Preparations for Upcoming Difficult Times - Edited 32526

Lessons 1 & 2: Be Self-Sufficient and Be a Good Neighbor - with Edit at end showing "final" solar panel setup

Mar 24, 2026

I’d like to think I am a “good neighbor” willing to share with my neighbors - cause I share with them, then maybe they share with me. You know. And we all want what is best for the neighborhood we literally live in - that is common sense.

With respect to self-sufficiency there are two critical items of import:

Food
Energy

So the images below show my efforts towards being prepared - cause seems difficult times are upon us. I got a feeling my neighbors are really going to appreciate me and I hope this is reciprocated. Then - together we will be better small-scale and locally.

So it is no secret I have a garden going - I’ve been working on it for about 5 years now and my focus and specialty is peppers basically. There are some I got growing that are growing nowhere else on planet earth - I kid you not. They are “hybrids” - and I got some that are most fiercesome spicy hot - oh so hot, hot, hot! Like a pepper spray to the soup - just one spray or two is all it takes kind of hot - to add some spicy flavor. I got a feeling these peppers have quite the barter value!

I have products saved in this regard - perhaps I ought take a picture of them as they are presently on the shelves. Oh - I just took the picture - I’ll show it at the end.

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Now when it comes to food security I have become a big believer in chickens. I kid you not. They are easy to have in the yard - you got to have a proper setup mind ya, but then they supply “easy protein” - so really everybody ought have chickens - or at a minimum neighbors who do.

So the above chickens are Buff Orpintons and their names are as follows:

Pumpkin
Buttercup
Waverly
Haskell
Captain KFC

Presently and since about the start of the year they each lay about 5 eggs a week. Now that is some good protein production I say.

In addition to chickens - everybody ought have a garden if possible - hell you can have a garden growing in pots if you don’t have a yard. Anyhow - here is a portion of the ‘26 crop I’m tending (not showing the ones overwintered) and they had some outside time recently and really seem to be coming into their own.

So there you have it - two easy first steps towards food independence. Chickens and a garden.

Now when it comes to energy small-scale I’ve come to appreciate solar panels and I have setup some on my own at our “getaway” place here in the hills of Virginia.

There are sixteen 100-W panels there - I run four in series and four in parallel - and then the “box” you see there is where they are wired together and then the wiring goes inside.

I’ve got more batteries on the way and this is an older image cause I have put in two “busbars” to simplify the wiring - but be advised there are lots of lessons to learn if you want to try to do this yourself. I’m here to help if you have any questions and one of these days I’m going to publish my final “solar panel” setup article - cause I have learned a lot - one thing I have to install when the new batteries arrive is a “battery balance” - and I will do that - and then you would be surprised how much easy energy one gets on any day when there is a little sunshine - even if cloudy.

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Lastly - here is the shelf mentioned at the start of this article.

Let me leave you with this - what do they say about the month of March?

Comes in like a Lion and goes out like a lamb

Glory Be - we all need to be self-sufficient and my advice is to get along with your neighbors locally! Then who knows - barter possibilities and all sorts of ways to be “better together” - just like Kropotkin noticed the birds and bees already behave as such.

Warm Regards,

BK, 32426 1419

Edit - 32526 1032

After a few “hiccups” I have added the additional batteries and a battery balance to my solar panel setup. This is the “final” configuration for the time being. 16 panels and 8 batteries - with an MPPT, circuit breakers, an inverter, and a battery balancer.