Dealing with Extreme Weather Conditions
Marc Thoma
Posts: 77 ✭✭
Hi Marc, in zones 9-10 So. Calif. we are several years into a drought so I collect what little rain water we get, one way I gather it is in two ponds that I let dry out a few years ago so that I could use my water for my vegetables instead of filling them up weekly in the summer. Over the last couple of years I have lost a lot of plants due to a cold snap followed by extreme heat, last January we have 90 degree weather so I am setting up poles that I can put covers of some of the plants and then easily remove them on hot days. Another thing I do is to water well then mulch and this Spring I will be adding drip irrigation to my raised-beds now that I have them all set up.
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I have been through so many weather extremes in my life. The best thing I can share is know where you are living! If stuff happens, learn from it and make changes. December "08 we had a severe ice storm, over 5 inches of ice! Coupled with 40 to 60 MPH winds. Needless to say everyone's power went out. 3 weeks and the warmest it got outside was+8. We had days that stayed - temps for days on end. We had been making buddy burners to give to our neighbors and Friends for Christmas. They never got them but it sure saved us! I can tell you a full bottle of rubbing alcohol lasted 8 hours burning in our Toilet paper dispenser Our big house never got below 55 degrees in the 3 weeks we were trapped at home. My kids loved these 3 weeks of camping in the family room in tents and sleeping bags. The total silence was amazing! We later installed a couple propane heaters that use no electricity. We also invested in cleats as going out to care for life stocks and other critters was a nightmare. We also had to go cut holes in the lake 3 times each day for water. We wisely tied a rope to the porch the fist trip out so anyone going out had a way to pull themselves back to the porch. No mail, no phones, no internet. No clocks ticking away. We had paid extra for more insulation and it really paid off. Our land line phones went out on the 3rd day, relay switches died from no power. We really loved this time as a family. We also learned that the candle holder things we got at one of the Lincoln sites in Springfield really worked to light up a whole room. We went back and got two more the next summer. We had plenty of food in the basement. We also invested in several boxes of candles. Learn from your experiences! We also learned when using a CampChef oven to use double pans to keep things from burning. And those little canisters of propane last a long time! We baked a loaf of bread everyday and the canister lasted over 2 weeks before we had to use another one. We used this oven in the back utility room with the window cracked a bit.
I will try to write about another disaster later on.
Cherlynn -
Wow, Cherylnn, that was harsh! Yes, we do learn from those experiences and try to be more prepared. We luckily have a wood stove which can heat the whole house and we can cook on in case we are out of power. Just have to have enough wood on hand. I'm looking forward to one day either have a whole house battery pack (like what Tesla sells) or even better, power our house with our Nissan Leaf's battery in an emergency. Hope to also have solar panels and solar hot water to be less reliant on the utilities.
Here on the We(s)t Coast of Canada, we mainly have rain and wind in winter, not much snow or cold temperatures. When it does dump snow on us (moist Pacific Ocean air meeting a cold front from the Arctic), the city comes to a standstill like it did between Xmas and New Year's in 1996. -
It's extremely important to have food storage on hand. Loss of jobs can leave you starving. We both lost our jobs and were taking care of my sister's kids and they quickly wiped out our food storage so my Dad took them in. We learned it is important to know what is in your food storage. The kids left us with wheat and jello. The wheat ended up being soft wheat so useless for bread. I had no grinder. In the end we ended up gleaning fallen corn from harvested fields. We swore we would never be in those circumstances again. Since those days we have learned a lot and now we have food storage for 20. I can so we have meat ready to eat at any time, and vacuum sealed chips, crackers and candy that last for years. Nothing better than chocolate when everything goes to heck in a hand basket! We also have wheat grinders and water purifiers and lots of other things in case disaster ever strikes again. Our next project is getting my green house up and running. No matter what happens I truly believe the Lord will help us. If we will get as prepared as we can He will help us with the rest. When my niece's husband moved back to Tokyo to take care of his mother I had told him to lay in water and rice. When the big earthquake and aftermath happened he had 200 lbs, of rice and several cases of water. He feed over 2000 people each day for over 2 months and his water and rice never ran out. Soji knows it was a miracle and so do I. So store as much as you can and prepare as best as you can because you never know what disaster will hit you. Having a deep faith in God can get you through what ever you have to face. So I prepare as best I can and then lay it all in the Lord's hands and I know no matter what everything will be fine.
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