Howdy all! I live in Omaha on a tenth of an acre property. To get started, I am trying to find ways to live more sustainably. There is a good deal of what I am seeing in the world and our country that makes me feel like I have donned a tin hat sometimes, but realize that the just in time supermarket slavery that I have allowed myself to become entangled in needs to stop. I am nearly 40 with two young children. This year I have started a garden and am working on learning to can and dehydrate food. We are also in the process of building a chicken coop and run and will soon have four chickens to get started. The first thing I have learned is that I have a ton to learn. I have some additional concerns since I have a wife with Crohn's disease and a daughter who is allergic to milk, getting violently sick after eating even a hot dog bun that was made with milk. I look forward to chatting and learning from and with you all!
Welcome to the Monkey Tree @Ollie Beef.... Pick yourself out a branch and have a good look around..... Plenty of Good information here in the various forums, and lots of Good type Family Folks, here'Bouts to share info, and grief, with....
Welcome @Ollie Beef! As mentioned above, there are a lot of good folks here willing to share what they've learned
Welcome Ollie Beef. We're glad you found us and the vastness of the WWW. It sounds as though you have made a great start. Don't be discouraged when you find you can't master everything at once. We all want to but remember that it's a process. Learn, try, experiment, succeed, and then start the process all over again with the next endeavor. Small steps will carry you the distance as they become the standard for your life.
Welcome. I know about wife and daughters having medical issues (it's where most of my money goes). A tenth of an acre is NOT a lot of room, so I would suggest start thinking in three dimensions. Perhaps tier gardening, which would reduce both the footprint needed, and the water usage. Solar panels on the roof, would cut down on electricy and in some cases, can even result in a paycheck. With incentives to cut install costs, and grid-tied with battery bank, mean you could get paid for all power you generate but don't need, and have access to grid power if in bad weather.while retaining the ability of cutting ties, if the grid has problems. And go it solo. (Best of both worlds ,IMHO) Rooftops can be used for water heating or storage with a bit of roof reframing to add a loft. Check your local laws on rainwater collection as well. A good filter system, and that rain water can be potable, as well as free garden water.
Welcome, Ollie! Let me say first off that Crohns Disease is a bacterial infection, and can be treated with antibiotics. And several other therapies you'd have to research on the Net. A lot of doctors are still clinging to the "it's genetic" mantra that is the medical way of saying "Beats me!" without letting their patients know they haven't got a clue. Milk allergy can be alleviated. There is a therapy for de-sensitizing the immune system that involves daily small doses of the allergen, given under medical supervision. Google it. Same goes for shellfish allergy. With your 1/10th acre, you might want to consider aquaculture. You can form a complete eco-system that is very productive, and produces no waste. Nitrogen from the fish tank fertilizes the plants, plant waste feeds the worms, the worms feed the fish (and make more fertilizer) etc. Easy to read up on, and there are lots of books available. Have fun!
First rule in Internet. Do your own due diligence. It is in the family, and I call . Consult your doctor for medical advice. Is Crohn's Disease Genetic?
Welcome to you, remember like has already been said, you can't do it all at once. Try a potato Tower, red Pontiacs do well in it. Or fingering potatoes
I LOVE IT! What a hoot! I just checked the first twenty or so hits for "What Causes Crohn's Disease" on Google. Except for a few that started out describing "what is was" AKA "the symptoms", every one said the cause was not known. It was suspected to be genetic in origin. Or maybe it was caused by bacteria. And it starts and stops. Yeah, it does. Thing is, genetic diseases don't just start and stop. The may get worse faster or slower, but they don't just go away. My brother had Crohn's as a child. Very bad situation. When it suddenly went away, the doctors were so surprised that the Regional Hospital commissioned a one-person medical study on him. And they found nothing. They found no clue why it went away. Fast-forward about 15 years. A doctor does a study and isolates a stain of bacteria from "genetic" Crohn's lesions. Gosh: just like stomach ulcers, which everyone knew were caused by "eating acidic food". A similar bacteria was found in stomach ulcers--and the guy that found them got pilloried until several others duplicated his findings. I remember clearly reading that the bacterium that caused Crohn's disease was easily controlled by a common antibiotic of the time. Fast-forward another 15 years or so. I'm in a new (to me) doctor's office, getting a physical. After the exam, the doctor starts quizzing me on the history of illness in my family. When I casually mentioned that my brother had had Crohn's Disease, but recovered from it, the doctor went ballistic. With spit in the air and smoke coming out her ears, I got told in no uncertain terms that Crohn's was genetic! And it didn't get better! I guess it didn't help when I said; "Yeah, I know. That's why Shands (big hospital in Gainesville, FL) commissioned a two-year study on him when it did." I was out the door five minutes later, and two days after that I got a formal letter from the doctor indicating that I was no longer acceptable as a patient. Translation: And STAY out! (They hate even the slightest suggestion that they may not be omnipotent.) So: you call it. Genetic? Bacterial? Genetic susceptibility requiring bacterial infection? Dietary abuses as a trigger, inviting bacterial invasion? Juju curses? Negative ions? Fluoride in your toothpaste? Voting Democrat? Yes, due diligence is in order. Get a second opinion on everything. Then get a third one: your own.
Keep in mind that 50% of all doctors graduate in the bottom half of their class, and the guy that graduates at the bottom is still a Doctor... I believe I remember a study done a while ago that determined that only 30% of initial diagnosis where accurate, the rest treated symptoms until they either got it right, the patient was so doped up they didn't care , swapped Doctor's, or died... YMMV.. I don't have a bone to grind with the doctors...
Interesting thoughts on the Crohn's. The milk allergy is likely much more difficult to wean than your idea here though. Accidentally giving her a hot dog bun made with milk causes her to run a fever, vomit and experience diarrhea about 12-18 hours after ingestion. Can't really think how I can give her less than that. Thanks for the welcome all!
Late to the party as usual, but; welcome to the forums. So sorry to hear of your families medical issues, I have a family member with Crohn's who had me brew him a Sorghum based beer. He has to be very careful about ingesting any grains, especially wheat and barley.
