Modern Homesteading Off Grid – An American Homestead Off Grid Homesteading – Modern Homesteading
Shows of An American Homestead are released usually once a week on Monday morning. All episodes can be watched on youtube or on An American Homestead website.
This season, summer is here and the homestead is gearing up for the fall harvest. The garden is in full swing, construction projects are being completed and fall lambing season should hopefully be producing some new additions before winter. New challenges are facing these new homesteaders as they deal with the extreme southern summer heat and forgo the modern conveniences of American city living.
The two families have sheep, a guard donkey named Tilly (short for Matilda), chickens, and guinea hens, and they raise blue gill fish.
Additionally this season, Zac and Tim need to decide what animals will be showing in the coming county fair this year. Jaimie and her mother Joann will be busy in the kitchen canning up all of the goodies the harvest provides, as well as testing out a new pressure canner and stainless steal steam juicer.
This season we also get to meet some of their neighbors and friends as they stop by to visit and together plan for the fall feast known as Sukkot.
Trials and tribulations are what’s in store for those brave enough to leave the bustling city life in search of a more simple one. But will what they find actually be simple? We will find out!
Brother.
Still thinking of you guys and would love to talk. Still would love to come see you all. We moved to 155 acre home stead and building 776 sq ft homes. Put in 3000 ft of barb wire fence. Off grid. Call if you can.
jason
Shalom
Hey ya all from sunny California ! I just want to say I’m a fan of your show. I watch your show on youtube. I love the fact that ya all are eco friendly people and I admire that you are making your american dreams happen. Bleessed Be Dawn
Thanks Dawn!
I’ve just discovered you guys through Christy Jorden…I really enjoy learning how you do things! I hope you will show an average day as a wife and mother. Also, how do you plan what your going to eat.
Thanks for letting us in your home!
Miriam Jones
Hi, Love what Jamie wears on her hair. Would love to know what they are and if home-made. Maybe a video on women living on homestead, like on home-made feminine care products. I have a friend with goats, makes soap and lotion from milk. Really nice.
My husband and I have a small homestead in Northern Wisconsin. I am very interested in advancing to a small array of livestock. There are many predators roaming around our area. We are not far enough north for grizzlies, but we seem to have everything else, and we have neighbors who have lost dogs to them. I am very interested in knowing more about the merits of a guard donkey. Can you direct me to an episode where you feature Tilly or resources for assessing whether a donkey would be a good match for us. Love you family spirit and generosity in sharing what you know and learn!
Love your videos please more on Jamie and her mom and dad though .may I ask how old are they we are fairing in our late sixties.also how are they fairing living on the homestead and the weather,conditions of living in the Ozarks? Keep em coming bless you guys!
We are in our late 60’s and we think it is the best retirement life style. We do not mind the heat of the summer, but we do not like the cold. Thankfully we have our wood heater. Thanks Tim
Tim, my mother is in her late 50s. She is in perfect health. I was wondering if you had any recommendations for her when considering how we build and design our homestead and home.
Was interested in learning all about the pre-fab homes you had set up on your property and the decks that you built around them. That all seems super nice to me and extremely important as far as getting off to a good start in homesteading. However, I could not find any videos on that subject. Was wondering what brand of prefab home and square feet and the company do the set up.
Another thing that I think you should consider is a solar attic fan for both homes — that is, if you completely rule out solar air conditioning.
To me keeping the houses reasonably cool in the very hot summers is higher priority that the solar fan you have in the greenhouse.
The idea of a HOME stead is very much about the house and the homey fealing living and growing there means. It is not very homey to have your house be a sweatbox.
I liive in very hot central Texas, but would often visit my parents who lived out in the country in northeaster Oklahoma near Ft. Smith Arkansas. I remember how incredibly hot it was without air coniditioning but the nights were cool even in summer. We brought them two window ACs and it changed and I believed lengthened their lives.
Please change your priorities around if necessary but get some kind of fan or AC in your house for next summer.
God bless you.
We bought our manufactured home from Clayton Homes (they are manufactured by SE Homes). We had additional windows added when the houses were made because we knew we would not have AC. The decks were added later and they provide shade to make the house cooler. We also get late afternoon shade. The attic is filled with insulation so there is no room for an attic fan. We tried an attic fan in a window but it did not help much.
AC is practically impossible with solar because they draw a lot of power and at the present time our solar array is not large enough to accommodate ceiling fans. Although ceiling fans would be nice they are not an important priority. Summers can be hot, but it is not that big a deal. Most days we don’t mind the heat, but a cold beer sure is nice on a hot afternoon. Winters on the other hand require a wood stove and a lot of work setting in about four cords of wood for the winter. I don’t think we could survive without our wood stove.
Thanks for your comments, Tim
We are considering going off grid. We are Tim’s age. My question is -is your system a battery backup system?
I know there is a system that have the solar panels but no battery backup so you have to get your work done during the daylight hours. Would appreciate any thoughts/cmments. Thank you
We have batteries for our solar system. That’s the way solar works. The solar generates power and charges the batteries. That’s the least complex way to explain it. We just don’t use our batteries to power anything but our office equipment. We don’t generate enough power for most household appliances. At this point, using any solar power for lighting is not something we want to do. We love our lantern light in the evening. Simply put…we organize our time so that we can relax when the sun goes down. Ask yourself, how did the homesteaders of the past do it? The did their work during the day and rested at night. And I guarantee you that they had much more to do than any modern day homesteader.
Hey Y’all!
One thing I’ve noticed is there isn’t much reporting on the aquaponics. Could you bring us up to date on your fish and aquaponics in a winter update? I’d love to know how you are doing with it.
Thanks for the show and God bless!
Greetings from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. Me and my husband Joel recently found your site as we are in the infancy stages of our HOMESTEADING DREAM! We are taking in a lot of information to consider and we are learning all that we can about a life OFF GRID. My plan is to take Jaimie’s suggestion (in her homeschooling video) about getting connected with women, moms, etc who have “gone before us” We sense that a great amount of humility will go a long way as we embark on our journey. As believers, the idea of utilizing every natural resource our creator has provided is another way to honor Him and all of His amazing creations! We long for the day when we can put all we have learned into action. We want to thank your entire family for sharing all of your experiences, positive and negatiive with us as you blaze your trail and lay your roots for future generations. We will absolutely follow you to STEEM IT and will pray that you find and sustain the media platform that best supports your goals/endeavors and allows you to grow…grow…grow! All the best to your family! God Bless.
Joel & Monica M., Central Virginia
Hi Folks,
We love your show, and have watched enough videos by now that we feel like we are part of the family. I am a pastor and I don’t know if we would be able to homestead any time in the near future, but I appreciate your wisdom; especially the comment, “The more you produce, the less you have to buy.” You have mentioned that Jamie’s folks were missionaries to Papua New Guinea. I would be interested in finding out more about their background. Lord willing, we will be serving at a new church here soon, with an enormous parsonage, so we want to begin a foster care ministry. We have one daughter, and she is 6, so she is screaming – “Bring on the foster kids.” The idea of producing most of our food stuffs is very attractive to me, as we have had several gardens before. Just wanted to thank you for all the great tips, and we are interested in becoming regulars through your Patreon sponsors. You guys are awesome!
Pastor Todd, Rachelle, and Alee
By the way, I was looking for music credits on the snappy tune you use for many of your videos. I believe I am hearing an acoustic guitar, bass drum, mandolin, and bells (perhaps synthesizer). I really like the music, and wondered who the artist is?
Thanks,
Pastor Todd