Kenneth Thompson

I utilize the native mesquite trees for this purpose. I planted them just a few feet away from the base of the beds and their roots have grown upwards into the beds since. Mesquites are also nitrogen fixers. I just keep them pruned so that enough sun light filters through but still have some shade. In the summer down here, you have to have shade. A hugulkulture mound/bed never has to collapse; just keep on adding material as the years go buy ( they definitely get better as they get older, as you add material). I use wood that is already rotten. I then inoculate it over night in a slurry made of leaf humus and leaf fodder. Once the rotten wood reaches 100% absorption, I then burry it. Then I strip the layers of humus and leaf fodder from underneath the oak thickets on my place and mix it in with topping layers of the mounds/beds. Not having to worry about green or hard dry wood locking up nutrients, I can plant whatever I want without being concerned of having an unproductive season(s). I do let the area of which I stripped rest for 7 years. So, if you have the same available to you, I would do it. Plenty of beneficial bacteria and fungi in this naturally occurring layer that can provide all of the nitrogen and minerals that you need.

Oh, I will. There's some projects that I am going to be starting that I don't see on permies. What better way to say that something works than to post videos and prints after the projects are completed? It will be free because I received the knowledge and know how at no cost. Cubicles...never had to work inside one but I would not last a week in one. What drove me to the brink of insanity was that it was all of the meetings about the meetings of the up and coming "very important" meetings about the biggest meeting of the year, talking about the same things that always led to doing the same things and therefore, continuing the endless and fruitless cycle of insanity ( in a instant, I find my self sitting in the corner, facing the wall, rocking myself)

Having the ability to produce my electricity, food, process water, build my own seed banks, and perform all household rrpairs, builds, automotive, etc. has also allowed me to save a vast majority of my income. Sure, DIY takes up any recreational time and some have suggested that I work too much. But, there's a parable out there about an ant and a grasshopper, in a struggle of survival. The ant lives on through the winter because he busted his tail to store up food and prepare his mound. The grasshopper was not so fortunate; he lived day to day, did nothing but consume, and by winter-the available food for him was gone and he died. All of what we have here on this website and what we aspire to do with it and our level of success is/will be determined by due diligence and an undying, no quit work ethic.

Dale Hodgins... yeah and those conservative natured folks (savers) are very few in numbers. I don't mind teaching. I don't mind helping. But, not knowing how to do something is not a good excuse for not trying. I understand that many folks have a hard time saving because financially, they are not left with much room to save. But, then again-neither did I up until 8 or 9 years ago. I had to do exactly what I did not want to do in order to get beyond living paycheck to paycheck.

I am divorced. Why? Because when I was younger, I thought that a lady that was my opposite would be a good way to go. She's cosmopolitan and downtown . I'm the opposite. I am a father to our 7 yr. Old daughter and have split custody. Although, my daughter hates going back. Hopefully, the courts will hear my daughter out in a few more years so she'll be happy down here with me.
I will still be doing my independent consulting and accounts payable via remote access. Financially, I am good and have been planning on making this decision for 14 years now. kenrthompson777@hotmail.com

Myself and many others were given the ol' boot on Friday. It was not anything really that I was not expecting. With the erratic markets and powers at be being stubborn with passing any legislation that would allow oil & and LNG exports, and the price per barrel going south-the mass layoffs in the industry is a sure thing. It being that I have felt like I have been selling my soul, knowing first hand what's happening to the water table in the region (everything south of US 90) due to the thousands of wells, I see this as a blessing and I feel liberated. No more, will I have to put up with the political crap and incompetent jack wagons. Knowing what I know and having the abilities to be able to bypass using fossil fuels for transportation, heat, and power- I can say that fossil fuels are not necessary and never have been. The same goes for anything and everything that is synthetic and what I call hybrid fertilizers ( the bags say organic but there's always a twist).

I've been blessed with a green thumb and the ability to produce without relying on any outside influencers. I was blessed to be brought up around great grandparents and grand parents that knew and taught me of the olds ways of preserving, growing, building, etc. I've been waiting for quite a while now to reconnect and live within creation, in the ways that was intended for all of us. Looking back now, I realize that I did not have to wait. But, I bought into the system like many others and lived within the man made, fabricated world. Out of that world, I have every tool to build a house, weld any structure, and I am well versed in the uses of all pre-industrial age tools.

I began learning all things electrical when I was 12. I am a electrician, an electronics and instrumentation technician, and I have my EE. So, I'm about to make a cash purchase on some property north of Uvalde, Tx with live springs flowing on it and with river bottom. My place here is set and I might be crazy for starting over again but the area is turning into a subdivision and it's too close to San Antonio. People are buying up all of the land around here and the first thing that they do is bulldoze everything that grows on it. SMH. I never grew up in a suburban or city lifestyle. So, it makes no sense to me of what such types perceive as necessary; Much can be said about common sense. I had a new neighbor meet me at the fence line today to introduce himself. He ask why am I producing so much and I began to tell him. He began to snicker and proceeded to tell me that there is a grocery store down the road and shopping is easier than what I am doing. Ok, folks-with that being said, I need not to go any further as to why I need to be in the middle of no where; When such types ( the majority of people) begin to starve and rob people like me who are in too close of a proximity to these idiots, I want to keep my usage of lethal defense at minimum. I have worked with such types for years. Had such types taking away from me for years. Corporate types, sheeple, whatever the label of choice is, I'm done with it. I'll be 40 next month and I have wasted enough of my life.

Anyhow, I'll be looking for some like mind, hardy and resilient people soon to build a small, self-sustained community. But if your an anti gun type, either change your philosophy or don't come. Everyone needs the capability and mindset to defend each other within the community.