Meet Nick Weston, author of The Tree house Diaries, who told me about his 6 months living off the land in the Sussex countryside…
What made you decide to spend 6 months ‘living wild’?
“A few things. It was all I could really afford at the time, I was fed up with having to pay for pointless services I didn’t really need, from electricity, council tax and above all rent. I wanted to find out what it would be to live an existence that was dedicated to the basics of living- finding food, having somewhere comfortable to live and using recycled and natural materials to create a simple sustainable lifestyle.”
Were you able to survive entirely off the land?
“About 60% of my diet was wild food, mostly greens and fruit. All my meat, be it fish, fur or feather was wild. The remaining 40% was from my vegetable patch which provided me with the sorts of things I couldn’t find in the wild larder, mainly due to seasonality. It would have been very hard to survive completely off the land as well as doing everything else I had to do as it was just me, if I had had one or two others doing it with me as our hunter-gatherer ancestors did (they lived in groups like modern-day collectives), more hands made for lighter work.
I received a fair bit of negative criticism after a newspaper article in the Daily Mail, saying that I was cheating and not really living off the land, despite stressing that what I was doing was not about all out survival. My stance was and still is that I did this experiment for myself and lived how I wanted to live, If that meant having a few basic staples and a power drill than so be it – that was my choice, I didn’t want to become a hermit and I was not going to lose sight of the fact that this is the 21st century!”
What was the toughest thing about the whole experience?
“Being alone most of the time was quite difficult, I am a very sociable person and enjoy other peoples company. Having grown up in a world where you have running water at the twist of a tap and power at the flick of a switch was something that was hard to adjust to, we forget how lucky we are.”
What was your most memorable moment?
“Probably hanging my antlers on the front of the tree house once it was finished, it was the crowning moment and the end of the first chapter of my woodland life. Being able to stand back and look up at something that I had built with my bare hands (and at times, a few others) was a wonderful thing.”
Are you still living in your tree house, or have you returned to home comforts?
“No longer in the tree house, but in one end of a barn that I have converted myself, It has a tap for running water and power- I feel like I have gone up in the world having a fridge and gas rings, but many aspects of tree house live still continue, I top up the larder with wild food, especially meat and still have the same loo and shower that I had in the woods. I have a few more home comforts – but have left behind the pointless rubbish we don’t need in life.”
Can you recommend one easy foraging recipe that anyone can try?
“EIther nettle beer or nettle pesto – both of which can be found in the book and blog. Nettles are wonderfully versatile!”
Related posts:
Related posts:
Hi and welcome. I'm a freelance travel and lifestyle copywriter and editor, with a passion for the great outdoors. This is my personal blog all about getting out in the fresh air and reconnecting with our green spaces and countryside.
