Hello From The NW!

Newbie here. Slowly working my way to off- grid. I have a recreational cabin on five acres here in WA to work with. The land is on a 100 year flood plain, so I can't use it long term, but fixing up the cabin and spending time there will be good practice. There's also a tree house on the property I want to do something with. I look forward to "meeting" you all and learning from the forums.

 

Welcome to the tree! There are plenty of folks here with all kinds of experience to help ya on your way! Look forward to seeing your posts

 

It looks beat up, but the structure is very solid. Some elk got in and kicked a hole in it, and as of right now there is an owl who has taken up residence in the loft. So I need to repair the wildlife damage. It's about 200 sq feet. The bottom room is pretty small, but the loft is bigger than it looks with good head clearance. I've already cleared out some of the blackberry bushes in the front (keeping some for pies and preserves), so this weekend I'll be patching the hole in the wall and trying to clean the loft a bit. I'm going to use it for extended stays this summer hopefully, so basically right now I am just trying to make it livable. I'll post pics as I go!

 

Welcome!

 

A new monkey, with a home in a tree? Cool!

 

Ya I just started thinking of the treehouse (just a platform right now- needs new flooring but solid frame) as being another potential "residence". It's on a small hill and like...up about 5 feet supported between three trees. Could come in handy as a storage spot (or??) since the acreage is on a flood plain.

 

Hunting blind

 

This was also taken on my property. Unfortunately it's a nature reserve, so no hunting . Good fishing tho.

 

Come TSHTF, that is dinner on the hoof.

 

no kidding. One of those would feed me for a year lmao.

 

You might have to go full solar, and have propane as well. An electric freezer needs less than 20amps 115vac. Propane freezers are available, but expensive.

 

No where near that long. You will lose about 1/3 to gutting, skinning, and butchering. If you bone it out (recommended) a bit more, perhaps %40. Once cleaned and frozen, it will keep for years, but if you are surviving by eating it, it will seem to go very quickly.
I average 2-3 deer per year, and I always run out before hunting season.

 

Build a smoker. Lots of DIY plans out there. Harvest an elk legally if possible, clean, butcher and freeze. Convert to jerky with smoker. jus sayin ...
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I know much of the USA other than the south has had lots of snow. Is that the case in your area. Local Emergency Management on a County level should be able to predict whether or not you should be concerned for spring floods as snow melts. Might want to check.

 

Idk if I'll ever live full time on this property because it's on a 100 yr flood plain. When I bought it I was looking for a recreational property, and I love being there so much it has made me want to live that way all the time. I've considered building a cabin on stilts to give my belongings some protection and giving it a go, but I will probably end up buying a different property off the flood plain when I am ready to off grid full time.

 

....and a freezer does not need to be running, 24/7/365. A couple hours each day would keep it hard frozen, as long as the door stays shut. You could go solar, to charge up a battery bank, then run it through an invertor, for AC, and freeze it hard, then maintain it with less.