I don't usually post on forums. I just read and soak it all in. Loved Permies so much I couldn't resist though. New to permaculture but grew up gardening and raising livestock in East Texas.
Bought a couple of acres and a home in North Texas a few years ago and was looking forward to getting back in the groove of growing my own food. Had a rude awakening in my first year here though. It's not east Texas. There we could throw seeds out just about anywhere and as long as the birds didn't get them, they grew. Here, not so much. On top of that, the previous owners of our homestead managed to ruin the soil with improper plantings and over watering. We're on co-op water that is so high in salinity that it kills plants more often than it helps them. I started with rain barrels to provide better water, but that only got us so far.
Then I learned about permaculture. Already starting to see results. I'll try to post some pictures so the community can see what I'm starting with. Just purchased some cover crop seeds to create my own mixture for this fall and next spring/summer (Oil Seed Radish, White Clover, lupin, and cumfrey etc). Our compacted clay soil needs to be busted up and could really a shot of nitrogen. Also looking at swaling about half the "yard" to harvest some more of our sparse rain water. Hope to start a food forest and hugel-garden within a year or so.
The wife wants chickens, but I am waiting until I have the ability to grow enough feed for them. From there, the sky's the limit. Can't wait to put into practice all the great ideas I pick up here.
