Intro to Track #4; Green Energy and Homesteading

How to Achieve Your Permaculture Vision and Execute on It

Photo by David Thielen on Unsplash

This educational channel is one that I wish I had access to over 20 years ago, when I set forth with my wife to tackle the restoration of a 16+ acre heritage farm in mid-Massachusetts, USA. Here, in Track #4 we get into the end-to-end aspects of small farm, or ranch, homesteading, permaculture visioning and pursuits, and the technical aspects of “green energy” such as solar, Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC). There’s a myriad of other complementary green energy and homesteading aspects that will help you with, as well. So, no matter whether you’re dealing with your own home, or business, rehab or with a new construction project, you will get strong value here. Most notably, I will spend quite a lot of time on the incredible federal and state incentives, rebates and financial considerations which should be of considerable interest if you reside in the United States. My state, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, should also be of interest due to the green energy leadership that the state is fostering. This means that if you reside outside of the USA, you may be interested in our financial incentives for your own location in Canada or other country or geography.

Working Farm and Our 6 Educational Tracks

We have always loved historic restoration, and we had some experience with jointly restoring two antique colonials before tackling our heritage farm. I had also tackled two other small house rehabs before this. But our farm project was different. For one thing, it dealt with a significant historic asset within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Secondly, it was zoned as a working farm. These two aspects really got my attention, and ultimately, changed my life. I really wanted to be a “Steward in Time” for a farm property of this caliber! We were both astounded as to the level of purity the farm site and house and barn had. Meaning, there was little “remuddling” as The Old House Journal puts it.

Let’s Get Down to Brass Tacks

This channel deals with the latter topic (working farm) and how the three topics of green energy, homesteading and permaculture come together under the working farm umbrella. In essence, as I look back I cherish my amazing life experience which has, collectively, fostered my interest in recounting our experiences here on Substack. In fact, each of our six (6) Tracks are tied to this farm restoration project which span the professional cultivation, processing and sales of herbal plants and products (Track #2; Herbal Market Gardening). The tie-in to the area of “lost and endangered arts” (Track #5; The Lost Arts Compendium), the pursuit of historic botanical illustrations of herbal plants (Track #3; Herbal Art Collectors’ Series), and even our experiences with large-scale farm dinner / parties and entertaining at-scale in our Track #6; Outrageous Outdoor Eating Events (O.O.E.E) channel.

Photo by Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

Historic Heritage Farm

The farm house that we were tackling in the 90’s was associated with an American Patriot who fought in the American Revolution. He and three other owners in the 1800’s and early 1900’s were, indeed, notable.

Plus, the farm site, itself, had been designated by state historic groups as being worthy of a listing on the coveted National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places. which potentially elevates an asset to a level significance, which most historic houses don’t need to contend with.

Our farm was deemed a “national treasure” if, and only if, it was restored appropriately. Note that’s a point that could keep you up at night! To add to that worry were other restoration aspects such as making sure that we understood that our house needed special precautions and treatment. in regard to things like the “preservation of historic fabric” and other historic restoration principles. That’s where green energy would have come into play, if that alternative had been available in 1995. It wasn’t.

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

Fast forward to today….

This track concentrates on how I can help you to create your homesteading and permaculture vision and how best to leverage develop a plan of action to achieving your objectives. What sets my Track #4 apart, are the financial and self-sufficiency aspects of green energy. I will get into the nitty gritty financial and technical details which my other tracks do not, except for my Professional-oriented Track #2; Herbal / Farm Market Gardening.

I look forward to hosting webinars, threaded discussion forums and podcasts with our Member community. I look forward to brainstorming with you. See you on the inside!

Photo by Bill Mead on Unsplash