care after a bout with cancer so returing to the past in that way is not something I would want.
We try to live in an earth friendly way, avoiding toxic chemicals, oil based fertilizers, using passive solar for heat. I sometimes think I'd have fit in better in the "olden days" at least a hundred years ago but I couldn't have worked for all those years as a teacher and still have taken care of my family without the help of some modern conveniences.
I do believe that families were closer when it took everyone working together just for survival.
This is an interesting thread that makes one think.
Susan
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
Mary Oliver |
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grace gerber
True Blue Farmgirl
2804 Posts
grace
larkspur
colorado
USA
2804 Posts |
Posted - Nov 08 2010 : 1:10:05 PM
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I am loving this thread and has givening my great introspection.
Many times I am without electricty because of snow storms and such but I do very well because I know at some point it will return. Not that I do not know how to live without but my customers sure do not.
I store water for myself and animals so a hand pump would be needed but I would not mind that since I already carry water in buckets all around my 35 acreas to my sweet animals.
I would not mind outside potty and I can always boil water to get a nice warm wash. Laundry is the same and I again have done this without much worry.
I do not have cell phones, cabel tv and use my computer to do my business but it is dial up so I do not spend much time searching and wasting time.
During the winter I only go into town around once a month for feed and postage. I do not wish to be away from my farm and I sure would not mind riding a horse with a sled attached to bring the food home.
I love doing everything with my hands and so that is no problem - it is my joy and also my business.
I thank you so much for your thread and I will give myself permission to maybe let go of a few more things I think are "Must have's or do's" Really I am much happier when I am doing the simple things of life...
Grace Gerber
Larkspur Funny Farm and Fiber Art Studio
Where the spirits are high and the fiber is deep
http://www.larkspurfunnyfarm.etsy.com
http://larkspurfunnyfarm.blogspot.com
http://larkspurfunnyfarm.artfire.com
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Across the Fence: How hard would it be for you to...... |
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How hard would it be for you to......
