Its amazing how consumer oriented I am. When faced with an issue I often think of things I can buy to resolve this issue. For example, the other day when planning our trees and garden I thought “I could really use some doweling rods to mark the garden with.” I almost jumped in the car and ran to town to buy doweling. I then realized I could probably make some sticks by chopping up some old fence posts that have been discarded on the land. Same result albeit not very fancy. It’s not just the cost involved for buying things that made me stop and think. It’s the travel and time to buy anything. We are really out in the middle of nowhere. To get to the closest mom and pop store is a minimum of half an hour by the time I load up the kids, say hi to everyone I meet, drive back out to the land. If I go to the big city it’s a half day trip minimum. This led me to think of things I could probably make versus having to buy them at a store. Here are some things I thought about: – Groceries – Veggies, milk, meat, eggs, etc. – Gravel – have some pit run I could use on the land – Firewood – have trees I can cut up – Feed for animals – Soap – Milly made some tonight with Rico’s wife Queenie (new addition to who’s who) – House – Chicken coop   Any idea’s on things I can make versus having to buy? Planting 275 twigs/trees tomorrow and hopefully our garden. Starting to work on that grocery making thing.