ButteryMonkey

That was an incredibly interesting read, and I learned a lot! Thank you for posting it!

It’s genuinely infuriating that so much labor is simply stolen, in so many different ways, from people with a passion for what they do, and turned into profit for some mega corp, with the vast majority funneled to a few people completely unrelated to the any work.

When I swapped to powder it was because I could buy a jug of All free and clear (cheapest brand for hypoallergenic that I could find) for $12. I don’t recall how many loads it did, but I could get the powder online, which was at least the same number of loads but probably way more, same brand same fragrance free formula, for $4.75. They don’t carry the powder in most stores around me, I assume because it’s so much cheaper nobody would buy the overpriced liquid. Same with cheap dish powder; just not available.

Thanks! I’d prefer more stable income that doesn’t kill my body for being broken, but this will do in a pinch. I can work on stuff when I’m feeling well, and nobody judges me when nothing gets done as long as I take care of my animals. And who knows maybe I’ll end up with enough surplus to sell to neighbors or something! There’s a year round farmers market near me that moves indoors over winter; surplus/preserved goods could easily be sold there or something similar.

As for Minecraft, I tried it many years ago, and granted my pc at the time could barely run it, but that super open sandbox stuff isn’t really for me; I’m not a particularly creative person in the way that game needs.

Stuff like rimworld and oxygen not included is more up my alley. Sandboxy but considerably more goal-oriented base building/exploring, with clear progression.

Yeah, I live in town on 0.2 acres. I’ve got a small flock of chickens, and a hydroponic garden in the works to use the entirety of my basement year round to provide most of my fresh food needs, and hopefully that of one or two people important to me, once it’s in full swing (it’s a very old house and the foundation is leaky, there’s not a lot I can do about it other than embrace it due to how it was built).

I don’t have a big yard, so the chickens have the bulk of it, and I can’t use the remainder for growing stuff because it doesn’t get direct sun, but I do better with controlled conditions like hydro anyway. I hate weeding, and the guesswork of watering dirt.

So far the garden consists of a sprout and seedling station (for eating and growing), several varieties of tomatoes and peppers that will be producing soon, some beans, peas, 2 types of mushrooms (grown on shredded cardboard), some herbs, and some asshole strawberries that hate me and refuse to grow. When I get the aquariums set up to breed guppies or minnows for my cats and turtle, (my neighbor was throwing out 3 55gallon tanks so I took them) I’ll be adding leafy greens and whatever else in an aquaponics setup.

I also keep colonies of crickets, mealworms, and a worm composter, for feeding the birds and making compost tea for nutrients.

I’m currently testing a bucket method for growing relatively large quantities of root crops in small spaces. I’ve had the idea for a while but I’m finally motivated to see if it works, and what it works for. If it does I’ll probably end up posting instructions on here somewhere. Probs slrpnk. Few months before I get results, or don’t, on the first round.

I wanted to sell this place and buy 40 acres with a shitty house, build up a real hobby farm/homestead, but everything started getting uncertain right around when I started looking, and I got real nervous about putting myself into a more precarious position, so I’m kinda stuck making this work for now.

Usually somewhere between 9 and 12 hrs (disabled and not working for someone else, but have a micro farm to maintain)… it feels like such a massive waste of time because it’s never enough to feel rested. I used to go with the 4-8 hr thing and that was worse but the anxiety early in the morning really kept the energy up. And then led to panic attacks as an alarm clock. Woo was that fun for 3 solid years.

I don’t think any amount of sleep is enough, really (since childhood I’ve always tended to sleep a lot when my brain finally slows down enough), but I do know too little is super super bad for me.