So this might be long, just a warning. I've been looking at this and many other things for years, but I'm sure that some of what I say or think is completely ignorant of some fact that I've missed. This is why I'm finally posting here.
My wife and I moved onto 10 acres from the big
city about 6 months ago (got out just in time methinks). We have almost zero
experience with
gardening or homesteading. My wife grew up rural, and me semi-rural. We've both camped and absolutely love the outdoors (and are in love with our property). About 2 acres is fenced off for our house and then the entire property is fenced in as well. We have a slight slope that runs most of the property. We have almost zero
trees. The area outside our inner
fence is currently being hayed by a neighbor who is happy to do it until we are ready to begin using the property, which helps us deal with having this much
land. Right now, we mow and we have a couple of dogs who are great at digging up
moles and keeping most other pests at bay. We are currently battling
ants, though we are putting up our cinnamon blockades and looking into plants to plant around our trailer. I
should also mention that we both have jobs here now, but I also collect disability from the VA. We currently don't have a lot in the bank, but after the current emergency lifts, we should have plenty of money coming in each month to allow us to take on any projects. Also, we are in the southeastern part of Missouri with all the wet and weather that entails.
So, now that I've already jumped off on a tangent, let's bring it back by talking about what we would like to do. I am going to list them here with numbers for clarity. It feels so overwhelming right now, I guess I’m just trying to get everything in my head out on paper and get some people who can help point me in a direction.
1. We want to build a house. Right now, I’m leaning toward WOFATI, even though we don’t have trees on our property. There are forests all around us, we may be able to get logs from there. Otherwise, I have no idea where to put it on the land. It needs to be big, as we want to foster 3-4 children here (thinking 5 bd, 3-4 ba, maybe 2500 sq ft - less sq ft if I can convince my wife of it). I think that would be an awesome way to help society and these children, showing them the
permaculture life. Looked into
cob,
straw bale, earthbag, and numerous other types. None fit for one reason or another. Would love some opinions. Also, will need some resources on how to build one, as I don’t have a clue where to start.
2. We want to grow as much of our own food as possible. I am disabled, so we are going to have to plan out raised beds of some sort for our plants (or do something along the route of
Ruth Stout’s methods) as bending down is really difficult for me. I am going all-in on
polyculture, but have no clue where to start with that. For animals, we would like to start with
chickens and go from there. I really like the idea of having paddocks that we rotate to. I also like the idea of having our
chickens rotate through some of our polyculture food areas. I feel like that will reduce pest problems and having to get
feed. I imagine we might lose some of our plants to the chickens, but with 10 acres, I figure we’ll have
enough to not worry too much about it.
3. We didn’t know when we moved here, but we seem to be along the path of the monarchs. With that in mind, we want to plant a butterfly garden. We would also like to maybe keep
bees down the road, so having some good nectar producers would be great for that as well.
4. My wife wants ducks, and I wouldn’t mind eating some fish every once in a while, so we are wanting to put a
pond on the property. Again, don’t know where or how. I just know it’s on the list.
5. I definitely want some
energy efficiency, so looking to reduce energy consumption where possible. Want to eliminate active heating/cooling systems. We are a technology family and we love video gaming, so that will be a part of it. However, I think that
solar power is great now and still getting better, so we’ll want to add that. Maybe add in a
rocket stove heater for those super-cold days.
6. We would love to have some sort of fruit tree orchard. Apples and pears are big in our house. Might enjoy some cherries and/or crab apples. I can’t think of others off the top of my head. Again, don’t have a clue what the best way to go about this would be.
Overall, I want to overlap systems to gain efficiency. I am also somewhat lazy, and would like to find a way to design a system, put in the work to set it up right the first time, and then reap the rewards throughout the years with minimal effort. Once it’s set up and working, I wouldn’t mind having tours and showing it off to others, doing talks, videos, etc. I would even be willing to help others design and install their own. Maybe even help bring the concepts into cities for those who want to do it there in their backyard.
My sense is that the closer we can get systems to mimic the ones we’re used to, the higher the adoption rate will be. I don’t know how close it can get, but would love to find out.
Things in progress right now in our house:
1. I bought the
PDC and technology course from this site. Wife and I started watching 2-3 hours in the morning with
coffee (until we go back to work - then we’ll schedule times). Hoping to find a lot of answers in the course.
2. House came with a riding mower, push mower, and gas weed whacker. Replacing with electric battery-powered versions until I can get on the level that I can dedicate to learning to use a scythe.
3. A neighbor gave us a bunch of seeds she had sitting in a drawer. Probably about 1,000 seeds, mixture of flowers, leafy plants, and various herbs. Wife and I are planning to sprinkle them in a part of our
yard and just see what happens. They are old seeds, so we aren’t expecting much, but we figure it can’t hurt.
4. Kitchen scraps are currently being composted. Don't have anywhere to use them yet, just wanted to start the habit.
5. Working on finding great plans for building a portable
chicken coop using
pallets. Also, collecting pallets and other various materials.
6. Researching various types of large workshop-type buildings for storage and workspace to build/tinker/experiment. I would like to get that up as soon as I can so that we can begin to pick up various building materials and store there for future use.
7. Enjoying having an outside. Coming from the apartment, the difference in pace and stress levels is huge. Going out and just sitting on the porch swing is a common occurrence. My 11-year-old son can finally do boy things like poke bugs and climb trees. I love it.
Told you it would be long. Any advice, admonishment, or even just a “hello” is much appreciated! We are on an exciting journey that I have come to believe is the way we were meant to live. Thank you all, look forward to learning and sharing as much as I can!