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I believe they are renting, this may create difficulties in building outhouses and septic systems. I also suspect there are regulations regarding ground water p

I believe they are renting, this may create difficulties in building outhouses and septic systems. I also suspect there are regulations regarding ground water pollution given the Salmon bearing streams and shallow wells in the Shuswap area. I cut my own firewood but also buy it, I find that after fuel for saws and hauling equipment. My hourly wage based on savings for cutting my own wood rather than buying it works out to around $5 per hour. A cord of wood is a lot of wood and I typically go through 4 to 6 a year. I do other things that have a greater time to savings value so rather than spend a month and a half cutting and hauling wood I find the price of $180/Cord including delivery and stacking is a bargain. Living off grid is definitely not about doing everything yourself, that attitude is probably the first thing people let go of when they leave the "Selfish City" and find themselves depending on their friends and neighbors in the country.

h2odragon 5y ago
> not about doing everything yourself Good point. I'm a child of a hippie commune, "Back to the Land" was a more common phrase then and still doesn't convey well what many people meant. When you compare the costs of cutting your own wood to buying it; you touch on the central conflict: "Modern" life is actually a win on efficiency for individual effort. What's needed to make an off-grid / less social / variant lifestyle work is a slightly different value system; where being out in the forest cutting your wood has a value to you that is something you can't buy. I know a lot of "small farmer" types who spend way too much money on pursuits that will never return a monetary gain. They may not be able to articulate and assess the non-financial gains the perceive; but they do exist and it's a worthy choice for many. I don't think its something you "go off grid" to find, tho. You find something else, first, that outweighs being so "on-grid" as you currently are. then you'll be able to remind yourself why you're elbow deep in a cow in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve rather than sleeping off an office party bender, and stay sane.
- sigmaprimus 5y ago
  I think You are right and glad to see You put Modern in quotes as people have been buying and selling firewood for a long time. Selling wood might actually be the second oldest profession! (No pun intended!)

h2odragon 5y ago

> not about doing everything yourself Good point. I'm a child of a hippie commune, "Back to the Land" was a more common phrase then and still doesn't convey well what many people meant. When you compare the costs of cutting your own wood to buying it; you touch on the central conflict: "Modern" life is actually a win on efficiency for individual effort. What's needed to make an off-grid / less social / variant lifestyle work is a slightly different value system; where being out in the forest cutting your wood has a value to you that is something you can't buy. I know a lot of "small farmer" types who spend way too much money on pursuits that will never return a monetary gain. They may not be able to articulate and assess the non-financial gains the perceive; but they do exist and it's a worthy choice for many. I don't think its something you "go off grid" to find, tho. You find something else, first, that outweighs being so "on-grid" as you currently are. then you'll be able to remind yourself why you're elbow deep in a cow in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve rather than sleeping off an office party bender, and stay sane.

sigmaprimus 5y ago
I think You are right and glad to see You put Modern in quotes as people have been buying and selling firewood for a long time. Selling wood might actually be the second oldest profession! (No pun intended!)