mike baron

I only owed money for about a week or two 20+ years back, when a company I worked for had cash flow trouble and I didn't get paid, had to borrow from a friend. I'm very lucky to be able to live debt free since. That said, I was lucky that my circumstances enabled me to do that and I'm not sure everyone can.

I don't have a mortgage because here in Europe it's crazy - you can't walk away. If you can't pay, they will first sell your house and if that's not enough to pay the debt, you will still be paying even you though you don't have a house. So it's a gamble. Plus, houses deteriorate pretty fast, so once your debt free, you probably have your first renovation waiting for you. Appartments are more economical in that regard. Renting is far more flexible. Yes, there is stress in renting, too, but risk is lower.

As for the car, I never really cared about what I'm driving with, but where I'm driving to (and possibly how safely). Everything else is marketing.

Then besides food I don't buy much. I do spend some money on experience, like vaccations and such, but nothing huge.

Hi Bryant, thanks for your answer!

Are you sure those numbers are correct? If I assume 6 trees per 100 meters in a grid, that's 36 trees per hectare, which should be about 700kg of wallnuts... now with 10Ha, that's lots of nuts! Qucik googling tells me some people have yuelds of 3.000 kgs per acre / which is half a hectare, which seems a lot!

As for the climate, France/Germany is close enough I guess. The climate here varies and can change very quickly. Down here in the plains it's warm and relativelly dry, if you go a bit higher it's colder and can be more wet, and then there are the Alps of course... So it makes no sense to pinpoint excactly, I'm in a location with all those climates relatively near.

Hi permies,

I don't know where this belongs, so I'll post it here. I'm starting to figure that almost everything is bullshit. Money, economy, stock exchange, career, things... soo much bullshit.
Anyway, I've managed to accumulate some savings, but looking at all the bullshit right now, I think there is a high chance it'll all go to waste. i simply have no trust in the world out there. So I've been thinking that I should invest into land. Because land, nature, is the only thing which can really sustain me on the long run.

And not only that. I think - or I dream - that nature is the only thing that could save me from stress and bullshit. Don't get me started on bullshit that we call job. Being managed by fear, uncertainty and doubt. I mean, when you think of it, the whole concept when we work for something that isn't really ours is beyond stupid. The companies want us to work our asses out, yet, when they don't need us any more.. so it goes. And cities. Cities are engineered for lifelong slavery when you think of it. People in cities rely on jobs. No job, no food. Yet, everyone is rushing into the lifestyle, getting closer to the city, to be close to the jobs.. to be a slave. Bullshit. it's all bullshit.

So yes, I want to start unplugging. At the moment I'm actually earning decent money so it would be stupid to jump out, as I can, hopefully, pile some more capital in the next few years. So I'm looking for land with a small house. Somewhere where I could spend weekends (or even weeks when I can). What I want to do is plant trees. I want to invest into nuts. Walnuts, hazelnuts, maybe also chestnuts (not technically a nut). That's what I could grow here in Europe. Nuts are basically the core of my diet, can be stored for a long time, very healthy. I know I need 5+ years to harvest them, but I'm interested in the long term, not short term.

Once I have my nuts, I'd add some other trees, apples, pears, plums... again, plums are good for jam, which can be stored. And from there I'd also create a garden. I hope to grow peanuts, but then also some veggies like potatoes, greens, tomatoes... who knows.

TLDR: The question is: how much land do I need. Let's say I want to feed a family of 4 on the long run, but maintain a weekend only garden on the short run, what am I looking for? I'm thinking more like large garden rather than small farm. Then again, buying too small and I'm constrained for life. Buying to large and I'm getting my self more than I can handle.

Please share your experience. My climate is central european I guess. There are some options in the colder&wetter hills, and some options in the plains. I'm looking no further than 1.5 hour ride from where I live, which is one of the european capitals.

Thanks for any inputs!

Thanks for all the feedback guys!

I'll do some more jar experiments to see if I get any improvement. I've already setup one inoculated with butter milk (should contain lots of LAB) but probably added too much water again. So I'll do another one without water, and I'll also do one with commercial EM. Something has to work!

Interesting read about botulism, and one that should not be discarded IMO! I don't plan to use the tea, because I don't think it's sterile in a few weeks and it could contain pathogens. Perhaps one should also handle bokashi itself with care, although bokashi should be quite acid which should prevent the toxin from developing.

Yeah that's basically what I do, but on a smaller scale. Throw in garbage, cower with dirt, add some water, close... and repeat next time.

I don't want to "check how it's doing", because I'd introduce oxygen to now probably oxygen free environment. That's why I'm trying jars, to see what, if anything, is happening.

But I'm not seeing anything like this guy: http://bangalorebalcony.blogspot.com/2016/02/aerobic-composting-using-microbes.html

So I've read alot about anaerobic composting, which seems to be almost the same as "bokashi". The simplest form of anaerobic compost should be "throw it in a plastic bag, seal, wait x number of weeks, done".

So right now I have 2 ~ 7 liters pots full of bio waste in my garden, with the next, 40l vessel ready to come. I don't plan to do 2 weeks there compost next, but rather leave it for months to fully decompose. But: i've taken a random sample of my waste, put it in a jar, covered with water, and closed it. 2 weeks later... nothing seems to be happening. I did not add any EM or whatever, just relied on the bacteria which is there. I did add some soil to the pots which I did not do for the jar (i'll do that next).

But I'm wondering... am I going to end with just pickled garbage rather than soil?? It looks that way in the jar.

Hi,

I'm thinking of setting up a hoop house over my (tiny) raised beds. I was thinking about using a simple bamboo structure, covered with something.

Now "something" is where I have a problem. PVC is easily accessible, but:
a) ugly
b) not nature friendly

Are there any good alternatives I could use?

Thanks