thinking about making the move, care to share your advice?

[anomaly13]

we are seriously considering moving to some land in southern oregon, rent free!  it is just land, no buildings, and lots of it.  there is a river that cuts through the property, we are planning on tenting it.  dh has done this sort of thing before a few times, though never with young kids. i have never, i am however on board 100%.  we are all well outfitted in outdoor/camping gear.

we have 3 children (4.5yo ds, 2.5yo ds, 10month dd), plus 1 dog.  plan to get chickens.  and garden of course.  i'm sure dh has lots of ideas/plans but having never done this thought i would get some ideas from some off the grid mamas .

questions that come to mind right away....

doing laundry? thinking of using the river

do we need a generator?

storage ideas?  there is a refrigerated trail from a semi on the land that we can store stuff in, but i'm thinking more for daily use like kitchen stuff/food and clothing.

i'm sure i will think of more things to ask.  i imagine we will do a town run once a month, maybe twice at first while we get things figured out.

so care to offer up your tips, suggestions, advice, do's, don't's, what you cannot live without, what you can live without, etc.?

[thedenverduo]

I don't have any advice because I am only in the daydream phase.  But just wanted to say that this sounds fabulous!  Do you have plans to build a structure eventually?  Also, can we move in?

[fresh_veggie]

You should do a search on yurt living.  I've been fantasizing about living in a yurt for years - DH is on board 100% - we just have to both finish school first!  Lol.  Good luck! 

PS we're planning on a generator - need?  Probably not, but it's up to you.  We want to eventually hook up to solar as well.

[MovnMama]

I second the yurt suggestion. We also are dreaming of / planning on yurt living in the future. In fact, I have access to some land but we cannot afford a yurt right now. Tenting it is not realistic for us, as we live in Alaska, and it will hit -20 in the winter, multiple times.

So. Oregon is beautiful. Congratulations!

[anomaly13]

thanks ladies.  dh will build a composting toilet, kitchen area with horno, chicken coop,  and bath house first, probably in that order.  and a yurt has always been in our plan.  we actually are trying to sell the land as it is not where we want to be long term so trying not to build too much on it, kwim?  however a yurt could move with us so probably in the fall when it starts to get cool we will get one so we can stay the winter and not be soaking wet.  

as for a generator we probably wont get one right away, just see how everything goes without first.  not really sure what we would use it for actually now that i think about it and we do have a power inverter on our jeep that could be used.

my biggest concerns are refrigeration and laundry.  i think i figured out the laundry using 2 basins, a hand wringer, and a clothes line.  but keeping food is another issue i have yet to figure out.  

[MovnMama]

Have you considered a root cellar for food storage?

http://www.survival-spot.com/survival-blog/build-root-cellar/

https://www.motherearthnews.com/modern-homesteading/building-a-root-cellar.aspx

http://www.squidoo.com/build-your-own-underground-root-cellar-

Maybe you've already considered this, but when we go off-grid, we will for sure be doing this... Some research shows how it keeps food better than refrigeration!