Off The Grid Podcast

Now that spring has sprung and hotter summer days will soon eclipse the pleasant temperatures mean one thing.. Its time to get the off grid garden going. For the last couple of months I have been working here and there on prepping the Hugelkultur or wood core beds for this years off the grid garden. Yes I know most people with green thumbs like to do the traditional garden methods. The thing is that out here where water can be a premium that means you need to think ahead and be smart about water conservation.. especially when it comes to watering the garden! I still need to get the rain barrels set up. This would be the perfect opportunity and time to set them up. Spring time rainy season is indeed great for collecting rainwater for the garden!

Just like water it seems time is also at a premium right now in my life.. spare time that is. As it turns out for whatever reason it seems as though something strange is in the air. What do you mean you may be asking? Well in observing many ( I do mean MANY) of the friends and family in recent months seem to be experiencing great changes in their lives. Its almost as if the universe were a river and people were tiny pebbles, rocks, and large boulders all being affected by the changes in different ways. I won’t get into the deep philosophy here but it looks like the spring of 2016 is ushering in more growth than simply in the garden.

 

Show notes from today’s Off The Grid Podcast

* Today’s lesson: In the growing seasons of life be it in the garden or stuff you are going through try to learn and grow from experiences both good and not so pleasant.

* Be social! Connect with me and the podcast on Facebook, like the page, and tell a friend!

Today’s video episode of the Off The Grid Podcast ventures back up the ladder to the top of the camper. I was at it again working on repairing the off grid camper roof trying to keep the rain out. If you have been following along the last two videos I removed the heavy caked up layer of old tar and then applied a few new layers! First it took one good day to remove all of the old crusty curled up tar from this old vintage Coachmen camper roof. Then I put about a 3 gallon bucket worth of tar along any seams or holes with a trowel. Next up after getting down to the galvanized metal I rolled rubberized “stuff” on the roof as a base. In case you missed it please check out Episode 115 to watch PART 1 and also Episode 117 to see PART 2 of this video series on repairing the off grid camper roof. As always thanks for watching!

 

Video Post notes from today’s Off The Grid Podcast

* Today’s lesson: One more time.. “The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining!”

* Like to watch videos about off grid living? Please connect and subscribe to my new channel on YouTube.

* If you want to be part of the conversation say hello on Zello! Search for Off The Grid Podcast channel.

* Be social & Connect on Facebook, subscribe YouTube, or send me an email through the Contact page!

* Get The Off Grid Podcast on the go with iTunes and Stitcher. Please Subscribe and rate the show!

* Please help support this show and the off grid community by checking out Off Grid Singles.

If you have ever really looked at debt long enough to realize that its not always about money then sooner or later social debt will come to mind. It seems like one of the ongoing themes in my life this last month has been debt. Even more so the last week tuning into social debt. They say the when someone helps you out or does you a favor you are more likely to repay that “social” debt that you would if it were money borrowed. I would say this is true.. at least in my case this week.

Recently I have found myself committing to help some friends with a BIG move while getting increasingly frustrated about not getting my garden going yet. Here it is now May and I still have not put plants in the ground yet! AAAAAAHHH! Did I mention that I am frustrated yet? I don’t mean in a cheesy looking for a good woman kind of way either. lol All I want to do is get this years off grid garden going. I will leave the rest for today’s podcast episode.

Last week in episode 115 of the Off The Grid Podcast I posted PART 1 of this 3 part video series of fixing the camper roof. Today for your viewing pleasure we look back to last year once again as I was working at repairing the off grid camper roof. As you can tell this really is an old camper. The 78 Coachmen is indeed a classic and an antique.. although it has obviously seen better days. lol None the less these video episodes of the podcast show you just what a journey it has been on my way from the suburbs to living off the grid. The old Coachmen was well build and the saying “they don’t make them like they used to” is very true in this case. Despite being almost 40 years old the pull behind camper was in decent shape for its age. The roof still needed to be replaced though. Anyway please watch the video if you have not already and if you have questions, comments, or ideas please feel free to email me! Thank you for listening and watching the videos!

If you like taking on a good DIY project then today’s video edition of the Off The Grid Podcast is right up your ally. Last summer I was facing the biggest fixer upper repair project I have ever taken on. Have you ever bit off more than you could chew so to speak? Have you every taken on more of a fixer upper project than you anticipated? Then welcome to my world! lol After finally getting the off grid camper out here the first logical repair seemed to be the roof of the camper. There was no sense in fixing or replacing anything else in this antique coachmen pull behind camper unless the roof kept things dry. When I started all of this last year on my journey to living off grid I had no idea just how much work was ahead of me. Today’s video episode of the podcast should give you some idea as to what its like with one of these old camper roofs in need of repair.

 

Video Post notes from today’s Off The Grid Podcast

* Today’s lesson: The time to repair the roof is when the sun is shining!

* Like to watch videos about off grid living? Please connect and subscribe to my new channel on YouTube.

* If you want to be part of the conversation say hello on Zello! Search for Off The Grid Podcast channel.

* Be social & Connect on Facebook, subscribe YouTube, or send me an email through the Contact page!

* Get The Off Grid Podcast on the go with iTunes and Stitcher. Please Subscribe and rate the show!

* Please help support this show and the off grid community by checking out Off Grid Singles.

Join us today as I share an amazing weekend and a very special gift that two listeners sent in. If you have been a long time listener you know that my journey from the average life in the suburbs to one out here off the grid has been eventful to say the least. After recording these Off The Grid Podcast episodes for over a year now its sometimes hard for me to know just how my efforts to share this experience are affecting you the listener. Two listeners Brent and his wife Sandy sent me an incredible gift. They gave me a GoPro!

Have you ever had a weekend that was so amazing that if someone asked you about it you almost didn’t know where to begin describing it? Well the GoPro was only the beginning although I held off opening it until the following Monday.. so I felt like a kid waiting patiently for Christmas! lol It is very late or crazy early (almost 3 AM) right now as I type this and I am ready to catch some Zzzzzz! So I will leave the rest of this great weekend for you to listen to in today’s show of the Off The Grid Podcast. Thank you again Brent and Sandy! I will be putting the GoPro to good use very soon so stay tuned for some cool new off grid videos.

When you are not used to seeing certain things in a new environment then you are in for a few surprises every now and then. One such surprise struck me as odd last fall as something caught my ear. I stepped outside of the off grid camper and as I looked around searching for the source of a chewing and popping sound the ground moved! I quickly ran inside the camper and grabbed my knife, flipped the video cam on, and snatched a shovel on the way back out. At first I thought it might be a snake because there are plenty of them out here off grid. Then I realize that it was chewing through roots and moving way too quickly to be a snake. It was a groundhog! Hopefully you enjoy the video as much as I do. For a city guy not used to seeing things like this it was a pleasant surprise to see the ground moving as the little groundhog went about his business. Quickly realizing that there was no danger I left him alone to dig and went about my day. In the months that followed he burrowed many a paths around the off grid camper naturally irrigating the ground. lol

 

Video Post notes from today’s Off The Grid Podcast

* Today’s lesson: Appreciate the little things in life. As above so below.

* Like to watch videos about off grid living? Please connect and subscribe to my new channel on YouTube.

* If you want to be part of the conversation say hello on Zello! Search for Off The Grid Podcast channel.

* Be social & Connect on Facebook, subscribe YouTube, or send me an email through the Contact page!

* Get The Off Grid Podcast on the go with iTunes and Stitcher. Please Subscribe and rate the show!

* Please help support this show and the off grid community by checking out Off Grid Singles.

Recently I found myself in a conversation that caused me to reflect back at my journey over the last year to living off grid here in the camper. After working so hard to remove myself from the rat race of urban city life (at least after work) I was reminded that even in a small way that the wonder I have of nature can fade if I am not careful to appreciate life each day. Its not that hard really when you think about it. Most of us go about our lives without so much as a thought regarding the beauty that is all around us. Ok so each of us are at different stages in life and chances are some are more or less in “better” places or environments. A quote comes to mind if you find yourself not liking where you are in life..

“Until the pain of same exceeds the the pain of change you will sit in the same”

In a nutshell this is where I was at about a year ago. No matter how crummy some days or nights were I still took time to walk outside many nights and look up at the stars. I made good use of many a Saturday mornings cooking pancakes on the Rocket Stove. Sure I was living in the suburbs then but I took time to appreciate nature in my own back yard at the time.. and I loved it! So again if you are still listening to today’s episode of the Off The Grid Podcast please take 5 to stop and appreciate the life you have in the world around you. If you identify strongly with the quote above then this might just be an even better reason for you to consider taking time once in a while to practice the attitude of gratitude. Another favorite quote comes to mind.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while you could miss it.”

All of us at one time in our life have experienced the insane moment of realization when (fill in the number of years here ___ ) that pass us by only to think in the hear and now that time flies so fast. Why it was only yesterday when… So the next time you find yourself caught up in the hustle and bustle of daily life please take a moment to pause. Please consider taking 5 minutes to breath calmly, reflect on where you are in life, and appreciate the world around you. You just might notice something new.

 

Show notes from today’s Off The Grid Podcast

* Today’s lesson: Life moves pretty fast. Take 5 once in a while to appreciate the world around you.

* Be social! Connect with me and the podcast on Facebook, like the page, and tell a friend!

Today’s episode goes back to one summer weekend last year as I was getting ready to clean the off grid camper. Was there ever a time in your life when you moved into a new house and found you had a momentous cleaning job ahead of you? At first when I first got the old camper I was simply star eyed and looked past the huge amount of work ahead of me.. mostly out of inexperience and ignorance of an off grid project like this. Now that I have been out here a while the off grid camper is still a work in progress. Those first few months were a major lesson for me in underestimating just how much cleaning both inside and out were needed. Not to mention replacing and repairing the parts of the floor, roof, areas inside, and flat out building things that I wanted. All before winter! but that is a story for another episode! lol For now sit back and enjoy the two videos for show 111 of the Off The Grid Podcast as I begin by cleaning up a bit.

Join us today as I share some listener feedback emails that came in from listeners just like you. If you have been a long time listener you know that Thursday shows have typically been reserved for listener feedback about the Off The Grid Podcast. Recently with Thursday shows now being in video format Tuesday episodes will now accommodate listener questions, comments, and feedback when you email in. First up Brent emailed in a video response with a great reminder for everyone to keep an eye out for snakes and other wildlife. As he mentioned in today’s episode we should all take a little more caution when we are in mother natures back yard. Venomous snakes can be dangerous and deadly so please watch where you step. He also mentioned that bears are making there way around as well. I have noticed a lot of small salamanders scurrying around as I was out preparing the garden. I may have also seen a few baby snakes but I am not sure because they were too fast for me to get a good look at them!

Another email came in from Tom. Tom seemed to be more excited about my new truck than I was! lol It also seems that he and maybe even a number of you may be getting a little tired of me mentioning the Hugelkulture wood core beds for this years garden. Noted and yes I can relate as I mentioned in today’s show. As for politics I will dodge that one like a politician! lol The only thing I will say is that “those who through dirt lose ground”. As for the Time Travel Tuesday segment it will be going on the back burner for now. I have been asking for some feedback for the last few weeks. Please listen to today’s show for more explanation. In place of the Time Travel Tuesday segment I will be replacing it with a segment about some of the deals I have a knack for finding. If you are reading this now please take a moment and email me with your ideas for a name for the new segment. Deal of the week, daily deals, etc?? What would you call the new segment?

 

Show notes from today’s Off The Grid Podcast

* Today’s lesson: Take time once in a while to think about where you are and appreciate where you are in your life. Embrace the Attitude of Gratitude.

* Be social! Connect with me and the podcast on Facebook, like the page, and tell a friend!