James Stallman

Is there a device that can make building and rebuilding raised beds faster? We are discussing grazing our animals through our garden bed after harvest, but this would only be consistently feasible if there is a fast way to rebuild the garden beds. We really like the raised bed shapers for larger tractors, but is there anything like that small scale?

I'm moving out into the country soon and I'm fully aware of the stray dog problems we have here in Texas. The neighbors in the area informed me that stray dogs find their way to our street from time to time or are simply dropped off. He has taken so many dogs to the animal shelter that they won't allow him to bring them in anymore. Him and the neighbors have chickens other livestock and he says that though he doesn't like it, they sometimes have to shoot them. I understand that this is often done and in rural areas you can be put in a crappy situation like this, but are there any other feasible options to help these abandoned dogs?

I'll do what I have to do to protect my livestock, my own dogs, and kids, but if this can be resolved without a firearm, I'd love to know.

This is a 40 acre property in Texas. I'm wanting to build multiple cisterns. I'm trying to calculate the practicality of going 100% offgrid and having rainwater provide all my water needs.

What's the cheapest method to increase rainwater collection?

Im looking into adding some simple standing structures for cattle shelter, vehicle parking, storage, anything else that just needs a roof with no walls.

What cheap roofing options are there?

I really love this property I'm looking at, I really hope I can make it work, but I don't know about all the junk in a section where the creek forks off and ends. There is a pile of tires, there is a bunch of rooking shingles, and a lot of other junk.

I know that counties have rules about keeping creeks clean and while I slowly plan to empty the creek over time, is there a chance that I could get fined as soon as I get the property? How do I go about testing the area for any health concerns?

Anything else I might be missing?

Naw, it's cool. Texas. near dallas.

It's the one thing the county regulates, septic. It's not %100 set in stone that we have to get one, but it's most likely.

Still working on conformation now.

Are you referring to cob homes in general or the hybrids with the straw bale?

So, straw bale is fantastic because straw is cheap and quick to stack, but you still need a wooden frame and that can be mildly costly while a cob house does not require the wooden frame though it takes forever to build.

When combining these into a hybrid, is the wooden frame still needed, or is there a way to cut it out of the equation?

So, if I am successful in organizing a way to save all my grey water and compost down all the black water then I won't need to install a 7k septic system, however, our county requires that we have one. What will I do with this thing?