Land Archives - Page 3 of 32 - Living Off the Grid: Free Yourself

Land

Compound for sale – because the kids aren’t interested

In Michigan, a Home surrounded by serenity and nature is for sale because the long-time owner is getting old and his kids want the Internet not the wilderness.

The four-bedroom, three-bathroom home is completely off-grid but ironically the price of $6.3 MILLION includes the rights to income from 48 natural gas and oil wells spread around the property.

Henry B. Joy IV grew up on this 2,000-acre property in Atlanta, Mich., in the northern part of the state’s lower peninsula.

Joy, 52, returned to the idyllic nature retreat in 1994. Joy’s parents moved the family there full-time in the 1970s, he said. His grandfather purchased in the 1940s for between $35,000 and $45,000, according to Mr. Joy. He recalls a childhood centered on nature and learning to appreciate the outdoors. ‘Life wasn’t about going to the mall,’ he said. ‘All we had was a Kmart 35 miles away.’

The family has used some of the income from oil and gas to pay for roughly $2.5 million in improvements and additions to multiple structures on the property, and land maintenance over the past 40 years, Joy said.

The 4,000 square-foot main house is the centerpiece, surrounded by multiple additional buildings including a boat house, a horse barn, a woodworking shop and a log cabin on a private lake.

The property is on the market with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. KoenigRubloff Realty Group has the listing.

Joy, who is in the film industry, has a primary residence in Harbor Springs, Mich., and primarily uses the house as a place to spend time off-the-grid with his family. ‘One of the coolest things was teaching them how to fish and how to clean a fish,’ he said.

The property encompasses about 20 miles of roads, and has hosted events for the American Rally Association, according to Joy, who used to drive rally cars.

Joy is looking to sell as his children get older. They’re no longer as interested in spending time in the wilderness – without internet – to do the work necessary to maintain the land, he said. ‘I can’t do it all myself,’ he said.…

July 21, 2019 4 Comments

Food

Understand Your Growing Zone

Growing your own food, and enough of it to last a while, is one of the pillars of living off the grid. Knowing about your Growing Zone is the key, allowing gardening off-grid to morp from a hobby to something vital to survival. And while there are other ways to put food on the table, gardening provides a balanced diet for the off-grid family as well as exercise and community.

A huge part of living off-grid involves understanding the area in which you are situated. Knowing your surroundings, including the success of past harvests, is essential to creating a garden that will sustain your lifestyle. Here are some tips for understanding your growing zone for a bountiful garden.

Know Your Spot on The Map

Go to map

To understand your climate and growing zone, you need to know where your land falls on the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. This useful tool assigns a number to each growing zone within the country. This number corresponds to how well different plants will grow in your area. For example, North Florida is in zone 8, which is great for growing apples. But you’ll have a tough time trying to grow grapes or cherries. Keep in mind that each growing region includes two subcategories as well. It’s possible that a plant that thrives in your growing zone won’t survive because of individual circumstances. However, staying with those plants rated for your growing zone number should help bring forth a bountiful harvest.

Know Your Soil

Another thing to consider when growing a substantial garden is the soil. You may have a wide range of plants in your growing zone, but not everything will do well in the ground on your property. Specific plants prefer a certain kind of soil that your land may not provide. You can add organic material to help fix soil conditions, but that doesn’t guarantee success.

Know Your Season

Northern homesteads will see cooler spring and fall seasons while southern ones will see plenty of hot weather. Different produce grows better in different seasons. It’s best to start out with cool-season vegetables like lettuce, peas, and broccoli well before hot weather arrives. If you’re living in the south, you may have no choice but to start with a warm weather crop like melons, zucchini, and cucumbers. Knowing your area and the average temperature for each season is vital to successfully sow seeds at the right time.

Know Past Weather Patterns

Taking note of past weather conditions within a season will help you understand and work your land better. Prolonged winter temperatures or a freak spring snowstorm can significantly decrease the amount of food that you can produce. Gardeners in Colorado know to wait until after Mother’s Day to plant. Yet the picture above was taken in late May, two weeks after the last forecast frost. …

June 13, 2019 1 Comment

Land

Islandeering

A new book about islandeering guides you through visits to some of the UK’s tiniest islands where there is no power or fresh water, and the boundary between land and sea presents offers the ultimate places for adventure, challenge and solitude.

The experience is called ‘islandeering’ – walking, scrambling, wading and even swimming around an island’s rim. With dramatic clifftops, wild beaches, tiny tracks and deep gullies there is always a route to be found.

From urban islets to clifftop nature reserves, secretive military islands to remote beach idylls, there are secluded swims, seashore foraging, incredible wildlife, stunning seascapes, abandoned villages and vibrant communities to discover. Getting to them can be an adventure in their own right with exhilarating RIB rides, exposed cliff scrambles and epic tidal crossings, one of which is known as Britain’s ‘deadliest highway’.

Here are some the UK’s best islandeering adventures.

1. Scolt Head, Norfolk

A wet and wild wade through sun-warmed channels leads to a walk along a stunning natural beach . From Burnham Overy Staithe, cross two streams to get to the island then wade along the tidal creeks and wildlife-filled saltmarsh of the south shore, enjoying warm, secluded swims on the way. Cross to the north coast with its pounding surf and wild and extensive sands. Return in true islandeering style – by letting the incoming tide float you gently back.

Distance:13.8km

Time: 4 hours

Difficulty: 2

OS Map: OS Explorer 250 & 251

2. Steep Holm, Somerset

The exhilarating RIB ride from Weston-Super-Mare is all part of the adventure, but once at the island an easy clifftop amble around a small former military outpost turned nature reserve awaits. Those with a head for heights can test their nerve on steep exposed sections. If the thought of this makes you feel dizzy, pick your way through the remains of underground munition stores or enjoy spectacular views across the Bristol Channel instead.

Distance: 2.2km

Time: 45 minutes; 12 hours exploration

Difficulty: 1 (4 for cliff diversions)

OS Map: OS Explorer 153

3. Foulness, Essex

Foulness is Essex ’s best-kept secret. Step out onto Maplin Sands to follow the legendary Broomway. With an incoming tide that is faster than most people can run and MoD owners who like to fire missiles out across the sands, this walk does require some planning. The reward for the few who attempt it is a fabulous wilderness experience and the chance to chat to friendly islanders with their unique language and tales of ‘stringies’, ‘cadgers’ and ‘doggies’.

Distance: 29km

Time: 6 hours

Difficulty: 2

OS Map: OS Explorer 176

4. Chapel, Cumbria

Chapel in Cumbria offers an exhilarating route with notorious sinking sands and extremely quick tides. It’s best to go with a guide who will know the safest route across the fast-flowing River Leven and the wilderness of Morecombe Bay (The Queen’s Guide to the Sands; guideoversands.co.uk ). …

May 19, 2019 2 Comments

Land

20 Acres Off-Grid Ready

Beautiful Cascade Mountains and Valley view from this 19.81 acres. Located in NE Washington. Property boasts a permitted well and 2 bed septic, 10×16 shop/storage, 8×12 insulated building houses the domestic water reservoir, well pump controller, 12 volt DC water pressure pump & 70 amp propane fueled generator. 500 gal rented propane tank on site. Hughesnet prepaid for 2 years is part of sale. Don’t miss out on this already developed off-grid site. Bring your RV or build a cabin. Peace & quite awaits. Call Laveda at Okanogan County Realty, LLC 509-846-3577…

May 2, 2019 1 Comment

Land

PG&E’s cunning wildfire plan – shut down the Grid

Power company PG&E has long been known as a company that puts its shareholders interests ahead of its customers – shady billing practices, low quality maintenance are just a couple of the company’s bad practices.

Now it has gone a step further with a plan to punish its 15 million Californian customers in the event of wildfires this summer.

When high winds arise this year, the utility says it will black out fire-prone areas that are home to 5.4 million people.

That’s right – instead of working 24/7 to prevent its power lines from sparking the kinds of wildfires that have killed scores of Californians. it plans to pull the plug on a giant swath of the state’s population.

No U.S. utility has ever blacked out so many people on purpose. PG&E says it could knock out power to as much as an eighth of the state’s population for as long as five days when dangerously high winds arise. Communities likely to get shut off worry PG&E will put people in danger, especially the sick and elderly, and cause financial losses with slim hope of compensation.

In October, in a test run of sorts, PG&E for the first time cut power to several small communities over wildfire concerns, including the small Napa Valley town of Calistoga, for about two days. Emergency officials raced door-to-door to check on elderly residents, some of whom relied on electric medical devices. Grocers dumped spoiling inventory. Hotels lost business.

PG&E is “essentially shifting all of the burden, all of the losses onto everyone else,” said Dylan Feik, who was Calistoga city manager until earlier this month.

By shutting off power in fire-prone parts of its service area, which are home to 5.4 million people, PG&E said in regulatory filings it hopes to prevent more deadly wildfires. The San Francisco-based company sought bankruptcy protection in January, citing more than $30 billion in potential damages from fires linked to its equipment.

This plan amounts to an admission by PG&E that it can’t always fulfill its basic job of delivering electricity both safely and reliably. Years of drought and a drying climate have turned the state’s northern forests into a tinderbox, and the utility has failed to make needed investments to make its grid sturdier.

During this year’s wildfire season, which typically starts around June, PG&E is preparing to make cutoffs to a far larger geographic region than it has targeted for blackouts in the past, increasing the number of potentially affected customers nearly 10-fold. While it is unlikely all areas would be affected at once, the outages may turn entire counties dark.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
What should utilities do to protect people from wildfires? Make your comments below.

The company said it is attempting to figure out how to avoid stranding medically vulnerable residents and is working with local authorities to try to ensure water, traffic …

April 28, 2019 1 Comment

Land

Tiny British island seeks new warden

If you always wanted to be a hermit but never dared to make the move, now is your chance.

The remote island of Lihou, part of the self-governing British Crown dependency of Guernsey, is looking for a new Warden.

Guernsey is one of the Channel Islands in the English Channel very near the French coast, and after Brexit the new Warden could expect the island to be invaded one day by a desperate French President looking for a way to appease the Giletes Jaune.

It’s known for beach resorts like Cobo Bay and the scenery of its coastal cliffs. Castle Cornet, a 13th-century harbor fortification in the capital of St. Peter Port, now contains history and military museums.

The tiny isle sits 500 metres off the Guernsey coast, in the English Channel between Britain and only a few kilometres from FFrance. The new warden will oversee its 36-acres from the rent-free farmhouse.

Applicants must be happy to live off-grid, drive a tractor and co-habit with the island’s protected wildlife, including 150 different species of birds. you apply by writing to: info@lihouisland.com.

In return, you can while away the days taking a dip in the natural swimming pool, exploring the derelict priory (and remains of the island’s 12th century monastery) and taking in the views from the shingle beach.

Guided tours and school trips often pass through, but this isn’t a place for someone who craves company – access is via a causeway at low tide. Stormy weather can cut off the little island for days at a time.

Interested? Current warden Richard Curtis, who is leaving the island after 13 years, said his replacement needs to have ‘fresh ideas’, be looking for a new challenge and hail from Guernsey.

‘We need to find the right person. Someone who wants to work with children, who can proactively work by themselves and who likes driving a tractor as their company car,’ he told Guernsey Press.

Richard is leaving his role in September 2019 but it is hoped a new warden will be appointed by Easter next year so they can get support for their first season. Email info@lihouisland.com if interested.…

December 30, 2018 2 Comments

Land

Island mansion for sale

Engels and Volkers are featuring this amazing off-grid home on a private island near Vancouver, British Columbia. If the US $15 million price tag is a little out of your reach – search landbuddy.com for people and places where you can pool resources and go off-grid.

The 3,600-square-foot house sits on a 120 acre spread, and has three bedrooms and four full bathroom. There is a separate 3,300-square-foot guesthouse with three bedrooms. The nearest town is the logging town community, Campbell River.

Accessories on the private island include a boathouse, 94-foot dock and a private helipad. Goose Landing Lodge has an assortment of fresh water spots including creeks, ponds and a small private lake. There are meandering trails, service roads and groomed pathways through the property.

It is located on Stuart Island, one of the Discovery Islands, which lie between northern Vancouver Island and the British Columbia coast. It is privately owned, with no ferry access. Most visitors arrive by float plane, private boat or helicopter.

The parcel of land is lined with temperate old growth rainforest , along a kilometer of shoreline.

All of the materials were brought by barge to the property, except for the on-site rock that was used as part of the construction of the house.

“All of the timber framing in the house was from one massive tree on Malcolm Island” in British Columbia, said and Engels and Volkers spokesman.

“It’s all off the grid,” he added. “It’s fully self-sustainable,” with underground plumbing and wiring, a generator building, professional sized greenhouses and raised garden beds for year-round cultivation.

The main house, known as Goose Landing Lodge,is the only house on the private island, and has a wraparound deck and offers water and forest views from nearly every room. It has an open floor plan with exposed cedar beams, vaulted ceilings and a rich array of stonework.

The chef’s kitchen is bright and modern, with stainless steel appliances and granite counters. The adjacent dining room opens to the great room, which shares a striking stone-encased dual-sided fireplace with the family room.

…

September 25, 2018 No Comments

Land

Off-Grid Millionaire AirBnB’s his Hawaii home

Each Christmas tech geek Graham Hill heads to Hawaii. At first he would shack up in a small, dilapidated cabin on Maui and spend afternoons kitesurfing at Ho’okipa beach.

Then he was offered a 2.2-acre plot of land. As founder of LifeEdited, a Manhattan property consultancy selling simple, small-space living, he had no plans to upgrade, he saw an opportunity. He would build an experimental eco house that would be similar to, yet different from, the two small apartments he had created with LifeEdited.

“At first I had no plans for the land,” he says, “but Hawaii is a great place for off-grid living. There’s lots of sun and wind, and where I am in Haiku, a decent amount of rain. It’s also the perfect temperature, so you don’t need heating.” He joined forces with the local architecture and engineering company Hawaii Off-Grid, and spent a year creating a 1,000sq-ft holiday home that is fully sustainable and creates more energy than it uses.

Wafer-thin, almost-invisible solar panels line the roof, lithium batteries in the garage store their energy, and a giant tank in the garden holds up to 20,000 gallons of rainwater. The two bathrooms come with compostable toilets and the whole space is fitted with the same sort of flexible, functional furniture that fills Hill’s micro-apartment in Manhattan.

Three of the four bedrooms feature fold-up beds and can change function; one becomes a games room, another morphs into a film room and the third becomes an office. The 330sq-ft lanai (terrace) is fitted with pop-up tables and loungers that swivel around a dining table.

When pushed to the max, the house can sleep eight and cater for 20, and every room offers views to the ocean and the West Maui Mountains, which shape-shift under ever-changing skies.

Thanks to two internet start-ups, 47-year-old Hill was already a millionaire before he founded LifeEdited in 2010. The first was a web-design company, which he sold in 1998 for $10 million; the second was sustainability website TreeHugger, which was purchased for the same sum in 2007. Featuring everything from how to build a chicken coop to the latest self-driving cars, TreeHugger presents eco issues in millennial language.

“It shows that going green and doing good doesn’t have to be non-profit,” explains Hill, whose mantra, “Design your life to include more money, health and happiness with less stuff, space and energy,” has seen him invited to speak at TED conferences.

It’s new territory. Wind and solar technology is racing aheadEven for Hill, who is also a trained architect, going fully off-grid was a challenge. “It’s new territory. Wind and solar technology is racing ahead and it’s hard to know what to choose. Do you, for example, keep electric water heaters and have solar on the roof? Do you get a massive system that can deal with anything, or a small one with a generator …

May 9, 2018 4 Comments

Land

Millonario fuera de la red renta su casa de Hawaii en AirBnB

Cada navidad, Graham Hill experto en tecnología vuela a Hawaii donde al principio se hospedaba en lugares pequeños como en un cabaña en Maui y pasada las tardes surfeando vela en la playa de Ho’okipa.

Luego le ofrecieron un terreno de 2.2 acres. Como fundador de LifeEdited, una consultora inmobiliaria de Manhattan que vende viviendas sencillas y de espacio reducido, no tenía planes de mejorar, sino que vio una oportunidad. Construiría una casa ecológica experimental que sería similar, aunque diferente, a los dos pequeños apartamentos que ya había creado con Life Edited.

“Al principio no tenía planes para la tierra”, dice, “pero Hawaii es un gran lugar para vivir fuera de la red”. Hay mucho sol y viento, y donde estoy en Haiku, hay una cantidad decente de lluvia. También es la temperatura perfecta, por lo que no se necesita calefacción “. Combinó sus fuerzas con la empresa de arquitectura e ingeniería local Hawaii Off-Grid y pasó un año creando una casa de vacaciones de 1.000 pies cuadrados que es totalmente sostenible y genera más energía de la que utiliza.

Unos paneles solares delgados como una oblea, casi invisibles, cubren el techo, las baterías de litio en el garaje almacenan su energía, y un tanque gigante en el jardín contiene hasta 20,000 galones de agua de lluvia. Los dos baños cuentan con inodoros compostables y todo el espacio está equipado con el mismo tipo de mobiliario flexible y funcional que llena el micro-apartamento de Hill en Manhattan.

Tres de las cuatro habitaciones cuentan con camas plegables y pueden cambiar la función; uno se convierte en una sala de juegos, otro se transforma en una sala de cine y el tercero se convierte en una oficina. La terraza de 330 pies cuadrados está equipada con mesas y tumbonas que giran alrededor de la mesa del comedor.

Cuando se la empuja al máximo, la casa puede ser anfitriona de ocho y atender a 20 personas, y cada habitación ofrece vistas al océano y a las montañas del oeste de Maui, que cambian de forma bajo los cielos siempre cambiantes.

Gracias a dos start-ups de Internet, Hill, de 47 años, ya era millonario antes de fundar LifeEdited en 2010. La primera era una empresa de diseño web, que vendió en 1998 por $ 10 millones; el segundo fue el sitio web de sostenibilidad TreeHugger, que se compró por la misma suma en 2007. Éste sitio web cubre temas desde cómo construir un gallinero, hasta los últimos autos sin conductor, por esto, TreeHugger representa problemas ecológicos en un lenguaje millenial.

“Muestra que ir “verde” y hacer el bien no tiene que ser sin fines de lucro”, explica Hill, cuyo mantra, “Diseña tu vida para incluir más dinero, salud y felicidad con menos cosas, espacio y energía”, a repetido al hablar en conferencias TED.

Es un territorio nuevo. La tecnología eólica y solar está corriendo …

January 21, 2018 No Comments

Vamos a Ecuador

Me estoy mudando a Ecuador y tengo dinero para comprar tierras, pero quiero dividirme con personas de ideas afines.Las personas que respetan a la Tierra y a todos los seres que la componen, y que saben que la tierra y quieren vivir al 100% de ella, alejandonos del sistema social corrupto.
¡Con cariño!
Contáctame 253-678-0003
Me voy en abril de 2018.

Traducción directa del árticulo original https://off-grid.net/moving-farm-ecuador-lets-build-live-free/…

January 21, 2018 No Comments

Land

Alone in the Peruvian Desert

Although every place on this planet is unique in its own way, Peru manages to stand out above the crowd because of its many natural and cultural aspects. This has astounded people for hundreds of years and still fascinates them today. So pack your camping bags and running shoes because here are the best Off-Grid places you can visit!

Its always a great thing to meet new people and to learn about new cultures, however Peruvians tend to make this act an even more enjoyable experience. Most Peruvians are hard workers, extremely polite, peaceful and curious about the interest of their visitors. So if you ever visit, don’t hesitate to talk to a local!

Peru’s various climates crates a diverse ecosystem and natural variety, all in one country. You can enjoy a drive in the desert and then end up by the ocean. it is one of the only places where its desert meets the sea. The combinations and varieties are endless. Peru is also known for its beautiful beaches, of Herradura, Costa Verde, and Puntas Rocas – all located in South of Lima, Peru’s capital. For a good time in the sun, sand, and crystal clean waters; you can go to popular beaches like Pucasana, Punta Sal, El Silencio, Punta Hermosa, and Santa Maria. Peru makes it perfect to do many short budget trips that allow you to experience this natural variety.

There are so many ways to discover this incredible country with Peruresponsabile.it You can book your honeymoon trip, or book an unforgettable stay in the Amazon with one of their collaborative communities. You can also walk among the Peruvian Valleys with one of their hiking trails or finally drive on the remote landscape in one of their off-road vehicles!

Watch Video Here: https://youtu.be/u8DSoulj7jM

For more information on Tours in Peru, please visit: https://www.peruresponsabile.it…

December 5, 2017 2 Comments

Controlled CA blaze creates windbreak against wildfire

Land

Adapt your home to survive a wildfire

Devastation caused by the recent wildfire outbreak in California reminds those living off-grid to maintain awareness of fire safety. Especially those who live in rural or isolated areas of forestry, writes Levon Barkhordarian.

As it stands the wildfires have forced an estimated 90,000 people to move, destroying more than 5,700 business and homes as well as killing over 40 people. The death toll is expected to rise once the inferno comes to an end, allowing emergency crews to navigate the unpredictable terrain and recover victims.

“The emergency is not over, and we continue to work at it, but we are seeing some great progress,” said California emergency operations director, Mark Ghilarducci. More than 9,000 firefighters are currently fighting the blaze with helicopters, air tankers, and 1,000 fire engines. The director of the California Department of forestry and fire protection, Ken Pimlott described the spread of fires as “a serious, critical, catastrophic event”.

With this in mind, how can businesses, communities and off-grid inhabitants hope to limit the damage caused by the current wildfires and the inevitable fires of the foreseeable future?

There are relatively simple precautionary steps you and your neighbours can adopt to protect your family’s land and property.

Use these examples to protect your property.

If your property is located near other buildings or you have neighbours close to your land you should discuss plans for collectively tackling fire safety in your area. Creating contingency plans and working together as a team in remote areas can drastically increase your protection.
Small trees, dead trees and ground fuels such as pine needles and leaves should be cleared from around your property creating at least a 30 to a 100-meter radius of cleared space. Dry leaf litter and debris will significantly increase the chances of fire spreading. So, it is extremely important that you create a clearing around your property to minimise this effect.
Next, you should prune and cut large tree branches to a height of 10 feet. This inhibits a fires ability to crawl up the trunk of a tree to reach its canopy. If you have conifer trees on your property or other species which you don’t want to discard it is at least worthwhile thinning their branches and crowns to create a partition 10 feet or more apart. This stops the fire from migrating from tree to tree.
It is a misconception that grassy lawns increase the spread of wildfire, in fact as long as you keep your gardens well-watered and maintain a short length to your grass it should act as a fire breaker. However, it is imperative that you take the time to keep your grass lush and well hydrated.

Extra ways of keeping your property safe from wildfires.

A major reason so many houses burn down completely is that emergency services such as fire departments find it difficult

…

October 15, 2017 No Comments

All you need to go off-grid

Land

Compound for sale – because the kids aren’t interested

Understand Your Growing Zone

Islandeering

20 Acres Off-Grid Ready

PG&E’s cunning wildfire plan – shut down the Grid

Tiny British island seeks new warden

Island mansion for sale

Off-Grid Millionaire AirBnB’s his Hawaii home

Millonario fuera de la red renta su casa de Hawaii en AirBnB

Vamos a Ecuador

Alone in the Peruvian Desert

Adapt your home to survive a wildfire

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