Mission Statement,...sort of

Break time! I was outside working on a second compost bin (post to come later) and I was thinking about my views/motivations or what have you about homesteading, self-reliance and sustainability.

Let me give you an example: no knead bread. I think I might have posted something about this idea, if not I will eventually. The idea is that you can make bread by spending only minutes a day on it (this doesn't count the time in the oven, but presumably you can be reading my blog during that time :). Its very simple and can be done by the busiest of people. College students living in dorms could do this (with access to a communal kitchen). But if you do some reading you'll come across some 'improved' versions that are much more complicated. They use dutch ovens, a couple different rising times, a previously heated baking stone etc. This is all well and good as I understand the need of folks to refine and hone a process to produce the bets product. But there should be some disclaimer such as "there are much simpler ways to do this..." to encourage those without the 'required' equipment or the time to engage in these satisfying, money saving and nutritious activities.

Another example is compost. I'm far from being anything close to an expert, but I'm fairly tired of the detailed accounts of composting. I understand the need for a rough ratio of carbon materials to nitrogen materials, but many descriptions of composting make it sound like a course in organic chemistry. What you want is a dirt simple basic introduction to get people to compost. There are immediate monetary and environmental benefits that are not attained because plenty of people view it as complicated.

So what's my mission with this blog? I've determined that useful (to me) sites on the internet are sites that have boiled down information and techniques for my immediate use and consumption. That's what I want to give to you. I want to figure out cheap/free ways of improving your life whether you live in the country, suburbia, a city or a dorm room. I want to emphasize the cheap/free part. I don't see much sense in buying yogurt makers, new lumber or photovoltaic panels when there are piles of useful debris on the curb waiting to be REUSED. Yes, REUSED, one of those other R's. It way better than recycling because it requires no (or little) additional energy or processing. A kitty litter bucket you find on a curb becomes a container for a cherry tomato plant. Bam! You just saved that bucket from some long and energy intensive process and you've saved a couple bucks and are now growing something. Win...Win....and Win.

I suspect some activities might end up costing a couple of dollars and some activities might be more reliant on details than others. But whenever possible I want to deliver you a simple cheap and easy way to increase your self reliance while improving your health and reducing your impact on the environment.