Food

The prime mover for many people to be exiting the grid is a belief that the city is unsafe or that natural or other disasters will make rural life safer or more fulfilling. Preparedness in general is a time honored tradition in rural communities and that always includes the ability to last without a daily trip to the grocery store.

Disasters come in all shapes and sizes. True, a hurricane, a tornado, and earthquake, everyone recognizes these emergencies, but what being laid-off, disabled, or just snowed-in? These lesser personal traumas will cause discomfort no matter how we prepare, but there are few things more reassuring than having a six month supply of food in the storeroom. Everything appears more hopeful when you know exactly where you put your next meal.

There are three categories of food to consider

• bulk products you will use lots of and that keep a long time;

• lesser volume stuff you need that doesn't last very long;

• items you can grow yourself.

Bulk Foods

Dry goods such as rice, wheat, and beans can be package to last for as much as a couple of years. By rotating stock and keeping track of the date of packaging, a constant long term supply can be kept on hand. There is only the one-time momentary discomfort of buying and packaging a large amount of food. Then you are using and replenishing at the rate you would anyway.

Once you get accustomed to using food from storage you will start to see what foods you use and at what rates. This really helps in planning the food budget.

Perishable Foods

A freezer is a good investment. It means that perishable frozen foods can be purchased in greater bulk and kept until needed. The cost of the freezer in terms of energy usage will detract from the total savings, but I'm willing to chalk that cost up to maintenance of "peace of mind." If I'm going to be homebound for four days because of washed out roads I want something more than beans and rice.

But being off-grid means that energy efficiency is an important issue. We will want the most efficient refrigerator and freezer we can find -- or afford. There are a (small) number of highly efficient refrigerators and freezers for use in off-grid homes, but they typically cost as much as the home they are put into (that is a slight exaggerated done for effect).

We are currently working on a more cost effective solution while we use a more standard model and just grit our teeth over the energy usage.

Growing Your Own

If your aim is to be self-sufficient, then you are committed to be a small scale farmer. The best "gardening technology" we know of is the approach popularized in the U.S. By Jeevens. We have his latest book in our bookstore. The "double dig" that is the basis of the technique creates a growing environment that supports higher plant density. This means less ground is cultivated, overall lower labor is used (once the beds are established), and less water is used. Since the garden size is substantially reduced compared to conventional methods, an indoor garden and an extended growing season can be considered.

How to Grow More Vegetables

This is the book that describes the "french intensive" method for growing food crops in compact, raised beds. The technique relies primarily on a special preparation of the soil referred to as "double digging." There is no better book anywhere on the subject of growing food in a time and space efficient manner. The approach, because of small space utilization, can also reasonably be adapted to growing in a greenhouse for three or four season use. Everyone planning on growing some portion of their own food should have this book.

Buy it at Amazon for $13.56