Hello everyone!
My name is Denis and I am from Slovakia (central Europe). I used to live in a flat, but have become very interested in
gardening and
permaculture. It started by reading about the subject and then trying growing some easy-to-grow culinary herbs on the balcony. I was hooked since. I just love watching how the plants grow (especially from seed), it's like magic. I really wanted to do more of this and take care of a larger garden.
My family has an old
cob house (approx 100 years old), that was built by my great-grandfather. I was offered that I could live there (with my wife), but wasn't really interested at the time as it wasn't the comfort we were used to in our rented flat. But as time went by (and we both evolved spiritually), I realized that here is a place, where I could finally start doing more of what I love and as a bonus, it is pretty much free (we only have to pay for
water and electricity, no rent). On the other hand, the comfort was definitely lower - although 2 rooms are somewhat reconstructed (new floors, electricity and heating), there was no bathroom (or even running water inside, only an outdoor well). But I have already understood (from my past experiences), that lower comfort doesn't mean lower quality of life - it has pros and cons (like almost everything).
So we've decided to give it a try. And we are so happy we did. Even just simple things like being able to walk outside for a couple minutes and breathe in fresh air. To see and hear the beautiful birds (owls also moved in shortly after us - interesting as they didn't live here before), the different "weeds" (after identification we found almost all of them have
medicinal value) and wild flowers. Of course the comfort is lower (we still just use a big rain barell as a bathtub, but at least we have running water inside), but it's totally worth it. There are a lot more opportunities here than in a flat.
This will be my first real growing season, so I totally expect failures. But I feel like growing food (especially in a
sustainable manner) is like the most meaningful thing that can be done, so I am not giving up until I am (more than) successful at it. But I definitely will be ignoring one recommendation for beginners, which is "start small". I guess I already have the "permie sickness", because everywhere I see grass or bare soil, all I am thinking is what edible/beneficial plants could I plant there.
I like to experiment a and will be trying many different approaches, so hopefully in the future my observations/experiences will be valuable to other forum members.
My longer term goal is producing most (ideally all) of our food on our own and eventually for others as well. I really like spending time in the garden/nature and reading/learning about all the subjects that relate to it, and would love to be able to do it most of my time (ideally for a living).
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