Finding alternative fuel sources

Today the King of Avalon managed to buy a bottle of gas for the stove after running out over the weekend. He was one of the last customers to be so lucky, and this was the last supplier in the whole of East London to still have gas. Stutt has none. Apparently there is a gas shortage and the suppliers don't know when to expect stock. Yesterday I had to be rather resourceful at meal times as both gas and electiricity were low but it also got me thinking about self-sufficiency again.Why not consider a wood stove (Aga) and geaser (Donkie) as a viable solution? Problem is where would one find them and at what price? Why aren't clever young (green) entrepreneurs making new ones? Also started considering the sustainability of our "wood source". Right now it would be the millions of unwanted, invading Black Wattle in the commonage across the road, but just how long would they be considered "invaders" and "unwanted" if they became a major fuel source? Suddenly the fact that they grow so easily, mature so quickly and even add nitrogen to the soil wasn't such a bad thing after all. Who knows in a year or two we might be farming Black Wattle in the paddock totally unaffected by the gas and electricity crisis (how does one spell the plural?) of the world!?

Starting out...

"Sharing our day-to-day adventures on 1.5 hectares in the country and our journey to self-sufficiency..." Okay, there I've said it (in our blog description) so now we're committed.

I've always been a little fascinated by the idea of self-sufficiency, even as a child. Self-sufficiency and homeschooling often go hand-in-hand as do home-births, home-church and self-employment - we've managed (and enjoyed!) all the former so it sort of seems quite natural that we should be considering this new challenge (it doesn't make it any less terrifying though!).

Moving to the country more than 4 years ago made it an achievable dream but our economic reality has now made it a necessity. I don't want to be controlled by and prescribed to by fuel-  and food prices! And I really don't want to give up this little piece of heaven that we've called "Avalon" to move back to the city (as it would save on petrol - The King of Avalon commutes 150km daily) just to be bogged down by out-of-control municipal rates (saw a newspaper article a few weeks ago where the newly elected East London municipal officers approved exorbitant increases - all in the range of 12 - 14 percent).

At least here we pay the bare minimum for our food (there is a General Dealer in town that cuts out the "middleman" & sells farm produce directly) rates and municipal water (and we could actually survive on rainwater alone as we live in a very high rainfall area). Furthermore we have lots of land that could work for us (compared to city dwellers that is); no bylaws preventing us from keeping livestock and no neighbours that could be disturbed by our little projects.