2017 Reboot

For those of you who are in the Facebook Group, but don't know who I am,  my name is Stephany Hoffelt and I live in Iowa City. Back in 2009, a few friends and I tried to get this group running. The thing is that we never meant for the Facebook group to be anything other than a place to set up real life events.

None of the organizers were really interested in facilitating discussion on the Internet group. Homesteading types are a busy lot. The point of this group was supposed to be for members to gain sustainable living skills and connect with other people into DIY to share knowledge and possibly tools and equipment.  I left our first couple of blog posts up for posterity.

We had some potlucks and crafting parties, but it never really turned into what we had envisioned. Primarily because most of the original organizers have moved away for jobs in other states. So here I am,  trying to figure out what to do with the Facebook group.

I am beginning to see a growing dissatisfaction with social media. It's kind of filling up with contentious, argumentative types. I feel like now is a good time get people off the Internet and meeting in real life. I'd be interested in hearing what would accomplish that.

The only rules here are that we only talk about selling or bartering what we produce (no essential oil sales or Norwex, nonsense) and we are going to keep politics and spiritual beliefs out of it. People come to be interested in this lifestyle for various reasons. If you are doing it to save money, cool! If you are doing it for the environment, that's awesome. If you are a prepper, that's great, too. I am not really interested in why you do things, just how you do them.

Eventually I would like to start hosting skillshares and bartering events.  Unlike some of the DIY groups out there that have a tendency to make things difficult and expensive, I'd like to see this group make things more accessible and affordable.

I'd like to see bartering of time and materials. I'd like to see creativity employed to make sustainability accessible to everyone. Steve (my partner) and I have a lot of tools/equipment, but we have had not such great luck loaning stuff out. We are more likely to make space in our garage and let you use our woodworking tools on a woodworking project, in return for some help putting in our new raised beds in the spring.

For my part I will volunteer to try to coordinate and improve communication in the group. We wills start publishing a monthly newsletter pdf on the 20th of every month. I know this is a weird date, but it fits in around my other writing project deadlines - the ones I actually get paid for ;-). I would love it if other local folk would like to submit an article on any of the following topics that pertain to homesteading.

Baking
Beekeeping
Brewing and Boozy Concoctions
Candlemaking
Gardening
Homemade Self-Care Products
Knitting & Crocheting
Preserving
Sewing
Small Engine Repair
Soapmaking
Woodworking