Security Off Grid

As we go and start setting up our property one of the main issues we are thinking about is security. We want to make sure we feel safe at our new property and anywhere we travel too.

Dog - We have a dog that we specifically got for being a guard dog. She is a 1/2 newfoundland and 1/2 rotweiller. (She looks like a black lab)

At our property we plan to start with a cattle fence around our camper and expand out as we can afford it. This serves a two fold purpose, one to keep the dog near the camper and second to give an obstacle to anyone wanting to get close to our trailer.

We also have purposefully kept some wild blackberries going at the back of our camper to serve as an additional deterrent to people walking up behind our camper.

Handgun - I now carry a handgun with me anywhere it is legal. This help my wife feel secure and she also plans to get a gun after she receives some training. This is important to keep you safe from people, snakes, and any other wildlife animals.

Knives - I also try and carry a knife (At least one) all the time. This serves as the same purpose as the gun. We also have mace on our key ring and have a shotgun for home.

There are multiple other things you can do to help keep you safe that we plan to do such as, beware signs and others of the like, to taller fencing etc. Be creative and more importantly be safe.

The Bantam Voice
"Freed People, Free People"

First Seed Bought of the Year

We bought the first bulk seed on Wednesday for our new properties garden.

We purchased

15 lbs of white potatoes
15 lbs of red potatoes
1/2 ounce of broccoli
1/2 ounce of beets
1/2 ounce of kale

We previously purchased $4.00 worth of peas as well.

With this purchased and the previous $4.00 worth of seed we have spent $27.00 on seed so far this year. We will see how much we purchase this year versus the yield.

It will be exciting!

The Bantam Voice
"Freed People, Free People"

Dealing With Power Off Grid

Not using conventional power has been a freeing experience to my wife and I. We have been amazed at how little power we actually need and use. We have always read on solar panel websites,

"You'll never get enough panels to support what you will want to run."

We can say that we are using next to nothing and loving it. Every time we add something to help with power, lighting, or any good gadget it is just an amazing bonus, but not a crutch.

With that being said I did want to share how we harness power for the few gadgets and needs we have for power to maybe help you get some ideas.

1. Automobile - We use our car (with an inverter) to power and charge our computers, cell phones, and dvd player. We also use it to charge the cordless drill and for the coffee grinder or other small items like this etc.

2. Handtools - For most things that require power we have replaced with hand power or plan to in the future. Blenders, ice cream makers, and even popcorn makers are all great off grid products that are fairly cheap. We have gotten a popcorn popper and use it over the fire. Our son absolutely loves popcorn and enjoyes it more than anything.

3. Solar Panels - Solar panels are in our future although we have never used them. We own some solar panels, but we haven't gotten them set up. They have huge upsides and downsides mainly that they are expensive and well big.

4. Alternative Power - Things like the power dome ex, batteries, propane, alchohol, and on and on. The power dome ex has the following things built into it.

600 cranking amp auto jump starter
260 PSI high power motor air compressor
400 watt AC power inverter, high intensity LED light
Built-in AM/FM radio with iPod™ input
2 AC Outlets and 1 DC outlets

It is basically an awesome car jumper. I love mine, but have run into problems with charging it, but plan to try charging it with the car while driving.

5. Going Without - The biggest thing in regards to power is learning to go without. Like I said earlier we are shocked with how little power we need and use.

There are other ways of getting power through wind, water, bicycles, etc and we may do some of all of those, but no immediate future plans are in the mix.

We do plan on cooking with a wood stove at the new property frequently, but can't do that in the city. We also have a fire at least 3 nights a week and cook around the fire and enjoy each other around the fire.

We are not only free from the system of a power company, but also from that bill. We can now invest over $100 a month into other things rather than power. We truly feel more free than we ever have.

Not all people need to give up all power, but try some of the things we have or other ideas you find online just to reduce your electric bill or to feel the satisfaction of doing something from your own hands. It really does connect you with something simpler and something special.

The Bantam Voice
"Freed People, Free People"

Variety Gardening

We have just started getting our gardens on our new property ready for growing. We have decided to have several different types of gardens including, square foot gardening, hugulkultur gardening, traditional row gardening, and a Jason Aikers natural garden.

We want to be able to document the different types of gardening and learn from each type of gardening the pro's and the con's and how to possibly come up with a different system. I will give a brief summary of each type of gardening.

Square Foot Garden – This is a raised bed garden with compost, peat moss, and vermiculite. There is a particular mixture that allows the bed to drain, but hold enough water due to the vermiculite.

The bed is at least 2 foot deep of this perfect mixture of soil. You then break the bed (for us 4x4 beds) into 1 square foot squares where you will put your plants. One square may be for mint and then the next tomato and on the other side eggplant. It stresses plant variety to help defend against pest and disease and allows for strength in diversity.

We have had a huge success with this type of gardening, but to get started you need store bought materials and then you need to put compost (hopefully your own) on it twice a year after that to feed the soil. Super easy to get started and I guarantee you will grow and be addicted to gardening.

Hugulkultur Gardening – This is a different type of raised bed. You raise the dirt by burying logs underneath the soil. The benefits of this are amazing and exciting.

The first year as the logs start to decompose it releases lots of nutrients back into the soil acting as a time release fertilizer. The logs also help holds water and keep the raised bed moist.

We have never gardened this way, but are excited about this first year of hugulkultur gardening.

Row Gardening – We have all seen row gardening and may have even done it before. My wife and I started this way, because that is all we had seen. That is how you have to garden... isn't it?

We started with watermelon, pumpkins, cucumbers, and maybe squash. Well we got hammered by squash bugs the first year along with every other kind of critter. We had no idea about plant diversity and that we had given a breeding ground that there would only be one pest and no predators.

We haven't written off this type of gardening, but plan to be smart with this type of gardening. We want to try plant diversity in the rows rather than give squash bugs a buffet. Any pest will have to work around all the smells of herbs, squash, tomatoes, onions, etc. It is more difficult for them to find their desired plant when they aren't bunched together. Even if they do find their plant they on get one plant not the whole row.

Jason Aikers Gardening – Jason Aikers aka, the self sufficient gardener, has a unique way of going about gardening. He favors using cardboard, newspaper, and mulch to kill the majority of grass/weeds in the garden area and then plant seeds without digging up the soil.

He reasons that when you till up the ground you ruin the entire micro organism life that is going on underneath the surface (Which is true) and that you would be better off to allow whatever grows with your garden to grow with your garden. No weeding, no tilling, and no watering. He believes in letting nature do its own thing.

We are giving it a go with all four gardening types and will keep you up on the results.

Bantam Voice
“Freed People, Free People”

Rabbit Tractors

Here is our rabbits in their moveable cages. We made them ourselves (obviously) out of different fencing and other cages we had. We used wood to give them a "spine" and help hold the shape of the two that have curved tops.

The tarps laying over the cage that shelter the rabbits are bags that held feed and compost.

The cost of these to make are about $5.00 if you have scrap wood(but you have to buy the fencing in 100 foot rolls) compared to the $30.00 cage we bought from the store.

We move the rabbits once or twice a day so they can "graze" on the grass, but also supplement their feeding with other greens out of our garden and some store bought feed.

When the doe rabbit has babies we will have to move the momma and babies out of this style of cage due to the possibility of the momma feeling scared. If a mother rabbit feels too scared she will eat her babies.

We have found that our rabbits have flourished and have loved this approach of moving around our back yard ten times more than being stacked near each other without grazing. There was one of our rabbits (prior to grazing them) that was skin and bones and refused to eat anything and was near dead in his cage, but has made a full recovery since he started grazing.

We do plan on eating our rabbits and plan on it being one of our main source of meats. 3 rabbits (2 does and 1 buck) if properly handled and bred will produc 600 lbs of meat in a year at 1/3 the cost of feed compared to a cow. Another distinct advantage of the rabbits over a cow is that you can slaughter only as much meat as you need compared to having to store all the extra beef you have following slaughter of a cow.

We are also getting ready to explore the possibility of guinea pigs as a meat source (We hear they are tasty and even better than rabbits in regards to the meat/feed ratio) but we will let you know what comes of that.

Our son loves the rabbits and will take us back to the cage to feed and water the rabbits. Our dogs stand perplexed every day looking at the rabbits, but have not tried to harm them in any way.

Rabbit Cage (Store) $30.00
Rabbit Tractor/Cage $5.00

Savings of $25.00
Healthy rabbits - Priceless
This does not take into account the savings you will see in feed costs as your rabbits eat the greens. It also does not take into account how much healthier I believe the rabbits are while being closer to their natural state.

The Bantam Voice
"Freed People, Free People"

Homemade Powdered Laundry Detergent

This recipe is awesome we got it from ehow
Things You'll Need
Borax
Washing Soda
Bar of soap
Container
Cheese grater or food processor

1
Shop the laundry/cleaners aisle at your local grocery store or Walmart to find the Borax and Washing Soda (not to be confused with baking soda). Look in the same aisle for Fels Naptha or Zote bar soap, which is typically recommended for these recipes but often hard to find. If unable to find one of those two brands, head over to the soap section of your store and pick up a bar of soap such as Ivory.

2
Gather ingredients at home. Grind bar of soap in food processor or cheese grater. The finer the pieces of soap the quicker it dissolves. Mix in 2 cups of Borax and 2 cups of Washing Soda. Shake well and store in an air tight container. An old jar or ice cream bucket with lid works well.

3
Use 2 Tablespoons of mixture for each load of clothing. Enjoy clean clothes for a fraction of the price of store bought detergent!


Super easy, super cheap! Try it.

The Bantam Voice
"Freed People, Free People"

Dealing With Off Grid Lighting

No"grid electricity" makes you become very creative very fast. Questions like

"How do we do this now?"

Get answered fast or the idea is given up on even faster until a solution is found.

One obvious question is,

"What about lights?"

We have already conquered that a few summers ago by taping all our light switches down.

Obstacle - Lights

Solution - Candles, flashlights, oil lamps, book lights, even cell phones

We use a combination of all of the above, but rely on oil lamps and planning. If you want to collect wood and be able to see while doing it, better get it done before 5:30pm.

We have flashlights when we are looking for something in a closet or room where there are no oil lamps and even our cell phones if we can't find a flashlight close by.

We hope to get a crank flashlight soon so we don't have to rely on our batteries so much. We have solar panels, but haven't gotten everything we need to hook it all up yet. We will hook up LCD lights up to the solar panels and supply two lights into the camper, but we just aren't there yet and are enjoying how primitive everything is right now.

The Bantam Voice
"Freed People, Free People"