If you had the opportunity to go off the grid would you take it?
My family has been invited to homestead a corner of a large piece of property that some close friends own. This is not like "a bit off the beaten path" kind of land tho... we would be an hour from cell phone service, reliant on solar power, rain water and natural springs... you can't access the farm with out a 4 wheel drive and if the weather is really bad you cant access it at all.
Were not ready to pick up and move... my kids arnt conditioned for it, itll take a lot of preperation, but we are going ot start building a structure that we can camp on, and eventually close in and turn into a cabin and grow from there... start spending more of our free time up there and making a little place where we can go eventually when were ready to get out of the city.
On one hand im really excited. If It was just me, or we just had one or two kids we would be selling the house tomorrow!!! I tell my kids were food comes from, the hard work that goes into making food, but its easy to not grasp that when mom can run to the supermarket any time we need things. We try to eat local food thats in season... but if the recipe really calls for pineapple we can get one at the grocery store. If we were living almost completely out of our own garden... which is how our friends live up there, then you dont have any choice but to eat fresh and local foods. I think my kids would learn amazing life lessons and skills if their back yard, school and playground were 100 acres of woods, streams, ponds and mountains.
The other part of me is worried about it being a good decision to take so many kids out in the middle of nowhere. What if something happened? We are hours from a hospital or drs office. There will be no quick runs to the store if someone is ill and needs something.
Anyways... What would you do? If your family was extended the same invatation would you take it?
Lauren & Cara MOMS of SIX great kids!!!
Well we live on a farm. We have internet service. Cell service goes in and out. The closest thing is an hour away so anywhere you go you are looking at 2 hours of driving. If the weather gets bad your staying at home unless you have 4-wheel drive but if we have ice no one is going anywhere. I use to live in the city and I do miss the ease of restaurants and grocery stores but I would not go back to living in the city.
I would do it in a heartbeat!!!! But that sort of life has always been my dream.
Well, I live about 30 minutes form the closest town and cell phones don't work here. The only high speed internet we get is satellite. Not bad as long as you pay the extra for the download restrictions to be lifted. We're planning to go off grid with electricity since it's one of our higher bills (property is paid off) and can be unreliable. Looking forward to that actually :)
That said, you said something about bills being lower. That may be true for some, but there may be other expenses you hadn't though of. Gas bills for running into town for supplies when needed will go up. We usually try to include as much as we can into a run into town and won't go if we just need one thing. We also stock up on as much as we can that we can't produce. Cold medicines and such are included in that. There are also some places where you can order bulk dry good groceries online. I don't bother with that myself. I'd prefer to just stock up.If you get a deep freeze you can freeze all sorts of things...meats, milk (in baggies and shake when thawed), eggs if beaten and put in baggies, veggies and fruits, etc.Also, if you're out there beforehand get to know the neighbors. You may find that you can trade out stuff with them. We can't raise pigs where we are but a friend of mine can and she and her husband have traded that with us. Another friend of mine makes soap that she sells. I've traded belly dancing lessons for soaps before. Sometimes it's not about a trip into town, but a quick run over to a friends to see what they need and what you have for them. Farmers sometimes have things that they don't need anymore and are willing to just give away or trade. Right now we're building a bath house. So far I've gotten all of the plumbing fixtures for the cost of going out and salvaging them. I also have the tile too. Heh...now I'm keeping my eyes and ears out for treated lumber for the frame and roof. I already have the siding from an old shed of ours.lol.
It's a different way of thinking. Very much more in the long term and pay attention to what you'll need when in the year. Also, helping out your neighbor becomes more important. The drawback to that is that in a small town everyone may know everyone...and they'll be "up in your business" sometimes even if you don't want them to be. I've learned how to get around a lot of that, but it takes some getting used to.
I really wouldn't give it up these days though. The Dr.'s visits can be a bit of a drive, but our oldest is special needs and we just plan other chores in town around those appointments. Since we have 4 kids, each child gets their own day that way. It actually makes what can sometimes be a scary thing into a fun day out for just them. Hehe...my kids love it out here too. They each have their own garden plot (which is mostly a sand box for the younger kids). One of our twins has a habit of stepping out back to star gaze before bed. They all love the wildlife and animals here. Our oldest gets time to visit his grandma "in town" for a few days every so often and has days with other kids on this road and nearby where we all go fishing or hang out at the state park, etc. Hehe...and he's already hit me with "I'm growing up on you huh? I should have a pet to take care of of my own...like a rabbit" LOL.
I would do it, but I'd try to find some way to have internet service (maybe through a satalite?) I couldn't live without internet, but I could do it for everything else! Even for medical emergencies the family can learn what to do to bide time till the paramedics can arrive.
idk, your doing it slowly so speak with the conditioning that will help you see if this is something that your still excited for or if it is just not going to work for your family. good luck :)
I'm still reeling from the idea that there are still places left with no cel service. really? What about internet? I could live anywhere if I had access to the internet. I have to have it for my job. But other than that, YES. I would go in a heartbeat and keep chickens and turkeys and horses and maybe even some pigs. Yes hell yes! It's my dream to get the heck out of Dodge and go somewhere as remote as possible, and start actually living. I would love it and so would my husband...can you hunt on this land? Extra points for that. Good luck. I hope you love it!
I made my 1st jelly today
- Cara5
on Mar. 21, 2011 at 12:32 PM