Living Off the Grid with Tina

I first met Tina online through a Facebook group for area residents and then got to know her more through her side business. (I LOVE ColorStreet nail polish strips!) She lives a seemingly normal life, but her home life is where things are far from ordinary! Tina works in a city about a 35 minute commute away. She also has successful side business as a consultant for ColorStreet Nail Strips and Farmasi Cosmetics. Tina is loving living off the grid and just off the beaten path.

Tina is proud of her homestead- and rightly so. She moved to her property here in Western Arizona in 2019 from the southeast. Her home is only a mile or so from our “town” but has no power other than solar and wind, even though she is close to the freeway and can see the gas station from her porch. Tina also hauls water for her house and animals from a community water tank with an old military water trailer about a mile each way. Those water hauling trips become more frequent with animals depending on her, especially during the summer.

Life on Water Haul

Water haul is a lifestyle for many people living in our area, either for financial reasons or because it is literally too deep to drill a well in their area. Tina is close enough to the water station that she doesn’t feel the need to invest a serious amount of money into a well, which is understandable. She just compensates by conserving water when she can in her home and making time for weekly or bi-weekly water hauling trips to keep their tank level up.

When you read my interview with the Federicos who live 15+ miles from town and have water delivered, you’ll see the other side of the coin. They spent the money and drilled a well (over 1000 feet deep), hit water, but solar pumps aren’t compatible with pumping from that excessive depth so they still have water delivered or haul it themselves.

The Off Grid Life

Tina’s property came with a mobile home (which needed some TLC), a solar system and she and her husband installed a wind generator when they moved in. It turns out our area is a bit more windy than the wind generator could handle and it’s now out of service. She has plenty of power for her household needs from the solar system so that hasn’t been a problem.

Tina enjoys that she can see the hustle and bustle of the freeway and hear some of the noise but also has peace and solitude of nature. She currently has 2 donkeys; one rescued, one adopted from the BLM (click here for information on adopting wild horses and burros), 3 dogs and 55 or so chickens who share her property with her and her husband. 

Tina’s Side Hustles: ColorStreet and Farmasi Cosmetics

Living rural and off grid is not a new experience for Tina. At times during her childhood, her family lived in an old farmhouse with no electricity. They had to haul water in metal barrels from a nearby pond. At another time, her family actually ended up living in a tent temporarily, so she is no stranger to roughing it.

Tina’s donkeys, Dolly and Tequila Rose, are her main entertainment and focus these days. She’s been working with them both to gentle them and get them used to her handling them since she got them. This is quite the challenge, especially with Tequila Rose, who’s naturally more skittish with people. Dolly is pretty friendly, especially after a few years of Tina’s love and care. Her ultimate goal is to train each of them to ride! 

In addition to her donkeys, Tina raises chickens and sells farm eggs locally. She has an impressive flock with a large coop. She keeps them penned up since it’s safer with predators around. Besides coyotes, foxes and other four legged predators, we have migratory birds such as hawks, owls and eagles that come through our area.

Last year, Tina did a tax lien foreclosure on the lot next to her property so now she has close to 2.5 acres. (Check out my blog post on the tax lien foreclosure process!)

Off Grid Living and Growing Pains…

Lately, our community is growing and one of the results has been a new truck stop at the off-ramp just down the road from Tina. Unfortunately, semi trucks are frequently missing the turn for the gas station and doing turn-arounds in front her her house at all times of day and night! Recently, some of them have backed into her gate and her fence.

Occasionally, Tina and her husband have unwanted “looky lou’s” and people downright snooping near their driveway as well. Tina and her husband take personal safety and security seriously and are very cautious dealing with strangers coming to their home. Unfortunately, there’s been an ongoing problem with drug-related theft and break-ins in our area for the last 5+ years. Besides open carry, Tina and her husband also have two large guard dogs for personal protection and a fully fenced yard.

People living in the country often have to provide on their own security and it takes a LONG time for 911 calls to get help out here sometimes. For several years, there was no police presence, except for the high speed chase Bonnie-and-Clyde style last year (read about it here). Fortunately, our county sheriff’s office is taking our community more seriously and has started occasional patrols through this area again as well as having a deputy assigned to this area. It never hurts to take precautions though.

As she says, “Life is never boring out here!” You never know what will happen next living off the grid!

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Enjoying learning more about real people living off the grid? Don’t miss my other exciting Off Grid Living interviews: Jan Emming (papercrete home) and The Federicos (straw bale home)! Also check out my latest interview with an Off Grid Mad Scientist! Check my other blog posts here!! Subscribe below so you never miss a new post!

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