Self Sufficiency I

Learn how to live self sufficiently in this modern age!

Develop your ability to be self sufficient. Learn about food and nutrition, and making the right decisions about changes in lifestyle; as well as showing you how to do a whole range of practical things such as mud brick building, making crafts, growing fruit, vegetables, herbs, and other crops; raising poultry, sheep & goats, extending the life of clothing, conserving energy, recycling, simple home medical care and first aid, and lots more.

What is Self Sufficiency all about?

Modern society is complex. It relies on a massive network of interrelationships between individuals and groups. Each part of society supports other parts. To live in modern society you need to be in a niche contributing to the system; in return the system supports you.

This does have advantages:

• It allows for efficiencies of scale i.e. when something is made in large quantities, it can be produced more efficiently: it allows for specialized development of skills (i.e. if a person is able to concentrate on one job they can become more proficient at that job).
• It also buffers the effect of a mistake (i.e. if someone has an accident, the system supports the person until they recover ‑ through an insurance scheme or government welfare; the expense of the accident is shared by many).

Modern society also has its disadvantages: It does not tolerate anything which does not fit the system. People who deviate from what is considered the 'norm' are 'labelled' and may be rejected by society in the main. It is impersonal, only guaranteeing the material needs of the individual. Within the machinations of modern society, because everyone is so dependant on everyone else they are frequently affected by things they have no control over, for example, industrial disputes.

If the system collapses; everything collapses. This de-humanising approach can increase the likelihood of emotional problems.

Further to that most people do not have a broad enough range of skills to survive if thrown into an unusual situation such as war, economic collapse, or natural catastrophes.

To step out of the system and become more self-reliant is an ever increasing urge in modern society. Many people, fed-up with the pressures of every-day living and work, and a western consumerist driven life-style, yearn for a simpler existence. In order to achieve this and to improve their quality of life they consider ‘downsizing’. Making this change can have dramatic but also positive effects on their relationships and the psychological, financial, spiritual, and the physical aspects of their lives.

Some move forward to embrace the change with enthusiasm and vigour, and never look back. Others underestimate the enormous change in lifestyle, the amount of hard work involved and the day to day adjustments they need to make. The difference between the two may be as simple as their psychological approach to the concept of self-sufficiency in the first place.

So why do people do it? There are as many reasons as there are people who choose to become self-sufficient. When we live in a town or city, our work and home lives can seem very fixed. In the winter, we go to work in the dark, work under artificial light and go home in the dark, hoping the heating works. In the summer, we go to work in the light, work in artificial light and go home, hoping the air conditioning works. The supermarkets stock fruit and vegetables all through the year. No more, the looking forward to satsumas or strawberries at certain times of year. They are always available. Society more and more is trying to standardise us, to make the seasons the same. People may aim to become self-sufficient to find that communion with nature, with the seasons, to enjoy the changing times as nature intended, to avoid the standardisation and uniformity that seems to exist in modern life.

Many self-sufficiency buffs may start with a theory of life that does not fit in with the modern lifestyle. They may believe that fields and farms and animals are their idea of heaven, their utopia. Whilst others may think that they are practical and enjoy the thought that they are meant for working with the land.

Many of us love the idea of living on a farm and growing our own food and wine, living the “Good Life” as was shown in the popular British comedy. But many of us may not have the means or space to do this without going to live on a smallholding.

They may wish to produce their own food, not eat that which is shipped from the other side of the globe.

Whilst others may simply yearn for the frontier spirit, for personal freedom, to escape from the rat race, some may bemoan the lack of community spirit in the modern world and strive for the community that is meant to exist in rural situations.

Whatever the reasons a person may have for wishing to become self-sufficient, they need to recognize the state they are in mentally, physically and emotionally. People who strive for self-sufficiency require courage and determination, but they also have to move away from the moaning and self-analysis of modern life, towards a positive and can-do attitude.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Understanding the possibilities
2. Health, Nutrition and Clothing
3. Horticulture - Fruit and Vegetables
4. Horticulture - Herbs
5. Animal Husbandry - Poultry and Bees
6. Animal Husbandry - Grazing Animals & Pigs
7. Building - Earth & Mud Buildings
8. Appropriate Technology/Alternative energy
9. Craft & Country Skills
10. Making Decisions - Small Scale Production, How To Make Decisions.

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

What is self-sufficiency?

The concept of self sufficiency is all too often bandied around without people properly understanding what it all means. Consider the following statements:

•  To be self sufficient is to produce the things which you need to survive without the assistance of outside people.
•  You can produce some of your needs and be partly self sufficient, produce all of your needs and be completely self sufficient.
•  An individual person can be self sufficient, a small group (e.g. a family) can be self sufficient, or a large group can be self sufficient (you might think in terms of a whole society, city or nation).

To become self sufficient usually involves making certain compromises or concessions in your
lifestyle. You might have to wear different types of clothing, adapt to a different level of mobility
or change your diet. The degree to which you can achieve self sufficiency is usually related to
the degree to which you are willing to make compromises.

•  Large areas of land are not necessary to become self sufficient. Depending on what you produce and how you produce it, you can become relatively self sufficient on even a standard suburban house block.
•  Bartering or swapping goods and/or services is a way of living often adopted by those interested in self sufficiency; although this does not strictly fall in line with a true self sufficient life-style, the barter system helps by removing (mostly) dependence on the monetary system.
•  The concept of a system that is self-perpetuating, working within the cycles of nature is often part of the self-sufficient ideal. The concepts of permaculture, companion planting and alternative medicine all become part of that ideal - seeking to establish a self-supporting system both economically and environmentally.

What is needed to make a successful change?

Firstly In order to make the change from a reliant to a self-reliant way of living, a trade needs to be made: money for time. People who do successfully make the change often have a feeling of empowerment; they have reduced their reliance on purchased goods, finding that they really can live without the so called ‘trappings of modern society.’ Some have a sense of freedom; a narrowing of choice requires less energy. This time and energy must then be used to build, grow, sew, cook and so on in order to supply basic daily needs that were previously supplied by the money earned.

Once people realise they can trade money for time they need to consider their approach to everyday life; evaluate their real needs as opposed to their perceived needs. You may need to compromise to achieve a balance between the things you would like to have and the things you are able to provide yourself with. A self sufficient lifestyle might make you less dependent on society, but this might only be possible at the expense of giving up luxuries.

A good place to start is to look at and answer the following questions:

• What can you live without?
• What can’t you live without?
• How far do you want to go in being self-sufficient?
• What knowledge and skills do you have i.e. practical, management, budgeting and organisational?
• What skills do you need?
• Have you considered how much life will really change?
• Do you understand the physical work involved?
• Are you fit enough both mentally and physically?
• Are you prepared to compromise?

On a practical level make up a list of all the goods and services you get from modern society such as, doctors, chemist (medicines), cleaning aids, meat, vegetables, cereals, clothing, and electric heating and so on. Then go through the list and note the goods and services that you think you could supply for yourself and also those you could not. Then have another look at the list and note all the skills that you already have and those that you will need in order to supply these goods yourself. From this you will gain a fair idea of where your skills and skills shortages are.

This course can be started when you like and completed at your own pace.

FREQUENT QUESTIONS

Why Choose This Course

• Unique course materials (developed by our staff) and more current than some colleges (many reviewed annually); as a result, ACS graduates can be more up to date.
• We work hard to help you understand and remember it, develop an ability to apply it in the real world, and build networks with others who work in this field (It’s more than just serving up a collection of information –if all you want is information, buy a book; but if you want an education, that takes learning to a whole new level).
• Start whenever you want, study at your own pace, study anywhere
• Don’t waste time and money traveling classes
• We provide more choices–courses are written to allow you more options to focus on parts of the subject that are of more interest to you; a huge range of elective subjects are offered that don’t exist elsewhere.
• Tutors are accessible (more than elsewhere) – academics work in both the UK and Australia, 5 days a week, 16 hours a day. Answering emails and phone calls from students are top priority.
• We treat students as individuals –don’t get lost in a crowd. Our tutors communicate with you one to one.
• Extra help at no extra cost if needed. When you find something you cannot do, we help you through it or will provide another option.
• Support after you finish a course –We can advise about getting work, starting  business, writing a CV, etc. We can promote students and their businesses through our extensive profile on the internet. Graduates who ask will be helped.
• Support from a team of a dozen professional horticulturists, living in different parts of the UK, and in both temperate and tropical climate zones of Australia.

About ACS

ACS was started in 1979 by John Mason, who at the time was a gardening author, horticultural consultant and lecturer in horticulture at several colleges across Melbourne (in Australia).  Over the summer that year John discovered that there were thousands of applicants going to be turned away from horticulture courses at Burnley Horticultural College (now Melbourne University). There were simply too few courses being offered for the number of people wanting to study horticulture in Australia. This situation prompted a move to establish a correspondence course at Burnley; but after months of unsuccessful lobbying for support from government; John wrote a course, and with help from a colleague at Council of Adult Education, marketed it.

Standards were originally set in line with what were seen to be the standards of Australia's top horticultural college; and over the years, those standards have never been reduced. This makes our courses longer and more demanding than some other colleges; but it has also led to us building a credibility that stands tall in the horticulture industry across the world. 

In the early 1990's John started visiting the UK and becoming involved with the horticulture industry there. Around the mid 1990's ACS began offering RHS courses, and in 2003, John was formally recognised for his contribution to British Horticulture by being made a fellow of the Institute of Horticulture. ACS, as a school, established an office and staff in the UK in 2001, and has expanded considerably since then. Today it is formally affiliated with five other colleges in the UK (including Warwickshire College); all of who license and deliver ACS courses. 

A team of leading horticulturists work for the school's horticulture department, including 12 faculty members in both the UK and Australia

How You Study

• As soon as you enroll, we send an email to explain it all.
• We direct you to a short orientation video (downloadable over the internet) to watch, where our principal introduces you to how the course works, and how you can access all sorts of support services
• You are either given a code to access your course online, or sent out a CD or course materials through the mail (or by courier).
• Work through lessons one by one, each lesson typically having four parts:
• An aim -which tells you what you should be achieving in the lesson
• Reading -notes written and regularly revised by our academic staff
• Set Task(s) -These are practicals, research or other experiential learning tasks that strengthen and add to what you have been reading
• Assignment -By answering questions, submitting them to a tutor, then getting feedback from the tutor, you confirm that you are on the right track, but more than that, you are guided to consider what you have been studying in different ways, broadening your perspective and reinforcing what you are learning about
• Other - Your work in a course rarely stops at just the above four parts. Different courses and different students will need further learning experiences. Your set task or assignment may lead to other things, interacting with tutors or people in industry, reviewing additional reference materials or something else. We treat every student as an individual and supplement their learning needs as the occasion requires.
• We provide access to and encourage you to use a range of supplementary services including an online student room, including online library; student bookshop, newsletters, social media etc.
• We provide a "student manual", that is a quick solution to most problems that might occur

Recognition

• ACS has a highly respected international profile: by employers and academics alike. People are more aware of us than many other distance education schools –just do a search for “horticulture distance education courses” and see what comes up on the internet; or search for ACS Distance education on Facebook or Linked in, and see how many connections we have compared to other colleges.
• Recognised by International Accreditation and Recognition Council
• ACS has been educating people around the world since 1979
• Over 100,000 have now studied ACS courses, across more than 150 countries
• Formal affiliations with colleges in five countries
• A faculty of over 40 internationally renowned academics –books written by our staff used by universities and colleges around the world.

Extra Books or Reference Materials

• The course provides you with everything that you need to complete it successfully.
• Assignments may ask you to look for extra information (eg. by contacting nurseries, visiting gardens or searching the internet), but our school's resources and tutors are always available as a back up. If you hit a "roadblock", we can quickly send you additional information or provide expert advice over the phone or email; to keep you moving in your studies.
• Some students choose to buy additional references, to take their learning beyond what is essential for the course. If a student wants to buy books, we operate an online bookshop offering ebooks written by staff at the school. Student discounts are available if you are studying with us. The range of e books available is being expanded rapidly, with at least one new ebook being written and published by our staff every month. See www.acsebook.com