Michael Shwartz

Hey, I've looked at some Chinese farming things like this.  I'd like to ask you a few important questions though, if you're able to answer!  Was it from Alibaba or AliExpress?  What was the "listed" price (I know prices change).  Did you have to pay any shipping (if so, how much)?  Did they ship it to your house, or did you have to pick it up, or arrange any stateside transportation (and costs if any).  Did you have to fill out any customs paperwork?  I've thought about buying something similar, they had a good price, but had like 4k just in shipping, and not knowing what other potential costs could arise I held off.

Just tuned into the section and saw the date of post!  Anything new going on?  Any updates?!  Has it all been smooth sailing?

It's been so long since the original post, but wanted to point out that if you or anyone is in dire need, you can almost always sell plasma in the larger cities.  Most programs pay between $800-1200 / month if you make 8 visits (twice a week) per month.  

In the DFW area, I've had the best success with Okra.  They love that full-on Texas sun.  However, this is about year three for me of growing and I've through trial and error determined that for this area and sun, things that say they need full sun still do, but you gotta have some kind of sun-shade over them for them to grow.  After that though, everything else is great that I've tried:  corn, squash, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, beans, bell peppers, jalapenos.  I've had trouble with tomatoes.  They're really tough for me for some reason.  They always seem to get diseased.  I'll keep them off the ground with hay mulch and staked vertical, and I spray them with fungicide, but something always happens.  

Now you've done it.  I'm still new here, so I was forced to read just to find out what exactly you meant by going "pooless".  I had just read the other day about bucket toilets, and I can't remember what they were being called, waterless?  flushless?  I can't place it. You all know.   But then to thumb over an article about going pooless, and how it doesn't stink like you might think it does.  Just stop.   I'm still absorbing the terminology as fast as I can!

So anyways, thought I'd take a second and tell you who I am and what I'm doing here.  Maybe some others will do the same.  I'm 45 single white male.  My fiancee passed away several years ago.  We were living together and all that and shortly after she died, I found I couldn't make ends meet in our house.  I let it go back to the bank and as I had no one else there in the area (other than her family), I moved back in with parents.  It's kind of sad.  But I got over a bit of depressions and have been helping them out a little at first and a lot more lately as they age.  I'm in the Waxahachie area.  I've been keeping my eyes on land here in Texas.  Anywhere except south of here.  Not wanting to up the heat!  I am enjoying and learning from my first small container garden that I planted this year.  Looking forward to expanding it more and more.  I would like to get into some livestock, but I'm not really able to at this location.  Soon though.  Hoping to find about 10-20 acres for the right price in the not so distant future and set up shop there.  Primarily as a small homestead or even a hobby farm.

I've seen several people from here in Texas looking for land, and I'm just gonna share with you the one I found.  I can't get this one, but it was such a decent looking deal.  https://www.landsoftexas.com/property/62.5-acres-in-Cottle-County-Texas/8301324/  It's north Texas, about an hour and a half West of Wichita Falls.

Hello!  First day here.  I'm from just south of the DFW area.  New to all of this.  I've been interested in homesteading / hobby farming for a little bit and stumbled onto the permies site.  Anything happening in this area?  The other posts are so old, I think I might have hit a dead site.