From MN to TX...don't laugh.

Hello fellow Texans! So...earlier this year we moved from Minnesota to Texas.  No joke, from the land of 10,000 lakes to this incredible drought.  *Sigh*

I know how to garden in MN, but then I had to RELEARN EVERYTHING moving down here...in fact I had no idea what a "fall garden" even was!  Today my family back home had snow, I have pumpkins that are still flowering...crazy.  So in my quest to learn about drought tolerant gardening, I stumbled upon permaculture and now I am hooked.  I want to learn it ALL...someday.

We have been wanting to homestead for awhile, but there are certain things that need to happen first before we can own our own land and do things right.  So, for now, we are renting and I have a small container garden (better than nothing).  I continue to read and study, learning everything I can from books until I can employ it physically.

Today, I took the initive and wrote this ad, we have to start somewhere, right?

"Family of 4 with a small dog and cat would like to help improve your property while gaining valuable experience in the process.

If you have heard of Permaculture or growing your own Food Forest, even in the city, and have been intrigued by this, we need to talk. Having a grocery store in your own backyard will improve the marketability of your property and be much loved by tenents in the future as economic times grow more unstable. If you are interested in recycling greywater, composting toilets, solar or wind energy and trying to get chickens or miniature goats in the backyard as "pets" we may be your family that can help make your property/properties special, unique and sought after by tenents/home owners looking for a more sustainable way of life without living in the country.

In addition, if your home needs cosmetic work done, we can talk about that as well.

In exchange for this wonderful opportunity we can pay $500 in rent OR $500 in materials and plants per month, labor is free. We would need a 1-2 year lease depending entirely upon the amount of work it will take to accomplish your goals. We will be available at the end of May, 2012. Please start thinking about how you can be better than all the rest and then let us know how we can help!"

I am looking forward to reading more on this forum and gaining more information as I go along.  Oh...and keep posting links to articles, videos, etc...I read and watch them...I am just bad about commenting sometimes. 

Welcome to Texas! I'm not originally from here either but, I got here as soon as I could! What part of Texas did you guys move to? Like you I'm champing at the bit to start building myself. We expect to buy 25 acres or so in deep East Texas next year and start our cordwood house and food forest.

Thank you for the welcome!  We are north of Austin. 

A cordwood house???  Wow!  I have heard that those take alot of time and planning.  I am really excited for you...stay in touch, I would LOVE to see the finished product!

My hubby is looking into a strawbale building and using as much architectural salvage as possible (my favorite part).  We are hoping for a minimum of 5 acres for fruits, veggies and grains.  We are vegan (don't hit me) so the only animals we have are the dog and cat and I would love to get peacocks later on as I have heard they eat snakes (too many of those in Texas...we had 6 welcome us here, ugh...).  The boys would like mini horses and we can use them to pull small wagons for harvest time. 

Someday my hubby would like alpacas, but they are not at the top of the list and whenever I learn how to spin and weave I would love to grow flax and possibly nettles if we can find a way to grow them down here as well as growing our own dyes.  But, that part is a someday thing.

The thing I am most excited about is greening a piece of dry Texas.  After watching "Greening The Desert" with Geoff Lawton and the "Back To Eden" film, I think we can do it without a whole lot of hitches-just hard work and determination. 

I wish I had a spare house, because I could really use some help on my place! 

Hello H Ludi Tyler!

LOL!  For now it will be mostly the boys and I (I have a back injury, but I just modify tasks to make them doable for me) doing alot of the work, my husband has a job that keeps him very busy.  However, he enjoys getting his hands dirty whenever he can.  What part of TX do you live in?  Perhaps at the very least we could drive and help out a couple times a month depending on where you are.  I know my boys would LOVE to see real permaculture in action (and then get a taste for what they are in for later on)! 

I'm northwest of San Antonio, approximately between Comfort and Fredericksburg.    I wish my "real permaculture" was more developed.  I have such big dreams and schemes, and not much physical strength.    I'll be posting a thread soon showing all my projects, so you'll be able to get a better sense if it's something you'll be interested in seeing and possibly practicing on. 

I will be thrilled to see your pictures! 

SW_Eden wrote:
Thank you for the welcome!  We are north of Austin. 

A cordwood house???  Wow!  I have heard that those take alot of time and planning.  I am really excited for you...stay in touch, I would LOVE to see the finished product!

My hubby is looking into a strawbale building and using as much architectural salvage as possible (my favorite part).  We are hoping for a minimum of 5 acres for fruits, veggies and grains.  We are vegan (don't hit me) so the only animals we have are the dog and cat and I would love to get peacocks later on as I have heard they eat snakes (too many of those in Texas...we had 6 welcome us here, ugh...).  The boys would like mini horses and we can use them to pull small wagons for harvest time. 

Someday my hubby would like alpacas, but they are not at the top of the list and whenever I learn how to spin and weave I would love to grow flax and possibly nettles if we can find a way to grow them down here as well as growing our own dyes.  But, that part is a someday thing.

The thing I am most excited about is greening a piece of dry Texas.  After watching "Greening The Desert" with Geoff Lawton and the "Back To Eden" film, I think we can do it without a whole lot of hitches-just hard work and determination. 

Don't worry I won't judge you too bad! (I'm a veggie) Yeah the greening the desert gave me a big boost forward into clearing up what I had all jumbled in my mind as to what I wanted to do. I also plan to eventually buy some property in West Texas as well and really give greening the desert a try. I've found tons of cheap property out there. I just have no intentions of living anywhere near the Mexican border so I think I will wait til I find the right piece.

I am also trying to think of what animals I would like for my property. I didn't know that about the peacocks. Perhaps that is why they seem to be more common these days. I was thinking goats for no other reason than I like to look at them and I think they are funny. I hear mules keep the coyotes away. I also thought about chickens but am still undecided on those.

H Ludi Tyler wrote:
I'm northwest of San Antonio, approximately between Comfort and Fredericksburg.    I wish my "real permaculture" was more developed.  I have such big dreams and schemes, and not much physical strength.     I'll be posting a thread soon showing all my projects, so you'll be able to get a better sense if it's something you'll be interested in seeing and possibly practicing on. 

Beautiful country there. Went out to E-rock a few years back. Love that area.

It is beautiful and I feel so lucky to live where we do, near the river.  But this drought and the Oak Decline are making us sad. 

Welcome to Texas! If you are in need of solar work or would want to learn I can help you with that!

I live in Austin and I build/install solar systems, from stand alone solar powered refrigerators or air conditioners to whole house solar. From building panels to explaining how everything works, I can do that too!

Check out my blog for a metric boatload of information on stuff I mess around with working to build my completely sustainable house. If you are interested you can PM me anytime and I will be happy to chat with you.

During the next 2 months we are going to be preparing to travel around the country teaching people about renewable energy, we have a ton of stuff to do and would be more than happy to have you over while we do it.

We are converting a gas powered van to a gasifier powered rv. you can find the to-do list here: http://projectupcycle.blogspot.com/2012/06/to-do-list.html

and the rest of the blog here: http://projectupcycle.blogspot.com