Top photo: the Munk’s off-grid home in rural Northern Humboldt County. Left: hand built and painted shed on the property
From left to right: Bonnie, Crow and Linda Munk, Osha and Jaime
Meet our neighbors Crow and Linda “Nana” Munk, Sunny Brae Customers
We don’t go to big box stores. We shop only at little stores that buy local products and Murphy’s is our favorite!” says Nana. “We bring homemade sauerkraut for Cole in the meat department and cords of wood to share with the Murphy’s folks.”
He and Nana add flourishes to everything in their gracious world. A little birdhouse here and that little bit of extra attention to woodwork on the out buildings adds a gentle style to their land. They paint murals on the walls, too.
“We have no cell phones or TV or an answering machine for our phone at the house,” says Crow. Nana and Crow have lived off the grid for 25 years. They grow as much of their food as possible and trade for most anything else. “Bear, deer, mountain lions, ringtail cats, fishers and martins,” says Nana, “we see them all the time. We used to see more spotted owls but now its barn owls.” Crow has cut and milled the beautiful wood for their comfortable house and the out buildings.
They harvest up to 300 pounds of walnuts each year to store or use for trade. They also grow over 500 garlics a year which Crow braids for storage, beauty, trade and giving. They even have a kiwi arbor. “We store the kiwis in egg cartons and they keep all winter in the root cellar,” says Nana. One of the other buildings is a smoker. Hot peppers are grown in the hot house, smoked and made into chipolte for meat rubs.
Years ago, Nana and Crow ran a wilderness school for foster children in Idaho and California. “We had kids from all over,” says Crow. “They would stay for a few weeks and learn about living off the land. Ann E Casey Foundation — her son founded UPS — was the sponsor for 10-12 children at a time to come to our wilderness school.” “We do Tai Chi everyday with a teacher and we play music everyday so we boogie!” says Nana. “We make it into town to Murphy’s about once a month and we can visit our granddaughter, Osha, at the same time. Bless you all!”
By Colleen Hole, Advertising, North Coast Journal
Sunny Brae • Glendale • Trinidad • Cutten • Westwood
2 NORTH COAST JOURNAL • THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2013 • northcoastjournal.com