I took my four kids, aged 12 to 17, out of school to live in a TENT – packed lunches & house chores were sucking my soul
A MUM-OF-FOUR has shared why she took her children out of school and ditched the 9-to-5 lifestyle to take her family off-grid.
Former teacher and single mum, Ashley, 32, has always had a deep love for “Mother Earth” – finding herself longing to live at one with nature from a young age.
After divorcing her children’s father and feeling stressed of daily life – including managing mortgage payments, chores, school activities and making healthy meals – she finally realised she’d had enough.
So Ashley put her house on the market and moved into a tent for the summer with her children Helen, 17, Olivia, 15, Adelaide, 14, and Arabella, 12.
Soon after, they found the perfect piece of land to build a home in upstate rural New York, US – which the mum refers to as their “witches lair”.
From carrying water from a creek to using a composting toilet, Ashley and her children’s lives are far from the norm.
But the mum wholeheartedly believes in the alternative approach.
“Since childhood, I have always wanted to live close to the land,” Ashley told What’sTheJam.
“I have a passion for living in a way that is sustainable, environmentally conscious and in alignment and balance with nature.
“I would like to live a life that does no harm to the earth and instead nurtures her back for the gifts she so freely gives us.”
Where the family get their food from was another motivation for Ashley when they upped sticks in 2022.
“With commercial food-growing practices so wildly out of balance with nature, destroying our soil health and ecosystems, and crops so heavily laden with toxins, I feel the only way to ensure my food is safe and being grown sustainably is to grow it myself!
“Prior to my homesteading venture, I had the average life of rushed mornings doing chores, packing school lunches for my kids and rushing to work where I spent long hours in a square, sterile building before arriving back home tired.
“It was sucking my soul.”
When Ashley and her children found their perfect piece of land, they started building their home, which Ashley calls their “witches lair”.
She said: “For the cabin, I bought the shell of an Amish-built shed and my children and I insulated and finished the inside.
We did every drop of construction ourselves and salvaged a lot of materials
Ashley, 32
“I hired an Amish friend to help me build the barn, using cedars from our land.
“It’s still not quite finished, I have solar panels that I plan to install for a more permanent power source and to hopefully provide piped water – I don’t have electricity or running water.
I’m happy carrying water, but my children want it to come from the tap!
“I use a jackets battery that I charge up in my car when driving to power devices and run little lights at night when we choose.”
So far Ashely has spent £20,000 on the cabin, which is still a work in progress.
She said: “We insulated the cabin with natural cellulose insulation, put pine board walls up, southern pine flooring down, lofts, counters, sink, stairs, an awesome twisty, stick railing and installed plumbing for the water we hope to have one day.
“We did it all.
How does homesteading work
Homesteading refers to a self-sufficient lifestyle which encourages autonomous living, with minimum help from others.
This includes:
Subsistence agriculture
Using renewable energy sources
Home preservation of food
Zero-waste living
Depending on and building on your craftwork skills
Home-schooling
“My girls were so amazing, they worked right by my side every day. They learned to use power tools, measure and problem solve.
“We worked incredibly hard, and I could never have done it without their help.”
Ashely now homeschools her children, as well as others as a way to pay for the home improvements, and has her own business.
She said: “Currently I make brooms, baskets and natural body-care products, which I sell locally.
“I started teaching at a homeschool co-op too.”
The family’s homestead journey has been quite the adventure and is a lifestyle she admits requires a lot of physical work.
She said: “But it pays off in boundless ways. I feel very grateful to be living this experience.
Building my own home, and homesteading solo with my girls has taught me so much – most of all that I love this life and the peace and security it gives me
Ashley, 32
“I carry my water from my creek in the winter months and pump it by hand from our well during the summer. I wash my clothes by hand in a nearby river or in a wash tub, traditional style.
“We use a wood stove for heat and hot water in the winter and a composting toilet.
“We usually spend our evenings by candlelight which is magical.”
She added: “It’s the life I’ve always wanted to live.
“After experiencing the peace and beauty of this life, I could never go back!”