Hi i live of grid in Highlands of Scotland and i solved my water shortage by putting in 2 huge water ponds and i excavated down 5 meters then lined it with clay that is very abundant on my property and i double lined one pond the other is clay lined a friend has a warer tanker so we put 15000 gallons in each both worked perfectly and i have a natural spring that eventually filled both ponds . I have 2 acres under polly tunnels and need a lot of water for animals us and vegetables and fruit growing . I now also have put brook trout in the ponds so i know fish when we take a desire for fish this area now has very diverse landscape it helps nature also i planted wild flower patches as well as grass it took 2 years to fully recover and wild flowers help my bees tremendously a have increased honey production as well now no need to worry about water even last summer when it was very hot still had plenty water good luck with your pond plant wild flowers and get bee hive if you dont have and you will see nature at its best
Thanks for this. It’s always really interesting to hear about other peoples’ set ups. We are really looking forward to the additional wildlife that will come because of the pond 😊 We’ve got some beehives and it’s good to see the bees out and about around the land. Where abouts in the highlands are you? Fraser is part Scottish and we’ve spent quite a lot of time up your way 😊👍
@@The_OffGridFamily hi I live in strathspey about 4 miles ne of aviemore just south of the haws of Cromdale mountains my land is 25 acres I own but I do rent an additional 5acres of pasture and I have 4 cows 8 goats 250meat birds . I have 2acres under polly tunnels and I also have some geese 6 pigs and 6 bee hives so this keeps me working away. I see from some of your videos you have in your words had a game changer with a polly tunel you should double or treble that and frazer has had difficulties with making power . I have a victron system and have 120 solar array each panel is 450w I also have for winter generation a 40foot wind turbine its great in the deep winter as we don't get a lot of day light in December and January I made the all my power needs even in cold frosty weather as my turbine does no need much wind to work. My back up generator hardly ever gets used .I also have the big echoflow with 4extra battery storage as well. I sell honey cheese and ice cream and vegetables plus eggs as I have a lot of hens . I have a log burner with a oven and 3 hot plates all built in for heating and cooking as well as 2 other wood burners as I have 5 bed house I bought from a log building coming canada they built it in Canada then dismantled it shipped it over and they sent 5men over and all I had to do was put in slab plus services I got my home 15 years ago and it's still like new I put Brook trout in my ponds as they are well suited rainbow trout like deeper water I have 2 solar panels at each pond to put oxygen into water very important you may want to do this to your pond as it stops algae build up it helps nature as well I get red deer all types of birds squirrels rabbits and lots of other wild animals come . You should plant big patches of wild flowers round the pond area it really helped my bees boot 40%increased honey production . If you have more polly tunnel s then you can sell extra veg an fruit and eggs cheese from goats milk ice cream from cows milk and get extra income stream but it all depends on what suits you and your family. What's good for me might not suit you .I have followed your channel for a while and enjoy it all the best in the future for you both and your kids
@@garrygrant2827This is the most fabulous & heart-warming story. Although your life-style sounds like heaven on earth, I’m guessing you retire to bed absolutely exhausted but raring to go again when you wake up. Wishing you very many healthy & wonderful years ahead, living the dream. All the best Garry 🐝
But how were you allowed to get planning? You cant just buy land and move into a caravan unless you did the five year thing now 10 years? I just watched your previous video and am confused.
We use Ozone to sanitize our water. we use a pond aeration pump through an Ozone generator and bubble it into the water tank. it is more successful than Chlorine and safer too. if you aerate the pond with a solar panel or two it will be safer for all that user the water.
We are going to use a liner. Our ground is predominantly clay and one of our previous ponds held water without a liner, but others didn’t and for this one we want to be sure it will hold!
Bit of a long story with that one 😊 First we went for a borehole, which is 20m. That draws salt water. We then went shallower at 6m. That also draws salt water. Then we went for a shallow well of 3m… you can probably guess where this is going 😩 still salt. So wells are out of the question for us, which is why it’s proving so difficult.
Yes in the sense that the tanks are now full, but we haven’t got the liner in yet. That’s going in over the next few weeks and then you just know we are headed for the driest Autumn/Winter on record 😂 We did talk about fish to eat. Definitely ducks though 😊
The creative and innovative ways your family is thinking to solve issues of off grid living is the main reason I watch this channel.
Thank you 😊 We really hope that this solves the problem 🤞
Live your dream and never mind about how you achieve it is the end result that is most important. cheers you two + two.
Hi i live of grid in Highlands of Scotland and i solved my water shortage by putting in 2 huge water ponds and i excavated down 5 meters then lined it with clay that is very abundant on my property and i double lined one pond the other is clay lined a friend has a warer tanker so we put 15000 gallons in each both worked perfectly and i have a natural spring that eventually filled both ponds . I have 2 acres under polly tunnels and need a lot of water for animals us and vegetables and fruit growing . I now also have put brook trout in the ponds so i know fish when we take a desire for fish this area now has very diverse landscape it helps nature also i planted wild flower patches as well as grass it took 2 years to fully recover and wild flowers help my bees tremendously a have increased honey production as well now no need to worry about water even last summer when it was very hot still had plenty water good luck with your pond plant wild flowers and get bee hive if you dont have and you will see nature at its best
Thanks for this. It’s always really interesting to hear about other peoples’ set ups. We are really looking forward to the additional wildlife that will come because of the pond 😊 We’ve got some beehives and it’s good to see the bees out and about around the land. Where abouts in the highlands are you? Fraser is part Scottish and we’ve spent quite a lot of time up your way 😊👍
@@The_OffGridFamily hi I live in strathspey about 4 miles ne of aviemore just south of the haws of Cromdale mountains my land is 25 acres I own but I do rent an additional 5acres of pasture and I have 4 cows 8 goats 250meat birds . I have 2acres under polly tunnels and I also have some geese 6 pigs and 6 bee hives so this keeps me working away. I see from some of your videos you have in your words had a game changer with a polly tunel you should double or treble that and frazer has had difficulties with making power . I have a victron system and have 120 solar array each panel is 450w I also have for winter generation a 40foot wind turbine its great in the deep winter as we don't get a lot of day light in December and January I made the all my power needs even in cold frosty weather as my turbine does no need much wind to work. My back up generator hardly ever gets used .I also have the big echoflow with 4extra battery storage as well. I sell honey cheese and ice cream and vegetables plus eggs as I have a lot of hens . I have a log burner with a oven and 3 hot plates all built in for heating and cooking as well as 2 other wood burners as I have 5 bed house I bought from a log building coming canada they built it in Canada then dismantled it shipped it over and they sent 5men over and all I had to do was put in slab plus services I got my home 15 years ago and it's still like new I put Brook trout in my ponds as they are well suited rainbow trout like deeper water I have 2 solar panels at each pond to put oxygen into water very important you may want to do this to your pond as it stops algae build up it helps nature as well I get red deer all types of birds squirrels rabbits and lots of other wild animals come . You should plant big patches of wild flowers round the pond area it really helped my bees boot 40%increased honey production . If you have more polly tunnel s then you can sell extra veg an fruit and eggs cheese from goats milk ice cream from cows milk and get extra income stream but it all depends on what suits you and your family. What's good for me might not suit you .I have followed your channel for a while and enjoy it all the best in the future for you both and your kids
@@garrygrant2827This is the most fabulous & heart-warming story. Although your life-style sounds like heaven on earth, I’m guessing you retire to bed absolutely exhausted but raring to go again when you wake up.
Wishing you very many healthy & wonderful years ahead, living the dream. All the best Garry 🐝
I am so excited for you two. Go forth and subdue the earth.
But how were you allowed to get planning? You cant just buy land and move into a caravan unless you did the five year thing now 10 years? I just watched your previous video and am confused.
We use Ozone to sanitize our water. we use a pond aeration pump through an Ozone generator and bubble it into the water tank. it is more successful than Chlorine and safer too. if you aerate the pond with a solar panel or two it will be safer for all that user the water.
Hopefully it will come up in a future video, about how you will deal with the evaporation rate of water in your pond.
This will be one drawback, and something we will monitor 😊
What are you on about all it did this summer was rain?
How close are you to local amenities? Is it a similar distance to village life? Or would it be difficult for you to drive 20 minutes away to a shop?
We are about 30 minutes from a descent sized supermarket. There is a village shop closer than that though 😊
Do you need a tarp in it or will the soil hold the water?
We are going to use a liner. Our ground is predominantly clay and one of our previous ponds held water without a liner, but others didn’t and for this one we want to be sure it will hold!
Do you need planning permission for all the things you have done in the land?
Is it not possible to drill a well?
Bit of a long story with that one 😊 First we went for a borehole, which is 20m. That draws salt water. We then went shallower at 6m. That also draws salt water. Then we went for a shallow well of 3m… you can probably guess where this is going 😩 still salt. So wells are out of the question for us, which is why it’s proving so difficult.
@@The_OffGridFamily how about installing a reverse osmosis system on the well? take a look at it.
rescued by an english summer :) Fish in the pond for eating?
Yes in the sense that the tanks are now full, but we haven’t got the liner in yet. That’s going in over the next few weeks and then you just know we are headed for the driest Autumn/Winter on record 😂
We did talk about fish to eat. Definitely ducks though 😊
@@The_OffGridFamily lol. I live in Kent so I know what you mean.
Haha then yes you will know. Fraser is from Kent originally (you may have picked up on the accent? 😁). Beautiful part of the country 😊
Tell us about the gasifier. Tell us about the gasifier. Tell us about the gasifier.
😫😫😫 Oh don’t even go there. We’ve had to put it on hold whilst we sort this out. We will get there eventually though 👍