Vela Creations is an in-depth resource for off grid living. The site documents our research and experiences, hoping that they might help others interested in pursuing this lifestyle. This blog is designed to document our day to day experiences as we build our new, sustainable homestead. If you are interested in seeing more photos and videos, we have a flickr account at the following url: http://flickr.com/photos/35090117@N05/collections/

Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Annie Dillard

"There is a muscular energy in sunlight corresponding to the spiritual energy of wind." - Annie Dillard

Monday, March 28, 2016

Edouard Manet

"There are no lines in nature, only areas of colour, one against another." - Edouard Manet

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Ellsworth Huntington

"We are learning, too, that the love of beauty is one of Nature's greatest healers." - Ellsworth Huntington

Top 3 Reasons Americans are Flocking to Raise Backyard Chickens

Top 3 Reasons Americans are Flocking to Raise Backyard Chickens

Biodegradable algae water bottles provide a green alternative to plastic

Biodegradable algae water bottles provide a green alternative to plastic

Why I quit my office job to become a farmer

Why I quit my office job to become a farmer

Build your own backyard pond for raising lovely koi and other types of fish.

Build your own backyard pond for raising lovely koi and other types of fish.

Mushroom hunters in the states: A map that shows where Morel have been found so far this season!

Mushroom hunters in the states: A map that shows where Morel have been found so far this season!

How To Light Your Home Off Grid.

How To Light Your Home Off Grid.

Hatching Chicken Eggs using an Artifical Incubator - the art and science of getting it right

Hatching Chicken Eggs using an Artifical Incubator - the art and science of getting it right

A Case For Fish Farming

A Case For Fish Farming

Maryland to Become First State to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides for Consumer Use

Maryland to Become First State to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides for Consumer Use

Why The Future Farmers Of North America Are Turning To Crickets

Why The Future Farmers Of North America Are Turning To Crickets

Easy DIY PVC Chicken Waterer

Easy DIY PVC Chicken Waterer

Saturday, March 26, 2016

Jean Paul

"The miracle on earth are the laws of heaven." - Jean Paul

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Georges Simenon

"The lake and the mountains have become my landscape, my real world." - Georges Simenon

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

John Dryden

"Ill habits gather unseen degrees, as brooks make rivers, rivers run to seas." - John Dryden

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Laurence Sterne

"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." - Laurence Sterne

Monday, March 21, 2016

Virgil

"As the twig is bent the tree inclines." - Virgil

Friday, March 18, 2016

Matthew Arnold

"Bald as the bare mountain tops are bald, with a baldness full of grandeur." - Matthew Arnold

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Thomas Browne

"All things are artificial, for nature is the art of God." - Thomas Browne

The All-Native Edible Forest Garden: Eastern Forest Edition

The All-Native Edible Forest Garden: Eastern Forest Edition

Small is Beautiful: We Don't Need to Go Big To Create New Energy Sources

Small is Beautiful: We Don't Need to Go Big To Create New Energy Sources

Urban farming utopia in India produces more energy than it uses

Urban farming utopia in India produces more energy than it uses

Grubblies Free Sample

Grubblies Free Sample

You can't grow everything and that's why we invented farmer's markets!

You can't grow everything and that's why we invented farmer's markets!

. DIY Re-Purposing a Carport into a Greenhouse

. DIY Re-Purposing a Carport into a Greenhouse

$150 bike camper: DIY micro mobile home

$150 bike camper: DIY micro mobile home

Off-the-grid shipping container home

Off-the-grid shipping container home

6 Best Farm Animals to Raise When You're Just Starting out

6 Best Farm Animals to Raise When You're Just Starting out

Monday, March 14, 2016

Voltaire

"Nature has always had more force than education." - Voltaire

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Tom Allen

"While I relish our warm months, winter forms our character and brings out our best." - Tom Allen

Saturday, March 12, 2016

Saint Augustine

"Miracles are not contrary to nature, but only contrary to what we know about nature." - Saint Augustine

Friday, March 11, 2016

Pierre Schaeffer

"Sound is the vocabulary of nature." - Pierre Schaeffer

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Max Beerbohm

"To destroy is still the strongest instinct in nature." - Max Beerbohm

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Luther Burbank

"We must return to nature and nature's god." - Luther Burbank

Snow

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For the past few weeks, we've been having highs of 90 degrees. As soon as the boys get back from school, they change into shorts (no T-shirts even!). All of our peach trees have bloomed, as well as almonds and some of the pears and plums. And now, all of a sudden, a front moved in and we are covered with snow.

It's the most snow we've had here, and the boys got to make their first ever snowman!

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The post Snow appeared first on VelaCreations.



Snow

Tuesday, March 8, 2016

John Keats

"Scenery is fine - but human nature is finer." - John Keats

Monday, March 7, 2016

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

"Nature never deceives us; it is we who deceive ourselves." - Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Sunday, March 6, 2016

James Montgomery

"The Dove, on silver pinions, winged her peaceful way." - James Montgomery

Permaculture Food Forest Course On Galiano Island (South Coast of BC Canada)

Permaculture Food Forest Course On Galiano Island (South Coast of BC Canada)

Old-school permaculture in action! The whole series shows so many of the intricacies of a pre-modern system.

Old-school permaculture in action! The whole series shows so many of the intricacies of a pre-modern system.

An Afternoon with Alan (Mushroom) Kapuler

An Afternoon with Alan (Mushroom) Kapuler

No Ocean? No Problem! Indoor Shrimp Farming Takes Off In Landlocked Midwest

No Ocean? No Problem! Indoor Shrimp Farming Takes Off In Landlocked Midwest

Factory farming divestment: what you need to know

Factory farming divestment: what you need to know

Urban Aquaponic Farmer and Chef Redefines Local Food

Urban Aquaponic Farmer and Chef Redefines Local Food

Urban Beekeeping Has Come to LA

Urban Beekeeping Has Come to LA

Moringa Oleifera trees - fast growing and highly nutritious food trees, with leaves like spinach, edible seed pods, rich in vitamins and minerals, and with healing, medicinal, and other benefits and uses

Moringa Oleifera trees - fast growing and highly nutritious food trees, with leaves like spinach, edible seed pods, rich in vitamins and minerals, and with healing, medicinal, and other benefits and uses

Foraging: Wild Onions

Foraging: Wild Onions

How to Make a Gourd Water Bottle: This looks like a really cool project. Maybe something you could sell at a farmers market or on etsy

How to Make a Gourd Water Bottle: This looks like a really cool project. Maybe something you could sell at a farmers market or on etsy

Lemon Dill Pickled Beets. Great tasty way to preserve.

Lemon Dill Pickled Beets. Great tasty way to preserve.

Friday, March 4, 2016

Friedrich Schiller

"Nothing leads to good that is not natural." - Friedrich Schiller

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Elbert Hubbard

"The supernatural is the natural not yet understood." - Elbert Hubbard

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

Edmund Burke

"We must all obey the great law of change. It is the most powerful law of nature." - Edmund Burke

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Anthony J. D'Angelo

"Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine." - Anthony J. D'Angelo

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