MOTHER EARTH NEWS

Off-Grid Solar

My wife and I enjoy a well-built home on the edge of town, with a large yard and a lot of trees. Our electricity comes from a pole in the street, our water from the city water utility, and our natural gas from the natural gas supply company. We live in South Texas, the energy center of the world, so what’s there to worry about? That’s what a lot of folks thought until a devastating winter storm hit Texas in February 2021. Many people were left without water, power, or gas. Those with wells had no electricity to run their pumps, and if you had a generator, you couldn’t get fuel. Temperatures inside even the best-built homes were dangerously low. Fortunately, our electricity and gas stayed on. Even if they hadn’t, though, we were prepared for the worst. Had we lost our power and gas, we might’ve been uncomfortable, but we would’ve made it through thanks to our proactive preparation and my self-sufficient skill set.

My know-how to get through that type of situation comes from a lifetime of surviving in harsh and difficult environments. I grew up on a farm in rural

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from MOTHER EARTH NEWS

MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min read
Photos From The Field
Share your unique perspective with our community by submitting photos of inviting gardens, nutritious foods, wild animals, and more to the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Photo Group on Flickr (www.Flickr.com/Groups/MotherEarthNewsPhotos/Pool).We’ll feature our fa
MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min read
I Know I’m Alive.
America’s# 1 MOTORCYCLE INSURER 1-800-PROGRESSIVE | PROGRESSIVE.COM Quote in as little as 3 minutes Progressive Casualty Insurance Co. & affiliates. ■
MOTHER EARTH NEWS6 min read
Build a Simple, Low-Cost Biogas Digester
Up to half of the average North American household’s food ends up getting tossed out, with most of this “waste” ending up in landfills, where it’s tucked into layers of garbage and gobbled up by methanogenic (methane producing) bacteria. Yet, by toss

Related