Getting off the grid

I have no idea why people are so fixated on cows why not sheep and goats thaey tend to need a bit less space and thier milk to me is better then most cow milk. Also shear the sheep And buy a loom take a couple classes and now your 100% self sufficant.

No, you are right there....I didn't mean to exclude those guys. There are now mini cows which would work out a bit better for smaller homesteads, although I would think ending up as pets might be the result.

yes goats and sheep are good to mention. though it does remind me of a boiled goat meal I had in Tanzania that I'd rather not remember ....though there was GR8T deep fired whole fish that was totally awesome.

Yea and those mini-herefords and other breeds ..... they really are very pet like. In my case I would be inclined to be partial to nature's provisions, rabbits, grouse, easy to catch/stone, fish, , cattail bulbs .... there is a lot that can be harvested without "agriculturally creating your breadbasket". lard, flour, are fundamental essentials in my view .... from there .... there become choices and subsequent consequences to time and effort.

CrackerJax said:

No, you are right there....I didn't mean to exclude those guys. There are now mini cows which would work out a bit better for smaller homesteads, although I would think ending up as pets might be the result.

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yea any positive step is a good one even if it means recycling trash from your kitchen to make compost. iam not a farmed human iam a human farmer

Going off the grid would indicate that we all currently live "on the grid" which means we are living under the government system of control. I admit it would be very difficult at times but the difficulties would result from our own individual choices or lack thereof. Its difficult for the auto workers who slaved away for years selling their soul and life energy piece by piece. In the end they are given a pat on the back and a thank you and sent home to face a scared family. The sad reality is our misconcieved notion of the american dream is fading fast. The system has become way to pervasive and all encompassing to ever hope to change it to the way it should be. All we can hope to do is save ourselves and our loved ones. Maybe my children will grow up without ever knowing MTV or CNN, instead they would learn the joy of catching their own meal and tending their own garden, I sure as hell will have a fantastic garden. On that note my hobbies could be used to offset the essentials I would purchase on my semi-anual trips into civilization. Off the grid growing would probably be the safest way to go, no one to snitch, no one but my little group would even know where I was.

You know uh, I never thought I'd say this to anybody, but you all smoke entirely too much reefer.

Imjony5 said:

You know uh, I never thought I'd say this to anybody, but you all smoke entirely too much reefer.

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no way!!!! not nearly enough.....lol!

last weekend i took a trip up to the family cottage and i gotta say i wouldn't mind living like that... the fridge, stove and water heater is all run from propane. the water pump, lights, tv and satelite is run by generator. lights can even be used when the generator is turned off because of the backup batteries, whenever the generator does come on it recharges them . theres no signal for cell phones but they do have a $1000 satelite phone in case of emergencies. Its a pretty nice setup, while i was there i even had a nice hot shower. theres 4 wheelers for getting around the bush. We caught a bunch of speckled trout, lake trout and some bass and ate them for supper. It was a nice cheap relaxing weekend off the grid.

GrizzDude,

you should look into solar energy panels. Whether it be to just heat your water, or at much larger scale.

It may seem "space-age" but it is very much here and getting more and more common, depending on where you may be.


I hope to run my to-be house off of solar and geothermal. That's about as off the grid as it will get for me.

Agreed

Imjony5 said:

You know uh, I never thought I'd say this to anybody, but you all smoke entirely too much reefer.

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ontarigrow said:

GrizzDude,

you should look into solar energy panels. Whether it be to just heat your water, or at much larger scale.

It may seem "space-age" but it is very much here and getting more and more common, depending on where you may be.


I hope to run my to-be house off of solar and geothermal. That's about as off the grid as it will get for me.

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Well for were I'm at I do get a fair amount of wind most the time,so I have a wind generator on the way. I use a back up generator right now. I really want solar but it is just sooo expensive to invest in right now on a large scale(the green house runs on solar power).
Everything else is run off propane water heater, fridge, and the stove. I use a small cast iron wood burning stove for heat when needed. Solar is nice it just needs to get cheaper.

This struck a cord with me.

Its difficult for the auto workers who slaved away for years selling their soul and life energy piece by piece. In the end they are given a pat on the back and a thank you and sent home to face a scared family. The sad reality is our misconcieved notion of the american dream is fading fast. The system has become way to pervasive and all encompassing to ever hope to change it to the way it should be. All we can hope to do is save ourselves and our loved ones.

I've always found it difficult to have a "blue collar dream" in life. We're told to be productive, intelligent, breeding lifeforms building for a better society. The only incentive is that we may one day die and be remembered for our time spent here.

A lot of people find pride in war. This carries on from a basic human instinct from before time was time. Freedom. Pride in Conquest. To be a part of something bigger than oneself.

Is it a farce? Naivety?

Or do us people wishing to "get off the grid" miss the key that the rest of the world holds on dearly?

Darkuser said:

This struck a cord with me.

Its difficult for the auto workers who slaved away for years selling their soul and life energy piece by piece. In the end they are given a pat on the back and a thank you and sent home to face a scared family. The sad reality is our misconcieved notion of the american dream is fading fast. The system has become way to pervasive and all encompassing to ever hope to change it to the way it should be. All we can hope to do is save ourselves and our loved ones.

I've always found it difficult to have a "blue collar dream" in life. We're told to be productive, intelligent, breeding lifeforms building for a better society. The only incentive is that we may one day die and be remembered for our time spent here.

A lot of people find pride in war. This carries on from a basic human instinct from before time was time. Freedom. Pride in Conquest. To be a part of something bigger than oneself.

Is it a farce? Naivety?

Or do us people wishing to "get off the grid" miss the key that the rest of the world holds on dearly?

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Well first of all, that post on the auto workers was nonsense. A big reason why the workers are losing their jobs are because of their own unions who have sucked the life out of their employers. It is the unbelievable pensions that a manual car laborer receives over the last 60 years which crippled the big three. They have only themselves to blame.

Your dilemma begins with the "progressive" idea that EVERYONE has to be a success economically to be viable...untrue. As long as the Govt. tries to make things fair and balanced (they are not, that's called life), things will continue to deteriorate for all.

CrackerJax said:

Well first of all, that post on the auto workers was nonsense. A big reason why the workers are losing their jobs are because of their own unions who have sucked the life out of their employers. It is the unbelievable pensions that a manual car laborer receives over the last 60 years which crippled the big three. They have only themselves to blame.

Your dilemma begins with the "progressive" idea that EVERYONE has to be a success economically to be viable...untrue. As long as the Govt. tries to make things fair and balanced (they are not, that's called life), things will continue to deteriorate for all.

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you're right! I myself am union, but my wages/pension are way below that of the employees of the automakers. I don't feel sorry for them in the least bit. if it were put to me to take consessions in order to keep me and my company afloat, then so be it, but not those greedy ppl, thus they waller in their own mess. (no disrespect to any brotherhoods that might be offended by my remarks)

Yes, not all unions are designed to run their employers into the ground. The electrical union comes to mind in that vein. The auto workers union though is a horrible representation of everything wrong with unions.

Febreeze and Tahoe:

I saw the story on this guy on a local show...he decided to pack up his life and move from Ny city to "off the grid" as he says. He is in the desert in west Texas, which I would never choose to live because of the brutal heat. Nonetheless, his concept is the same as ours in that he lives off the land and does not depend on anyone else.

Check out his website, it's pretty interesting. Also, he bought 40 acres for some ridiculous price of about $5,000...maybe even less.

I have had email communication with him and he's a real stand-up guy.

Febreeze: Maybe this will help you in your quest. All it takes is the balls to do it, which I can't have right now due to family obligations, but don't count me out for long!

http://www.thefieldlab.org/

I wasn't specifically talking about the auto workers, and it's funny that you should mention the unions. My gf and I were just talking the other day how it's a joke some guy gets paid $25/hr and all the other benefits, w/e, to put a bolt in the seat belt as the line goes by... I went to work with my father who was an engineer at a Ford plant when I was around 8 years old, and they let me do the guys job for a bit.

I was more so speaking about the idea on a larger scale. It's hard to find pride in many blue collar lines of work where you don't see the fruits of your labor. You grind through every day just to get tossed away and/or generally live an unfulfilling life.

Okay, I agree with that wholeheartedly. I've got some bad news for you.....it's all about to get much much worse. Much worse.

excellent .... thanks for the link. There are a million ways from Sunday on how one might approach doing this. I think an individual would seek that arrangement that took most advantage of that persons strengths and recognized weaknesses. I am going to take a look at this. My reality is I ain't doing anything like this prolly for another 5-10 yrs (and some will say at that point it will be too late ... maybe) cuz I still need/want to be with my kids ....

ttumaddawg said:

Febreeze and Tahoe:

I saw the story on this guy on a local show...he decided to pack up his life and move from Ny city to "off the grid" as he says. He is in the desert in west Texas, which I would never choose to live because of the brutal heat. Nonetheless, his concept is the same as ours in that he lives off the land and does not depend on anyone else.

Check out his website, it's pretty interesting. Also, he bought 40 acres for some ridiculous price of about $5,000...maybe even less.

I have had email communication with him and he's a real stand-up guy.

Febreeze: Maybe this will help you in your quest. All it takes is the balls to do it, which I can't have right now due to family obligations, but don't count me out for long!

http://www.thefieldlab.org/

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hey CJ ..... yea .... I'm not sure if the peeps at large just can't/won't accept the dreadful underlying fundamentals or possibly don't understand it .... but I agree with you the downside is still to be breached. Walking On!!~~

CrackerJax said:

Okay, I agree with that wholeheartedly. I've got some bad news for you.....it's all about to get much much worse. Much worse.

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