Big Hello from Ozark Mts."Off Grid...."

Hello to everyone
I have been a lurker here for quite awhile and figured it was time for me to join...

I am 43, female, married 2 children 2 step-children and a total of 9 grandchildren
My husband and I moved to the Ozark Mt. area almost 2 years ago and are living 85% off grid.....

We started with undeveloped land ( 5 acres ) lived in a camper for 8 months,no electric,running water,nothing pretty much.
Decided we would have electric run in for some use,but still no well.running water. We haul in and store our water.
Rain water collection system,grey water area, composting toilet and an outhouse for when the weather isnt too bad outside...LOL (at least me,hubby use it in all kinds of weather if need be..hehehe)
We beleive in recycling/reusing anything we can.

Did pay cash for our little cheap camper but everything else we have used to add on or build has been either given to us ( including our 2 bedroom mobile home we now have ) or items we have found.
We have one room addition done and are working on the other,which we all done out of pallets and scrap plywood we found at a factory.
We have even built our 3 chicken coops and our 3 small goat barns/shelters pig pens, an other verious out buildings from scrap pallets.plywood,and building supplies we have gotten from taking down building/rooms no one wants anymore....

We limit ourselves to 2-3 hours TV and other electric.
(however in the hot months of the summer we did have to run the air in the hottest part of the day for around 4 hours,due to the medication I am on which I get over heated quickly.) But we tried to go to the local swimming hole to cool off when it was over 100 degrees.
And we do use electric to run our deep freezer part of the time,the other part is off battery banks.
Heat with a wood burning stove. Do most of our cooking on the firepit, BBQ Gril or woodburner in the winter.
We do have a small propan tank so I can bake in the oven but working on plans for an outdoors "Earth Oven"

We raise all of our pork and chicken, have laying hens for fresh eggs,do some fishing (hubby does some hunting/trapping and now have a small herd of dairy/meat goats. ( learning how to milk goats...lol ) and we have 2 large gardens,not including small areas around the place. Also wild fruits,berries,muchrooms and verious plants on our property.
We can and dry our foods also freeze some meats and such...

We have had as many as 400 animals at one time (counting our many cats and dogs..LOL ) but now only have the small herd of goats 19 ,chickens 70 ,ducks 31 and a few rabbits..11 to be exact...
Our 4 dogs and 15 cats/kittens
(we rescue both domestic as well as farm animals)
Getting another feeder pig for more fresh pork...

Hard to beleive I live like this,for I was a big city gal ( Houston Texas ) just a short 3 years ago,and married to a pretty "well to do" ex husband.
Now I am the farm/woodsgal in the middle of nowhere..LOL ( But really couldnt be happier....)
Oh did I mention that the majority of our 5 acre property is wooded?

I was a nurse for years and now am disabled and my hubby was an OTR Truck Driver when I met him 3 years go and now is working our small farm we have.
We do a lot of bartering as well...
I know sometime soon there will be no more goverment asst. and we are trying to be as self sufficent as possible.

It isnt easy how we live and isnt for everyone,but we LOVE it even thou most all of our friends we left behind in our home states and ALL of our families think we have lost our minds to Want To Live Like This...LOL
If anyone has any question about living how we do or just wanna chat I am here.....

I come upon ATS by accident and "Fell in Love"

Well enough about my life story.....
I look forward to interesting and unique conversation with like minded people,most everyone I know think we are crazy for preparing for whatever may come....
I am interested in many many topics on ATS
So you will be seeing me around all over the place..

Thanks so much for reading my Long Long Long story...LOL

( Oh and on a side note please excuse me if my grammer isnt perfect for all the medication I am on I sometimes dont catch everything ...Sorry..)

Peace


.

reply to post by NaNa1968

What a great story with detail and charm, much thanks for sharing NaNa! Sounds like there are not too many dull moments around there eh? I love the Ozarks, and the fall colors are just amazing!
Welcome to our hood, and yes it is good to settle amongst like minds, even in cyber space. ATS is a great front row seat to events, speculation and wit pertaining to our current times. You sound kind, curious and awake, which makes for good neighbors, imo. Enjoy the show and if ya need any help getting around the site, shoot me a PM.

Peace,
spec

I really enjoyed reading your story! That must have been quite a change for you, but I am glad you are happy.

So much of our lives lies in maintaining our "stuff" and purchasing our "stuff" and worrying about our "stuff," and even arguing over our family's "stuff" after they die. Can you believe that? I've seen more family's part ways after aruging about an antique sugar bowl. (That is a true story, by the way.)

How about maintaining your outside relationships? How does that work? Can you have visitors? Do you entertain? That might sound silly, but relationships are an important part of life, since we are social animals.

And what was the biggest change for you? The hardest thing to get used to?

Thanks so much for sharing. And welcome!

Welcome

I envy your self sufficiency....and I don't think your nuts at all.

You sound like you'll fit in here very well..and I'm sure there will be some questions for you, as well as lots of info you can use..which you're probably already aware of.

Look forward to reading your thoughts on the subjects you care to address..

reply to post by NaNa1968


Beautiful... You my dear have found your mind, not lost it.
You have discovered what it means to be truly human, truly free.
Best of wishes for you and yours...

reply to post by speculativeoptimist


Hi,and thanks so much....
I am very excited about joining this site..
Yeah not much down time here..LOL
Ozarks are Beautiful and espically during the change of colors..Just now starting here,but with the strange weather this year our tree leaves have been turning brown for few months now in different area's

And yes I am Very curious lol and do try to treaat others as I would want them to treat me,I was raised that way and to not judge anyone until you walk a mile in their shoes...
Some very good advice my late father gave me many many years ago....

Thanks again for the offer for help,,Nice to be welcomed...

Peace

reply to post by MRuss


Hello
and thanks for the warm welcome

Yes it is sooo true for a lot of people to live around how much "stuff" they have or can get...
Unfortuntly I use to be that way myself....Sad,amazing after I moved here and started living this type of life how much you realize most of that "stuff" you dont need and can not really make you happy..
I too have know families torn apart by fighting over items of their beloved...So So So Sad..

We do have outside relationships with a few people in the area...
Everyone around these parts live mostly like us except have the water electric cable etc....
We have one wonderful neighbor who has lived up here for over 25 years,she was the first here,no dirt roads to get in or anyting and she raised her 5 children here with no electric for 6 years and no well for water for 10..
God bless her....
She is a true surviorlist.....And proud of it..I have learned much from her...

I guess the hardest thing for me to get use to was not having the money I was so use to for soooo many years.
My shopping trips,nails,tanning,name brand clothing,oh and lets not forget my 4 bedroom 3 bath home with an inground pool and hot tub...Honestly I do sometimes miss it,but ya know when I get depressed (which isnt often anymore ) I look out my window from my "free old mobile home and half finished rooms" and stare at the tiny camper we lived in and did I mention we started out our adventure here in December....(and let me tell you that camper was COLD with no electric and all the cracks and leaks and air holes....lol )
And I see how far we have come and how much we have now it ( which isnt much of anything to the average person ) means sooo much more when you put your heart and soul not to mention all the sweat and tears.

My husband and I talked about just trashing the old camper becaue it really isnt worth much,air conditioner doesnt work,furnace doesnt work has some leaks still,but I told him I wanted to keep it for a reminder of what we went thru when we first moved here an as an insperation to continue what we are doing no matter how hard it gets I honestly dont think it could be as hard as that first winter was here and that hot summer....
So my hubby has put it to good use for keeping the newborn and baby chicks and ducks until they are old enough to be ok outside in the elements

People like you and others who have welcomed me here make me happy to know not everyone thinks we have "lost it" LOL

Thanks again....
Peace

reply to post by gabby2011


Hi and thanks so much
I am feeling sooo warm and wlcome from everyone.
I have learned so much from what I have read on here so far and I am always full of lots and lots of questions..
I would be more then happy to answer any questions anyone has for me,and if I dont know the answers I will try an point them in the right direction.
Not like it was for us before we moved out here,you are always seeing on youtube and other sites of people saying how easy it is to live off grid and everything...WOW WHAT A BIG LIE....
I said when I found out the real truth about living like this that I would NEVER EVER Lie to anyone on how easy it is to just make a buck..
All my information would be FREE and HONEST.....
Again thanks so much for the warm welcome.....

Peace

reply to post by intrptr


Hi and thanks so much,I think I am finally finding my mind and learing what it is like to be human and free along with nature....
I wish you and yours best wishes as well

And again a BIG THANK YOU to ALL of you for your warm welcomes....

Peace and Love to all.....

Hello and welcome, it's great to meet you!
Can you tell me a little bit more about how you survived without water hookups? I'm researching how to get into the sort of life you are living and that's one of the hardest areas I've come across, is how to secure water.
Do you have any advice for someone who wants to do this within the next 2 years?

Hello! I am also new to the site and I am also from your neck of the woods (Benton County) won't disclose exact location obviously but welcome to the site!

reply to post by NaNa1968


Welcome to ATS

I'm trying to get our family as self sufficient as possible. I don't want to work forever and in case it hits the fan, I wanna be able to eat and survive.

Cool story, I hope to have one like that one day.

Big question for you, how are you 'feeding' caretaking all those animals? Have you discovered the ticks, chiggers, fleas here in abundance and what do you use for worm control on all those pets and livestock?

Also how are you keeping them comfortable now that the temps are almost in the single digits? How did you manage when the temps were over 100 for weeks with 100% humidity last summer?

Anyway, the reality is often quite different than the fairytale and with your income it concerns me.

Welcome aboard hope you make many discoveries here.