How to overcome the evil dark winter.

Good afternoon folks. I wanna find out how I can be self sufficient this coming winter. I wanna find how I run my water, create my own generator and stuff to help me and my folks surrive this in this difficult time period. How we keep our food including our produce fresh and communicate without electricity. Could somebody teach me how to surrive through the basics this year? I live in an urban area right now, but possibly plan to move to a suburban-semi rural area in the future. Thanks!

Blake Lenoir wrote: Could somebody teach me how to surrive through the basics this year? I live in an urban area right now, but possibly plan to move to a suburban-semi rural area in the future. Thanks!

I feel that all your questions can be answered right here on the forums.

Water:  Have you looked into the information offered by Brad Lancaster?

https://permies.com/t/36676/Brad-Lancaster-Waste-Transform-waste

https://permies.com/wiki/51855/Rainwater-Harvesting-Drylands-Brad-Lancaster

How we keep our food:  https://permies.com/t/93304/kitchen/Stocked-Food-Storage-Pantry

These will help with some of your questions.

The title is how to overcome the evil dark winter: my answer would be to have a positive attitude:


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Thanks Anne for reminding me. I just have a short memory on how I address stuff to folks to what's going on in this present world. How can I address things related to world events and suriving what's to come?

Anne Miller wrote:

Blake Lenoir wrote: Could somebody teach me how to surrive through the basics this year? I live in an urban area right now, but possibly plan to move to a suburban-semi rural area in the future. Thanks!

I feel that all your questions can be answered right here on the forums.

Water:  Have you looked into the information offered by Brad Lancaster?

https://permies.com/t/36676/Brad-Lancaster-Waste-Transform-waste

https://permies.com/wiki/51855/Rainwater-Harvesting-Drylands-Brad-Lancaster

How we keep our food:  https://permies.com/t/93304/kitchen/Stocked-Food-Storage-Pantry

These will help with some of your questions.

The title is how to overcome the evil dark winter: my answer would be to have a positive attitude:


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It all starts with a positive mental attitude and a proactive and productive approach. Don’t succumb to the fear, and focus your energy on fighting for what you love, instead of shadow boxing with ghosts. One of the most important things to remember is that it is always darkest before the dawn..

Blake Lenoir wrote:  How can I address things related to world events and suriving what's to come?

I mostly just ignore world events.

World events do not affect my world.  I know nothing about them because I do not pay attention to the news.

How to survive what's to come?

As best as you can.

My strategy is to read as much as I can on the forum so that I know how to do things that I might need to know.

I bought land with a well so as long as the aquifer still has water in it and my water well pump works, I have water.

I also have a pond though I did not feel the method used in my part of the country to keep water in it was sustainable so it only has a little water when it rains, same with my creek.

We do rainwater catchments as those link for Brad Lancaster.

I do food storage per the link I furnished.  We have food and used the last three years to prove it is sufficient for us.

What have I left out?  Food, water, and shelter, that is all we need.

What about creating our own heater or generators to help us remain warm this winter? And are there any forums on addressing water and how to keep it running this winter?

Blake Lenoir wrote: What about creating our own heater or generators to help us remain warm this winter? And are there any forums on addressing water and how to keep it running this winter?

A lot of that has to do with preparation. We have a saying in Maine; there is only two seasons, Winter, and Getting Ready for Winter. There is a lot of truth in that. For the person who does not have a huge pile of dry firewood ready to go in the fall, they better have a big checking account instead, because they will need it.

But, what if there has not been preparing for winter?

A lot can be done with changes one's mindset. For years I used propane with radiant floor heat to heat my 3000 square foot home. It cost me around $2800 a year to heat it, and the last time I did that was in 2016. Today? I use a previously owned pellet stove, use it in my great room, and then use a little electric space heater for the bedroom we occupy. Sometimes my daughters come over, but we only heat rooms we use, and yet now my house costs $1000 a winter to heat.

Learning to make-do-without is a hard lesson, but eventually it will save you a lot of money.

It has been my experience that one learns to read by reading.  One learns to socialize by socializing.  So, back in the early 80s, I decided the best way to learn to homestead was by homesteading.  I didn’t feel like I was ready, but I pulled the trigger and went for it.   After 4 years, I decided I had made a few critical errors.   I sold my property, got up, brushed myself off, and I went for it again. I had leArned from my errors.  I was successful the second time.   So, taking from my experience, if a person wants to homestead … they should do it.  They need to be prepared to make mistakes.  They need to be prepared to learn from their mistakes. They need to accept there are no guarantees.

If this question is really about overcoming the dark, as opposed to the cold, of winter, I suggest getting plenty of physical activity.  Being passive only amplifies the lonely darkness.

Also, I have an odd suggestion about the darkness—embrace it.  I like to walk in the darkness very early in the morning.  And I don’t like to carry a flashlight.  I find that a flashlight ruins my night vision, thus limiting my vision to a fairly narrow and short cone of vision.

When I walk at night I like to look up at the stars which I can see all the better without artificial lights.  And as my nighttime vision adapts I can see plenty well in very dark darkness.

Perhaps worse than darkness for me are long periods of gray, foggy air and/or overcast skies.  I find my mood changes when I go for days seeing neither sunlight nor stars.  During those times I find it crucial to remain both mentally stimulated and maintain physical exercise.

I could offer other tips or suggestions, but exercise and mental stimulation top the list.

Eric

Not sure if you'll find what you need here, but this guy comes up with all kinds of low-tech, cheap, DIY solutions to all sorts of problems, including how to cook without utilities, how to distill water, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/@desertsun02/videos