Community Archives - Page 42 of 93 - Living Off the Grid: Free Yourself

Community

Yes, Texas has mountains…

…and other random thoughts. :) One of the questions I get asked when I tell people where I live (on a mountain side, in the high desert, of far western Texas), they ask “Texas has mountains?” or “I didn’t know there were mountains in Texas…”. Well I’m here to tell you that Texas DOES have mountains, I live a mile high, in the Davis Mountains, which used to be called the Apache Mountains, fitting for me because I am part Apache (as well as Comanche), not enough to claim any benefits, but enough to give me some physical features and a wonderful heritage.

I can say that I feel so much at home here, like I have come home, I always wanted to live in the mountains and in the desert, I get to do both.…

August 30, 2014 No Comments

Community

Get to know your property before you build

OK, you have purchased your land, you are all excited about getting your off-grid homestead going, but before you set your first post, before you lay your first board, there are some things you should do first, taking these steps will help to insure your place will be the best place it can be.

The first thing you should do is walk your land, especially if there is acreage concerned, you need to get to know your land as best you can, pick out more than one potential spot, then camp out on your land, as often as you can, for as many seasons as you can. Try to be there during rain, wind and such. The reason this is important is you NEED to know where the winds blow, the direction, you need to know how the drainage works, you don’t want to build where it’s going to flood.…

August 23, 2014 2 Comments

Community

Living and building off-grid on the cheap

Going off-grid on the cheap, it’s possible to do, but you should be creative and flexible, the property was the biggest expense, buying a property with “issues” made that expense much less than it could have been.

Our property’s issue was the access, it has a seasonal creek that runs across the front/bottom of the property, so driving up on the property is tricky if not impossible. We didn’t mind, the rest of the property was great.

One of the things we do to build cheap (sometimes free) is to constantly be on the lookout for free materials to recycle or re-purpose. It’s not the same as going to the lumber store and buying what we need, we often are gifted with material that would normally go to the dump at odd times, this material has its issues, the lumber is rough, has nails, screws and other hardware, sometimes ends of lumber are rotten, damaged or cut off, as I said, you need to be creative.…

August 16, 2014 4 Comments

Community

How to start a farm with *no money – video

This video is titled, “How to start a farm with no money”, well I’m here to tell you that you need SOME money, but if you are creative, you will not need near the bundle you would need otherwise.

I watched this video with a jaundiced eye, I have seen many claims that often fall under the “too good to be true…” well I am more impressed with John Suscovich than I have been with many other people making these sorts of claims.…

August 13, 2014 1 Comment

Legal tiny home

I love these tiny homes, this one is particularly interesting because it’s completely legal, not saying all the other tiny homes are illegal, in some places people have to build them on the down low. Check it out!

This one shows quite a bit of detail, and he even tells us what he would do differently if he had to do it again, I love the cabinets!…

August 10, 2014 1 Comment

Community

Permaculture in Moretown, Vermont

Ben Falk is a permaculture designer based in Moretown, Vermont. In this video, he speaks about different aspects of homesteading and cold weather, notably his wood cook-stove which also heats water, and his compost-powered greenhouse heating system. He also talks about the importance of being engaged with the land around us, and how gardening is just basically awesome!…

July 30, 2014 No Comments

A new doc in town

I think I am in love, and it’s with another man, but it’s not what you might think :) About a month ago, I took my friend to a nearby town to see a new doctor, there is a very long story that goes with why she wanted a new doctor, one I’ll not bore you with… the first time I saw/met this doctor, my first impression was I like him. He is about as unpretentious as you can get, he wears jeans with the cuffs rolled up, cowboy boots, t-shirts with vintage cars on them, he drives an old beater pickup truck, yes my first impression was he wasn’t like most other doctors I have met.…

July 26, 2014 No Comments

Community

Portable tiny house and airstream-ish office

Ann Holley wanted to create an off-grid, transportable tiny house that would be technically an RV, but with an aesthetic that wouldn’t feel like living in an RV. What she created with her partner Darren Macca is a 125-square-foot “stick built” home with a cedar exterior and a refreshing and expanding all-white interior. “Living in something the size of an RV doesn’t actually have to be like living in an RV,” explains Holley.

…

July 24, 2014 1 Comment

Community

A bridge to Bobbage

Living here going on 8 years and we still have to hike up to the sky castle, the reason is because of a seasonal creek that runs in front of the property near the road, it can be navigated if you have 4 wheel drive and the creek isn’t running (which it isn’t most of the year). It isn’t the water that makes it difficult though, it’s the depth of the creek bed.…

July 20, 2014 1 Comment

Gardening roundtable

About a week ago, I got a phone call from one of my neighbors and friends out here, it was time to do another gardening roundtable. That’s where a bunch of us gets together to discuss our gardening experiences. Living in the high desert mountains in far western Texas, we have a unique growing area, and within this area, there are even microclimates to deal with, so my garden may have different qualities (temperature, moisture, wind, soil conditions…) than someone who lives at the same altitude as I do but just around the corner from me…

So today after church and our second Sunday church potluck lunch, we just had enough time to get over to the community center just up the road. There were about a dozen of us there, most are experienced gardeners, a few were very new to gardening, a few had gardened out here for many years.…

July 13, 2014 1 Comment

Community

How to build your own water cistern system

What Is A Water Cistern System?

Those living in a municipality often take for granted utility services that many rural property dwellers are not privileged to enjoy. Many people living in rural regions are extremely fortunate if they are able to afford the huge expense to drill a water well and even more fortunate if the drill actually strikes good potable water. For those rural proprietors or tenants who are challenged by the absence of a drinkable water source on their property a cistern system is a practical and economical alternative.…

July 10, 2014 4 Comments

Community

Ascalapha Odorata aka Duppy Bat

My late night visitor, these huge creatures show up each year in late spring early summer, they become active in the late evening and night, they can startle or even scare you, though they are completely harmless, unless you count your reaction as you jump off the trail and try not to trip or fall.

I have been walking across my property at night, the flashlight illuminating my way, when something large and dark darts through the shaft of light, my initial reaction is it must be a bat, it’s the same size and general shape of a bat, as it flits through the light again, I realize that bats aren’t attracted to light, they fly around in the dark but tend to avoid light and people.…

July 2, 2014 1 Comment

All you need to go off-grid

Community

Yes, Texas has mountains…

Get to know your property before you build

Living and building off-grid on the cheap

How to start a farm with *no money – video

Legal tiny home

Permaculture in Moretown, Vermont

A new doc in town

Portable tiny house and airstream-ish office

A bridge to Bobbage

Gardening roundtable

How to build your own water cistern system

Ascalapha Odorata aka Duppy Bat

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