AmericanHomesteader...Life in the Desert totally Off-Grid!!

[AmericanHomesteader]

I am looking for more pictures we took, The drive way is cut in, the building is on a concrete slab and its a steel beam building, we have to insulate it and add our internal walls. We will be hauling water till we get a well drilled. We are expecting it to be hard as we get settled in. Atleast it will be a roof over our heads and nothing the bankers can take

I know with even the best laid out plans there is still problems we will face and have to deal with, but hey isn't that part of the adventure. Growing up on a farm in Indiana we didn't get inside plumbing till 1966 and had to hand pump water from our well, Even living in town now we still use freecycle and craigslist. We garden, compost and recycle now. The temperatures there are close to what we have in Georgia minus the humidity. Its at 5000 feet above sea level there.

Our closest neighbor is about 2 miles away, he is a rancher that was born and raised there and a has been very helpful when we been out to the property.

For power i will purchase four 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries from costco when we get there. We have a 450 watt wind turbine from gudcraft it has the electric brake to keep from over spinning in a storm. I have been building our solar panels and sealing them cells in eva. Each panel is 120.6 watts at 18 volts and 6.7 amp. I have enough to build a total of six panels. We have a 1000 watt inverter, and a solar and wind charge controller. We will be using led lighting inside the house. We also have a 6kw generator already there for running power tools, welder and water pump.

Water heating and water pressure in the home will be provided by the sun for hot water and a 55 gallon drum above the highest point for gravity feed water pressure. For our rainwater harvesting tank it will be 1000 gallon farm water tank that will be fed from the gutter. That will be used for gardening and watering the animals.

We will covert a small chest deep freezer to use as a refrigerator by adding a thermostat to it. From what i have read and researched seems to be very reliable way to have a very low power system to keep food. We will be using a solar oven for baking and as a slow cooker. We have our gas grill and camp stove for other cooking. DW wants a wood cook stove. We have plenty of Mesquite wood there also great for smoking meat yum. We have pressure cooker for canning meats, and veggies.

We have a total of 4 guns, two 9mm pistols and two mosin-nagant rifles for hunting. We have alot of Javelina out there and deer. We also have a years worth of food stocked to start out with also. Some things we are shipping out via media rate so we don't waste our precious space we need for the move. We also are taking our 2 dogs and 1 cat with us, they are family after all My DW has started building our first aid kit, she is a nursing assistant for wellstar in Cardiology.

We will post pictures as we work on and install our systems and hopefully run a daily blog of our life being SS and off grid. Our DD isn't happy about all this, she is 15 and thinks it is the end of the world lol. The DS cant wait haha

Any advice from anyone is welcomed, Only experience i have is from 10 years in the army and the farm as a kid.

 

[SSDreamin]

Would be very interested in following along/seeing pictures of how you built the solar panels. It is all Greek to me (I was wondering what you meant on your blog about 'tapping' the panels, for instance), but I would love to learn.

My family and I lived in a pole frame building, gradually expanded, for four years. It WAS cold and drafty (especially in Michigan during the winter!) but, once DH got done with it, it was warm and toasty Almost bought a steel frame building when we moved - the feeling of space is hard to beat, and the ability to loft those spaces makes for great use of height.

I wish I knew how to post links to things on here (I am very computer inept ), I have an article from Mother Earth News bookmarked for an outdoor stove/oven that you (or your DW) might be interested in. I would like one, so I can bake, can and cook in the summertime here. Might be invaluable in AZ!

Since your DD is a teenager, it isn't surprising that she thinks it's the end of the world Is there anything she has shown interest in? Maybe, if she can find something she enjoys doing, she'll be more willing to participate? At least you've given her plenty of time to adjust, so hopefully she'll come around!

Helpful neighbors are such a perk! I adore my neighbors here. I wish they'd move with us!

I think it is a wonderful thing your mother did for you and your sister. My father and stepmother did something similar for my stepbrother - gave him five acres, 3/4 wooded with a stream running through it (really beautiful) and helped him built a house on it.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

Welcome to the forum..btw...


Pictures!! Pictures!!...oh yeah...I think you mut wait till so many posts for pictures (?) I am a recent newby too. Don't quote me on anything...I very well could be wrong

 

[FarmerChick]

Where in Georgia? It is a shame people are losing their homes! I live near Charlotte and so far we are holding ok.

 

[nikki4612]

Wow. I've been to that part of Arizona. Nice. I'm totally impressed by people who start over and do it right. We were so intent on getting a place to live after Katrina, we didn't even think about making that sort of change. It would have been the best time since we were pretty unencumbered by jobs, things, etc. Instead we bought a nice house, but very traditional, in a small town. Now we're looking for country land and not having a lot of luck.

Please continue to send info I love what you're doing. Nikki

 

[moolie]

Sounds like huge changes ahead in your life!

 

[AmericanHomesteader]

Where in Georgia? It is a shame people are losing their homes! I live near Charlotte and so far we are holding ok.

Hi we are in Acworth, Georgia, our sub division is looking like a ghost town and its been going down hill with crime from empty house's, we cant wait to leave. Georgia is still at 10.1 percent unemployment but i know it is higher then that, they don't count the people that no longer have unemployment benefits. Georgia still ranks in the top 10 on foreclosures.

 

[AmericanHomesteader]

Just got back in from fixing the DW solar powered clothes dryer, she wasnt happy lol, after she got the wash hung out the clip broke on the umbrella style one we have and down it came with the clothes fixed it with a hose clamp seems good to go now, she is making us potatoe soup and toasted turkey sandwiches for supper, i'm starving!! other then that its been a great day also posted several things on craigslist as we down size for the move.

 

[AmericanHomesteader]

We...DH and myself...are finding that "going off grid" ....and being SS...is a continuous challenge in everything we thought we knew. It has been one slow step at a time....climbing up a mountain blindfolded with our hands tied behind our backs. So far...the house/land is paid in full. We have well water. Refused to hook up cable or satellite.
Reduce....reuse...and recycle. Catch rainwater for non potable uses. Got some chickens...for free. And are currently working with them to see if they lay eggs.....or sleep with noodles. I hang out laundry to dry...after I have washed and rinsed it with rainwater.
The problem is mainly going to be electricity. We need electricity. We have no insulation in most of the main house, but we still have to keep warm. Even with layering, it is colder that h*&^! in here. We have electric appliances..stove, fridge....etc...even though we got those used and way cheap. So...>>sigh<< ..we jut keep looking and hunting on the net ...to find information....supplies...etc.
Oh, we also have a few garden spots...but they are only somewhat productive right now.

Good for you having the house and land paid for that is great!!! We are moving off grid to our homestead out of necessity and its paid for, we cant afford to keep our home and i had to take a 15 percent pay cut to just keep my job so we are having to move no later then march. I know its going to be hard but atleast the family will be together and we wont be homeless. I'm a firm believer that all this happened for a reason and god will help me provide for my family.

 

[moxies_chickennuggets]

We...DH and myself...are finding that "going off grid" ....and being SS...is a continuous challenge in everything we thought we knew. It has been one slow step at a time....climbing up a mountain blindfolded with our hands tied behind our backs. So far...the house/land is paid in full. We have well water. Refused to hook up cable or satellite.
Reduce....reuse...and recycle. Catch rainwater for non potable uses. Got some chickens...for free. And are currently working with them to see if they lay eggs.....or sleep with noodles. I hang out laundry to dry...after I have washed and rinsed it with rainwater.
The problem is mainly going to be electricity. We need electricity. We have no insulation in most of the main house, but we still have to keep warm. Even with layering, it is colder that h*&^! in here. We have electric appliances..stove, fridge....etc...even though we got those used and way cheap. So...>>sigh<< ..we jut keep looking and hunting on the net ...to find information....supplies...etc.
Oh, we also have a few garden spots...but they are only somewhat productive right now.

Good for you having the house and land paid for that is great!!! We are moving off grid to our homestead out of necessity and its paid for, we cant afford to keep our home and i had to take a 15 percent pay cut to just keep my job so we are having to move no later then march. I know its going to be hard but atleast the family will be together and we wont be homeless. I'm a firm believer that all this happened for a reason and god will help me provide for my family.

Same here...necessity. Fiance/DH and I were both in 2 different locations, trying to relocate Midstate. Lay offs were going fast and furious. I got laid off for one. His job had dropped all bennies but the actual work. We found a house online in the area we wanted...that was a bank foreclosure. DH offered an obscene price...2/3 of what it was posted for. The Bank accepted. He paid cash...((it was waaaay low))...so it is all paid off. We are only living on his income..and work is spotty ...has been since 09. We are living as cheaply and conservatively as possible.