Our off grid quest is one that we are hoping will help promote a healthier lifestyle for all of us. Knowing where your food comes from, being responsible for your land and your food, makes you appreciate it all the more. We are interested in food forests, permaculture, and using animals to help on the farm, by doing rotational grazing. We want to live a more substaible life, where we can depend on our hard work and the land to produce what we eat. If you want a good example of what we want our farm to be like, watch the show The Biggest Little Farm. We want a smaller version than that, and we do not want sheep, we prefer cows, and of course there will be other differences as well, but the idea of living in harmony with the land is one that brings much excitement.
We have been asked several questions so we will try to answer as many as we can.
1)WHAT does it mean to go Off-Grid?
Being off-grid means that you are not connected to city/town utilities. This means no city water, or electricity, gas, etc. We have water catchment for water usage and one day we may have a well but that is for a future time. We will use solar and a back up generator for electric.
2) WHY do we want to go off-grid?
We have been asked several questions so we will try to answer as many as we can.
1)WHAT does it mean to go Off-Grid?
Being off-grid means that you are not connected to city/town utilities. This means no city water, or electricity, gas, etc. We have water catchment for water usage and one day we may have a well but that is for a future time. We will use solar and a back up generator for electric.
2) WHY do we want to go off-grid?
This is a long time dream of mine. Growing up some of my favorite shows were the Mountain Family Robinson and other shows like that. After visiting my great uncle's farm I fell in love with cows and always dreamed of having my own. At the age of 21 I visited an Amish farm and fell in love with the way they lived. I dreamed of being able to live like that one day. Then I discovered an amazing documentary about a man named Dick Proenneke who lived off grid. He went off and started his own little place up in the Alaskan wilderness when he was around 50. I think I have watched it at least 50 times and never get bored of watching it. I dreamed one day I would be able to have my own piece of land in the wilderness complete with a homestead and in the summer of 2022 that became a reality.
Our desire to go off-grid has a lot to do with being tired of throwing our money down the drain. We were currently connected to everything. We paid for our electric, we paid for water, sewer, garbage, and recycling. These are all things that not too long ago people provided for themselves. In addition we wanted enough land that we could grow and harvest our own food. We put so many things in our bodies that are processed. Where we use to live we had a small garden at our house but it was not even close to large enough to feed our family. Another reason we wanted to move is because we want to buy a large enough piece of land that our children who will always be living at home can have their own space on our property if they want to.
3) WHAT will we do for plumbing, electric, heat, garbage, etc if we are off-grid.
Plumbing - we are planning on buying land and then using rainwater catchment and maybe one day we will have well water. We plan on using a composting toilet and setting up a humanure system
Electric- we will be using solar for anything we need powered. For a backup we will use a generator.
Heat - we have a wood burning stove in our home that keeps us nice and toasty warm
4) WHERE did you move?
Southern Missouri
5) WHY Missouri
One of the reasons we like Missouri is the growing season. We also have extended family in Missouri. We also like their homeschooling laws, and Missouri is a good state for people who want to live off-grid. The cost of land is also another factor. Where we use to live it would be very expensive to buy the amount of land we want. We want to do this all debt free so cost is a big factor.
6) HOW were you able to move? With all the horrible thing covid brought, one thing it did that was good was made my husband a remote worker. He is now able to work from home no matter where we are.
7) Can you tell us more about your family?
We are a large family, our oldest daughter is 32 and our youngest daughter is 10. We currently have five children still living at home. All five of our kids at home have special needs.
8) WHY have you decided to make a blog about your journey ?
Mostly so we have a diary like of our lives for ourselves, family, friends, and anyone else who might be interested in this way of life. We CAN do this, our kids can do this, and we want to offer encouragement for others who have considered this kind of journey as well.
9) What are your beliefs?
We believe in God and do our best to learn and grow in His love daily.
Plumbing - we are planning on buying land and then using rainwater catchment and maybe one day we will have well water. We plan on using a composting toilet and setting up a humanure system
Electric- we will be using solar for anything we need powered. For a backup we will use a generator.
Heat - we have a wood burning stove in our home that keeps us nice and toasty warm
4) WHERE did you move?
Southern Missouri
5) WHY Missouri
One of the reasons we like Missouri is the growing season. We also have extended family in Missouri. We also like their homeschooling laws, and Missouri is a good state for people who want to live off-grid. The cost of land is also another factor. Where we use to live it would be very expensive to buy the amount of land we want. We want to do this all debt free so cost is a big factor.
6) HOW were you able to move? With all the horrible thing covid brought, one thing it did that was good was made my husband a remote worker. He is now able to work from home no matter where we are.
7) Can you tell us more about your family?
We are a large family, our oldest daughter is 32 and our youngest daughter is 10. We currently have five children still living at home. All five of our kids at home have special needs.
8) WHY have you decided to make a blog about your journey ?
Mostly so we have a diary like of our lives for ourselves, family, friends, and anyone else who might be interested in this way of life. We CAN do this, our kids can do this, and we want to offer encouragement for others who have considered this kind of journey as well.
9) What are your beliefs?
We believe in God and do our best to learn and grow in His love daily.
10) How will your children learn? We homeschool our children. Our children need 1:1 to learn and learn best in a stress free environment. They get to make friends in our homeschool group as well as our church. One of our kids has learning disabilities as well as adhd. At school she would have to be put on meds to be able to sit still long enough to do her lessons. By homeschooling she does not have to take meds for adhd and can just take more frequent breaks and run off the energy then come back more focused.
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