News Flash!!
The Kansas Milkmaid goes off … er …
Some of you will say I went off-the-deep-end.
Here’s the scoop: The Kansas Milkmaid goes off-the-grid.
No! Not all at once. Remember where I come from. I am a former city girl, career woman deluxe. It takes time and steps to go back in time as I described in my last post.
Yesterday, I met with my plain friends and completed my research on wood cookstoves. After examining two different models in use in their homes, I decided to purchase the Pioneer Princess. The local purchase enables me to pick up my stove Monday. My local purchase bonus meant no shipping charges either. My friends needed to clear out their building for produce storage. So, I managed to get a large discount on this brandnew stove. I will not be able to use it until I return to the land. For the time being, the Princess will remain in storage.
- My new stove
The purchase of this stove has several ramifications. Specifically, I anticipate spending time on the farm immediately cutting firewood and splitting it before fall. Now is a good time as the bloodsuckers are just starting to make their appearance. (No, I don’t mean the politicians. I promise, I won’t rant about yesterday’s election results. But, I will say: if Obama can get elected, we should not think more highly than we ought of those who achieve public office. Okay, enough of the soapbox. Ticks. I meant Missouri ticks are starting to appear. They make Kansas ticks look like mammoths. These are microscopic bloodsuckers.) I will also need to practice cooking on the stove to get some ideas of how to use it. My hope is to cook with some of my friends to get such experience.
This stove heats one family’s roomy two story house for most of the winter. When temperature drops into the teens and below, they use an additional backup woodstove. The stove is not fancy, but plain. My aim is to use primarily wood cookstoves when I move to the farm. My stove’s dual purpose proves to be a marvelous way to heat and cook for the winter months. However, during 100 degree weather it is not optimal. As a result, I may move the stove to a “summer kitchen.” In the summer, I can then cook food and return to the home without the intense heat of the cookstove.
After much prayer and petitioning the Lord, my children and I are determined to go off-the-grid. We plan to use non-electric options for high-power-consumption appliances. And for items that use minimal electric (e.g. computer), we will generate electric using solar panels. To further reduce costs, we plan to utilize self-composting toilets, and collect rainwater into a cistern. The added benefit will be that when the grid goes down, we will continue as usual. (Nearly two weeks without power during December 2007 made me keenly aware of how overdependent I had become on a fragile modern power infrastructure.)
This is a drastic lifestyle change. We are blessed to have plain friends who live this lifestyle every day. They are eager and willing to train us. We also cannot change instantly, so we are practicing aspects of our lifestyle change now.
I look forward to sharing our new journey with readers as we seek to move back in time and put the “life” back in the simple in simple living. Stay tuned for more articles about my new manual washing machine, reducing water usage, life with a self-composting toilet, and converting to natural light and lanterns.
Udderly His,
The Kansas Milkmaid
Thursday, 9. April 2009
Okay, I’m drooling over your stove. We wanted to get one but space was an issue. We have an old farmhouse that has lots of square footage but chopped up into lots of rooms. We didn’t have enough room when we considered the clearance the stove needed behind it. We did manage to get a regular woodstove that we heated our house with the whole winter. And we could cook on if needed. I just hate it that we can’t get a wood cookstove though.
Thursday, 9. April 2009
I am thoroughly enjoying your journey.
Can’t wait to read more.
Have a blessed Easter!!!!
Hannah
Thursday, 9. April 2009
That stove is quite a beauty!
I’m so glad to see you are back writing again, it took me a few months to figure this out, but I’m having a good time playing catchup on reading your posts.
Thursday, 9. April 2009
Christina,
I am sure you will succeed, because your children are on board (and are probably driving).
When we started farming, I was surprised that most of the enthusiasm–and diligence–came from the kids. Right now they are out there digging trenches and planting potatoes, and cheerfully, knowing that if they don’t do it then we’ll be eating store bought potatoes this winter.
They are the true farmers. Debbie and I are mostly in charge of making sure that we stay afloat and on track during our transition from dependence to subsistence.
Thursday, 9. April 2009
Have you ever read this blog? http://www.eclecticculturefarm.blogspot.com/
She has done basically the same thing you’re talking about. Going off grid with her husband, 5 kids and about 9 months pregnant with her sixth child.
Good luck with your endeavors. You are starting on the road to a dream many people have.
Thursday, 9. April 2009
Tracy:
I hope I will be drooling over my stove too. I am hoping I can produce mouth watering meals in this. I visualize a few burnt offerings. It is a regular deal here anyway with the electric stove.
Hannah:
Thanks, I am sure there will be lots of bloggable moments to come in the near future.
Lori:
Welcome back. It is good to see familiar friends here. My mishap with my old site has made it harder to find me. Enjoy the archives. I hope to get into the guts of my old site and add the archives here too someday … in my spare time.
Rick:
It is good to hear your children have caught the fever too. My children, indeed, drive this whole ordeal. I find them going farther down the path then I visualize myself going. I will certainly share some of their visions as time permits. It is good to see the farmer develop in children. You are tending your “crops” well it sounds like.
Beth:
I looked at their site. It was fascinating and thrilling. It is amazing to see God changing the hearts and minds of so many people in the same kind of direction. I am sure to learn much from this site.
Thank you all for your encouragement. I will certainly need it in the days to come.
Blessings,
Christina
Friday, 10. April 2009
I hope you have better luck than I did. Sounds like You may have a lot of fun and also a lot of work.
Friday, 10. April 2009
Christina, you are so brave! I’ve been balking at going off the grid, as I like my modern conveniences! I know some day it may be a necessity, and I need to be more willing. I am open to using a cookstove, but it will have to wait until we are upstairs and out of our basement, since there’s not enough room for one down here.