Gray Henon

Just finished the 2024 edition.  Read the book because from what I have seen on Ben’s YouTube channel, he seems to understand the problem better than most.  While some of my review may come across as critical, it is written with an incredible amount of respect for what Ben is doing.  Building a sustainable homestead is harder than any job I have ever had.

I agree with many of the previous reviews when it comes to reading like a memoir, almost info/experience dumping at times, but fairly easy/fast to read.   Definitely a strong prepper angle.  I got into permaculture simply to grow some of my own food.  The events of the past 6 years have definitely increased my prepping mindset when making decisions for the farm. Ben lays out his logic for decisions very well, and it often times mirrors my own thoughts.

I really appreciate his no BS discussion of what works, what didn’t, and why.  So many gardening/farming books are sunshine and roses with no consideration of the effort/money required to pull off their pretty pictures.

He still uses a lot of propane and expensive equipment that burns gas and diesel.  Doing everything by hand is HARD, it is natural to look for easier ways to do things.  I really appreciate that he posts his actual electricity/propane usage.  Liquid fuel totals would be nice as well.

I think it is important for the reader to remember that Ben has interns as well as an incredible amount of energy.  I have neither.  If that is your case, I’d look at what he does as a toolbox, to be picked and chosen from.  Trying to imitate what he does without the extra help is a good recipe for burnout.

I don’t feel like some of his diagrams add that much to the book, and would rather see more pictures of actual projects.

I’d definitely recommend the book to anyone interested in permaculture.

Love riding, but love all my parts in their proper position more. Given the number of people on their phones and/or high/drunk while driving, I have given up on road riding,  That said, I consider the older (70’s) mid sized, mid displacement bikes to be about ideal.  Comfortable riding position, nimble/light/quick enough to be fun.  Incredible feeling to lean a rumbling gyroscope way over in a turn then flick it way over the other direction for the next curve.

Just curious if anyone has found a cat trapped by it’s collar?

…livestock feed, firewood, etc.

If you are into dairy, 2 small dairy goats could graze your orchard if the trees are will protected.  I have found step in fiberglass posts with electric wire to work well for this purpose.  Keeping the trees in rows helps with electric setup, an occasional mowing if need be, and running a chicken (or other poultry) tractor around.  If you are not into dairy, a couple small goats/sheep in the spring could keep your orchard mowed all summer and give you a nice meat harvest in the fall.  

When it comes to poultry, Everything likes to eat chicken.  We have had 100% percent protection for 10 years plus, by insulating the bottom of the tractor with pvc, then electrifying the chicken wire.

We have a bit more land, but this pretty much mirrors what we have settled on after 20+ years.  Nothing like the excitement of starting out.  Best of luck to you!

If you haven’t already, ride around and scout productive yard trees in the area.  Stop and ask folks about them.  I do this and have never gotten a cold shoulder.  Talk to the county extension agent and ask about “bombproof” trees that just do well in the area no matter what.  They may be just a shill for big ag, they might be awesome, or something in between.  No way to tell until you chat them up.

Identify EVERYTHING on your property.  You may have some incredible stuff growing already.  This is much easier now than it was a decade ago with apps like I naturalist and google.  Be sure to cross reference if you are not sure.  A 5 or maybe even 10 year old persimmon around here looks like a sapling.  Cut it down and you just backed up quite a bit.

Most nut trees are a long term prospect.  If they do well in the area, I would plant 3-4 for the next generation then focus on trees with faster returns.  15+ years in, out of 50+fruit/nut  trees, mulberries and pears have been the only two that have produced enough to bother with preserving.  Several of the others have produced a yield, but couldn’t really call them a staple at this point.  Various bush/bramble berries have produced well on a shorter timeframe, but are labor intensive picking and require more maintenance to keep weeds at bay.

Off hand, if I was deciding what to do with 1.6 acres, I’d probably put the closest (zone 0-1) .25-.5 acre in veg, herbs, berries, mushrooms.  The rest I’d plant out in fruit/nut trees, paying close attention to final sizes and spacing.  60-70 ft spacing looks huge when you are planting a little nut sapling, but they will fill it over time.  Crowd them, and they will suffer.   Better to infill with nitrogen fixing trees that you harvest for

You may have a refrigerant leak and/or the interior coils are icing up.  Can you get to the interior unit and remove a panel to check the coils?  They might be dirty as well.

Beef from earlier this year…

A buddy was telling me a while back about “Green necks”.  Probably the closest description of me, lol.

Cave people were self sufficient with sticks and stones, at least enough to perpetuate the species.  

Sure, they dealt with high infant mortality, birthing mortality, communicable diseases, starvation, harsh conditions, etc.

Our closest primate relatives still survive in the jungle with no other tech or tools other than sticks and rocks.

What they two had in common was a large, functioning, ecosystem.  Without it, there is no way.

It can be done, with tech almost anyone could understand.  Everyone just needs to accept the fact that there will be bad, very bad, times, on occasion.  Perhaps even frequently.

I was in my early twenties when I realized and said, “It would be easier to start over in a mud hut, than it would be to make what we have sustainable”.   I don’t feel any different today.

Thanks to some pretty nice tech, we can observe how some of most primitive people in the world still live.  It is spartan, on the edge at times, but amazing to witness.  Sustainability/ self sufficiency looks a whole lot more like tent camping than a suburb.  

With enough land (huge caveat), and willingness to accept increased hunger/mortality, I really believe a motivated group could achieve 90%+ self sufficiency.

Never really seen it discussed, but there are a few nice scaling efficiencies you get with animals and larger communities that actually reduce the need for equipment and tech.  

25+ish people can eat an entire animal (goat, pig, sheep, deer, etc) at once without the need for preservation.  Not only does this save on refrigeration and/or canning, but also plastic packaging.  Feasts also foster social relationships.

We have found it difficult to raise a butcher size hog solely on scraps/gleaned fruit drops, etc.  and have had to rely on intensively grown corn/soy to make up the ration.  4-6 families in a “pig club” can come much closer to feeding a hog out almost entirely on scraps, completely eliminating the need for cultivating a crop solely for animal feed.  Planting, harvesting, and maintaining soil fertility (compost, cover crops, etc) are all a tremendous amount of labor unless you are relying on complex mechanical equipment.