I first met Nick Ferguson in the Fall of 2014 at a TSP Fall workshop. I’d heard about him being a permaculture guy who knew a lot about plants and raising animals on a homestead. The class he was teaching at that workshop was about plant propagation. It sounded interesting but I felt like the course was a little over-hyped with statements like “you can learn to propagate plants and build a sustainable and profitable business from your backyard”
We hear that kind of stuff all the time and I was a little skeptical. When I met Nick he seemed a bit shy but that changed after I saw him teach. The plant propagation mist system he showed us how to build was something even I, with two left thumbs, could build on a budget. He showed us everything from how to take the cuttings, arrange them in the mist box, he even taught us how to graft fruit trees that day. I have employed the skills learned from Nick that day and been rewarded greatly with a perennial food forest of food production in my back yard. That one day learning from Nick was worth the entire $500 I paid for the workshop.
Once I started doing the math on how many cuttings one could start and grow into small plants and trees, and knowing how much that stuff sells for at even wholesale prices on Craigslist, I realized that he was right. One could earn a significant amount of cash income by simply setting up a small nursery start operation in their back yard.
I’ve got a decent job downtown right now and I don’t have the time to commit to that type operation. BUT, if I suddenly found myself without a job, Nick gave me a great small, part time business that I could start up on a shoe string and pay the light and grocery bill for my family! WHAT IS THAT WORTH??
The second workshop I went to with Nick, he taught me how to basically turn a concrete parking lot into healthy soil. OK really it was just dead, hard dirt, not concrete but you get the idea. He took hard pan clay soil and turned it into deep, moist, rich earth in one year!!! WHO DOES THAT???
The things Nick does and teaches are sometimes so far fetched sounding, I think people just don’t believe its even possible. But I’ve seen it myself and this guy is truly an asset to anyone interested in growing sustainable plants, livestock or nursery products.
If Nick lived in a major metro area like Houston or Dallas, he’d probably be making millions a year off a nursery, teaching and consulting. But Nick is in central Louisiana developing his family farm into a prototype of what can be done with the techniques he teaches. To feed his family, he generally has to travel long distances to do consulting. My wife is a consultant who travels across the country every month, so I know how much that takes away from family and from home projects.
This summer Nick launched a Patreon program to provide his sponsors a more direct line of communication and so he can stay home more to develop his prototype small homestead operation.
Personally, up to now, I’ve never really bought into the whole Patreon concept. It seemed kind of weird paying someone to create content or support their projects. However; when I looked back on all Nick has taught me already, and when I consider what kind of productive and profitable systems he could create working more at home in his “Homestead Laboratory”, I realized that there is no better way to provide consistent reliable, financial support to someone who is developing cutting edge sustainable agricultural practices and technology that may completely change the way we look at businesses or farming or homesteading.
NICK FERGUSON’S PATREON CAMPAIGN!!
So that is why, albeit quite a few months late, I decided that the first Patreon sponsorship I’ve ever done needed to be for Nick Ferguson. To me it’s kind of like saying…
“If you could have been an initial supporter of Steve Jobs, or Elon Musk, would you have given them a few bucks a month to help them create the future faster?” (Duh.. yeah..)
Well, I’ve seen Nick Ferguson perform some amazing miracles and I think by giving him more time to develop his homestead and do research, he’s going to make some breakthroughs that will change the way we grow things. I plan to be one of the few to know about it first!
I’d appreciate it if you would check out his Patreon video and website and consider sending him a small regular contribution.
I’ve seen a lot of people ask for support but I can’t think of anyone I’ve met who deserves in more than Nick. I promise you’ll receive much more from Nick than you’ll ever give to him.
Thanks,
Mike
MIKE CENTEX LIFE 