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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
Off-Grid Power
Electricity is the kingpin in modern homes. Without it, many essential systems can't function. Learn how to make your own power with solar, micro hydro, and other sources.
Growing Food
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.
Storing Food
Learn to preserve and store your own food with off grid kitchen tips, recipes, and info about canning, dehydrating, and other food preservation related topics in this section.
Water
Most water systems are completely dependent on the power company. Learn how to make yours as independent as possible so your family has a reliable source of water.
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
Review of Shurflo 9300 Submersible Water Pump
My Personal Experience Even before I moved into my current temporary home, one of the early issues encountered was water. The submersible pump was quite undersized and could hardly pump water to the surface, let alone pressurize the water system. So I needed to make...
How To Plant Comfrey... And What NOT To Do!
A few years ago I planted comfrey in one of my flower gardens. Comfrey has a lot of wonderful medicinal properties, so I thought it'd be good to have on hand. I had heard that this herb grows profusely, and sorry to say I’ve had to learn my lesson the hard way!...
Our 'Do It Yourself' Solar Dehydrator
.This year we had some friends give us several boxes of very ripe black cherries--my very favorite berry! Problem was that they were already starting to go bad and we had to do something with them QUICK. Thinking through my options I decided that dried cherries would...
Fine Tuning Battery Charge Settings
This last spring, we were away from home for a few months on a seminar trip. In preparation for the trip, I pondered how best to prepare my battery for such a long period away from my watchful eye. There were two main concerns I had about leaving it home...
Ladybug Warfare in the Orchard!
My husband Craig always keeps a close eye on our orchard. This spring he noticed quite a few ants crawling around on two of our cherry trees. There was a tiny bug that the ants seemed very interested in. We quickly discovered that ants have another occupation other...
Hot Water for FREE - from the Wood Cook Stove!
One of the most multi-purpose tools on the homestead is a wood cook stove. Ours not only cooks the food and keeps the house toasty warm; it also heats our hot water. The two main components, aside from the wood cook stove, are a water coil (#6 & #7 on the...