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A Farm of My Own:  Living off the grid- for women  |
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happyhousewife
True Blue Farmgirl
201 Posts
Mary
North Pole
Alaska
201 Posts |
 Posted - Sep 06 2009 : 07:42:58 AM
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We are about to move off the grid! I'm looking for a website aimed at homemaking off the grid. Not home-building, but housewife-ing and mothering. Does that make any sense?
http://hiswifeandtheirmama.blogspot.com/ |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Sep 06 2009 : 08:15:36 AM
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I dont have a site but i LOVE North Pole alaska! Got to visit a few years ago in the winter (march). Stayed in some cute little Cabins in fairbanks on the frozen river and went to the ice sculpture contest while we were there too. Probably one of the best trips I have ever taken!
Farmgirl Sister #17
Blog
www.willowtreecreek.wordpress.com
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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prairie_princess
True Blue Farmgirl
613 Posts
Elizabeth
Carpenter
WY
USA
613 Posts |
Posted - Sep 06 2009 : 1:50:19 PM
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i don't have any resources about living off the grid, but am interested in it myself... hopefully someone will have some information to share. by the way, my dad lived in north pole as a kid and i heard all his stories about it... like when he was 5, running outside stark naked, and almost getting frostbite! i've always wanted to visit to see where he lived. some of my family are running a gold operation in nome during the summers and i sure wish the hubs and i had the means to go help out!
"Only two things that money can't buy, that's true love and homegrown tomatoes."
- Guy Clark
"The man who has planted a garden feels he has done something for the good of the world."
- Charles Dudley Warner |
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KD Earthwork
True Blue Farmgirl
210 Posts
Katie
Gualala
Calif.
USA
210 Posts |
Posted - Sep 07 2009 : 8:31:18 PM
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Hi, We live off the grid and right now I'm running on battery power, we have a satellite for high speed internet,had dial-up before that. We have the kitchen lights on, the outside lights on ( my husband is going up to put chickens to bed),living room lights on study lights on. Life can be just as modern off the grid.Except for being very aware of how sunny it was today and do we need to have generator on for a half and hour or so to top off batteries,not alot of electric appliances, we unplug most everything(or turn off power strips) at night.We have a propane frig., stove,freezer and on demand hot water heater.We love this life and mostly growing most our food. The rest we try to buy local. I figured it was the only way to live on a fixed income.
In terms of "housewiving" off the grid.You do laundry when it's sunny. We try to hang out all our clothes, when it's cold and rainy we dry them indoors on drying racks, I try to do a load a day, that's what fit's on our one rack and if put on at night near the wood stove drys by about noon the next day.Vacuum on sunny days. When the sun is on the panels you can use machinery,lot's of it,but we do have two inverters,I believe this helps.Basically the panels produce more energy than the batteries can store and this abundance can be used. I found the least energy on short days.The cold affects the ability for the batteries to store well too.
Right now my husband is home and "retired",for awhile till economy picks up,he takes care of our three year old and drives some for our 14yr old.Well he doesn't really like to clean or cook or help w/ veggie garden or clean up after animals. It needs "both" people to run a homestead like this.
Good luck, let me know if there are more questions Katie |
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paradiseplantation
True Blue Farmgirl
1277 Posts
julie
social springs community
Louisiana
USA
1277 Posts |
Posted - Sep 08 2009 : 05:40:38 AM
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Hi, Mary. We don't live off the grid, but I'll be following this post, as it's really a big interest to me. I'd love to live off the gride eventually! Katie, thanks for all the great info. I'll be storing that for my fyi binder!
from the hearts of paradise... |
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Brenda Kay Groth
True Blue Farmgirl
100 Posts
Brenda
Manton
MIch
USA
100 Posts |
Posted - Sep 24 2009 : 07:24:33 AM
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www.permies.com forums
bloom where you are planted |
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knittingmomma
True Blue Farmgirl
106 Posts
Tonya
Vermont
106 Posts |
Posted - Sep 24 2009 : 07:57:30 AM
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We lived off grid for over two years with six children and very little off grid electric devices (no solar or battery storage, etc.). We learned to live with very little need for anything electric and to conserve.
I washed the laundry by hand in a tub and learned a method to avoid having to wring the laundry. We used oil lanterns for light, a block of ice in the freezer part of a refrigerator for refrigeration (we didn't use the bottom part), a small generator to occasionally watch a movie and check orders online at the same time, a large generator to fill up water reserves every other day.
We heated our water on the woodstove and cooked on the woodstove.
It was a wonderful two years, but not without times of tears and much tiredness.
We recently bought a rustic cottage that came with electric, but we are still living very simply and learning to conserve when temptation to not is right in front of you.
I started a handwritten, copied quarterly newsletter to share the joys of homemaking, simply living, homesteading, and handcrafting. I just love receiving mail in the mailbox versus emails and wanted to keep the joy of writing and the postal service alive.
Blessings on you new home!
Warm wishes,
Tonya
http://plainandjoyfulliving.blogspot.com |
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Jeanna
True Blue Farmgirl
267 Posts
Jeanna
Franklin
NC
USA
267 Posts |
Posted - Sep 24 2009 : 1:34:37 PM
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You might enjoy the blog http://eclecticculturefarm.blogspot.com/. They have been off grid for a year or so. She is really nice and I am sure she would be glad to talk to you about it.
Jeanna
Farmgirl Sister #41
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.
Henry David Thoreau |
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Diane B Carter
True Blue Farmgirl
1270 Posts
Diane
Blasdell
N.Y.
USA
1270 Posts |
Posted - Sep 24 2009 : 2:42:16 PM
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I have a family friend who moved to the great north western terriors when she got married. Her husband & her are missionarys. Last I heard Louise moved to Yellowknife. She came home a few times and the stories she had and movies were great. What a wonderful place to live if you don't mind the cold. I never even heard the term off the grid. So I guess I've always been lucky and live on the grid.
Hope all your days are Sunnydays.
dianebcarterhotmailcom.blogspot.com |
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idcityrose
True Blue Farmgirl
202 Posts
Rose
Idaho City
Idaho
USA
202 Posts |
Posted - Sep 25 2009 : 08:54:06 AM
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I have some friends who are retired military, lived in Europe, could afford to live anywhere they wanted to and they moved 10 miles out of Idaho City. No electricity, no phone but their home is more comfortable than mine.
They have propane lights, recently converted an electric tankless hot water heater into a propane one. She sews, has a serger and makes most of his shirts in the winter and he has the most incredible collection of tools anyone has ever collected. While many of the tools are hand powered, including an old drill press (he has 2), he also has a full shop of power tools. He restores all the old tools, they have a small garden each year, harvest wood from their 30 acres for heating, snowmobile out in the winter when they can't drive out, although this year he got a snowblade for one of their vehicles so they might be able to get out by their road.
I have been up to their house many times for dinner and a movie. So while they don't have the bills, the do have all the comforts of home, and then some. They buy a lot from Lehmans, which is a totally non-electric catalog.
I just love these people dearly, they are the nicest people on earth, even provided me wood one year from their property as I was having a complete hip replacement and couldn't afford my firewood that year.
They make me wish I had someone in my life to build that kind of life with, but I will probably never meet that someone since all I do is work and work some more.
Also, the wife is one of our Farmgirls too. It can be done.
Mother Earth (which I have subscribed to from day 1, and still have all the old issues + the new ones, has tons of info for living off the grid and living off the land. You can buy a CD with all their old issues on it for around $60 but it has everthing you could need to know about what you hope to do.
The Best of Luck, I really hope it works out for you. Take a leap of faith, and God Bless!!
Some people look for happiness, others create it!
We are never alone in the forest of Sisters! We "Mountain Farmgirls" are outstanding in our field! |
Edited by - idcityrose on Sep 25 2009 08:57:13 AM |
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MeadowCrone
True Blue Farmgirl
220 Posts
Bernadine
Island Park and Salem
ID
USA
220 Posts |
Posted - Oct 13 2009 : 08:39:03 AM
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This is my goal. Good for you. Go for it!
Gratefully living on the "fat of the land". |
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A Farm of My Own: Living off the grid- for women |
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Living off the grid- for women
