12 Things Farmhouses Had Before Electricity That Still Beat a Blackout

Most folks get ready for a blackout by going shopping, and I think that's the wrong way around. The house I grew up in had no power line till the co-op reached us in '71, and it still had water at the sink, cold milk and the evening news. I spent 31 years as a lineman putting up the wire that made everybody forget how. What kept that house going was a second way to do each of five jobs, and I held the cheapest one back for the end. The list I keep for my own house is in my book, The Day-Two List: https://mitchthelineman.com The facts in this one come from the rural electric co-ops' own history, the federal Ready outage list, the Park Service, the University of Missouri Extension, the safety commission's kerosene sheet and the Weather Service. Not financial advice, not legal advice. Just what I'd tell my own kids. #poweroutage #preparedness #rootcellar #farmhouse