How to "live off the land"

In Response to No. 2 - Solar Power.

Here's my solution;

Portable solar panel used for camping. 120 watt, very portable. Usually folds up into carry case and comes with all the necessary bits and pieces to store the power. In addition a portable fridge/freezer. Draws less than 1 amp and the solar panel will provide around 7 amps on a full day of sun. You also need a 7day esky.

Costs - Solar Panel $AU950 retail.
Portable Fridge/freezer $AU600.
7 Day Esky - $AU400
Note - You could probably buy this cheaper online. I bought mine from the local camping store and they are top of the range. Also, all US readers - Our dollar is worth more than yours so add a little for exchange rates on the ozzie dollar - Just joking - LMAO...

The problem with solar panels is that you need sun. No sun, no power. So, use the portable Fridge freezer to make ice only. Not small blocks of ice either - Try to get an ice cream container and make large blocks as they will melt slower than smaller blocks. Adding salt to the ice will also keep it 1 to 2 degree's cooler than normal.

This way you would only need 1 day of sun to keep food and drink cold for 7 days.

This works brilliantly when on longer camping trips, especially our last one when we went away for 2 weeks. Didn't have to get supplies for the entire trip and just enjoyed ourselves.

reply to post by paraphi


I agree, having even a small tractor can be of a great help, not only for the plowing of fields but with the adding of differing attachments can be also used for digging, pulling power, slashing, charging batteries, travel and carrying of supplies to and from, a pto that can be hooked to pumps, generators, drilling equiptment, hydralic power systems and many more other useful ways of being of greater help.

a must in my books for a fair size chunk of owned land for use in management and harvest towards any crops in large number wanting to be grown or cleared.

reply to post by ChaosComplex

You are really young and I applaud you for wanting to learn the "old ways" My youngest is 29 and he definitely is not into the old ways.
I grew up with my grandparents and they were self sufficient in growing their own food Wheat for floor, huge gardens with all kinds of veggies. Animals for food, cows, pigs, and chickens,. One old mule for plowing. Later they did get a tractor. it was busy all year long. My grandmother canned and I still remember pealing apples, pears, peaches,shelling beans, digging potatoes, and etc.... it was not easy. My sister, myself and my little cousin was the youngest at the time. My uncles and aunt did much of the heavy work with the animals and and with the slaughtering of the pigs and cows...I really hated that!! I became attached to many of the animals that were to be eaten and to this day I have become part vegetarian but do eat, the by products, cheese, butter, milk, eggs.
That life was very hard and we seemed to work from sun up to sun down. Also my grandmother made our soap, outside in a big washpot. She used lye and lard but I don't know what else.
Washing clothes was very laboring with so many kids and family members. It was done on wash boards. My Mom washed clothes that way too, until I was about 14 when we finally joined the modern age and rented a house with running water and a BATHROOM!!! (I still do wash my clothes that way) No washer connection here. I can still see lines and lines of clothes flapping in the wind. And then there was the ironing!! My sister and I would iron all day on my granmother's back porch in the summer time and in the kitchen in the winter. There wasn't a lot of time for fun as I remember it. We lived in rural North Carolina and my grandpa had a farm on 40 acres of land.

reply to post by lostsock

My step-father would "plow" our garden with a shovel. It was about 25x50 feet and he would work on it every evening, in the spring, until it was done.
Then he would take the shovel and break up the big chunks of dirt and we would take a rake and begin to break up the smaller chunks and make it very smooth.
Yes, it was hard work, but it sure beats starving, doesn't it?
Besides if we don't have jobs to go to every day, then what else will we do?
Farming is hard work, gardening is hard work, but... our families are worth the work, and we all can learn to be more self-sufficent by working together daily in whatever we do.

reply to post by ChaosComplex

You will need a good book to lead you thru this life. I would choose "The Encyclopedia of Country Living" by Carla Emery. It has many good ideas, how-to's and recipes in the book to tell you how and why you are doing this. She did it because she wanted to learn to be self-sufficent.
You will need a lot of information of what to eat, how to wild-craft (meaning to gather from the wild) how to cook from scratch, a lot of us don't have a clue how to cook without opening the freezer for a meal.
Sewing is a useful talent. Your clothes will need some patches after using them daily for work, we all need to learn to do this, men and women. Nothing fancy, just the basics.
Hunting and fishing are going to be at a premium too. Others will have the knowledge of how to hunt, so... we all need to become better at hunting/fishing. The game isn't going to be nearly as plentiful as it is now, others will be doing it too.
If we all would just start today, cutting back on our purchases, learning new things that will become necessary later on, living on less I guess is what I mean.
I have think that we as a society usually "Think with our Money" and that will have to stop if something like we are trying to prepare for really happens. Our money will be no good for us, as there will not be things to buy when/if this does happen. Our purchases today reflect how much we tend to Think with our Money. But then again, this could just be My Humble Opinion too. LOL

I would make sure to have some easy methods of pest control. Many poisonous insects could invade a dwelling located on this type of location. A simple bottle of pyrethrum might save your life for years and its not gonna harm the land! Check out some videos at Natural Pest Control

I think it is vital to be very aware of WHERE you live and it's climate and soil- KNOW your limitations and never think that you will never need anyone else or to trade with anyone else.

I would say more than 6 hens if you are going into the wild- 6 are all you need but you never know when a predator will take a few out.

My family is probably providing about 20% of our food.
We could do more but the laws here will not allow it. IE we are not allowed to kill our own chickens for meat here. I can get a deer but only if he comes in my yard threatening my garden.

We grow a garden, tobacco, and a lot of medicinal and culinary herbs. We have fruit trees and berry bushes. Fruit and nut trees are a real blessing. I've got hickory nuts but need to get a hardshell cracker. They are good but really hard to get into.

reply to post by jcleek


CHickens are amazing pest control. Since we got our free range flock, we hardly even see a tick or flea anymore. Chickens are HIGHLY underrated as pest control. As a bonus you get food and fertilizer- and they are the best natural antidepressants ever- nothing funnier than a running chicken. lol