I agree that local food is important. I'm dabbling in seed saving too. I feel a bit more prepared with experience of maintaining a garden. There may still be problems, such as starting another physical garden from scratch; but learning to garden from scratch as a skill and experience isn't one of them.
I guess it's still 'comes back to' doing the best we can, within our resources (such as time, money, land, skills, knowledge, tools, spare parts). I have 'figured out' that I can't master all skills alone, but a whole community can do quite a lot indeed (barn raisings, for one thing). Our ancestors survived, and now so do we.
I've been reading about Bio-intensive gardening with interest, it seems to include focusing on calorie crops. However, I'm not sure it is the 'best fit' for me, since I have less spare time. I wouldn't mind planting more nut trees if I'd use them, I might plant a few willow trees to coppice or pollard for sticks though.
Some things are (or can be) part of my routine lifestyle. I can keep extra cash or have an income to pay off taxes, keep a budget, stay debt-free, continue to help gather and store firewood, how to use firewood (safety 1st!), practice cooking from scratch, sweep wooden floors and beat the dirt out of rugs, hang clothes to air-dry, see where there are other local sources of drinking water, keep extra blankets and winter clothing, buy an extra set of boots and spare bootlaces. If I really want to, I could buy and store just enough manual tools to manage (I think a thick steel plate and sledgehammer for blacksmithing; hammer, saw, C-clamps, cotten rope for woodworking, etc.). I recognize that electricity and gas are convenient, but are resources that I could potentially become over-dependent on, like a crutch.
I'm not sure how much work it would be to make my own paper, to make new seed envelopes. I might try new things for fun in my spare time, when I'm interested. I could work on the making the homeplace a more 'defensible space' (such as against a wildfire).
Some preparations has already smoothed some of the 'bumps in the road', so to speak. I've already used car jumper cables on my dead car battery (followed by buying a new car battery of good quality), used cash to buy food when I accidentally let my debit card expire
, and used a generator when the electricity goes out. Just remember to test the generator before the coldest winter weather, you might need a new part or a simple cleaning, somehow it's less fun when you want the generator to work the most.
It's also helpful to buy quality parts that are more reliable, when justified (such as a decent reliable commuter car).
I've noticed that some old tools or tasks are simply a matter of breaking the 'big' problem down into several smaller simpler problems. I 'figured this out' when I compared a 'overwhelming' car engine to a simplier bicycle, the car simply has more smaller systems and parts by comparison. Many older tools come down to simple tools (lever, wedge, axle/wheel, pulley, inclined plane/ramp, and screws). Buckets, sorting screens, and pipes are also simple yet useful.
Like defensible-space (like against wild-fires), we can be aware of possible problems, but don't have to live in fear of it. We can take simple steps to reduce the risk, focusing on what we can do constructively, to improve resilience, and give us peace of mind.
It's amazing how many systems there are: farming, homesteading (with lots of manual labor), local libraries (and seed libraries?), our 'snail-mail' system, to name a few. Even if I pick one word as a priority, like resilience, a number of details 'come together', like using firewood, gardening and saving seeds, use a cellar, using a clothesline, use a 'straw' broom, always keep fresh water in the tea-kettle, have some cash in the wallet.
(I think this is called resource allocation) One approach might be to start with looking at the budget (I think heating homes in winter is one large chunk), and to go from there to make changes. For example: heating the home in winter is the biggest budget expense, so let's insulate the house and add a back-up and/or more efficient heating system. Close doors to unused rooms in the house (like in old farm houses).
Then you look at the next biggest budget expense, such as food, so now you might decide to cook at home more often, mebe even garden. And so on.
Never lose hope, after all we're still alive right?
at least that has been how i've been reading it.
, and used a generator when the electricity goes out. Just remember to test the generator before the coldest winter weather, you might need a new part or a simple cleaning, somehow it's less fun when you want the generator to work the most. 
It's also helpful to buy quality parts that are more reliable, when justified (such as a decent reliable commuter car).
). well anyways, i have books on woodworking, metalworking, college level texts on microbiology, biology, food preservation, and many many others including a lot of fiction books for keeping me busy too if things get bad and i want to read.
