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Tag Archives: self-reliance
Drainage Tile and Foundation Membrane
One item I haven’t written about is waterproofing our foundation walls and preventing water problems in the basement. As a kid growing up, we lived in a house with a basement that became a shallow pond at one end during … Continue reading
Wiring Our ICF Off-Grid Home
The first thing I have to say is please don’t attempt to do any wiring of any kind unless you understand electricity and the proper way to install electrical boxes and circuits. I don’t want to hear about any shiny … Continue reading
The Real Dirt on Garden Soil
Gardens with the vegetables and fruits they provide are an integral part of our self-sufficiency plan. We derive a great deal of satisfaction in providing the majority of our fruits and vegetables. In order to get the best results, we … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening
Tagged Gardening, homesteading, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance
8 Comments
Spring 2018 Update On Our Off Grid Homestead
It’s been quite some time since we gave everybody an update on our progress or lack thereof. Let me give you the spring 2018 update on our off grid homestead. We made it through the winter in the tent just … Continue reading
Posted in Homesteading/Prepping
Tagged homesteading, off grid, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance
8 Comments
Forest Fires and How We Survived Them – Part 2
Imagine if you will, being outdoors and hearing a chugging sound in the distance and realizing that chugging is not a choo choo train coming. When you run down to the lake’s shoreline, four miles in the distance, you fix … Continue reading
Posted in Homesteading/Prepping
Tagged homesteading, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance, wilderness living
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Forest Fires and How We Survived Them – Part 1
You never want to look out your window or step outdoors and see a column of black/gray smoke rising from the nearby forest. That happened several times to us when we lived out in the Saskatchewan wilderness. Those experiences give … Continue reading
Posted in Homesteading/Prepping, Uncategorized
Tagged homesteading, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance
6 Comments
Roof Trusses and Exterior Roofing on Our New Off-Grid ICF Home
We’ve worked hard to build our new home’s foundation, walls, and floor and we need to cap this all off with a roof to protect our investment of time and money. Our homesteads in Maine and Saskatchewan had a standard … Continue reading
Posted in Homestead Building
Tagged Homestead Building, homesteading, off grid, self-reliance
6 Comments
ICF Floor System
Floor systems is the topic of today’s post. It’s actually more complicated than it would appear. In a standard stick frame home, floor joists are laid down on a knee wall or a wall top plate, sheathing is put down … Continue reading
Posted in Homestead Building
Tagged Homestead Building, off grid, self sufficiency, self-reliance
9 Comments
Order Now For Spring Planting
Building a new homestead from scratch means establishing new gardens. Not just a vegetable garden but an herb garden as well as an orchard. Now is the time of the year to get seed and nursery stock on order whether … Continue reading
Off Grid Refrigeration
Update January 2019… We lugged the refrigerator to the local repairman who confirmed it is leaking refrigerant. He traced it to the refrigerator compartment that is inaccessible. It can’t be fixed and we were told to take our extremely expensive … Continue reading
Posted in Off Grid Living
Tagged off grid, Off Grid Cooking, self sufficiency, self-reliance
10 Comments
Final Wrap Up on the Basics of ICF Construction
This is the final wrap up on the basics of ICF construction we used on our new off grid home. In my last post, I shared a ha ha sign “Somewhat Precise Home Builders” which is my tongue in cheek … Continue reading
Posted in Homestead Building
Tagged Homestead Building, off grid, self sufficiency, self-reliance
2 Comments
Christmas Update on Our Nova Scotia Homestead
With the approach of Christmas and Holidays, I figured I’d give everybody a quick update and then resume normal posts after the first of the year. Here’s our Christmas update on our Nova Scotia homestead. We made a valiant effort … Continue reading
Posted in Homestead Building
Tagged Homestead Building, off grid, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance
8 Comments
Let’s Talk ICF For New Off-Grid Home- Part 2
In my last post “Let’s talk ICF For Our New Off-Grid Home- Part 1”, we discussed what this ICF material was about and how easy it was to build with. Although ICF is an easy, straight forward method of building, … Continue reading
Posted in Homestead Building
Tagged Homestead Building, homesteading, off grid, self sufficiency, self-reliance
6 Comments
Let’s Talk ICF For Our New Off-Grid Home – Part 1
There are any number of construction materials and methods a person can use to build their new home. The traditional method is stick frame using conventional framing lumber. That’s the method we chose for our last 2 off-grid homes. As … Continue reading
Posted in Homestead Building
Tagged homesteading, off grid, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance
8 Comments
Nova Scotia Fall Update
As expected, Nova Scotia weather is like the tropics compared to where we once lived. It’s all relative of course. We would generally have our first dusting of snow around this time of year back in northern Saskatchewan. (In fact, … Continue reading
Posted in Homestead Building
Tagged homesteading, off grid, self sufficiency, self-reliance
9 Comments
Campfire Cooking
Living in a wall tent as a temporary residence presents many challenges, one of which is meal preparation. Yet anyone who thinks camp meals are limited to burgers and hot dogs is in for a surprise. The possibilities are endless, … Continue reading
Posted in Homestead Cooking
Tagged homesteading, off grid, Off Grid Cooking, prepping, self-reliance
2 Comments
Is a foundation really that important?
Is a foundation really that important? The answer to the question is yes! As far as I’m concerned, it’s the most important part of a building to ensure its long term survival. If the foundation crumbles, shifts or isn’t square … Continue reading
Posted in Homestead Building
Tagged homesteading, off grid, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance
8 Comments
Hacking Our Way to Garden Prosperity
In our 37 year off–grid homesteading adventure, we’ve had the tough chore of taking woodland and converting it to gardens. We’ve never had the luxury of driving into a new homestead that had cleared land with an established garden. … Continue reading
Posted in Gardening
Tagged Gardening, homesteading, off grid, self sufficiency, self-reliance
8 Comments
Mid-Summer Homestead Update.
We wanted to take a little time to show you what we have accomplished since our last update. We’ve made some real progress. I especially, am results driven and things don’t always look like they’re progressing fast enough. But when … Continue reading
Posted in Homesteading/Prepping
Tagged homesteading, off grid, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance
8 Comments
Squeeze a House into a Tent
Most of us live in some form of traditional home complete with the typical layout. We probably have a living room, dining room, bathroom, kitchen and utility area. Unless a person is a tiny home enthusiast, most homes are of … Continue reading
Posted in Homesteading/Prepping
Tagged homesteading, off grid, prepping, self sufficiency, self-reliance
6 Comments
