I have been saying for a long time
In the near future
You will grow your own food,
in your own greenhouse
or starve
This blog, i am going to try to explain "greenhouse"
Winter Conditions
We are entering an ice-age
The sun has cooled off, shrunk, and is now letting more cosmic rays impact the earth.
You can expect the winters to be 20° F (11° C) colder on average, and winter storms to drive down the coldest record temperature.
Hail, the size of golf balls will be normal. The size of baseballs will be common enough in places.
Your greenhouse will need to be able to survive this.
And by survive i don't mean, be fixable when spring comes, i mean, you will need to still be operational after these storms. As replacement parts will become harder to get, and not at all in a timely manner. Such as, if you have a hoop house, order your plastic a year in advance and hope it comes.
And your greenhouse is going to have to survive this and grow food.
Maybe not during the coldest winter months, but you will need your greenhouse to work in early spring and late fall (the calendar months, not when the snow leaves the ground) You will need to start your outdoor plants in the greenhouse, or they will have no chance of growing to maturity during what remains of the growing season.
You will need a greenhouse with moveable storm shields and insulating blankets.
And probably heaters and grow lights.
Summer Conditions
This isn't all. Your greenhouse will have to survive the brutal summer too.
The summer will be harsh, with sunlight that will burn up paint. Not that it is hotter, but the solar radiation will just fry everything.
Your greenhouse will probably have to have shade cloth that can be adjusted as needed.
We will probably also need UV blocking film panels that can be used during the midday (and maybe morning or evening depending on what we find happening. Last year, the morning sun just toasted my plants, when in years before it was very good for starting them.)
The summer sun will be harsh. Maybe so harsh as people should not go out midday.
Your greenhouse will have to protect your plants.
Northern America and Canada
Greenhouses in northern America will need to be built deep into the earth. The frost line will go down at least two more feet than today's normal.
Greenhouses in Canada will have to be designed to buried under perma-ice.
I suggest any Canadians look at moving south. The border will not be much of a problem a few years from now. But Tru- DO will try to make it really a pain starting right now. Until the rivers used for hydro start freezing, the govern-cements will try to lock down the border, making travel a pain. Then a lot of people will be leaving, and probably a lot of the border guards too.
This does mean that selling your Canadian house now will be the best thing you can do... as the value will go to zero. I really do not have a time line on when Canada will be a complete ice block, but the rivers freezing will be quick, and from that time on, every winter after they will freeze, until at some point they won't thaw. We are used to week long snow storms. Expect, and be prepared for month long snow storms.
Greenhouses in these areas will need heating ¾ of the year and probably grow lights.
Make sure they are very well insulated.
Everything about our lives is going to change.
Big Ag is going to die. Lack of chemical fertilizers. Lack of being able to drive big tractors through fields due to mud. Lack of growing season length. Lack of good soil (it has all been washed away). And wait till you see what Billy Gates does.
Food in grocery stores will be a story you tell your grandchildren.
The idea of maintaining a suburban life is ludicrous. However, many people will hold onto that "norm" way too long.
The grocery store shelves... slowly at first, and then all at once. I am seeing things missing from my grocery store, Wallymart, 99¢ Store... they all are doing things like moving merchandise to fill the shelves, make them look full. But they are not. Things are missing. And we will see it dwindle a bit more, then a bit more, than food rationing. You won't even be allowed to enter a grocery store unless you are millionaire.