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Just wondering if anyone on here lives off the grid (to any degree.)
Posted by Bricore • 7/18/07 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: off the grid
Hello!
I was just wondering if any of you live off the grid at all (I don't mean 100% but that's fine too.)
My husband and I have been talking about it and are working toward it (SLOWLY.. lots of up front cost..) I'd love to find others who have done this or are in the works of doing it and to talk with them more (I have lots to learn..lol..)
Dora Renee' Wilkerson
www.bricoreandfamily.blogspot.com/
User Comments
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I don't, but am trying to reduce the use and am frugal by nature..boy you have some cool useful and interesting content -
I hope to get more on my site about things like this as soon as I know what works and what doesn't (it's just a big investment and takes TONS of time because right now most everything we do we are doing by just playing around and testing this or that out, boy you make a lot of mistakes doing it this way too.)
There are a few sites that I have found that has information on it but for some reason they tend to write in a way that it makes it hard to understand. Maybe not for someone already into it but someone who doesn't have a clue (like myself..lol) reads it and thinks they are reading something in another language. lol..
For me I want to post about how to do these things so anyone can do them. If, I can't explain it well enough I want to do more mini movies to show it (I am one of those people who learn by seeing better then reading. I am a hands on type of gal. I know there are lots of people out here that are like me so I want to tape the things we do to help show others.)
So, right now I have joined every group I can find on this topic and I am reading what I can on it. I have a few post saved in draft form to release as soon as I get a few more things figured out I'll post (I am really excited about it.) If, it helps only ONE person out then cool.. I have done something..
The cool thing is some of my friends are Amish so I hope to share some of the stuff I have been learning from them in my site also.. We will see tho..
For now I just sit back and try to learn what I can so some day I can post more about this topic (and live it more..lol..)
Right now my post are hit and miss on stuff like this. One day you'll see like a how to.. The next monster trucks.. Who knows what the next day brings but I do want to get back to more of the homestead/off the grid type of stuff (like my soap making, cheese making, cloths making post.. Hopefully I'll be able to do the solar power and wind power post early next spring. It all depends on how much time and money we put together to do this between now and then.)
Dora Renee' Wilkerson
www.bricoreandfamily.blogspot.com/ -
Helping others to understand and do on their own is a worthy purpose...I get food from the local Amish through my co-op..I have confidence that it is wholesome and good tasting. I have a great memory of going to a museum show of quilts by Amish as well as other Mennonite and historic peace churches...my favorites were the ones that changed pattern if you stared at them long enough!
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Some of the Amish make great quilts. My mother has one that her mother got some where. It looks as good as the ones I make (ok, it looks better then mine but it's funny because that quilt is really old and mine aren't so old. I use a machine to make mine too. I believe hers was hand done.)
Dora Renee' Wilkerson
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Do you mean off the electric grid? Or disconnected from computers, government records, and so on? I'll click later to see what your blog is about, but your question confuses me, especially when delivered in this medium.-
Good observation! It is possible to generate your own power and run off of batteries - my laptop runs on batteries powered by crank.( ;-) face - just in case there is someone that believes me)...but still what about transmission?
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that was my question too - I immediately thought of the kid in the Terminator series, especially T3, where there was no trace of him in any "system" so that the future Terminators couldn't track him down easily. So I assumed this question referred to not having credit cards, perhaps not even having a bank account, using cash as much as possible even for purchases of houses and cars, perhaps trying to have no presence within governmental systems except for a Social Security number ... so how far off am I, Dora? :-) -
I love having a computer. For us it stays. Its amazing the things you can learn now days because of them.
I just want to switch more of my power over from my electric company to my own (now of course I have to pay upfront cost to the companies I buy the equipment from and whatever needs to be repaired after that but I want to start doing some of these ourselves.)
I also want to post about what we do and how we do it. I am going to tape everything being put in also.
Dora Renee' Wilkerson
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I was just wondering if others may have done if anyone has done anything at all?.
I have talked with some people that have gone pretty far and are VERY smart about not giving up much anything to get that way too (well upfront cost) It's pretty cool really (right now my family and I are just learning what we can do and trying to figure out whats best for us.)
I don't want to haul water or burn my own...well you know what..lol.. We do use a well that I keep treated but for now we have electric pumps on them (all that is about to change over for us tho. We have some solar panels and are looking into switching over.)
My family and I are going more with just solar power, wind power (well if money lends us to going that way here soon...prices have dropped so it's looking maybe spring) and working on a good portion of our own foods.
My husband still has to work outside of our home. I work from at home so I care for the animals (dairy goats, angora rabbits, horses, chickens-next week and the others..)
We still drive a big truck..lol. but that's so we can move our horses, hay, and other things that need be. My husband doesn't ride the horses to work..lol.. We have changed our truck over with a chip to save on fuel (at least that is how he sold me on that...lol...)
For us it's not a BIG change but it's a change.
I make my own butter, ice cream, soaps, sew what needs to be done, make my own ropes/rugs, make cheeses, garden more and more, things like that.. We still have accounts and we still use computers, tv's, and things like that..
I love fast cars and fast horses..lol..
I was just wondering if anyone on here has done anything along these lines.
Dora Renee' Wilkerson -
Well, we have a farm share and get fresh produce and other organic, mainly biodynamic food. Get raw milk too. When the weather is cooler I'll make my own bread again, but its been too hot for that lately.
I live in a city in a one-bedroom apartment, so there are limits to what is possible, but fewer limits than one might assume. One thing we can do that is more difficult in the country: we do not have a car anymore.-
That's great that you don't have a car now. We could never do that here. The neartest thing to us is Krogers and that's over 5 miles (not sure just how far but that's the nearest thing to us..lol..)
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I love homemade bread. It's a great smell to have in your house cooking all day too.
Dora Renee' Wilkerson -
I wish I didn't need a car. I live in the middle of a medium-sized city, and I can bike or ride the bus most everywhere in town. But I work 40 miles away. I commute from the city to the boonies!
Sadly, this is the nature of my job and the field I want to go into, so I can't give up my car any time soon. My car gets good mileage, but I'd like to drive less. So much time wasted getting from home to work and back every day.
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Not me, but I have to say that it interests me. I think our world will change dramatically in our lifetimes - particularly with respect to energy consumption. For too long we've lived with a bountiful supply of fossil fuels. As China and India come up to full speed, demand and prices will skyrocket. Combine that with the fact that there has really not been a large discovery of the major one (oil) in a long time, and I think we are all in for a rude awakening at some point.
However, there's many out there that think mankind does not yet have a technology capable of replacing the sheer amount of energy provided by fossil fuels. That said, I applaud your efforts and am interested in knowing the progress you make. It'll be on your blog - I know
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That's cool stoneman - we are downsizing to a one car family. We're city dwellers too, and two cars just seems a bit excessive.
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This wouldnt happen to be 'off the grid' as described in a book called The Traveller by John Twelve Hawks would it?
I have just found out the second book in the trilogy is out because of this thread YAY!!! -
I have never read that book but now I'll have to.. Thanks for sharing that information.
I am thinking more like Amish but with cars, insurence, ss numbers, and power (but more homemade power such has solar and wind.)
I have some Amish friends and they are in the Old group. They don't use solar power (which I believe one or even the other two groups do. I can't say for sure because I honestly only deal with the group that lives near me.)
For food right now we only have the goats (dairy goats), chickens, and rabbits (ok, we don't eat the rabbits. I spin the wool..) We also garden more and more each year. I still buy from the stores but less and less each year (and every time I hear of something like the chili thing going on right now it makes me want to do more that year..)
This year was one of our baby steps I guess you could say. We jumped into the diary goats (the first thing I had to do is learn how to milk the darn things..lol) I learned to make cottage cheese, butter, ice cream, fugde (yes, I know who needs that to live but it's really good..lol), and now I am working on hard cheeses.
Next Spring we have plans to take the next step and that's to get dicounted from AEP. We have solar pannels now but we still have to buy the batteries. We are also looking into the wind power for another source. Right now it's a read up and learn on it type of deal before we hit our pockets and then say, "Oh, we should have done it this way intstead of the way we did it.." kind of thing.
That's why I have been looking for others that have already done this. I know they are out here somewhere..lol.. Just hard as heck to find anyone. Lots of people are interested in it but it's been very hard to find others that do it.
Dora Renee' Wilkerson -
My family did when I was a child, and it's something I'd like to go back to, though not in the roughing-it way we did it. (We had no running water, no electricity, no phone, and grew most of our own food, and my dad was self-employed. Except for my mom working for the county and my siblings and me attending school, we were about as self-sufficient as you can get.)
I think, y'know, solar power and rarely using a car would be good enough for me. I've come to like modern conveniences. :-) Though I do need somewhere to garden for it to feel like home.-
I hear you. I like having my computer and my embroidery machine. So, I don't want to give everything up BUT at the same time I don't like having to depend on the outside for so much stuff..
It's going to be a slow process for us but we have started it. So, we will see where it goes.
I love to garden also and each year I learn more and more. Next year all my seeds are coming from an Amish family (this year and the year before I bought mine from a store. Everything grew fine but the seeds from them do NOT reproduce. I could go more into that but I'd be writing a book (I am sure most of you know about "SOME" of the seeds here in the US already so I wont bore you.)I am going to post about it later on on my blog when I have lots of time. That way if anyone hasn't already heard about it they can.
I also want to put little clips like "how to clean fish." I know post like that aren't for everyone but some people may want to know. So, I will put that up after we get back from my trip.
Another thing is I want to share with others about solar ovens. You can find information all over about them but I am going to take the time to build one and have my husband tape it as I am doing it (it's not the biggest deal in the world but it's just one more thing I want to share with others..You never know when your oven will go out..lol.. Ok, I know not too many people are about that either but I do!)
Dora Renee' Wilkerson -
I'm impressed bornliar.
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Bricore, you mean they're hybrid seeds, or genetically engineered?
I'm trying to use only open-pollinated seeds in my teeny community garden plot. I think the only hybrids I have at the moment are the onions.
Check out www.rareseeds.com -- they've got a whole catalog of nothing but open-pollinated vegetable seeds.
And solar ovens... well, kind of unnecessary here. You can just put your food on your dashboard and park the car in the sun! :-) -
We have plans to get off grid over the next few years.
First we have to finish the animal shelters and house repair... then we can save to invest in wind power and solar power.
At this point, it's about a 15 year payback on wind and 20 year on solar.
We're in "the middle of nowhere", but our place was connected to the electric grid and phone grid.
Internet is via satellite, and TV is Direct (again, a satellite).
Since our nearest town is 17 miles one way, we plan our shopping pretty carefully. We don't just run to the store on a whim.
One of us works in town 3 days a week, so that helps. She also drives the "Senior Citizen Bus" so that helps us with trips to the "big city" (St. George, UT) twice a month. Sure beats driving any of our vehicles.
While we do have a truck, an SUV, and a small car, we only drive when necessary... such as for two to work off the farm, leaving one vehicle for emergencies.
We're raising our own lamb and chickens this year, and will add a steer next year. Of course that will mean getting a larger freezer... lots of things to consider.
Our garden is just now getting established... not an easy thing in the middle of the desert. This year we've harvested broccoli and radishes, so far.
Discover just exactly how we're doing this at shari-thomas.blogspot.com
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