A Hidalgo

Look up Natural Earth Paint. I don't remember if it's a .com or what, but I've been using them for a few years now, and even their solvents are not that stinky. The artist started experimenting when she got pregnant and didn't want the toxicity around her and her kids. The colors are beautiful, and they pride themselves on being as low toxicity as possible. They even have a line of face paint.

Yeah that's where the practice comes in, so you know how to get consistent results using naturally inconsistent materials. That's what I've found anyway.

I'm right there with you Yvonne. I would love to have someone special in my life for all that stuff you said, or just to curl up with at the end of a long working day. I'm not completely opposed to relocating, but I've kind of fallen in love with this patch of dirt and my little chosen family that are here, and I think if someone were to give it the chance, they would too. Seems to be a bit more challenging these days, as I'm a little older ( 40 ) and have a challenge or two that seem to put people off. (Or it could just be my "sparkling personality" 😁)

Best of luck to everyone out there!
A.

Buying soap and hand lotion in bulk because I've gotta do most things by feel, so no gloves for sticky tomato harvest. My hands are green and black July through September.🤣

There's a lot of good stuff on this thread about being flexible and not beating yourself up. Totally agree. What I would add is that good friends help a lot. When my sister is down, I pick up the slack and vice versa.

Also, would it help to consider what habits help in your home/daily life and apply those to permie stuff? For example, I adore the higgldy -pigglydy, half wild look of a lot of food forests, but as someone who is legally blind, I need more organization than that, so I'm planting in neater blocks and Rose, with a lot of thought given to harvesting and checking plant health by feel.

Best to you,
A

This is such a cool thread. I've wanted to do stuff like that, but I'm going to be honest with y'all, I cheat. I get my pigments from natural Earth paint. She's put a ton of work into natural pigments, including a special firing process for some of the minerals which creates blue and green. I know, bad permie, no biscuit. 😁

I've used those to make everything from wood stain to oils to egg paint. I've used the goo from soaked flax mixed with a drop of essential oil to seal and protect the pieces. Seems to be ok so far.

Hi Franklin, sounds like we are fairly close in location. We have our own property to rehab, but are you still looking to build community? Maybe we could swap ideas.😊
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Thanks, I have a lot to look into. I have looked at grafting, haven't done it yet. For the most part I don't worry about irrigation, but our weather has been changing. We've had several dry summers, with this the driest yet. We went 6 weeks without a drop of rain, highly unusual for us. I will look into all these things
My budget? Maybe $1200/ year. Need to get a real job so I can support my plant habit.
. I appreciate you all. 😊

Hi, I'm Amber. 40 and overall pretty happy with life. I share this 40 acres with my sister and brother-in-law. I've thought about and attempted living somewhere else, but I just wind up back here. Must be something in the dirt 😁.

I've never been good at this self promo thing. I'm sarcastic, sassy and love intelligent conversation. I like to travel and see new stuff, to learn. I'm thick but active. I'm legally blind, so if we hang out, you're driving. I write, paint, and attempt the gardening portion of our little endeavor here. Not wild about talking about myself, so if there's something you want to know, just ask.

Stay magnificent.
Amber

Sure, I don't know how detailed I can be, but I'll give you the broad overview. We are rehabbing a farm that has been neglected for a while. There's maybe a dozen or two apple and pear trees, 4 years old or so. Looking to expand the orchard and do plantings in between, nitrogen fixers, berry bushes and so on.

We have some Woodlands that could use some TLC. We'd like to grow mushrooms out of there and maybe do a little Forest pasture ( I forget what that's called.,) We have a few goats, possibly looking to get a family cow or two. We are redesigning the chicken coop now, because of the high Predator pressure here. We'd like a duck pond, to expand the gardens, we're still growing so it's all a process. Haven't solidified the entire plan yet.

I've taken some permaculture classes, and they have helped, but I'm feeling kind of stumped. Especially when it comes to project goals versus budget and earthworks. It's not economical for us to have a large irrigation system, especially with all of the sudden hard freezes we can get, so I'm looking to figure out something to wear most of the large plantings can access their own water.. I appreciate all your input, thank you.