Becoming More Self Reliant

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A lot of people have the dream of a few acres of land and self reliance (as opposed to self -sufficiency, which is a myth!). This group is to draw together the experiences of those living the dream and sharing the lessons learned on the way with those still working towards living on the land.

Members: 164
Latest Activity: Jan 31, 2019

How do you make it work?

A friend who is a valuer told me last year that lifestyle blocks have the highest turnover of ownership or all property types. The idea of land ownership is loved by many, but what does it take to succeed in becoming self reliant? The romanticism of a rural lifestyle vs the reality of living the lifestyle can be miles apart. So, what does it take to realise a self reliant lifestyle and how have you achieved this?

I would love for you to share your lessons and advice to myself and others:
What combinations of activities have worked for you e.g. paid employment vs earning an income off the land?
Where did you start off?
Do you still undertake paid employment part time to get by or have you transitioned fully to living off the land?
What were you biggest challenges and what were your biggest lessons learned?...

Discussion Forum

Over doing it! 14 Replies

We bought a 7 Acer block 11 months ago! so coming up to a year we have a Orchard that is constantly under attack by 30 sheep. 16 pigs, 63 chickens, 11 ducks, 2 horses and 6 cattle and 2 Geese.…Continue

Started by Shona Cullen. Last reply by Kate Oct 20, 2013.

Dreaming... 11 Replies

My current thoughts are the more $ you have up front to be freehold on land the better, so more time can be spent on the land and less paid employment in transitioning. However, it is a toss up…Continue

Started by Laine. Last reply by Shona Cullen Oct 16, 2013.

green control of pampas 2 Replies

What are the best ways to control and eradicate pampas grassContinue

Started by Kate. Last reply by Serra Kilduff Feb 26, 2013.

The Myth of Self Reliance 1 Reply

Hi All,Here's an article to make us think a bit deeper about our dreams. I agree with it whole heartily. It links in to wider Transition Towns concepts well:…Continue

Started by Laine. Last reply by Hanna Feb 6, 2013.

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Comment by Amber on October 30, 2010 at 11:56am: Hi Folks - would love to join you! Have had a little read of some of the discussions - compost!!! It's been a challenge for me from the start. I do own a property that could enable self suffiency if I didn't have to live elsewhere to pay for it! So - at this point it truly IS a dream but one I'm not giving up!

Comment by Richard Grevers on October 16, 2010 at 1:45pm: I saw another article about that house the other day and thought - aha, a target to beat! I don't think we'd want quite so much glass.

Comment by Laine on October 14, 2010 at 8:09pm: All good cheers, I can get a rough idea from the photos. Hey, thinking of your future build and what looks like quite an elevated site, have you seen http://goldenbayhideaway.co.nz/design_build ? It's got the highest energy rating of any NZ home. L

Comment by Richard Grevers on October 13, 2010 at 10:30pm: If you register for the blog, you'll be able to see private posts (I put up a google map the other day).

Comment by Laine on October 13, 2010 at 6:36pm: Thanks Richard. I will have a read of your blog this week. What road is your new land up? L

Comment by Richard Grevers on October 11, 2010 at 12:10pm: We are treading this path, in that we settle on the land we are buying in a few weeks. I've explained some of the reasoning behind our move in my blog at http://www.permaculture.geek.nz

The land is quite cheap due to its location and off-gridness. We are able to freehold it thanks to my inheritance, but we will run out of money before we can complete a barn, so we will have to finish doing up our house in town and selling before we can develop the place and move there.

I am a self-employed IT person, so quality of internet reception will eventually determine whether I can work from home there, although I am increasing my focus on ventures which will generate some income with minimal input from me.

We will have 0.62 hectares - certainly enough to feed ourselves from, but with the high rainfall and elevation, there will be many things we won't be able to grow, so will need to trade our surplus.