Willliam Seward

I've been intrigued by the Fokin Hoe ever since I saw the review previously. Welcome back!

I came across this on Facebook yesterday. I think it's totally awesome! I'm a long time proponent of free access to knowledge for all and I'm watching this with great interest. Looking forward to the DIY plans, too!

I have to vote with wattle and daub. When someone mentioned coastal I thought of tabby, but the walls are too smooth.

Welcome Anna. I enjoy the parts of your book I've seen. I think my biggest challenge is trying to balance all that I want to do with what I can actually accomplish. I finished my Permaculture PDC with high hopes. We took on a 5 year project for a friend, living and working on her future retirement property. We're a year and a half into that and it's becoming more and more daunting as time goes on. We've been trying to meaningfully schedule the work out, but are constantly stymied by other things stalling us, weather, finances, something. Any comments?

I've had German Shepherds, never a Saint B or a mix. I do love the big breeds and it sounds to me like a good match for you. I agree with the prior advice you've been given here as well. We just brought home our first dog at this address. We have six acres in central Texas with gardens, cats, and chickens. We were looking for a good dog that would do well with the chickens and cats. I've had a lot of negative experience with chicken-killer dogs in the past. Our last dog was a Siberian Husky, a really lovely dog but quite a roamer. Today we got a rescued Yellow Lab/Golden Retriever male mix, 3 years old. Seems really great, and the person we got him from had had him a couple of months along with cats and chickens with no problems.

I just had a gratifying experience.
Last September my area had a devastating fire, called the Bastrop Complex Fire. Hundreds of homes and other structures were destroyed. Thousands were evacuated for several days. It was a week before containment was reached. My family was evacuated, although we ultimately had no damage. So many more were not so lucky. People have been rebuilding and several are considering permaculture and alternative structures for their new homes.
This is the Lost Pines area here around Bastrop, Texas. It is a pocket of Loblolly Pines that were thriving here until our ongoing drought made tinder of them.
Our town just hosted a first annual Heart of Texas Green Expo.
http://heartoftexasgreenexpo.org/
I was asked to present an Intro To Permaculture talk for the first day of the Expo.
The talk went well, we had a very good selection of speakers and exhibitors. My partner and I also set up a booth vending our art and talking to folks about Permaculture, Beekeeping, and Avatar. (A self-improvement course.)
The gratifying part I mentioned? The really good turnout, plus seeing so many of the organizations in one place who are working to re-build the area and re-plant the trees!

By the way, our art site is: http://www.catdancing.com/
Much of my partner's Intarsia Art is there. She also does stained glass, fused glas, jewelry, Tarot, and Avatar.
My contribution is Native American Style Flutes.
Thanks.

Another thought that just came to me, from a suggestion by my one and only, use the pool to process graywater, maybe in connection with the greenhouse or exotic tree idea. I was just remembering someone near here who has a tall skinny greenhouse with a banana tree inside. We're zone 8b and dry.

I'd just be echoing what others have said. I like the idea of rainwater storage in the pool itself, stone painted black so whole thing warms as much as it can, then greenhouse or raised beds above. I don't think you mentioned what side of house it is on, or how much sun it gets in the winter.

Not sure my previous reply made it.
Given an orchard of fairly new fruit and nut trees planted in rows on contour. If you go in and add hugulkultur swales, would you build them along the uphill side of each row? My soil is a foot or so of sandy above a few feet of heavy clay. My thinking is that the trees need to be a bit uphill of whatever accumulation there is, though with the sand, drainage is mostly going to be simply slowed down, which is also fine.
Is that correct?