Buying the farm, an introduction : an other perspective on restoration agriculture

Permaculture, brah!

I know a lot of stereotypes surround ”permaculture”. I don't want to offend anybody, but most “permaculture” blogs/videos/ books do not fit my personality. Like this guy,

who I believe is really nice guy and his videos are informational, but I do not fit in with whole laidback hippie schtick. So lets call the farming I wan to do something different; to me it is a low maintenance, low input, net positive, 3d, systemic, antifragile, farming method. I will discuss all these terms

Low maintenance

I don not want to demolish the eco system every season. I want to use my time and energy to establish and improve a self sufficient eco system.

low input
I do not want to spend money on poisons or fertilizers that will just wash out to sea and kill fish. Again, I do not mind putting in time and money, but it should be to make something long lasting, not a recurrent spending that does not add to the ecosystem.

net positive
I want the system to produce more than I put in to it. That sound logical, but a lot of “farming” is not net positive; it takes grants, subsidies, etc to to provide sub optimal nutrition and only a marginal existence for farmers. I do not want an 'easy life', but I do not see how relying on big corporations would be better than to rely on oneself.

3d
By adding trees to a system, the photosynthesis surface greatly increases; in other words by adding trees the land will produce more biomass ( fruit, wood, leafs) per acreage. This biomass is not only food for humans or animals, but will also add to the soil, thereby contributing a stable environment.

systemic
I am not trying to increase the yield of a single crop or animal, but to improve the whole system. This is “safer” on many levels; first income/sustenance wise: if one element of the systems yields less, it is just a part and not the whole. For instance less apples but more cherries will balance each other out. For a longterm perspective: farming an eco system will be more resistant to climate change than a single crop. Further more, as it is an eco system, the external inputs will decrease over years and the system will balance it self. See it as a bicycle; as you get the momentum going the balance will be there.

antifragile
Antifragile comes from the great book of Nassim Nicholas Taleb, and represents the opposite of fragile. An anti fragile system is a system gets stronger with disturbance; parts of the system will die, but that will improve the system as a whole. Brilliantly explained as well by Mark Shepard in "Restoration Agriculture"

I am pragmatic and will look for methods that (I think!) will work for me. So I will not discuss politics and ideology outside the direct influence on my goals.

My goals are a

1. self sufficient farm
2. food forest
   That form
3. an ecosystemthat will improve over the years
   This should lead to
4. independence and survival for me and my family

I hope you will enjoy the documentation of my journey!