When Should You Transition from Fossil Fuels? -- Low Tech Podcast, No. 53 

Some thoughts on transitioning: When we switch to doing tasks without fossil fuels often we just plain get less work done. This isn’t always a bad thing, because I think generally we could be doing a lot less of non essential tasks that eat up energy. But, this can be a challenging thing to incorporate into our lives in a time when production is so highly valued in our society. I take a bike to work, it takes me an hour of extra travel time, I have one less hour in the day to do other types of work. On top of that, my body has used energy and many tasks without fossil fuels require the energy of our bodies. I have found one of the more challenging things for my family to be the taxes that are placed on living. When we switch to simpler technologies it often costs far less money, but we still have to pay rent, taxes, etc which forces us in some ways to conform to a faster pace lifestyle. There are ways around this of course, but I still think the taxes on life pose another challenge. Finally, I wonder what your thoughts are on other forms of energy (solar, wind, etc) and the complicated nature of their production and distribution. It takes fossil fuels to mine the minerals, which are also a finite source. It also takes a lot of fossil fuels to manufacture and distribute them. Also, much of solar panel production is in China? I bring up these points because maybe it makes sense to look to even simpler life ways that wouldn’t rely on complicated technology fixes that can’t be understood or repaired locally with local materials. I have a feeling that there isn’t the capacity for everyone to have solar panels and battery backups for their home, but I haven’t done the math.

Why can't you cut the trees that shade your garden? Alternatively, can't you dig a mini-pond in the shaded area? Or grow a ton of mushrooms? Winecaps will get the taste of any herbs you cook them with.