Dale Hodgins wrote:Nothing has been done on the housing front, since we haven't decided exactly what to do. There is still a good possibility that I will take over that village in some way.
I have dealt with drunks all of my life. It seems to be no different here than at home. Cater to the addiction somewhat and use superior position and intellect to your advantage. I've seen it happen here with businesses in the city. One man is running a very successful cement block business. The workers are all hard drinkers and none of them seems like they will ever be in a position to compete with him.
But I would still want to move the worst offenders along, by purchasing their assets.
1 corn field produces 3,000 pesos a year. That's 75 Canadian dollars. I can see giving him 20 years worth of income for a total of $1500. That would give me a nice chunk of river frontage. About a dozen deals like that need to happen to make it worth it for me. Most of the land is producing nothing right now in the areas I'm interested in.
When the land is grazed heavily by horses it becomes dominated by a woody shrub that they don't like to eat. It doesn't appear that anyone has had the foresight to remove this plant, so the pasture becomes quite degraded. Labor to clear an acre of this would be somewhere around $50. When I rented horses they were tied in this scrub overnight so we had to go a short distance to allow them to feed before using them. They are often tied within a few hundred feet good grazing.
Almost every domestic animal is tethered. Pigs, cattle and horses spend their lives attached to ropes. In the city I have seen hundreds of tethered fighting roosters. They seem to be the number one animal being raised. Every morning there is a horrible racket throughout the city as they all crow at once. There are about 10 of them at the house where I'm living. They dominate the yard and no useful thing is grown at ground level. Most of the trees produce something edible.
I was involved in a drunken banana harvest yesterday. I was the only one not drunk. 30 seconds worth of work was accomplished in 5 minutes. The roof got bent.
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
Dale Hodgins wrote:I want to own a piece of tropical paradise. This place could qualify after some social engineering. It has all of the building blocks that i'm looking for. Good land and water with a 12 month harvest.
The slopes of the gorge are populated by native species that are quite rare in other areas. There are monkeys snakes and bats and many more. They don't bother the crops. A deep gorge like this is a very unique environment.
If houses are built in right place typhoons blow over top and houses can be in the shade by 3 p.m. A very comfortable place compared to some places where i haven't been able to escape the tropical heat.
The river is clean and swimable, without any nasty things that bite. It comes from near the center of the island which is cooler high ground. We went swimming every day.
It's not just the two of us. I have taken on five extra people. There's also her mother and three siblings. Yesterday i send money so that her sister could go to school full time and leave a job that pays about $80 us per month. Even when they are done school it may be necessary for me to create a business for some family members so they aren't slaves to others.
There are quite a few people in that gorge who i wouldn't mind being neighbors with. Across the river there is a large extended family that is doing much better since alcohol does not control their lives. It's sort of a religious colony. They have very little contact with people who live only half a kilometer away. Every morning they can be seen doing useful things and they are quite self sufficient. So people don't have to live the way they are at this village. They need to be shown a better way and some need to be shown the door.
Someone responsible needs to be in charge. If i buy a third of the land and become the only employer , that makes me the de facto leader. Anyone who doesn't shape up will not find employment, free electricity and other things. They won't be able to borrow the chainsaw or have their grains milled.
A build too cool to miss:Mike's GreenhouseA great example:Joseph's Garden
All the soil info you'll ever need:
Redhawk's excellent soil-building series
It's never too late to start! I retired to homestead on the slopes of Mauna Loa, an active volcano. I relate snippets of my endeavor on my blog : www.kaufarmer.blogspot.com
Dale Hodgins wrote: investigate carefully
There's a cultural thing where people think they need to pay everything back, when they receive something.
Standing on the shoulders of giants. Giants with dirt under their nails
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
-Robert A. Heinlein
Dale Hodgins wrote:Turns out the salt soap that was meant for faces, is also an excellent laundry soap.
Ounces | Grams | Parts by weight | |
---|---|---|---|
Oil | 33.00 | 935.5 | 5.59 |
Water | 12.00 | 340.2 | 2.03 |
Lye | 5.90 | 167.3 | 1.00 |
Ounces | Grams | Parts by weight | |
---|---|---|---|
Oil | 33.00 | 935.5 | 6.20 |
Water | 12.54 | 355.5 | 2.36 |
Lye | 5.32 | 150.8 | 1.00 |
Ounces | Grams | Parts by weight | |
---|---|---|---|
Oil | 33.00 | 935.5 | 6.83 |
Water | 12.54 | 355.5 | 2.60 |
Lye | 4.83 | 136.9 | 1.00 |
James 1:19-20
Not all those who wander are lost - J. R. R. Tolkien
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