How to survive the year without a summer

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Interesting subject. I knew about the 'Little Ice Age'. Learned about it in Art History Why early Dutch/Belgian painters made so many icy landscapes with skaters. But they did not tell about the three years without summer!
Is it known what caused those years without summer? Was it a volcano eruption? Or any other sudden event? Or did it come slowly (summers getting worse and worse in years before)?
Was it only in Europe, or also in other parts of the world (how about the Americas?)
All of these questions (and more) need answers before it's possible to draw any conclusion.

But the question here is: "what would you do if there was a year (or were years) without summer?" And I have to admit: I am not prepared!

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:Interesting subject. I knew about the 'Little Ice Age'. Learned about it in Art History Why early Dutch/Belgian painters made so many icy landscapes with skaters. But they did not tell about the three years without summer!
Is it known what caused those years without summer? Was it a volcano eruption? Or any other sudden event? Or did it come slowly (summers getting worse and worse in years before)?
Was it only in Europe, or also in other parts of the world (how about the Americas?)
All of these questions (and more) need answers before it's possible to draw any conclusion.

But the question here is: "what would you do if there was a year (or were years) without summer?" And I have to admit: I am not prepared!

Gilbert Fritz wrote:R Ranson;

Wouldn't the total loss of the world's breadbasket crop yields impact the food supply? I'm guessing all the big grain fields would be a total write-off, for mud if no other reason.

kadence blevins wrote:I am glad to see this here and look forward to hearing people's thoughts.

However I also offer up another possibility. The earth seems to always move in seasons and cycles. What if the seasons and their variance from year to year is part of a much bigger cycle that we haven't been around long enough to see the whole thing yet? So here is my nerd-girl but far from being a scientist theory:
The little ice age began with years without a summer. The lowest of a cooling period. What has been happening since is a gradual warming period. The next logical point of the cycle is the height of a warming period.. And what I think will likely happen at that time is years without a winter.
A 365 day cycle is something we have seen and learned from for years. What if this cycle happens on a scale of centuries with higher highs and lower lows than the yearly cycle?
For anyone who is paying attention to the recent years weather patterns we have been getting rather shoddy winter weather with a couple good ones (cold and snow fall appropriate to each area) sprinkled in every couple years.

I would be very curious to hear peoples thoughts on this as well. There are many places already trying to deal with lack of snowfall or rainfall in the seasons where you usually get it in those areas. I know I worry about it here and worry more that I'm not farther ahead with things as I want to be and will need to be in the event of emergency or long term problems such as summer-less or winter-less years.

John Polk wrote:Rip out your peppers, tomatoes & melons.
Make room for peas, beans, and yes, all of those crops that used to bolt on you once the days got longer/hotter.

Most of the world would be a lot hungrier without the millions of acres of exported surplus wheat and other cereals.
The US balance of trade would collapse without those grains.

Tyler Ludens wrote:I would need to learn how to eat varmints and other critters, who are much more efficient at turning inedible yucky stuff into at least semi-edible nutritious - varmint.  We have lots of varmints and critters here.

But I've pretty much decided I won't be able to survive any serious hard times, since I seem barely able to survive these good times.

Carol Bambie wrote:Which of the 2 Little Ice Ages is being referred to in the book?

So many good ideas here.   The referral to having protected planting areas reminds me of the value of a greenhouse, and possibly expanding it if needed.   Also, the value of a cold cellar.  Also, having sprout-able grains in food storage for the extra sprout nutrition, greens, etc.  Goats seem to find their own fodder better than most animals I can think of.   Their milk and chicken eggs can expand a diet, tho chickens will lay less well, if not poorly without feed,

Tyler Ludens wrote:Squirrel is among the easiest and safest varmint to eat, from my research;  they don't have any weird glands you need to know about, nor any special diseases.  

Tyler Ludens wrote:Squirrel is among the easiest and safest varmint to eat, from my research;  they don't have any weird glands you need to know about, nor any special diseases.  

R Ranson wrote:

Inge Leonora-den Ouden wrote:...

Why the history lesson?  Because humans have been through all this before.  I read the news, modern books, and even the internet, and people act like climate change is new and we are the first generation to be faced with this kind of challenge.  Sure, the cause is different now, but things don't seem so different to me.  Maybe we can look at the past, see what people did that was good, what they did that was harmful, and then take the best from the past and use it to create a future worth living.  

I agree adaptation will be critical.
However, the climate change we're embarking on is a bit different than anything that has been experienced by a single human generation in the past.  
My favorite science comic, XKCD, has been producing some good graphics on this topic lately.  Scroll down leisurely from the top for the best impact.  
http://xkcd.com/1732/

Because climate destabilization is already affecting food security in some regions, ethically I feel I should consider the big picture as well as the personal one.  
For example, game plans that involve stockpiling fossil fuels and ammo to defend them, or running grow lights and generators, might be contributing to the problem in the long run.  Ditto filling the freezer, or energy-intensive canning strategies.  
I'm working on developing lower-energy food preservation where I can - starting my fruit preserves on the wood stove (rocket mass heater), dehydrating rather than canning my tomatoes and pears (very quick and easy in our dry climate), etc.  
For rescuing crops from unreliable climate, a greenhouse/shade house, solar-concentrator, microclimates, and building great soils (organic matter for water retention and drainage), and diverse varietals, are probably more sustainable.  
Tin-foil or berm-style solar concentrators, or Crimean stoves in a hoop house, can be duplicated by many neighbors quickly, whereas grow lights cannot.

Having a very large home furnace is one tactic for dealing with extreme weather (that worsens the problem globally).  
Insulating the ceiling better, or keeping a trunk of spare clothes for unusually cold weather, or studying up on survival shelters so you can playfully turn your bed into a blanket-fort in case of a bad cold snap, are tactics that can contribute to crisis survival while reducing impact over time.

I'm generally more interested in developing local knowledge (like which local weeds and lichens were historic "famine foods"), and locally-replicatable solutions, than in accumulating and defending a cache of high-tech gadgets.  
I don't want to be a warlord, but I have studied a bit of self-defence tactics.  One of my favorite tactics in general practice is pre-emptive kindness, like joining the fire department and generally being a good neighbor.  
Another is to get to know my local flora and fauna, so I don't inadvertently clear out a big patch of frost-tolerant, fire-adapted berries to plant something that may never thrive in our harsh, semi-arid, montane environment.

We may well see years without summer, or without winter.  We're already seeing regional extreme winters, extreme summers, and persistent droughts or repeated flooding in many regions.  Patterns like we had in 2013-2015, where a warm "blob" in the Pacific and a persistent "polar vortex" over New England creates regional droughts and blizzards/deluges simultaneously.  
These region disasters so far have mostly been compensated somewhat by moving resources from elsewhere, or substituting something else.
We can ignore the price of honey as long as sugar is still cheap (and it's become common to cut both honey and maple syrup with corn syrup).
Our global food markets are picking up the slack... for a while.

I suppose that the worst case is, you might not realize that your regional crisis was part of a global one until long after your local resources have been depleted.  
If you think you can still buy tomatoes internationally, you might not take steps to salvage frost-killed green tomatoes.
If you think that you will always be able to purchase good-enough seed, and that imported seed will always be viable in your region, you might not bother to save seed or contribute to local landrace/seed-swap efforts.

In recent hurricanes and Fukoshima, both toxic chemicals and natural salt water can spoil food-producing areas, sometimes very large ones.  
A very bad "year of no summer," or of extreme summer storms, could destroy both crops and topsoils through wildfire and flash-flooding in the West, and could destroy arable land through salt poisoning in coastal valleys.
Soil building in marginal areas, and good landscape design that mitigates both flooding and drought and wildfire, are significant survival advantages that can start to pay dividends within months, and keep getting better for years or centuries.

Another interesting graphic: Domestic animals far outmass wildlife at this point.  https://m.xkcd.com/1338/
Don't worry about learning to cook squirrel or venison -- or, at least, look for versatile recipes that also work for cat, dog, locust, rat, goat, horse, and the whole Chinese zodiac.  
-- Hint: For lean meat, cold-salted sausage or bread and fry: "chicken fried rabbit," fritters, popcorn-style bites/strips.  
For gamy or tough meats, stews/barbecue/"pulled pork"/carne asada/pressure-canning to soften; consider chili, barbecue, or red-wine stews with spicy sausage to mask gaminess with spices, acid (fruit/vinegar/wine).  
If you can't quite bring yourself to eat vermin or offal, you can feed it to pets, or use it to supplement feed for pigs/chickens/fish (avoiding cannibalism for any given species if possible).  

How long could you (or your community) feed your pets and livestock in a lean year?
If you live near a feed lot or factory farm, what happens if they need to downscale due to corn shortages or rising feed prices?  
How fast can you process a LOT of factory chickens, pigs, or cattle?  (I hear skinning chickens is easier than plucking them, but you lose some of the valuable fats.)

If hay crops spoil, under what conditions could you make silage with it?
(Can you make sileage from wet alfalfa and frost-killed pumpkins, or does it have to be corn?  Can sileage be made successfully in warm/damp weather, or is it only safe to do it in the cool of the fall?)
Trees can be pollarded or coppiced for tree hay.  

One thing to stockpile might be salt. It lasts almost forever, and is useful for preserving meat (and hides), making jerky, canning pickles, or as general trade goods.
Even if I don't always have time to can, I hold onto canning supplies, such as citric acid, jars, rings, and lids, carbuoys for homebrewing, and plenty of spices.  
Spices go a long way to make spoiled crops into tasty pickles or pies (green tomatoes, peppers, unripe squash, radish pods, beans, edible flowers/buds).  
Alliums keep pretty well in the ground, and garlic/onion go a LONG way toward making otherwise unpalatable stuff into food.
I would like to cultivate more root veggies that can self-seed in our climate, like parsnips.
I would want dill and mustard available in quantity if I needed to shift to a local game-and-pickles heavy diet.

I already dabble in cultured food, and keep starter cultures like yeast, apple cider vinegar, yogurt, cheese/rennet tablets, etc.
Enzyme-cooking, sprouting, soaking, and culturing can make nutrients more available, making marginally-digestible foods easier to eat, more worth eating, making scarce food stretch further, and often saving cooking fuel in the process.  
(Dairy, beans/soy, grains, nuts, many greens and veggies; even marinating meats/seafood to tenderize before cooking.)  
At the pinnacle of this category are artisan-quality cultured foods, like cured ham/prosciutto/sausage, special cheeses, beer, wine, and home-brewed soft drinks.

Saving seed, rotating supplies, diverse landraces, learning to recognize edible native and near-native plants, helping them thrive.
Learning to speak languages that are used in adjacent regions, or in regions that might send refugees/immigrants/raiding parties in large numbers in case of a really bad disaster.  

All the stuff permies do is helping to build resilience into regional food systems, just by virtue of being different and locally-adapted.

While international food merchants will probably do their best to keep us all fat and lazy for many years to come, I would not want to count on them having local backstock in an emergency.  
Our local produce from our rural county gets shipped to warehouses 4-6 hours away near urban centers, then shipped back to the local groceries on demand - farther, in other words, than I would want to walk on an empty stomach during food riots.

-Erica