Permaculture things to ponder for someone with a lot of time to think

Hey folks!

I work in tech so as is custom: tl;dr, Creative request! Mom has a lot of time to think and wants permaculture ideas to gnaw on.

My family and I are hoping to move onto some land at the end of this year, and my mother is absolutely enchanted by the idea of growing our own food. With her limited mobility and lack of public transportation where they live, she spends a lot of time at home with time to think. She has consequently developed a beautiful meditation practice and is really just the wisest lady I know.

Since I fell in love with permaculture four years ago, our weekly calls have mainly consisted in me telling her about all the incredible things I've learned about all things permaculture, self-sufficiency, general ecology, and so on. She's just as fascinated as all of us but is unable to navigate the internet. She definitely says hi though! I read to her from this forum quite often.

She called me today to tell me that where we'll be living it's legal for people to burn their yard waste because there's no pickup service. She said she's going to put my semi-retired father to work picking up the neighbors' yard clippings because we're going to need mulch for all our ideas. Planning for the land is her "favorite daydream."

My next thought was about my favorite source of daydream fodder. So, here I am! What would you like to ponder if you had a lot of time to think and weren't hampered by having experience with what's possible/profitable? Nothing super technical, just some daydream seeds. I'd like to give her a list of leading questions/prompts for her to think about. She's concerned about memory loss and says that thinking about the various systems we talk about has helped with her recall. I know talking to her about it has helped mine!

About the plot of land that I've only seen once and have no real stats to provide other than:
rectangular 5 acre plot
gentle slope down to the road
seasonal stream along front perimeter
said stream is flanked by what the sellers say is scrub oak, I'm not sure how healthy they are
When I looked sometime in March at a site I can't find now, that county had already received 177% of the average rainfall for the year
normal average is ~32"
soil is predominantly clay
there has been a horse roaming the entire property for 6 years, and in the past there has been cattle and goats
hardiness zone 9b according to the 2012 map
I think it's northward facing but gets a ton of sun

We will be a household of 4 adults, two cats, an elderly horse and two goats that we'll be inheriting. Beyond a lil veggie garden, we'd like to get a good compost and worm farm operation, ideally grow some forage for the animals, DEFINTELY get chickens, dabble in a Miyawaki style forest around the seasonal stream, and start rehabbing the soil.

Thanks in advance!

I love the spirit of this post.

She might enjoy thinking about various ways to make use of water from the rainfall/seasonal stream and possibilities for heat and cooking. Perhaps you could share about the rocket mass heater, rocket wood oven, and other forms of water storage/filtration.

It sounds like you have many wonderful adventures ahead. Hi back to your mom!

I don't know how her eyesight is, or if she is hampered by things like arthritis, but I know I can spend hours if someone gives me a booklet of graph paper and draws a shape, to scale, of a piece of property.  Could you get a picture of it from Google maps, put the outline on graph paper and let her start working on designs?  You could put in the major features, where the house will be, the stream, the roads, and let her design the whole thing, or just figure out where and how big the first garden(s) will be and let her start on those.  Mandala gardens are quite beautiful and fun to design.  I personally could spend many hours doing this.  Maybe she would enjoy it.

If she's able to read, she doesn't need the net. LOTS of good books out there!
The official permies.com Book Review Grid with more than 100 books listed
There is also a lot of audio information she can listen to.  

Thinking more on it, and asking my mom (who also says hi!)  we came up with:
Designing paths that she might be able to go on, with surfaces that can be used by canes or wheelchairs, really fancy ones, with lookout points, fountains or a brook, shaded areas with seats, and neat bridges and beautiful views!

Chicken tunnels! Where could chicken tunnel runs go?

What would grow well by a pond in your area?

Flowerbeds! Neat patterns and shapes to make color here and there (and bees to go in them!)

What about watching DVDs? Lots of neat ones out there to feed dreams!!

Laura, the property sounds almost ideal for growing that veggie garden.

While your dad is collecting yard clipping, tell him to be sure and get all those wonderful leaves in the fall.  Leaves make lovely leaf mold and are so versatile.  

Besides making leaf mold, leaves can be used as mulch for the garden and for making a quick compost tea.

You might want to investigate to see if wood chips are available in that area.

Have you thought about replacing the irrigation with permaculture?

https://permies.com/w/198448/Replacing-Irrigation-Permaculture-live-webinar

Also, I would like to recommend the work of Brad Lancaster:

https://permies.com/t/36676/Brad-Lancaster-Waste-Transform-waste

https://permies.com/wiki/51855/Rainwater-Harvesting-Drylands-Brad-Lancaster

Thank you to everyone who's responded thus far--someone's cutting onions in here. I'm running to a meeting and will read these all in depth after work.

Real quick re: her eyesight, it's pretty bad so she only listens to audiobooks. However, she has this nifty magnifying machine that might make drawing possible (THANK YOU GRAPH PAPER IDEA!) and that sounds like a great idea. Good shout on the paths, too. She was there when we saw the property so has an OK idea about the terrain.

Thank you, thank you! Have a peaceful day and get back to me if ya keep pondering. Hello to all the mothers out there!

How do you think she'd feel about a frog pond? The sound of the water, the frog songs, the happy green bug-eaters. The sweet scents of lily pads, maybe some cattails and mallows, dragonflies and butterflies...?

Nice.  One pursuit I would propose is how best to document your planning/ before, process/ during, project/ after, for yourselves as family/ household/ friends & helpers legacy, & also to share with others perhaps especially those who might not otherwise be exposed or inspired to similar.  Happy homesteading!

As someone who also just acquired 5 acres (congrats!) and spends all her time daydreaming, I can tell you the things I think about!

Wildlife pond creation
Rainwater catchment
Ways to use resources already on the land
Different community events I'd like to host
How we can serve the community with the resources on the land
Fertility strategy
Food forest creation
Native plant areas
Maintenance schedules
How best to design the land for ease of flow
Economic strategy
Waste stream diversion
Annual to perennial food production
Free or cheap plant propagation
How to best take advantage of local weather patterns
Seed stewarding projects
Shared community resources - apple press, tractors etc

And much more! The planning stage is equal parts exciting and overwhelming so best of luck.

Isabelle Walter wrote:I love the spirit of this post.

She might enjoy thinking about various ways to make use of water from the rainfall/seasonal stream and possibilities for heat and cooking.

This is perfect! Recently I was explaining to her the idea of stacking functions and she was so thrilled! She said she probably won't be able to sleep anymore, HAH!

Isabelle Walter wrote:

Hi back to your mom!

She says hello! As do I

Trace Oswald wrote: Could you get a picture of it from Google maps, put the outline on graph paper and let her start working on designs?  You could put in the major features, where the house will be, the stream, the roads, and let her design the whole thing, or just figure out where and how big the first garden(s) will be and let her start on those.  Mandala gardens are quite beautiful and fun to design.  I personally could spend many hours doing this.  Maybe she would enjoy it.

We mocked up a map that we're going to get printed on large paper to put on a wall so she can get a better idea of the areas. She needs pretty large magnification and her little machine that slides back and forth makes her too nauseated with large projects. I told her about mandala gardens and she's intrigued but a bit intimidated. We're going to see if there are any examples in Northern California.

Thank you!

Pearl Sutton wrote:If she's able to read, she doesn't need the net. LOTS of good books out there!
The official permies.com Book Review Grid with more than 100 books listed
There is also a lot of audio information she can listen to.  

PEARL! Thank you from me as well for that book list! Gonna dive in to the audio resources when we're moved in together sine my Dad also has issues navigating the computer. Luckily he knows his way around some woodworking, hah!

Thinking more on it, and asking my mom (who also says hi!)


Hello!

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Designing paths that she might be able to go on, with surfaces that can be used by canes or wheelchairs, really fancy ones, with lookout points, fountains or a brook, shaded areas with seats, and neat bridges and beautiful views!

This is a great suggestion because my cousin is also in a wheelchair and we want to make sure everything is accessible to him.

Pearl Sutton wrote:
Flowerbeds! Neat patterns and shapes to make color here and there (and bees to go in them!)

She's all in with the pollinators!  Thank you for all your suggestions :)

Anne Miller wrote:Laura, the property sounds almost ideal for growing that veggie garden.

While your dad is collecting yard clipping, tell him to be sure and get all those wonderful leaves in the fall.  Leaves make lovely leaf mold and are so versatile.  

Besides making leaf mold, leaves can be used as mulch for the garden and for making a quick compost tea.

You might want to investigate to see if wood chips are available in that area.

Have you thought about replacing the irrigation with permaculture?

https://permies.com/w/198448/Replacing-Irrigation-Permaculture-live-webinar

Also, I would like to recommend the work of Brad Lancaster:

https://permies.com/t/36676/Brad-Lancaster-Waste-Transform-waste

https://permies.com/wiki/51855/Rainwater-Harvesting-Drylands-Brad-Lancaster

Years ago I had watched this video on YouTube about a really cool gentleman in AZ that had gone rogue and modified areas of the neighborhood to better catch rainwater. Then I found out his name in my Permaculture Design Course! I'll definitely check out those threads on Brad!

Installing graywater and rainwater harvesting systems are in our top 5 priorities because we want to try and make use of the rain that we'll hopefully get this winter/spring. And we're defo getting a small wood chipper because we have a ton of pruning to do, and hopefully the neighbors will let us do their trees too!

Thank you for the links and suggestions!

Carla Burke wrote:How do you think she'd feel about a frog pond? The sound of the water, the frog songs, the happy green bug-eaters. The sweet scents of lily pads, maybe some cattails and mallows, dragonflies and butterflies...?

I had never even thought about a frog pond but now I'm intrigued! Mom loves butterflies so we can definitely explore this! Do you have one? I imagine the frogs would keep the mosquito population relatively in control? Okay defo a lot to think about here, gracias!