Newbie seeking enlightenment

My first visit to Permies. So this is a bit personal, as an introduction to your group.  I stumbled on to this site while watching Tinyhouse on youtube.  My ambition is to build a micro-/strawbail/wofati/tinyridgehouse/trout farm, using salvaged, triple pane, automobile window glass.  I think I can build the window boxes, myself with a winter and summer mode.  I have designed a compostable dry-toliet, intended for a desert application, that I think is awesome, I can't wait to build it.  I have the resources to buy a fairly special piece of land and I am looking at two spots in Utah.  I am retired and single so I am looking for a small place, a garden for me and about 400 square ft for the trout.  My plans for the greenhouse/pond/garden are extensive.  I intend to build, move in and deed it all to my kids.  I ran a small trout operation in the kitchen of my restaurant for almost 10 years, very little in life has given me so much pleasure as playing with the fish.  I am a professional chef-instructor, (43 years).  I have taught at the Culinary Institute, Salt Lake Community Colege and the University of Utah. I am somewhat of an expert with smoked, cured and dried foods, I never liked all the bottles involved in canning.  I am an expert with sharp knives, most kitchen tools and I took fencing classes from a Dutch Olympic Sabre medalist.  I've owned some part of 3 restaurants, but my very best experiences still happen in the dish room, I call myself an "executive salad-bar busboy".  I've learned so much on this site already, I have great hope, with you all for consulting, I may succeed.

Sound like a cool project.  If you are seeking enlightenment on something specific, it might be in your favor to ask specific questions about your design ideas.  Post about the plans that you already have thought of, and other folks can help you or make suggestions based on what information you already have or know about.  Otherwise people may post about things that you already know about or have planned for, and this may be a waste of both people's time.  Or not. (sometimes it's good to go over stuff that is already obvious or known as a refresher...)  But the more specific you are, the more likely it is that you get specifics towards your enlightenment, is all.  

Roberto, Thanks for the comment.  My challenge at this time is finding a place to build.  I found two great spots. so far, but they are just too far from my kids.  Just cruising thru the forums I have learned a great deal.  Talking to the bank today to find out how large a loan I can qualify for.  I have looked at spots between $3.7K up to 50k, so far too far from home.

This is so exciting! Have to say
I'm curious about which  restaurants you owned... (I'm a Utahn too!)

Laurie, I was an early partner at the New Yorker, during the first two years.  I started Market Street Fish.  I left them angry and opened the Liaison, where I put in nearly 10 wonderful years. When I sold Liaison I was lucky enough to get picked up by First Security Bank, where I ran the George S. Eccles executive dining room for another ten years.  My last effort to be the boss failed at Firehouse BBQ,, now the Stella.  The most fun I have had in the biz was playing with the fish.  I had trout tanks actually in the kitchen and spent many evenings perfecting the Truite au Bleu.  You can run turtles and crayfish in the same tanks, crayfish are more fun than monkeys!!!

Oh wow!  Those are some cool restaurants!  

Arthur Horne wrote:I started Market Street Fish.  !

Is this the one up near the University or downtown?  It's been a while since I lived there in the 80s.....there was a Market Street Grill that existed up there that was pretty good.  If I recall correctly, with the old Western Airlines headquartered in SLC, they flew a lot of fresh fish in from ports elsewhere.  Sometime around then an acquaintance opened "Brackmann Brothers Bagels".  Whatever happened to "The Jazz Ranch"?

Irrespective of your devotion to aquatic food sources, here's a thought for a restaurant chain that I have yet to see, but being in the northern Red River Valley of the US, that's not too surprising:  A vegan coffee house.  Yes, there are coffee shops with vegan offerings, but there are some impressive smoked/cured ham-turkey-sausage vegan substitutes that don't seem to have made their way into the breakfast sandwich market.  Maybe these are commonplace elsewhere, but seems to be lagging a bit from observation.  The 'Herbivorous Butcher' in Minneapolis was one of the first that seemed to take the idea to the local market so it seems the landscape is changing a bit in this regard.  Don't know if sticking with the Wasatch front is in the cards for you, but places like Duluth-Superior (Minnesota-Wisconsin) would possibly have more affordable land along trout streams and have Lake Superior there to boot for salmon.....and crayfish.....and smelt!  Actually, I just read that the Rusty Crayfish is becoming a nuisance invasive in the north....AND are supposed to be good eating as well!

Laurie, I left the New Yorker before they opened the Grill or the Broiler,(the one by the University).  I have always served vegetarian dishes, but I was out of the biz since "Veegans" have existed.  Crayfish are defiantly invasive.  That's why we should eat as many as we can!  I would like to stay close to Salt Lake City, since my children will still speak to me.

Forgive my should.  We must eat as many as we can.