Tracy Lee

I wouldn't necessarily cross Northwest Arkansas off your list. When we moved in all our neighbors were very nice and helpful. Nice sprite because i was expecting to be treated like an outsider. Land taxes in our area are ridiculously cheap. There are no building codes to deal with. yes it is hot and humid for about 3 months but quite beautiful the other months. Just my thoughts.

Hi Lem Win. Here is the link for the Facebook page of a couple guys out of NWA near fayetteville who do permaculture design. They call themselves Biodesic Strategies I have used them for some stuff on our property and I was pleased with them. https://www.facebook.com/Biodesic/

I am in Northwest Arkansas zone 6B/7A. On this Hillside I had my husband dig trenches with our backhoe, i filled them with old wood up to ground level then topped that with dirt from the hole and some topsoil that we had left from being scrapped off of a pond we had made and the seeded it with austrian peas, chicory, and a field radish. Then I put some mushroom compost on top of that. The next terrace down I did the same thing except as the last layer I put down pine mulch mix. then I planted 4 honey berries and apple tree and a pear tree in the upper terrace and 2nd terrace down I put in 6 blueberries.
 Prior to planting these berries I dipped their roots into a mycorrizzal fungi mix. I did this planting the end of last sept.  A couple days after planting I left the property for 6 months as I have a seasonal job elsewhere. Came back in April and all the plants are doing beautifully. 2 of the honey berries had several berries on them and 3 of the blueberries have some berries on them. Plants have quadrupled in size and I have not watered them once. We do Have hot summers here and I may have to water the berries if we get a dry spell. The ground cover I put in was growing when I left and it was growing well when I got back. I am thinking it reseeded itself over the winter. The top terrace is thick in radishes and chicory with very little of the peas coming up and the 2nd terrace is thick in peas with very little of the other stuff. the peas are over 3 ft tall and I keep pulling them back from the berry plants. Not sure if I should chop and drop them or let them go stop seed again.

This is copied from berries unlimited website. they are in NW Arkansas zone 6B and they grow and ship honey berries around the world.
It is imperative that you choose a variety that not only is rated for your zone, but one that will produce the quality of honeyberries that you desire. Berries Unlimited offers a wide variety of honeyberry cultivar varieties for U.S.D.A. agriculture hardiness zones 2 thru 8. Zones 2-4 are the best to keep those plants happy, zones 5-9 are POSSIBLE to grow but it takes more of Your time to water them carefully through the hot season. If you are unsure of your hardiness zone, or just need help choosing which of the many fine varieties available to you, our staff will be more than happy to assist you in making the right choice. We can also help with buying honeyberry plants wholesale!

Ames nursery will have fruit trees at the Fayetteville farmers mkt this Saturday.

Check out Ames nursery in fayetteville. This guy has spent 30 years trying different fruit trees in the ozark climate. Finding out what works organically and what doesn't work very without heavy spraying. he's a fountain of knowledge. His name is Guy Ames.

You might have already gotten your rocket stove figured out but if you still need help you might try contacting Paul and Lisa Majors form Garfield Ar. They built an earth bag home and they heat it with a rocket stove. They have also held classes on making one. He is also a heating and cooling guy by trade so he understands all the technical stuff. You can google them and find contact info that way. they have some youtube videos etc.

I also do almost all my garden beds on top of buried wood. We are fortunate to have a backhoe though because if I had to do it all by hand it wouldn't happen. I have blackberries like this and I almost never water them. At the base of a mountain that seeps water when we get a lot of rain I layered wood logs on top of the ground about 50 ft long and about 3 ft into the air, I covered that with dirt and straw. About 4 ft in front of that we dug a trench about a foot deep and filled that with wood. I topped that with dirt and straw and leaves. Basically created a garden bed from the edge of the raised hugelcuture mound to the outer edge of the sunken hugelkulture trench. In between raised and sunken wood I planted some peach trees from seed. Its 3 years later and the trees that the deer haven't trimmed off are about 7 ft high and I haven't watered in 3 years. Veggie garden that is done on top of sunken wood I do water but easily go a week or more in hundred degree heat with minimal wilting.  Love the concept and i am sure it is working for water retention but for me i am still struggling to learn to garden in my area amongst the forest. I have to much shade I believe that is affecting my ability to get things to grow in a lush healthy way. But I am getting there.  Healthiest looking garden so far this year. I also learned that I needed to fill the gaps between the wood with dirt or leaves. First beds I made this way I didn't do that and they settled almost a foot in a year and settled very unevenly. Tyler, I spent 30 years of my life in south, south texas. I did lots of gardening there and getting good water was a challenge. I wish I had known about all this down there. I could of had spectacular gardens. here is picture of asparagus bed done with underground wood. I haven't watered this bed or done really any maintenance on it in 4 years. Maybe 10 mins weeding in all that time. Nice little crop this year from it. Next picture is the raised hugelculture mound against the mountain and I am building the underground trench in front of it. This is where the peach trees got planted. No evidence of seeping water from that section of the mountain. It all gets captured in either raised or sunken hugelculture.

Thanks for the link Tyler. I am almost certain these are not the photos I saw. I remember the circle being bigger and the trunks intertwined in very appealing way, and higher, I would say the edge of the garden was 2-3 feet high. However these photos are a start, will help give hubby a visual of what I am talking about. Got a big pile of dried stumps and I would like to do something similar to that picture.

I am looking for a specific picture I saw approx 3-4 years ago. I think it was in this thread but I don't see it anymore. It was a big circular garden bed/edge done with tree stumps and then backfilled behind the stumps. Can anyone help me find that picture. Thanks