costs going up

Hi Susannah, I will check out the link, I would agree, we have gone out of our way to not make our small working farm "non-industrial" No tractor, no tiller, no quads, no snowblower and we don't use chemicals etc on the land.. but those things have to be replaced with useable items, like wheelbarrol, broudfork, good quality garden tools, metal buckets and all those are made and bought off-farm and do have a cost,its just much harder to figure out how to put a value on them..

I mean alot of my really good quality garden, farm tools are gotten second hand from local farm auctions, for a faction of the cost of a new one in a store and typically of better lasting quality but at some point, it took energy to make it..

We hand cut our own hay and dry/roll and haul it by human and animal power for our portion but I currently buy hay for the winter, now its local, as is cut and baled down the road and then hauled to the farm and put in the barns but that hay is done by industrial means in terms of tractor etc..

Anyway its something I have often think about, I can my own food, but I don't make the jars or the replacement lids, and I use a chainsaw for taking down bigger tree's and if I buy cords from the guy down the road, he uses a wood splitter, the wood local and he hauls and cuts on his farm, and its only coming a few miles to me, so its not the same as flipping the switch for power but it has to cost given to it as well..hmm

Farmgal, we all buy the manual tools that we need, and the things that will make our life more productive, but I don't believe that anyone on this site is "the ultimate consumer" (ie oooh new stiletto's that I can only wear once but hey they're on special so I'll buy them! mentality) From what I've read on your site, some of the things that you buy and reuse would otherwise end up in landfill (that is smart shopping!) Iwouldn't think too long and hard on it if I were you...I've seen your site...you don't have time!