Real Off-Grid Living. Practical Homestead Solutions.
Follow Mike’s journey building a more self-sufficient life on 14+ acres in southeast Virginia — underway for about four years now — covering solar power and water systems, gardens, livestock, land management, and the everyday challenges of homesteading.
We’re Not Just Writing About Homesteading. We’re Doing It.
We’re learning off-grid living by actually doing it — building systems, maintaining land, growing food, raising animals, solving problems, and sharing what actually works (and what doesn’t) along the way.
Everything here — the guides and the calculators — comes from things we’ve actually built, tested, and fixed ourselves, not theory.
Free Homestead Calculators
Planning your homestead? Don’t guess. Run the numbers.
☀️ Off-Grid Solar Calculator
Estimate your solar power and battery needs before investing in a system.
🔋 Battery Bank Runtime Calculator
Know how long your off-grid battery backup will actually last.
🔥 Heating Calculator
Estimate heating and fuel requirements for your off-grid home.
💧 Rainwater Catchment Calculator
Estimate how much rainwater your roof could collect and how much storage you need.
🐔 Homestead Livestock Calculator
Explore livestock space, feed, and production requirements.
🌱 Garden Self-Sufficiency Calculator
Size the growing space you’d need to feed your household.
💰 Off-Grid Budget Calculator
Estimate the total investment behind your off-grid system.
❄️ Off-Grid Cooling Guide
Earth tubes and DC heat pumps for off-grid cooling.
🍳 Food Storage Calculator
Estimate calorie and water needs for 30, 90, or 365 days.
🏘️ Land Suitability Calculator
Score a potential property on water, soil, access, and more.
🔥 Firewood Calculator
Estimate cords needed and compare against your woodlot’s supply.
🌾 Hay & Feed Storage Calculator
Estimate hay, bales, and feed needs for your livestock.
Honey Hen Homestead is Mike’s real, working off-grid property in southeast Virginia — about four years in, with a long list of things learned (and a few learned the hard way).
Whether you’re a seasoned off-gridder or just taking your first steps, we’re here with practical guides and tools — and we’re building a community of people figuring this out together.
New to Off-Grid Living? Start Here.
Thinking about buying land, building a homestead, or moving toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle? Start with the basics and work your way through the systems that make a homestead function.
- Find the Right Land — learn what to consider before buying homestead property.
- Plan Water — explore rainwater harvesting and water purification options.
- Plan Power — learn about solar, batteries, and off-grid electricity.
- Plan Shelter — understand the practical considerations of building a functional homestead.
- Grow Food — explore gardens and food production.
- Add Livestock — learn about livestock requirements, feed, and space.
- Build Self-Sufficiency — put the pieces together into a functioning homestead.
What’s Happening at the Homestead
Follow along as we build, test, fix, learn, and improve.
🏠 CABIN BUILD
Currently underway — follow along as the build progresses.
💧 WATER
Installing a shallow well to supply water for the livestock.
🐔 LIVESTOCK
Building a secure, predator-proof poultry run and coop.
Real Homesteading. Real Lessons.
Homesteading isn’t a checklist you finish. It’s a constant process of learning, adapting, fixing, and improving. We share the successes, mistakes, and practical lessons we run into along the way.
- Off-Grid Site Survey: Why It’s Essential Before You Build
- Percolation Testing: What We Learned Before Installing Septic
- Chasing Down Building Permits: Zoning, Well & Septic
- Building a Gravel Driveway: A Step-by-Step Breakdown
- Pastured Poultry: Our Affordable Protein Source
Follow the Homestead
The homestead is still being built. Follow along for new projects, lessons learned, practical tips, and behind-the-scenes updates from life on the land.
Explore Homesteading Topics
- Off-Grid Living
- Solar & Energy
- Water
- Homesteading & Shelter
- Garden & Food
- Livestock
- Land & Property
- Tools & Calculators
Topics of Interest
From your first solar panel to your first harvest, here’s where to start.
01
Getting Started
A complete step-by-step guide to going off-grid, from land to livestock.
02
Solar & Energy
Build and size a reliable off-grid solar system, from panels to battery backup.
04
Mental Health
Off-grid life brings real stress and real rewards. A few honest reflections on staying grounded through the transition.
05
Life Transitions
Discover insightful perspectives on life and more through our personal blog.
06
Personal Blog
Every article we’ve published, all in one place — solar, water, livestock, land, and everything in between.
