what skills are people wanting to learn and what skills do you have to share?

[Christine Chapin]

Here is the description of this catagory:

"developing local products & materials, learning from elders & history, independent living skills, reuse, repairing, repurposing, reducing, recycling, community forests, fiber and animal care, spinning and weaving, cooking with fresh produce, cheese-making, soaps, plant-based textiles, baking, carpentry, blacksmithing, animal husbandry, bike repair, electronics, engineering, building skills - and the learning of all skills that lead to self reliance and sustenance."

I think that a list of who has skills to share and list of those who are wishing to learn these skills would be helpful in either a) pairing people up in a menor-type situation or b) to actually set up a workshop style day with a set topic.

at our house, between myself and my husband, we do cheese making, meade making, we raise chickens (for eggs only), blacksmithing (John), weaving (warp weighted looms), spinning and natural cloth dying as well as baking and herb, fruit and veggie gardening. I am NOT a good soap maker so would like to acquire soap-making skills and I want to get some goats for milk but have never had a goat before- cows yes- goats no. So I would like practical info about goats.

We are very happy to teach/share the skills we have with those that are interested in learning them. I would say that as the herbs won't be ready until August for dying cloth, that weaving and spinning and dying would have to wait until harvest.

So who else has skills they want to share or learn- let's see if we can get stared on practical skills so that we can show folks that it isn't hard and doesn't have to be expensive to make changes toward a more self- relient, greener or transitional lifestyle.

[Kate]

I have some experience with gardening and preserving food (canning, freezing, pickling and dehydrating) and would love to share it with others. There was a time, as a young mother, when I was involved in calculating how much food my family would need to get through an Indiana winter and then growing and preserving that food. That took lots of hot August afternoons in a farmhouse kitchen. It paid off in the form of lots of pots of veggie soup, stews and wonderful homecooked meals the following winter. We also used a "root cellar", one of the oldest means of storing food for future use.

One of the things that I remember fondly were "canning parties", particularly to can sweet corn. When the crop was ready several of us got together, with the corn from our gardens, two pressure cookers and sat around and chatted while we stripped the corn off the cob, washed jars, packed them and kept the cookers constantly full of jars in the process of being preserved, while our little ones played outside. At supper time, when the guys came in from the fields, we cooked on the grill and shared a meal of wonderful sweet corn on the cob and burgers. It was great fun!

I also sew and have been making clothing for myself and family as well items for my home for many years, though I have gotten away from it in the past few years, since my children have grown and are so far away. Its a skill I would love share with someone who would like to learn.

[Christine Chapin]

we are really wanting to put in a root celllar here- not just for veggies but also for practical storm reasons- Tennessee just doesn't come with many basements. I can really use help with canning- I tried my hand at it last summer and used a water bath for most stuff as we don't have the other kind of canner (with the lack of income it was not on the list).
I love to sew- we do historical reanactment as well so we have to sew the clothes for that plus Elinor is always wanting a new dress so it just makes more sense other than thrift stores. Cloth is not readily available or affordable in this area so we do take a trip to Fayetteville, TN once or 2x a year to buy cloth plus spices, fresh produce, butter and meat at the Amish Store along the way and there is a mill that grinds cornmeal, buckwheat flour etc on the way up and they only get grains from the local folks. Since it is 2 hours away we usually have anywhere from 6 to 10 folks going for te same reasons. Its a fun field trip that even Elinor loves bc it means dresses, treats from the Amish man that runs the grocery store, horses, cows and a river with a big water wheel that really moves :)
Our research for the history group is what started us on the path to learning many of these skills. Tthe way they did something then was with what they had, what they could find or salvage and what they could grow, hunt or forage if they were lucky enough to have land to do so. Many of the things they did translate into the modern world and the skills lend themselves to a self- sufficiant or sustaining lifestyle- with updates of course.

[Kate]

WOW.. that sounds like fun. Sigh me up for the road trip! LOL. One of the things that could be nice about doing this together is sharing equipment such as expensive pressure cookers, jars, etc. And the camaraderie means a lot, making a big party of hard work is very rewarding.

I also have done sewing for reenactments. I have tons of patterns if you would like to share!

[Christine Chapin]

whoo hoo!!! sounds great to me!

[Kat]

I'm so glad to know folks who've done the cellaring and food-preserving thing! I grew up watching mom can things but have no idea how to do it myself. We didn't do a root-cellar, so that's a huge gap where I could use some help.

I strongly dislike machine sewing but am decent at it and do it a lot out of necessity, so could help teach if you needed help. Hand-sewing I enjoy but it's kind of a luxury these days as my hands stay busy in other tasks (mostly computer and outside).

Do any of you guys have strong foraging (wild edibles) knowledge? I wish I could just plug in somewhere and download all that into my head like a permanent database. ;)

[Christine Chapin]

I can do yard foraging but there are folks in the area that do wild. I'llsee if they are still up to it or doing it. They are a bit older now.

[Sandi Brockway]

I am hoping as we flesh out and add categories to CLASSIFIED we might be able to us it for this. see Michigan, i have started to add many categories. i certainly could use some help

[Lana Sutton]

My skills are in journalism, education, marketing and mass communication. My Sustainable Chattanooga group is an educational and mobilization tool designed to plug regional green folks into existing initiatives at Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=40783738010.
My Master Kudzu Gardeners on Myspace, http://groups.myspace.com/masterkudzugardeners, is designed as a support group for folks who go green on their properties, whether that's by farming their yards, rebuilding native habitats or refurbishing their homes to include solar panels or wind turbines.
If you really need to get me, write [e-mail].

[Kat]

Most of my established self-reliance and sustainability skills and experience are of the more abstract sort, having to do with long and short vision, ideas, teaching how to re-think and revisualize habits and attitudes, a McGyver approach to problems, able to present and bridge a birds-eye view with practical individual focus, as well planning, organizing, and communications. Another strong sustainability skill I consider valuable is that I am ever learning from anyone and any situation, and am willing to teach anything I know. I value continued mutual learning far more than my expertise in any given area. I'm interested in learning/trying just about any urban homestead skill that I have not yet tried.

My professional skills are in the visual communications and PR arena (20+ years). While these aren't necessarily thought of as a key survival skill, they are a primary thing I can bring to any situation needing a professional appearance online and in print. I'm into all things visual and aesthetics are essential to my quality of life. :-) I don't sacrifice practicality and thrift to beauty (which is why I don't care any more whether my home or my fashion something out of Elle Decor), but I do like to do things in a beautiful and clean way wherever possible. So if anybody needs help with the "pretty" side of their plans and projects, I can lend assistance. I also like helping people organize, declutter, and add beauty to their lives.

In the category of "developing local products and materials," I've done this for a long time in various ways. I'm good at finding a way to make do with materials on hand, or creating something myself to meet my needs, rather than buying it. I like teaching others this perspective and helping them build the skills to make things themselves even out of meager supplies. I like teaching how to recycle cast-offs into something else. I re-dye, reconstruct and rebuild thrift-store finds.

Animal husbandry: I grew up with various livestock, but all I have tried on my own so far is vermiculture. It's going well (I have my first worm poop!) and I'd be happy to show anyone else how to do a basic under-the-sink worm compost bin (you can also do larger boxes outside).

I'm an experienced flower essence practitioner with an extensive pharmacy. I particularly enjoy working with energy and vibration, healing with light, color, sound, essence... I like to immerse in and help others via the subtle and refined gifts of nature.

While I have no paper credentials to my name in this regard (although "heal thyself" is often the best teacher), I'm well-versed in nutrition and holistic diet, and how to heal various illnesses with nutrition, herbs and other natural remedies. I can provide dietary coaching and help others change their lives by changing their approach to food.

[Kate]

Wow! We have so many wonderful gifts and skills to share with each other. I am particularly interested in the dietary coaching. I have been watching the paper and its scary. About 1/3 of the people in my town who die are my age. (mid 50s). Whats going on? I have to think it has much to do with their diet and lifestyle. Tennessee is the third most obese state in the United States!

[Kat]

I'd be happy to help. The ideal tool for me to work with in doing so would be if you could keep a food journal for a time so that I have a good sense of your food habits (be honest with it -- there is no judgment at all, it's simply a tool for assessing and introducing new habits tailored to your issues.).