Am I frugal enough?

I have read some amazing blog posts this morning!
This one and this one got me thinking this morning. AM I frugal enough? Do I rely on conveniences too much? Do I do enough to save money, and work on a budget during these hard economic times? Because they're only going to get harder. Bad times are comin' y'all, and I'm scared.

This one really drove the point home. And the point for me was that while I can bake my own bread, and sew, mend, crochet, make jelly, and keep house, I don't do enough to be considered truly frugal. And now I'm really scared.

See, I don't grow a garden. I never have. I could, I just haven't. I do flower beds, so I know my thumb is green enough. But I enjoy the convenience of buying my green beans frozen, and picking up a bag of mixed greens for dinner.

I have recently become the co-owner of 7 grown chickens. My husband bought them to use as live bait for a trapping job. (Don't send hate mail, the chickens were kept in separate bait boxes and were not harmed!) Now that the job is finished, we need to build a chicken coop. At first I was aggravated at the thought of just another thing for mom to take care of. But after reading this morning, I am grateful that I have them.

But what about other staples? I don't know how to make peanut butter, or butcher a cow, or use seeds from my own veggies (once I grow them) to grow veggies the next year. How will we survive? When the Great Depression hits, how will I feed my precious family? Because if I dread the "What's for dinner?" rant now, it's really gonna be bad when the economy hits bottom.

I don't live on a farm. And how I wish I did. I've always craved that simple life, while enjoying all my modern conveniences. But to be able to grow and butcher and can and stockpile food for the future... this is a skill that is going to be quickly necessary. I'm going to follow the advice I read this morning, and do all the research I can manage, and print out instructions for things I will find useful for being more frugal and self sufficient, and file them away in my Control Journal. Because last week I thought making my own laundry soap was a crazy idea. Now I feel like it might be necessary.