Jim Fry

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since Jun 08, 2014
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Recent posts by Jim Fry

There are some things that are, ... just better to not let be.
1 week ago
Today two folks thumbed up what I had written here about Dowsing nine years ago. That was nice. Thank you.

It just so happens that we had a Dowsing meeting here at the farm today. Very nice, enjoyable get together, with a rather great shared potluck. ~So, just wanted to let you all know, the Ohio Buckeye Dowsers are still meeting. We're still dowsing. Rather successfully I might add. And all are welcome anytime you wish to come. It's a great useful and used art and science, that has been a great help for humankind from very ancient times.
2 weeks ago
We live a somewhat different life than most folks. We have a number of cabins, -and have people from all over come to stay. -Mostly because they need a home. They stay for as long as they need, then go on to their next great adventure. A woman from Camaroon and another from France just left. Several others are here now, one from Nevada with her two very young girls, and another from Delaware. So, we always have lots of help. It's fun. And Laura (my better 2/3rds) just really likes to have babies and raise wonderful children (I mostly just stay out of the way and pound nails and paint stuff). ~And then there are always people here mostly all day/everyday, who just like (the atmosphere I guess) and like to do things. And I figure let 'em have at it.

So, because there are so many people working together and sharing and mostly laughing, and so many children always here from the neighborhood, having our own 10 kids isn't really all that big a deal. And many hands makes pleasant living and work.

~~Something else, since health of the mother was mentioned. Every woman has her own way. Everyone has their own shape. For some, it's tough.  For some, birthing isn't like in the movies. A certain amount of the process has to do with attitude. We have our babies at home. There is no drama. No bright lights. No doctors you don't know. No drugs. Just relaxing and let things happen. I talked with a delivery nurse some years ago. She said some women come in and play music. Some play rock. Some, more Earth oriented music. She said the ones that play heartbeat, Earth music have a much more gentle time. They get into the rhythm of the thing. The rock women's bodies don't know what the heck to do. So the person who expressed concerns about health, maybe part of the answer is to really want each baby, relax into the birth, let the natural play its part, and have a life of love. Then, G*D Willing, all else will follow.  
I had posted to this discussion 2 years ago. Back then I wrote I had nine children. UPDATE! Now we have 10. Hooray!

We have a multi-generation farm (we've been here a long time. Back to before Ohio was a state.). At times we have had the largest organic produce gardens in N. Ohio. Now we have Dairy. There are a lot of people picking up here all day long. We also run a Farm School/homeschool here year around. Up to 40 kids at a time. All of them are far ahead of their public-school contemporaries. We also teach quite a number of heritage skills classes. ~~The point of all of this is (first and foremost having a new baby) is that for us, the solution to our interesting times, is to have and raise the great next generation. -Who will seek and find the solutions to our, and the world's, various interesting questions. ~~HAVE BABIES. They are the solution, and reason for, the future!
Many of the items you posted concerning self-sufficiency are among the most minor of the concerns. What you list is just sort of the get-started list. ~~There actually is no such thing as s-s. You need a tremendous amount of money to acquire the needed goods to (pretend) to be s-s. Then you need money income to pay the taxes so you get to keep the land you occupy.

But the biggest concerns to s-s is steel, weather and birth control. You need absolutely efficient birth control because babies grow to adults. Then you need to return to the acquiring mass goods to set up the s-s homestead for them. And there is no functioning system anywhere to does not require steel. That is something you cannot make -Somebody mentioned the Amish as a s-s example. BUT, they aren't. -Plow shares, buggy wheel rims, hand saws, anvils, hammers, nails, wheel bearings, sewing machines, horseshoes ... the list is endless of things they need and cannot make. And weather, climate, ground, soil, fertility are most important to s-s. You are not going to be entirely s-s with very poor dirt, lack of rain, too hot, too cold, too rocky. Poor growing conditions means much greater inputs to try to live. Not very s-s.

The best anyone can hope for is to be as self-contained as you can be, but you'll never be s-s. You'll need a good, reliable income source for the occasional broken arm, tax bill, buggy wheel. You'll need vast knowledge in every single aspect of daily living, you'll need a tremendous number of tools, just to produce clothes and can winter food supplies, capture/carry/store water, make rope, have fencing, roof a barn, ten thousand other things. You'll need a Midwife. An Herbalist. A blacksmith. Woodworker. Barrel maker. Gardener.

--We do all that. Have been doing it for 60 years. We have well over 100,000 tools. Many cabins for folks. Piles of scrap metal. More horse drawn equipment than most folks can imagine. Every single trade set up in its own building. Passed down family knowledge. We live on some of the best soil in the world, and the best weather possible (in my opinion). We're as close to being self-sufficient as you can get. ~And yet, there's the Amazon truck.

So, my advice is to stop dreaming of being self-sufficient. You won't do any better than the Amish (we have family and friends among them). Just do as much as you can, to get out of mainstream life as you can. --But be prepared for inter-acting with the tractor dealership on occasion.

3 weeks ago
To my way of thinking, there is only one most helpful choice. To truly know the mind of mankind's closest friend and allie, would be the most help for both.
1 month ago
Stone Garden Farm & Museum. Richfield, Ohio. Lots of gardens & orchards. Lots of animals, including sheep, milk cows, beef, pigs, rabbits, dogs, chickens, ducks, cats, many border collies. Large Farm School/homeschool, 40 kids. Lots of our own kids. Farm Share once a week for public. Raw milk for public. One of the larger museums/villages in Ohio, in a period 1820 to 1900. Heritage classes, such as soap making, baking, herbs, animal husbandry, fermentation, lots more. Cuyahoga Valley National Park just down the hill from us. Other parks, within minutes, in every direction surrounding us. Cabins and other accommodations available. We have a very full and fairly busy life. A number of folks here now. We don't charge to be here. We are Blessed and like to pass it along. We've had hundreds of wwoof'ers and others over the years. www.stonegardenfarm.com. www.ohiofarmmuseum.com. www.farmschoolohio.com. www.johnbrownohio.com.
3 months ago