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how do you balance...............? | (Read 113 times) |
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1338
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July 15, 2008, 09:34:40 AM |
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I'm not quite sure what you are fishing for here, but my first thought is to get the bigger land, complete with a community you can live with. Expenses are then shared, and if you have to leave for a few days, there are others to take care of everything.
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Charley Hoke
Posts: 66
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July 16, 2008, 08:15:16 AM |
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We have about 30 acres but the majority is a wooded mountain side, wilderness. Only about 2 acres of bottom land next to the creek.
We have expanded our garden every year and with that our diversity has also grown. We have a large blueberry grove and this fall we will be planting apples. We are not vegetarians but vegetables and fruits make up a large part of our diet. This year proves to be our most bountiful so far.
This year we also added chickens, as far as livestock that will probably be it. We have talked about goats, but there is too much for goats to get into here without fences and we don't like fences. The wilderness area we desire to leave as wilderness, although I do tread lightly there to retrieve firewood primarily from down trees.
It has been our goal since we moved here 5 years ago to live as sustainably as we possibly can. We are striving to eat only what we grow or forage from the wilderness.
Raising beef is not an option because of limited grazing space, red meat now will come from deer that I hunt or there will be no more red meat. I do fish and there will be meat from the chickens.
Our garden has been strictly organic/natural since we started. We do not use sprays for pests or anything else. Our garden is small enough that we collect bugs by hand and feed them to the chickens, before we got chickens we fed them to the fish in the creek.
If we see a plant that is sick or dieing we remove it and replant something else. We really have very little problems with pests or disease, I attribute this to all natural practices.
We are very fortunate to have an abundance of natural pest controls such a lady bugs and praying mantises, this year I counted nearly a dozen praying mantis eggs in the blueberry bushes alone.
It is all about give and take isn't it. For example we have stopped buying eggs, our chickens will be laying soon and we can wait till then. In fact our buying habits are constantly changing to coincide with our natural lifestyle.
I find it's all about learning and developing, thats why I like this forum, everyone has something to teach/share.
Sorry about the long ramblings, you just had me thinking, and my family will tell you thats not a good thing.  Not really sure I even hit on what you wanted to talk about... If not let me know and I'll do some more thinking. 
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Charley Hoke
Posts: 66
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July 17, 2008, 08:00:09 AM |
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I think as a rule, even good intentional people, are resistant to change, any change.
We are creatures of habit and become comfortable in our daily routines.
We had talked for years about moving to the country to seek a simpler life, it took years to see it come to be. In part we thought we were comfortable with our lives, and I think fear of change/failure held us back too.
It's been 5 years now since we made the change and although the simple life ain't really simple, it is better. we have less stress and worry and our lives are no longer controlled by the whims of the corporate world or even by the local business community.
Were there sacrifices? I think that depends on how you define sacrifice. We made changes and there were things we learned to live without, like TV and fast foods, which by the way are, in our opinion, are some of the worst poisons there are. Fast food poisons the body and TV poisons the mind.
I think one of the most valuable lessons we learned is we are spoiled by modern convinces and that many of the things we think we need, we really do not. We have learned, and continue to learn to make do with what we have.
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paul wheaton
Administrator
Posts: 1338
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July 18, 2008, 12:42:00 PM |
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I think it is important to respect that not everybody is going to be able to do permaculture factor 1000 on the first day.
And, I think it is important to respect that there is such a thing as permaculture factor 1000.
As the guy that owns this site, I know that the reason that I write the articles, do the research and share is that I want to live in a less toxic world. And I know that I cannot tell anybody how to live. All I can do is paint a picture of a less toxic world and some folks will go along with it.
At the same time, there are some people that command me to tell them what they want to know so they can use just the bits of information they want and continue to live a life that is toxic to themselves and to everybody around them. I have mixed feelings about this. If a person respects my opinion so much that they demand answers to their questions, I think they should show a little respect. And I wish to insert some stuff with that message that is the "why". A small price, I think. A reasonable price.
If somebody insists that I'm a fool and that using pesticides is THE best ... well, then, I can choose to not help them.
.... As for stuff about land, land use, community, how much permaculture, etc. .... I could probably fill about six books on the topic. So I need to confine my answers to pretty direct questions.
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