luvinlife offthegrid
Lovin' The Homestead
- Joined
- Jun 2, 2011
- Messages
- 278
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 64
Apparently I do cause there's a boatload of questions, which I won't answer. 
I found this forum via BYC cause I just got chickens this spring. I got 16 chicks. 5 Dominiques, 7 Partridge Rocks, and 4 rose comb brown leghorns. I ended up with 1 PR Roo. If he's nice he can stick around. Otherwise he will be chicken and biscuits. Maybe dumplings, depends on what I'm craving on that day. When my son is older I'd like to get some meat birds. I have gardened and canned my whole life, helping my mom and grandma with their harvests and canning. I still make lots of applesauce every year, and help with other people's canning.
My husband and I (and now 5 yr old son and 16 chickens!) have lived off the grid since 1998. We live on 8.5 acres in the middle of 300 undeveloped acres in the middle of the woods, and I LOVE IT.
We bought an old seasonal camp from my mother-in-law, it's the house my husband grew up in. When we moved in, there was a bucket to drop down the well for water, and propane lights.
We have a wood cookstove- a Detroit Stoveworks Jewel range. (Not hooked up currently- had to tear down old chimney.) I also have a propane stove.
The driveway is 7/10 of a mile long, which is challenging in the northern ny "mud season". Have to haul laundry (well's too shallow for a washer) and groceries in on the HUV, but I walk it most of the time. Other than mud season, I drive my camry in and out. I get strange looks 'cause my camry has a trailer hitch so the hubby can pack the atv on road trips to the in-law's. Don't all camry's have trailer hitches?
We have PV solar and batteries, with a backup generator. (autostart propane and a gasoline one on the side just in case). I forgot how many watts of solar we have, we had 1650 but then we added more so we now have more than double. I can't remember which batteries we currently have. I don't think it much matters, as long you know they are lead acid currently. We have an outdoor wood boiler (heatmor) that heats the house, the cabin, and the office/old work shed.
It was a rugged camp when we first started, and now we live quite cushy. The driveway used to be an old horse and buggy track that was nearly impassable much fo the year, now we have lots of drainage ditches and culverts, which have shortened the mud season considerably. I sometimes miss the gas lights, though, maybe we'll put a few in sometime in the future. And I can't wait to rebuild the chimneys so I can bake bread in the wood stove again. It's been 6 years... *snifffle*
We are remodeling this old place without borrowing money from the bank, so it's taking a while. We do a bit every year. We had to redo the foundation, siding, put up insulation and drywall, redo the roof, replace all the windows, add plumbing and wiring, etc etc etc... Still don't have trim/molding up inside the house though. *sigh* It's coming eventually. We are almost done! Only about 5 years left to go, lol.
I'm always amazed when people ask me, "when are you getting real power?" uh...
I mean, really?! I have a microwave and an electric fridge. We have an LED tv. (But no cable- THAT really freaks people out! 
) I have a hairdryer for the frozen upstate NY winter mornings.
More tidbits about me...
I love having my closest neighbor nearly a mile away!
The woods are my church.
I LOVE HOCKEY!
I would rather mow the lawn and split firewood than do the dishes.
I am 38 years old.
I love celtic music. Biring on the bagpipes!
Looking forward to meeting some more like-minded people.
Will post a photo of the panels after 10th post.
I found this forum via BYC cause I just got chickens this spring. I got 16 chicks. 5 Dominiques, 7 Partridge Rocks, and 4 rose comb brown leghorns. I ended up with 1 PR Roo. If he's nice he can stick around. Otherwise he will be chicken and biscuits. Maybe dumplings, depends on what I'm craving on that day. When my son is older I'd like to get some meat birds. I have gardened and canned my whole life, helping my mom and grandma with their harvests and canning. I still make lots of applesauce every year, and help with other people's canning.
My husband and I (and now 5 yr old son and 16 chickens!) have lived off the grid since 1998. We live on 8.5 acres in the middle of 300 undeveloped acres in the middle of the woods, and I LOVE IT.
We bought an old seasonal camp from my mother-in-law, it's the house my husband grew up in. When we moved in, there was a bucket to drop down the well for water, and propane lights.
We have a wood cookstove- a Detroit Stoveworks Jewel range. (Not hooked up currently- had to tear down old chimney.) I also have a propane stove.
The driveway is 7/10 of a mile long, which is challenging in the northern ny "mud season". Have to haul laundry (well's too shallow for a washer) and groceries in on the HUV, but I walk it most of the time. Other than mud season, I drive my camry in and out. I get strange looks 'cause my camry has a trailer hitch so the hubby can pack the atv on road trips to the in-law's. Don't all camry's have trailer hitches?
We have PV solar and batteries, with a backup generator. (autostart propane and a gasoline one on the side just in case). I forgot how many watts of solar we have, we had 1650 but then we added more so we now have more than double. I can't remember which batteries we currently have. I don't think it much matters, as long you know they are lead acid currently. We have an outdoor wood boiler (heatmor) that heats the house, the cabin, and the office/old work shed.
It was a rugged camp when we first started, and now we live quite cushy. The driveway used to be an old horse and buggy track that was nearly impassable much fo the year, now we have lots of drainage ditches and culverts, which have shortened the mud season considerably. I sometimes miss the gas lights, though, maybe we'll put a few in sometime in the future. And I can't wait to rebuild the chimneys so I can bake bread in the wood stove again. It's been 6 years... *snifffle*
We are remodeling this old place without borrowing money from the bank, so it's taking a while. We do a bit every year. We had to redo the foundation, siding, put up insulation and drywall, redo the roof, replace all the windows, add plumbing and wiring, etc etc etc... Still don't have trim/molding up inside the house though. *sigh* It's coming eventually. We are almost done! Only about 5 years left to go, lol.
I'm always amazed when people ask me, "when are you getting real power?" uh...
I mean, really?! I have a microwave and an electric fridge. We have an LED tv. (But no cable- THAT really freaks people out! ) I have a hairdryer for the frozen upstate NY winter mornings.More tidbits about me...
I love having my closest neighbor nearly a mile away!
The woods are my church.
I LOVE HOCKEY!
I would rather mow the lawn and split firewood than do the dishes.
I am 38 years old.
I love celtic music. Biring on the bagpipes!
Looking forward to meeting some more like-minded people.
Will post a photo of the panels after 10th post.
