Before moving to Arizona, we lived in Florida for most of our lives, so we are all too familiar with hurricanes, and the damage they can do. No matter what kind of house you’re building – tiny, small, large – it’s important that it can withstand a hurricane, should you be unfortunate enough to get…
Home & Garden
How Much Water Do You Really Need to Grow Fruit Trees in the Desert?
About a year ago, we had an idea… We thought, “wouldn’t it be great to fill up our whole yard with fruit trees?!” We found a local nursery with a great selection, bought a handful of trees, and got to it. There was only one problem… we seriously underestimated how much water we would need….
The Easiest Way to Get Rid of Skunks
Last year, we moved to a rural part of Arizona, and began composting our waste, like most homesteaders do. Initially, we were concerned that our compost might attract rats, raccoons, javelinas, and insects; however, none of those have been a problem for us. What has been an unexpected problem is skunks. It’s not the compost…
DIY Butcher Block Kitchen Counter Made with Basic Lumber & Tools
We built this huge kitchen counter with a butcher block countertop in our off-grid tiny house using only basic lumber and tools. The entire project took five days to complete, and cost a grand total of $350 for the building materials. In this article, we’re going to walk you through the process of how we…
Turn an Old Sink into a Birdbath
Many months ago, we found a vintage sink that we thought looked really cool. We thought about refurbishing it and using it somewhere in our tiny house, but it’s rather large and heavy; so instead, we decided to turn it into a birdbath. This project doesn’t really take much skill or effort – the hardest…
DIY Patio Using Free Materials + Natural Sand & Gravel
Over the holidays, we were lucky enough to receive a bunch of free pavers. They were given to us by one of our parents’ neighbors. He bought more than he needed when he built his house, and they’ve been sitting in a pile in his backyard for years, so he seemed happy to get rid…
How and Why We’re Canning Our Greens
Green leafy vegetables are literally among the healthiest foods a person can eat, but most people – including us – don’t eat enough of them. The problem with greens is they go bad quickly if you don’t eat them right away. That’s why we started canning our greens. Before you get the wrong idea, it’s…
What to Do When Smoke Blows Down Your Chimney
We live in a mountain valley, and sometimes the wind can get really intense. We’re talking gusts that reach 40 to 50 mph. The first time this happened to us right after installing our wood burning stove, a terrible thing happened: smoke blew into our house! Thankfully, we knew this was something that might happen,…
Pumpkin and Sweet Potato Hash Recipe
Right after Halloween, pumpkins in our area dropped to ridiculously low prices: we’re talking 50 cents a piece! Suffice it to say, we’ve been coming up with a lot of pumpkin-based recipes. This pumpkin and sweet potato hash is easily one of our favorites, and we figured the holiday season would be the perfect time…
DIY Pallet Wood Mirror Frame
Before we left Florida for Arizona, we wanted to make something to take with us for our tiny house. We had an old broken mirror and a nice pallet, so the answer seemed obvious: make a new frame for the mirror out of the pallet! We also used a large piece of 1/4″ plywood to…