Blog Posts

  • A striped skunk peaking through the leaves.

    Sprayed by a Skunk!

    Ah skunk spray. That special country smell, notorious for being difficult to get out of your curious dog’s fur, your car’s air vents, and now… my unfortunate husband’s hair. That’s right, poor Cody got up… Read more

  • Homestead Tour: The Yurt

    Hey y’all! I just finished filming a yurt tour video for YouTube, and I thought I’d share share it here too! In this video, I showcase the details of our off-grid yurt, plus a little… Read more

  • Using a black hand pump to pump water into a blue watering can.

    How We Dug Our Own Off-Grid Well

    This month’s project was a long time coming and one that I am very excited about – installing a water source at the yurt! If you’ve read my previous posts, you know that for the… Read more

  • How to Make Homemade Tallow For Skincare (+ basic balm recipe)

    Tallow: noun a hard fatty substance made from rendered animal fat. Rendered beef fat.  If you had told my younger self that beefy lotion would be a normal part of my skincare routine, I would’ve called you… Read more

  • Heart of the Home

    The heart of our home: the wood stove.  This vital piece of equipment produces our heat, boils hot water, warms our food, and provides a beautiful ambiance in the evenings.   When I first started… Read more

  • Full Disclosure: Our Off-Grid "Cheats"

    I used to think living off-grid meant you had to be 100% self-sufficient 100% of the time.  Wash all your clothes by hand, cook on a wood cook stove all year round, and drive into town… Read more

  • Raising the Yurt

    In January of 2022 we started clearing a site or our new home.  We started with brushing out the spot where we wanted to put the yurt, with a little bit of wiggle room on… Read more

I’m Jo Leaton, a 26 year old mother of four, and I’m taking on off-grid life with a vision to raise my family away from the hustle and bustle of the modern world. This blog is where I document my family’s unique way of life as we attempt to build a multigenerational homestead from scratch on our communal land.

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