My long gone dad lived that lifestyle before it was a hippie culture. Born in 1912 and in the Navy a Pearl Harbor survivor (a Quaker, he served as a carpenter/fitter), after the war moved from midwest and bought a small farm in Oregon up the McKenzie from Eugene. Built his own gravity powered water system, combination of propane and DC generator lighting, wood & propane heat and cooking, propane refrigeration. Even put a gas engine on a clothes washer. Built greenhouses of his own design for year round growing, raised hogs & chickens. Shot deer with an ancient Stevens .22 which I still have. Was in the process of designing a water exchanger heat pump to extract heat from the ground when the family started growing & he sold the farm for bigger digs closer to the main road (but still raised hogs & added goats and all scaled up beyond subsistence), but from 1946-1959 lived that off the grid dream. If not for going from one kid to adding a set of twins (one was me) perhaps would have stayed on the old farm.
I was always a rural or semi-rural dweller until adulthood and have been in the city limits of Eugene or Springfield since 1979. I hope to be moving closer to nature very soon.
Now, I'm searching for a few men or women that will help me be the best design engineer for a self sufficient piece of property that is off all grids...or as much as possible. I know this is not off topic but folks like your dad, and other old time hippies and beatnik...the real ones gave us a LOT ...just too bad the application of these unique benefits in saving money, energy and being self sufficient are hard to find because of their lifestyle, God Bless them...you are a fortunate person indeed.