Off The Grid News Better Ideas For Off The Grid Living

Winter is here, and all of your goats and sheep are tucked away for a long winter’s nap. It’s time to relax on the homestead, right? Well, not really. This is the time to prepare for those blessed events soon ...

If you depend on your chickens for your family’s eggs, winter can be a tough time. Chickens, especially the breeds created to be dynamic egg-layers, will still produce to some degree during the winter, but the numbers will be far lower than what you got used to during warm weather. More of the chicken’s energy is going toward keeping them warm, and their production is also linked heavily toward the day’s light cycles.

In the northern hemisphere, November sprawls across the border of autumn and winter like a damp gray blanket. While the eleventh month brings a few pleasant days to us in North Carolina, it also carries stretches of time burdened by chilly winds and cold rains. It's enough to make an old fellow want to pull the comforter up to his furry chin and stay in bed to ride out the whole sloppy mess. Bats, bears, hedgehogs, squirrels, chipmunks, and a host of other critters are either...

Preparatory work to get your goats and sheep ready for winter is relatively easy. However, the two species are completely different in their ability to handle cold weather. The one thing both need is a constant supply of fresh water ...

Depending on where you live, it may be too late to start on a winter garden at this time, but it is never too early to plan for next year. So get out your graph paper and colored pencils and ...

We have now passed the mid-point of October. With the arrival of October 19, only 73 days remain before your 2011 calendar becomes obsolete. While I'll still be growing broccoli, collards, carrots, and some other hardy crops for a few more months here in North Carolina, most of my friends up north are preparing to shut things down for the season. With that in mind, I thought today might be a good time to mention a few things you can accomplish around this time of year...

The time to begin preparing for winter care of your chickens, ducks, and geese is early in the fall. Chickens can handle colder temperatures into the mid-teens, and ducks and geese, thanks to their heavy down feathering, can handle even ...

With average temperatures in the U.S. in the mid-70s (if you live in the south, it might still be considerably hotter), the idea that winter is around the corner might seem unbelievable. But autumn is officially here, which for many is a relief, given the record- breaking temperatures we experienced this past summer. Autumn is a wonderful time of year, isn’t it? Kids are back in school, Thanksgiving will be upon us shortly, and it’s a great opportunity to prepare...

Now that you have harvested all of your veggies, gardening is over, right? Wrong. Now we start preparing our beds for next year’s harvest. Preparing your garden to go through winter will make it easier to plant next year’s crops. When all is harvested from the garden, you can do one of two things. The first is to pull the plants for composting and plant a cover crop. The other option is to leave the plants where they are, crushing them to the ground...

If you’re going to make it through the winter in a cold climate, you’re going to need heat.  Now if you plan to make it living off the grid without gas, propane, fuel oil, or electricity, you’re going to need ...