How far should my gray water drain field be from and open (2-3 cfs) irrigation ditch?

Can gray water contaminate the irrigation water? 100s of people use the water. People and kids bath in the irrigation water in the summer.

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If you're like most of us on permies, you look around you and see so many things that are wrong: wasteful ways of making and building things, materials imported from far away, toxic stuff being used, and many nonrenewable resources being abused and overused.

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And you wish to live a more purposeful life, to be more self sufficient, to create meaning in your life and be part of a community of folks that all think like you.

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You wish there was a place where you could go and learn how to use low tech to create things. How to build with natural materials from your own yard, how to harvest and conserve water on your land, how to be more self reliant.

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We have the solutions for you: come and learn permaculture technologies at Wheaton Labs, in Montana. This summer: July 1st through 12th.

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There is a super deal going on right now: the price of the tickets is discounted more than 80% until Monday morning at 10 AM Mountain time.

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There are a few tickets left at this price. You can learn more about it here: https://permies.com/w/ptj-tix-blitz

Can anyone recommend uplifting and inspiring documentaries (or films) centred around permaculture, foraging, gardening, herbalism, alternative building etc? Needing a little boost of hope and motivation. Thank you!

Hello, all! Winter has been long, dark, and cold. The ground is still frozen but there is a change in the air, and the light grows longer day by day.

The chickens are laying more eggs than I can manage! The Kingdom Bike Shop down the road is planning to re-open their cafe in April and they will be taking all the eggs that the Single Ladies (as I call the flock) can produce, but meanwhile they are already laying at least a dozen every day! Many days are still very cold, so the eggs freeze and crack before I can collect them. Eliza and Pippa, the sweet pups, enjoy searching out hidden nests and stealing the eggs, and though I know I will eventually regret letting them learn to hunt eggs, right now I am glad they are taking in the abundance. I have been selling and also giving away dozens of eggs.

Lillibet and Stella, the mama sheep that I bought last spring, are both now at the butcher. They were reverently and humanely slaughtered the other day, Lilli because she was getting quite old and not thriving, and Stella because her constant escapist behaviors would be learned by the youngsters. This leaves us with Lillibet's ram, Little Guy, and Stella's twin ewes, Skadi and Sigrid, all born here on the homestead last season. I'm hoping the girls are already pregnant, but if they are not yet it surely won't be long.

Stella and Lillibet are providing me, neighbors, and the food shelf with plenty of mutton for stews and shepherds pie. I have their pelts and have dried them in preparation for professional curing. I hope to be able to gift a sheepskin to each of my grown kiddos for their first babies. No, no one is expecting yet, but both kids are in stable, loving relationships and it won't be too long (I hope!)

So I have just about survived my first full winter here in the land. My wood stove has been well up to the task of keeping us warm. The winter storms brought several very old wild apple trees down which will make for perfect wood for next year. There are still a couple more winter storms to come, I expect. March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb.

I cherish time by myself and need a lot of it. That said, I am very much hoping that this was my only winter out here completely alone. It is a lot to manage by myself, for one, and just as important is that I would love to be able to share the experience of living on this land with other folks who might fall in love with it as I have.

As the light changes and the snow begins to melt, I see buds swelling on the trees. I look forward to the perennials coming back, from bee balm to the asparagus that were planted last year, and I fervently hope that most of the fruit trees I planted in the food forest orchard survived the winter.

The ducks did not. They never liked the shelter that I built for them and one day I came home from work to find them all....gone. It was surely the coyotes that I hear some nights, I found feathers and some blood on the snow in the cedar woods just beyond the duck pond. I feel guilt for not having been able to better protect them, and I really loved their presence and will be getting more for the upcoming season.

I'd like to invite your questions and your visits, let me know what you would like to discuss and when/if you are ready to come and see the lay of the land.

-Heather

Hey everyone, my name is Ben. I’m 46 y/o as of October 2023 and currently living in Sacramento, California. I thought that the permaculture community could be a potentially great community to tap into to find a woman to share my dream of homesteading and that is also hopefully likeminded in many other ways. So gonna put myself out there here. This is going to be kinda long.

I’m mostly of Italian descent, but also Spanish, Navajo, and Irish. I’ve never been married and have no children yet. Seeking a woman who shares values and mindset where our lives and personalities can complement one another. Shared interests of course are also a plus. Prefer a woman who is physically fit, active, and interested in being healthy in a holistic sense. My way of eating has shifted among paleo, ancestral and animal based so I would not be compatible with anyone vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, as I plan to raise animals for food and eat meat and raw dairy, tallow, ghee, regularly.

Someone who is interested in homesteading, gardening, living closer to nature because I am about to be actively looking to buy some land this year and possibly in the next few months. I plan to work remotely from there keeping my current job, while getting things set up there. Have been studying, researching and planning this for a long time. Making arrangements with friends and family to utilize skillsets they possess and getting excited.

I prioritize my health and it is important to me to find someone who does the same. I stay active with a mix of lifting weights, daily walks, occasional mountain biking and hiking, summertime kayaking, or paddle boarding, and snow ski when its winter is also another fun option. I do enjoy yoga also, especially in a heated space. I love being in a sauna and plan to build one for home when I purchase land this year. I am a light and infrequent social drinker when it comes to alcohol and prefer similar. No daily drinkers or frequent/heavy drinkers. Please no tobacco or vape use of any kind.

I approach dating with an intention of long-term, to learn where we may align, and if we then can and want to build a connection. I will not waste anyone’s time nor my own. I am taking a more traditional approach, which contrasts with what appears to be the prevailing norm of society with the attitudes of disposable people, things and hook-up culture. I believe in traditional values in the sense of commitment, loyalty, and prioritizing each other and our family above all else. Traditional gender roles. Please don’t misconstrue what I am saying to think that I am looking to have some backwards relationship. Just seeking a balance of the things that men and women different and why we mesh well when we have a healthy masculine and feminine dynamic.

Just imagining the possibility of dedicating myself wholeheartedly to my wife and my family fills me with an indescribable sense of fulfillment. I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to experience all the joys that accompany life's special moments, as well as the growth that arises from navigating through challenging times together. I am warm, thoughtful, passionate, affectionate and possess a high EQ or emotional maturity. I want the best type of relationship where we are best friends and lovers, where we laugh together on the regular and support each other through the good times and the challenges.

I will be happy to provide for my future wife and children if we choose to defer to my income alone and will continue to seek methods of multiple revenue streams, with a mix of my active income from being a RN nurse case manager (100% remote), and plans for passive and semi-passive incomes once on property. If I do have the opportunity to be a father, I don’t want them to go to public school, or daycare, I would want them to be homeschooled.

I plan to buy land most likely in the Sierra Foothills this year and this is because all my family for the most part, at least my immediate family including my siblings and aging parents live nearby so I am not looking to relocate. Sierra Foothills can get some beautiful land 1.5 to 3 hours from the city here and international airport. I have been acquiring knowledge on what it takes to live off grid and practicing what I can in smaller suburban form wherever possible.

Academically, I hold a Master of Science in Nursing, a California, licensed Registered Nurse and Board-Certified Case Manager. Throughout my career within the allopathic (western) healthcare system, I have gained so much experience and seen the light and the dark of it. I continue to broaden my education formally and always self-educating. I am an avid reader and researcher of all thing’s health and wellness among my many other interests. Most recently I completed a 16 week ‘Root Cause Protocol Institute’ consultant program as another layer within my exploration of additional streams of income, such as a health coaching business.

I am not religious, most accurately I would say I am an agnostic-atheist. I have my own sense of spirituality and I feel this most when in nature and when in devotion to loved ones. I do not attend church unless it is to participate on the occasional friends or family members special occasion such as a baptism, christening, or wedding. I have many friends who are Christian or catholic, it is just not a part of life or beliefs.

I am not cv-19 vaccinated and never will be, nor will I have any further v’s, although I have had some of the childhood v schedule, which during my childhood was a small fraction of what it has grown too today.

If any of what I have written here resonates with you, I would love to hear from you. Direct message me and let’s chat, then we can go from there. if you've read this far into what is practically reaching novel length lol, thank you!

Personality insights (if you’re into that sort of thing):

Meyers-Briggs personality Type Indicator: ESTJ

Human Design: Projector - 6/2 profile.

Zodiac sign: Libra

Good luck to everyone on finding their person!

Interests: reading, investing, entrepreneurship, politics, AnarchoCapitialism, agorism, voluntaryism, fiscal-conservatism, libertarianism, free markets, Austrian economics, history, philosophy, Stoicism, emergency preparedness, primitive skills, bushcraft, wilderness survival, firearms training, wild edibles, hunting, homeschooling, homesteading, gardening, permaculture, first-aid/emergency medicine/TC3/PHTLS, camping, backpacking, over-landing, kayaking, snow ski, SCUBA, snorkeling, Health, fitness, weight lifting, bio-hacking, longevity medicine, anti-aging, red light panel therapy, sauna, herbalism, sauna, root cause protocol, cooking & BBQ grilling, fine dining, AirBnB hosting(short term rental), Hosting retreats/events, movies(usually older stuff), live music & comedy shows, and much more. People of influence and interest to me: Carl Menger, Frederic Bastiat, John Locke, Oberon Herbert, Lysander Spooner, Ludwig von Mises, Murray N. Rothbard, Hans Hermann-Hoppe, Milton Friedman, David D. Friedman, Larkin Rose, Thomas Sowell, Stefan Molyneux, Ron Paul, Geof Lawton, Sepp Holzer, and much more.

Lol...gotta love the name! Just saw Chair Fixing Day showing how to repair roundwood chairs! Had no idea how to shim joints.

Chair Fixing Day