15 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Danelle Roundabouts
Danelle Roundabouts
8 years ago

Thank you for the update. Love hearing about the ups and the downs. I know everyone has those learning curves and the phase of doing it wrong or making mistakes But when you go through them over and over and over (by yourself) sometimes you feel like you are the only one. Or that it’s just you are an idiot. I know that’s not true. Still sometimes man I feel one step away from the fetal position under a blanket with a bottle of tequila muttering just a house boat, just a house boat. hahaha has not happened yet but oh so close. You just back up and hit it again & again & again & again. Really it’s not until someone comes over that understands what we are trying to do that we see all that we have done. We see through their eyes. That helps a bit.

You guys on top of all that to also have the goal of making a profit. HOLY COW. Then working with a flux of strangers and skill sets. Really you all have done a fantastic job. Not one of those things is easy even by it’s self. But all of them together? Oh yeah I’m sure I would have ended muttering house boat house boat. Thanks again Making a trip out to see it has been on my bucket list.

Becca
8 years ago

Jack, thank you so much for your honesty and frankness about the mistakes made and struggles faced in developing permaethos. We bought our little piece of land with big dreams 3 years ago, and have made plenty of mistakes. Most notably, the time I decided we should buy 50 meat chicken chicks and 50 laying chicks to raise, then found myself still building chicken tractors for them when they needed to be out on pasture… And then finding out I was pregnant just before it was time to butcher the meat chickens. Not the best laid plan! But hearing that even those of you who I consider to be experts in homesteading have made mistakes, have taken on more than you could handle well, and are still looking forward to results from your hard work is so encouraging to me. I got my first harvest of plums this year, and am harvesting a good crop of elderberries, and that’s just a small part of what should be coming in the next few years! Thank you so much for all you do to educate and encourage- I would not have done what I have done without your show to keep me inspired.

Farley
Farley
8 years ago

On the note of Agritrue, will there be anything in the new form of Agritrue for those who were paying members of the website?

I just ask since I was the first registered farm on Agritrue.

Andrew
Andrew
8 years ago

On the song:

“The land features mentioned prominently in the song lyrics – the Shenandoah River and the Blue Ridge Mountains – have only marginal associations with the state of West Virginia, and would seem to be more appropriate to describe western Virginia. The river passes through only the very eastern tip of the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia in Jefferson County. Similarly, the vast majority of the Blue Ridge also lies outside the state, only crossing into West Virginia in Jefferson County. According to a radio interview with Nivert, the road is close to her native Washington, D.C., and nearby Montgomery County, Maryland, where Denver often visited. That road — Clopper Road — still exists today, but the landscape has changed drastically from the bucolic scenery that once surrounded it.[11]”
-Wikipedia

As a former denizen of the Shenandoah valley, staring at the blue ridge every day (Rockbridge Co. VA), I can’t help but point this out. My father was born and raised in Greenbrier Co. (You better stand when you say it) West Virginia, however.

Hank
Hank
8 years ago
Reply to  Andrew

All true, Andrew. However, the point of WV where the Shenandoah and the Blue Ridge come together is often the welcome sign for more urban east coasters (such as the writers of this tune, made popular by Denver). Most will never go much further into WV unless they have kids at WVU. I recommend a sunset drive from Frederick, MD down route 340 all the way to Harper’s Ferry. It is very inspiring. I say this as someone who commutes on this route every day. It has not wore off for me. In Harper’s Ferry, there is a rock where Thomas Jefferson proclaimed this areas beauty. That quote can be read here. https://www.nps.gov/hafe/learn/historyculture/thomas-jefferson-at-harpers-ferry.htm

Either way, great freakin’ song, especially if you’re a road warrior.

joshinga
joshinga
8 years ago
Reply to  Hank

Man, spot on Hank. It’s so beautiful up that way, be in WVA, VA, hell even that part of MD. It’s a state of mind, in my opinion.
About 10-15 yrs ago, I used to travel to Eastern WV all the time doing presentations at VFW and American Legion halls and basically anyone who’d have me. I remember one day in the late fall coming back from Moorestown or Franklin, WV and taking the ‘scenic route’ back to VA. I got lost bigger than crap and as dark came in, I had no cell coverage, no gps and my gas tank was running low. Snow started to fall, and I had no way of communicating to my wife.
Scared the hell out of me thinking I’m going to be stranded in the mountains of WV in the midst of hunting season at night.
I drove by a landmark I’d driven by before and I was freaking out, in that I was no going in circles. Kind of like that movie the “Blair Witch Project”.

Anyway, somehow, by the grace of God, I made it, but that was the spark of my prepardeness journey.

Hank
Hank
8 years ago
Reply to  Hank

I’m living in MD right now. I have a great spot that gives me access to the Potomac river and lots of cool tourist places, but I can enjoy them on a Tuesday and not be there with the crowds on a Saturday. The downside is, I live in Maryland. If I could drag Jefferson County across the river, just a few miles, I’d be in a much better place. I have many customers in WV. Cell service is a very finicky thing over there.

joshinga
joshinga
8 years ago
Reply to  Hank

Hey Hank sorry about you having to live in MD. sad actually because MD is very pretty. I went to high school there and if it wasn’t so liberal, I’d certainly have no qualm about moving back. I lived in NJ for a couple years not too long ago and it’s the same thing as MD, outside of certain areas the people are wonderful and the state is beautiful.
But just like MD, the taxes and lack of civil rights simply drove me away.

joshinga
joshinga
8 years ago
Reply to  Andrew

Rockbridge County. Man, Andrew, what made you leave there? That place is simply beautiful. Botetourt county too. I can’t imagine a prettier place on earth.

Mike
8 years ago

I was thinking about your profit dilemma and man I can see that happening. You can deduct that full 25k for a section 179 and then all the rest… uhm…. even if you spent every single dollar, more than likely you’re paying for assets that depreciate, which means you could spend every dollar you received and still owe taxes.

I wonder if you could setup some sort of “lease to own” with trees and fencing and all that to avoid this…

joshinga
joshinga
8 years ago

Jack, great show. I was completely ignorant about what Permo Ethos was. Man, I can’t wait to sit in on some of the videos. $2.99 for a vid on gasification, battery banks etc??? THat’s money well spent.