Welcome to the Sara River Dot Com Website

This site has been put together for the purpose of assisting those about to undertake or are already on the exciting journey to become more self-sustaining. We have aimed to provide something for everyone and while we certainly do not have all the answers, we hope to share what we have learned and are continuing to learn everyday. We live what we share, so welcome into our world.

We believe that returning to a natural and more simple lifestyle is not a step backwards in time but rather, one leap forward into a future lifestyle that supports all, for our belief is that when something is working in harmony with the earth, all must benefit.

Self-sufficiency has often been looked at as the poor cousin and is often viewed as a life of struggle and hardship, something less than what is available in the current world and while we would have to agree that it is not something you can take on and expect to sit around a lot, it certainly is not something that should be seen as "less than" but rather a choice to regain self respect and true independence, joy in the simple things and a balance of life that fulfils not only the health of the body but also the health of the spirit.

The joy of a cyclic concept to life cannot be measured - how do you measure the experience of preparing the soil, growing your own food, knowing that it is grown without chemicals, in a healthy environment , by people who care and providing a choice of seasonal food that would literally 'cost the earth' in a restaurant or marketplace. You certainly would not find that quality of food in a supermarket. How do you measure the security of knowing that you can live, independent of the control of chemical and power grid companies, banks, and almost any other organisation that you can think of. To know that you can make many of your needs, more lasting and higher quality than you would most likely buy, is something that cannot be measured. It may not be possible to make and do everything as there are only so many hours in the day, but to work with other like minded people who have different interests and skills, may be a further solution to consider.

What price do we pay to live in the world as it is currently set up - we eat food that is killing us, consume all manner of chemicals that we don't even know about, work in jobs we hate to buy items we more than likely don't need in the first place and with many of these items being made at the expense of the death of our most valuable resource, the earth. We often don't even know our neighbours let alone work with them in any form of extended community. What sort of a world is this?

How could we cope from this viewpoint if suddenly the world was to change. There are many issues arising between climate change, peak oil and in fact peak everything. Not only our fuel sources but also the items that are based on the constant supply of oil but also the current electrical grid system based on the ever depleting resource of coal (and even if there is coal, the question is - Will we be able to afford to transport it anyway as fuel costs continue to rise?) With the current trend, even if fuel is available it will not be much use to a great percentage of people that will not be able to afford it anyway. Financial security at any time is in the hands of others and with globalisation it no longer is even in the hands of our own country and elected leaders. How would we cope - the answer is that we couldn't. We become helpless and at the mercy of others who may not necessarily have our welfare at heart, or in fact even care.

We are not advocating that everyone gets up, leaves their jobs, buys large amounts of land but rather to look honestly at the real situation and make whatever changes you may deem necessary for yourselves. Everyone is an individual, with individual needs and desires and so there is no 'one answer' but rather a multitude of possibilities. What is important though, is that a good and honest look at the current situation and to understand that change is required or the current situation would simply be repeated in a new setting. It would bound to be a disappointment.

We have provided various levels of information. Some is available for anyone wishing to read under the relevant headings on the site offered free of charge and with the hope that it may answer some of the practical questions and some in Book form with as minimal a charge as we could arrange for the time involved in putting it together. These books are more detailed for those that would like to explore various areas of this lifestyle - or at least elements of it.

What we talk about we have done, although bear in mind that there are many ways to do almost anything and what we offer is our personal experiences. We hope you enjoy the site.

Note:
We have a recent additional section for other like minded people to sell their books, e-books, items - whatever, with a view of encouraging others who may not have the facilities to market their own wares. Contact the Webmaster and we will see what is possible.