Articles

A wooden cabin under a deep load of snow on its roof, icicles at the eaves, bright winter sun and blue sky

The First Year Off-Grid: A Month-by-Month Reali...

Photo by Jean-Paul Wettstein On the first night of subzero cold in their first Maine winter, Billy's family left the kitchen and bathroom sinks dripping, the oldest trick in the...

The First Year Off-Grid: A Month-by-Month Reali...

Photo by Jean-Paul Wettstein On the first night of subzero cold in their first Maine winter, Billy's family left the kitchen and bathroom sinks dripping, the oldest trick in the...

A small rural house at night, a satellite dish on its roof under a star-filled sky, trees and dark hills around

Staying Connected Off-Grid: Internet, Phones, a...

Photo by Lucas Andrade Zach Hanson was on a work call from his home in Atlanta, Idaho, when the power went out, and since Atlanta has no cell phone service,...

Staying Connected Off-Grid: Internet, Phones, a...

Photo by Lucas Andrade Zach Hanson was on a work call from his home in Atlanta, Idaho, when the power went out, and since Atlanta has no cell phone service,...

Raised wooden beds in a spring garden below snow-capped mountains, fruit trees in blossom, a farmhouse to one side

Growing Food at Altitude and in Short Seasons: ...

Photo by Alois Lackner Yvette Henson gardens at 8,400 feet in southwest Colorado, where she also works as Colorado State University Extension's director for San Miguel County, and her garlic...

Growing Food at Altitude and in Short Seasons: ...

Photo by Alois Lackner Yvette Henson gardens at 8,400 feet in southwest Colorado, where she also works as Colorado State University Extension's director for San Miguel County, and her garlic...

A large black solar array filling the tile roof of a house in full sun, flowering vines below, green hillside behind

Solar Sizing Without the Guesswork: Loads, Batt...

Photo by Robert So An off-grid owner who sized his system by the book kept a diary of a December storm, and it reads like a tide going out. Day...

Solar Sizing Without the Guesswork: Loads, Batt...

Photo by Robert So An off-grid owner who sized his system by the book kept a diary of a December storm, and it reads like a tide going out. Day...

A Global-model earthship in the Taos desert: long angled glass greenhouse front, solar panels above, sculpted plastered end wall

Earthships Explained: Tires, Bottles, and Therm...

Photo by Biodiesel33, CC BY-SA 3.0 Stand in front of a finished earthship in the Taos desert and the building makes its argument before anyone speaks. A long wall of...

Earthships Explained: Tires, Bottles, and Therm...

Photo by Biodiesel33, CC BY-SA 3.0 Stand in front of a finished earthship in the Taos desert and the building makes its argument before anyone speaks. A long wall of...

Inside a straw-floored coop, a brown hen large in the foreground with a rooster and more hens behind her

Chickens Done Right: Coops, Feed Costs, and Win...

Photo by Ivan Babydov The keeper told the story against himself on the Backyard Chickens forum. A raccoon tore loose the chicken wire he had nailed under the eave, killed...

Chickens Done Right: Coops, Feed Costs, and Win...

Photo by Ivan Babydov The keeper told the story against himself on the Backyard Chickens forum. A raccoon tore loose the chicken wire he had nailed under the eave, killed...