Nicholas Covey

Darren,

In a podcast I heard a few months ago (I want to say it was Chris Steltzer maybe) I heard you say that you grew up on a farm and that through bad policy or stewardship or whatnot that the farm had to be sold.

I want to know you're opinion on how to convert a typical farm/farmer from a broad scale row crop commodity/cattle farm to something more sustainable. Have you had any luck in transitioning farmers with half a century in one manner of thinking to a more sustainable model?

That being said, I am the eldest son on a 700 acre family farm in Missouri. I'm not yet a permaculture designer but I am taking the Permaethos course online. I am currently to the process of doing my design and am basically making up a white paper outlining the weaknesses and downfalls of the current system, with a list of possible solutions. Any thoughts on the viability of this tactic?

So who all here got in? My invoice number was 907, but that apparently doesn't mean anything because of transaction errors.

I'm on it. Consequently I am not terribly far from your location, so I might be interested in taking one of your workshops in the future.

Where are you geographically, and what USDA climate zone are you in?

Wow! Please elaborate a little more. I'd love to see you cover another module to get this clear in my head.

These days plows are fairly inexpensive because plowing is largely out go vogue in modern agriculture.

A sun scoop on a north facing slope creates a frost pocket. I've pondered how this could be used advantageously for a while now. Ripening cole crops is definitely a function of frost that I could use. Thanks for that idea.

Sadly, cheap available electricity is probably on its way out, that's certain.

Damian,

Your design ideas are good. One thing that does speak to me is the size of the yard. It's location is almost too far for a garden. Also start small or a garden that large, especially without a tractor, will become absolutely soul wrenching. Fence it off temporarily and run stock until you are able to grow your plot or plant something perennial. (Food forest maybe?)

I have found that the gardens inside zone 1 really do make a lot of sense, even if it's not the "best" location at your disposal. Aerial maps only show so much of course.