John Rogers

Here's a copy and paste from the Facebook post...

Veterans' Summer Camp & Permaculture Design Course Aug 14-29, 2021. This campout is free to veterans thanks to generous grants from the WDVA and the USDA.  Spend two weeks with a team of veteran peers taking a deep dive into Ecological Literacy.

Topics include:
Soil Science, Health, and Management
Ecosystems Analysis
Water in the Landscape
Earthworks
Garden Designs for Ecosystems Function
Habitat Conservation and Creation
Natural Building- Basics of Strawbale, Rammed Earth and More
Community Scale Design and Social Permaculture

...as well as specific information for veterans about how to access USDA grants and loans that, combined with a VA Home Loan, can set you on a path to owning your own farm.
and much more... all while you enjoy meals grown right here on our 120ac veterans' farm!

It all culminates with a pig roast, and we'll need you to invite some friends- it is a whole pig, one we raised just for this event. Find out more, including how to join us here:

https://veteransetc.org/pdc

This question is mainly for Leigh, but I invite all members to chime in.

Limiting the property size to 5 acres, and considering the unlikelihood of finding a perfect property, what factors would be weighted most heavily in your property selection criteria?

Thanks,

John

Got 'em both. They were both in the gmail primary tab.

Seth, if you're still monitoring this topic, are you in contact with Ulysses Martin in Tacoma? He's an Evergreen student that is deeply involved with permaculture and aquaponics in the Tacoma area. He and his team were finalists in the Tacoma Green Infrastructure Challenge earlier this year.

Message me and I'll send you his email address.

John

A new permaculture educational program is slated to start in January 2016 in western Washington state. As of a meeting I attended yesterday, the very likely location will be on property adjacent to the Soldier's Home in Orting, WA, about ten miles SE of Sumner. The core curriculum will be a 72 hour course that is certified through the Permaculture Institute North America (PINA), with some additional instruction on mycology and natural and green building. Additional curriculum on related topics will be available as the program grows. The program is geared towards military veterans, but all prospective students will be considered for admission. For veteran students, the school does qualify for use of GI Bill and VA Vocational Rehabilitation education benefits, and agreements are currently being drafted with Washington colleges regarding how much transfer credit will be awarded for completion of the program.

If this sounds like something you would be interested in as a student, or a supporter, please visit the website at VETS_CAFE for more information, and sign up for the newsletter on the Contact tab. Things are moving fast right now. Faster than the website can be updated. So the email newsletter is the best source of current information.

If you know any veterans or active service members who might be interested in using their education benefits to learn permaculture in a hands-on environment alongside with other current and former members of the military, please pass the website link on to them.

John

Gary Lewis wrote:
Who is making a real living online (and how)?

I made about $60k/year from 2009-2012 doing online marketing for a small software company. It was good while it lasted, but the gig ended virtually overnight and left me without what had become my primary income stream. Over those four years I had become complacent and ended all of my own online projects, so I had nothing to fall back on. That was a hard lesson learned. So many things can kill online income streams... Just be wary. Building a community is a good foundation, then find ways to leverage that community. (note: by leverage I don't mean take advantage of). Observe how Paul has leveraged the Permies community into several wildly successful Kickstarter campaigns. Part of that is due to the size of the community, but more importantly, the community members like and trust him. I know of several people who have built online communities similar to this one in structure (basically a forum), and when they decided it was time to quit, sold the online properties for seven figures. Even when you consider that those properties were built over a period of years, that's still a pretty good payday.

The article addresses exactly that issue, and discusses specific things that this particular seller is doing to stand out from the crowd.

"Many Etsy shop owners feel lucky to sell 10 pieces a month, and 65% of Etsy sellers make less than $100 from their shops in a year. Crafters usually need day jobs to support their hobbies."

When producing food doesn't generate enough income...

Check out this million dollar Etsy seller.

http://www.fastcodesign.com/3042352/how-one-knitter-makes-almost-1-million-a-year-on-etsy

I've been seeing this pop up on Facebook, and had only previously heard of it in the old Tumbleweeds newspaper comics. Always wondered what it was...

Intentional community is a very broad term that basically means people living together for some common purpose or shared values. Some examples are communes, ecovillages, and monasteries. A handful of families constructing homes on a shared piece of land to ensure they have cool neighbors is an intentional community. Check out http://ic.org, where you'll find a wealth of information.

John