Kicked Out

Go to a used book store and buy a Boy Scout Field Guide. It has more information about living out than you can imagine.

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"The high cost of living doesn't lessen its popularity." The Gay Philosopher

"Life always looks better in someone elses photo album." Chas

Save the planet, it's the only one with chocolate.

If you need to get online, once you move, try the public library. Usually you can access a computer for a set amount of time, free. That is also a good place to find more information!
I think you have received tons of good advice. You have a job, now your just getting a new address....
It seems to me that at times I get pushed into doing what I should have already done.... I guess that occasionally we just need a push..
That said, a dog is very valuable, lots of input there, and all the tools you can possibly get. Be sure to check yard sales and goodwill, thrift shops, wherever you can. Check behind grocery stores/any other stores. Dumpster diving can really yeild some good stuff! So can trash pickin in the good neighborhood early a.m. or late night before trash day.....
I have really found some good stuff that way.... much to my kids' embarressment...
Good luck to you, have fun (this will be a great adventure!) and be sure to remember a good ice chest for some of the perishables that will make you comfy. Whatever route you take, let us know! It will be fun hearing of your progress.
Water issues wont be too bad, with your creek. The hardest part will be hauling the water. Our creek is 1000' downhill, and hauling a bucket of water up that is a challenge.... Our solution is a tank, truck and gas powered pump.
I can bathe our family of 7 with less than 10 gal of water. Recycle your water when you can, easy on the soap, water plants with the tossout water, you will learn not to waste anything....
Have fun!

Found the cabin plans!

Try here. http://www.jshow.com/y2k/

I sawdust bucket toilet works wonderfully. We use two in our house and compost the waste.

__________________
Thus says the LORD:
“ Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls.

Get an extra tarp bigger than the inside dimensions of the tent. Fold up each side and use a clothes pin to hold each corner together. Then you have a "tray" to keep you dry even if the inside floods, the water will just run under the "tray".

Sawdust would have been fine with me, but DW would not give up a flush toilet.... and it was not a battle I was willing to fight....

I have untill friday to be out so after that, no internet. I will goto the library at school for the internet to keep you guys posted. I have a cell phone to keep in touch and my girlfriend will be with me on her days off. I can't inlist because of my knee (doesn't cause me a problem, but think it might cause them a problem)

I'm going to start by sheltering my tent with tarps, getting a dog, building a outside kitchen table out of wood and setting up a shower. I can get as many 55 gallon plastic barrels as I want from work.

I'll try my first hand at making a garden at the end of may. Does anyone recommend a persons first garden foods?

I'll start to build a camp for the winter around Aug.

In my creek, the water is a little yellowish. There is no farms or sewage run off anywhere. Can I still use this as bathing water?

Thanks Again

Danny

Hi Danny, pole beans are one of the easiest vegs to grow. Potatoes are easy too, but they need to go in yesterday. Peas are easy, so are beets and carrots. Lettuce grows well in a cooler climate, but takes a bit of time to thin them! Good luck!

You might also consider working for a farm or housesitting. That may give you the security of shelter for free while you build. People are always looking for someone responsible to do this. Talk to horse farms--anyone can muck a stall. This will also give you the experience you need to do it yourself on the homestead.

Also, could you live with an elderly person and cut their lawn and do their shopping in exchange for a room?

And take heart--you aren't the only young person with parents who had mental problems or alcohol problems and had to fend for themselves. It will probably make you a stronger person who values their own (eventual family) more if you look at it the right way.

Is this your own land?

Yes, its my own land. 15 acres, all wooded with a creek.

When you think about a dog, think about letting it stay at camp while you are gone. Better have a stout chain or it will amuse himself.



When does school let out? And, call me a softie, but I would put a roof as a higher priority. Veggies can be bought: staying in a tent after a few hours of rain is REAL boring!

Sure. If you wish, rinse of with clear water. It is just a little suspended silt. If you wish, let it sit for a day to let the silt settle out some.

Lots of good suggestions given. You're lucky it's spring going into summer and not fall going into winter. If your water is off-color it might be from moss or dirt or old contamination in the soil upstream.

Take one of your 55G drums and fill it with a layer of (from bottom up), cheesecloth; activated charcoal - fish tank stuff; clean sand and then a round or two of cheesecloth type material on the very top. Your water will go into the top of this and the material will filter out the stuff in it. I wouldn't drink it with just this filtering process. You'll need it analyzed to be sure. Take a glass and let the sediment settle to the bottom. Carefully pour off the water and then look closely at the sediment. Feel it, smell it...see if it seems the least bit chemically tainted. Have your girlfriend do it...women have better noses than men generally. Anyway, back to the bucket. You'll need a hole in the top to pour the water in and a spigot plug in the bottom to drain into a second barrel below with a hose connector.

Shelter, safe food storage, and then warmth. The pallet shed is a decent get by idea for cheap. Put insulation inside the pallets and wrap it with housewrap. Put a moisture barrier below the pallets to keep the ground moisture from coming up. Prepare the foundation site well to exclude rodents, snakes and spiders. It looks like you could get this up in a month or two. You could cut in windows as you buy them. I'd add framing for the windows to support them from top to bottom. When you're settled, you can start on a permenant home. CYA first.

Thrift shops, dumpster diving at construction sites or large hospitals/businesses that might be remodeling will be a treasure trove of items. You have no IDEA what people pitch. Even the dump....

Set up a workable kitchen outside to cook with a tarp (summer heat and to keep you safe from fumes from the coleman inside). Easy sleeping item is an air mattress. Thrift shop for bedding and furniture (you can also drive by nice neighborhoods on trash day and pick up free furniture.)

Garden stuff can come as you get to it. Set up your base camp first. Seeds would be short season varieties since you are far north I believe. Beans, spinach, leaf lettuce, carrots, turnips, brussells sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, possibly winter squash (might require too many days to mature though). I"m sure gardeners who live closer to your zone can give you specific varities and times to plant.

Get some water jugs and fill them at work or at a filling station on your way home. You can use a regular 2g jug and keep a larger 6g jerry can in your vehicle. It will take 3 trips to fill it from a 2g jug. Save every water-type large container you can and fill them while you are in town.

Your first shelter will be your tent I'm guessing. Purchase a large tarp that will cover the tent and give you an area of about 6'x6' to come in and out in the front of it. Buy a camoflauge one...you're set up won't be so obvious. Buy rope, good rope. Cotton rope is a pain when it's wet. Nylon is good, but frays easily and decomposes in sunlight. To stop nylon from fraying burn the cut ends with flame. Cut some poles to tie the tarp up with and set them with heavy duty stakes (metal - about 8" long and 1" wide). If you can't find the stakes make them from pieces of wood and sharpen one end to a point. You'll want to set them so that it resembles a triangle with the pole at the apex. Angle the pole outwards, use slip knots so you can tighten as atmospheric pressure/humidity changes. Put an oiled drop cloth or ground cloth under your tent with leaves under it. MANY leaves...insulation from the ground. You'll want to keep your body away from the ground till it's warmed up quite a bit.

Food storage will need to be both critter and weather proof. You'll want it well away from you sleeping area so that if a bear decides to visit, you aren't in the same spot as your food. Speaking of bears...a weapon is a necessity. Practice target shooting so that if the time comes you can hit it. You'll need a good place to secrete it when you're gone unless your province allows you to carry it in your vehicle. Back to food storage. Humidity is the biggest bugger you'll have to face. A tight fitting plastic container that can nest inside a metal one that is covered in plastic would be good. You want to hide food "aroma". There is probably some contraption out there that does this for campers who go out in the deep woods. Don't EVER take food into or near your tent. Wash up immediately after eating and burn your residue. Cans will eventually disintegrate and turn to ash if burned hot and long enough. Glass will melt.

Hope I've contributed some good ideas for you. Good luck and look at it as an adventure.

Mary

A running creek equals a free 12 volt power source, add an inverter to a battery bank, and there you go, free electric. Check the archives under countryside for 'alternative energy' subjects.

NIX on the wait til August to start building something to get you through the winter, start now, THIS IS EXPERIENCE SPEAKING directly to you.

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If you can read this - thank a teacher. If you can read this in English - thank a veteran.

Never mistake kindness for weakness.

LOL. My daughter gave me a fine dissertation on the evils of a public restroom a couple of days ago, including "and sometimes it even splashes on you!" She much prefers sawdust because of the no-splash factor.

__________________
Thus says the LORD:
“ Stand in the ways and see,
And ask for the old paths, where the good way is,
And walk in it;
Then you will find rest for your souls.

Moopups is totally correct! DO NOT wait until August to start building your winter shelter!! Let the garden go for this year (I believe in self-sufficiency and growing as much of your own food as possible, but for right now, let it go!), and get your shelter up, first priority!! You probably *could* get through the winter in your tent, but it wouldn't be very comfortable, and it may be difficult to safely heat it. People have died that way, trying to heat some types of tents. Some are made for having a little woodstove in them, and those are fine, but I'm guessing yours probably isn't that type. (It would have a stove jack in the roof.)

You have a job, and a steady income that will buy your food for now. Use your time to get that shelter ready for winter! It will take at least three times as long as you expect, especially if you haven't built anything yourself before. Like Moopups said, this is THE VOICE OF EXPERIENCE SPEAKING!!

Kathleen

Hey, I haven't read every response so don't know whether anyone has mentioned this, but it is extremely important.

NO MATTER HOW COLD IT GETS, DO NOT BURN ANYTHING IN YOUR CLOSED-UP TENT. No stoves, no heaters, no fires without adequate ventilation. Carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide poisoning will kill you. You'll get drowsy and go to sleep all comfy and warm and never wake up.

Just thought you should know.

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www.glimmercroft.com
The basic message of liberalism is simply: The true measure of a society is how it treats the weak and the needy. A simple Christian message (Matthew 25:40). -Garrison Keillor

Since you are relatively new here, I will mention that Moopups is a veteran who has moved a great deal since he left the service. He knows a great deal about living out of doors, as he camps out when he is traveling from one place to another.

I agree, forget the garden, you need to focs on a shelter and a clean watersupply.

as for baths, people over do it on bathing. I spent 3 yrs in various casts and couldnt shower, and learned then how to take a very effective bath in a gallon of water. a half gal for the soapy water warm, the other half to rinse out the rag/sponge. In the last few yrs i had to go for a LONG time without a shower setup due to no money to fix the old setup.... I always smell and am, squeeky clean.
better test that creek water for contamination and chemicals before you go using it for anything. if its yellow it could be poluted.
on the upside, if you have a creek you have a low water table and can easily drill/dig a fresh water well within a 10/15 foot depth. it will be cleaner than right out of the creek but boil the heck out of it before you drink it.
(better yet, bring in bottles of fresh water from a freinds home to drink).

your lucky is spring, you can live in a tent for the summer. keep your eyes out for a small mobile home to set up... cheap and warm for the winter, a wood stove with proper shielding will keep you sweating all winter long.

I hope you have a job or a skill to collect some cash as youll need it...
good luck and kep posting for help, as you see the hardcore homesteaders and we lowly poor folk will keep you full of advice on making the most of nothing.

you have a GF.... this wil be a good test of how compatable you are..... she should be dying 1000 deaths to help you out any way she can find.

beware the woman who "cant today.... aint got time" or "so when are you going to get a real house?"
or "maybe you should sell out and lets find a real home for you".

girlfreind is as girlfreind does....

new brunswick.... brrrrrr you better focus on a warm house before next winter.

Free 55 Gallon drums....all you want? Free?

I'd fill with gravel or sand and build something with them. Two high would be a decent height with scrounged wood roof materials and preferably metal roofing but rolled roofing would work. A concrete block chimney is fairly cheap...about $200 materials...just a lot of heavy lifting.

Those drums are very useful items....you may even sell a few for cash.

15 acres all wooded? Ax+trees+shovel = earth sheltered home pretty quick. Are they metal 55 gallon drums? Cut them apart, flatten them and shingle them on your sloped roof. Remember to build on a high spot. Floods are a pain.