Winter preparations
When we lived in Minnesota, winter was the time for ice fishing, snowball fights and tying softballs to your car antennae so they could be seen approaching through the snowdrifts.
Here in Ireland, it rarely snows or even drops below freezing, but winter brings a different kind of challenge — it is damp, which adds to the chill just as humidity adds to the heat. It is also a time of darkness — Ireland is only several hundred miles from the Arctic Circle, so this time of year we are looking at seven or eight hours of daylight.
I don’t know what winter is like where you are. If you live in California, perhaps (I’ve never been there myself) it’s not much of a change. But for most people, it is the time when one’s health and mood darkens — especially with this year’s news. Certainly most of the commonly-suggested baby steps to self-reliance — gardening, bicycling, picnics - are summer activities.
We can, though, make the most of winter, use its forced quarters and laagering-up to clean, read, organize and prepare for the coming year.
Winter is the ideal time to harvest or buy root vegetables — not just potatoes, but rutabagas, celeriac, kohlrabi, beetroots, Swedes, turnips, parsnips and carrots. If you think you don’t like them, try them another way – for example, I discovered I like celeriac finely shaved in the grater, as one would do with parmesan cheese, and mixed with a spicy salad dressing.
Many root vegetables can be left in the ground all winter here – World War II Victory Gardeners used to store potatoes by simply piling them up and shoveling some earth and straw on top of them, with a pipe at the top for ventilation. Most root vegetablees don’t require refrigeration – you can store carrots, for example, in boxes of sand. If you have not grown your own, don’t worry – they are often cheapest at the store this time of year, and can be stored in the same way.
As children must sit in school during the few hours of winter daylight, some teachers may be looking for the occasional field trip. If you farm, build or know other crafts, perhaps you could arrange to host a day out for students. People in my group, FADA, plan to push highschool students this year into several projects — to interview elderly residents about what life was like before the oil boom, to test their houses for energy-efficiency, and others.
Alternately, this is a good chance to learn new skills that you think people might need in a low-energy future – knitting, cooking, carpentry, pottery and playing musical instruments are good places to start. Remember, knitting is not just for women, and carpentry not just for men.
Watch over your health in the winter – eat lots of vegetables, take lots of Vitamin C and keep clean. Watch out also for the elderly in your area, who may find this time of year difficult, especially with the economy and rising heating costs. Check on them reguarly, and consider organizing your neighbours to do so.
Most of all, the winter months are a chance to read and learn. Try reading books to your children, and read to each other. Visit your local library with your children. Try not to just scan, as we are accustomed to doing in this data-saturated age. Read.
Don’t worry if you don’t get around to doing all of these things – I’m not doing all of them myself. There are dozens of little things we can all do, and not all of them will be applicable for everyone’s life. But take advantage of wthe season while it lasts, and try to prepare for what might be a historical winter ahead.
