Everything on this homestead is being built to run without depending on the grid — water first, then power, then the structures that keep the weather out.
We film each stage as we do it: what we chose, what it cost, what we would do differently, and what simply did not work. If you are building your own place, the failures are worth more than the finished photos.
Watch the build as it happens on our channel.
Water before anything else
Every build here starts with water, because a homestead without water is a camp. When the pump died and the farm went dry we did not call a plumber — we opened it, found the failure, and fixed it on the farm. That whole job is on video, including the part where it did not work the first time.
Then power, then shelter
Off-grid means you find out what a system really costs at 2am, not on the spec sheet. We film the numbers: what we bought, what it cost in rand, and what we would do differently now.
The honest part
Half of what is worth knowing is what failed. If you are building your own place, the failures on this page will save you more money than the finished photographs.
Keep reading — the numbers behind the build
- Solar sizing for the Garden Route — the measured winter yield, and the four numbers that size a system.
- What off-grid living costs in South Africa in 2026 — tariffs, panels, batteries and the payback arithmetic.
- Going off-grid in Wilderness — the rules, the weather and why water comes first.