I had a very interesting question in my comment section last week. What would I do if I knew I had just two left before a major dislocation occurred? Two years is a good time frame for me to consider. It’s close enough for a sense of immediacy but far enough away to give me time to make real changes. So here goes.
Location. I would be looking at where I lived. If I had long been planning to relocate, now ould be the time. Maybe I would want to be closer to kin. Maybe a place with a more stable climate would work. I might be looking at a walkable community or someplace more rural. If my relocation plan included moving to Aunt Sally’s farm, now would be a good time to ask Aunt Sally what she thought about that idea. I know I have family and friends who still joke about coming here. I have 7 kids, 3 kid-in-laws and 6 grandkids. Sorry. No more room at this particular inn.
Systems. Now would be the time to get the windows replaced, the chimney repaired, the roof patched and the wood stove hooked up. How will you cook? Will the toilet flush? Look at everything you do and ask yourself the “what if” questions.
Water. Where does it come from and what would you do if it come from there anymore? What would you need to access local sources? Filters or containers, a hand pump or collection system; the time to get them is before the grid goes.
Food. Where you get it? Do you need to grow more of your own? I’m learning about seed saving just now. Like most things, there is more to it than meets the eye. Get your soil analyzed, get the tools and the skills Start today. #10 cans come and go but a good hoe is forever.
Transportation. How will you get from point A to point B. Do you need a bike. How about some spare tires and a bike pump?
Health. Get the tooth filled, the glasses updated and that tetanus shot you’ve been putting off. Get healthy. Meet your local herbalist and chiropractor. It will be easier to trade for an adjustment than to get a disk fused.
Communications. How will you get your news and connect with your family. Make a family disaster plan so you know who’s picking up the kids and where you will meet.
A one year supply of basic food. Not that you should plan to eat just that but you do want to have a back-up if we get hit with late blight or a deer gets in the corn patch or you break an arm.
Stuff. Shoelaces and wicking, socks and band-aids. Man does not live by bread alone.
Skills. Learn how now. I do not want to be trying to read the directions to my oil press in the cold and dark. Those preparedness library shelves should be overflowing with how-to manuals.
With whom. I can preserve the sauce but not set a bone. I can raise the bees but not the dairy cow. Bruce can build a shed but not-well there’s not much he can’t put his hand to but you get my point. We are not self-sufficient. We’re co-dependent. A community matters unless you’re planning to hide in a cave and eat raw squirrel. I’m not. I need people to do what I can’t.
I’m sure I’ve left out lots of things but this covers the basics. What other ideas are floating around out there. Herbalpagan. I’m counting on you.
Just an aside. I’m going to pick up canning jars today. An elderly neighbor is moving to Florida and offered me two hundred canning jars if I will pick them up. Tomorrow I am getting my car repaired. We just got new tires and now want to replace belts and hoses as well as get a tune up. On Tuesday, I’m getting my yearly physical and setting up an appointment for an eye exam. There is buy one get a pair for 1/2 price sale at the opticians. That will give me three pairs of good glasses. I can’t manage with out my specs so extras are a necessity.
April 10, 2011 at 8:05 am
Good post this morning. I tried to comment on your last post but couldn’t get in. Fedco still has Sweet Meat seeds but as I have all the seeds I need from there I don’t want to pay the $5 handling charge for a packet. There’s always next year–I hope.
April 10, 2011 at 9:22 am
I’m still thinking about ordering them. I really don’t want to wait to start the seed saving experiment. What if there was only two years left
!
April 10, 2011 at 9:34 am
Timely post! I’m getting the rabbit cages this week, the bee hives came Friday…stocking up on feeds and a way to keep them. Two years??? hmm, more solar and a wind turbine, “stuff”, a bit of fuel put by to ease the transition.
I don’t think we have two years, but it’s a nice number. We are where we are.
April 10, 2011 at 11:59 am
What if the hard times were already scratching at the door, and expected to get worse?
I’m an older single lady, working at a job that doesn’t pay all that well. Changing jobs is not feasible at my age. Neither is moving to a larger or rural property with more resources, again for financial reasons. My water and electric bill have doubled in the last year or so, even though I live fairly ‘green.’ Food prices have gone up significantly in my area, and in case I hadn’t noticed it, the media is now reporting on it with some alarm. My car is paid for, but OLD. No way I could afford a payment of any size for something newer.
While some talk about adding solar and wind power functions to their homes, or buying flocks of goats, I budget painfully so I can pay my set bills and still purchase some food storage. I have a couple of skills, and also aquire materials for barter (handspinning – wool and rabbit fiber)
Your post today on being inter-dependent has more reality for some of us already than for others.
April 10, 2011 at 12:59 pm
Deb do you live in a house or an apartment? Just wondering if you have yard access for gardening? In you don’t then what about growing in containers. As far as the price of water going up. I have a friend that even does her dishes in a dishpan so that they can use that water for plants. My friend lives in NM and they have to have water hauled in by a truck. They do have water barrels that they collect rain water in but for drinking they have it hauled in. The other thing that they do is use bath water for the garden plants. Some towns now have community gardens. Not to sure if you have the time to do it or not but that might also be an idea.
We are older folks here as well my dh will turn 64 in July. But still we are working on getting some other things up and running. This will be our first year with bees. He has decided it is something he would love to do as a retirement thing. We have the first hive boxes here and will go and pick up the bees next month.
We live in MT so gardening here is a big project. Very hard to garden where we live without a lot of work.
I raise, rabbits, ducks and chickens. And next week I will be going and getting some turkeys to go with the mix.
The main way to save money on groceries is shop loss leaders first then go from there.
In the meantime I need to run grind some wheat and get some bread making done today so I better go get with it.
April 10, 2011 at 3:09 pm
All these things are worth considering even if some of them aren’t within everyone’s realm of possibility.
If you want to relocate and your own where you live now, you may have some real trouble selling and then going where you want.
Whole house solar energy systems are extremely expensive although they may pay back over the long run. Maybe insulation, replacing windows and/or doors would be doable for many people. Or a solar water heater would work to help energy consumption. there’s always blinds and those window quilts, or even hanging quilts on walls to insulate.
I learned to grow a few herbs last year and this year. Next year it’s some lettuce plants I’m going to try in containers on the front patio. I’m not a great farmer but I’m enjoying this and learning from it.
peace, shamba
April 10, 2011 at 8:17 pm
If I only had two more years then I’m way behind already, but I’m trying! I have no buckets – but the grocery store said they do give them away when they have them, so soon. I can grow most anything, I just can’t cook (but I’m trying to more and more). The house has no real alternative heat source (the fireplace has an elec fan). I have a solar oven that I haven’t tried, but I’m signed up for a canning class next month. And I live near a large city with no sense of community. Through it all somehow, I’ll get there! Feeling a Scarlet O’Hara moment coming on… “As God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again!”…
One step at a time. Just breathe.
April 10, 2011 at 9:22 pm
I would like to acquire a source for some broad-spectrum antibiotics. Maybe our vetrinarian? I have 2 boys and the youngest usually gets sick enough to require at least 1 round of antibiotics each year.
April 10, 2011 at 11:06 pm
Deb, I would think about finding other people to live with, or a community to join. Take your skills and your preps with you. There are 5 in our household, but one is leaving for college, and one is elderly. In the future, I expect to add someone else to our household to increase our productivity and diversity of skills.
April 11, 2011 at 9:38 am
We planned to work on many things on your list as soon as we moved out here, just over a year ago today. Then all the zoning turmoil hit and we seriously considered leaving this property since we can’t do all that we planned. It’s not feasible to leave so we’re now working to make it do at least some of what we want without running afoul of code enforcement issues.
The problem we run into the most is lack of time and energy to get all the projects done. We’re now facing the approach of summer temps that will keep us from getting much done outside for months and there always seem to be more outside projects than inside. Oh well, one step at a time.
April 11, 2011 at 10:07 am
I looked for en email address on the home page but couldn’t find one so I have to ask this question in the comments. When people say they use the dish water to water their plants, are they using regular grocery store dish soap or a special all natural kind???
Thanks!
April 11, 2011 at 11:04 am
My family moved from a tiny yard in a bad area (three murders and a murder-suicide in 5 years)to an acre plus on the upscale side of life (the guy across the street owns a major sports team)
We had plans for this spring; chickens, an asparagus bed, solar panels, a much expanded garden all of which are on hold as we correct the former owners follies. Some we knew about (carpet in the bathrooms, some of the heating/cooling problems) but each major change in weather has revealed serious problems created by the decorating or landscaping which need to dealt with immediately.
The former owners were all about image and we use to laugh at their outrageous energy usage while we planned a more frugal, sustainable future. (we’re not even ‘green’!) Now on days when I’m not irritated at our delayed plans (no blueberry bushes because the $$ went to more drainage tile) I wonder if this is how future generations will feel about me and my peers.
and I’m sore as heck from swinging a pick axe yesterday
April 11, 2011 at 2:01 pm
Johanna, that would be me that was talking about the dish water. But think about it this way one of the ways to get rid of aphids is soapy water. And it was regular dish soap that they used. Nothing fancy or expansive. Hope that helps.
April 12, 2011 at 6:48 pm
We mainly worry about “looters.” My husband works with a man who always says he doesn’t need to prepare because he knows where we live and he has a .38. Our answer back now is that we have a couple of 12-ga and the advantage of already being in the house. But, we worry about my mom, who lives alone in a big neighborhood; and my sister who is married and lives in a neighborhood, but has no skills other than cleaning house. They both smile and nod and probably think I am crazy because I think our economy is gonna take a serious nose dive in less than 2 years. My children would come here – but none of them are very interested in learning self-sufficiency. Its a good thing I have spent the last 2 years learning about everything I possibly can! (Master canner class starts in June and hopefully by July I can start teaching others.) We have hives and chickens just getting started, so hopefully a good basis for a barter system for things we don’t have.
I would love to have a bigger support group, but we don’t have many neighbors (we are in the country) – the closest 2 are a young man who lives alone and seems vaguely interested in gardening and a couple who’s lifestyle lends toward the extravagant (they raise show-horses). We are going to try an open-house this summer to meet some likeminded people in our area (hopefully) and if not, at least be able to sell some honey and eggs!
April 13, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Great post! And thanks for adding that last bit about physical exams. Related to that, one of the important ways to prepare, I think, is to be as physically fit as possible. While money is still useful (relatively speaking), my husband and I decided to see a personal trainer guy we know. More $$ than I’d like to spend, but we’ve both injured ourselves doing various things and would like to avoid that as much as possible in the future. It gets harder as you get older to recover quickly, and meantime there’s work to be done! It’s been amazing the difference his little tweaks and the new exercises have made in our everyday living and doing. Anyway, for those who can’t do that, still doing the best you can to add in walks, building arm strength, and trying to lift and carry correctly are super important.
April 13, 2011 at 2:03 pm
This is a good post for folks wanting to save some energy without spending a lot of money:
http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2010/12/haybox-factor.html
Haybox cookers and their variants can save energy and therefore $$. Good for the environment too.