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5 Rookie Prepping Mistakes to Avoid

5 Rookie Prepping Mistakes to Avoid

Prepping for your withdrawal from mainstream society comes with a steep learning curve. A small mistake could leave you in a pinch when you least expect it, leading to costly repairs or, worse, the end of your remote hideaway. You need to take care of your equipment, prepare for the worst and make sure you have everything you need to live a healthy, sustainable lifestyle off the grid. From truck seat covers to vitamin deficiencies, learn how to create the ideal homestead operation.

Going off the grid takes practice and patience. If you’re new to the game, avoid these five rookie mistakes at all costs.

Not bringing a paper backup

Leaving the modern world behind usually means not having access to the internet. Even if you set up your own router, you should prepare for potential outages. Nasty weather, weak connections and damaged equipment can leave you without this convenient tool, especially when you’re on the road.

That’s why it’s best to bring along paper copies of equipment and vehicle manuals, how-to guides, maps and just about anything else you might need to read in the wild. Bring along plenty of books to keep boredom at bay, as well as physical resources, such as those for purifying water, growing fruits and vegetables and hunting wildlife. Print off web pages you’d normally read on your computer and keep these documents organized in case you need to access them in an emergency.

Not creating a contingency plan

Let’s face it, there’s always a chance your homestead could take a turn for the worse. You could run out of food or water, accidentally injure yourself or get hit with a natural disaster. But that’s all a part of the fun.

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My Permaculture Design Mistakes

My Permaculture Design Mistakes

Wrong Turns in the Right Direction

Like anyone, I find it much more inspiring to talk about gardening and building successes. That rhubarb we planted last year has gone nuts!  Emma and I have probably foraged 15 kilos of chanterelle mushrooms so far this summer, so much that we are having to give them away despite the fact that I eat mushrooms on toast just about every morning (unless I’m having tofu scramble with chanterelles). We just passed our framing inspection for the cabin we are building! Good things are happening, no doubt, but life isn’t always beautifully blooming roses.

In short, in permaculture, we are all fallible (even the fabled Geoff Lawton, as you will learn by the end of this). Of course, for the most part, we share our successes, and for the most part, that’s also what we want to read about: successes. We want to know what works! But, like any good craft, sometimes it’s the lessons that we learn from our slip-ups that make us wiser in the long-run. At least, at the beginning of this list, that is what I’m going to say. Believe me, this is no exhaustive catalogue of minuscule catastrophes but rather a brief accounting of the ones that are currently unfixed and on my mind.

I want to share them because sometimes, when things go awry, we feel like no one else struggles, as if all other permaculturalists are out there making the right moves, relaxed supine atop a stack of butternut squash. Well, that just isn’t so. To grow a garden, to build a home, to manage water, to raise animals, to live off-grid… they are all replete with repairs, reconfigurations, and re-imagining. Part of the process is often not getting it right. At least, that’s what I like to tell myself, and I don’t think I’m alone in that. Here goes:

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Olduvai IV: Courage
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Olduvai II: Exodus
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