Winter Coming At My Off-Grid Property

Getting Ready For Freezing Temps Off-Grid

With winter quickly approaching at my property (the third since I have been planting), I had to get my well and water ready for the freezing temperatures. Winter can be brutally cold up at my off-grid property. I am going to build basically a drain-field this next year so I can leave my well pump on all winter.

The water would still pump every sunny day all winter long. The excess will go out the drain-field, then if I need water in the winter at my off-grid property I can get it (while the pump is pumping) from any of my frost free spigots.

Those trees were maybe 3 feet high when they were planted 3 years ago. Plan on planting several hundred more this next summer. Found a place to buy $4 bare-root fruit trees, and will likley buy 100 of them.

I am stoked….My food-forest is taking shape on my off-grid permaculture property in the woods!

Ram Pump For Pumping Water Off-Grid

Permaculture is all about keeping the water that falls during the wet time of year on the property, rather then letting it run away in a stream or creek. This can be done with ponds, (I will be digging many of these on my two seasonal creeks) dams, pumping ground water up to the surface (as I am doing with a solar direct well pump) and can be done by pumping water from the seasonal creaks while they flow for a few months in the spring.

To that end I have just finished building a ram pump. I am all about getting things done using the least amount of power possible. And ram pumps pump only because of the power of falling water.

This is a completed 1 inch ram pump. A ram pump can pump water straight up 7 feet for every foot of fall in the source water. I have learned alot about ram pumps and their use from a fellow named Seth on Youtube. His channel is called Land To House…check him out. He also sells ram pumps….

I have a seasonal creek that runs like a small river for about 3-4 months in the spring. Ram pumps will pump about 3-4 gals a minute, and will do this 24/7….even if it freezes, as the water is constantly moving.

So if we figure 3 gals a minute, that is 180 gals an hour, 4320 gals a day, and 129,600 gals a month, and 388,800 in the 3 months or so the creek will run. I have an about 15 waterfall, and I will set the ram pump up at the base, fed with a one inch pipe that comes from the top of the waterfall…this would effectively pump water over 100 feet straight up. I have dug a pond up the hill a ways maybe 20-30 feet up. This will effectively put that 400,000 gals of water up in the environment I am growing my food-forest in for free….

Giving the Critters Some Love in Winter

One of the main things I want to accomplish up there is to feed the animals that call this region their home.

I have taken maybe 4 times this much food up there to my property this fall, and the animals love it. Winter can be be brutal on my off-grid property. S this gives them something they just wont find anywhere else (calories!). Feeding this part of the food chain benefits all animals…even the predators. I had wondered where the elk had gone, but this treat brought them around…

Elk are such impressive animals!

I also did not realize just how much these deer and elk would love squash, pumpkins, and such. So now that I know they love them I am going to really grow some out this next summer. I have saved a few seeds…

That is a two gallon bucket half full of seeds….likley enough to plant a half acre!

I grew some Butternut, and some Acorn squash this last summer, I was not sure if they would finish up there, but no worries they had time to make squash, and ripen them as well. I tossed those squash outside the hot wire, and they were eaten by deer in just a few days.

I plan to plant all these seeds in two of my ditches I have dug, and turned into Hügelkultur (read more about this technique here) type of planting situation.

Squash plants can create a pretty big root system, and I am curious how they will grow with bio-char, all the organic matter, and the compost I will put on top. I expect a bumper crop for the animals in the fall, which will give them all a leg up throughout the cold winter.

I also am thinking about planting using heavy 4 ft wide fabric to minimize competition for the plants. Here is an image of that kind of planting…

See the fabric? You just roll it out staple it down, and cut a planting hole wherever you want a plant. I could run drip irrigation, and always be easily able to check the drippers to make sure they drip.

If I plat this way, I can also run a fence down both sides, which will make the fences only 4 feet apart, and I do not think animals will attempt to jump in with the other fence so close. I can also simply hot wire it, just to keep them off the trees till the mature a bit, and get tall enough to hold their own..

Conclusion

I will be heading back up to the property soon to burn all the brush I have accumulated in the ditches I dug. I will do this to produce bio-char in the ditches. I will then throw in some un-burned wood, and other debris, fertilizers (to inoculate the bio-char) and anything else organic I want to get rid of.

This website, and the income it produces is what is making my food-forest happen, so thank you so much for your purchases! If you would like to have a bigger impact on creating my food-forest contact me and we can discuss.