NC - Where do I start

My wife and I just bought 2 acres of land in between Winston Salem and Virginia. We are having the house built next year. I just started looking into permaculture and forest gardening but I don't know where to start. I apologize I'm sure this has been asked before but I couldn't get the search feature to work on my phone.

There is so much information out there where do I begin?

I am really interested in forest gardening as well as having animals like ducks chickens and goats. As well as in the future some sort of pond.

I would like to get to the point of not needing to buy any produce for a family of three and maybe have some extra.

Thanks so much, nice to meet you all. My name is Stephen by the way.

You could start by thinking what do you buy that you could produce yourself? If your two favourite things are sweetcorn and chicken then plant some sweetcorn and buy some chickens. Do some research and start small and see how you get on.

Can't really do anything with the land yet. I'm still in the planning stages. I was listening to the pod casts Wheaton does. He talks about people having some basic knowledge before they show up to a pdc. So I'm really trying to figure out good sources that are organized that I can learn the basics to be able to start planning. Books, videos, programs etc

Here's a good place to start:

Here's a good free pdf on Introduction to Permacultre there's some garbled text but just scroll thru it.

This book seems awfully expensive but I bought it years ago and it's a great overview. Maybe used or from the library: http://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Permaculture-Bill-Mollison/dp/B0077R04CS?tag=duckduckgo-ffnt-20

And this is a good book for what you want too: http://www.amazon.com/Gaias-Garden-Home-Scale-Permaculture-Edition/dp/1603580298/ref=pd_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&refRID=03Z02Z8S5M6WJ0P645DB

I do highly recommend Geoff Lawton's Online PDC

Another important point at the beginning is basic observation and background knowledge about the site and the region. This is especially important if you are relocating to the area from a distance....from a different climate or ecosystem. Walk the property, and the neighborhood, and identify plants, trees, insects, etc. that you don't already know.....look them all up and learn about them. Research climate and weather data.....the history and prehistory of the region......soils.....groundwater issues.....and so on. You can do some of this remotely, while you are still living elsewhere. What kinds of social/legal/community challenges are you likely to face, especially if you are considering something radical like alternative building, humanure, etc. Do you need to think about income sources, whether on or off site?

I heard it helps to decide where to place/build a house, to pitch a tent and camp where you might want to place the house, that way you can see your surroundings as the sun comes up and goes down etc. etc. and get a better idea of the surroundings - in the past while trying to decide which trees etc. to plant on our property I contacted our local conservation who walked the property with us and gave us advise about what would be/do best in our dirt etc. they did this free of charge and seemed delighted to have someone willing to help the environment. And personally I like to use berry bushes to block unwanted views.

Ps - remember the north winds and summer sunlight when placing doors and windows - think about this when placing animal housing also

Audio files of Bill Mollison's Permaculture Design Course, free. Bill Mollison PDC free audio files May be an overload of information but a valuable resource none the less. Good Luck!

http://www.gofundme.com/SustainableForsyth


Please check out my link and open up "more updates" I am working on a Permaculture project ( development, design , education etc.) on my property In Lewisville NC.
anyone with ideas or feedback please contact me at LewisvillePermaculture@gmail.com