The first year: a full cycle of seasons, stable food, tools and schooling

A year is one full cycle: plant, grow, harvest, store, endure winter, plant again. By the end you should have two harvests of seed, a root cellar, sustainable wood and clay supplies, trained helpers for each skill, and written agreements with neighbours.

Part of Day Zero, the plan for an AI-related crisis that gets out of control. Why it exists. General information, not medical advice: how these guides are reviewed.

A year is one full cycle: plant, grow, harvest, store, endure the winter, plant again. If a group completes that, it is stable. This guide is about what to have by the end.

Food that repeats

• Two harvests' worth of seed saved and stored in more than one place.
• A root cellar or a dry store for grain, tubers, beans; cured, dried, fermented foods for the winter and the hungry gap before the next harvest.
• Orchard and perennials: fruit and nut trees, berries, asparagus, herbs. They take years: plant in the first year to eat in the third.
• Rotate crops and fields; manure and compost for fertility; water management (ditches, ponds, rain tanks).
• A reliable way of storing and recording what you have: counts, dates, rations.

Materials and tools

• Wood and charcoal sustainably managed (coppice). Charcoal is the first step to metalwork.
• Clay for bricks, tiles, pots. Lime for mortar and plaster. Stone and earth for building.
• Leather, wool, linen, rope. A loom and a spinning wheel serve a whole community.
• Iron: salvage first (scrap steel is plentiful for years), and small forges to reshape it. Smelting new iron from ore is a late step; see the rebuild path.
• Soap, vinegar, lime, salt: the chemistry of hygiene and preservation. Salt (from the sea, springs or mines) is trade-worthy.

Energy

• Wood, water and sun first. A small stable electrical system (solar panels, a charge controller, batteries or a hand-crank) is enough to power a reader, a radio, a few lights.
• Learn to repair solar panels, wiring and batteries from salvage; they will outlast the shops.

Health and population

• Records of births, deaths, illness, to see patterns.
• Trained helpers: midwives, first aiders, a person who can pull a tooth and set a bone.
• Look after mental health: grief is real. Shared meals, rest days, songs and stories.

Knowledge and school

• A reading room with the reader device and printed key pages.
• Teaching: every child learns reading, arithmetic, safety, farming, and one craft.
• A library of paper for the vital: medicine, farming, water, crafts, maths.
• Apprenticeships keep craft skills alive.

Other groups

• Treaties and trade with neighbours; agree on shared water, grazing, and paths.
• Share knowledge: copy your archive for another group and ask them to copy yours.

End of year one

1. One complete season cycle survived and recorded.
2. Food, seed, fuel and shelter secure for the next winter.
3. At least two trained people for each essential skill.
4. A functioning school and a library.
5. Written agreements with neighbours.

From here the questions change from "how do we survive?" to "what do we rebuild first?". That is the rebuild path.