In March 2020, grocery store shelves ran barren of toilet paper, milk, eggs, and bread. Everyone panicked about where they were going to get the staples they needed to feed their families. Well, almost everyone. You see, most seasoned homesteaders were doing just fine. And as regular folks slowly realized the value of keeping backyard…
Our Relaxed Homeschool Schedule and Routine
If you’re a new or sudden homeschooler, especially if you’re home because of the ongoing crisis, this schedule reflects what our typical day looked like pre-crisis. I look forward to when we can get back to this. Our daily routine is pretty similar even with social distancing; we’re just not going out to our favorite…
Four Big Worries of New and Sudden Homeschool Parents: How You Can Relax and Succeed Right Now
If you’re suddenly homeschooling because your school is closed or if you are relatively new to it by choice, there’s no doubt that it can be a difficult adjustment from traditional schooling. You might be struggling to find a routine that works for you. Or maybe you’re constantly fighting with your kids to get school…
How a Former High School Teacher Learned to Love Homeschooling
Homeschooling has taken on a new meaning recently as the current crisis has sent students across the world home to learn. Parents are struggling with suddenly educating at home, perhaps while also being out of work or having to work from home. What does learning at home look like? Take a moment to dive into…
Garden Projects You Can Do For Cheap or Free
Creating a beautiful garden shouldn’t take a lot of money. We run our homestead by the ethos of “Use it up, wear it out, make do, or do without,” so most of our gardening projects are things we’ve been able to do with cheap or even free materials right here from our own land. Before…
How to Make an Abundant Container Garden For Free
When we were in the middle of building our off-grid homestead, we weren’t able to plant a garden in the ground there. With all of the trucks and machines rolling around, it was nearly impossible to prep the soil and plant a garden! So we resorted to container gardening. The problem? Since we were putting…
What Does It Actually Mean to be “Off The Grid”?
There are many off-grid living groups on the internet, and invariably at least once a week I’ll see someone post a question like this: “How can you be off the grid and still be posting on the internet???? That isn’t off the grid.” There’s often confusion about what off-grid living actually is and what it…
What We Run (and don’t run) on Our Small 1.14 kW Off-Grid Solar System
I often get questions about our small off-grid solar power system. If you’re looking to go off-grid at some point and are curious about how much you really need, I hope our experience will help you figure it out. I’ll be breaking down our experience using our most frequently asked questions. What We Run (and…
Going Zero-Waste (When No One Else Cares)
I recently had a few friends ask variations of this same question: “How do you get your partner on board with being more zero-waste? I feel like I’m fighting an uphill battle because my partner just isn’t on the same page.” For those of us who fancy ourselves on a journey to zero or minimal…
Our All-Time Favorite Books for Homesteaders
As we’ve waded into the world of homesteading, we’ve gotten a lot out of YouTube videos and blogs. But above all of those things the most important resources we’ve had? BOOKS. A few weeks ago, I got an email from one of you in our Accidental Hippies community asking: ”Emily- do you have recommendations on…