How self-sufficient, medicinal and healing is your backyard to be an independent homesteader?

How much thought goes into what you grow and what it provides for you? Do you grow flowers, herbs, plants, fruits and vegetables purely for pleasure or does your garden actually offer an array of edibles that you can cook, heal and live off?

Some people simply plant to enjoy and eat what they grow, while others might be thinking about having an off-the-grid self-sufficient lifestyle. Food preservation and canning, composting, rain and water usage, how to plant to get the most out of your land and so forth is definitely a plan for some people.

The Self-Sufficient Backyard is a good place to start for ideas to get your ideas off the ground! Everything from creating your own fertilizer, composting, DYI projects, chicken coop secrets, setting up a beehive, setting up a year round self-heating greenhouse, plants you can grow indoors year-round and money saving tips on crops that might make you money. I love the thought process behind how much you can do for yourself and learn to survive on what you grow!

Do you ever think of collecting or storing seeds? What if you could grow a garden that allows you to create your own herbal painkiller, natural antibiotic or plants that help with sleep, skin care and reduce bloating. I love that we have the potential to grow herbs from a Medicinal Garden Kit to create our own ointments, salves, tinctures, poultices, essential oils and infusions to help with aches and pains. Roots and leaves can also be enjoyed in teas and remedies and recipes can be formulated to use on our skin to soothe or heal externally or internally. We have the power to do so much towards our health, wellness and independence.

What if you wanted to take it one step further and think about emergency stockpiling, surviving and thriving because a recession was happening, money was tight or you simply wanted to understand survival foods that last for a long time. Understanding  Lost Superfoods  that have stood the test of time and have been used by the military, our ancestors, mountain men and in various wars are handy to have knowledge on. Saving your life in an emergency crisis by understanding preservation methods, keeping your family well fed and not needing refrigeration is definitely not a bad skill to have.

I think being able to make some of the following would definitely help in a time of crisis or aid in being more self-sufficient in general:

• baking bread
• making soap
• making candles
• making cheese
• having bees for honey
• making your own jams, jellies or preserves
• canning food and preserves
• knowing how to start a fire with sticks or stones
• building an outdoor shelter with natural surroundings
• identifying berries, mushrooms and various edible plants and herbs
• making a water filter
• having rain barrels
• making fruit leathers
• salting, smoking and preserving meat
• making fermented soup
• having chickens for eggs
• making oils, lotions, salves and antiseptic rubs out of plants and herbs

Old-fashioned methods of making candles and soaps is definitely a survival skill and art form in itself. Using fat and tallow and delving into the history of creating these practical items is a homemade must for saving money, surviving and thriving! Making your own jams, jellies, preserves and conserves from fruit and vegetables that you grow and pick from your own garden would be deeply satisfying, even more so if they are low sugar and don't requiring cooking. If this is something you've done, you know the satisfying feeling of a full pantry.

My own love of gardening, cooking, creating, herbs, plants and the beauty of what nature provides us, is something I truly relish and enjoy on a daily basis. The natural world of oils, medicines and foods and the power they have to heal us and keep us strong, healthy and vital is quite fascinating and anchors us to the earth in a very real way.

If you love vegetables and herbs as much as I do, combining all the goodness and variety in meals to bring about general well-being and nutrition is something to truly treasure and be grateful for! 

I've wanted to write about the link between food, plants, herbs and timeless methods of being more self-sufficient in your home or on your piece of land for a long time, so I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I loved pulling it together and writing it! 

Here's to being self-sufficient, using some of these ideas and eating good things to feel and look good!

Until next time,

Susan

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