July 31 - DIY Homestead - The Transition to Self-Sustainability

July 31, 2022

Day 223 of the Adventure

Base Camp Coffee of the Day:  Lost up the Creek (Sumatra)

The waterfall down behind our cabin

When Sunday arrives here at camp, we usually slow down a bit, do our Sunday Morning Outdoor Breakfast and get a little bit mentally and physically recharged. I like to look back on the week and the things we did. When choosing to write about it, I feel a little like starting out with something like; "It's been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon......" (Some of you will get that) Anyway, the most notable event this week has been rain. After a month and a half with nothing but hundred degree weather, we actually got some rain. It's still dripping out of the trees on me this morning, but I don't mind. 

Our "Camp Run-Amuck" story continues with the completion of one task this week. Most of you know that our cabin is about 80% Off-Grid with a couple of grid based circuits as back up if our solar plant ever fails. The two circuits that are tied into the power company were completed this week. Now we only have the bathroom and part of the kitchen to finish wiring for the solar connected power supply. We are currently using solar on almost everything in the cabin except where the electrical wires are not yet installed.  Our Off Grid experience is not a primitive one. We do have every normal convenience you would find in a typical home. It's just that most of it is powered by the sun. In a typical day, we use a small amount of grid power (unless it's been cloudy for a few days, then we use a little more) The two biggest reasons we connected to grid in the first place was our need to run some larger power tools that would have maxed out our solar plant. The second reason is that I'm still learning exactly what all the solar equipment can actually handle. Not having a complete understanding of its operations, I was more comfortable having some grid back up for a while anyway.

This brings me to one of the original purposes for Camp Run-Amuck. We wanted to document the entire process for finding a raw piece of land and what all it would take to turn it into a functioning, self-sufficient living space. There were times when I doubted it's affordability. It seemed for a while that EVERYTHING we did was costing more money than I had planned. Much of that had to do with the cost of building materials being so high just when we were beginning to build. A large part was also the amount of road-bed we needed to construct, which wouldn't have been nearly as bad if we had not wanted to build so far off the road and down into the woods. 

Now that much of the initial, critical outdoor work is done and the cabin is livable, expenses have dropped dramatically. I believe that I am ready to say that our project is beginning to have the characteristics of a self-sufficient home place. Enough so that I believe we can start demonstrating a "Road-Map" for getting from wherever you are, to living on the land. (If that's your goal) Our project was much more intense than it could have been, but we were working with a very tight deadline to be moved on to the property. Had that deadline not existed, the process would have been much more relaxing. All that being said, we really are going to try and slow things down some now and get a little more focused on the "How to make the transition" from fast paced life to simple, self sufficient living. We hope you choose to come along for the ride!

Carry On!

 Adventure Quote:  “Let us not become so cautious that we forget to live.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert

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Our Cabin build "Playlist" at Camp Run-Amuck