In pursuit of happiness.

I have recently discovered this website to my extreme pleasure after a foray into Google about what I planned to do with my life.

Firstly, I graduated from high school in 2009..barely.

Then, I went to technical school and did well.

Recently, in 2011 I attempted to go to college and earn a degree in Technology.

During this time I could not concentrate much like it was difficult for me in high school but it was something different than before. I abruptly withdrew from college and began studying things, mostly randomly but also subjects that mirrored my sentimentality and my thoughts.

I started studying Buddhism and bought many books and tried to find out just what it was that was distracting me so terribly. Soon I found a website for a forest monastery located in West Virginia, quite literally in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to go there. I needed to.

Being from Oklahoma I didn't know exactly what I was going to do in West Virginia but I had to go, this trip, whatever it was I had to go and figure out what I wanted to do with my life, maybe this would somehow answer that question for me.

And it did in haste, it made me realize how connected I was to my surroundings. West Virginia is a beautiful place don't understand me wrongly but all I could see when I looked over hillsides and the 19th century barns that littered them, were the rolling plains of Oklahoma

and the forests that went for miles and miles I realized at that moment what I had always wanted to do, something that had always been in my heart and something that somehow felt wholesome and pure to me was to not only be a self sufficient person but to be a man who

wouldn't sacrifice his happiness just to make money and buy cars and things I don't need and perpetuate this cycle of greed and unnecessary expenditure of our time and energy on things that just don't matter. So I am striking out, I have applied to a local agricultural school

and plan to become trained in the art of managing a farming operation. Through fortuitous circumstances I have already been able to acquire acreage locally and boast twenty acres with which to start my Homestead. But unfortunately I am in a position of having little to no

knowledge regarding where to start my life's adventure. Most of my hands on experience will come through the hard work I will put in at the local Agricultural school but I do wonder of all the information that escapes me currently. This website is indeed a monstrous wealth of

knowledge but I also enjoy reading a good book from time to time can anyone suggest a good starters book for permaculture and homesteading?

Thank you,

Joseph

For starters I'd recommend Mollison's "Introduction to Permaculture"; Toby Hemenway's "Gaia's Garden", and David Holmgren's "Permaculture: Principles and Pathways beyond Sustainability"....

I second the suggestions above and would add to read from every section on this site = Permies and look at all the videos. Make a bookmark list of all the sites mentioned in each post and read from those sites too.

I love water links. Water is so important. If you want to learn more about how to save water, store water, find water, keep it clean, etc. Read from the three links below:
http://greywateraction.org/

http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/

http://www.oasisdesign.net/index.htm

Good luck and best wishes.

Best of luck. To be happy is to be content.

Im happy to hear youre going for what you want. At times we need to change directions often before finding our way

I have wondered about going to agriculture school myself. Does it help or hurt? From what I read of the "modern" understanding of plants, disease, and livestock, I worry that the real knowledge was lost years ago.

I'd be glad to hear your thoughts on the matter,

Dan

above books are great..some of my favorites are
Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway
then there are a lot of books on food forests and permaculture mentioned all over these sites..some available free on this site
http://www.cd3wd.com/cd3wd_40/cd3wd/index.htm
I also love the endyclopedia of country living by Carla Emery