Dan Mackey

Hey, Sara.  Things are moving slow... one step forward and a half step back.  I'm home full time now but restricted by health issues.  I increased my flock of chickens to 30 and added 3 pigs (Kune Kune) and 3 goats.  The neighbor's dog payed a visit this spring and culled half my flock right when I started selling my eggs at the roadside.  Then a fox got another 9 including the rooster.  Now they stay locked up.  I have a 1500 sq ft garden, and I've put in 50 fruit trees-peaches, pears, apples, sweet cherries and plums.  I've discovered I'm excellent at growing weeds!  The pest pressure is ridiculous.  I love the deer and rabbits being about on the property, but they eat EVERYTHING, and the deer rubbed several of my fruit trees to the point of death.  Groundhogs are getting my squash in the garden.  Didn't know that was a thing.  I've cleared several acres and am getting the roadside ready to build a small market area to sell fruits, veggies and any other brick-a-brack I make in the wood shop.  It has a cement floor now!  Yay!  Oh, and I purchased and am installing 9KW of solar panels.  I plan to garden under the panels with cool weather crops.  I don't see building the cabin in the near future but am looking seriously at a yurt.  Being on site instead of walking the quarter mile to and from the property will make all the difference in the world, I think.  But with all things, I need the green stuff and that well is dry.  Other than that, I do a lot of reading but until I go try it not much sticks, lol!  But I keep on keeping on and I'll get there eventually.  If I just had someone to share the journey with... Anyway, wish me luck, never give up, and never surrender.

I was watching a video of the double vortex in the riser and thought "What if..."

 Thanks for all the book ideas guys.

 Skandi, all good points.  And yes, I am ambitious about all the work to be done.  It's my happy place you might say.  I LOVE seeing the productive fruits of my labor.  I already know exactly where the lake will be, and all the structures I want to build as well.   What are some good cover crops?  Getting machinery in and out won't be a problem, just getting machinery will be.  I think I should start buying lottery tickets!  

 @Anne   Yes, I have done some gardening, felling trees for firewood, and I did home remodeling for a few years.  I already have a cleared area of about 6 acres and another 10 that just needs brush/small trees removed.  I've got an old John Deere 60 for plowing and stump pulling among other things but it's a difficult machine to use for a lot of things that I'd need it for.  As for my big dreams, I've spent about 4 years now planning and scheming and studying.  I hope to have all that I've dreamed up come to pass, but I feel it's gonna be difficult at best with my current financial situation.  
 Thanks for the encouragement.  I needed that today.

 @John  Wow, racing motorcycles!  A little too cautious to do something like that.  I've never been a fan of adrenaline, makes me feel ill.  The hotrods I can handle.  Yeah, the notebook won't be a problem, just the thought process.  By wood shop a mean for woodworking.  Making furniture, or what ever other bric-a-brac I can market.  It's a good wintertime hobby that should turn a nice profit.  I've wittled down my spending on the road to only making my own food- no fast food for me.  But my entertainment is another matter.  Television, internet and audio books are NOT cheap!  And my brother on a bike, lol!  I can't see that happening.  He was telling me just today he wants to move my chickens to his place.  
 Again, thanks for the encouragement.  Lots of things for me to think about now.

Yeah, John.   The timeline writeup is a good idea, thanks...not one of my strong suits, but I'll definitely give it a go.   The real problem is actually time and money.   I know I should be more patient and keep on keep'n on, it just gets depressing being a cog in the system.  I'm not getting any younger(I'm 55), and would like to see the end result before the next century rolls around! lol  OK, maybe not the end result because I think permaculture and farm life is kind of a fluid thing, which is good.  Just hoping for more fruit than labor before too long.  Oh, and I don't really feel like life on the farm is labor in the bad sense.  It's definitely a labor of love for me.  Anyways, I'll definitely see what I can write up.  Maybe seeing it that way will give me some incentive.  We'll see.

  Hey, all.  I've recently re-acquired a family property and have big dreams for the land.  But I have no money/time to do much of anything with it.  I'm currently doing long haul trucking just to make the property payments and feel like I'm getting nowhere fast.  The property is 32 acres with lots of woods, and lots of potential.  My goal is ultimately self sufficiency.  I'm divorced, and my sons have moved away with no desire to move back to the "frigid North" "EVER" lol.  It's nice here in southeast Michigan/growing zone 5b/6a.  I have no idea what they're talking about.  I have a well, but no electricity.  A 30x30 garage, and a chicken coop with 20 chickens which my brother walks a 1/4 mile at least twice a day to take care of while I'm away.  Which is always.  I'm home maybe once every 12 weeks or so,  home being my brother's house for now.  I'm currently buying the property on land contract with a balloon in a couple years(yikes!).

  Goals for the property:

A log home up to 1,000sq (my bro built me a mill and I have lots of big cottonwoods/poplar I want to get rid of.)  :)
The garage would become a wood shop
A new barn for horses, feed storage, etc
A smithy
Another chicken coop
Lots of animals(chickens, quail, ducks, goats, sheep, pigs, horses, alpaca, etc.)
A large walipini.  I'm thinking 24x100
An aquaculture setup big enough for everyone involved to eat fish every week
A HUGE geo dome southern climate greenhouse.
About 5 acres dedicated to permaculture "fruit tree forest".
A couple acres for growing grains.
A small store for selling my produce/products? Maybe a co-op market?
A 4 acre lake!
An observatory!
A communal bath house.
A few cabins for friends and family to stay in from time to time.
and on and on.

 I know... crazy, right?  Too much for me?  Nah!  I just need help.  I like help.  HELP!
You'd probably call me a slow learner for anything not hands on.  I don't know if I"d be any good at teaching in depth, but would love for others to come and learn/teach.  Maybe some local learning establishment could set up/learn/ teach here?  I'm open to almost anything.

 I love the idea of community.  I don't know if I'd be into SKiP but anything short of that is definitely a possibility.
Perhaps I could dedicate an area for "the help" to build or park a small home(s).

 I want to be there now.  Doing my thing.  Not out here doing someone else's thing.  :(  

 Can you help me?  Where do I start?