I'll admit it.
I'm an "All or Nothing" kind of guy.
I figure if something's worth doing it's worth doing right. And if it's worth doing right it's worth doing A LOT!
Go Big, or Go Home!
Right? Right!
After my RED PILL awakening of 2008, I definitely went big.
One could say that I over reacted, went off the deep end... just a smidge.
You see, I was 100% certain that the global economy was imminently ready to collapse and the ensuing chaos would plunge our society into a dystopian hell hole.
That kind of thinking can either paralyze you with fear or motivate you to get as prepared as quickly as you can.
I'm not the fearful kind,
so I started "prepping" to protect me and mine. (rhyme intentional)
I spent every penny I had( and some that I didn't) on gathering beans, Band-Aids and bullets. Unfortunately, there is a limit to how much money/credit you can throw at problem and there is only so much space in which to store your preps.
5 gallon buckets full of relatively expensive grain take up a lot of space!
Fortunately, since I was already traveling down the path of becoming a homesteader before my Great Awakening, I knew that the best way to prepare for what was coming was to learn to grow it myself.
Being one of the "frozen chosen" up in Wisconsin, I knew I needed to be able to grow food over a longer growing period. A green house was what I needed to ensure my families food supply for what I thought was coming.
Enter Craigslist Searches:
I found some small, but fairly expensive kits for sale, like this one on the left. $1100.00!
That was a non-starter. I needed size and affordability.
I also found larger, and commensurately more expensive, metal hoop houses that required the purchase of special plastic every few years. $2500.00!
That too, was a no-go, since where would I get more plastic in the apocalypse?
On top of the cost per square foot and the unsustainability of acquiring new plastic every few years, a source of heat would also be needed to keep the greenhouse structure from finding equilibrium with the frigid Wisconsin winter temperatures. As you can imagine, thin plastic doesn't retain heat well, so a lot of fuel would need to be consumed to maintain 80-90 degree Fahrenheit inside temps. Which is what is needed to grow citrus trees.
The solution:
Glass, Glass, and more glass!
I found a local patio door manufacturer who was going out of business in the turbulent economy of 2008 and they were selling their panes of door glass for crazy cheap. We're talking $3.00 - $5.00 a piece cheap. I know, crazy.
I envisioned building a large addition to the the south side of our home, providing supplementary heat and enough space to grow citrus trees! (I lived in USDA Climate Zone 3a and citrus trees need to grow in Climate Zone 9b or higher)
Remember! Go big or go home, right?
That brings me to the main point of my post.
After buying, hauling, and storing a literal crap-ton of glass for the past 8 + years because of my ill-timed prognostication of the economic collapse,
I finally am ready to actually put it to use.
In order to do that, however, I had to haul it one more time, to my newer, more temperate climate zone of 7a. That is what I did this past weekend. I wish I could say that the hauling was without incident, but I cannot. That is for another post, however.
What I can say, is that after much growth and learning, I still believe the global economy is built on shifting sand and it's building medium is a deck of cards. IT WILL inevitably collapse. But I no longer am as hurried in my preparations.
Instead, I've taken a "long-game" strategy in preparing me and mine for certain turbulent times.
I've relocated my family to a less densely populated area in a longer, warmer growing climate.
I'm focusing on building a sustainable homestead where food, family, freedom and fun is a way of life and not just to survive the zombie apocalypse.
As for my initial Red Pill/Great Awakening preparedness freak out, I don't regret it, at least not all of it.
I made mistakes, but I learned a lot from them and gained a greater sense of purpose and a larger perspective as a result.
As I build my cabin and incorporate the glass into a greenhouse (where I can grow citrus trees!) I will update you on the progress.
Thanks for Reading!
