Self-Sufficiency

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Flower pot heater, does it work?

flower pot heater

The last couple of winters have been very hard for those of us living in the USA, the so called “polar vortexes” have come down from above, of course when I was growing up, these were referred to as a cold front, I suppose now they have to make it sound more newsworthy… at any rate, the winters are cold cold cold, many rely on grid power to keep their homes warm, even those who have natural gas, their heating units still rely on electricity to run and circulate the heat. It’s always a good idea to have at least one alternative means of heating your home should the power go out, ideally you should have multiple backup means of heating your home, or at least one room to get you through in the worst case scenario.…

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500 square feet

500sqft

500 square feet, for some, that’s a decent walk in closet, but not for this couple, Robert Cole and his partner Kelly Casthena, they live there with their black lab, happy as clams. They would have to be, living in such close quarters, any unhappiness would not stay hidden for long.…

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Homesteading, the good, the bad and the ugly

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Or, what could possibly go wrong?

I found this posted on a homesteading FaceBook page, this is probably one of the most honest assessments of the reality of a young family jumping in with both feet on a homesteading venture that I have seen. When you first start out, you have all these grand ideas about what you are going to do and how to do it, then as time goes by, reality sets in and quite frankly it’s hard, and that’s if nothing goes wrong, and believe me, things go wrong.…

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In the beginning, the first night

Early skycastle
Winter 2007
The wind was blowing a gale, harder than any wind I have even been in before. The walls were shaking and rattling, threatening to blow over any moment.

“I’m going to bed.” I announced, “This place will stand or fall whether I’m asleep or not.”

I crawled into the tent that was set up inside the one room cabin, I was wearing thick quilted coveralls to stave off the cold, I found out the following day that it got down to 14 degrees F overnight. Much of our canned food was inside the tent to take advantage of our body heat to keep it from freezing. I’ll explain why there was a tent inside the cabin a little further down.…

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The beginning…

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Spring 2007
“What do you think?” PB asked with a hopeful look on his face.

“What about your job? Our families? Your kids were born in this trailer.” I responded, we had been discussing the possibility of moving away and completely changing our lives, he was showing me pictures and videos of the rough, desolate land in far western Texas, this was not outside the realm of possibility for me, in fact it was something I had dreamed of since I was a young child, I just never thought PB would be interested in living this life as well.…

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Community

A solar bus home

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I have a great love for small homes and portable homes, many of the DIY bus conversion homes are pretty good, but this one is tops in my books, it’s functional, it’s roomy, but it’s not too huge to drive, I could live in this.…

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Community

Waste oil heaters

cold!Winter is here, all the way down here in far west Texas, tonight it will get down into the low 20s(F), definitely wood stove fire weather, along with some good warm gear to wear and sleep in. Thermal underwear is my constant companion day and night, well more night than day, we often get up to a comfortable temperature during the day as long as the sun is shining, but I must remember, before the sun goes down to change into my night clothes, for as soon as the sun sets, the temps drop like a rock into an ice bucket.…

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How to grow a Sky Castle

Ever wonder how a sky castle grows? One room at a time :)
In this case, this “room” was a semi enclosed deck between the bedroom and the laundry room. Like many homes out in my neck of the woods, people will build a deck, then enclose it, creating a new room, them add another deck, and enclose it, that makes for some interestingly organic homes, I know, I’ve been in many of them.…

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It’s not too soon…

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October is gone, November is here, it’s getting dark earlier (for those of us in the Northern hemisphere), it’s getting cold…. it’s also getting closer to more of those holidays that call for gathering together and gifts. For us, the gatherings will not be so full of people, that’s one of the disadvantages (or some might call it an advantage) of living far from family. But with the various delivery options available to us, the gifts part is still a big part of the holidays.…

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Buying your own land

Buying land, it’s something you will be doing if you want to homestead or go off-grid on your own. Personally I wouldn’t want to “go in” with other people, there are just to many potential issues with sharing property. I also understand that different people have different ideas on how they want to live, either way these videos have some great advice on buying your own land. I enjoy watching what LaMar Alexander has to say about living off-grid and getting your own property. The great thing is LaMar actually LIVES the life, he speaks with authority and from experience.…

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Community

A DIY survival sling shot with big game capabilities

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Could you survive in the wilderness with only a sling shot as your weapon?

Lots would depend on your survivability. Having a means to harvest protein and animal fat would surely increase your chances.

In a perfect world, the sling shot would not be my first choice. But having options makes one more robust.

When Dave Canterbury first talked about hunting big game with a sling shot, I thought he’d lost his mind. But then again, I’ve seen him do amazing things with common, everyday items. [Note: Check your local hunting regulations before hunting with a sling shot.]…

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LED technology and DIY

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Off-Gridders have been around for a long time, but it’s just been recently that technology has been available to make living off-grid as cushy as any grid connected home, not only available but affordable as well. One thing everyone needs is light, we have several different options to light the darkness, candles, oil lamps, Coleman lanterns, flashlights, incandescent bulbs, CFL bulbs and most recently, LED lights.

I think all of us have used many of these options at some point in our lives, I can remember camping as a kid and having Coleman lanterns and flashlights, but most of these are either expensive, use up too much power, or they are risky to use (specifically the ones that use fire).…

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