The How and Why of Self Reliance

This installment to the self reliance series The Least You Need to Know is a guest post by Anuttama, a very active member of the Self Reliant Community of Graham.  I know she’s a very busy person and I really appreciate her taking the time to write up a post on bees and bee keeping, [...]

It’s officially started—found the first ripe berries today! I’m pretty excited!  One of my favorite aspects of self reliance is wildcrafting food, particularly food I can put by, and the plethora of wild blackberries and feral apple trees in this neck of the woods are at the top of my list.  I am practically surrounded [...]

Creating one’s own tools would seem to be logically central to an attitude of self reliance.  Some tools are ubiquitous to civilization—the wheel, various cutting tools like knives and axes, many kinds of containers for water and food…the broom.  For as long as there have been houses, there have been tools to clean them and [...]

Directions for properly approaching, picking up and carrying a chicken which can be very helpful to new chicken stewards.

In its simplest form, barter is exchanging goods or services for goods or services without the use of “money” which is, after all, only a representational tool.  Barter can augment self reliance by cutting out a middle-man who wants a percentage for himself and by providing access to goods and services whether or not you [...]

Here’s reason Number 97 to decouple yourself from a petroleum-based life style and increase your self reliance.  Unless you have an oil derrick in your backyard and a small scale refinery in your garage, you as an individual are completely at the mercy of factors and factions over which you cannot possibly have any control [...]