Slideshow: Our day at LucasFilm!

Why do some people love going to the office, day after day? Now we understand… Working in a corporate office seems pretty damn fun when ET’s bike is flying through the stairwell, Slimer’s head is mounted in the hallway, and R2D2 greets … Continue reading

A Taste of ‘The Dirty Life’ at Essex Farm

In the Adirondacks, overlooking Lake Champlain is Essex; a small town of a little over 600 people where from fertile ground and a lot of dirty work sprouted one of the most inspiring farms in the world. We put our … Continue reading

Stone Camp: An off-grid, zero-waste, self-sufficient paradise!

-Click here for more photos, self-sufficiency stories, and updates from the road!-   Adventure could be defined by how many times you find yourself saying “I don’t know how we’re going to get out of this one.” We have been … Continue reading

WIN Tickets to the next Mother Earth News Fair: A hands-on, sustainable lifestyle event!

Free Range Quest cruised across the prairies, hills and fields all the way from Portland, Oregon to the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs PA 2013 to find loads of inspirational people working with real food, natural healing and all types … Continue reading

Rollingstone Chèvre + A GIVEAWAY!

The best stories we find on the road are those of the people who made a decision, packed up, and set out to start again. Karen Evans’ husband Chuck was a college art department head in the town of Winona, … Continue reading

The Chef’s Table: locally-sourced dining in Sacramento, CA

While hanging out at Hook and Ladder in Sacramento, waiting for the first leg of repairs to be completed on our recently rear-ended ALFie, we told the story of our Free Range Quest to our server Micheal and handed her … Continue reading

Daily Organics in Los Angeles

Once a model for some of the top fashion houses in the world, Renee Gunter traded in her jet-setting lifestyle to provide the most gorgeous and delicious fruits, veggies, and natural products available to Los Angeles residents — all from … Continue reading

A Real Olive Garden + A GIVEAWAY

OJAI OLIVE OIL In the land of the grapes, from which great civilizations have sprouted, we must not forget its counterpart in climate  – the mighty olive! Before leaving Portland, our own olive tree began to fruit after three years … Continue reading

The Mushroom Trip: Our Far West Fungi Farm Tour!

We finally scored our first bag of shrooms on the road! The gourmet mushrooms of Far West Fungi were the focus of our tour in the Monterey Bay area this week. (And we’ve got a great giveaway too!) Edible mushrooms are a … Continue reading

Day 1 on the road: Decompression

Click HERE to like us on Facebook for more photos and updates from the road, including our first rolling home-cooked meal and daily travel essentials! _____________________________ On our last day in our old house, we awoke to a classic hot … Continue reading

Bus Conversion Gallery – Before and After!

BEFORE: AFTER: Like us on Facebook to see more photos and updates from the road!  It took a year, a lot of hard work, a lot of re-purposing. The words “shim” and “jerry-rig” were bandied about quite a little bit… … Continue reading

That’s a wrap! From school bus to cabin on wheels!

It’s an unwrapped wrap! We got a call Thursday morning – For the first time with ANY vendor we have worked with on the bus conversion project, something was done ahead of schedule! A Little Further’s exterior makeover was complete! … Continue reading

DIY sliding, barn-style door for our bus/RV conversion — UNDER $30!

I created a sliding door ALFie’s bathroom for under $30! Some of these barn-style door hardware kits are hundreds of dollars, I wanted to find a way to simplify and slash that cost drastically (Later we added a custom stained-glass … Continue reading

Wine cork floors! -or- How being drunken hoarders helped us remodel our bathroom!

Normally we are anti-hoarding, but in this case, it helped us! We had been saving wine corks in a vase for a few years for no particular reason. Between our collection plus that of a friend and our parents we … Continue reading

Bus aromatherapy: Sealing our cedar walls the natural, DIY way!

Chemical based sealers will often peel as the natural cedar oils degrade them, so finishing or staining cedar walls isn’t recommended. Sanding the walls with a fine sandpaper will revive the cedar scent as the aromatics dissipate over time.  Another food-safe, non-toxic, … Continue reading

Recipes on the Road: Orange Elk Stew For Two

Here is a recipe for elk stew that I made in my mini slow cooker — the perfect size to cook with in an RV to make a simple and delicious meal** for two: Ingredients: 1 lb. elk steak or … Continue reading

Simple, inexpensive roll-up bus/RV curtains

Here’s a little DIY curtain project for our awkwardly sized bus windows, they are easily removable and totally convertible — We added a screen print of one of our favorite band posters from Saint Jude to dress it up, but … Continue reading

Kitchen counter and storage install part 2 + Bathroom walls!

The short bus conversion in progress! Subscribe here or follow us on Facebook to see more updates as our project moves ahead! Night and day (in below freezing temperatures and with multiple layers of clothing) we installed the kitchen countertop and sink, … Continue reading

Kitchen counter and storage install part 1 -or- Our remodel, frozen in time!

We have rain, freezing temperatures, and back-to-back illnesses — but we persevere! Luckily, we have ALFie’s mini cube fireplace to keep us warm while we continue to rehab our 1999 diesel GMC bus into the perfect rolling cabin. Right now … Continue reading

Sandor Katz visits Free Range Quest!

We at Free Range Quest are blessed to meet so many who motivate, inspire, and teach us. Sandor Katz has been called evangelical in the way he speaks about fermented foods. It has been said that he “has become for … Continue reading

Traditional Plum Pudding – Von Kroug Style

There are a few classic comedy staples in our household. Always sure to get a laugh: ANYTHING involving a rubber chicken, a banana peel, an ottoman in a footpath, or the pinnacle of holiday hilarity — Fruitcake. Plum Pudding, a … Continue reading

Leap of Faith: Why we are selling our 3-story home (and moving into a bus)

“Look back to where you have been, for a clue to where you are going” -Unknown “I sure hope not.” -Me I said to my wife the other night, “In the last decade of my life, I can clearly mark … Continue reading

Turkey Tales – Raising a holiday feast in our own backyard

A Killer Halloween It was dawn of Halloween 2011, the cold crackling air was leaving chilly crystals on the ground and falling from our breath as we grabbed the drunken turkeys by their giant, dinosaur legs. They usually go limp … Continue reading

Bus conversion slideshow! Passenger seat installation – AND the bed platform is DONE!

David, working himself to death!

The navigator/passenger seat that we converted from an old office chair is now mounted with 360 swivel action! Carefully calculating the space we had to attach the seat without disturbing anything in the undercarriage was a daunting task! Dave spent … Continue reading

Recipes on the Road: Jackfruit Tacos with Cashew Cream Sauce

Jackfruit taco filling looks sand tastes very similar to chicken and with cashew cream sauce is addictively delicious. I found this original recipe by Taylor Duty on the Evolve Vegan blog (go there!); where a wealth of healthy vegan options … Continue reading

Recipes on the Road: Siberian apple crisp with olive oil streusel and whiskey caramel sauce

While visiting Minnesota we came upon a magical wonderland of Siberian apples from Natura Farms, an organic paradise that we will be profiling as part of our Quest. Below is a recipe for my lovely vegan friends from someone who … Continue reading

A glimpse into the future of our bus conversion! -or- Things to do on a bearskin rug!

Here is a glimpse into our RV bus conversion, this tiny home design is complete (with some fantastic personal touches sure to be in place for the bus-warming party, thanks to starchitecht, Colin Jensen)! — Note the powder room with … Continue reading

Free Range Quest goes to Farm School!

Farm school starts real early.  And on a Saturday, no less! Kinda like actual farming, I suppose… I recently received an email from the Oregon State University Extension Service about the 2012 Small Farm School, so of course Kristina and … Continue reading

Building the Bed Platform -or- The Case of the Tiny Space!

This week we started the construction of the bedroom in ALFie. We decided on a raised storage platform because storage is what we are lacking most in the space and we liked the idea of the bed being toward the … Continue reading

Keep on truckin’! Powering through discouraging delays

Though we’ve had some major delays in our remodel schedule, we were still able to make some great progress during the month of August. We got a pretty nasty rock chip in the windshield and that needed to be repaired … Continue reading

Fresh meat -or- The day I learned where bacon comes from…

Due to the graphic nature of this blog post, reader discretion is advised… I have always remained firm in my belief that meat is perfectly natural, nutritious, and delicious to eat. I love tasting everything. I especially love indulging in a … Continue reading

Fermentation! Embracing a less sterilized outlook on creating in the kitchen

We began experimenting with fermentation in a variety of forms a couple of years ago. Making pickles, beer, breads, cheeses, and kombucha have become relished (winkwink) hobbies – It’s cheaper than buying the store bought stuff and we always feel … Continue reading

Free Range Quest: “Put Your Poultry in Your Pantry” by David Von Kroug

See on Scoop.itFree to Leave

City Folk Learn to Dispatch and Dress Chickens!

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