I had the opportunity to watch Les Stroud's documentary called Off The Grid.  It's a great film documenting how Les Stroud, Sue Jamison and their 2 young children bought a 150 acre abandoned 1930's farm land in Northern Ontario and started what a lot of us dream of: living a sustainable life closer to the land.

Les Stroud is probably better known for the TV series Survivorman where he spends 7 days marooned and surviving in various hostile locations throughout the world.  He filmed this documentary between seasons when he and his family decided to take the leap into this great adventure. 

I like the documentary because of its personal approach.  If you follow Survivorman you will see it follows the same format of narration and self interview.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised that it is not a be all end all film of latest technology stuffed with technical data and crap.  It's really a story of how and ordinary family can accomplish living a more simple life, off-grid and without a deep pocket book.  How the move affects different aspects of their lives and the overall pros and cons of this lifestyle change.  One of my favorite parts of the film is how they go over their concerns with how the move will affect their children.  Being a father myself, I could relate to their struggles of trying to have the best of both worlds: Urban activities and Rural lifestyle.

I would recommend this great documentary to anyone wanted to see an overview of what it would take to rebuild a homestead and live off-grid.  You can only fit in so much  in an hour and 10 minutes so it's an overview not a step by step blueprint, however there is a ton of great information packed in.  I watched it 3 times and still goign through notes of things to research myself. 

I would love to see a follow-up to this film where there is more detail in the rain water harvesting System and well, update on the new cabin, update on the integrated solar/wind system such as how they calculated their electrical consumption to size the system and how close they are to their numbers analysing their actual use... but most of all it would be great just to have an update on how the family is adapting to the move ;o)

If your interested, you can purchase a copy of the full documentary or if you're lucky you can catch it in 2 one-hour series from Canada's OLN (Outdoor Life Network) or and affiliate.

2010 is here and with it comes new plans and aspirations.  I'm sure everyone has felt that there are just not enough hours in a day to learn all the things you want to learn... at least that's how I feel ;o)  It would seem that every time I start learning one thing I get an idea for another project so I'm trying to come up with a "list" to keep me on track.

Like everyone else, we have a lot going on in our family while still working on living a more sustainable lifestyle and making the right choices for the environment and our future.  The following list is a transcription of my notepad I drafted up today and expanded on... daunting at first glance, but nice to have a starting point and some ideas.

Things to Learn & Research

• Custom Glassware:  This is a small hobby project for my wife and I to possibly make custom jewelry from scavenged sea glass.  Also looking into small kiln to fire glass jewelry.
• Sewing:  Have the sewing machine, just need to learn how to use it.  My mom will teach me ;o)  She is an awesome quilter and I can only hope to be half as good.
• Soap Making:  Want to learn to do this with my son so he can make is own special soap (incentive to bath nightly..lol)
• Beekeeping:  Always was interested in beekeeping and can watch/photograph bees being bees all day long. 
• Chickens:  Want to learn all I can about keeping chickens for eggs so when the time comes that I convince my wife I can jump at the opportunity. 
• Plan Garden for Preserves:  We don't have the luxury of gardening year round and have a short growing season.  Although we eat fresh all summer, we run out by the Thanksgiving so this year want to focus on expanding the garden and planning for preserves for the winter months.

Building/Fabrication Plans

• Old School Chalk Board: We want a large old school chalk board in our kitchen to mark down notes.  I want to scavenge some old weathered window frames or something to frame the actual board to give it an old country look.
• Soil Seedling Pot Maker:  This is a must for this year.  I have plans in my head on how to build this and am a hobbyist metal fabricator with tools so this should be easy right?
• Compost Grinder: Currently have a homemade pallet composing bin I'd like to throw into high gear and multiply.
• Wood Caddy: Going to fabricate a wood caddy to bring in my 3 cords of wood for winter heating that will also double as a gardening wagon.  I am not doing 284 hand loads down a flight of stairs again next year!
• Design & Fabricate Garden Ornaments:  I've been asked to do some metal sculptures so going to start with scare crow, bean poles, tomato posts and other functional garden ornaments that come to mind.
• Seedling Starter Rack/Lighting:  This is a must this year and probably the first project as planting season is coming soon!
• Cellar Cold Room:  Want to transform one corner of our cellar into a cold room for storing food during the winter.

Yard/Garden Plans

• Potato Stack:  I read up on this last year and will give it a try this year in a 4x4 bin.  Still have to work out the details as I'm not using old tires, but am curious to see how this method will work out.
• Plan Raised Beds:  This is the biggest change as we transition our conventional row garden to square foot/raised garden beds.  This is mostly due to having dogs and not having a fence around our current garden, plus it will really give character to the backyard along with other design changes.
• Water Catching/Watering System:  Currently have 2 x 55gal water barrels used to water the garden, but have a design in mind to use a 250gal container (think old school western water tower style).  Excited about this one if i can pull it off.

Well that list is a bit daunting and I know some items will drop and others will be added as priorities are shifted and everyday life events occur, but it's nice to have a list and starting point.  Time to start reading and designing plans for the Seedling Starter Rack/Lighting... can't wait to start!

During a visit with my wife's grand parents, who have lived in the country all their lives, I was reminded at how life was lived not too long ago.  At 80+ years old, they were still picking apples from their apple trees, proudly displayed cherry trees and even offered some seedlings for our Urban Homestead.  Their vegetable garden growing Canadian staples such as Green Beans, Corn and Potatoes looked great surrounded by gooseberries and raspberries bushes.  A quick visit in the root cellar to raid their canning shelf really brought the message back home... you can grow a great abundance of your own food!

The first step in moving towards a more self sufficient lifestyle is to start a vegetable garden.  Starting slow and working at your own pace.  The problem is the world got itself is such a hurry that it forgot the road from whence it came.

As first time gardeners, the key is to start slow.  Do not overwhelm yourself by turning your entire backyard into one huge garden, you will be wrought with disappointment.  There is a learning curve.  Take your time and get a good understanding of what works and what doesn't.  Here's a few ideas to get started...

Start small.  A raised bed garden four feet by eight feet would be sufficient. Start with two of them if you are ambitious.  You can mark off a section of your yard for feet by 12 feet if raised beds are not for you.  You can buy some peat moss and some composted manure to help the health of your soil as well.  Check your local gardening store for soil tests and take appropriate guided action.

Vegetable selection.  Again ask your neighbours or your local gardening store for vegetables that are easy to grow in your area.  In Eastern Canada these are Green Beans, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Onions, Green Peppers, Carrots and Potatoes to name a few.  Green Beans are great and the easiest to preserve by canning, same with Tomatoes.

Preserving yield.  There are many methods to preserve your crop to last you well into the winter.  Canning and freezing being the most prevalent.  You can also dehydrate some vegetables as well.  Being your first few years, you will most likely not have much to preserve and will most likely eating and sharing.  Once you know what and how to grow, as well as how much yield per crop to expect, you can expand your vegetable garden and plan your preservatives to hold you over winter.

If anything at all, gardening brings a sense of community as you share and learn knowledge and produce with your friends and neighbours.  Even though this is being written at the end of the this years growing season, that only means that next years planning is ready to start.  Keep tuned for tips on fall garden prep and cleanup as well as next season planning.

Keep it Green!