I was born and raised an urban city boy. Having type 1 diabetes I have always been interested in health and nutrition. After watching a Chris Rock routine in which he began ranting about the fact that the last disease we cured was polio, and that efforts to find cures have been replaced with the search for more expensive ways to manage diseases, a light bulb went off. That's when I began to realize how devoid of nutrients the food we eat actually is. So this year I started a garden.

The purpose of the garden was twofold: to eat food that was vine ripened, and to lesson my dependance on "the system". I became interested in permaculture when I realized that not only was the food being picked prematurely so it could be transported long distances which prevented it from developing it's full compliment of nutrients, it was also soaking up all the chemicals being sprayed on it and the ground.

Currently I am trying to learn how to garden and make my own compost. There is a definite learning curve for both. I am dong no-till gardening because I believe the fungal nets that form right beneath the surface are crucial for the type of success I'm looking for. I have some small rain catchments in place so I can water with rain water when possible. I have also started an extremely small, experimental aquaculture system in which I have a couple of fish and several mint plants - and one basil plant - acting as the water filter.

I am extremely limited on time and money, so everything I do must be done on the cheap, typically using things that I get from the trash and that weren't originally meant for the purpose they are being used for.