12 YEARS Living Off-Grid on a Sustainable Homestead in a Self-Built Cob Home

Video Description

Bryce and Misty have spent the last 12 years building a cob home, homesteading, living off the grid, and homeschooling their two daughters. They live without a car, so for transportation, they use taxis and bicycles, and they eventually hope to have a cart that their two horses can pull. For food production, they have a permaculture food forest for fruits and vegetables, chinampa-inspired wetland gardens, a cow and a bull for milk, ducks and chickens for eggs, bees for honey, and they also forage and cultivate feral crops. --- January 27, 2026: just wanted to share a little update on Bryce and Misty's home. The court process around the permits for their home was drawn out for 7 years, and they just received a judgement this past June. Unfortunately, they have to tear down their home, sell their property, and move on. To help with their costs to demolish, sell the land, and buy a new place, they have started a GoFundMe fundraiser here: https://gofund.me/3b6219668 They've also posted a short explaining the situation here if you'd like to learn more: https://youtube.com/shorts/JhSKcf25FPY?si=DbsXb2ZIZRflm8Uy Thank you for watching and for helping some fellow explorers on their journey! --- You can find out more about Bryce and Misty here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPYCD5SzWer5TWta3bssgIA  Blog: https://mistyariens.wixsite.com/ultimathule Email: [email protected] And SUPPORT BRYCE AND MISTY here: https://gofund.me/c4660286 https://www.patreon.com/Ontariopermaculture These two have put in an impressive amount of work setting up their homestead. The house is built with clay that they collected from the wetland area of their property, their well was dug by hand, and everything from the fences to the staircase was made with wood from within a 20km radius of their home. The cost to build the house was approximately $1,000 CAD. Most of the building materials (the sand, clay, straw, and wood) came from the land, and things like roofing, lumber, and windows they sourced from secondhand and reclaimed sources. Interestingly, they used several different natural building techniques in the home with each new addition. They usually start with a timber frame, and they have used cob, straw bales and wattle and daub, to fill in the spaces between the beams. And they've also explored using green roofs and earth floors. Since moving to the land, they had two lovely daughters that they homeschool using unschooling and life immersion methods. They learn about food production, natural building, nature, math, reading, and more! To earn an income, they do a variety of odd jobs including catering, seasonal farm work, a roadside plant stand, and they also receive the childcare benefit that all families in their province receive. Their primary focus is not how to earn more money but rather how to spend less and have more time. They try to produce as much of what they need on the farm. For electricity, they have solar panels on the roof and a wind turbine (currently non-operational), for water they have a hand-dug well and rainwater collection barrels, for heat they have wood stoves, they have two composting toilets, and a rocket stove to heat water for their bathtub. You can find out more about Bryce and Misty here: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPYCD5SzWer5TWta3bssgIA Blog: https://mistyariens.wixsite.com/ultimathule Email: [email protected] Thanks for watching! Mat & Danielle ------------------------------------------------------------- STAY IN TOUCH! ------------------------------------------------------------- Blog: www.exploringalternatives.ca Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/exploringalternativesblog Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/exploringalternatives/ ------------------------------------------------------------- COMMENTS ------------------------------------------------------------- We want our channel and our comments section to be an inclusive space where everyone feels welcome to watch and contribute. For this reason, comments that are inappropriate or hateful will be reported and/or deleted. Please discuss and debate with respect, and report inappropriate or hateful comments directly to YouTube. ------------------------------------------------------------- CREDITS ------------------------------------------------------------- Music & Song Credits: All music in this video was composed, performed, and recorded by Mat of Exploring Alternatives. Editing Credits: Mat and Danielle of Exploring Alternatives Filming Credits: Mat of Exploring Alternatives #homestead #offgrid #selfsufficient #greenbuilding