Here ' s WhatIt ' s Like to Live in the Woods , Off the GridMeet a group of people in the mountains of North Carolina surviving onwhat can be gleaned from their surroundings . In 2007 , a man and a woman walked into the woods of North Carolina to asmall camp . The camp turned into their home , and the home into a community . So goes the story of the early days of Wild Roots , a forest commune in western NorthCarolina , built on a few founding principles — living freely , not wasting , andconstantly learning . on roughly 30 acres , a group of people use what they callearth skills to eat , bathe , and survive . They build what they know how and letthe forest teach them what they don ’ t . Wild Roots ' longest - standing member , a man named Tod , who declines to beidentified with a last name , doesn ’ t have an anti - establishmentcreed or fear of developed society , just an aversion to it . “ We are living off the fat of a ridiculous surplus society , ” Tod told photographer Mike Belleme , to explain why the community ’ s membersoccasionally “ dumpster dive ” for supermarket leftovers . Around the camp they also harvestacorns and chestnuts , which they turn into a porridge . Belleme first visited the community in 2009 and found about 12 to 14 people glad to welcome him but with a curious lack of shared philosophy . Unlikeother communities that are devoted to the environment , or opposed to social norms , Wild Roots had no unified vision , itsmembers saying they ’ re uncomfortable being put in a box , marginalised , dismissed . Whatthey all had in common , Belleme observed , was simply the inclination tolearn . Tod built this house for himself and his girlfriend , Talia . The Wattle and Doub technique uses small live saplingswoven between larger vertical logs to create the structure . A mixture of redclay , sand , water , and straw is then packed into thesaplings for the walls and a roof of tulip poplar bark is added . Thishouse was abandoned shortly after because the site was too damp . October 2011 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMENatalie and Greyson play in the leaves . October 2010 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMEThe ducks are a fairly recent addition to Wild Roots andare the first animals to be kept there . The property is not ideal foragriculture of any kind , so farming is limited and food supplies come mostlyfrom dumpsters , road kill , animal donations from hunters , and some wild foodharvesting . October 2015 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMELindsey , centre and other members of the Wild Rootscommunity prepare dinner over a fire . Fires for breakfast and dinner arestarted using friction . The diet has been described by members of the communityas " opportunitarian " meaning that they eat just about anything thatthey can find for free . October 2015 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMETod cuts open a deer head to extract the tongue from awild game butcher ' s dumpster in Marion , North Carolina . Wild Roots has anarrangement with the business where they alert Wild Roots when the dumpstersare full . Pelts are collected along withtongues , some brain and eyeballs and bones to make stewsand broths . December 2011 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMENiko , 18 , poses for a portrait beside one of thecommunity structures called the bark lodge at Wild Roots . Niko spent the summerof 2013 at Wildroots and was at the time the youngest person who had livedthere . PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMETod gives tips to Niki as she butchers her first blackbear . one of the biggest sources of food comes from local hunters who drop offtheir extra kills during hunting season in exchange for access through WildRoots property to the adjacent national forest . When a fresh kill arrives , everything stops and the two - day process of processing every part of the animalcommences . October 2015 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMETod dries herbs and acorns on the roof of the mainworkshop at Wild Roots . The main food supply at Wild Roots comes from weeklyoutings to dumpsters in nearby towns , but they supplement with wild foods , gardening , and eggs from their ducks . October 2015 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMEMembers of Wild Roots , a primitive intentional communityin the woods , ride in the veggie oil - fueled truck back to Wild Roots after afull day of harvesting apples to make cider . The small community is aboutfifteen years old , with the longest current member living there for about tenyears , and an ever - changing cast of folks passing through and staying forvarious lengths of time . Cider pressing is an annual fall tradition in thecommunity . October 2015 . PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMEJonathan helps butcher a black bear . one of the biggestsources of food comes from local hunters who drop off their extra kills duringhunting season in exchange for access through Wild Roots property to theadjacent national forest . When a fresh kill arrives , everything stops and thetwo - day process of processing every part of the animal commences . October 2015 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMETod and Talia prepare dinner over the wood stove in the Rat Shack . Even with snow on the ground outside , they often have to open doors inside to keep the tight spaces from getting toohot while cooking . January 2013 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMEThe Rat Shack is photographed on a wintry evening . Thepopulation at Wild Roots dwindles to only two or three duringwinter to conserve resources like wood . January 2013 PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMEA trail snakes through the 30 - acre property of WildRoots . After dinner , people leave the warmth of the fire and navigate the trailin the complete darkness to find their way back to their dwellings further inthe woods . PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMEIn 2011 , Tod , with so much time in the forest , began building himself abark - roofed cabin made of only materials he could find . He whittled wood pegs , carved oakbeams , and stripped the bark off poplar trunks . But it wasn ' t meant to be . Not long after , Tod abandoned the project . Too much mist in that area invited mould , so he moved on to something new . Tod originally planned for the group to eat only from the land , butquickly realised that might be naïve . The number ofanimals in the area had been dropping with the disappearance of native flora . Occasionally , hunters will donate their extra kills to the community in exchangefor access to the area . But such bounties don ' t always yield gourmet meals . During one of Belleme ’ s trips , the group processed a bear to eat its meat andthen cooked down its brains , tongue , and eyeballs into a stew to put in jarsthat would last longer . Belleme tasted it . Living in the forest tends to come with downsides . To live without technology can be freeing , but it also is isolating . once aweek , several group members take a truck into a nearby town to use thecomputers at a public library to email family or read the news . Occasionallythey ’ ll visit a butcher and ask for scraps intended forthe trash . Over nearly a decade , Wild Roots has grown from a small group into aneducational community , says Belleme . It now has a website and welcomes visitors , provided they get in touch first and don ’ t arrive sick . People fill their timecooking , blacksmithing , or woodworking . No hierarchy means anyone can learn or teach , anyone can succeed or fail . But there does come a time when the seasons test those who are most committed . When winter arrives , the group thins . Sometimes , the only person left is Tod . Header Image : Niki , left , paintsJulia ' s face with sandstone pigments in the creek which runs through theWildroots property in western North Carolina . The stream is the only source offresh drinking water , and also how members of the Wild Roots community bathyear - round . PHOTOGRAPH BY MIKE BELLEMEDiscuss this article 양식 의 맨 아래 National Geographic explores the people , places and events of our world . National Geographic showcases leadingexplorers , scientists , environmentalists , film makers and renownedphotographers .