12 YEARS Living Off-Grid on a Sustainable Homestead in a Self-Built Cob Home

Bryce and Misty have spent the last 12 years building a cob home, homesteading, living off the grid, and homeschooling their two daughters. They live without a car, so for transportation, they use taxis and bicycles, and they eventually hope to have a cart that their two horses can pull. For food production, they have a permaculture food forest for fruits and vegetables, chinampa-inspired wetland gardens, a cow and a bull for milk, ducks and chickens for eggs, bees for honey, and they also forage and cultivate feral crops.

You can find out more about Bryce and Misty here:

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These two have put in an impressive amount of work setting up their homestead. The house is built with clay that they collected from the wetland area of their property, their well was dug by hand, and everything from the fences to the staircase was made with wood from within a 20km radius of their home.

The cost to build the house was approximately $1,000 CAD. Most of the building materials (the sand, clay, straw, and wood) came from the land, and things like roofing, lumber, and windows they sourced from secondhand and reclaimed sources. Interestingly, they used several different natural building techniques in the home with each new addition. They usually start with a timber frame, and they have used cob, straw bales and wattle and daub, to fill in the spaces between the beams. And they've also explored using green roofs and earth floors.

Since moving to the land, they had two lovely daughters that they homeschool using unschooling and life immersion methods. They learn about food production, natural building, nature, math, reading, and more!

To earn an income, they do a variety of odd jobs including catering, seasonal farm work, a roadside plant stand, and they also receive the childcare benefit that all families in their province receive. Their primary focus is not how to earn more money but rather how to spend less and have more time. They try to produce as much of what they need on the farm.

For electricity, they have solar panels on the roof and a wind turbine (currently non-operational), for water they have a hand-dug well and rainwater collection barrels, for heat they have wood stoves, they have two composting toilets, and a rocket stove to heat water for their bathtub.

You can find out more about Bryce and Misty here:

Thanks for watching!

Mat & Danielle

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CREDITS
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Music & Song Credits:
All music in this video was composed, performed, and recorded by Mat of Exploring Alternatives.

Editing Credits:
Mat and Danielle of Exploring Alternatives

Filming Credits:
Mat of Exploring Alternatives

#homestead #offgrid #selfsufficient #greenbuilding

[teew]

I grew up like this. I was programmed to believe this was bad. Now its all I want. Any like minded persons out there? Let's start a community. Strength in numbers.

[erinsettle]

Imagine being an architect, a construction worker, a chef, a school teacher, a farmer, a scientist, a mom/dad, AND being sustainable. Incredible

[somethingtidal]

This is literally my dream. It must be so amazing to have a partner that not only understands, but helps and creates a beautiful life with you. Simply amazing.

[marsiloficino]

It definitely appears to me that several folks out there discovering alternate homes have a high degree of intelligence, common sense and general knowledge of the world. Congratulations to the couple were making a fine contribution to this earth.

[Mauamone]

Only person I'll ever still respect after spotting "live, laugh, love" on their window

[jg]

Their home looks straight out of a fairytale book. The surround around the wood stove is a great idea.

[wildcard]

These two couple are just admirable.. I love how they both have a strong passion in sustainable living, and their team work and effort towards it ... RESPECT!!!

[Budgetmeright]

I live in Greece. I am so grateful for YouTube. You can have access to so much knowledge from all over the world. Thanks for sharing.

[cruzmarco]

I'm 22 and this is my dream, I don't want any fancy things in life, just wanna enjoy the simplicity of life and not wasting time on being employed. 💛

[ricerealtor]

"Building has been mystified for profit"... this is so true.

[dpu]

I love the idea of sustainable living. This becomes more convincing when I see live examples like this one. You might be surprised but most of the older houses in Kazakhstan were built using clay, straw and manure. They may last forever but require yearly maintenance. Nevertheless this is a realistic way to reach sense of independence. Thank you for sharing.

[makabongwemetuso]

Being a Permaculture designer myself, I would say this is the epitome of sustainable, self reliant living! I'm truly inspired by your home & what a wonderful team you guys are 💯💯😍😍👌💕

It's very clear that "going back" is going forward

[DavidC-ptrq]

"It takes time to do things. But at the same time, you have the time "
Amen brotha

[ThePiiKey]

I graduated from computer science, I love sci-fi movies, but I really believe that this is the future. A few years ago I would think "What a weirdos" just because we are raised to think this way, to live these "normal" lives just working for money to spend it. I am so glad that I have my own mind and I hope other people will change their minds about what is normal. If we want to live on this earth we need to be more sustainable. Thank you for another great video! :)

[neldarubio]

"building is not hard. its been mystified, i think for profit". Misty. totally agree with this statement. well done!

[BelKayVin]

This is how we were meant to live; they are absolutely incredible.

[ty]

Never have I seen a more beautiful existence. Growing up in this concrete jungle, this video is a pure source of inspiration, as well as a soothing, grounding and informative presentation. Thank you from the bottom of my heart

[TamaraOliviaGordon]

I am a single mother of three young boys and I have been doing tons of research around a sustainable lifestyle. I plan on investing in an RV trailer this year to begin my journey.
I love seeing how much this could change our lives forever, thank you for sharing Misty and Bryce !

[kathryncesarz]

"building is not hard - it's been mystified, I think for profit. But it isn't hard, and our ancestors have always done it, and around the world people continue to do it all the time." !!!! Thank you so much for sharing!