Here's one you haven't done.

[dinosaur]

I camped for four years, one month, and three weeks. I had a cabin, a tent, and I also slept under the stars. I hunted and gathered. I ground my own flour. All of my meat came from hunting, trapping and fishing. I did it on purpose by choice. I developed as a bowyer. I make bows.

I made my own wine. I made bread. I fried, roasted, stewed, smoked and jerked meat. I lived off the land to a great extent.

If you have any questions, I'll tell you exactly how I did it. I tried to write an entire description earlier but the site wouldn't let me post it. This is my third attempt. I don't understand it. but this is much shorter and maybe it will get through.

[IndianaHiker]

Sounds like you should write a book on the experience. Sounds like Thoreau's "Waldan Pond". I for own would buy it.

[Two Rivers]

Where and when did this all take place ? Interesting.

[Jade]

I'd really enjoy that read.

As a kiddo living in the middle of BC, the family farm was being run AS a farm: vegetables by the acres, animals to feed and tend. Everyone on us had chores.

The only electricity was in the farmhouse itself, and I remember how much it cost in 1972 to bring Hydro in: $10,000.

We were outside city limit, so no cops or ambulance, firetrucks, would come.

We raised pigs, chicken, geese (NOT turkeys, good LORD those are DUMB BIRDS), banties....cows, horses .... Mom and Gramma went into town once a month to buy sugar, coffee, and salt. Our milk came from our neighbours Guernsey (I still hate making butter), and if the fields weren't being tended or harvested, we all had berry-picking duty.

We felled trees and bucked firewood, every butchering season.

Those were some really healthy family members, in those day. Hehehe : it was a lot of work from the eyes of 13 yr old

[Ms. Nibbles]

You're right it's something I've never done. It sounds intriguing though, and is something I would thoroughly enjoy doing. Why not consider making it into a movie? I'm sure it would be a best seller if you would keep it clean for families to enjoy.

[dinosaur]

Yeah, I read "On Walden Pond". Thoreau was a bit too cerebral for me but it's a good book to read if you're having trouble sleeping.

Two Rivers, it took place in extreme northern Indiana. I am writing this about a mile from where the cabin is.

Jade, God bless ya. You do know that wild turkeys aren't dumb. Those birds they sell in the grocery store aren't true North American wild turkeys. They took some wild turkeys to Europe hundreds of years ago and cross bred them with other birds to produce a meat bird we now call the domestic turkey. They're incredibly stupid. When it rains, you have to herd them inside because they'll look up at the sky with their mouths hanging open and drown.

And Ms. Nibbles, I don't know about making a movie. It would of course be clean. The only thing dirty in it would be me and that wasn't for very long. I had the forethought to build a shower stall into my cabin. In the Winter, I would heat water on my stove, pour it into a garden sprayer, pump it up and take a shower.

[Jobiwan]

This reminds me of "Alone in the Wilderness" the story of Dick Proenneke.

[Scout]

Yes this does remind me of "Alone in the Wilderness" too!! My question is why did you come back to civilization?

[dinosaur]

Originally Posted by Scout

Yes this does remind me of "Alone in the Wilderness" too!! My question is why did you come back to civilization?

It wasn't because I got tired of it. I didn't have a legal residence other than my cabin. The local zoning commission found out I was living on the land. This was probably due to some urbanite dogooder who couldn't stand the fact that I was living there without the well and septic system and power provided by the local utility. They told me I couldn't do it anymore and I would have to spend about thirty grand to make the cabin into a modern house. I didn't do it. I rented a house across the street from my property and moved my office into it. I just got back from my cabin. I figure I can still do this but I am now in a modern domicile with running water and a crapper built right inside the house.

[dinosaur]

I built a cabin with a wood stove and a shower stall that drains into a hole in the ground I dug with a shovel. I built a small barn next to it with some tools that include an axe a splitting mall and a sledgehammer. I used a chainsaw to cut most of my wood, but I also used a crosscut saw and worked my butt off to cut some of my fire fodder. I bought and installed some solar panels to generate electricity at 12 volts, built a curcuitboard and installed inverters to provide 4000 watts of AC current if I needed it. I never used it. I stuck with the 12 volt source and had light and some fans.

I built all of the furniture except the bed. I bought that as it had drawers under it and it would have taken me a long time to build it myself. Since I had put so much time into building the cabin, insulating it and finishing it off replete with cabinets, a closet, a shower, and a kitchen, I cheated a little. I bought the mattress too.

There is no running water but I have a 500 gallon tank outside that catches rain water off the roof. I use a 12 volt bilge pump to crank the water out for washing and cooking. Drinking water is provided by a solar still. I pump the water in and the sun distills it into potable water.

The crapper is a five gallon bucket with a toilet seat on top. You can buy these from camping supply stores all over the globe. After you use them, you dump a small quantity of RID-X septic treatment in it. This will break it down into a black non smelling liquid you can dispose of easily. I didn't use it much since most of the year you can go in the woods like all the other animals.

That pretty much covers the basics. My next post will cover food and may follow immediately.