Mandy asks…
Does living “off the grid” just refer to solar power or wind mills?
I’m looking for a piece of property in northern Fla./southern Ga. I want to make it as self sufficient as possible. Growing my own vegetables, raising my own protein sources and such. I’ve looked into solar power and wind mills as power sources. Both seem feasible but which is best? Also is there anything else I can/should do? I plan on living there the rest of my life and any suggestions are welcome.
GardenersCardiff answers:
I looked over some of your other questions. At first I figured you to be a teenager, wanting to live the perfect “green lifestyle.”
Read your health problems. Now I see why the earthship answers probably received thumbs down. Earthships are the best type of home to build. However I do not think you would be physically up to pounding all that dirt, and it’s extremely hard to hire having an earthship built.
To answer you question, you really need to have a mix of power sources. There will be days the sun does not shine enough to charge the batteries…but the wind is probably blowing.
If you are going to be off grid entirely, you need a mix of 2-5 different sources for your household power.
We will be building entirely off grid. We live in the Pacific Northwest, about 20 miles from the Canadian border. So we can have some pretty cold and snowy winters.
We will have wind, active solar, passive solar, a Central Boiler (brand name), hydro if we can legally, wood stoves (heat), wood cook stove, solar gain from the proper positioning of our home, wind cooling of our home from proper possitioning. We debate installing gas appliances run on propane. That however makes us dependent on companies and we don’t really want that. Natural Gas is not an option where we are.
Active solar…charges batteries and provides electric for your use.
Passive solar…only heats up water, and provides hot water that way.
Wind turbines produce electricity
Wind mills grind grain, or pump water
Skystream 3.7 makes a very good wind turbine product for homeowners. Here’s a link:
http://www.skystreamenergy.com/
For a protien source, you really need to check out goats. Both the meat, and the milk from goats. Do some research, you may be suprised at how good they are for you, and how gentle both are for the human body to digest.
If you are building your own house, build it to take maximum advantage of solar gain for winter, and prevailing winds for cooling. You can make 50 degree differences in your home just by doing that.
Only build/buy in an area where it is legal for you to have a rainwater catch system. Install a metal roof on your home, and catch your own rainwater.
Start to make lists of what is extremely important to you (cannot live without) and what you are willing to be flexible on. Start doing lots of research. Check books out from your local library and read up on your topics of interest.
Think outside the box (or maybe in the box!). Those places you mentioned are very termite prone. Concider using Conex boxes to build your home. They are made of metal, and easy to use to build homes. You can insulate the outside of them, and get rid of the industrial box look. Best of all, termites cannot eat them!
~Garnet
Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years
Raising meat goats since 1999
Laura asks…
Can you grow vegetables and fruits in winter in California?
I want to know if its possible to grow vegetables such as lettuce and fruit such as raspberries or apples in winters of California?
Can you generally grow veggies/fruit year around in Cali?
If not, could you grow them in a glasshouse?
GardenersCardiff answers:
This partly depends on where in California you are, as in Southern California the possibilities are much wider and growing salad crops is easier than elsewhere.
If you have a glasshouse in most of the state, and if it’s heated in the north, then you can grow much of what you want, though certain fruits are seasonal, depending on the amount of daylight as well as temperatures to initiate flowering and fruit growing.
If you have a favourable micro-climate you can use this to your advantage too, as each garden will tend to have some warmer spots than others. In the Bay area, for example, by the coast it is milder than just a small movement inland, where you can get frosts, but miss them by the coastal areas. This allows lettuce and leafy salad greens to be grown fairly easily, whereas the frost would kill these, without protection.
In San Diego, for example, where the climate is fairly similar year round, then you have a much wider choice of what can be grown outdoors.
Of the fruits that can be grown fairly easily under glass, consider strawberries, which don’t need much heat, and you can extend their cropping season quite easily. The great thing with fruit such as apples is that you can keep harvested fruit near ripe in fairly cool conditions, meaning that you can eat your own produce most of the year, even if it’s a while since it was picked.
So, this partly depends on where in California you are, whether you’d like to heat your glasshouse if you’re in a cooler area, and whether you’re a little flexible on what you’ll grow. Overall, the sun is fairly strong, permitting plants to photosynthesize, though some plants want to be deciduous in winter time, which will limit you.
Hope this helps. Good luck! Rob
Ruth asks…
Is there any way to accelerate plant growth?
I’m growing my own vegetables and was hoping to serve them at a summer BBQ, is there any way to make them grow quicker?
GardenersCardiff answers:
You cannot rush plant growth they grow by natures clock but you could sprinkle liquid fertilser in the soil
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Ken asks…
Does growing and hunting your own food really save money on your grocery bill?
GardenersCardiff answers:
Growing food absolutely saves money if you know how to do it. It usually takes a couple growing seasons to get to that point, but once you master the skill it is very well worth it. You have to invest a lot of time, and if you calculated how much you got paid for that time it would be a low wage. But gardeners love working in the garden. At the height of the growing season in July, I pull twenty five pounds of vegetables a week out of my garden. The only investments are tools, free horse manure, and $30 worth of seeds. But I’m out there twenty hours a week, nine months a year, rain or shine.
A hunter can get 50 pounds of meat with a $25 yearly license and a $150 gun that will last more than a lifetime. That pays for the gear the first year. It is a huge part of the way many rural families get by. It is also a way for rich people to go on expensive vacations with fancy gear.
Paul asks…
Are you able to grow your own food and clothe yourself or do you need money to buy it from the store.?
How much do you think your myspace page and texting skills will be worth when this thing collapses on us.
GardenersCardiff answers:
Unless one has a farm there is no way possible to grow everything they eat. Nor spin wool to clothe themselves. We need JOBS. For too long companies have been given tax breaks for moving OUR jobs overseas. I agree 100% with Obama that this must end. Give the companies who stay here the breaks not those who outsource.
Helen asks…
Should the need arise do you know how to grow your own food,find water,protect what’s yours&live off the land?
Are you entirely dependent on the comforts that we all take for granted?
Do you know how to survive without electricity, tv, playstation, SUVs and refrigeration?
GardenersCardiff answers:
No, they do not. We were without electricity for 4 days this summer and my children and grandchildren thought the end of the world had come. We used a kerosene lamp and candles for light at night. I missed the refrigerator the most I guess. The kids were bored, nothing to do. It reminded me of my grandmother. She had a wood cook stove, no refrigeration, no indoor bathroom and I loved spending summers with her. I have gotten more used to the comforts we have now and would not like to go without them but I know I can if I have to.
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