My Wild Holm FAQ – Your Questions About Our Off-Grid Island Life Answered

Our island is about 62 acres of forest, a lot of sand, shoreline, old cabins, and future dreams.

We bought it sight unseen in 2022 after Melodi’s sister sent her the listing. It was a leap of faith that turned into the biggest adventure of our lives.

We use a barge, our boat, and in winter a snowmobile once the lake freezes. Everything — lumber, fuel, tools, groceries — comes across by water or ice.

We have finished building a handcrafted tiny cabin from scratch. No contractors — just us, our tools, and a lot of determination. You can read more on our tiny cabin page here.

As beautiful as they are, log cabins require serious equipment and a lot of ongoing maintenance. We needed something insulated, manageable, and buildable with just two people doing the work.

We heat with a hard-working wood stove that you can checkout here. It’s our main source of heat and a big part of the cozy factor in winter.

We draw lake water and filter it for drinking and domestic use. We also have a large tank for use with gravity-fed irrigation for the greenhouse. In winter, we plan on drawing water from the lake when conditions allow.

We have a full-on water system with 5 stage filtration – including a UV system. It is plumbed to a outdoor sink for doing dishes, and a hand-sink in the Bird Bath, which you can see here. We have hot showers, and use an off-grid incinerator toilet that fits our remote setup.

Our main off-grid power system consists of 60kW of energy storage and thirty 550W bifacial solar panels. We also have Bluetti gear (like the AC200L, the Apex 300 and assortment of B300K & B500K batteries), the SolarX 4K, and various Bluetti solar panels to augment our energy production. We’re constantly learning and upgrading as we go.

A combination of solar power, Bluetti power stations, and occasionally a generator when needed for heavier loads.

Our main workhorse is Pepper, our Kubota SVL75-3 track loader. She handles the heavy lifting, hauling, and much of the rough ground work on the island.

Northern BC has a very short growing season. A greenhouse lets us start plants early, grow heat-loving crops, and extend our harvest well beyond what we could do outdoors alone.

This greenhouse is an experiment. We wrapped the whole structure in 6 mil poly film because it’s affordable, simple, and easy to replace. If winter destroys it, so be it — we’ll learn what works in our climate before investing in more expensive materials.

Yes. Between the greenhouse, young fruit trees, raised beds, and some wild foraging, we’re working toward growing more and more of what we eat on the island.

In 2023 Ryan fell from the cabin roof, broke eight bones, and needed a helicopter medevac to hospital. It was a life-changing moment and a turning point for how we approach safety on the homestead.

We use more safety gear, plan our work more carefully, move a bit slower, and have a very healthy respect for heights and ladders now. The work still gets done — just with safety at the top of the list.

Not sure. She is a rescue from Mexico and we love her. Opal is our energetic island adventure dog, mud enthusiast, and all-around character. She keeps us laughing and keeps the wildlife on their toes.

Yes, she did. Opal chased a big black bear up a tree near the cabin. She is fearless… sometimes a little too fearless for our liking.

Yes. We review gear we actually use on the homestead — from off-grid power gear to tools and outdoor equipment. Some reviews are sponsored and we always disclose that clearly.

Many of the products we use are linked in our video descriptions and through our Amazon storefront and other affiliate links. Using those links doesn’t cost you extra and helps support the channel.

During island season we post regular weekly episodes, plus livestreams. In the off-season, we continue with livestream chats from our homebase and we also produce weekly videos from the prior season’s filming, many of which expand on topics covered in the My Wild Holm FAQ.

Yes! Our story is organized into seasons and playlists on YouTube so you can start right from the beginning. You can find our channel here: @mywildholm on YouTube.

Nope. Unscripted all the way. We film real life as it happens and then shape the story in the edit. Narration helps tie everything together, but what you see is rooted in the reality of off-grid life on the island.

We live on the island from spring through fall. Winters here are harsh, and access and safety become real concerns, so we spend that season at our homebase and plan the next round of island projects. Once our “forever cabin” is complete we plan to transition to full-time on the island. It’s paradise!

We wanted freedom, peace, and a chance to build something meaningful with our own hands. Trading traffic and noise for trees, water, and wildlife feels like the right move for us.

Yes, when they can handle the boat ride and the rustic conditions. It’s not an easy place to get to, but the ones who come out usually don’t want to leave.

Absolutely. The homestead is a work in progress — more projects, more learning, more seasons, and more stories to share. We have some surprising projects on the horizon!