Bushcraft Field School
Background Information

• Food and Meals
• Housing
• Bathing and Hygiene
• Composting Toilet System
• Laundry
• Phone
• Internet
• Charging Batteries, Electricity

Food and Meals

  While on trips all meals are provided and we eat as a group. When not in the field students are provided with nutritious staple foods listed below. Students should plan to supplement these with foods purchased at local grocery stores. While we will be trying a variety of wild foods, we will not be attempting to live off of them. We encourage students to eat together in order to save fuel and resources. With this in mind students have traditionally made one-pot meals with the staples provided being the main ingredients. Students should bring enough money to purchase any desired or required food items.

Staple Foods Provided

• Brown Rice
• Rolled Oats
• Beans
• Lentils
• Pasta
• Flour (white, unbleached)
• Sourdough Starter
• Onions
• Sunflower Seeds
• Vegetable Oil
• Brown Sugar
• Coffee
• Black Tea
• Baking Powder
• Baking Soda
• Salt
• Pepper

Cooking takes place over an open fire, in a solar oven, or on a rocket stove. Food is stored next to the outdoor kitchen in bins and critter-proof containers. We occasionally have porcupines, raccoons and skunks in camp, so we make sure that everything is cleaned up and put away before dark.

We strongly encourage students to get some experience cooking before they arrive, particularly with whole grains and beans. It is much easier to learn the basics of cooking at home than in the bush. Learn to make a few things you like, then you'll have a foundation on which to build.

Housing

During our spring, summer and fall courses students stay their own tent. They also build a variety of different shelters and stay in them for several days, or for the duration of their stay if they choose. During the winter program, students stay in woodstove-heated shelters while at our home base, and in woodstove-heated wall tents in the bush.

Bathing and Hygiene

Everyone is expected to maintain an acceptable level of hygiene during the course. This is accomplished by swimming in the river (without soap or shampoo), bucket baths (with soap and shampoo) and sweats in the sauna.

If you'd like to have your own personal hot shower whenever you want it, consider bringing a sunshower. (There are numerous models running from $10-$40.) Fill it in the morning at the river and by afternoon you'll have 5 gallons of hot water to use in our shower enclosure.

There are also modern, indoor showers available down the road at Blackwater Outfitters for a small fee.

Composting Toilet System

Before their course begins, each student is encouraged to read The Humanure Handbook. This introduces the composting toilet system we use, and will answer any questions the student might have about procedures, pathogens and safety. We've been using this system since 1996, and have experienced no problems with it. It's simple, odorless, uses minimal inputs and is the basis of our thermophylic composting system.

If you want to upgrade your accomodations to include your own private bathroom for your tent, consider bringing your own toilet seat and 5 gallon bucket (or 2 buckets). These Luggable Loo toilet seats clip onto a bucket. You can also improvise your own seat or build a toilet box like the ones we use based on the instructions in the Humanure Handbook.

Laundry

Laundry is done at the laundromat in town or by hand.

Phone

We are completely off the grid and don't have a landline phone. Payphones are available nearby in Ashland. Past students who wanted to be in constant telephone contact have used cell phones to do so. We get good cell phone reception at the field school, as there is a Verizon tower several miles away. If you want to stay in touch but don't have a cell phone, consider a prepaid cell phone. Past students have used TracFone's and had good reception. Both Verizon and AT&T phones work well (5 bars). One past student from Europe brought a T-Mobile phone and it didn't work at all.

Internet

Verizon and AT&T smartphones work at the field school. If you need to have internet connectivity for a laptop consider bringing a Verizon Mifi or usb modem (This is not an endorsement of Verizon, but a deduction based on the fact that they run the nearby tower).

On the days that it is open, the Ashland Community Library has a computer with internet access available for use. They do not have wifi.

The Turner Memorial Public Library in Presque Isle has an open wifi connection.

Charging Batteries, Electricity

Our field school is off the grid. We have a small solar system for our needs, but it is not available for students to charge their cell phones, etc. If you need electricity, plan ahead. There are numerous small solar panels and hand-crank generators that will keep your devices charged.

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