Off On Our Own: Living Off-Grid in Comfortable Independence: One Couple's ""Learn as We Go"" Journey to Self-Reliance

by Ted Carns

Ted and Kathy Carns live in the picturesque Laurel Highlands region of western Pennsylvania. They have most of the usual modern fridge, freezer, washer, computer, cell phone, hot tub, vacuum, hair dryer, flat screen TV with surround sound...and they do it all without plugging into the power grid. Their house is wood-heated, their fuel is non-petrol; they grow their own food, put up their harvest, make their own wine, and drop fresh canned peaches into the solar-powered blender for the morning smoothies... It's a simple life that zero waste, total recycling, and no “unnecessary necessities.” Others have done this, but the Carns' are doing it in such a dramatic, inventive way that people flock to their astonishing Stone Camp home to learn Ted's secrets. More than a dozen universities and colleges in the Tri-State/Mid-Atlantic area bring professors and students to Stone Camp every year to observe first-hand the remarkable lifestyle of Ted and Kathy Carns.

Off...On Our Own is Ted's manual for living off-grid, told with Mark Twainesque humor and how he created the various systems that power the Stone Camp (includes a how-to chapter)...and what he thinks about oil, self-reliance, waste, nature and reducing one's carbon footprint to walk more gently on the earth. The book is illustrated throughout with more than 60 black and white photos.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir

256 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2011

Reviews

[Erin Cataldi · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw a patron check this out so on a whim I decided to read it when they returned the book. I was intrigued from the beginning, lately I've been interested in the tiny house movement and living off grid and this book makes that "far out idea" seem even more desirous. Ted and Kathy Carns have lived off grid at The Stone Camp for years and created their own little utopia. Ted breaks down how he did it, and how it wasn't an overnight process, it took years of hard work, salvaging, tinkering, and flea marketing to piece together their wonderful independent home. They have zero waste, recycle everything (coming up with ingenious ways to re-purpose everything!), and are completely self-reliant. It sounds hard but they've come up with inventive ways to hook up tvs, blenders, laptops, and more so they don't feel behind in any regard. This wonderful book isn't soo much a guide (although it does contain recipes, a few DIY projects, pictures, and basic outlines), as it is a memoir. Ted Carns admits freely throughout the book that there are many other handy DIY guides and manuals and pushed the reader to see where he got inspiration and how he improved on it. Very inspiring. A good look into how we can all make the world a better more sustainable place.

[Bibliovoracious]

Compacting garbage for building blocks!? No! There is so much wrong with that!

Who's enabling him to collect all those tractors?

[Jeff Zell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ted Carns, Off On Our Own: Living Off-Grid in Comfortable Independence. Pittsburg: St. Lynn’s Press, 2011.

I do enjoy books that inspire me to become more self-sufficient. Carns tells the story of the homestead that he and his wife have in the wilds and mountains of Southeastern Pennsylvania. One of the reasons this book caught my eye is because it is not a book about handwork and self-denial. Carns tells how he came to have 15 buildings on his property, grow most of his own food, be disconnected from water, natural gas, electricity, sewer services, AND still have electric lights, a TV, Internet, computers, cell phone, running hot and cold water.

This is a book about ingenuity, creativity, doing what is necessary, and working hard. But, it is not a book extolling the glories of being forever inconvenienced or deprived of modern luxuries. This is a book that describes the good life, a life of contentment and delight.

Carns loves his independent lifestyle. His enthusiasm illuminates the pages. If you are looking for inspiration and ideas about how to become more self-sufficient, you will enjoy reading Off On Our Own.

[Johnny Brooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice memoir on Ted Carns' Stone Camp. Entertaining look at how he and his wife Kathy created a home where they live completely off grid. I even enjoyed his strange spirituality. It was nice to see some of his motivation, and it helped to reassure me that even though some of the ideas we have for building on The Shire (our new piece of land where we will move our orphan-care project) are strange, they can work.

This is not a how to book, but well worth reading for anyone interested in homesteading, living off grid, and following your heart.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I live in Western PA and the Highlands where the Carns make their home is absolutely breathtaking, so I was really excited to read this book and learn how I too could live off-grid in PA. Ted is certainly eccentric and while I dig his philosophy and ecological mindset, a lot of his MacGyver-esque tinkering and Gerry rigging are not going to be accessible to the average layperson who is not handy (I include myself in this category). Some of this should come with a don’t-try-this-at-home disclaimer. So I glossed over the more mechanically-oriented chapters but found many elements of their lifestyle admirable and inspiring such as their system of zero waste/total recycling, their earthen vermicomposting sunroom and their stubborn commitment to frugal DIYing (it was easy to picture Ted excitedly scoring his thrifty finds at the flea market). I am totally going to make my own plant labels for the garden out of matchbook covers and leftover incense sticks- brilliant! I especially enjoyed the short essays at the end to remind the reader that this lifestyle is ultimately a statement - a rejection of this unsustainable modern life that is so environmentally destructive. I only wish there was more of Kathy in this book. According to the author (Ted), she was thrilled to work a traditional job with benefits in the real world to support Ted’s free spirit and that worked out nicely for them. Every artist needs a patron, after all...and health insurance. I hope to take a drive to visit the Carns someday and see what more I can learn from their ways.

[w gall · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rating the book according to it's bright spots which pertain to the details of how one can live off the grid without becoming a caveman or cave woman. Ted's a mechanical genius in his development of simple, natural modes of living a modern life off the grid. A young person who is motivated to learn how to do this can do it without an engineering degree because of Ted's instructions. He has a countercultural philosophy which he also shares throughout the book. He passionately attacks a way of life that multiplies disposables and upsets the balance of nature and uses harmful products (fossil fuels and petrochemicals for energy production. He shows a way to live in harmony with nature. And his wife Kathy is his indispensable partner in this way of life. He also has a clever way with words, though there are times I think he has not made his points clear to readers through his expressions. By all means read it if you want live off the grid. Otherwise, while one can gain benefit from his healthy values, there are many chapters that one will slog through- detailed instructions on the constructions that comprise this way of life.

[Ali Anderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just wasn't my cup of tea. This is my husband's book, which I decided to read to expand my horizons. However, I have no intention of ever living off-grid, so the majority of the technical how-tos of their systems was quite boring to me.

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth buying if planning an off grid lifestyle. Many ideas for systems.

[Kevin Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many types of people who choose to live off-grid: some are committed environmentalists who approach the issue as an exercise in planning and ecological science; some are technology dropouts who just have to get away, no matter what it takes; many are natural inheritors of rural traditions who choose to embrace their environment as fully as possible, for ideological, practical, or financial reasons. Ted Carns grew up on a financially marginal family property in rural Pennsylvania and eventually settled there, finding that the deep well of practical know-how he and his family possessed, and his general distaste for the rat race, led him to greater and greater self-sufficiency as a means of extracting himself from the pressures of the money economy. He (with, later, his wife Kathy) gradually developed his property, installing sustainable technologies, amateur architecture projects, and an integrated and bounteous ecosystem that supports them in abundance in return for their considerable, and ongoing, personal inputs of labor and planning.

Off On Our Own: Living Off-Grid in Comfortable Independence: One Couple's "Learn as We Go" Journey to Self-Reliance in many ways reads like the well-known sustainability memoirs of Helen and Scott Nearing, providing a history of the Carns's efforts and the various projects they took on over the years, detailing techniques of farming and DIY technology that did or did not succeed, and illustrating their home, gardens, and various other projects as examples for others to take advantage of. Like the Nearings, the Carnses have become local environmentalist gurus, and their homestead - "Stone Camp" - has become an educational destination for those interested in sustainable lifestyles or contemplating starting their own off-grid property.

The Carnses are not technology-phobic: they have a variety of power tools and electrical technology (including TV and radio) and discuss the pros and cons of solar, wind, and micro-turbine power sources and their own history with them. They willingly recycle plastic and metal from rubbish dumps for farm-related purposes, and see this as a form of environmental cleanup. But they also extoll hand labor, and have set up many ingenious (and not so) contraptions to assist with chores. Their attitude toward environmentalism is to seek net zero impact and to take personal responsibility - through personal labor - in doing so, but not to needlessly fetishize the "natural" to the point of excluding the actual benefits of technology. This is a valuable illustration of one point of view along the contentious spectrum of environmentalist purity, and one of the book's main strengths is the opportunity it provides to hear an experienced voice report on that topic.

The book contains a wealth of useful information, and many photographs, for those interested in pursuing a back-to-the-land off-grid lifestyle for themselves. Reading between the lines, it is also a revealing illustration of how far off any recognizable grid it is possible to go (living in a home partly constructed around a tree growing through the roof, drinking fermented glop from old canning jars, and dragging home every bit of scrap metal and broken machinery possible in order to retrofit them to some Rube Goldberg farm tool). It turns out that "comfortable independence" depends to a very great degree on what you regard as comfort.

Readers interested in environmentally-conscious living will find the book entertaining and thought-provoking. Those seriously contemplating pursuing a similar lifestyle will find it offers a useful exercise in repeatedly challenging themselves: "is that really necessary?"; "am I willing to go that far?"; "what are my commitments and what will I do to live up to them?" As a contribution to the literature of committed and experienced sustainable-lifestyle advocates, Off On Our Own occupies a particular and fascinating niche, simultaneously more extreme in practice but less so in politics than the works of the Nearings, more slapdash in execution than the Whole Earth ethos but more inventive and creative than Mother Earth News. The Carnses come off as a cross between an old farmer-hippie couple and Tom Bombadil and Lady Goldberry of Tolkien's fantasy paradise - a charming and welcoming pair of guides along an unique but rewarding path.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was super inspiring. Towards the end of it, I found myself writing lists of things that I want to work on either learning or creating to make our lives more sustainable.

Ted Carns appears to be slightly brilliant, although (like many folks who live off the grid) - slightly odd. This makes him endearing to me, and possibly just cooky to others who are less inclined to enjoy crazy people.

I say slightly brilliant, because of all the various systems he's concocted in his compound over the years. To start out, he has around 15 or so buildings on his property - all with very specific purposes. He goes into LOTS of details with his possibly scientifically based systems (like a human waste system that reuses methane for energy). I only say "possibly scientific" because I HAVE NO IDEA if it actually is, I'm not that smart. Annnnnnd, he kind of seems like the kind of guy who is either (1) brilliant and is actually creating systems based on a real knowledge of chemicals and their properties.... Orrrrr perhaps he read a book or two 20 years ago about how convert methane to usable energy, and then will just troubleshoot until he gets an answer. :)

THAT'S why its inspiring. Because he admits to not ever really knowing what he's doing. And just trying alot of things, until he gets it right.

Other impressive features to "Stone Camp":
- a homemade, 40 ft windmill tower
- a "sugar shack" where he and he wife Kathy collect sap and create syrup
- His libIrary which is described like a hobbit hole that I want to go snuggle in.
- I can't remember what right now, but he makes something useful from hunter's cigarette butts he finds while hiking. #nastyyetresourceful
- The building materials he makes from TRASH. Literally.



I wish there was more pictures in the book. The book would be so much more helpful on a practical note if there were more pictures. There is a really cool video on their website (I'm kind of surprised they have a website): http://www.thestonecamp.com/

He also has really strong opinions about most things, and is also a deep thinker, and communicates his life philosophies in an overall inspiring way. He is super passionate about preserving nature, and mentions a little bit from lots of religions that support his deep roots with all things green, organic, and untouched by humans evil desire to conquer the world.

Overall, its a great and entertaining read that will have you wanting to go start digging a hole in your front yard with a backhoe and calling it a greenhouse.... that might have happened in this book...

Here's a quote to either throw you off the scent of this book or get you completely hooked (I don't see there being much middle ground):

"You can buy out a company and increase your net worth 20-fold, but that kind of shit pales besides getting up at 5am, firing up a the tractor and going out in the woods to gather sap."

[Stephie Jane Rexroth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ted Carns shares his beautiful, paradigm-shifting, multifaceted work: one part insightful and inspiring philosophy, one part creative strategies for self-reliant living, one part humorous memoir and one part timely and powerful social commentary.

Profound chapters: Needs, Desires and Magic; Time, Money and My Jeweled Cape; Deep Connections; Recycling; The Years Ahead of Us; and Epilogue: On Forests, Wood Gasification and True Sustainability; On Fossil Fuels and Petrochemicals; and On Dominion, Disposibility and the Undivided Eye.

Quotable passages are plentiful, many of which I scribbled away for safe keeping, posted online and emailed to friends. Of all of them, the one that has shifted my perspective on work/life is on the distinction between necessity and desire:

"Focus upon necessity brings about a profound change and leads to a different reality. Desires are focused on the 'future;' necessity is faced in the 'moment.' That's the key to creativity. The key to being able to fix, do, build, and invent things is right there in the 'moment' you face a problem or task. When you learn to give a thing permission to fix itself—a task permission to complete itself—you are made to dwell in the moment, with your faculties on full alert. Then the task itself—the broken thing itself—becomes the supervisor. Your only responsibility is to hand it tools. Those tools are your own unique and innate talents set to rest upon common sense. Humble yourself in subservience to the job. Allow the job to do the job.

"When you discover this magic for yourself, you become less and less intimidated by life's trials and labors, for now you have learned to work with things as opposed to against them. Have total faith in yourself. There are so many things we all can accomplish. There is so much we can do and so little that we cannot do. March forward with courage in yourself for you have found patience, you have met necessity. You have achieved a state of effortless effort."

Within the first few pages, I was surprised and thrilled to discover that The Stone Camp is just a few miles from my hometown. I have probably driven by it hundreds of times over the last 30+ years completely unaware. I plan to visit this magical hide-away on my way back to the city this weekend; hopefully I don't cause too much of an interruption or intrusion. [To be continued...]

[Dawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book. For those who want to see what extreme off grid living can look like, I recommend this book. The author, Ted Carns and his wife Kathy have created a truly self sustaining, off grid homestead but still have the modern conveniences. The book itself is a mix of his philosophy of how humans should relate to the earth and "what I did" as opposed to true "how tos". As such, some will be put off. This is NOT a book for those looking for a step by step guide even though he has a few practical projects. Really this is a book to challenge your thinking and help you dream in equal measures.

[Kevin]

Interesting. Made me feel ok about some of the weird things I try. A little heavy on the religious stuff, though.

[Gene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book but needs some more detail.

[Kathely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great ideas!! A little hippie-ish for my taste, but not too awful much...

[Ian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too technical at points - but I guess that's the whole point of the book!

[Liz]

Accounting of a Sustainable homestead in Pennsylvania. Mildly interesting but forgettable.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author has a wonderful philosophy on life and is a genius and inventing self-sustaining machines. He lives in SW Pennsylvania and his home is open to visitors. Worth reading!

[Nick Woodall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expected it be more of a "how-to" book, but it had a lot of philosophizing in it.

[Fernleaf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Half philosophy and half practical description, this is an off-the-grid book entirely in it's own category.

[Susan Saling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful!