# 5566
As long-time readers may remember, I spent about a decade (1995-2005) going `back to the land’, living on 23 remote acres on the Little Black River in Southeast Missouri.
It was a tremendous experience, and while I wasn’t exactly a city boy (my outdoors experience was primarily aboard boats in Florida), it showed me how little I really knew about living the rural life and becoming self sufficient.
But over time, I did manage to learn a little.
Below is a picture of our garden in full bloom a couple of years into our saga - with the old abandoned farmhouse on the left (and if you look carefully) the `new’ house in the far background.
My wife and I were lucky that our closest neighbor – nearly 1/2 mile away - took pity upon us the first couple of years, and helped us with tractor work, firewood, and gardening advice.
You can read more about this adventure in a blog I wrote in May of 2008 called Bringing Back The Victory Garden.
I suspect many of my readers harbor thoughts from time to time of self sufficiency, and going back to the land.
Which is why I’m pleased to mention a new blog by a dear friend who actually knows about living the self sufficient life because she’s been working at it for years.
Blogging under the name eumaeus (Trivia alert:from Greek Mythology; Odysseus's swineherd and friend), she provides a generally lighthearted, but always informative, look at raising animals (including adorable pics of baby goats, rabbits, and kittens), gardening, and the self sufficient life.
I’m putting a link in my sidebar, and I would invite those interested to visit The Island Smallholder.
If you’ve ever wanted to learn about raising small farm animals, gardening, or just what it’s like to live on an island in the English Channel . . . well this blog is for you.
