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[Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com>]

All this talk of preparing for senior years leads me to think of  
permaculture. Design your homestead in a purposeful manner, that each  
utility, structure, plant and animal fits into a circle of life.  
Employ minimal human inventions and maximal natural conditions. Let  
Nature do as much work as possible. Use gravity to move water and  
nutrients to where they are optimally used. Plant fruit trees where  
poultry feed on and clean up spoiled fruit, thereby diminishing disease.

A specific example I have written about before: At Heartwood, the Taj  
Mahen is located uphill from the main garden area. It is at the  
southwest corner of a good-sized run built of dog-pen wire and  
extends down to the northwest corner of the garden. Kitchen scraps,  
rotten garden goodies, and weeds are tossed into the run at the high  
corner. Hens eat and scratch. And peck and scratch. And scratch and  
scratch. By gravity, each scratch moves poop and dirt downhill toward  
the garden where is a gate. I open the gate and shovel out very rich  
soil which is then moved into a compost pile very close by or  
directly onto garden beds. If I really had my act together, said  
poopy dirt would fall by gravity into a compost heap. Hm.