Post by Chuck on Jan 7, 2005 18:02:11 GMT -5
Hello from Alaska Homesteading,
I guess we should be the first to introduce ourselves. I'm Chuck and my wife is Jenny. We really are Alaskan homesteaders. We got our remote homestead in Alaska’s last land lottery in 1994, then "proved up" on it the old fashion way ----- through “sweat equity.” I've lived in the Alaskan bush for nearly 20 years; Jenny's been here almost 15 years.
Recently, we adopted our first son from a Christian orphanage in Taiwan. One of the requirements of the Taiwanese courts was that we move closer to medical facilities. Since the adoption of our first son, we have adopted two more ---- both from Alaska. We are now living in a small fishing village in western Alaska, planning for the day we can move back to our homestead in the central part of the state.
We live in a way as close to a subsistence life as can be done these days. Hunting and fishing provide us with most of our meat. We raise the rest --- chickens, goats and rabbits. We're thinking about trying yaks, so if you know anything about them, let us know. Trapping provides us with furs and leather for clothing. Our garden supplies us with fresh produce in the summer. We preserve and store the surplus to get us through the long winters. In the spring, we gather watermelon berry leaves, along with fiddleheads and other wild greens for our first fresh salads of the season. Jenny has some great recipes for making pickles from fiddleheads and stems of other wild plants, such as young fireweed shoots. Her best ones are in the years following a good herb garden. In the fall we gather highbush cranberries for making ketchup, jelly, and delicious cranberry butter (it's sort of like apple butter). Jenny gathers wild plants and herbs for making balms, salves, and other home remedies. She makes all of our soaps.
In addition to hunting, fishing and trapping, I spend lots of time hauling in logs for building and for firewood. We cook and heat completely with wood. We get our water from a spring not far from our cabin.
We hope this forum will help you learn from our experience while we learn from yours. We're far from experts. We've sure made our share of mistakes ----- some were real hum dingers. (Ask us about our first load of animals we brought home ;D) Anyway, we hope you'll enjoy the forum and join in on your favorite boards.
Hope you'll visit our website, too.
Alaska HOMESTEADING Journal
www.alaskahomesteading.com
Chuck and Jenny
I guess we should be the first to introduce ourselves. I'm Chuck and my wife is Jenny. We really are Alaskan homesteaders. We got our remote homestead in Alaska’s last land lottery in 1994, then "proved up" on it the old fashion way ----- through “sweat equity.” I've lived in the Alaskan bush for nearly 20 years; Jenny's been here almost 15 years.
Recently, we adopted our first son from a Christian orphanage in Taiwan. One of the requirements of the Taiwanese courts was that we move closer to medical facilities. Since the adoption of our first son, we have adopted two more ---- both from Alaska. We are now living in a small fishing village in western Alaska, planning for the day we can move back to our homestead in the central part of the state.
We live in a way as close to a subsistence life as can be done these days. Hunting and fishing provide us with most of our meat. We raise the rest --- chickens, goats and rabbits. We're thinking about trying yaks, so if you know anything about them, let us know. Trapping provides us with furs and leather for clothing. Our garden supplies us with fresh produce in the summer. We preserve and store the surplus to get us through the long winters. In the spring, we gather watermelon berry leaves, along with fiddleheads and other wild greens for our first fresh salads of the season. Jenny has some great recipes for making pickles from fiddleheads and stems of other wild plants, such as young fireweed shoots. Her best ones are in the years following a good herb garden. In the fall we gather highbush cranberries for making ketchup, jelly, and delicious cranberry butter (it's sort of like apple butter). Jenny gathers wild plants and herbs for making balms, salves, and other home remedies. She makes all of our soaps.
In addition to hunting, fishing and trapping, I spend lots of time hauling in logs for building and for firewood. We cook and heat completely with wood. We get our water from a spring not far from our cabin.
We hope this forum will help you learn from our experience while we learn from yours. We're far from experts. We've sure made our share of mistakes ----- some were real hum dingers. (Ask us about our first load of animals we brought home ;D) Anyway, we hope you'll enjoy the forum and join in on your favorite boards.
Hope you'll visit our website, too.
Alaska HOMESTEADING Journal
www.alaskahomesteading.com
Chuck and Jenny
