Homesteading, self-sufficieny and alternative energy.
Posted: Sun Dec 13, 2009 5:45 pm
I recently purchased an ebook on homesteading. As you all know, I'm always trying to increase my preparedness for any contingency, which I collectively identify as the Zombie Apocalypse.
Anyway, first I was interested in emergency survival, which is short-term survival until infrastructure elements are restored (water, power, waste, food supply, etc). Then I became interested in alternative power and removing myself from the grid, so as not to be too dependent on those infrastructure systems. That led me to homesteading, which is about as close to full self-sufficiency as one can get.
Homesteading largely refers to the practice of working your own land or space by raising at least enough food (animal, plant or both) to supply most of your own needs, and not being totally dependent on power, water, sewer and food supply infrastructures. Homesteading is as old as history. When a group of people settled a new land, they had to homestead in order to survive, because those typically necessary infrastructures did not exist.
How does this relate to the Zombie Apocalypse? Well, we all know that our infrastructures are very fragile and susceptible to disasters. We could lose power for weeks or months, lose our water supply, lose our food supply network, etc. But homesteaders would be largely unaffected by the loss of these things. Certainly, if the losses of those resources were temporary, a homesteader might not even notice. Homesteaders, unless they get overrun by raiders or zombies, will likely be the only ones to survive with their culture and sanity intact. The rest of us will be forced into scavenging and survival. Homesteaders will just continue to live their lives.
So I've been looking at homesteading as a sort of expanded version of my alpaca ranch. I can certainly raise animals for their fleece, and not homestead. However, I'd still be totally dependent on the power grid, food supply chain and water/sewer systems. Since I want to go off grid, I've been looking at waste disposal, water delivery and power generation. In theory, I could develop all of my own food, power, waste disposal and water supply, without ever drawing off municipal water, power, gas or sewer, or visiting a gas station. This type of self-sufficiency is quite desirable, but also a lot of work.
This is not to say that I support a return to pre-industrial society, and live the Amish way (although there certainly exists some appeal to that). However, I think we've lost that balance between self-sufficiency, independence and embracing the modern world.
Think of the Northeast Blackout of2003. So many folks were left without power. Now, the first thing I think of when considering a power failure, is "What will happen to the food in my fridge, or how will I heat my home in the winter?"
A lack of home heat can certainly be health and safety issues. Spoiled food can be a health issue over the long term. But the Northeast Blackout caused fuel supply shortages (which causes problems for everything from food supply to medicine), water supply problems and communications issues. Emergency calls for fire department services increased significantly from the use of candles alone! Now imagine if this power outage lasted for months...certainly possible, given how fragile the system is.
So there we have it. So much of the population is dependent upon systems that are terribly fragile. It's amazing we've made it this long without some other major catastrophe. People are resilient, and will survive worse situations. But wouldn't it be so much better to have a system that wasn't so susceptible to failure? It's easy...people can do so much to improve their self-sufficiency. Folks in small apartments can grow some of their own food. Folks with no land can compost and grow things in window boxes. People can switch to alternative energy, or even easier, simply consume less.
Homesteading can mean so much more than living on a farm off the grid. I, for one, intend to make my home, wherever it is, as much of a homestead as I can.
Anyway, first I was interested in emergency survival, which is short-term survival until infrastructure elements are restored (water, power, waste, food supply, etc). Then I became interested in alternative power and removing myself from the grid, so as not to be too dependent on those infrastructure systems. That led me to homesteading, which is about as close to full self-sufficiency as one can get.
Homesteading largely refers to the practice of working your own land or space by raising at least enough food (animal, plant or both) to supply most of your own needs, and not being totally dependent on power, water, sewer and food supply infrastructures. Homesteading is as old as history. When a group of people settled a new land, they had to homestead in order to survive, because those typically necessary infrastructures did not exist.
How does this relate to the Zombie Apocalypse? Well, we all know that our infrastructures are very fragile and susceptible to disasters. We could lose power for weeks or months, lose our water supply, lose our food supply network, etc. But homesteaders would be largely unaffected by the loss of these things. Certainly, if the losses of those resources were temporary, a homesteader might not even notice. Homesteaders, unless they get overrun by raiders or zombies, will likely be the only ones to survive with their culture and sanity intact. The rest of us will be forced into scavenging and survival. Homesteaders will just continue to live their lives.
So I've been looking at homesteading as a sort of expanded version of my alpaca ranch. I can certainly raise animals for their fleece, and not homestead. However, I'd still be totally dependent on the power grid, food supply chain and water/sewer systems. Since I want to go off grid, I've been looking at waste disposal, water delivery and power generation. In theory, I could develop all of my own food, power, waste disposal and water supply, without ever drawing off municipal water, power, gas or sewer, or visiting a gas station. This type of self-sufficiency is quite desirable, but also a lot of work.
This is not to say that I support a return to pre-industrial society, and live the Amish way (although there certainly exists some appeal to that). However, I think we've lost that balance between self-sufficiency, independence and embracing the modern world.
Think of the Northeast Blackout of2003. So many folks were left without power. Now, the first thing I think of when considering a power failure, is "What will happen to the food in my fridge, or how will I heat my home in the winter?"
A lack of home heat can certainly be health and safety issues. Spoiled food can be a health issue over the long term. But the Northeast Blackout caused fuel supply shortages (which causes problems for everything from food supply to medicine), water supply problems and communications issues. Emergency calls for fire department services increased significantly from the use of candles alone! Now imagine if this power outage lasted for months...certainly possible, given how fragile the system is.
So there we have it. So much of the population is dependent upon systems that are terribly fragile. It's amazing we've made it this long without some other major catastrophe. People are resilient, and will survive worse situations. But wouldn't it be so much better to have a system that wasn't so susceptible to failure? It's easy...people can do so much to improve their self-sufficiency. Folks in small apartments can grow some of their own food. Folks with no land can compost and grow things in window boxes. People can switch to alternative energy, or even easier, simply consume less.
Homesteading can mean so much more than living on a farm off the grid. I, for one, intend to make my home, wherever it is, as much of a homestead as I can.