Doing it yourself

Thomas Jefferson wrote of a happy Virginia farmer whose "estate supplies a good table, clothes himself and his family with ordinary apparel, furnishes a small suplus to buy salt, sugar, coffee, and a little finery for his wife and daughters, enables him to receive and visit friends, and furnishes him pleasing and healthy occupation...To secure all this he needs but one act of self-denial, to put off buying anything till he has the money to pay for it."

He also wrote "Man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can do without."

Today I learned of the death of a woman I didn't know but who I now admire.

She did it herself.

Her name is Carla Emery DeLong and she was a pioneer in the Homesteading movement here in the US. She was also a bestselling author of The Encyclopedia of Country Living.

Please look at her site and learn about her philosophies regarding how to homestead, how to be frugal, how to live lightly on this earth, what a work ethic is, etc.

She had a heavy lecture schedule; many demanded her time, now she is gone.

It is up to the rest of us who resonate with her message to pick up the strand and live a homesteading life, in our own way. Perhaps some of us will become wise enough and able enough in the teaching that we can also help others learn about homesteading.

Our own way of living would not qualify practically as homesteading though it is a deep part of our life-view.

Take a moment today to learn about homesteading and those things one can do to live in greater harmony with nature:

Homesteading links:
Carla's Site
Backwoods Home Magazine
Family Homesteading Advocate
Homesteading Resources
UHAB Urban Homesteading Assistance Board - New York

Permaculture links:
Agriculture organic farming, permaculture, biodynamic farming - All States
Spiritual Permaculture - Calif - Starhawk!

Note that I have googled for these links but I do not vouch for each. If you know of even better resources drop me a note and I will add it!
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