Wild Chaga Mushroom

Where to find Chaga Mushroom

Chaga Mushroom
Chaga Mushroom growing on a birch tree

There is a large grove of birch trees on the property, we will harvest what we need that grows wild around us.

The wild chaga mushroom is a fungus that grows mainly in birch trees.

It can be found protruding from the tree as a dark burnt looking irregular form usually looking like a cone or horn.

Read more

What to do if you meet a cougar?

Don’t run and don’t back down!

I want to tell you a little bit about cougars before we get into what to do if you meet a cougar out in the bush while hiking.Cougar

About Cougars

Cougars are very rarely seen in the wild, they like to stay to themselves.  In the 30 years I have been living around cougar country I have only seen one and that was from a distance, it was walking away from us as we were out getting firewood.




An adult male cougar will stand about 24 to 30 inches and be in length of up to 8′ long that includes the tail, which can be as long as 36 inches.  On average the male cougar will weigh about 125 lbs. were the female would be somewhat smaller and weigh about 100 lbs.

Read more

Heat Powered Wood Stove Fans – the EcoFan

Heat Powered Wood Stove Fan

The eco fan wood stove fan is what I have been using for at least 8 years or more, these heat powered wood stove fans are definitely worth every penny.

They are long lasting and save on the heating bill by warming the house up faster and moving the heat throughout the house.

Ecofan

Read more

Installing Wood Flooring over Concrete

 

The Cabin Floor

Concrete Floor

The old cabin floor had to be removed, we were almost certain that underneath the wood would be a dirt floor, but to our surprise there was a concrete floor under that dirty old particle board.

 

Whoever had put the floor in this cabin had built a frame raised floor and covered the concrete with particle board.

We would find out what we had to work with once the entire old floor was removed.

Read more

Small Wood Stove

A Small Wood Stove for a Small Cabin
Wood Stove

The cabin is only 10 x 11 so there was no need to leave the big cast iron wood stove that was in there.  A small wood stove will do the job we need it to do.



There are all kinds of small wood stoves out there, we are trying to recycle and use what we have so spending money was not part of the plan.  We found a larger wood stove in the cabin, but the heat from it would have blown us out of there, so we decided to buy a cheaper wall tent stove.

Read more