Surviving off the grid...

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Just received something interesting from Grit Magazine GRIT Magazine -- Rural America, Vegetable Gardening, Great Recipes, Livestock, Farm Machinery, Do It Yourself on Recommended Resources For Suyrviving Without the Grid. They have many books on sale to Aptil 1. Many, if not most of them, have extremely interesting titles.

Certainly worth looking into.

 

[JeepThrills]

I have two friends that are pretty much doing that already. One has actually got "Homestead" status in her state and the other one (who lives here in Georgia) is in the middle of working on his certification. I don't know what all is involved, but both of them pretty much live completely off their own land.

 

[EmberMike]

I have two friends that are pretty much doing that already. One has actually got "Homestead" status in her state and the other one (who lives here in Georgia) is in the middle of working on his certification. I don't know what all is involved, but both of them pretty much live completely off their own land.

I've heard of the term "homesteading" recently but I didn't know there was actually a certification for it.

I follow a guy on YouTube called Wranglerstar who is pretty into the self-sufficiency and homesteading mentality. He's not off the grid, but he's very practical in his approach to modern sustainability and living without total reliance on outside resources.

It's a cool way to live. Not sure I could do it, but it's interesting.

 

[Grandpa]

The old homesteaders around here lived off the grid cause there was no grid to live on. The reason they never got more than a few miles from home is because they didn't have time. Cows had to be milked twice a day, chickens had to be fed and protected from the coyotes and hawks. And gathering the winter supply of firewood was an all summer job as well. Even the new fangled windmills to pump water had to be tended. They didn't have sealed ball bearings so the windmill had to be greased daily and too much wind required shutting the blades down or risk burning the bearings out. It was an all day every day task to keep things up. From can see to can't see, they were always busy. My parents were off the grid until I was about 4 years old. I saw the steps from that to now and I don't want to go back to what they faced. It is nice to be self sufficient but it is also nice to have electricty and running water.

 

[cabinfever]

I admit to liking my creature comforts so while I shoot for a fair level of self-sufficiency, I don't want to cut the electricity or gas quite yet. I know I could survive if I had to and that's enough for me.

 

[Greatoutdoors]

I don't really have any desire to live completely off of the grid, but I would like to know that I could. I think that it would be really nice to have at least some of our appliances run off of solar power.

 

[JeepThrills]

I've heard of the term "homesteading" recently but I didn't know there was actually a certification for it.

I follow a guy on YouTube called Wranglerstar who is pretty into the self-sufficiency and homesteading mentality. He's not off the grid, but he's very practical in his approach to modern sustainability and living without total reliance on outside resources.

It's a cool way to live. Not sure I could do it, but it's interesting.

The certification allows you to sell things that you produce using specific terms on your labeling. As an example, my friend sells the wool from her sheep and also uses their milk to make soaps. She is able to put labels on the soap that say that she has met the certain requirements.

Hope that makes more sense.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


It sounds like "homestead" farming, etc. is more like organic farming. Would that be a better description? Thanks for the definition.

Generally speaking, "homesteading" used to consist of being given permission by a State to live on a piece of property, and if you 'proved up' on it...clearing land, making a road into the property, building a home, etc., within a certain amount of time...you could then claim legal ownership to the property.

Alaska was the last State to have homesteading (they no longer do). Nevada was also one of the last States to have it.

I'm glad that you clarified what kind of "homestead" you were referring to.

 

[ppine]

People should not romantasize homesteading and living off the grid too much. It is a lot of work and it is hard to leave. It was popular in the 197 but kind of died out. Now we have a resurgence in young people who interested in it again.

Talk to the oldtimers. My parents and grandparents knew all about living off the grid.

I like the tv shows about recreational properties in Alaska. Very few of them have power or even a well. Lots of good modern adaptions. And the program about Alaska homesteaders is revealing. Sleeping out in the snow with no outfit, swimming rivers in the dark. Shooting wolves and bears to keep them off the cow herd. Running low on food. Most people could not live that way.

I would love to have a property that is off the grid for recreation. It is a lot of fun and very rewarding for a week or 2 at a time. For full time living it is a lot work.

 

[ChadTower]

Interested until they are unable to charge their iPhone for a couple of days. That would end the homestead concept instantly.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Interested until they are unable to charge their iPhone for a couple of days. That would end the homestead concept instantly.

Hi...

Thanks for my first chuckle of the ayem...!!:tinysmile_fatgrin_t

 

[CozInCowtown]

We could live quite comfortably off the grid except for the heat of the summer.
We live in the Brazos River Basin and the heat and humidity is awful during August.
Other than that we have our own water wells, one pumped by an Aeromoter windmill and the river is about a mile or so away.
Got a couple good tractors and a 500 gallon diesel storage tank. I try and keep it above 1/4 tank but sometimes the money is not there to keep it where I want it.
When the cows and sheep are gone we could start hunting whitetails and fishing the river.
We could survive though reasonably well as long as others did not find us.
Refugees would probably be my biggest problem.
Coz

 

[Grandpa]

We could live quite comfortably off the grid except for the heat of the summer.
We live in the Brazos River Basin and the heat and humidity is awful during August.
Other than that we have our own water wells, one pumped by an Aeromoter windmill and the river is about a mile or so away.
Got a couple good tractors and a 500 gallon diesel storage tank. I try and keep it above 1/4 tank but sometimes the money is not there to keep it where I want it.
When the cows and sheep are gone we could start hunting whitetails and fishing the river.
We could survive though reasonably well as long as others did not find us.
Refugees would probably be my biggest problem.
Coz

Sounds good Coz, but what about refrigeration in that heat? Butcher an animal and you eat good for a day but what are you going to do to save the rest of the meat? There are ways but are you prepared? Just askin.

 

[Pathfinder1]

Hi...


Interesting question. Can't answer for Coz, but when I read your post..the old fashioned ice house came to mind (if you have wintertime ice available).

Every dairy farmer around here...years ago...had one. They weren't that big, either. Sawdust (as insulation) kept the ice from melting all summer long.

 

[CozInCowtown]

Sounds good Coz, but what about refrigeration in that heat? Butcher an animal and you eat good for a day but what are you going to do to save the rest of the meat? There are ways but are you prepared? Just askin.

Actually No, we are not completely prepared by any means but to be honest I am more concerned with tornadoes than anything else.
I want a tornado shelter but that is a semi-expensive project and out of my current budget for awhile anyway.
I would need a smokehouse and that also is out of the current budget. I don't think I would ever justify it unless something bad did happen to society.
We could do quite well for a few weeks if required and family is just a short drive away if needed.
I do not discount civil unrest but we are out a short ways from town, away from any state highway or any major road so I would hope refugees would not be much of a problem.
My preparations are marginal and I try not to subscribe to TEOTWAWKI crowd personally though I do understand anything could happen.
JMO, my wife thinks I am a nutcase anyway. :loco:
Coz

 

[ChadTower]

Smokehouses can be done on the super cheap. It really comes down to how much meat you need to do in a single run. They can be built out of file cabinets, 55gal drums, heating oil tanks, old fridges... pretty much anything that can tolerate enough heat without catching fire or buckling.

You can fit a LOT of meat, for a small family, in a fridge converted meat smoker. You can fit a lot of meat for a big family in a 250 gallon oil tank smoker.

My meat smoker is about the size of a small fridge and I can do 40lb of pork in a run. That's enough to last quite a long time.

 

[Scotty]

My grandfather built his smokehouse out of recycled and salvage lumber. It did quite well for quite a few years. We used to hang meat in the smokehouse in the fall and it would keep out there until spring, but back then we had winters that would stay consistently below freezing. I would like to be a bit more off the grid but it costs a bit to do a lot of the things you need. I have been working toward doing more but it will take a bit to do.

 

[ChadTower]

I've always been partial to the Colonial method of meat smoking. One or two pieces at a time in a small alcove in the fireplace chimney. If you're going to be burning hardwood all the time anyway may as well double duty the chimney for some low temp smoking and drying.

 

[ppine]

Even a small solar panel can handle all the communications gizmos.

It is easy to build a smoke house in a day or less.

 

[JeepThrills]

Hi...


It sounds like "homestead" farming, etc. is more like organic farming. Would that be a better description? Thanks for the definition.

Generally speaking, "homesteading" used to consist of being given permission by a State to live on a piece of property, and if you 'proved up' on it...clearing land, making a road into the property, building a home, etc., within a certain amount of time...you could then claim legal ownership to the property.

Alaska was the last State to have homesteading (they no longer do). Nevada was also one of the last States to have it.

I'm glad that you clarified what kind of "homestead" you were referring to.

Yes and no. It does involve organic farming, but a certain percent of what is done on and around the property must meet specific criteria as well. She sent me a link to what all the criteria were. I will have to look for it.