“ There was such a grandness , ” Tammy Trayer says , recalling the first metre she left her hometown in Pennsylvania and maneuver west . “ It was unlike anything I ’d ever seen before . And it turn over us the exemption to live on our terms . ”
Tammy and her husband , Glen , seem for state in Montana and Wyoming before purchasing a 5 - acre tract of land , sight unobserved , in northern Idaho in 2010 . The self - key out “ utmost outdoorspeople ” pitched a canvass tent , set up a woodstove and started building their off - grid homestead . Tammy Trayer
DIY Folk
Their 1,000 - square - foot cabin runs on solar mightiness , and a woodstove keep back them tender even in the dusty Idaho winter .
Glen , a blacksmith , made many of the putz they use on the homestead . Wood for body structure such as the b and guest cabin were harvested from trees on their land . And Tammy makessoapandcandles .
The couple has also grown veggie . They upgrade chickens , rabbitsandgoats . And they hunt turkeys , elk , cervid and moose to fulfill their propane - powered freezer .
“ Once you start living simply , you realise how little you need and how rewarding it is , ” she says . “ We ’re not caught up with retention up . ”
Sharing the Wisdom
Tammy wrote a book , How to Embrace an Off - Grid Lifestyle , to share her lessons about experience off the grid and aid others inspired to be more self - sufficient . The couplet ’s passion for homesteading also led them to start Trayer Wilderness , a series of classes to teach others the traditional skills they use on their homestead , including blacksmithing , canning and preserving , hunting , trapping , foraging and rude medicines .
After Tammy was diagnosed with a inveterate illness in 2016 , the duad scaled back their homestead : They sell their livestock , and the garden lay fallow . A friend lend fresh organic produce that Tammy bear on ; Glen still hunts .
“ [ Our family ] will bear on living this life-style that we make out , ” she says . “ Where there is a will , there is a way . ”
Tammy Trayer
In some esteem , homesteading ready the couple to navigate a long - full term illness . Despite go months without an income , the Trayers never missed a meal .
“ When you go off the grid , you ’re going to have struggles , ” Tammy says . “ We do n’t see the battle as a bad thing , just a stepping stone to moving onward , and we always calculate for the blessing , no matter how little . ”Tammy Trayer
Upping the Ante
Tammy and Glen already comprehend what some would call the modus vivendi of extreme outdoorspeople . But they plan to move even farther from civilization .
Their Idaho homestead is up for sales agreement — some of the proceeds will track aesculapian bills from Tammy ’s extended illness — and the phratry dream of living deeply in the wilderness , perhaps in Alaska .
“ The longer we ’ve been doing this , our mindset , needs and desire have gotten even simple-minded , ” she says .
This article appeared inLiving Off the Grid , a 2018 specialty issue produced by the editor in chief and writers ofHobby Farmsmagazine . Aside from this visibility of people who ’ve established Modern lives in removed country , live Off the Gridincludes tarradiddle on renewable energy , growing plant life without seeds and permaculture . you could buy this volume , Hobby Farmsback issues as well as special variant such asBest of Hobby FarmsandBest of Urban Farmbyfollowing this link .
Tammy Trayer
Tammy Trayer
