Hey ya’ll and thanks for stopping by our homestead. Some of you may of seen us on YouTube or Facebook. We are Off Grid with Doug and Stacy living the pioneer lifestyle in the 21st century. We live in a 600 sq. ft. 1800s style log cabin we built ourselves, collecting & living on rainwater, using a composting toilet, heating our home with wood, cooking on a Lehmans Pioneer Princess wood cookstove and growing/harvesting our own food in Midwest, USA. This is a huge contrast from a dozen years ago where we had to many bills, to big of a house, getting all of our food from the store, being stressed, and spending to much time apart. We put the brakes on that all and now we live, as Lehmans says, “for a simpler life.”
As we are coming out of the slumber of winter into the awakening of spring, we wanted to spend a typical day on our homestead with you. Homestead time is much different than city time. When the rooster crows is where our day begins. The cockadoodle of the rooster is our alarm clock. Doug is first to climb down the ladder from our sleeping loft and starts the fire on the cookstove and then fills the gallon stainless steel teapot full of water from our gravity fed rainwater catchment system. Stacy climbs down minutes later after making the bed. It might be a small accomplishment, but making the bed sets the tone for the rest of the day. She gets some peppermint tea, grown from our garden, ready while Doug lets the chickens, turkeys, and guineas out for the day.
On our homestead, breakfast is pretty important to keep us fueled for a busy day. Todays menu is a Dutch Baby Sourdough Pancake with some of our farm fresh eggs. Note to self……… If you never have tried a Dutch Baby, you don’t know what you’re missing! While the Dutch Baby is baking in a cast iron pan in the oven, it is time for choring. Our Airedale terriers, Maggie and Mollie, are waiting patiently for breakfast. We know it’s time to hurry up when our seven month old puppy Mollie starts licking our hands. To buy us a few extra minutes, we give them a treat. On our homestead we make our own dog treats. Dehydrated chicken feet are their favorite. These are loaded with collagen great for joint health. Our horses Smokey and Sadie are naying and stomping at the fence as they look at us, and Rambo our sheep ram and his ewes all start baaing like the school choir. While the animals are waiting for breakfast, we can’t forget Mrs. Turkey, the double-breasted bronze beauty, who always makes us chuckle as she run/waddles towards us like a prehistoric creature.
It’s perfect timing… chores are done and it’s time to sweep the floors before breakfast. The Dutch Baby Pancake is ready and so is cup #2 of our peppermint tea. After we eat, the dishes are washed by hand (remember we live off-grid with no electricity and no dishwasher!) While washing the dishes we are deciding what we should tackle today. While living on an off-grid homestead, plans can change in a snap. One minute our plans are running smoothly and the next the sheep get out from a downed tree on the fence. An important thing we have learned over these past years is to go with the flow and not to worry if things don’t get done that we wanted. Our motto is to keep walking down the path and eventually we will make progress.
Spring is in the air which means tidying up the greenhouse and prepping the garden beds using some of our favorite handheld hoes and rakes. Doug is already working at the woodlot at the front of our property getting wood ready for next winter. Always be prepared! Stacy finishes up and hears the rattling of the chainsaw and runs up to help Doug finish up. Teamwork makes the dreamwork is something we say to each other frequently. Both of us enjoy cutting wood together. We always do our best to help each other out. This off-grid journey has made our relationship much stronger because we rely on each other to get jobs done that we used to pay someone to do. Now we are the electric, sewer, gas, trash, and water company here on our homestead.
When our belly is rumbling, it’s time to start what we call “linner”. It’s a combination of lunch and dinner that we eat around 3-4 pm. We generally eat twice a day. Eating healthy whole foods is very important to us. In order to do this preparation is the key to our success. We are prepping meals in advance. The lambchops were marinated the night before along with Stacy’s famous ABC salad which is a chopped apples, beets, and carrot salad with parsley and lemon juice. This salad always tastes better the next day. The only thing to do now is start the grill. Linner will be done soon with little wait. Stacy rings the big dinner bell attached to the front porch to call Doug from the woodlot. Linner was a success! While Stacy is cleaning up and doing dishes, Doug goes out and collects the eggs and gives the barn cats leftovers from our meal.
Now it’s time to do one of our favorite things of the day. Some of the barn cats, Maggie and Mollie, all join us for a late afternoon walk. This is a great time to talk about our plans for tomorrow, check our fence lines and pick up trash and debris that may of found its way on our property. As we make our way back to the log cabin, the sun is setting. It is time to light our oil lanterns and sit in our hickory rockers answering emails and catching up on some reading. Soon after we climb back up the ladder to the sleeping loft and fall asleep to the sounds of Mr. Owl and the frogs.
Doug and Stacy,
While sitting here recovering from shoulder surgery, ouch btw, I came across you guys on YouTube. I was scrolling thru all your videos and mercy, I think I have watched 50% so far. My TV doesn’t allow me to comment, but I am watching and learning so much.
I started my very first ever ferment last Wednesday. Carrots in one and Asparagus in the other. We have 2 raised beds and am excited to go get my “hand” dirty. Looking forward to taking the no bake dessert out of the fridge. My husband says it smells so good and can’t wait to taste it. We even picked dandelions yesterday and used them in our salad. I love watching you guys. Things are waking up here in East Tennessee and the redbuds are blooming.
Hi Doug n Stacy
My son clued me in to your videos on YouTube two weeks ago.
I’ve been binge watching ever since !
Your homestead, on video, is now my happy place !!
Much of what I see was a good part of the lifestyle I lived until I was about 15 years old!
I love it! So peaceful.
Working on making some changes in my life and am excited about it all !
Keep up the good work !
Love you guys!
Love your lifestyle, content is informative and entertaining! We live in Rhode Island , on our 2acre “Ranch” lol . Burn wood, raise chicken’s, have a 30′ x40′ garden with raised beds, & compost, can, ferment, and brew! Thanks for dropping knowledge bombs. We are the “Poser Homestead” as it is illegal to be off grid in RI. Crazy 🙂
What state are you in?
Thank you so much for sharing your lives. It has been a big inspiration to me to start over again. Unlike Doug I have building skills out the wa-zoo. I grew up on a 20 acre farm. I am also in my 50’s. Love you guys. I hope we get to meet one day. Your friend,Albert
Hi guys I am just wondering how Doug is doing with his injury, that last video was heart breaking to watch. I am keeping you in my prayers and wishing you a speedy and easy recovery.
Wow…what a test this has been for Mr. Doug…that bruise was mind-boggling, not to mention painful for you! However, you are behaving and staying the course of healing, good on you! It’s truly wonderful to watch the ‘roofers’ at work, what a blessing! I’ve been reading the cookbook that arrived last week, getting ready to add my sticky note indexes to tag the ones I want to attempt first.
Since we found you on youtube via a post by someone I don’t recall the name, it linked you and Zach Bauer (New2Torah) we have watched him for years; and now we have your channel as well…many blessings in the name of Messiah Yeshua!
You are living the way we wanted to live, but old broken bodies can still learn to eat better and we are trying your ideas.
I ant to build a raised vegetable garden
Doug and Stacy,
Thank you for all of your videos. I started with the beekeeping videos and am now moving to other homestead material.
Do you have any videos of your water sourcing and do you product electricity via windmill or anything?
I’m so excited to be on this journey and appreciate all you give to help us out.
Been watching you guys for a while. I enjoy it all. Really enjoying the log cabin build.
Good day you two lovely people. You have been missed on you tube and I just saw your post that you got shut down. Now I for the life of me can not imagine why they would do such a thing. It is hard to wrap my head around, but hey, it is what it is and I’m now so curious and will be looking in on you guys everyday, will be watching those vids like you asked , AND when I go to bed will be putting them on auto play. Whatever it takes, right!
Love you guys and hope you can get back on, or hope you can find another platform some how or another, there are several out there. Locals, Rumble, Odysee to name a few. Till next time God bless
I’m trying to find what Stacy used for body lotion / oil and face as she looks amazing
In one of their video’s I watched, Stacy said she used her ghee.
Good afternoon y’all I’ve been watching your videos for a little while now. I’m enjoying every one of them I’m learning so much . Thank you… I can’t wait to start fermenting veggies . Stacy your ABC salad sounds so good . The day I seen you make it on your video I wanted to reach out and taste it. Lol.. I love your videos.
Hey Doug and Stacy, hello again watching some of your videos and am trying to find out how to catch your live stream. I don’t have a place to get notifications that I can find, so I wanted to ask you is there a specific day and time that you do your live streaming so I can try to see them?
Just to wish you both a Happy Sunday, I love the cookbook, and the chocolate tea is heaven. Growing. turnip greens. corn, peppers and tomatos, lettace all the veg – thanks for the tips and tricks. I’m still in the city ,but “A HOMSTEAD HOMY” anyway. Excited for the Fermenting book to come out. So, gateful for what YOU do.
“Thank you,
Doug and Stacy
I am so in love with your whole setup!!!
We’re in our early 60s and retired early , we bought land in Arkansas and as with the economy looked bleak we talked about raising and growing our food. My husband couldn’t wait to get out of Houston Tx and be in the country. We love it here. But he isn’t on board at all about self sustain life. I’ve focused on the garden , our first year was this spring. While building a house ( with all the luxuries) I did plant an orchard. I’m planting constantly. And this summer putting up food from my garden. It’s been a learning experience. Every night I watch a video. Oh how I would love to live your life in a log home off grid and well your lifestyle!! He’s not there so I live through you guys , and I will continue to grow our food. My the way I’m very proud to announce we do not eat out always home cooked food Except when and if we travel And I don’t crave the fast foods at all. Ok maybe a blizzard once in a great while. Love you guys.
Doug and Stacy, it is such a joy to have found you guys. I work out of my home and try and watch your shows as much as I can, You both are so good at what you do. Doug, you are so comical, a hard worker and wise man. Stacy I love to watch you throw recipes together and all the hard work and many different things you do and yet you sit and help all of us with smiles and great attitudes. I could watch 24/7. Life out there looks exciting. Your little cabin is so nice and the way you plant your food and raise your own meat. Wish I saw you guys do this when I was younger I would have been in your footsteps. I love your way of living. Thankyou so much for sharing your lives with all of us!!!!
G’day from Australia! A Joy to hear & see Your videos Stacey & Doug. My wife & I admire how you live, love God & share helpful wisdom. We had 3 fabulous years in Texas & have recently returned to Oz, trying off grid life in the bush. So far so good. God Bless & prosper You Both.
I built 2 raised gardens this year but had no idea how to organize the groups of plants. Everything grew fine. Do you have suggestions for complimentary grouping of plants for my gardens next year?
Hi my name is Davina and I watch y’all almost every day. I’m trying to live like y’all do I’ve been preparing foods. The only think I raise right now is quail. I stopped for a little while after my feancy was killed in a car crash last year. But I’ve started up again and was wondering if you could give me some tips.
Hi Doug and Stacy,
Love the idea and the content. My wife and I live on a 30 acre farm/ranch. We have goats and chickens as well as a nice garden. I was wondering if we could find a few viewers in our area so that we could review and discuss this life style. North Alabama.
Again appreciate all you do and love you guys.
Thanks Daniel
We received Stacy’s cookbook today August 31,2022. thank you looking forward to more info on what you KNOW about what is happening and what we can do about it. We have retired now after many years and bought 5 acres. this land is on a hillside with a creek on north side mostly we have rocks except down on the bottom and that is flooded sometimes, we have been here 12 years and it has flooded 3 times 18″ each time over the bank I will make raised beds on the hillside.
Thanks Patrick Smith USN retired
I live in north Texas and I am trying to find out what kind of dirt to put in my newly built above ground garden.