Homestead Living in a Tiny Home Off-the-Grid: Guest Interview with Teri Page

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Have you ever dreamed about moving off-the-grid, building a home from local materials, starting a garden that would be your sole source of nourishment, and connecting with nature and the outdoors in a way you never have before?

I met Teri Page last year through her blog “Homestead Honey.” She’s into gardening, raising animals, knitting, reading, Waldorf Education, musical theater, dance, backpacking, and spending time with her homesteading family of husband and 2 children. Intrigued? I was too.

In this blog, Teri shares her insights on homesteading, off-the-grid living, tiny home building, and her nature fed life in Missouri. Keep reading to learn more…

What made you decide to homestead off-the-grid in a tiny home?

We have been homesteaders for the past 14 years, although we only moved to our own property in Missouri last year. After living and learning at a sustainability education center in Oregon, my husband and I rented a small cabin with 30 acres of forest and a small garden space. After a successful summer growing food, we expanded our garden, and then, with our landlord’s blessing, added chickens, ducks, fruit trees, bees, dairy goats, and finally pigs! We had become homesteaders without really ever planning to!

Last October, we moved from Oregon to Missouri, to begin building on 10 acres of raw land. In the spring we moved onto the land in a pop-up tent trailer, and decided we never wanted to leave! Building a tiny house takes a lot less time, money, and resources than a larger space, and we were very eager to live on our land. In just a few months, thanks to my husband’s carpentry skills, we were able to build a comfortable, warm 350 square foot home.

Living off-grid is a natural extension of the way we’ve been living for years. Ultimately, we will install solar panels for electric lights, a freezer, and a computer, but for now, we are enjoying living electricity-free, with candles for light and coolers for food.

What do you and your family love to spend time doing outdoors?

Our family loves to be outdoors. My husband and I met when we were outdoor educators, teaching snorkeling, kayaking, and hiking, and our love for being in nature has continued throughout our life together.

We particularly love backpacking, and all throughout my pregnancies, and even when my kids were babies, we would strap on backpacks, bring our dairy goats along to help carry gear, and get out into the mountains.

These days, we walk in the forest on our land, and do many outdoor homestead chores – gardening, animal care, or wood gathering. We also love playing in the snow, sledding down our hill, or cross country skiing to visit neighbors.

What changes when you live in 350 square feet?

We are used to living in a small space, as our former house was only 750 square feet, but cutting our living space in half has made us even closer, literally! We need to be very organized – everything has a place – and we need to be even more respectful of each others’ personal space, as there are no private spaces to retreat to!

I think spending time outdoors is an important part of living in a small space; we go outside to burn our energy, and come back indoors ready to be cozy and to connect with one another.

How is your tiny home or self-sufficient lifestyle “nature fed”?

We connect with nature on so many levels. For our health and nourishment, we rely on nature’s bounty of organic food we have grown ourselves or sourced as locally as possible. We replenish our spirits and recreate in nature by being outdoors as a family. Since we do not yet have electricity, our daily rhythms are governed by nature’s clock.

In building our home, we have tried to be as conscious as we can of our environmental footprint. Our wood is locally sourced and milled oak, our exterior siding is reclaimed barn wood from a century-old building. The interior has reclaimed insulation and blown cellulose. We have sourced reclaimed materials as we could, so that our home reflects our values. I believe that our constructed environment has as much of an impact on our body and spirit as the natural environment; our tiny home has lots of windows, natural light, and natural materials to allow nature to penetrate our indoor living.

What’s your favorite quick meal for your family of four?

My favorite way of cooking these days is to put a pot of soup or stew on the wood stove and let it slow simmer all day long. I am especially fond of pasture-raised beef stews with lots of vegetables, and we try to cook big pots over the weekend so we can enjoy many meals from the same dish. My kids love simple meals such as rice or quinoa with steamed vegetables and lots of raw butter. In the summer and fall, we often harvest what is available in the garden, lightly cook it (or not), and eat!