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The off-grid homesteading
Blog
Welcome to our blog!
Lessons learned on the journey toward independence
In our blog is a wealth of knowledge that we've accumulated over many years of off-grid living, as well as the lessons we've learned through trial and error. Our experience in the School of Hard Knocks has taught us valuable lessons that we are excited to share with you. In addition to our own expertise, we've also hand-selected a group of guest contributors who are experts in their respective fields. Their contributions provide even more valuable insights into homesteading, off-grid living, and emergency preparedness. We hope you enjoy learning from their knowledge and experience as much as we have!
Blog Categories
Power
This section covers how to make your own electricity off the grid using solar power, hydro power, batteries, inverters, charge controllers, and more.
Gardening
Learn to grow your own food with tips on starting a homestead garden, including vegetable gardens, fruit orchards, small fruits, composting, and more in this section.
Canning
Learn to grow and preserve your own food with tips on starting a homestead garden, composting, canning, dehydrating, and more in this section.
water
Choose the best water source, pump, and system components to secure life's most important necessity with tips from this section.
Safety
Prevention and preparation are key to ensuring safety, covering physical security, home fire protection, wildland fire preparedness, and more in this section.
Communication
Communications is an often overlooked part of preparedness and homesteading. Learn how to stay in touch while living in a remote location as well as during emergencies.
most recent posts
Looking for Land - Part 3: Where To Move To?
Our previous installments of this series (Part 1 & Part 2) have been looking at specific things to look for in land or a homestead, but we've also been getting questions about "where?" What is the "best" location? If I determine that I need to move, where...
The Secret To Growing Corn In Northern Climates
Anybody love sweet corn? All hands go up in our family!!! But we live in a colder climate and often there’s just not time in one growing season for the corn to develop and ripen to harvest. I remember one time soon after we moved to the area, I was...
Uncover the perfect solar system for you: off-grid or grid-tied?
Solar power has become quite popular lately, coming in two main varieties: Grid-tie and off-grid. Which one is right for you? I've been living off the power grid for almost 25 years and am here to walk you through this important topic. By the end of this post, you'll...
My Beautiful Garden: How It Transforms From Snow To Strawberries
It seems like it takes forever for the winter snow to melt from our garden. As I look at the snow-covered plot in the early spring, it almost feels like our garden is a blank canvas, waiting patiently for the artist to come, pick up a brush, and start adding splashes...
Fungus Gnats - This Stops Them
Fungus gnats seem harmless enough. That is until your garden starts are thoroughly infested. The carnage begins to look like a gardener’s version of a battlefield. This spring, we experienced this worst-case scenario. Seedlings imploded overnight...
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Fingerling potatoes are one of our family's favorite varieties of potatoes to grow in our garden. They are long and skinny, but bursting with flavor, unlike many other potatoes. These are more sophisticated lunch or dinner potatoes and they make a great side dish....