The Treehouse Diaries.

 

There comes a time in every young man’s life when he feels that a challenge is in order. To define ‘challenge’ I decided to have a quick peek at the dictionary to see which suited my ‘challenge’, I quite liked the first definition: a call to engage in a fight, contest or competition. No. The clear winner was: a test of one's abilities or resources in a demanding but stimulating undertaking. Perhaps it is a chance to prove my manliness if you like (ladies, I’m sure by now you have learnt to deal with our bizarre discrepancies) or at the very least bring out the true hunter-gatherer within.

Humans like to challenge themselves in many different ways; marathons, building a enormous model railway in a garden shed, building a garden shed, growing vegetables, walking from Land’s end to John O’Groats…the list is endless. But at the crux of the whole ‘challenge’ thing, the reason for challenging yourself is to gain a sense of achievement for you or on behalf of someone else. There are also the learning and experience factors to consider, so as long as doesn’t involve duelling pistols at dawn, a challenge is a good thing.

 

For sometime now I have been toying with notion of getting my hands on a P45 and moving to the country in pursuit of a more interesting existence. London is a wonderful place, full of culture, merriment and diversity, but city dwelling isn’t for everyone and I have come to realise that I am one of those people better suited outside of them.

 

The timing couldn’t be better, with a recession raping the country and the credit crunch being felt so heavily in town, a move and change in lifestyle could be just the ticket. With little interest in spending the glorious English summer in some sweaty city kitchen cooking for stockbrokers and bankers, exactly the Muppets that got us into this mess in the first place, I made a bold decision and began making plans.

 

So what am I doing then? Well, for starters, I have managed to secure my own wood with a river for 6 months and come May I get to move in!  In the spirit of this whole enterprise I have agreed with the landowners to pay my rent in the form of doing a little work here and there on the land. However, the real challenge lies in having to build a Tree house from recycled/reclaimed and natural materials as well as living off wild food and a small vegetable patch right through the three most productive seasons. Challenging to say the least!

 

 

 

Obviously much of the wild food content will be the same, but it will play a more serious role in my daily life. All my meat is going to be provided by Mother Nature herself, this means the river and surrounding land are going to have to be worked hard to provide me with a glut of protein, without the use of any power/ fridges etc, I am going to have to do plenty of preserving, be it smoking or otherwise.

It is extremely important to me that the treehouse doesn't impact on its surroundings too much, I want it to look as 'organic' as possible and slide into the wood effortlessly. I can design the treehouse as much as I like, but the true design process will inevitably take place throughout the build- Wattle and daub is certainly one process that is being considered and perhaps a turf roof (might have some weight issues though!).

 

 

Making my own long drop, building a boat to navigate the river and developing my skills in country crafts, many of which are slowly being forgotten, are just a few of the lifestyle changes I am going to adapt to. 

 

When it comes to outdoor living, I feel I can hold my own. This isn’t, I hasten to add, a project in all out survival, I am no Bear Grylls-so I won’t be spending nights in hotels chowing down on blueberry pancakes. But, I have decided to allow myself a few luxuries to make the good life even better:

 

• A few kitchen staples to help me make the most out of the wild larder and the patch: Flour, yeast, water, vinegar, salt, pepper, sugar and oil (perhaps rice as a staple- but we shall see…)
• A few of the latest items in sustainable gadgetry such as a wind-up torch, wind up-radio (for those long, lonely nights, when I can’t be bothered to read) and a solar powered charger to keep the phone running…I have no intention to become a hermit.
• Fishing rod and a gun- I feel that these are fairly mandatory items for the 21^st century hunter-gatherer, although there will be a certain amount of trapping going on (don’t worry, nothing illegal, I will leave the Gin traps at home).
• My girlfriend- we have been living together for 4 years now, Clare will of course pop down from London from time to time, I couldn’t expect her to give up her creature comforts for the sake of one of my foolish exploits…but she will have a pretty sweet summer house in the country.    

 

 

For now, preparations continue to go smoothly, I have yet to purchase my foundations (got to be top notch wood), I still have to source a 55 gallon steel drum from which to build my wood burning stove and I have a couple of months for the two Set-design companies I used work for back in the day, to build up a good pile of wood for collection.

 

Tomorrow I will be heading down to the site to begin digging my vegetable patch (hopefully as productive as my Clapham patch) and take a few final measurements of the trees that will form the foundation of my new home. I have been lucky enough to be blessed with a solid bunch of friends that have all offered their services in some way or another, which will be an enormous help, building a tree house isn’t a one man job!

 

So from the start of May, there will be a few changes here at ‘Huntergathercook’, the address (www.huntergathercook.typepad.com) will remain the same, but the blog and subject matter will become “The Tree house Diaries”: an account of my new life out on a limb, from the highs and lows, the delicious daily menus, the foraging, the methods of hunting, brewing, building the tree house, video diaries, pictures and a whole lot more!

 

Stay tuned for more updates…at last I may be able to use my twitter account for something useful!

 

 

Comments

[Alex]

Wow. What a project. I wish you the best of luck and can't wait to read some more about it. Let me know if you wish to share the skills of the wildman - sounds like fun.

[Reida Riva]

Thanks for sharing your way of life, very interesting From Reida Riva

[Lilly]

Wow. I am at a lost of words. This must be such an amazing experience for you. When I told my boyfriend I wanted to live in a tree house, he laughed at me and said it couldn't be done, well you're living proof that it could! I'm glad you have decided to share your great adventure with the rest of the world, we could learn a thing or two from you. Life isn't all about money and useless possessions. We live in a materialistic society and it brings me joy to find people like you who can escape from it and really enjoy life. We take nature for granted. Some people don't realize that if we're not careful, we could royally screw ourselves over. Greetings from Cooperstown!

[Sam@ free shed plans]

Those tree houses are just awesome!

[Elizabeth]

Hey!
I loved reading your treehouse blog - your story is awesome - thanks!! May I be so bold as to ask... About 5-10 years ago I read a blog from a man somewhere in the UK who'd built a treehouse very high, almost in a canopy.. in a public forest. His treehouse was illegal and quite dangerous, but he had a stove, snow and heating etc. I followed his blog for a while as it was so interesting.. and the police or forest people were wanting him to remove it. Is this you? and if not, do you know who I'm talking about and would you know how I can read more? His story was amazing. I'd love a lead if you know :)
Thanks terribly!