Yeoman Furniture and what Self-Sufficiency Means to Me

Herrick Kimball has a great website. The Deliberate Agrarian. In his site he gives a pretty good understanding of what an "Agrarian" is. I'll share my own version later, and it does not involve a cow.

Anyway, like the good agrarian he is, Herrick wrote a piece about his idea of Yeoman Furniture.

Back in the days when agriculture was the predominant culture, when entire families worked together on their land to provide for themselves, when there were no WalMarts or supermarkets or Toys-R-Us to provide our every necessity (and an endless supply of non-necessities), back in those days people simply produced almost everything they needed themselves. And what few things they didn’t produce, they procured by trading with someone in their community.

The people who lived like this were the yeoman farmer, farmsteader, and homesteader families. They cleared and planted their land. They harvested crops for food and trade. They raised animals for food and trade and transportation, and to help them work the land. They put up their own food and cooked their meals from scratch. They heated their homes and cooked with their own firewood. They made their own clothes and quilts, and ox carts and toys and musical instruments. They were craftsmen of necessity. They built their own barns and homes, and furniture too.

(Kimball's blog is a must-read. "This is exactly the sort of thing that people who like this sort of thing, are going to like," said Abe Lincoln.)

My vision is to help create more Yeomen out there... in a small way. Building a willow patio chair won't make you Pa Ingalls, but it will make you a step closer to providing your own needs. And that is a great feeling. Any man who can't provide for ANY of his own needs without a VISA card, is lacking something basic in his soul. God created... and he created us to be like Him. We get a good feeling when we create something, it is just built into us.