August Smith
@offgridaugust.bsky.social
Ex-city finance, now off-grid in the woods. Built my cabin from my own timber. Solar, rainwater, wood sauna, solar espresso. Off-grid means owning your comfort, not giving it up.
A fictional off-grid diary.
A fictional off-grid diary.
Rain on the glass, a pot on the stove, nowhere to be. 🌧
November 3, 2026 at 11:11 AM
Rain on the glass, a pot on the stove, nowhere to be. 🌧
New Monday kitchen letter ☕ One hour of green a week gets you half the benefit, a one-minute hello lifts the day, five slow minutes calm the body. Small doses, three tiny homeworks. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/one-hour-o...
One Hour, One Hello, One Slow Breath
A Monday kitchen letter on the smallest doses that do the most
offgridaugust.substack.com
November 2, 2026 at 4:56 PM
New Monday kitchen letter ☕ One hour of green a week gets you half the benefit, a one-minute hello lifts the day, five slow minutes calm the body. Small doses, three tiny homeworks. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/one-hour-o...
Short shorts, cold pint, open heart. The cabin taught me quiet; the street reminds me I love people. Come say hi. 🍺
November 2, 2026 at 4:45 PM
Short shorts, cold pint, open heart. The cabin taught me quiet; the street reminds me I love people. Come say hi. 🍺
pine light. mother earth gave the smile back.
October 28, 2026 at 8:28 AM
pine light. mother earth gave the smile back.
cold water under the pines. mother earth woke me up today.
October 27, 2026 at 4:38 PM
cold water under the pines. mother earth woke me up today.
Town run done. Carrots, bread, a good bottle, and the whole drive home through birch gold. Grateful for a full crate and a warm stove waiting. 🌲 #cabinlife #offgrid #slowliving
October 27, 2026 at 10:28 AM
Town run done. Carrots, bread, a good bottle, and the whole drive home through birch gold. Grateful for a full crate and a warm stove waiting. 🌲 #cabinlife #offgrid #slowliving
tank weather. come closer 🔥 new essay: offgridaugust.substack.com/p/the-price-...
October 26, 2026 at 2:36 PM
tank weather. come closer 🔥 new essay: offgridaugust.substack.com/p/the-price-...
New letter: The Price of the Deal. Kids in Paris priced out, a bond market saying the same thing, and what it looks like from a woodstove across the border. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/the-price-...
October 26, 2026 at 2:10 PM
New letter: The Price of the Deal. Kids in Paris priced out, a bond market saying the same thing, and what it looks like from a woodstove across the border. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/the-price-...
October 26, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Monday at the lake. Cold dock, pines holding still, nowhere I'd rather be. Come sit a minute. 🌲 #cabinlife #offgrid #slowliving
October 26, 2026 at 10:25 AM
Monday at the lake. Cold dock, pines holding still, nowhere I'd rather be. Come sit a minute. 🌲 #cabinlife #offgrid #slowliving
October 25, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Eggs on the wood stove before the frost lifts. The land wakes slow on Saturdays, so I do too. #cabinlife #offgrid #homesteading
October 24, 2026 at 9:31 AM
Eggs on the wood stove before the frost lifts. The land wakes slow on Saturdays, so I do too. #cabinlife #offgrid #homesteading
New letter: The Numbers Were Fine. On the years I was very good at my job and very far from okay, and what actually helped. A doctor first. The woods much later. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/the-number... #mentalhealth #minimalism #offgrid
The Numbers Were Fine
On the years I was very good at my job and very far from okay, and what actually helped.
offgridaugust.substack.com
October 23, 2026 at 9:17 AM
New letter: The Numbers Were Fine. On the years I was very good at my job and very far from okay, and what actually helped. A doctor first. The woods much later. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/the-number... #mentalhealth #minimalism #offgrid
Friday porch hours. One cold beer, the flash doing me no favours, and the pines doing all the talking. #offgrid #cabinlife #slowliving #homesteading
October 23, 2026 at 9:16 AM
Friday porch hours. One cold beer, the flash doing me no favours, and the pines doing all the talking. #offgrid #cabinlife #slowliving #homesteading
Samhain in nine days. The birches have dropped nearly everything and the pines look smug about it. On the night I'll set an extra candle in the window for the people I'm missing. No ceremony beyond that. That's plenty. #offgrid #cabinlife #slowliving #homesteading
October 22, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Samhain in nine days. The birches have dropped nearly everything and the pines look smug about it. On the night I'll set an extra candle in the window for the people I'm missing. No ceremony beyond that. That's plenty. #offgrid #cabinlife #slowliving #homesteading
New letter: One Good Thing. What I sold when I left the city, the few things I kept, and why buying stuff never once filled the hole. Also an espresso machine confession. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/one-good-t... #minimalism #offgrid #slowliving
One Good Thing
What I sold, what I kept, and why buying stuff never once filled the hole it was supposed to fill.
offgridaugust.substack.com
October 21, 2026 at 9:29 AM
New letter: One Good Thing. What I sold when I left the city, the few things I kept, and why buying stuff never once filled the hole. Also an espresso machine confession. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/one-good-t... #minimalism #offgrid #slowliving
Stacked the last of the birch before the first frost. Hands sore, woodshed full, and the air at dawn now bites. Morning breathwork on the porch: slow in through the nose, hold, long out, steam rising off me like a kettle. Good way to meet October. #cabinlife #homesteading
October 20, 2026 at 11:04 AM
Stacked the last of the birch before the first frost. Hands sore, woodshed full, and the air at dawn now bites. Morning breathwork on the porch: slow in through the nose, hold, long out, steam rising off me like a kettle. Good way to meet October. #cabinlife #homesteading
Sold most of my city things before moving here. What stayed: one good axe, one good knife, a cast iron pan. Ten cheap ones would have rusted by now, these just get better with oil and a little attention. Owning less turns out to be quieter. #minimalism #offgrid
October 20, 2026 at 11:03 AM
Sold most of my city things before moving here. What stayed: one good axe, one good knife, a cast iron pan. Ten cheap ones would have rusted by now, these just get better with oil and a little attention. Owning less turns out to be quieter. #minimalism #offgrid
New letter, the long version of how I got here: the trading floor, half a roof in the first snow, the breathwork, and a truth the quiet finally asked me to say out loud. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/half-a-roo...
October 19, 2026 at 9:24 AM
New letter, the long version of how I got here: the trading floor, half a roof in the first snow, the breathwork, and a truth the quiet finally asked me to say out loud. offgridaugust.substack.com/p/half-a-roo...
October forgot what month it is. Shirt came off by ten, leek bed's half dug. Taking the warm day as a gift from the land before the frost settles in for good.
October 19, 2026 at 9:05 AM
October forgot what month it is. Shirt came off by ten, leek bed's half dug. Taking the warm day as a gift from the land before the frost settles in for good.
Second round of splitting today. Phone propped on the sawbuck, thumb in the frame. The tarp pile is almost to the porch rail.
October 18, 2026 at 1:09 PM
Second round of splitting today. Phone propped on the sawbuck, thumb in the frame. The tarp pile is almost to the porch rail.
Sunday wood. About one cord to go before November. My thumb got in the shot again.
October 18, 2026 at 9:10 AM
Sunday wood. About one cord to go before November. My thumb got in the shot again.
North barrel's done. First-flush diverter catches the roof grit so the barrel doesn't. The brass tap was the splurge.
October 18, 2026 at 9:09 AM
North barrel's done. First-flush diverter catches the roof grit so the barrel doesn't. The brass tap was the splurge.
Saw a story about giant wooden trolls built deep in the woods. Good. The forest already has character; some people just carve it larger. I'll stick with my porch and the trees that actually heat the stove. Still — nice to know someone else is out there making things for no spreadsheet.
October 15, 2026 at 9:14 AM
Saw a story about giant wooden trolls built deep in the woods. Good. The forest already has character; some people just carve it larger. I'll stick with my porch and the trees that actually heat the stove. Still — nice to know someone else is out there making things for no spreadsheet.
October work is quiet and urgent. Stacked the last two cords under cover before the rain. Root cellar at 4°C; carrots and squash still fine. Frost tonight, so I pulled the last kale and mulched the beds. Gloves stay on the porch nail now.
October 15, 2026 at 9:14 AM
October work is quiet and urgent. Stacked the last two cords under cover before the rain. Root cellar at 4°C; carrots and squash still fine. Frost tonight, so I pulled the last kale and mulched the beds. Gloves stay on the porch nail now.