So many people have been asking about the farm happenings I have started this blog. Being on a farm is fun because you get the peace and quiet, you have room to roam... and no charge for parking. The snow is gone for the moment, chickens are digging in the flower bed, I try and get the dog to chase them out but he just wants to play with his ball.
The greenhouse did the best this winter - the tomatoe plants are 8 foot high with 8 varieties of the weirdest heirloom tomatoes. Next time will grow a few more normal ones.
Coming back from a trip in Jamaica I have some 20 fancy hibiscus flower stems which I think I can get to root and grow. I love to see things prosper and grow.
How Simplicity Prepares You For The Harder Times
11 hours ago
Dear Justin and Tina,
ReplyDeleteWell..here goes,
A couple years ago, being stressed out by the economy and this wretched government, not to mention the IRS constantly spamming our mailbox, my husband comes home with these crazy ideas of buying some acres and living-off grid! My first notion was that he's gone crazy and with having a 6 yr old daughter it probably wouldn't be the best idea he's ever had. And he's had a lot of them..lol. For the past few years I have been in denial about us moving, but against my will, my husband has been searching for cheap properties here in california, wich is NON-EXISTANT, also he's been looking in Nevada, oregon, south dakota and florida. I think most of these states are easy on the taxes.
Anyway, He discussed many ideas with me about solar power toilets, kitchens, preserving foods, building our own house collecting water and wind turbines.
He's voluntarily tore down old redwood barns so we could have the wood and the beams for our "off grid living house". So I must admit after a few years of this..Hey, i'm pretty excited, still aprehensive about our, now 8 yr old, daughter and how she will cope with maybe not having friends or being a loner child..I don't know.
Sooo Today my husband wakes up and tells me that he's been talking a deal with this guy in northern, CA. His name is Mark. He moved a trailer on some acres and it all runs off of military generators. A creak runs through the back of the property and beside it he built a yoga house, wich sounds nice. And we will probably moving onto his property to be the caretakers of it. Mowing and gardening, keeping the deer and animals away from the fruit trees and crops and taking care of and maintenacing the property(he lives in CO.) In a nutshell he met a girl and wanted to move her off grid and built her a yoga house and made sure she had a fresh garden and everything she needed but still she wasn't happy and left him. Soo here's where we come in.
My husband tells me, We need an instant hot water heater and starts writing down a list of things that we will need(i'm still very supportive of my husband). Naturally the first place I always go is Ebay. I'm so glad that I found you're listing AND you're website! I was taken through a mix of emotions from one year to the next and I'm so glad that you shared your successfull stories with everyone else. Finding and reading your accounts has helped me to strengthen faith in my husband and know that we can do it. While we live in Northern california, we will continue to look for our own property in mostly Nevada. I have discovered that Nevada is mostly desert and will more than likely have a list of it's own off grid living problems. I know I love to garden flowers and vegetables, was raised on a ranch, and will probably be needing those water crystals for the soil in nevada. It's mostly sandy there.
Well, I just wanted to thank you for building your site and giving me hope, strengthening me. I'm starting to think that maybe what my daughter needs are someplace else, when I find it I'll know it. I've learned that if one person can live a better more peaceful life than we can too. My family thinks we're all crazy now! But who knows, maybe i'll have my own site to write in when i'm sitting on my swing with my daughter next to a beautiful creek happy and peacefull. I know we have our work cutt out for us but we can do it. My husband seems to be a jack of all trades(I joke with him that i'm the queen of all hearts,lol). Right now we don't have a bathtub and I hadn't enjoyed a bath in many years. So one day he comes home with a metal oval shaped water trouph. He fill it with water from the hose in the backyard and heated lava rocks in the BBQ pit and put them into the water, it was a long process..but in the end a great bath! lol..I don't have a success story yet but maybe soon I will.
Anyway, i'm rambling on..AND i'm so glad that you found Tina! You guys look like the perfect couple!
Sincerely, Amanda , Frank and Ayla
Greetings Amanda,
ReplyDeleteIt does take some courage to get out of boring security and live a grand life of your fondest dreams. There will be disappointments and calamities as you go, but you will get closer every day. Eventually you will get there and it will be so worth it. It’s wonderful getting up in the morning to watch the sunrise and not have to be anywhere or rush off to anywhere.
Find some land with easy good water and build your own small place. Keep it simple, need less, use less.
We have $5 composting toilets that work just fine using/wasting no water. We had some Amish folks build our 2 story house in 2 days for $12,000 (You don’t have to spend $650,000 for a house!) 2 years ago. (We finished out the inside - we were slow!). On sunny days we cook with a low cost solar oven for free. Most of the day time we are running 150 watts of electricity. At night zero.
Our tankless hot water heaters are so geat (www.cozyhotwater.com)- they use almost no energy for all the hot water you want. Get low flow-high pressure showers ends. Collect rain water in big black (no algae) water tanks. A shower/tub in a greenhouse surround by flowers is fun here. Get and stay debt free.
Dare to create your dream life.
Justin and Tina