Our First Days Living OFF-GRID!!!

in #ecotrain6 years ago (edited)

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Well, we are officially Off-Grid. I have been talking about moving, for many months on steemit. But this has been a long dream coming... It's been in my head for over 10 years!

Here's to our stories...!


We had been packing for a couple of weeks and yesterday marked out FIRST DAY living off the grid!

On our first day out here (out of that god forsaken concrete jungle), after unloading yet another load from Brooklyn, Jessi-K set out to make sence of our boxes and mess, I put on a pair of rubber boots and hit the ground running with a weed wacker!

20180602_164947.jpgBefore

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Everything has grown so fast over the last few weeks... it's crazy!

There is Mugwart all over the place and it's getting tall fast. I cut down a lot of it around the playground and the fire pit, I even uncovered a few boulders and started to widen our driveway. There are always certain plants I don't want to cut down, but right now it all seems like it could perhaps be edible!

I want to learn all about what the wild foods we have on the property. Everyday I try to learn something new, and these days it's been all about wild edibles in the New York region or identifying trees!

Here's a Red Clover flower, it reminds me of when I was little. Everyone knew how to eat this flower because of how sweet it is!

20180602_181042.jpgNot sure why this photo is sideways... too bad it's a pretty one!

You can find lots of info on this flower that grows accross mamy continents here on earth. Try it one day, you will be surprused how sweet it is.

Than we have an abundance of black rasberry bushes...but I am having a hard time cutting any of them down. Especially when I see these little beauties starting to make their appearance:

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And then there is this surprise.... I thought we were in the clear for this Tree of Heaven, but we're not!

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This invasive weed or tree has but very few perks, it grows to 80 ft tall but it grows too fast for lumber (it will twist and warp as it dries). The main problem is that it can take over quickly and the more you cut it down the more new shoots come up!

20180602_181354.jpgTree of Heaven (Chinese Sumac)

20180602_181633.jpgStaghorn Sumac

You see the difference, the two? Staghorn sumac has serated leaf edges while the chinese sumac is mostly smooth. At some point in the season, there is no difference in color. There are other differences but we won't go into it right now. It seems the non avasive specie is more manageable!

We'll find a way to use this problem as the solution at some point...


Another thing I have been collecting along the way, are these dried up grain stalks. I do not know their names, what they are or if they are edible. I do know however that they make a great firestarter. I noticed last year that we could start fires in the rain with these little suckers!

I believe everywhere we go, we can find an excellent firestarter locally.

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One of these days, I will show you what we do for electricity while we are still without a generator and saving for a solar system!

For water, se started collecting rain water from the roof of our trailer!

Thank You and Untill Next Time...

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oh wow! Congratulations. I know that feeling of finally realizing the dream and it's such an incredible moment. You've got a beautiful spot. I am looking forward to reading more! :)

Thank you so much! Yea that moment of realising a dream is incredible. Even if this one is a life long dream, just getting to the start of it is awesome!

Amazing... congratulations!!!! I know you have been working hard toward this goal so I feel excited for you!!

It is so nice to be finally here, I can hardly believe it right now. But we are super excited even thoigh there is still much hard work ahead. Thank you!

Wow... Congratulations...

A dream of over ten years? Just coming to pass.. Thats something to definitely be excited about...

I have a habit of making my dreams come true... this one's a little bigger and more planned than others. Over 10 years ago I wanted to build a little traveling community of artists, healers and makers with a permaculture state of mind, teaching their skills... the idea sllowly morphed into making a more permanent learning center where all those same things can be found!

Thank you for the excitment @kingernie

Congrats! about that sideways picture. open it in a photo viewer, rotate it around then save it. even if it looks like it is already the direction you want, this will fix the sideways problem :) I've been working on identifying local plants in my ecosystem, unfortunately not my homestead but still interesting and fun. You are living your dream! Enjoy it!

I am posting from my phone these days... in my photo gallery the image is right side up, but when I go to put it on steemit it shows up sideways. I'll try to rotate it right in the gallery and see what happens after uploading it that way.

It's so amazing how quickly the mind and our eyes quickly recognize plants and identify them as we star learning. It's very exciting to kmow we are finally here, even thouhh it hasn't sunk in yet!

Thanks, @steven-patrick keep up the learning.

Yaaaaaas! This is what I'm here to see. I've always wanted to watch a homestead happen from the ground up, and watch the homesteaders adapt to the life style and overcome the obstacles and enjoy the freedom and accomplishments that come with it. 👍👍

Strangely enough, I kind of enjoy overcoming chalenges or adapting to new ways. I think human beings are very well equiped for change... most of us chose to be afraid of it though.

I sill be documenting our progress for sure, mistakes and all, so I hope you'll enjoy it too!

From the ground up, for sure! Thanks for your comment @powellx5...

Enjoy your journey!

Will do for sure! Thank you.

Awesome for you guys!
It looks good, lot cleaning is some good hard work! I did some bush cleaning just the other day, I cant wait till our cabin is our full time home!

I bet you can't wait... That timber frame is looking really good so far.
We are at the very beginning of it all! Starting from scratch, kind of. The lot was mostly cleared 12 years ago, so you can imagine how much has already grown... and poison ivy's every where! Little by little we are clearing for events, gardening and after the summer we should start heavily making plans for our home! Earthship or log/cordwood mixed all of it with a little strawbale constructio and voilà!

Thanks! We hope to have it up next time Jay is home from work, we just came out from the cabin today.
The lot cleaning takes the longest, I am still lot cleaning after 3yrs! Definitely little by little, kinda as you need that certain area it gets cleaned.
This is the lot when we first got it, overgrown with an old falling down old cabin, we burnt the cabin two springs ago and I am still picking up nails and glass.
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Yep, little by little as you need the areas to be cleared... been doing the same thing, I want a machine to do it with now!

Ouch, yep, I know that overgrown look very well now! You burned it down? Good way to clear it... roo soon? Bad joke?

Oh what a lovely lake and view!

A brushcutter and saw definitely make it faster and easier, when I first moved I out to my house I used an axe and hand clippers.. I know that feeling!
Here is my original post of when we burned the cabin, if you wanna check it out.
The brush we just piled and burnt whenever it rained.
https://steemit.com/cabin/@leemlaframboise/the-ultimate-dream-of-living-in-the-north-woods-part-3-the-burn

All hand tools for now... oh and one weed wacker! It is tough for sure! I am trying to use a lot of our cut brush to turn into huggleculture mounds, instead of burning it, but it does take time.. but we should have some good earth to plant into eventually that way.

I will check out that post soon enough. Thanks

Congrats on the moveee! I love reading about people 'living the dream' and it's even better when you've been following the preparation!

I'm super curious to see more about how you're doing this !

Thank you so much @manouche, it's nice to read something like that. It makes me feel happy!

You will see more for sure, for sure! I've already started taking photos of the tomato garden 😁.

My invitation still stands, if you find yourself in New York one day, you know what to do!

Tomatoes are possibly one of the best fruits to grow in the garden. I detest buying tomatoes outside simply because it's actually possible to taste a difference in them!

Yes, the invitation is on my mind! I'm definitely hitting you up whenever I have the opportunity to swing by!

Awesome, I hope to meet you one day, cool!

Forreal, tomatoes are so tasteless from the store, especially in the USA... Europe's produce has started to be like those of the US I've noticed lately... sad!

Tomoatoes for ever! I will become the Tomato King of the Hudson Valley... 😁

And there they go! Into the great new world, congrats for you guys on this new step!

Yep... here we go! I do feel a bit like a pioneer! In my circle of influence, it's for sure. I have heard many talk about building something like this. So let's see which ones of them show up before the bulk of the work is done or after!

Way to go you all! So much planning and dreaming in the works! Look forward to seeing it unfold :)))

Oh my god @mountainjewel, I think you know how I feel about dreams and making them come true! This one is unfolding before my eyes, I can hardly believe it!!!!

You've been a great inspiration for me with your homestead, I hope we meet one day...

Thank you

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