Misty Murph'Arien, 36, and her husband, Bryce, 46, have become homesteaders—self-sufficiency experts—since moving into a remote Canadian forest 15 years ago.

The couple, who have daughters, Sage, 7, and Aurora, 5, are almost entirely self-sufficient, cooking their meals on a wood stove, getting their food from a vegetable farm and a range of animals, their electricity from solar panels, and their water from a well.

The couple met while working as chefs in Hamilton, but quickly realized they weren't suited to living in the big city.

Misty, from Dundalk, Ontario, said: "From the moment we met, we instantly knew we wanted to live an alternative lifestyle."

After visiting Bryce's grandmother's cob cottage in rural Durham for 54 weekends in a row, they eventually moved there in 2006, falling in love with the rural lifestyle.