To capture energy from this small waterfall to charge a battery enough to run the pump? If so- suggestions are most welcome. It moves approx 9000 GPH.
The pond wasn’t full of water so we forced a “dry” run with 400 G of water at the head.
It is time to head back to the farm- feeling pretty good about what was accomplished in a couple months. Patience as tiny plants and hundreds of seeds find their way. I’m pretty confident that over the next month or so, while these gardens will be unattended, spring rains and warmer weather will be all that’s needed.
My neighbors are aware of what will have harvestable over the coming weeks and they’re pretty happy to oblige.
A video showing the building and layout of the homestead. You can also see some of the pine acreage ( 38 acres) and the replanted hardwoods (27 acres) as well as the loooong driveway. A beautifully private oasis. Just wanted this on the string too.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c1QXm_rnAmw
An update to the string or a few check offs on the todo list. Amazes me how much food can be grown in a small space ( compared to the farm). Decent size pond beginning to fill up and small pond will get filled up today via the water catchment tank and hopefully small fountain turned on. More then enough on this 1/2 acre for us and just about anyone we know . The swales/ditches are moving this abundant rainfall just fine- a rock path will get laid this week on the currently empty berm. A variety of herbs, crabapples, plums, cherries, mulberries, Pawpaws, peaches, blueberries, black and golden raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, elderberries, grapes, currents not to mention beds a plenty for annuals: potatoes are coming up, asparagus bed is rocking, peas, greens and brassicas. Don’t even get me started on perennial flowers & plenty of annual bloomers are seeded. Lol. Content to say the least.
We had a request for a video tour, given the current times. One of our past interns did this and I want to keep it with this string. She’s a natural with any camera! Lucky us!
https://youtu.be/0GF4gSVhN6Q
Given, what I consider to be good news from Tyson, talking about the industrial food supply breaking down, I want to note the following permanent things on the farm. There is a 1/4 acreish fenced pig yard with house and staked watering trough in the woods near a spring, there is also a permanent aviary house, roofed, triple wired/netted with laying box ( that’s where our ducks spent their nights in safety ) and 5 birthing stalls in the upper barn, 2 stocked ponds ( bass, brim & catfish)deer, wild turkey, rabbit & quail as well as crawfish in the creek.
John F Dean wrote:I live pretty remotely. While fire trucks can reach me, the time frame becomes a serious question. Giving credit where it is due, the closest fire department is volunteer, but it is excellent. But no matter how good they are, time becomes a serious factor. At last count, I keep 10 fire extinguishers on the property. That includes one attached to my tractor and another to my mover. I have had to use them 3x in the past 20 years. Once, it was serious, and I used up all 10 extinguishers. I had a brand new mower go up in flames in its first 10 feet of use.....beside some tall dry grass.
Thanks!!! I will certainly add to my fire extinguisher collection. I have a sump pump & 400’ of collapsible fire hose, that I used for flood irrigation in the farm, which should the need arise, I’ll drop in the pond...assuming it fills this spring. The house is cedar so hopefully that will buy us needed time. The local forest ranger and Blue Ridge fire chief were awesome when I called asking for advice. This is such a new area and I had no wildfire knowledge. They popped right over and educated and sent a list of suggestions. Fire extinguishers weren’t on their list - so thanks again!
Orin Raichart wrote:Glad to see you're catching rain! Did you know that for every 10'x10' square of roof, your roof will provide you 62 gallons of water per inch of rainfall?
This means if your house is 30'x20', you will collect: 30*20=600ft^2 ; 600ft^2/(100ft^2/62gal) =372 gallons for one inch of rainfall.
This means if that is a 500 gallon tank next to your house, it will overfill if you get more than two inches of rain in one storm!
Hey Orin
Yes, I calculated roof/runoff. I have 850sq’ roof that is feeding into this 1500G tank; 2” will be easily accommodated. Since we have gotten far more
then that in a storm, there is an overflow, on the downhill side, connected to a 4” hose that dumps down the hill.
Hey Rufus. No- the pond and the boulder terraces were hired out- way beyond our 60 year old abilities -lol. I found a young guy, maybe 25, who’s dad has an earthworks company, that just ventured out on his own. He’s been on heavy equipment since he was 10. That boy was fast, affordable and could probably move a penny with that equipment. I flagged it, he asked questions etc then off he went. 1 day to dig the pond and 1.5 days for the terraces.
I am use to VA compacted clay, so digging the little stuff was a breeze in the soil. Shovel, hoe and a good rake was all that I needed and happily traveled here with those.
Thanks for checking this out. When we realized we would “shelter” here, my first thought was - my seeds are in VA!!! Seeds, some bare roots (like strawberries) and some whips were the first thing I got. Toilet Paper never hit my gotta have list- hahaha! Stay safe~
There is a serious concern about water. We have a well that only generates about 3GPM and certainly not enough to maintain a garden during the usual fall drought. Couple that with being on a one lane skinny 15 degree dirt road and should wild fires get here- we’d be on our own- no fire trucks could make it up and there is no water to access anyway. The opposite side of the property, although skinny was the only option for a pond and after searching for months for an affordable tank- we got a water catchment system finished this week.
As a farmer, not having food outside my door, scared the crap out of me. I tucked it everywhere possible- even my herb spiral is half converted to a strawberry bed....for now.
We are using what we find in the woods as well as some unscreened top soil I picked up last year. We had to remove some mangled hardwoods last year and chipped them so there was a big pile of mulch, which over the last 8 months is loaded with mycelium. That was used as a base on the beds, followed by a thick layer of decomposing leaves from the woods, kitchen scraps, more leaves then coated with the top soil to seed and then another layer of mulch.
We have cole crops, black and golden raspberries, blueberries, variety of herbs, flame grapes, garlic, onions, cherries, plums, mulberry, goji, crabapples, peaches and of course comfrey and perennials. I’m sleeping much better now.
Many know that after 20 years, we put our farm in VA in the market (There’s a thread on permies). Our future destination is a small spot in the mountains in NC, in an artist community. The place we found, or that found us, was in dyer need of a rescue. We’ve spent time on & off working on the place and doing fire safety and some hardscape. We cruised up the last of Feb for a couple weeks to get some more work done and because of the virus, are still here. It wasn’t planned, but things happen as they should. I found myself on a plot without any food growing so being sequestered has worked fine. Gardens have progressed pretty fast and I wanted to share a photo timeline. This journey began 15 months ago. We are zone 6 (moving up that scale steadily), the worse clay, mica excuse for soil with 0 organic matter, no humus or top soil, on a ridge with impressive winds, 55” annual rainfall, but in 2018 almost 100”, an initial 18 degree slope. Huge wild Rhododendrons, well over 12’, which are the fuel for wildfires here. That where this log will begin.
Yes this is the farm- but what it is truly about is my badass homesteader friend Alison- building a sustainable homestead with 2 sets of twins, a hubby that is an Officer in this current mess, dealing with multiple weekly therapy trips for her eldest twins who suffer from cerebral palsy. PLEASE follow her quest- Riley, the eldest son, has a goal of 1000 followers. Let’s get him there!! Btw, he also runs an egg business all by himself from hatching to feeding to gathering and selling eggs. BE INSPIRED- they inspire me every day with their grace and positivity in an amazing life of challenges.
Yes, this is a you tube of my farm BUT, more importantly, this thread is about my friend Alison, a young homesteader. A woman’s journey to sustainability with 2 sets of twins, the elder pair with cerebral palsy. This is their blog about the journey and the eldest son Riley, who I have to admit I have a Huge crush on, wants 1000 followers. Please like their blog, follow their journey and make Riley’s day. Imagine, building a sufficient homestead with 4 kids, a husband that’s a decent warm Police Officer in this environment, multiple weekly trips to therapy for the kids wrapped in grace and positivity every single day.
Good morning Gabe and thanks so much! You’re only a couple hours away so yes, please come down. I’m sending you an email shortly.
We have found a place, or better put, it found us. Hubby is an artist blacksmith and has taught at the Penland School of Craft, in Penland NC for decades, which is where our once forgotten & neglected next adventure is.
Log homes and timber frame homes have always made my heart happy- good for you continuing this lost art of building. Hope to connect soon.
M
Amazing weather swings in the last week. Both so beautiful! But very happy to see snow and cold- the rest of the fruit buds need to calm the hell down. Lol
With all of the weather challenges globally, feeling lucky that we only have a couple early blooming fruit trees that will loose their sparkle by morning.
Very interesting thread and I will simply add my 2 sense.
I was introduced to Permaculture at 50 and prior to that, spent decades in the business world. I have a working profitable Permaculture farm & have always wrapped my planning around being profitable aka a sustainable farmer. Just as noted in the first entry, I did infrastructures, hardscape, water scape and trees, layering from there.
As a business, when layering additions and guilds, I approached much of it from a “profit per square foot” scenario. I too spread tonage of barley seeds (to also attract birds and pollinators) and chipped loads of hardwood branches to creat pathways which I inoculated with wine cap mushroom spores. At this point, and it takes a few years, my only expense is packaging and maybe $100 in purchased seeds. We have a variety of layers, not only in the farm but from a variety of income streams. We held monthly workshops, started as many seedlings for sale as we did for planting, infused honey for sale, dried herbs for winter sale.....
We never planted (for sale) things like broccoli, cabbage or cauliflower since they take up so much valuable space and bring in far less then leafy greens planted in the same area. We had weekly foodie emails for preorders so when we went to a farmers market we already had hundreds of dollars of presales & only harvested just a bit extra for walk ins and when we were sold out- we invited interested folks to get in our email list so we could have exactly what they wanted waiting for them. It also stopped wasting harvested food that didn’t sell (yes we dried and canned plenty ) and once sold out, our time at the market done. It is doable and I was able to continue what I love because it sustained us physically and fiscally.
