Homestead mailing list

[Barbara Lamar <blamar AT satx.rr.com>]

> Thank you, Barbara. Of course, that Fukuoka quote does not say how 
> many seeds are in each pellet. Given the, um, truth-seeking nature of 
> this list, there may be some who will want to give this more light.

Sorry, I should have quoted a bit more. Fukuoka goes on to say that the 
pellets are about 1/2 inch in diameter. Given that this 1/2 inch ball 
includes the seeds and enough clay to form a protective coating, there 
couldn't be more than a few seeds to a pellet.

> I have thought about you from time to time, typically when something 
> pops up about your part of Texas, and wondered how your owner-built 
> homestead was faring. It's good to have you back and posting. How's 
> the water level in the pond?

Pond isn't completely full, but it's at a reassuring level for this time 
of year. Got pretty low this summer, but we had a lot of rain in the fall.

> How's your daughter? 

She's having a wonderful time at the University of Texas at Austin where 
she's a junior majoring in urban studies. She could hardly wait to hit 
the highway and head to the bright city lights. She got a scholarship by 
writing an essay about her unusual childhood, and after she'd been at 
college for about a year, she thanked me one day, for being an 
interesting person and teaching her a wide variety of things as she was 
growing up. I was disappointed to see her go but didn't try to disuade 
her. Many of the things she's learning in school are fascinating and 
seem well worth learning.

> How does your garden grow? 

The gardens at Altamira (the homestead) have some of the healthiest 
weeds around. Many of the perennial food plants are doing well; some 
have bitten the dust. I'm looking for someone to live on the place, 
since I'm only able to go out there on weekends at the moment.

I wanted more money than I was able to make in the country for various 
things I couldn't make or barter for, such as a new engine for the 
truck, a rain water tank large enough to get me through a dry summer, 
contact lenses. So I moved to the city, thinking I would only stay for a 
little while. As it turned out, I've quite enjoyed running a law/CPA 
practice this time around and am having so much fun I think I'll keep 
doing it for a while. I'm keeping my focus on small businesses and 
start-ups, encouraging wage earners to go out on their own. The only 
down-side of what I'm doing now is that since I'm now earning income and 
incurring some non-deductible expenses, I do have to pay federal income 
and social security taxes. Thus, I'm helping to finance certain 
activities I consider immoral. On the plus side, I'm in a better 
position to be heard and possibly help change things for the better. 
(I've been amazed and delighted by the impact the documentary SUPER SIZE 
ME appears to have had on the fast food industry -- speaking out CAN 
make a difference!).

My assistant and I are working on creating a system that will allow me 
to only come into the city a day or two a week, but at the moment I'm 
spending most week days in San Antonio, about 60 miles from Altamira. I 
have a small garden here that's doing very well. There have been the 
usual problems with neighbors who prefer tidy, well manicured 
landscapes, but fortunately one of the head guys with the city code 
enforcement division loves native plants and is intrigued by edible 
landscaping. No one has noticed the gray water pond, because the papyrus 
and taro and Louisiana irises look like just another garden bed.

I have great fun this time of year rescuing bags of leaves from the city 
landfill. Unfortunately, the yard is not large enough for us to grow 
more than a few vegetables and herbs and fruits. There's a native pecan 
tree whose nuts the squirrels eat or destroy (I could always make a 
squirrel trap, of course -- fried squirrel makes a pretty good meal), 
and a friend gave me a jujube seedling, and there are a couple of 
loquats and a lemon tree and a fig tree and some banana trees (bananas 
grown in a protected area will produce fruit most of the time here in 
San Antonio). I'm keeping an eye out for a place with 1/2 acre or so 
where I could have chickens and grow a more substantial part of our 
food. There's a city ordinance against keeping chickens, but it doesn't 
seem to be very strictly enforced.

> There are those here now unaware that self-reliant women still build 
> their own abodes, gardens, garden structures and anything else needed. 
> Toni will likely be happy to receive this confirmation that women 
> don't need men cluttering the homestead.

I really must put my homestead web site back up.

Barbara