Living simply is not always... simple

Welcome to my holler in Appalachia Ohio, where creating a little off-grid homestead has been a journey of climbing—and stumbling over—learning curves of all shapes and sizes.

Living simply actually can be a lot of work, what with constantly carrying in firewood, emptying the compost toilet, hauling drinking water from the spring, cooking some variation of bean soup on a daily basis throughout winter… you get the picture. But despite the self-imposed hardship of living off the grid, miles from nowhere, the blessings surround me. 

The rewards are worth the journey on the road to self-sufficiency. I live alone except for my sweet rednose pittie and a big, yellow cat. My land is beautiful in a wild way, with a huge variety of edibles and medicinals—most of which are indigenous to this very land, and wildlife that includes everything from tiny songbirds to great blue herons, from flocks of wild turkeys to families of whitetail deer. And of course, the packs of yapping coyotes that wake me up some nights with their eerie howling when they’ve made a kill somewhere up the hill deep in the woods. I also have all kinds of reptiles. I won’t describe any of my reptile encounters because I know some people will just freak. Yep, they are that big. I’ve heard that there are also bears and wild hogs but I haven’t seen either of those… yet. I hope I never meet up with a wild hog!

Back in 2006 before my Lew died, we bought a little Amish-built log cabin/shed. Two years later, I bought this land and had the cabin moved here. After several false starts and set-backs, I’m finally making some progress. I’ve doubled my square footage, added solar power, a greenhouse and garden, little porches, a patio and an earth oven. I’ve also started an orchard of dwarf fruit trees.

My spring fed creek has never gone dry in the eight years that I’ve been here. My two solar panels provide enough electricity to charge my phone, Kindle and laptop, a few lights, small fans, tools and sometimes (during sunny, summer months) even a little washing machine. I also have a solar powered video camera with a motion sensor and an amazing flood light. My biggest problem is a lack of refrigeration, and I’m currently working on a combination root cellar-storm shelter. It will be a fantastic addition to my tiny homestead. And speaking of self-sufficient: I recently read a Christian psychology book that repeatedly claims self-sufficiency is a sin. OMG 

Anyway, here I am, semi-self-sufficient (semi-sinful?) and doing the best I can, balancing the physical demands of survival with a spiritual craving for connection to the Great Spirit. The hardest part of living so isolated is not seeing my grandchildren more often than I do. I still love making natural herbal soaps, although these days I make just enough to provide for myself and a few close friends and family. With the downsizing of my entire lifestyle, I have not been selling my products, certainly not like I did during those years up on Chapel Ridge with Lew when I had my herbal business. 

About living simply… It only works when you have the basics down, a system in place not only for survival but for life enrichment. To aim for just survival keeps us from achieving our potential, which ultimately is enlightenment. We may not all reach enlightenment but we can aim for it, get as high up the pyramid as possible. Maslow had something going when he came up with that pyramid: At the bottom, the most basic needs must be met before moving up to, say, art and self-actualization. So the most basic needs include a comfortable, safe home, however tiny and simple, plus a way to store food—actually several ways. 

One of the most important things I’ve learned on this journey is to have diverse ways of doing things in case one way fails for whatever reason. For example, a root cellar for potatoes, squash and apples, plus a stash of dried grains and veggies, plus a few shelves of canned goods. Diversity also applies to heat sources because, well, things go wrong sometimes and knowing you have a backup way to stay warm greatly enhances your sense of well-being when an ice storm rages outside. Currently I have a wood stove and a small propane heater for backup.

So, a brief summary of the most basic needs for living simply off the grid. I will add things to the list as I think of them, although you can find much more in-depth information at any of the many excellent prepper sites out there. One that I like is Backdoor Survival because it’s not only full of helpful prepper information but also the author is a woman and –most important to me—she doesn’t proselytize about politics or religion. Here is my list, garnered from my own experience so far:

A comfortable, safe home, no matter how small (and you get to determine what comfortable means to you!)

Variety of heating and cooking sources and fuels

Variety of food storage methods, including fresh greens in a cold frame or greenhouse during winter months

Reliable source of potable water

Source of additional water for laundry, bathing and watering the garden

A composting toilet or some kind of outhouse

I’m still working on things like finishing the kitchen interior and I have endless projects ahead of me to help my tiny homestead grow, but I have at last reached a comfort level that works for me most of the time. My off-grid life in the holler gets better with each passing season.