Why on earth have a self sufficient lifestyle anyway?

I have had a lot of people ask me why on earth we are wanting to do this? Why are we working toward a self sufficient lifestyle? A lot of people associate Permaculture and ecologically sustainable practices with the hippie movement. People seem to expect that I will end up wearing a tie-dyed shirt and walking around bare foot smoking a joint. Why? Why is ecological development considered to be so alternative? If you consider the origin of man, and of the world, living in an ecologically sensitive way is infact the norm. We were placed on the earth to look after it and to grow and prosper. Why wouldn't we use the natural, God given processes that the world has to our benefit? Is that really that weird? It is us as humans who have departed from the normal natural processes.

Now would be a good time for me to note that I am a Christian, and that a lot of my thoughts and reasoning behind this mind shift for us are somewhat affected by my belief structure. That is just how I think.

We aren't doing this to "save the planet" We aren't doing it to stop green house gas emissions or to shorten our carbon footprint. We are doing this because it is something we want to do. I am doing this because it is something I am interested in (I am not so sure Bron is AS taken by the concept as me, but we are both definitely in agreeance). I am very science minded and am fascinated by the way that all things in nature work together. I guess one day I woke up and noticed how the current trends in farming and agriculture and completely cutting across the way that God created everything to work together. These chains and processes are being broken and interrupted and replaced by factories, processing plants, fertilizers and GM seeds. Why fix something that ain't broke?

I recently saw the below video (shared by the lovely Milkwooders) and thought it really described well the situation as I see it.



Everyone just seems to be chasing that extra $.

My religious reasons aside, I think that this is something that Bron and I can do, to regenerate the land in the plot we have been given, to support ourselves financially in the long run (it has to be cheaper and healthier to grow your own in the long run right?), and to thoroughly enjoy the process. Gardening, and seeing the benefit of your labor is a thoroughly rewarding process. You should try it!  And while you are at it, try a little sheet mulching! It does WONDERS for your soil fertility!

Just my thoughts

Mark

The Apricot / Peach / Lemon / Apple Blossoms are out!

Wow, what a week we had last week! Spent the majority of Saturday planting out our Heirloom Seeds and part of Sunday collecting the free mulch offered by our local council. It takes a VERY long time to collect enough free mulch to cover nearly 400m2 when all you have is a 6x4 box trailer and one Sunday afternoon a month in which to collect it. We should be done in another 6 months.

The highlight of last week for me though has been that the bare root fruit trees we planted over winter have all come out flowering already this spring. We were told by Justin at Thistlebrook (the place we bought them - you should have a look at his site, he really knows his stuff, and the articles he writes are well worth the read!) that it could be a few years before we see any flowers or fruit off them, but oddly, they are all flowering in this first season. Of course, they may not fruit yet, but I am suitably impressed with the flourish of flowers!

Our Peach tree (and the dying weeds I pulled out around it)

We have also been very pleased to see that our Lemon Tree is also covered in flowers and buds.  I stopped counting buds at 100 over the weekend. I'm in hope we might get some lemons also.

And lastly, the chicken pen has progressed somewhat also. Though I don't have any photos to show, it is now framed up, the access door is in and the roosting coop is for the most part sheeted. Now all that remains is to treat the timber, put in a few nesting boxes and perches, and cover the thing from head to toe in chicken wire - and of course fill it with chickens.

We would be very interested if you have any thoughts on breeds of chickens. Really, our goal is egg production and weed eating. We are not interested in the meat.  Have you had any experience with hens?  Would you have any suggestions on breeds to consider?