Aging Homesteader - The Finale

When its over if you haven't made arrangement to be put through a wood chipper and spread on your garden.......

An average funeral costs roughly $8,500.00 and rising. $11,000 is not an unusual price.

If you buy (in advance of course) a coffin from Costco its $800.00 vs $3,000.00 at point of use.
If you have it in advance (and someone buries you within 24 hrs) refrigeration is not necessary, (in many states) along with, if the mortician doesn't make you look palatable (closed coffin!) and embalming is not required its an additional $2,000 conservation.
(For my part there ain't no way I wanna go into the ground without embalming! There are too many false diagnosis of death! Embalm and they won't survive it!)
If you rent a hall ($100.00 - $300.00) or a chapel (Free to $1,000.00) will be spent.
Almost all jurisdictions require a vault (800 lbs of concrete!) to keep the field level over the years, (ever go into a really old graveyard? All those swales are collapsed coffins!) and an excavator rental to dig the hole and lower the coffin, and swing the vault into place. $750.00 - $1500.00

If you elect to be cremated, a card board box is free! But the toasting is $300.00 and up.
A fancy urn can absorb as much of your grandchildren's inheritance as your survivors can stand, or you can have one on the shelf holding Christmas candy until its needed.
A chopper ride is the best way to spread ashes,

Hmm.. wood chipper seems like the best option xD

In some states (Georgia and Tennessee at least, I'm sure there are others) it's legal to bury someone on private land, provided it's rural and over a certain size.  When I lived in the South I participated in four or five such home burials, helping to dig the grave, build a coffin (or in one case the body was simply wrapped in a blanket) and do the deed.  Simple and beautiful.  If you can pick up the body direct from the coroner or hospital or wherever and promise to bury within 24 hours no embalming is necessary.   As for myself, I'm currently signed up to have my body donated to the medical school as a study cadaver.  That way someone can get some benefit out of me, which seems at least right now to outweigh the meager contribution I would make to the soil!

Alder Burns wrote:In some states (Georgia and Tennessee at least, I'm sure there are others) it's legal to bury someone on private land, provided it's rural and over a certain size.  When I lived in the South I participated in four or five such home burials, helping to dig the grave, build a coffin (or in one case the body was simply wrapped in a blanket) and do the deed.  Simple and beautiful.  If you can pick up the body direct from the coroner or hospital or wherever and promise to bury within 24 hours no embalming is necessary.   As for myself, I'm currently signed up to have my body donated to the medical school as a study cadaver.  That way someone can get some benefit out of me, which seems at least right now to outweigh the meager contribution I would make to the soil!

That's really cool. I've always wanted to see what a home burial would be like, I visited a farm once that had old grave plots of family members, but they weren't allowed to bury people there anymore (I'm pretty sure they said it had been that way for 30 or 40 years). Such a shame.
I always wanted to go with a natural burial, I have looked at all the options for tree cemeteries as well, which are pretty cool. Being signed up as a study cadaver is sick though, being able to study an entire body as an aspiring medical professional is a miracle. You said you signed up to be a cadaver, I'm guessing that's different than signing up to be a run of the mill organ donor. Did you have to go through any red tape? Or do they just let anyone do it?

If you chose to be cremated, the cardboard box isn't free.
They call it an alternate container and charged us $145 for a cardboard box.
Used it to put the ashes in until they got to the mortuary, then threw it away.

Provide your own "alternate container".

For those of you who would like more information on this topic, here are some threads that will help:

https://permies.com/wiki/116034/Green-Burial-Guidebook-Elizabeth-Fournier

https://permies.com/t/87862/ungarbage/Green-Family-Cemetery#945980

https://permies.com/t/116266/ungarbage/Green-Burial-Techniques

https://permies.com/t/117540/ungarbage/Green-Burial-Human-Composting

If you live in a rural area away from a large city and want to donate your body to science double check that they will come to pick up your cadaver. Same with organ donation.

In Colorado, outdoor funereal fires are allowable for body cremation. Crestone End of Life Project In Colorado, with hospice people are allowed to die at home and have the death certified by a hospice physician so no need for an autopsy or going to a mortuary, hospital,l or funeral home. There are groups who teach Sacred Death Care of the body. For instance Full circle of Living and Dying. It's very permies. One way to do this is to learn body care with friends and agree to help one another. You will need to keep recruiting new members ;0)

Does anyone know if WVa. Allows natural burials?
My idea is to be natural intered and have a PAWPAW tree planted over me, or a chestnut.

Take a Long Hike in the Wilderness. Let go and Let God bring home.

Len Whittaker wrote:Hmm.. wood chipper seems like the best option xD

Perhaps not for the Operator, unless you have really made some enemies in life...  

The price for cremation is interesting.  Looking within 80 miles of my home the price ranges from around 500 to 1500.