Battening down the hatches and taking stock..

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 10:43 am

There's a farm in Vermont that teaches courses on how to homestead; plant a garden, chop wood, butcher a chicken, weed a garden etc. $1000 for a weekend course of workshops

Its a great deal

:big chicken:

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 10:48 am

If someone wants to come and butcher my chickens, chop my wood and weed my garden, I'll only charge them 1/10 of that :D

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 11:14 am

You mercenary types, I would let them do it for free

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 11:22 am

OC...in todays world if its free its worthless. The more they pay for it, the more its worth!

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 11:37 am

$1850 for 10 days next summer

What skills will I be exposed to? We practice the following techniques and tool uses in this course in addition to others.

Design process in the context of a professional landscape architectural firm and practicing designers
Medicine production and making from our in-house naturopathic doctor and herbalist
Mushroom log inoculation (shiitake) on site
Blade sharpening: scythes, knives, sickles, axes Scything/pasture and yard management with scythes
Forest management
Fruit harvesting
Putting up and processing foods and medicines via various methods
Waterworks for home and farms
Many other rural living and farm/homesteading techniques simply by living on the active farm site for the duration

I looked at the website last winter...I bough the guy's book $45...and his videos on youtube...Ben Falk of Whole Systems Design
http://www.wholesystemsdesign.com/perma ... gn-course/

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 12:31 pm

You know what's funny (though really not) is past summer/fall, I PAID "experienced" people to come give me a hand...Not a damn thing got done unless I was there taking them through it step by step, and most of the time I had to fix or redo anyway. Clearly, I've been going about this all wrong!

Ontario Chick · Post by **Ontario Chick** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 12:59 pm

windwalkingwolf wrote:QR_BBPOST You know what's funny (though really not) is past summer/fall, I PAID "experienced" people to come give me a hand...Not a damn thing got done unless I was there taking them through it step by step, and most of the time I had to fix or redo anyway. Clearly, I've been going about this all wrong!

Only laughing because I did the same thing two summers in the row, with exactly the same results while the helper kept saying, "I should really be paying you, because I am learning so much" , which was a lie, because when I visited her garden I could tell she didn't learn a thing

Highlight of that experience, we still laugh about, DH planted carrots using a chicken wire for spacing and when the many tiny seedlings appeared, you know the first little feathery carrot shoot, I pointed the out the bed and asked the carrots be weeded.
Perhaps I wasn't completely clear, but you guessed it, it took a long time, but she pulled every last one of those carrot seedlings out.

Post by **Killerbunny** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 1:40 pm

Our next house WILL have a barn!

baronrenfrew · Post by **baronrenfrew** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 2:01 pm

Yes... We live in a world where people are clueless. They don't know vegetables grow in the ground or that chickens lay only one egg per day (boy it was hard not to give a stupid look when someone asked me about that). If you pay for a course...you pay attention. This is a hammer...it is used for hitting nails...

On a side note Ben Falk at Whole Systems Design has some brilliant ideas we should all look closer at. The high price also reduces demand so they don't get 4000 people showing up.
"A high performance earth sheltered greenhouse"...interesting....

windwalkingwolf · Post by **windwalkingwolf** » Sat Dec 17, 2016 5:09 pm

Ontario Chick wrote:QR_BBPOST
windwalkingwolf wrote:QR_BBPOST You know what's funny (though really not) is past summer/fall, I PAID "experienced" people to come give me a hand...Not a damn thing got done unless I was there taking them through it step by step, and most of the time I had to fix or redo anyway. Clearly, I've been going about this all wrong!

Only laughing because I did the same thing two summers in the row, with exactly the same results while the helper kept saying, "I should really be paying you, because I am learning so much" , which was a lie, because when I visited her garden I could tell she didn't learn a thing
Highlight of that experience, we still laugh about, DH planted carrots using a chicken wire for spacing and when the many tiny seedlings appeared, you know the first little feathery carrot shoot, I pointed the out the bed and asked the carrots be weeded.
Perhaps I wasn't completely clear, but you guessed it, it took a long time, but she pulled every last one of those carrot seedlings out.

OMG. For me, it was half my corn. And, how to use a staple gun 101. And, how to join two pieces of wood using a drill and screw. And, and, and. At least I only lost half my corn.

baronrenfrew wrote:QR_BBPOST Yes... We live in a world where people are clueless. They don't know vegetables grow in the ground or that chickens lay only one egg per day (boy it was hard not to give a stupid look when someone asked me about that). If you pay for a course...you pay attention. This is a hammer...it is used for hitting nails...

On a side note Ben Falk at Whole Systems Design has some brilliant ideas we should all look closer at. The high price also reduces demand so they don't get 4000 people showing up.
"A high performance earth sheltered greenhouse"...interesting....

Bert, I'm thinking of writing a book myself. I'm going to title it "Crap your Mother Should Have Taught You", and will include such basics as making a sandwich (my 10 year old niece can't cut her own food, never mind cook something), changing oil and tires, hanging pictures, sharpening knives, and perhaps How Eggs are Made and How Often lol. $45 will include a bonus dvd on changing light bulbs and watering tomatoes. Think anyone would buy it, or should I raise the price to $150 and include a two hour workshop on shoveling

and a lecture on "Whetstones--for Shovels, too!":D