Getting Off The Grid - Its A Plan

Years ago I was listening to someone, I cannot recall now, talking about a one year plan, a five year plan and a 10 year plan, this person got my attention.

I began to do this planning. One year is short term goals that you want, five is where you would like to be and ten is being there and looking back at how much you have accomplished. 

With each year making new goals you can see how things change.

In five years everything could have changed and you have not a new way to look at life.

I am at the ten year and look back goal, the so called end game, Life is even bigger than I had first imagined, I am further along than I imagined yen years ago.

Now I need to think about the next ten years and where do I want to be.

The Homestead :

I am managing things around here better than expected, the grass is always the biggest pain in the butt. 

It has once again this year invaded the garden, I just mow down the rows now, careful not to mow over a plant.

Being the end July its time to think about winter, food and warmth.

I think all things happen for a reason, with that being said the downed trees from last month, and cut up this month, should be taken into consideration. Fire wood. 

The old saying is "if you don`t grow it and can it in the summer, you`ll go hungry in the winter." This saying makes me think, if they did it without a grocery store, I should be able to do this too.

From The Garden :

My garden is at the point that I`m not just getting enough produce to stop shopping and is moving into the "I got enough to start canning."

This year the okra is hip/ waist high to me and I have picked and cooked a couple times, I have enough from the last picking to share, but its just beginning for the okra, its always the late summer early fall pleasure and to chop and freeze or make pickled okra.

The tomatoes are small this year, I have no idea why because I have planted several types and all are supposed to be big slicing tomatoes except the Roma. Well, it is what it is so I will make more sauce that chopped stewed and salsa, maybe a smooth sauce with the flavor of salsa?

The bell peppers have been feeding us for a month now and now I am freezing and using them in recipes for canning.

Squash. I am not in love with squash but others in the house love it, its not doing great but is providing summer meals.

I am not sure but I am thinking the cucumbers will be the star of the harden this year. I have ate many cucumbers so far and am now into the canning stage.

Still drying mint, sage and basil. The other herbs are growing so slow. 

Figs are beginning to ripen.

The stockpile :

Besides making all the jelly from what the homestead has offered, I have added sweet pickle relish to the stockpile so far, I made six pints just this past weekend. I plan to make six more and that should last a long time.

Speaking of jelly I made something very different, I just had to try it! Corn cob jelly. Since this seems to be the year of making something from the woods or from scraps for the sweet and unusual.

To describe the flavor is actually hard but I will try. It was a soft set jelly and some say its taste like honey but not to me, it has a light corn flavor but the sweetness to me is like a strong corn syrup. Its not bad at all! I just had a tablespoon with breakfast. 

The Learning :

I am planning to learn how to make yogurt at home, Tony eats this stuff daily, although I don`t eat much of any dairy I will have a yogurt on occasion. Since milk is usually .98 at Aldi and the Oxford, Alabama walmart store it could be a cheaper way to do yogurt.

I have been working just about daily on the new store stuff but I have to clam up and not speak much about it because I have a saboteur, it was clear she was jealous of my progress because of the recipes she put online for my potential customers to read and she added "why buy, make your own" but that will not stop me because I have kept the best proven recipes for myself, and of coarse to sell. Sometimes the recipes offered online suck and they will not tell you they suck because they are making money with those sites and videos. I learned the hard way and wasted so much because it did not work or was not a product I would not use, much less sell.

I actually have enough made to sell around town. We`ll see how life goes the next few weeks.

Now .....

How is life on your homestead? I would like to know.

By Andria Perry 

Photos by Andria Perry

Getting Off The Grid - A Season For Everything

 Wow time is flying by, its been almost a month since I have sat down to  look at my progress on the homestead.  So much has happened so let me just get to it.

The storm:

I am trying my best to get into another type of work but I am still doing what God chose me to do and that is rental houses, I had trees down on each of those properties, some laying across the houses. I thank God, none were damaged and I had a lot of work ahead of me, another reason I have not had time to write.

The Homestead :

A few weeks ago a storm came by, a sudden unpredicted summer thunderstorm with high wind. The only thing damaged on the homestead was one of the solar panels got cracked :( and of coarse we lost power.

Still being on the grid sucks when the storms mess with the power lines, the first day it was okay because the storm brought cold air with it and took the temps down from 100° Fahrenheit to 70° Fahrenheit, I had 2 batteries full, so I could give Tony his breathing treatments and made coffee and charged phones and laptops. 

By the second day the heat came back and it was impossible to breath in the house and when someone in the house has problems breathing already it could be a death sentence. I went to the power company when I could not get an answer about when it would be restored at my home by phone, I was told that I would be whenever? since bigger communities came first. I was told to buy a gas power generator for back up!  But me being me told her that I have been thinking about a backup plan called solar power, maybe I can feed the grid for them, she hushed up, and within hours we had power back on.

This is another reason to home can as much food as possible and not rely on the deep freezer. I did have a lost of some meats and dairy that was in the fridge and its small freezer.

As for cooking, I have a grill and I do have enough sense to build a fire and cook food in the front yard if I did not have a grill. 

I have convinced people that solar can be a replacement, especially when I sat him down and gave him a breathing treatment from a battery and I made my coffee.

One more reason to get off the power grid, storms. 

The only good that came from this is free firewood, it will be dried for wintertime.

The Garden and Homestead:

Since the storm the weather has moved into the daily evening rain showers, meaning I need to switch around how I work around the homestead. Do outside first, early morning and noon, and the evenings to inside work like canning.

I am battling the grass and it has won, so now instead of killing ourselves tilling around the plants we now mow the grass down each row and pick the veggies.

Tomatoes in fill bloom

cucumbers blooming 

bell pepper 

I have tomatoes, though they are not as big as I am used to, and I have plenty of bell peppers coming in. I am now getting yellow squash and cucumbers, the okra is blooming but we all know its a late summer producer. I have not got another of anything to home can but I am enjoying the fresh food that I don`t have to buy.

I am in basil over load! I have picking and cooking with it and I am drying to bottle up for later.

The parsley and oregano are up and making plants, the cactus is thriving as well.

The stockpile :

I have home canned 111 half pint jars of jelly, jam and preserves. Honeysuckle, Rose Petal, blackberry are all the free to pick and grown on the homestead, I have 84 half pints.

Aldi, a grocery store chain, had strawberries on sale for .99 so I started with 8 pound clam shells and later went back for 5 more so for 13 pounds I made 27 half pints of jam, jelly and preserves. I also chopped 3 quart bags for the deep freezer to make smoothies for a cold treat and I also got 1 pint of strawberry extract making. Plus we did munch on a few :) that is not to bad 31 products made from 13 pound. That equals around .5 cents per ounce.

I have put 3 quarts of bell peppers in the deep freezer.

I have on the drying racks sage and basil. 

Want to make Honeysuckle jelly? Click here : How to make honeysuckle jelly and for rose petal jelly  

The Learning :

Its amazing what one can do in one months time. Its amazing to me that I can do this!

After months of research, me trying and failing and then accomplishing. I am now making so many of my own products, no not from the homestead, yet, but by purchasing things online. However it is doable to make most of this from scratch and not having to buy any of it.

homemade soap before smoothing out

I am making soap, I have maybe 60 bars, or more, of soap. Most are scent and dye free.

I have made twelve 1/2 ounce tins of healing salve.

Soon I intend to have a line of my own homemade products to sell, all made at the homestead, most came from the land of this homestead. 

Most are vegan and most have no preservatives which in my opinion is what the world needs. 

Soon I will have photos of the products, the oops! I made that to small to the Ahh, I got it right!

How has life been on your homestead? I want to know. 

By Andria Perry 

Photos by Andria Perry