This is how we install a hoop house.

https://www.gothicarchgreenhouses.com/greenhouse_cooling_wet_wall.htm

Evolution can be really hard to understand. really really hard. How hard is it?

Can you understand macroevolution?

Then again, maybe I'm wrong!

I hate being wrong. I only allow myself the opportunity to be wrong once a day. Any more than that and I can't stand myself.

http://www.ted.com/talks/kathryn_schulz_on_being_wrong?language=en

What are we made of?

So, it turns out that we are 10% Human, 90% Microbe. We are all walking petri dishes.

http://bigthink.com/amped/humans-10-human-and-90-bacterial

Headed to East Texas!!!

So, I was wondering what permaculture activities might be happening out there in East Texas.

'When we throw mother nature out the window, she comes back in the door                                                  with a pitchfork.' - Masanobu Fukuoka

Here are a few websites.
http://easttexaspermaculture.com/
http://offourfarm.com/blog-2/
http://easttexashomestead.com/east-texas-homestead/
http://allthingsplants.com/

https://www.facebook.com/FoodCoalition


http://www.permaculturevoices.com/1000s-of-trees-and-half-an-acre-small-scale-nursery-business-with-akiva-silver-pvp063/

We can grow mushrooms to create more CO2 for the greenhouse

Mushroom supply stuff

How much CO2 is enough to help grow in a greenhouse?

https://www.hydrofarm.com/resources/articles/co2_enrichment.php

How do you make swales with a bulldozer?

or... you can use an excavator!

on rain harvesting

This is about as good a video on water harvesting that I have seen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqbMonah8II&feature=em-uploademail

Inexpensive tree sources

I am concerned about having to plant more than 4000 trees in the next couple of years. You can't do that at $29.99 a tree. So where can we get less expensive trees?

https://www.chiefrivernursery.com/store/American-Chestnut-6-12-Seedlings.html
chestnut seeds.
http://www.empirechestnut.com/catalog.htm#seed

Red Alder trees from seed.
ebay.com
or by the seedling: $.50 each
http://www.firrunnursery.com/seedlings/seedlings.php


And for the best southern apples...
http://www.kuffelcreek.com/appleorder.htm

For lots of fruit trees. vines, berries and more...
http://www.summerstonenursery.com

bare rooters.:
http://www.coldstreamfarm.net/

Looks like a good source for mulberry trees.
https://www.willisorchards.com/product/persian-mulberry-tree#.VTUoKvnF_l8


We should probably consider tree tubes to protect the seedlings from deer.
https://www.treeprotectionsupply.com/tree-tubes/tree-pro/tree-pro-5-ft/
http://www.growtube.com/prices/

Bees - defense against Mites can be tough. Small cell helps keep the problem in check

Varroa Mites are often the bane of the bee world.
As we grew the bees to be larger and larger, we created an unnatural size for them which prevented them from being able to defend themselves from Varroa Mites.

Here is a German study on how Small Cell honey bees help protect against this threat in a natural manner.

Small Cell Study

How to grow MicroGreens!

I was sent this video by someone very dear to me.
He thinks that this might be a great adjunct to any farming endeavor.
What do you think?

When the wind is in the wrong direction, you may have to Tack into it.

The She-Farmer asked me how long it would take to start having revenue from our system. I hemmed and hawed... "Eight months?" I said.

"Um, could we last eight months without an income now?"

"What's your point?"

"If we are out of business, because we are broke, then we lose."

"That is a really good point!"

So, I asked the question, "Do you think we should grow aquaponic vegetables for income for maybe ten years?"

"That would be wonderful!"

We had taken a class on aquaponics from Rob Nash in Austin, and we are pretty confident that we can do just that.

I put together a new plan.

Aquaponics under a greenhouse to control climate, moderated by using the earth as a heat sink, thermal inertia.. We would also do micro greens and eggs and a few other herbs and veggies to round things out.

In my estimate, if we can produce 1500 lettuces (or equivalent) each week, then we can produce a full time income on the farm.  Then I ran into this video above and it is like "BINGO!" just what I wanted to do, right there in Houston!