/b/ - Random

>>111670
Good thread. I want to take the homestead pill and leave the city.
I hate the future, I hate what technology has become and how it controls our life and makes us miserable.
I don't want the working drone life this system has planned for us,
: commute to your bullshit office job, pretend you're busy for an entire day then go back to your slave quarters and do it again tomorrow morning. Fuck that.

I make everything myself at home. I bake bread, I preserve food, sew, build furniture, etc.. I wish I could grow my own produce and have hens and beehives.
I don't want to live off the grid as plumbing and electricity is pretty damn convenient but at least I'd want to be self sufficient enough to have as much freedom and resources possible should the world get worse for the years to come.

>>111670
great idea for a thread, thank you! i try to increase my self-sufficiency for environmental, feminist, and personal reasons. i want to be free from the life of wage-chasing so i can focus on myself, my wife, and family/friends/neighbors. i'm not a complete isolationist at all but i hate cities and suburbs.
>Do you make your own belongings or domestic items?
i try to, and if i can't, i try to buy it either secondhand or locally.

things i do: bake bread (i made my own sourdough starter from just flour/water), grow plants (only tomatoes and herbs right now), make my soap, make salves, cook almost all of my own food from scratch, compost, wash and line-dry my clothing

things i want to do: learn how to sew, build a cellar for long-term food storage, support a local woman by bartering/trading for the things that i can't make well, grow a greater variety of herbs so i can make my own tea, cook without electricity, make quilts, raise hens, forage

>How do you approach health and beauty?
i make my own soap and salves for cleansing/moisturizing, and i use tea in a semi-medicinal way, but i do not avoid prescription medicines. i do take one med for nerve pain. beauty for me is being clean, having nice hair, having soft skin, and taking care of my clothing.
>Have you ever slept outside? Did you have a tent?
i've done it both with and without a tent. you get a lot of bites if you sleep outside without a tent.
>What one piece of outdoor advice can you give to other anons?
never drink unsafe water. prioritize purification tabs or bleach or something. also, soap is better than hand sanitizer.
>What drives and motivates you?
love for nature. a desire to always be able to provide for myself and my loved ones. not trusting a man-made society to provide for women and children if they can get away with it.

>>111686
How did you learn to make furniture, anon?

Things I do at home are learning canning and freezing techniques and adapting them to my life style. I make my own bread and can can my own soups to freeze.
A ring around the moon can mean a storm because it’s something to do with the water reflecting light for a piece of outside advice.
Strawberries that are going bad can be hace the skin sliced off and planted them use the top to infuse vinegar for a dressing.

>>111694
It's actually not as hard as people think to do simple things like shelves or cabinets or a desk, it's just time consuming.
At first I would watch Youtube video but those were from experts with lots of skills and tools I didn't have so it wasn't relevant for me. I decided to just go ahead and start with very simple projects and let trial and error do the rest.

It's really important to be thorough with measurements and planning and not just eyeball things.
What I made looks pretty simple and utilitarian though, I don't do woodworking. I just purchase wooden planks, paint them and assemble them but it's sturdy and does the job.
I started because it was way cheaper than buy it already made or sometimes I simply couldn't find exactly what I was looking for.

Learning how to sew was a similar process.

>Do you practice survival skills or techniques? Do you need to?
I used to do a lot more when I lived on the family farm. I canned, hunted, baked, trapped, and raised chickens for meat and eggs.

>In your opinion, how self-sufficient are you?
Barely at all. I bake bread occasionally and repair things around the house when needed. I am completely domesticated nowadays.

>What are your life plans?
Getting away from people. The city is too crowded. I want to go to the very outskirts where everyone has at least an acre of land.

>Do you forage?
Not any more. Though I own so many books on it that I would be confident trying it on anything but mushrooms.

>Do you make your own belongings or domestic items?
I sewed my own pad once. Funny story. I was boiling it to completely sterilize it and I completely forgot about it until I smelled smoke. Water boiled out and it caught fire. :/

>How do you approach health and beauty?
No make up, it instills an elevated and false standard of beauty in women and girls who see other women wearing it. I'll wear fashionable clothes if they're given to me, but I usually wear unflattering graphic tees that I bought from the Salvation Army in 2010. I apply sun screen and lotion when I'm not lazy. I should look after my health more. Exercise more, eat more leafy greens, and take glucosamine, but I don't.

if you're new to food preservation, check out the National Center for Home Food Preservation from the cooperative extension of georgia
https://nchfp.uga.edu/
it has some interesting articles on safe preservation and books on basic projects. you can learn how to properly can, freeze, ferment, cure, and more on this website at a beginner level. i like it because of the emphasis on safe preservation. the USDA Complete Guide to Home Canning is completely free to download.
https://nchfp.uga.edu/publications/publications_usda.html
of course you can at your own risk, but if you're not confident about starting, i think these resources can really help.

>>111670
>Do you practice survival skills or techniques? Do you need to?
I rarely practice, and store all of my records digitally. I suppose if I wanted to be actually good at survival I should have hard copies of everything I need. I've done enough fishing and camping to familiarize myself with general practices, so I don't feel too out of touch should I be dropped in a rough situation.

>What does freedom mean to you? Are you free?
Pursuing the objective by all means possible and measuring whether or not I am adequately matched.

>In your opinion, how self-sufficient are you?
Well as a rentpig I'm basically a serf, plus my career path basically forbids full seclusion. I can do basic sewing, cooking, shooting, basic repairs and camping. I suppose if I learned how to grow things I would be set for the basics.

>What are your life plans?
To make a beautiful animation of some kind.

>Do you forage?
No, curious to try when I get to a better area though.

>Do you make your own belongings or domestic items?
I would if I had more time, right now it's too minmaxing and far less efficient then just purchasing it from someone else. The only exception to this I've found is making furniture, but that requires space to work and tools that I don't have right now.

>How do you approach health and beauty?
Enough to elevate my level of social standing towards my own ends. I am not the best, but I do my best to be adequately presentable.

>Have you ever been in a survival situation? How did you handle it?
Other than routine camping, no.

>Have you ever slept outside? Did you have a tent?
Dozens of times, always with a tent. Worst experience was during a winter campout.

>Does asceticism appeal to you?
Out of curiousity for how much I can endure, but spending time on it would distract from the objective.

>What drives and motivates you?
The objective.

>What one piece of outdoor advice can you give to other anons?
You can survive 3 minutes without air, 3 hours without shelter, 3 days without water, and 30 days without food. If you are in a survival situation, sort out your priorities accordingly.

>Are you fearless?
No, quite saturated in fear, and yet I must persist regardless.

Just made some amazing bread, full of flaxseeds and oats and spelt flour, wish I could share the smell with the thread.

>What does freedom mean to you? Are you free?
Not free in any sense of the word. I used to own property out in the middle of no where, then I had to move bc of family to the burbs. I hate the burbs and everyone that lives here by choice.

>In your opinion, how self-sufficient are you?
I have a backyard garden with a greenhouse, chickens for eggs, rabbits for meat.

>What are your life plans?
As soon as possible I want to move out to the woods with land.

>Do you forage?
No, but I would love to learn. Ive never found a teacher.

>Do you make your own belongings or domestic items?
Ive made my own clothes, raise meat, grow veg and fruit, bake bread, brew cider and Perry, made reusable toilet paper pads and cloth diapers.

>How do you approach health and beauty?
Whole foods from the earth are best, I cook at home. Ive been getting into more ancient grains lately. Taking care of oneself is important, not in a vanity sense, but a self respecting way. I struggle w depression so I need to.

>Have you ever been in a survival situation? How did you handle it?
No, I lived in my car for a week showering at the gym before, not that bad.

>What drives and motivates you?
The future. I want to get back to nature. There is nothing more peaceful.

This is pretty close to how I want to live in the future. I'm not anywhere near achieving this and won't be for at least 6+ years to come, but it's a nice goal to work towards.

>>111697
i love that design wtf

>>111670
>Do you practice survival skills or techniques? Do you need to?
I definitely need to. I'm fat and have been losing weight because I realized if I needed to do any kinda survival, I would get fucked by the physical aspects.

>In your opinion, how self-sufficient are you?
Somewhat, but I'd like to become more so.

>Do you forage?
I've been trying to get into it, seems quite fun to be able to identify things in general.
>Do you make your own belongings or domestic items?

>How do you approach health and beauty?
Trying to work on being healthier like I mentioned before. I realized in the US people's food and eating habits are fucked so I've been trying to improve on that as well. As for beauty, I really enjoy makeup and it used to be a big hobby of mine. I still enjoy it but I realized I'm happier presenting myself as authentically as I can, so I have a pretty basic makeup routine in spite of my collection of eyeshadow palettes and stuff like that. I try to focus on skincare more. No judgement to others who prefer more makeup, but I think I have come to a point where if I have too much makeup on I feel like I'm lying/not presenting myself authentically.

>What drives and motivates you?
Something that I feel that is lacking from current society is a connection to ourselves, our bodies, where we live, and just generally the things that make us human. I am motivated by re-cultivating that connection with ourselves and nature. I want to be able to do all the things I am fascinated by people in other countries or people from decades past were able to do.

>Are you fearless?
A little bit, but I still think not enough.

>>111670
admittedly always wanted to get into SASS, but I feel very useless sometimes because my body and energy levels are extremely poor.
for scope I work out and etc., but know fat people that have more endurance and virility to do things than me.

It's amazing how people can muster up the energy to live off the land.

Sassy period advice please?

Stopped using tampons, pads, etc, but the first two days of my flow are heavy and I'm trying different things recently to see what works. At the moment I'm just bleeding naturally, and need some sort of way to deal with the first two or three days when it's just inconceivable to bleed freely because of my flow, it would be running down to my socks.

It's not for any moral reasons or anything I just can't handle hoe uncomfortable, physically unnatural feeling, sticky and unbreathable pads were, and I don't use tampons anyway. I spend like 45 minutes one day trying to arrange it to feel comfortable or even tolerable and broke down in frustrated tears before ripping the scratchy plastic from between my legs, throwing it on the floor, and just sobbing for a second or two before deciding to go on my walk and just bleed and ruin my clothes. I had to wipe with a tissue once but since it was 3-4 days into my period it was okay. (Mine lasts about a week, and my cramps are really bad, I pass out, but that's not the point of this post)

Suggestions? Solutions you've used in the past? I am open to sewing, using lichens, spaghnum moss, whatever, just no industry or commodification suggestions please because I don't have the funds to invest in materiels for inventing but I can repurpose old clothes and live in an area with lots of traditional wild plants so anyone in a similar boat feel free to reply no matter how unreasonable your suggestions sound, I'm at my wits end. It's like a choice between "stay indoors to be unseen" or "be in constant pain or discomfort" when just bleeding naturally solves that issue I'm not able to go about my day to day business that way it's just not feasible because of local moids.

>>113614 (off-topic)
when i was in college, i thought one day while unwrapping another pad, "man i'm fuckin sick of these things…"
then i started using tampons. resolved my frustration using pads, and i'd imagine yours too. just try them.

>>113614
Is a cup not an option for you? Yeah you have to purchase it once so it's not entirely self sufficient but after that you're set for like a decade with proper care. I think it's ideal for survival.

>>111670
I know it's a necro, but winter is over for a lot of us in europe and food prices are mental, so I'm sure we all have a lot of fun recipes and traditions to share for this time of year since wild food is going to be more abundant in spring and summer.

For me nettle soup is what I'm looking forward to soon, mostly just for the fragrant nostalgia. I want to do crystallised samphire before summer. I'd love to hear about the various recipes and money-saving tips you all might have for this time

>>126239
There's relatively little nature where I am so I can't forage a lot of wild food unfortunately. I'm tapping birch trees for juice right now though. (March is the month to do it)

I went looking for Jew's ear (mushrooms) multiple times this winter. There's plenty of Sambucus trees here which they should be growing on, but couldn't find any. Anyone got advice on how to find them?

Do you gals have any advice on how to start living more self-sufficiently? I live in an apartment in a big city, hope to move to the countryside, but I know I have zero skills required and don't know where to start

>>126302
Get some some kitchen / balcony plants & herbs, such as chillies, tomatoes, strawberries, oregano, etc.
Start cooking & baking more (home-made meals, breads, buns, learning how to make your favourite desserts), meal-prep for your schedule,

>>126303
Thanks, I'll try to tidy my balcony enough to have plants there. I'm already a decent cook, so I'll look into bread baking for sure, too.

>>126312
If you have a tumblr, I have a blog geared towards reducing and reusing in order to be more self sufficant. It's called urban-homesteading.

>>126250
I'm going to suggest something very naughty, put up some shade and take a water bottle with a few holes poked into it, and go mist and provide shade to the area you usually find them, chances are the conditions aren't right