If we could all go back in a time machine and be better prepared for scary times. I’ve joined a number of forums for off-grid living. Off-grid means not connecting to the local electricity or water supply. It means relying on Mother Nature, luck, your wits and a lot of common sense and technology to get electricity power, water, work, and stuff done.
So since most of us did not see into the future with a consult from our astrology charts or fortune-teller before this corona outbreak, I talked to a pile of homesteaders, people who have been living off the grid for a while now to see how people –– with the time you have now, can be better prepared and less scared for hard times.
Teach your kids and yourself these skills and you know you will be able to survive.
- How to light a fire. Sounds trivial. I was reading a Farley Mowatt book about when he went to visit the people of the deer in 1947, the first white guy to do it. His matches got wet and he didn’t have fire until he met the Inuit up north who showed him how to do it.
- How to grow zucchini. Why zucchini? This is a plant that is easy to start with, it’s hard to kill, and when you do it you can get a bonanza of zucchini that let’s say in hunger mode you can turn into bread, flour, stir fry, something stuffed. Best case scenario you leave them on the porch of your mothers-in-law.
- A toilet paper alternative: Remember that most bathrooms also contain a shower head. If you run out of water, you can easily wash your bottom in the shower. No big deal. Like the Bedouins do with their squat toilets. Most of the world uses bidets. You can too.
- Grow micro-greens on your windowsill. You can order kits from the internet or simply make your own. You just need the seeds. When they sprout they are packed with nutrients.
- Learn how to bake bread without a machine. Tortillas or flatbread are a good way to start. If you are more ambitious you can go all-natural by following our sourdough recipe. People have relied on wild yeasts to ferment their bread doughs, beer, and wine for thousands of years. By contrast, commercial yeast has only been around for about 100 years. It only became possible to culture-specific strains of yeast after Louis Pasteur discovered how yeast works. While commercial yeast yields safe, predictable beer and wine, mead, sourdough breads, with their delicious tang, still work beautifully in a modern kitchen.
