SELF-INSUFFICIENCY.

Hannah and I are not survivalists. Not on purpose, at least. We did not move to the country for fear that the world would collapse and we'd need to be self-sufficient. Sure, we thought it would be good to know how to grow our own food, but not necessarily because we felt we'd ever have to, but because, well, we're curious humans. And we like good food. And we like living simply. And we like the countryside.That being said, living off-grid we find that many of our interests overlap with those of survivalists, preppers and the like, respectfully. But one area where our interests do not overlap is in the area of self-sufficiency. To us, this is not an interest. To us, there is no such thing. We have found that there is community-sufficiency and then there is insufficiency.What I mean by that is, having lived rather primitively for the better part of six years now, we have come to see the value in having a good relationship with our neighbors. I am not ashamed to say, we are dependent upon this relationship. We depend on them for feed corn, for hay, for large tractor use, for general savoir-faire, and for friendship.Would we perish without them? No––I guess we could get along on our own if we had to. But we hope and work to never have to, and we definitely never want to. And we hope they would never want to get along without us, either. We want to build a relationship with our community strong enough to survive any disaster, any end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it scenario, not because we feel it's necessary, but because that is the type of relationship you should always have with your community.All of these off-grid magazines seem more focused on the individual––on guns and survival techniques––than on community. And I get that to some extent. I get the increasing fear (and the increasing population of these magazines). Climate change is having its way with the world. Tensions and temperatures are high. Especially for those who live in a city or near the ocean––people are starting to worry. And without our neighbors, I might be inclined to worry, too.For us, though, we are always practicing survivalism whether we claim it or not. We need our neighbors as much now as we would should the world ever crumble––because sometimes it does crumble a little and they swoop in––that is survivalism to us. Maybe we are survivalists in that sense. Maybe we should all practice a little less self-reliance, and rely a little more on the people around us to survive now, while things are good, so that if things ever turned bad we'd hardly notice. We'd just turn to our neighbors and say, "You need any help with anything, you let us know."And I have no doubt they'd say, "You do the same now, you hear."- Jesse. 

MONEY FOR FARMING.

Farming has never been about money for me. When I think back on to the guy I was when I started farming, I remember thinking very vaguely about money, like it wasn't really something I did, or really could, care much about. As long as I was farming, and had everything I needed to do that, I was going to be happy. And for the most part I wasn't entirely wrong.But there are so many projects on the farm we would love to be able to afford to do, or afford to finish. We still need to skirt our house. We need to build a cellar, a springhouse, a shed, an intern shelter. We just simply don't have the time or money. And I go out into the woods, after a long day's work and try and clear the forest so we can have more garden space, so we can make more money, so we can do more farming, but it's slow going, and a silly, tiring cycle of fatigue.So we've recently decided to pay someone to clear it. This is a big step for us. It could mean that here in a few weeks we would have another half-acre of garden space on our property. It could mean a fair bit more food to sell, thus more money for farming.Hannah and I are trying to build our dream homestead here, and we're not doing it on our current budget. And although a half acre is a laughable amount of ground to most farmers, we think we'll be able to double, but potentially triple, our income on it. Which would mean we could afford more of what we love to do––farm. It's a bit of a concession, deciding to no longer clear it all ourselves––and ultimately deciding to invest in some light machinery––but it's also a little bit of relief. I will soon feel like I can save some of that energy I spend felling trees and hauling logs to play with our son at night––to be able to actually hold him without wincing in pain. That alone, is worth hiring out the work.- Jesse.

GROWING OUR FARMERS.

The Young Farmer Movement is interesting in that many of us young farmers are really only getting a year or two experience before striking out on our own. That's what Hannah and I did originally, before coming back to Bugtussle. And looking back, I realize how little experience I actually had because––six years in––I continue to learn many of the things I should have known then.People do this in other industries, obviously. People start restaurants that have never trained under chefs. People can start a dance or photography studio if they are self taught. But what's unique perhaps to farming is that farmers don't really have a choice in the matter. You could technically train under a chef for years. You could be an assistant to a photographer or a professional dancer (sorry, these are the best comparisons my 5 a.m. brain can come up with). Sure, there are a few small farms in the country who can hire full time employees for several years––long enough for them to get the proper experience––but most can't. And most young farmers can't work for free or for stipends for six or seven years until they're ready to take over their own place. It's just not reasonable.If we want more small farmers, we need a way to help small farmers get the training and experience they need to be successful. Of course, this was intended as more of an observational post than a proposal, but I do think there are things we could do. One: what about taking some of those subsidies out of the hands of Big Ag and putting them into the pockets of small farmers specifically for hiring help and training young farmers? Maybe we could start more debt forgiveness programs for young farmers. What about encouraging more established farmers to sell small amounts of land to their apprentices (like some farmers you know)? I don't know what the answer is, or if young farmers really want to train for that long. But speaking from experience I can honestly say, I don't know what I would do without these past few years still working with my mentors. We would have made a lot more silly and costly mistakes, that much I can be sure of.- Jesse.