How I Got Started With The Independence Days Challenge, Little Winter Preps

How I Got Started With The Independence Days Challenge-
I was wondering recently when I first started doing my IDC posts? After digging a bit I found it was back in 2012! I was looking at my Sharon Astyk books Adapting Our Homes and Our Lives to Settle in Place (Mother Earth News Books for Wiser Living) and Independence Days: A Guide to Sustainable Food Storage & Preservation , have read these books several times, and they still inspire me! There are so MANY great ideas on doing what you can, where you are! Links are on my side bar for more info. Since life is a process I find the ideas can be adapted over time really well. With variations in space, money you can invest, time you have they're great resources. My original post is here 2012 Independence Days Challenge Ideas and to think it was 5 years ago, how time flies!  I still love looking at this list and thinking about what we've done, and what we still need to work on. I did modify it a bit after reading how some other websites re-worded it just a bit, but you get the idea-

1. Plant Something-

2. Harvest Something-

3. Preserve/Store Something-

4. Manage Reserves- Get a Good Deal/Barter/Stock Up/Prep-

5. Eat the Food- Try New Foods/Recipe-

6. Build Community Food Systems-

7. Recycle/Re-Use-

8. Skill Up-

9. Regenerate What is Lost/Salvage Something-

I really loved following Sharon's blog, but then she went on to other things. So if you need some inspiration to start with where you are already living, or want to try some other things, buy her books!

Last Winter's Snowmageddon

Little Winter Preps-
With winter settling in, I have been doing some random preparedness tasks like-
making sure ice scrapers and fleece travel blankets are in the cars, air pressure checked in the tires, new wipers as needed, antifreeze checked, chicken water heater plugged in in the coop. Dave put the sun room for the coop back together for the winter.  We didn't last year, and it snowed, several feet! It's ready now-

Flashlights in the cars with fresh batteries, new rechargeable batteries in the solar garden lights.

I just ordered one of these FLOUREON Portable Solar Battery Charger only $16.99! Can charge 2 devices at a time, great idea! Having a couple of these is a good idea. While you may not have cell service, you can still access important info stored on your phone, tablet or other device. Amazing how expensive these used to be compared to now-