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21 Comments

  2. Thank you so much for a well written chronicle. It gives hope to others who are comforted to know the whole nation isn’t all demanding handouts, but is being as self – resilient as time and aching backs (got one) will allow.

  4. Excellent two part article. Great stories! Thank you and all contributors to this blog for inspiring many to make the move: I am now ONE WEEK OLD in the Redoubt (from Seattle) and although very over-whelmed, I am deeply satisfied and happy to have made the move. Idaho has welcomed me on my first night with 12″ to 14″ inches of powdery white snow! Piece by piece, little by little it just gets easier…

  6. Master of Destiny or Victim of Fate ? You are now the former. Your talk of controlling emotions desires wants and needs leads me to guide you to study Classical Greek and Republican Roman era Stoic Philosophy. Stoic philosophy is the opposite of Epicureanism and Hedonism. It predates Christianity by 500 years. Much strength for the self directed person living his private personal life of freedom pursuits and integrity is found in Stoic philosophers works. Read Socrates see Aristotle

  7. I hope you also are prepping for old age. When you are not physically able to maintain your property. Just because you think the SHIT doesn’t mean it will happen in your lifetime. Please be sure to keep all possibilities in mind. Don’t forget to prep for old age or for when your not around to help your spouse.

  8. I really enjoyed the pair of articles. N.F. has taken the step many of us plan on eventually taking, and his observations will stick with me once I begin such an adventure.

  9. What is your current healthcare plan in case of an emergency?
    Does your area have the Life Flight Service?
    The reason I ask is a friend of mine had a excellent retreat.

    However the location was to far out and he died of a myocardial infarction.

  10. NF you quote Mr Franklin as saying “To be esteemed be useful” so if I may, let me quote Mr Red Green “If the women don’t find you handsome,they should at least find you handy. Thanks for your article. Trekker Out.

  11. Long term the idea is that our kids and grandkids get this place. They have already contributed much in the way of sweat equity.

    Many old timers live out here into their 80s-90s, some of them you would swear are much younger if you talked to them and saw how they work and play. The thing I have noticed is none are overweight. Compared to when we go into town and see wave after wave of morbidly obese people.

    The nearby (20 miles) town of 12-15 thousand people has a hospital. After watching old people we loved and cared for dying in hospitals we think we will avoid them like the plague. My wife has been able to get off of BP meds 3 years ago through exercise and diet, she weighs close to what she was when we met. I have lost 20 pounds which puts me back to what I was at 18 when I joined the army. As with all things we continue to do what is in our power to improve our lives and health.

    Thanks again for all the wonderful comments, we very much appreciate them.

  12. This article is “right on”. There will be trying times as we have found out but the end results are well worth the effort. At present we could live in comfort for 2 plus years and never leave our property. We installed solar and hydro systems augmented with a chicken coop inside a greenhouse with a large garden and a fenced in run for our “girls”, all on 1 acre.. Hang in there..

  15. Two great articles! I am curious though as how you survive without a steady income. did you invest or have some sort of steady income before you left the city, since it is hard to survive with selling eggs etc.

  16. Dan,
    We were very blessed in that we both had successful small business’s for 20 years plus we made a small fortune selling some real estate in June 2005. We also cut our monthly nut down to around 1500$ all in. If we need to, I take on small plumbing jobs on the side.

    We haven’t had regular jobs for the last 5 years. That was something I left out of the article. All of the sudden no kids at home, and together all the time can be a strain on your relationship. That may have been one of the biggest challenges in attempting this. I wouldn’t recommend this whole endeavor to anyone unless you both share the same worldview.

  17. Goats! Check with someone who has goats. They’ll tell you they’re better than a bush hog and cheaper too. The meat is terrific,most of the rest of the world prefers it. The only challenge is keeping them in a fence. They love to climb.

  19. Bob, we have a couple red delicious and a couple Ein Shemeer, Also 1 gala, and 1 fuji. This was the first year we had Honey crisps (about 90 for 14 trees) All were decent sized and none had worms. I spayed all the fruit trees twice, once in early spring and once as they flowered and leafed out, we used a combo mineral/neem oil. Had very few bugs.

    As for which were the pollinators I am not exactly sure since they are all interspersed together. We also have tons of bees and hummingbirds. I guess if I had to pick one I would say the Ein Shemeer since it is supposed to be? an heirloom kind of yellow apple. We still don’t know for sure as these 2 trees although the biggest have never yet given fruit.

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