Jeremy's Permaculture Adventures

Hi, I'm Jeremy. I'm going to use this thread as a way to document my permaculture adventures.

I am basically starting from scratch. Growing up, my family tried to start a garden one time. We tilled up the red clay of North Carolina and just planted stuff directly into the clay. Needless to say, pretty much everything we put in there died, haha. I am single, 29 years old, and currently working as a software engineer full time. So I'm going to have to be working on this stuff while I'm not at work. I currently live in Northern Virginia: Hardiness zone 7.

Here's a picture of my property. I've got 1.5 acres. To the north of me, there is a big field being farmed.


My dream would be to own a permaculture homestead similar to that of Sepp Holzer.

Currently the most important steps I can think of to achieve this would be:

1. Save as much money as possible
2. Gain theoretical knowledge
----a. Forums
----b. Podcasts
----c. YouTube
----d. Books
3. Gain practical knowledge where I am
----a. Start a hugelkultur bed
----b. Start a pond
----c. Plant some of everything. Focus on edibles.
4. Gain practical knowledge in a community
----a. wheaton labs or similar
5. Purchase land
----a. Near Missoula, MT
6. Apply knowledge on my own land.

Feel free to offer me advice. It would be greatly appreciated.

I was talking about permaculture with one of my co-workers last week. He mentioned that I go to a place nearby called "Edible Landscaping". I checked out their website http://ediblelandscaping.com and thought it would a great place to visit! They specialize in edible perennials. It was about a 2 hour drive, but it was totally worth it in my book.

I ended up buying 8 plants.
- Kanza Pecan
- Colby Pecan
- Columbus Blueberry
- Tifblue Blueberry
- Shenandoah Paw Paw
- Susquehanna Paw Paw
- Wineberry Raspberry
- Stella Sweet Cherry

I'm not entirely sure where I am going to put those in my yard yet though, haha.

Here's some pictures of the place.

On the west end of the property looking east.


This was probably the coolest looking plant I found. It's called the Flying Dragon Orange. I thought the branches looked like a bunch of deer antlers.


Here's a corridor of Hardy Kiwis, which are the place's specialty.


Ducks!


They had CDs in one of the trees...what is the purpose of this?


Inside one of their greenhouses.

I strongly encourage you to make a permaculture design for your yard before planting things.  https://permies.com/t/55751/Permaculture-design-basics

Hi Jeremy;

Welcome to the wonderful whacky world of Permies! You're sure to find a wealth of knowledge here, and I encourage you to read through all of the threads within your scope of interest. Then, if you have questions you can either ask them in the appropriate thread, or start a thread of your own if you can't find the answers you're looking for.

Good luck with your ventures!

Cheers
Tracy