Ben Falk? - New suburban site in hot, humid texas

Hi Ben,
Had not seen your site before--looks like lots to dig there! Thanks.

We are about to move to .7 acres in the suburbs of N Central Texas, and I'm planning to concentrate on topsoil (herbicide mitigation) and observation for the first year. In the fall: Greenhouse. Next year--water-system, earthworks, and food forest, maybe.
Q1: Animals probably have to be under the radar--I'm wanting to get to know the neighbors first. Are bees and chickens enough for soil building? I may be able to "borrow" (rotate on/off) pygmies goats later on.
Q2: Do you have any contacts in N Texas? (Dallas area)?
Q3: Will your book address smallish, urbanish sites? They obviously have their limitations, but...
We are hoping this site will be our focus for a couple of years, with a bigger site in our future.

Cant wait for the book! Thanks,
--kerry

Kerry Rodgers wrote:Hi Ben,
Had not seen your site before--looks like lots to dig there! Thanks.

We are about to move to .7 acres in the suburbs of N Central Texas, and I'm planning to concentrate on topsoil (herbicide mitigation) and observation for the first year. In the fall: Greenhouse. Next year--water-system, earthworks, and food forest, maybe.
Q1: Animals probably have to be under the radar--I'm wanting to get to know the neighbors first. Are bees and chickens enough for soil building? I may be able to "borrow" (rotate on/off) pygmies goats later on.
Q2: Do you have any contacts in N Texas? (Dallas area)?
Q3: Will your book address smallish, urbanish sites? They obviously have their limitations, but...
We are hoping this site will be our focus for a couple of years, with a bigger site in our future.

Cant wait for the book! Thanks,
--kerry

Why not start with water and earthworks? Those are the foundation and affect/support everything else. Building infrastructure is usually best next or in concert, then plant and animal systems. Unless you can do it all at once.

Just seeing that you might only be here for a little while. Darn. Then you are very limited. I would try at all costs to go to the long term spot as soon as you can. So you can get things going for long haul.
"Enough" soil building depends on many factors.
I don't know anyone near that area except for Joel Glansburg and Jack Spirko.

Our book focuses on what we've learned from our rural 10 acres, mainly. But the principles and many techniques apply to other settings and climates.

Scott Kellogg and RUST are a great urban resource among others.

Ben--Thanks so much for the reply. I got to look at your website a little last night, and also shared a couple of your gorgeous videos with my wife and kids.

Ben Falk wrote:
Why not start with water and earthworks? Those are the foundation and affect/support everything else. Building infrastructure is usually best next or in concert, then plant and animal systems. Unless you can do it all at once.

I don't start with them because I don't know what to build until I have some multi-season observation time on-site. I think I need to see the rainy spring in person. (Dry summer is the same everywhere!) I also need to see the sun/shade patterns and get some soil tests before I know where things can go. That's why I was thinking of doing mostly green cover/broadcastable plants for chop+drop.

When looking at your website, I was really wishing for some pro-level design help, just because trial-and-error is so slow. Thanks for the references, I'll follow up on those.

Ben Falk wrote:
Just seeing that you might only be here for a little while. Darn. Then you are very limited. I would try at all costs to go to the long term spot as soon as you can. So you can get things going for long haul.

I may have misled you about being there a short time. The current plan is for this to be the kid-raising homesite for at least 10 more years, because they are addicted to *some* aspects of city life. After we move, we will be only 1 hr drive away from friends doing a rural homestead in a place we would like to search for land. I meant that I hope in two years to whip this suburban place into shape and then look for rural 10 acres. But we are not *currently* planning to move to the rural place. (Maybe after I read chapter 1 of your book, this idea will change!)

Thanks again! --kerry