posted 14 years ago
Hi Y'all,
I just was given (gratis) two acres (out of 15) in the middle of suburban Dallas, TX. After reading Hemenway, Kourik, Fukuoka, Gershuny, Solomon, and devouring material on the ole' interweb, I am somewhat ready to move from my Ruth Stout sheet mulch raised bed in the back yard to a more serious adventure!
N.B. -- there are 5 cows, 2 horses, and 1 donkey on the land.
At the risk of being too impetuous, I thought I would have to just fence the two acres since I don't feel like I have time to grow a wall of helianthus around it.
My real question is how to prepare the land to begin cultivating vegetables and grains? I know this may not be the strict permaculture perennial system of fruits and nuts (pecans do well in my area though), though I only have the land for a couple of years (at this point). I am kind of a budding no-till enthusiast with no heavy equipment, but I don't see a way out of a light till at this point (rent a tractor perhaps). There are a wide variety of green manures I can use, though getting them established, much less their more tender vegetable cousins, is looking like a real challenge right now.
Any and all feedback would be much appreciated!
Cheers,
Charles
