Being Ready:

 

Having lived for 26+ years, remotely in the mountains of S. Colorado we learned how to be self-reliant.  Mostly the hard way. We had a garden and I tried growing different vegetables and soon found out that some vegetables were not to be grown at high elevation (9,800').  The growing season is short and while some vegetables grew well, others did not. We had cauliflower about the size of a golf ball. Carrots and underground veggies were very stunted. 

Lettuce, spinach and rhubarb grew best and occasionally vegetables started inside before the snow melted. Hot houses would collapse under the winter snow which averaged around 264" per year. I tried in ground hot house but after the first heavy snow I had to dig it out.  that proved more work than useful. Beets grew well but we had more beet greens than beets.

Wild strawberries grew well but the delicious berry was about the size of a pea. Raspberries grew well and we enjoyed suitable crops. It took a lot of work and disappointment to be able to produce good vegetables at that elevation, and I did not even mention the difficulty of keeping the critters away. To be self-reliant it is important to be very determined and patient. 

It is helpful also if you know how to fish and are good at it. Where we lived there was a lot of competition in catching fish. I found most of my fishing success came from streams and rivers. There were a couple lakes also that produced good results. 

Being able to build things, repair things and use what you have on hand is quite helpful. We took a small engine repair course plus the advanced course before we moved to the mountains which came in very handy more than a few times. Gas engines break down and if you can't fix it yourself it could be a long wait to get it fixed by anyone else. That was especially useful when it came to our chainsaws.

I did not mention hunting because we lived in harmony with the many wild animals and to me it would be like shooting my neighbor which I simply could not do. Being self-sufficient is labor intensive and must be done with serious dedication. All this comes to mind because I just started my garden for this year. Happy Homesteading!