Lynn Wilson

Welp, not off-grid and not a homestead...BUT I try to be low tech where I can.
  -Speaking of, I can and dehydrate rather than freeze because of the everlasting power needed. I have some of the solar generators if needed (refrigerator and a fan for the wood stove).  
 -Intermittently do laundry by hand, but don't have a wringer (yet) so I spin the stuff either with the washer or a much faster (both time and revs) small spinner, meant mostly for spinning wool dry. I would like to get a hand washer from Lehman's (Kidron OH, Amish) but the $1400 plus freight is scary. If I take the plunge, it has a wringer as part of the package so no spinning. Watched a good video on using it (Fy Nyth).
  -Clothesline and wooden drying racks.
  -Electric lights, but have solar lanterns and a collection of around 15 oil lamps for when needed, also LOTS of candles.
  -Mother Earth Living, Backwoods Home, Self Reliance...both digital and paper.
  -Propane stove, spark provided by an 8 pack of AAs, the first round lasted 4 years before needing replacement.
  -Deep well, pump hangs at 375 ft so I keep a backup water storage good for a week.

As I am 70 now, going completely to off grid systems is losing some of its appeal, as well as the fact that my husband doesn't back me up on this. Oh, well, we do what we can!

I grew up on grid, as far as electric went, on a small New England hill farm. Well, dairy and meat cows, wood furnace til high school, big garden,

The longest I've had to be without power lately is 3 days, but some years ago our well went dry and took FOREVER to recover We hauled water

How's the lifespan in heavy, wet clay? Maybe assuming charring for insect and damp protection. Any guesstimates?  Wild Guesses?  Thanks for any response!

I always have Kalamata olives and Monterey Jack in the fridge. Chop and shred, open can of refries (Pintos), slice up fresh Jalapenos or grab jarred, get out the homemade creme fraiche (easy peasy to make!) and start layering a plate with tortilla chips and cheese...pop in oven til melted, pull out and add everything else and return to oven to warm thru,  CHOW TIME!!  You can also make great quesadillas usin either corn of flour tortillas, also a staple at my house.

And if I'm REALLY feeling lazy (and flush), talk the hubs into a run to Home Depot for next project, stop at Chili's for beer and nachos, with a side of southwestern eggrolls.

My Mom would make red flannel hash from boiled dinner leftovers (don't forget the beets!) , I know she did more with it but that was 50 years ago, I just don't remember.

Jordan Holland ... Boy can I relate to your post about not knowing what you have! In late Spring of 2022 I emtied the loft of my Amish shed (meant to be my fiber craft studio) so it could be insulated...long story short the insulating got done but then I dragged my feet til this Fall getting wall coverings up. My stash has lived on my porch all this time1 Needless to say I am now trying to organize everything.

Here's a good story on me...I wanted to get dust out of about 30 skeins of really good yarn but didn't want to just shake them (too cold). So, after deciding the skeins were pretty tight, I.....put them in the dryer to air fluff for 5 minutes. When I went to take them out, you guessed it, it was like an explosion of yarn! About 10 or so of the skeins came loose and made a cat's cradle about 4 feet in diameter. Caught up in it were several skeins that didn't explode, but you couldn"t even see them. After about 16 hours of sitting on the sofa untwisting, they are finall wound into balls. Moral? ENGAGE BRAIN BEFORE HITTING START! Ah well, it was snowing today so was a good time to sit by the woodstove and work. Hopefully I can get everything sorted and moved back up soon. The loft will be for knitting, knit looming, weaving (rigid heddle, tapestry, tablet, inkle and my elder sister wants to give me a 4 shaft floor loom), punch needle, needle felting, embroidery, bead weaving and whatever else I get interested in. Sewing stays in the house, modern sewing machines don't like unheated (or intermittently heated) spaces!

Pat R Mann...in regard to your comment re: tomatoes remember that it is strongly recommended to add lemon juice to home canned tomatoes. Many modern varieties have been bred to be less acid and for a sweeter taste.  I don't find that the lemon juice is a taste changer.

I don't pickle much, and only ferment occasionally as of the two of us, I am the only one who really likes them ( the other half doesn't like dill, at all!).

Welcome Leigh! I enjoy your writing very much. Will (or are) all the titles in your series be available in print? Because what if the power is kaput! I ordered this book in hard copy, can't wait for it to get here. Thank you for sharing your dreams, and your work.

A couple more thoughts...when you are making that hot drink, heat a little larger amount of water, put it in a hot water bottle (yes they still make them!) wrap it in a towel and snuggle it next to you. Keeps your core warm. Or use an empty canning jar. One fall I slept comfortably on our screen porch til the middle of November and in northern Vermont ( nights were below freezing by then), with a used army sleeping bag on a foam pad on an army cot, a hot water bottle filled with very hot water and well wrapped in a bath towel, and a $5 yard sale comforter over the sleeping bag, and the hot water bottle was still warm in the AM. Heat the foot of the bed first, then move the heat source to your core. And there was a reason our ancestors wore nightcaps, reduced heat loss.

It also occurs to me that you could put an emergency blanket (ie space blanket ie mylar sleeping bag) under your mattress pad and not waste body heat, maybe a second one sandwiched between two top coverings. Get a couple of tag sale flannel sheets, quilt the mylar in between them. SKIP points, maybe?