Going Off Grid in East Tennessee; The Story and Chat Thread (Bulls Gap: cell phone, steaks)

[Sunnydee]

Wondeful post and pictures. As always, thank you for sharing your adventure with us. Take care.

[ylisa7]

Good morning all. Thank you for all of your responses.

Yesterday it was close to 80 outside....today it is windy and snowing

jlrbhmnc- Thanks for telling me about the garden soil.

Kat- Good to see you.

Ketabcha- Thank you for writing in.

Hawk- Good to see you. Hope you had a great winter. Wow...you didn't get much snow..lucky you.

BTW, Mike was very happy yesterday to see lots of babies in his pond

Tinman- The stove we bought was the very first ones of the season last year. It is a Pleasant Hearth wood stove.

kimba- Thank you. We love the view...and the privacy

lovesMountains-We are working on loving our woodstove...details to follow soon

We are working on a good spot for the wood....I definitely don't want snakes near the house.

Sunnydee- Thank you for posting.

Have a wonderful day and I'll see you soon....maybe by the end of this week

[Fields of Green]

Thank you so much for these reports, Lisa. I know I'm not the only one who is always on the lookout for photos of sweet Niki! Does she normally sleep in a plastic container? So cute! And how she's "helping" you with your garden - the look on her face is "Looks like you've got everything under control, I'll just sit over here and rest."

I have a large yard for the first time and haven't built my planter boxes yet, will probably start out with just a couple of them this year. I have the Square Foot Gardening book, maybe I'll read it ;-) (and the SFG forum) and do one box the SFG method to compare.

[lovesMountains]

Originally Posted by Fields of Green

Thank you so much for these reports, Lisa. I know I'm not the only one who is always on the lookout for photos of sweet Niki! Does she normally sleep in a plastic container? So cute! And how she's "helping" you with your garden - the look on her face is "Looks like you've got everything under control, I'll just sit over here and rest."

I have a large yard for the first time and haven't built my planter boxes yet, will probably start out with just a couple of them this year. I have the Square Foot Gardening book, maybe I'll read it ;-) (and the SFG forum) and do one box the SFG method to compare.

No question, Niki is the star of the Mike and Lisa show

[up north]

Your pics are beautiful and the property is wonderful. My husband and I are thinking of moving to Tn somewhere in the Cumberland area. We've taken a trip to the Knoxville area and will be going again this week end to see the Cumberland area, specifically Pikeville, Crossville, Spencer and Sparta. We don't want to be in the path of toronados, hurricanes or earthquakes. Have you had any experince with that weather? Are you in the Cumberland mountain area?

[RSMTN]

up north.........I'd suggest if you want to stay out of tornado prone areas that you not settle in middle and west Tennessee. There is a chance of them in the eastern part of the state but not near as much as in other parts. Unfortunately natural disasters crop up every where.

Mike and Lisa are in the "extreme" eastern part of Tennessee. They live so close to North Carolina and Virginia that on a good day they can smell them.

[VillageLife]

Just gorgeous! beautiful view and what an accomplishment!

[TN Tin Man]

Now you need too chop some wood.......before winter sets in.

[Ma and Pa Kettle]

PS: meant to tell you, if Mike likes that fresh grass fed beef, or any other meat, put a little vinegar in a plastic bowl with lid, sit meat on it and add a little more to both sides get a good taste. put lid on. sit it an hour, overnight, whatever you want, even 30 mins will often do the trick. this will tenderize the meat. i've never taken a hammer or what-not to meat aforehand. just the little soak.

snake/bug/spider/ticks/small rodent control:
if your going to be there awhile, i suggest (if you can take the noise) get a few small guinea hens. you have to get them on your place before they are 4 months old, as they imprint on a property and will try to return to it. once they are imprinted on yours, they will stay. they are most excellent for "above listed" control.
regular chickens and a rooster, even the chickens alone, will do well too but nothing beats a few guinea hens, but they are noisy and like to perch as high up as they can so you can't even throw a stick at em to shut em up or swoosh with a broom. they are great watchdogs and very territorial and protective of you, their flock.

we have more than one woodstove. collected as we started out and a wood cook stove given to us. 2 will use coal as well. the best and biggest we have we got from our Amish neighbors. often times they sell them and someone doesn't show up for the order so they will take wholesale or even less, we got one for half price.

was just trying to think of things to help, though you and Mike usually have all the bases covered!

[vacation bound]

AHHHH, she's back. So glad you are back safe from Florida. I like your wood stove. Mike makes it look so easy to do projects. I love the picture of Nicki in her bed. But you know what I was Thinking, Nicki needs a friend to pal around with. Whats one more dog or cat? lol. Great post. Until next time. take care.