need help with permaculture design for 3.5 acers in central tx

I am in need of sujestions on what i can do with my 3.5 acres. im kind of having design block, and was hoping to get some insperation from you fine folks
this is a pic of my land.
Red represnts property line as well as fence.
Yellow is fencing and Green is a gate.


i am thinking about extending the back yard into the back pasture area and to my shop. then putting a root cellar.
No well water, but i am planing on installing a gutter system to catch rain water.
Trees are pretty much mesquite.

My main suggestion is to start your plantings and improvements close to the house, and move outward.  I initially made my gardens a distance from the house and tended to neglect them.  My new vegetable garden is right next to the house and doing much better.

Oh, I should mention - what I wish I had done at the first is install rainwater harvesting earthworks and sunken hugel beds all around.  It's much harder to do this when fruit trees etc. are already planted.  Best to rent or hire  a backhoe or other digging machinery and install berms and basins right at the beginning.

What I consider an indispensable book for our region:  http://www.harvestingrainwater.com/ ; Volume 2 especially.

A free source is "The Texas Manual on Rainwater Harvesting" an 88 page PDF, available here:

http://www.twdb.state.tx.us/publications/reports/rainwaterharvestingmanual_3rdedition.pdf

Thanks guys/gals.
Are there any resources for berms and swales for flat ground. my property is pretty flat. and due to the lack of rain this year i have not been able to see where i do have run off.

The Lancaster book mentions basins on flat ground.  These are just excavated from flat ground.


He's also got some videos.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igWQmDr1iKU