I'm currently working on four projects:
- the companion podcast to this blog
- a web site for our beekeeping operation
- a cookbook dedicated to cooking with honey
- a practical guide to personal sovereignty
Second, we're taking our beekeeping to a new level this year. And, as every business needs a web site, we're putting one together. The site is not up yet, but the future internet home of Ellis Apiary will be www.NewEnglandBeekeeper.com. When it is up and running, I will repost the link. The site will contain infomation on sustainable beekeeping, the importance of strengthening the local honeybee population, the truth about the commercial honey you buy at the supermarket, honey-based recipes for food, mead, home remedies, and at-home spa treatments. Of course, there will be a sales page with our honey, beeswax, candles, and any other bee-related product we may offer in the future.
Third, one of the things we learned from meeting honey consumers at farmers' markets was that most people seemed to think of honey as a sweetner only for their tea. While planning our participation in this year's markets, we tossed around the idea of handing out new recipes each week. Ultimately, that would lead to a lot of wasted paper, ink, and a lot more time and effort. Instead, I'm putting together all the honey recipes I have into one publication that we can display along with our honey, that customers can look through, and hopefully purchase. The cost will be minimal- I'm not looking to make a living writing cookbooks. It's all about promoting the honey!
Fourth, and finally, I've been writing little bits and pieces here and there, more like opinionated essays, and just saving them on my lap top. They have started to take a larger, more cohesive shape into a guidebook for opting out of the various broken systems upon which most of our nation currently is dependent. It is about cultivating the highest degree of freedom that is afforded to us under the law, and how to keep these freedoms from being erroded any further. I have no idea when this project will be done, just that I'm working on it.
How do these projects help us live a little better? Well, the beekeeping related stuff should be obvious in that they will be tools to help us make our own way and provide our own income. The podcast and the guidebook to creating more freedom will help in a different way. These projects will become part of a growing movement happening all across the nation. More and more people are bringing homesteading and survivalism into the mainstream. People are fed up with being slaves to their debt, McMansions, and jobs that they hate, and they are looking for a way out. It is my position that self-sufficiency through homesteading is the most direct and accessable way to achieve those goals.
Of course, some people have careers that they love, but many people are just working for a paycheck to keep themselves and their families afloat. Meanwhile, our government ignores our protests, and instead continues to support the interests of Big Business and Big Banks.
People are starting to look for alternatives, like preparedness, homesteading, survivalism, gardening, and producing their own energy. Just search online and you will find hundreds, if not thousands of people, just like me, blogging and podcasting about their efforts to better their circumstances, increase their self-sufficiency and their freedoms, and hoping to inspire others. People are writing books and publishing YouTube videos teaching self-sufficiency skills. Most importantly, people are tuning in, listening, reading, watching, and learning.
If the podcast and the book help people to become more self-sufficient, it absolutely betters our family's situation because it improves everyone's situation. If you don't understand what I mean by that, well, hopefully you'll tune into the podcasts and check out the book when it eventually becomes available. (wink)
On an individual level, spending so much time writing today has been almost meditative, and certainly helped me to refocus on my own personal goals. It just helped to gel and crystalize certain concepts and information that have been rattling around in my noggin for a while.
Live better, a little every day.
I look forward to your eventual book, and I'm going to add your podcast to my subscription list on itunes.
ReplyDeleteI bought our property 5 years ago with the goals of greater independence and self-reliance, but to be honest we haven't made much progress. It's difficult to spend all day working at a job and then come home and work some more, especially with two small children and a husband who would rather sit in front of the computer playing games than doing any work outside.
Sherri
Thanks Sherri! I know what you mean about having to chase kids around and try to get anything done. But, about the husband... obviously, I don't know what his triggers are, but how do you think he would respond to a financial motivation to get moving on the property? Some people need to see things in black and white. If you can find what will trigger him emotionally, you've got a better chance of getting him actively involved.
ReplyDeleteHe's a town boy and I've always been a country girl, so living out here is my "thing" and not his. The financial angle could possibly be a good way to approach it; we've both been told by our employers that there will be no pay increases next year and there's a chance that his job will be eliminated.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to have found this blog and podcast. If you can do a little something every day then so can I! :)
Sherri
Sherri,
ReplyDeleteWe have the opposite going on here. The mrs. doesn't see the value and I have to do everything to develop the farm. Having shared goals sure helps the thing move forward. The farm is off grid over 5 years and I keep things going and the satisfaction that comes out of it makes it worthwhile. One small task per day really adds up over time!
Robert