Exploring Alternatives

Check out our latest video about Laurie & Dan ‪@freedomforestlife‬! They are growing 80% of their own food on an impressively abundant 3-acre off-grid homestead in the South of England. They grow vegetables and flowers in permaculture gardens, they grow tree fruit, berries and herbs in a food forest, and they grow winter crops in three polytunnels. They also cultivate mushrooms by inoculating logs and forage for chestnuts in the woodland on their property. They use a variety of growing methods including no dig beds, back to eden wood chip mulching, no chemicals or sprays, they plant heirloom seeds, and they make their own compost. Their land is off-grid so they collect rainwater, and they also pump well-water using electricity from solar panels.

1 week ago | [YT] | 192

Exploring Alternatives

Here's some inspiration for anyone thinking of growing food in small spaces this summer!

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 226

Exploring Alternatives

Check out our latest video about Anne-Marijke who's been living in her tiny house on wheels in Australia for 2 years now. Her decision to go tiny was primarily based on financial security and retirement. The cost of renting or owning a home was much more expensive than a tiny house, and would have prevented her from being able to retire until she was 80 years old.

As an alternative, she bought a tiny house shell from a builder, and with help from her daughter, she built the inside of the tiny home with no previous building experience. Doing it this way, as a partial DIY build, saved her a lot of money since she didn’t have to pay for her own labour for the interior portion of the construction. The total cost of the build was approx. $60,000 USD.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 100

Exploring Alternatives

Growing season is here! Here's some inspiration for anyone thinking of growing food this summer!

1 month ago | [YT] | 147

Exploring Alternatives

Catherine and Wayne's Freedom Cove is one of the most iconic and creative homes we've had the pleasure of visiting in all our years of exploring alternatives. Sadly, Wayne passed away in 2023 before repairs could be made to the main float home, and it is now sinking and unsafe to live in. There is a fundraiser to help Catherine rebuild the float home, and while we don't usually share fundraising links, we feel that Catherine and Wayne shared their home with so many news stations, YouTube channels, and every day folks from around the world that we'd love to show them some love in return. Here is the GoFundMe link for anyone who is interested and able to pitch in: gofund.me/5d895f6a

And in case you haven't seen their video, here is the link to check it out: https://youtu.be/4ts15BW-6hw

Thanks so much y'all!

1 month ago (edited) | [YT] | 715

Exploring Alternatives

Check out our latest video about Luke and Frances who built this beautiful shipping container tiny house out of a single 40-foot-long used shipping container. They built it on a small budget by sourcing most of the materials secondhand and by doing all the work themselves to keep the cost down. The container has doors at each end, so they took advantage of these openings to add sliding patio doors and a big picture window to bring in lots of natural light, and they intentionally kept the floor plan simple, aiming to create the feel of a studio apartment.

The house measures 8 feet wide x 40 feet long with a total square footage of 320. They have a bright living room at one end with a sofa bed and handmade wood furniture. In the middle of the house is the kitchen with a DIY concrete countertop and a breakfast bar overlooking the forest. The bathroom has tiled walls and a shower, as well as a reclaimed toilet and vanity. And at the far end of the container cabin is a bedroom with a queen size bed and a dresser for storage.

They bought the sea can used, and it already had spray foam insulation and a wood floor inside. They set it up on a foundation of patio stones and bolted a roof onto the top to create overhangs that would protect the house from rain and other elements.

In terms of systems, they have a well on the property, an above ground septic tank, a propane on demand hot water heater, electricity from the grid, and a mini-split in the bedroom that heats and cools the house (and is also an extraction fan). They added baseboard heaters in other rooms to keep them warm and cozy as well.

An important thing to consider when building a house inside a metal building envelope like a used steel shipping container is the potential for condensation which can create serious problems. The spray foam acts as both insulation and a vapour barrier, and they also use a dehumidifier to keep moisture levels down.

1 month ago | [YT] | 137

Exploring Alternatives

Deborah and Gabe transformed an empty backyard lawn into an abundant permaculture micro-farm where they're growing fresh fruits and vegetables for themselves, and for sale at their farm gate stand. To grow food year-round in a northern climate, they also have a geodesic dome greenhouse with an indoor pond that helps regulate the temperature in all 4 seasons.

The couple is using permaculture and hügelkultur methods to grow food in their backyard gardens and they don't use any pesticides or herbicides. They've planted a food forest with fruit and nut trees, and they've also planted fruit trees and native plant species to feed birds and pollinators like bees and butterflies.

1 month ago | [YT] | 134

Exploring Alternatives

Check out our latest video about this stunning little float home that has an incredible open concept interior design that you will fall in love with! It's a perfect tiny house on the water, and believe it or not, it used to be a boat shed...for storing boats!

It was converted from a boat shed into a floating house by adding extra flotation in the middle of the structure and then adding an oak plank floor on top of that. Once the house had a foundation and a floor, then the living spaces were added one at a time, including a chef's kitchen with an island, a dining room with a live edge table, a spa-like bathroom with stone tile and a big bathtub, and then the piece de résistance is the living room with a view onto the ocean with french doors that open onto a floating deck, and a wood stove to stay cozy and warm inside during winter. Up a set of stairs/ladder is a loft bedroom with another amazing view of the water, and a storage nook with space to sleep an extra guest.

The house is floating on a combination of 3 types of flotation: PVC foam blocks around the perimeter, barrels filled with air in the middle, and extra barrels with valves on them that can be inflated and deflated by divers to level the house depending on where heavier items are located (like a bathtub or wood stove).

The house has moorage at a marina that accepts float homes, and it is connected to water and electricity via the marina. Marinas all have different rules, services, fees, and contract lengths so it's important to look into a marina before deciding if you want to be a liveaboard there.

The Red Float House was converted 15 years ago and was home for it's owner until 2019. She still uses it as a home base when she's in the city, but she has decided that it's time to move on and let someone new have the opportunity to try out living on the water!

1 month ago | [YT] | 121

Exploring Alternatives

Check out our latest video about Anders who is living off-grid in a tiny house that he built on a budget, along with his sweet dog Borsimat. He built the tiny home over 4 years ago with natural and sustainable materials, including untreated larch wood, recycled metal, wood fibre insulation, and secondhand windows. He has solar panels and batteries for his electricity, he collects rainwater from his roof for all his water needs (including showers), he heats the house with wood from his forest as well as with scrap wood purchased from a nearby mill, and he has a composting toilet in an outhouse to keep smells out of the tiny home. Anders is also growing a lot of his own food in his permaculture gardens, including fruit, vegetables, and soon to be mushrooms. This type of self-reliant off-grid homestead lifestyle is a lot of work and there are constantly chores to do, but Anders really enjoys the benefits of spending more time in nature, living with fewer expenses, learning new skills, and having more time to spend with his family :)

3 months ago | [YT] | 177

Exploring Alternatives

Check out our latest video about this beautiful park model tiny house on wheels that has everything from a kitchen with a a dining room, two main floor bedrooms, and a spacious living room, to a cozy bathroom, an epic laundry room and loads of storage! It's bigger than a typical tiny house, measuring 44' long, 12' wide, and 13'6" tall with everything on one floor (no loft, no ladder, no stairs!) and there are high ceilings and clerestory windows that make the living space feel open and airy.

Some of the advantages of a park model tiny house like this is that it's longer and wider, so you don't get the hallway effect that some tiny homes have. There's also loads of storage space in the kitchen, bedrooms, and laundry room to help keep clutter to a minimum. Having a second bedroom means you have space for a home office, for guests, or for kids. And there's also room for a dining room which is something that a lot of tiny homes don't have (they often opt for a breakfast bar or a counter with stools).

Some of the disadvantages of a park model is that, due to their large size, they do require special permitting to transport on the road and likely need at least one pilot vehicle. They're also more expensive than a lot of tiny homes. The Orca model in this video costs $231,000 in Canadian Dollars.

Another key difference between a typical tiny house on wheels and a park model is that they are built to different standards and certifications, which is an important thing to look into when buying a tiny house and figuring out where to park it, as well as for financing, insurance and other important logistics.

3 months ago | [YT] | 112