OUR JOURNEY OFF GRID: I rolled into my third month of living permanently on our OFF GRID land somewhat worse for wear. Then things got tough.
Intro & Recap
The first two months living off grid in our new little tiny home had been amazing, albeit a huge shock to the system in pretty much every way.
In month one I quickly learned that I needed to toughen up physically to handle this new lifestyle. I was loving being surrounded by nature, even if that meant having to negotiate with scorpions to use the outdoor plumbing. It was freezing cold, limiting what I could do outside, but getting our little indoor fireplace cooker was a game changer.
And in month two, we got the shower and sink on the go – wow! It felt like I’d stepped into a hotel! I still give thanks every time I step into that shower!
So I rolled into month three feeling a bit more confident and comfortable in my new off grid lifestyle. Unfortunately for me, month three was about to prove to be the most difficult period I go through in this whole experience. Here’s what went down…
Challenges Get Real
BYE BYE POWER
Our starter solar power set up failed in month three.
The GD Lite system was running as a light source (as per our early test, only one light at a time, but a goodly reliable light at that). We’d been using the Flexopower to charge batteries, cellphone, laptop and run a little AA energy rated bar fridge.
Then the input power cable pin broke, and I wasn’t able to connect the Flexopower to our solar panel to charge it.
Russ, who was still based in Cape Town for work, and travelling to the farmstead for weekends whenever he could, took it back to Cape Town with him to get sent back for repair / replacement. While I settled in for two weeks of no contact with the outside world and no refrigeration. (It turned out to be longer).
Water Woes
At the same time, I was trying to eke out the limited drinking water supply and food. I was still dependent on our filling water containers at the spring in Tradouw’s pass for drinking and cooking.
Russ got booked for another shoot that couldn’t be missed, pushing out his next visit by a few more days than we’d originally calculated. Which meant I had to be careful to make sure the drinking water would last until he could go fill us up again at the spring. (It didn’t)
I’d also quickly realised that I was going to need to get a lot stronger to be productive here, since most tasks typically require a bit of muscle. And I had zero.
By month end I was out of power, water, fresh food, clean clothes, and patience!
It was a crash course into real self sufficiency and why redundancy plans are so essential when living off grid.
A THICK THORNY LANDSCAPE
Meanwhile, the worst of winter was over, and I had been throwing all my time and energy into getting our food supply growing. Our land was covered in invasive wattle, bugweed, thorn trees and masses of brambles, so to do anything anywhere required first clearing extensively.
Clearing for the Grow Cage
aka “The 8 Meter Stretch Of Hell“
Our area is home to a huge troop of baboons. We’d been advised by community neighbours to build an enclosure for our main food supply if we hoped to harvest anything.
I decided to focus on clearing a section outside the cabin where we had decided to build our grow cage. As you can see, it was thickly overgrown. Lots of really awful thorns from the “wag-a-bietjie boom”, acacia and brambles all tied up with wild granadilla vines. You literally couldn’t put an arm in. Thus began “The 8m Stretch of Hell”, as I came to fondly call it.
By the second or third morning, my body ached everywhere. My hands hurt both from the hundreds of thorn punctures and the burning icy air. I missed Russ so much, and felt very isolated from the world.
But sipping my morning coffee, listening to the songs of birds waking up, and watching the steam rise off the melting frost as sun rays slowly pushed away the night’s shadows, I knew I was in the right place. I was here to heal, to reconnect with nature, to reconnect with what is REAL. And it doesn’t get more real than this. So I picked up my aching body in my dirty clothes and hit the hell strip with renewed vigour.
I did it!! With the area cleared, building the grow cage could begin. Our friendly next door neighbour is also a builder, so we hired him in to help us erect the structure.
Building The Vegetable Grow Cage
He suggested we use concrete reinforced welded wire mesh over the entire structure. It’s pretty much indestructible, and as a welder, he was very comfortable using it. The squares are too small for even a baby baboon to squeeze through. Price wise, when you take out the additional timber anything else would require, it’s not too bad.
As with the afdak, we went with thick treated poles, but he buried these rather than cementing them in.
We also dug down 40-50cm and installed chicken wire around the whole boundary of the structure, to keep out burrowing critters like porcupines, moles and the like.
It was so exciting having this structure going up! I couldn’t wait to start getting seed in the ground. Everything so far had been a constant “wait for this piece to move into place before you can do that”. I’m not super patient by nature, but I was having to learn.
Community
Amidst the challenges of adjusting to my new life, I experienced some stellar moments too.
I was once again shown how lucky we are that we found land in an area with an existing off grid community.
A neighbour popped by to let me know she bakes and delivers wood fired sourdough bread every Friday, if I’d like to order (YES THANK YOU VERY MUCH). Hot fresh sourdough bread at my gate every Friday – how amazing!
Another neighbour let me know he sells fresh free range chicken eggs, so I could just take a stroll down the road to his property to pick up a carton whenever I needed. He also kindly let me top up some water bottles one week to keep me going until Russ was able to come back to the farmstead and fill up at the spring. Lifesaver for me and the doggos.
And another neighbour dropped off a huge pile of aloe offcuts for me that were going spare.
These moments, as well as simple things like…
Having a hot shower in our newly built shower cubicle,
Sitting under the afdak at the end of the day, sipping a cup of tea, and listening to the hundreds of birds singing and chatting to each other as the sky blushes it’s sunset colours,
Taking the dogs down to the river for a happy, barky run and swim,
Looking up at the incredible mountain range on our doorstep,
Digging in the soil and discovering areas of rich humus and plentiful earthworms,
The sense of satisfaction at finally succeeding at a difficult task,
And just sitting and looking all around me at the still-sinking-in wonderment of it all…
Easy? No. This is not for the faint of heart. But rewarding? My soul is singing.
This is my life now. I’m here, living my dream. Thank you Universe.
UP NEXT…
Find out what happens in month four of living off grid, in which we dive into water supply and tackle the power situation.
