Art in the desert

You can see many things in the desert, some see desolation, others see stark beauty, yet others take what they see and transform it into…

Hugelkultur

Hugelkultur, pronounced hugle (like bugle but with a “h”) culture, it’s really simple, combining raised beds with lots of organic material under and on top…

Off-Grid tent living

This is interesting and unexpected, it’s a 4 season tent,  the video shows it in winter with a blanket of snow.  Unlike a yurt, this…

130 square foot apartment

I like writing about tiny homes and alternative housing,  this is an interesting look at how some people live in South Korea, coming in at…

Hard core van living

In this episode of our Van Life adventure we find a very rare VW mechanic and get to work putting right what “The Mother of…

Floating tiny home

This is one of of the most interesting tiny home / floating homes I’ve ever seen! I love the look of this,  I could totally…
Horse drawn life off the grid

UK Off-Grid Festival

August 11th – 14th Britain’s emerging community will open the doors of perception and glimpse Another World. The annual Off-Grid Festival in Exeter, Devon is…

Tiny home tour

Julie Olson needed a traveling home for her mobile dog training business. With no architecture training, she drew up plans for exactly what she needed…

Handy hacks

Modern technology is an amazing thing,  once open a time,  if you wanted to read about something,  to learn about something,  you had to go…

What are we going to do?

We live off-grid, on a mountain side in the high desert of far west Texas, since December 2007, we have embedded ourselves quite deeply in…

Off-Grid 4th of July

This year,  we had the best 4th of July celebration,  the SkyCastle has become quite the destination spot for our friends,  so PB (Primitive Bob)…

SkyCastle upgrade

  The SkyCastle is getting a facelift, or an upgrade, however you wish to look at it. This all started out from PB needing to…

The truth about solar

A current and interesting look at solar power today,we have truly come a long way. Of course battery technology is still pretty far behind, prices…

Por Qué No Comprar Grano para Gallinas

Cuando me imagino criando pollos, siempre es de campo libre (¡por supuesto!), Veo a un granjero caminando por una bandada de hackeadores hambrientos arrojando puñados…
solar shed

Cobertizos Solares en Venta

UNITY, Maine – 11 de abril – Para Joas Hochstetler, gerente de Backyard Buildings , propiedad de los Amish , la idea de fabricar un…

Encuentro con un Siervo Canadiense

Aquellos que me han seguido durante algunos años deberían recordar mi encuentro con los alces hace unos tres años, causaron bastante daño, pero PB pudo…

Abuso fuera de la red

La historia impactante de Tara Westover, que cuenta en su libro de memorias recientemente publicado ‘Educated’ arroja una sombra inmerecida sobre las familias fuera de…

Lidiar con la Burocracia

<a href=”https://off-grid.net/dealing-with-bureaucracy/feds-attack-rancher/” rel=”attachment wp-att-59153″><img class=”size-full wp-image-59153″ src=”https://off-grid.net/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/feds-attack-rancher.jpg” alt=”Feds attack Rancher” width=”444″ height=”274″ /></a> Not only in Nevada La vida fuera de la red y la…

Barn shaped blueberry

Laura and Rory’s barn shaped blueberry tiny home,  they designed it themselves,  I love the little touches that makes it theirs. With clever ideas,  they…

Uninvited guests

They are back,  the uninvited guests who arrive as soon as the weather turns warm enough. I’m talking about bugs,  insects and arachnids.  In the…

Keeping your cool

It’s hot here in the desert,  but it’s dry heat (as they like to say),  this is the time of the year when it gets…

Stealth camper van

Living out of a van, for some that would sound like a nightmare, for others, a dream come true. To happily live in a van,…

Go away mosquito!

Is Zika a real problem, is it a man made disease, or is it just a smokescreen to deflect our attention somewhere else? I don’t…

A woman living off-grid

As a woman living off-grid, I can speak definitively about this. But apparently I’m not the average woman. Many women I speak to, they tend…

Life updates in west Texas

Things have been going pretty well here in the SkyCastle, summer is definitely knocking, warm to hot days, cool to cold nights… The rainy season…

Root cellars

With spring in the air, summer right around the corner, many of our gardens are booming with lots of produce, much of it we eat…

Motivation

There are many things that motivate us, motivation is neither positive or negative, though many think of it as a positive thing, but it isn’t…
Thomas Massie is a right wing libertarian

Off-Grid Congressman

Kentucky Congressman Thomas Massie lives off the grid with his family, on a cattle farm in a solar-powered home he built himself. He commutes to…

Hunting in the evening

I went hunting tonight, my quarry is small and hard to find, unless you have the right equipment. I only bagged one this evening, it…

She built this

It’s said that necessity is the mother of invention, well this mom and her three young kids were very much in need of a place…

Beth’s van conversion

Vandwelling is an interesting way to live, having your home and your vehicle all in one, this lady converted her van into a home herself,…

Making a tree sanctuary

Shelli Stanback didn’t just want to write checks to worthy causes that help preserve our natural world or promote a healthier future. “It’s a different…

Mobile homeless

I write quite a bit about tiny homes, both on and off wheels, many choose to live this lifestyle in tiny accommodations, some of the…

Off-Grid Festival 2016

 A unique festival that teaches us How to live “Off-Grid” and in “harmony with our environment” Off-Grid festival is an green gem of a family…
Writer Dovely holding her baby goat

Going Off-Grid – Jump, Run or Walk

By Dovely from cherrylovefarmm.com Figuring out how to get from where you are to that sustainable garden of Eden can be daunting. We would all…

Buy a town in Southern Nevada

There’s an entire town on the market in rural Southern Nevada; Before the economy crashed there was a queue of buyers. Senate Minority Leader Harry…

Veg-oil powered bus

“Buses convert really well to motor homes…” says Jade, a builder who transformed a school bus into his beautiful home on wheels. The first thing…

Welcome

Looking for ways to get involved? or Looking to start your own off-grid community? Check out some of our features to get you started… Post…

Solar thermal pool heater

Imagine stepping out of your tiny off-grid home and diving into a large, warm swimming pool. Yes, the millionaire lifestyle but for only a few…

Gravel vac Bobbage

I seriously considered using a title that said something like “my hubby sucks”, but honestly I don’t need to hype what he does, he is…

Humor, off-grid

Living off-grid, much of our entertainment is self generated, in other words, we crack ourselves up :) A couple of days ago, this conversation could…

Spring is near

Spring is just around the corner, I am noticing the oak trees, which keep their leaves all winter long, are beginning to turn, they fall…

Is it too late?

What are your skills? Everyone has something they can do and do well, something that you enjoy doing, hopefully you are making your living doing…

Half track, full genius

The last couple of weeks, PB has been watching lots of track wheel vehicle videos on YouTube, I just thought he was on another rabbit…

High end tiny house

Most of the tiny homes I have seen are built on a tight budget, this one was built with more high end features in mind,…

Jean’s Yurt

Another in our series of photos by Beth Bicknell. Jean’s yurt was possible one of the most cosy, exquisite structures Beth visited. A yurt she’s…

Three things this week

First thing, as I sit here tonight, sipping herbal tea that tastes like a sugar cookie, it’s quite a different night from last night, for…

Off-Grid crock pot

I love the idea of cooking low and slow, but being off-grid means I don’t have the electricity to spare to run an electric crock…

Bob’s Van

Bob is a blacksmith living in a van within wooded area owned by friends, just outside of a small village in Mid Wales. He’s lived…

Living in a greenhouse

I’m sure I’m not the only person who ever wondered how it would be to build a greenhouse around your house, these folk in Stockholm…

He was my inspiration

I grew up in a family that did things together, we didn’t have the money to spend on vacations or trips, but we always ate…
Mike Basich - in his self built home next to the ski slopes

Pro-Snowboarder builds Tiny Home

Mike Basich was earning $170,000 a year, travelling the world to compete in international snowboarding championships and living in a 4,000 square foot home. Ten…
WIN A COPY OF "OFF THE GRID"  

WIN A COPY OF “OFF THE GRID”  

Do you have ​great pictures of your Off-Grid cabin, shack, trailer​…. ​or somebody else’s that you happened to be visiting? Now is your opportunity to…

Iron age reality show

The original reality show, filmed in 1978, 12 adults and 3 children were chosen from around 1000 volunteers to live in the “iron age”, they…

No debt

As I watched this video, listening to Karen and Bob describing their life in the home they built themselves, the one phrase that really jumped…

Off-grid community in Leipzig

Sustainability and pursuing the eco dream is no easy feat when living in the heart of a major European city. High rents, cramped living, pollution,…

Off-Grid girl on American Idol

All the way from a remote mountaintop 6 miles from Crawford CO, Jeneve Rose Mitchell didn’t think she was ready to take her small-town voice…
Wearable charging device that hanresses your own body movement

Harness your own kinetic energy

Ampy’s Move harnesses your own body energy and pumps it back into your cellphone or any other device. Checking the expected battery life of any…

Freezing week

A great deal of the USA went through a major deep freeze, we were not spared here in far west Texas. We got dumped on…

Florida: People vs. Utilities

A battle is developing in Florida between the solar power movement, and some of the most venal and vindictive utility companies in America. At stake is the…

Montana Music Man

Greg Grant, born in New York, has spent the last 21 years living in his self-built off-grid home in Montana. In this clip we interview…

Putting the Pee into PC

A new form of recycling is about to hit Silicon Valley. The eco-friendly technology uses urine to power a computer. The technology is the next…

Do you see what I see?

There are many things we can live without and still do pretty well, but eyesight isn’t one of them. I know there are many folk…

Free energy

A few years before we moved off-grid, I had discovered an energy drink that I liked and worked, it was 5 Hour Energy, I didn’t…

Blustery December

Winter is officially here, we have had a few hard freezes, it even snowed a bit the other day, fortunately the snow and other weather…
jeremy corbyn

Power to the people says Jeremy Corbyn

UK Labor Leader comes out for Distributed Power Says Britain must empower citizen suppliers and direct private investment into green technology “This week world leaders…
Printable Solar Cells

Printable Solar Cells

The Victorian Organic Solar Cell Consortium in Australia has started to showcase solar cells made with a 3D printer. According to Fiona Scholes, senior examination…
REfugee camps are almost permanent and residents are putting down roots for a permanent off-grid life

Refugee camps are future cities

The growing number of refugees flooding into camps worldwide could drastically redraw urban areas, it has been claimed. Most camps are largely off-grid, with fires…
Foraging

Foraging gifts for the family

Foraging for food sounds difficult but with these tips you will get an easy start – and soon become an expert forager. Introducing foraging into your…
The trailer home of alleged killer Robert Dear who regularly had disputes with neighbors and women

The Off-Grid Killer

At first sight, Robert L Dear might seem like many thousands of other reclusive cabin-dwellers in deserted parts of America. In his late 50s, divorced,…
German battery company launches scheme to sell your surplus solar energy to your neighbour

Sharing solar power in Germany

BERLIN, Nov 25 (Reuters) – German battery maker Sonnenbatterie has launched a scheme to connect households with solar panels together with their neighbours, and other consumers.…

Earthship project on CNN

The divisive figure of Mike Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture, has been in the press again, this time on CNN. His company built 15 off-grid cliff-top homes in…

Don’t get sick

It’s that time of the year when people stop spending so much time outside, between the cold weather and the sun going down so much…

History all around me

Going off-grid for us meant moving some 500 miles west of the place where I grew up, but I am fortunate to still have a…
NC Outward Bound School Veterans

Veterans forge a wild kind of peace

Relationships begun on rope courses, rock climbs and backpacking treks translate into an ease around the campfire where many US Army veterans start to talk about themselves,…

Tiny home documentary

I really appreciate how tiny homes are becoming more and more mainstream as well as legal, though many still have to “get around” codes and…
Home and Away star makes off-grid plans in Tasmania

Actress Lisa Gormley builds off-grid

Aussie actress Lisa Gormley is in the middle of building an off-the-grid eco cabin in the Tasmanian rainforest. The 30-year-old moved to Tasmania with her…

Spy in your fridge

Individuals deserve a clearer understanding of the data that companies are collecting from the new generation of digital, connected devices, said Vinton G. Cerf, Internet…

Dry flush toilet

No matter how you choose to live, off-grid, in a tent, a tiny house, a dome, everyone has to go to the bathroom. That is…
off-grid in North Devon - animals make the money while you sleep

Off-Grid living on British TV

Channel 5, the smallest UK channel, is featuring a British off-grid family next month as part of a series which usually visits pioneers around the world. The show…

Knights Hospitaller

The fall and winter holidays are here, we just went through the first one, Halloween, it’s not something I have been really big on celebrating,…
UK commune siuccess story - Windosr Hill Wood leader Tobias Jones

Freedom through Community

Tobias Jones is a co-founder of Windsor Hill Wood community in Somerset. His book about his community, Buy “A Place of Refuge” from Amazon UK,…
Company with largest corruption fine in history is caught out again

Siemens NY power plant false claims

In an echo of the VW emissions scandal, a Siemens power plant paid for entirely with public money was built on the basis of false claims about its energy…

Stuck in for 3 days

Earlier this week, I only worked Monday and Tuesday, I had an unexpected “vacation” after that. On my way home Tuesday, I passed through a…

OPSEC

Just how much can you divulge? How much should you divulge? You want to be more prepared, you have become more prepared, you have a…
Escape to Crete - container living

Sold up and gone to Crete

Artist and carpenter Julienne Dolphin Wilding has recently sold her flat in Kings Cross and bought land in Crete. She shipped out all her possessions…

Must have fire

Here is another Bobbage project, we have a semi-enclosed deck space between the bedroom and the laundry room or whatever that room is this week…

Wife, me and tea tiny home

Tiny homes are all the rage today, once built, you have to find appliances and furniture to fit those small spaces, and you must utilize…
Elaine seated in her permaculture garden

Australian off-grid hero

Go back a few years and the media loved to laugh at people who went off the grid. Increasingly journalists wish they could be doing it…

Unplugged Nation review

As a couple, PB and I have lived 100% off-grid since Dec 22, 2007, we have lived pretty rough, doing everything ourselves on a very…

Backup plan for internet

What’s your backup plan? Do you have one? I hope so, everyone needs one no matter where or how they live. Today I’ll discuss communication.…

Here I am

  My dream, it’s something I have had more or less since I was a very little girl, I’ve always loved nature, wild places, as…

The Lilypad

The Lilypad, love the name, love the home, it’s one of the cutest tiny homes I’ve seen, I know I say that a lot, but…

What are you doing?

Where do you see yourself next week, next month, next year, in a decade? Are you actively planning your life or are you merely floating…