Hi from Michigan, Sunny but cold--Question...

Is the log in name the same as the display name? I do realize I am about to find out. I used my short name that everyone calls me but I didn't include my last name. Do you prefer we use our last names? I do not mind I like knowing who people are too.

I have been interested in Permaculture for a long time I just didn't know it was called Permaculture.

Thank you
Evvie

We do use first and last names here, we find that it helps people "be nice" and civil communication is so much more fun and productive than most of the rest of the rude old internet.

Welcome to permies!

Yup, that's good for me too. I'm just getting started. But I lived in Missouri (Mark Twain National Forest) from age 11 to 17, I remember being really sad to see the trees dying. I wanted to have my own tree farm and have every tree imaginable. I even wanted a greenhouse big enough to hold all the trees that couldn't live in my climate. After I told my Dad, he said "Well you come by it honest, Johnny Appleseed is your 8th cousin" I didn't believe him. Then he said his real name was John Chapman and we definitely were related to him. So I had to ask Grandma, and she got mad at my dad for telling me because she thought he was a bum. She basically put down my notion of becoming a tree farmer because it wasn't long after that that she gave me an expensive set of oil paints and brushes. I am artistic and I can draw and paint, I even went into Sign Painting for 20 years, because artists are always starving. Timing is everything.

I think I'm ready to get back to my ROOTS pun intended! Though I don't think I'll limit myself to trees. I know a little bit about a lot of stuff when it comes to gardens and growing things, our garden was only organic. My Mom did all the work though, we had to pull weeds and pick berries, Blackberries were everywhere. At 2 in the afternoon Mom would send us all to the river for a swim but we had to be out of the water before the undertow changed, which was usually around 5 or 5:30 pm, she'd bang on the bell-housing of an old transmission to let us know we should be on our way home.

My Dad worked for the forestry service and I remember some of his stories about the trees and what he had to do with them, most of it made me shudder, the one I remember most is what he called "punching trees" where he would have to inject a type of growth hormone into the tree to make it grow so fast that it would die. I couldn't help feeling the stress those trees must have felt, I assume plants have nerves and emotions too.

I was also fascinated by the earth; clay, rock, limestone and crystal, I loved playing with it and collecting. I made lot's of armature cup's, bowls, and ashtrays.

I have the nickname's of nature girl, mother nature, and Nut's & Berries, those are okay, people have called me others not so wholesome even though they were in fun, just because I lean toward herbs and nutrition rather than drugs and fast food.

Okay I think I'll stop now. I look forward to learning a lot here.

Welcome to permies Evelyn! That is fine! We enjoy stories! We look forward to any questions, comments, concerns, or etc that you may have here!

I agree with you; that is pretty sad how the trees were killed by growth spurt. I'm in my final year of high school, and some of friends just had their growth spurt last summer. So, I'm surprised how skinny they are now, and I can't imagine how a tree would feel having that happen to them. Kinda silly, but when I see people skinner than me, I want to cook food for them them and make them bigger. That's kinda of my view from growing up in Louisiana. We love eating food, cooking food, and feeding people. No wonder, Louisiana gets in trouble for high obesity rates... woops!

Dave, you would probably want to feed me then. stress does funny things to metabolism. At my lowest I was 98 lbs, I've managed to get back up to about 112 last time I checked. I heard that since fruits and carbohydrate foods tend to ripen in the fall when animals needed to put weight on for the winter that is what I should be eating. I shied away from bread and pasta for health reasons eating mainly meats, fats and veggies, so including more fruit and starchy vegetables has helped.

I still have stress but it's different now, more like what everyone is going through with these changing times. Once I decided what my new purpose was the old things stopped bothering me so much. I had become the family caregiver, taking care of both my parents and a step parent until they passed away over the course of 10 years. Their comfort and well being was my only purpose for most of that time and it took me almost 3 years to re-discover what I wanted to do for myself. What a helpless confusing time that was. I still fall into that some but it gets a little less severe with every passing day.

I think not having a purpose is about the worst stress a person could have. It makes me wonder about those people who give-up and give-in, how did they lose their purpose? I was just a hair's breath from the same fate. Permaculture woke me up and at first I was going to do all that grand important stuff all newbee's expect to do. Over time and some serious down-to-earth thinking brought me to what seems like a workable solution. Since I am "Starting from zero, my next step is 1, and my goal is 5. Figuring 100 will be easier to attain from there." (Sounds like a good temporary motto.)

I'm in a limbo type of situation, I might lose my urban home so I put it up for sale to stop the foreclosure. If it sells I'll have to find a new place to live, if it doesn't I have to be in a position to make sure I don't lose too much in the process. So I'm going to try raising plants from seed and cuttings. Starting mid-winter though limits a lot of the cuttings that I could have sold in the spring. On top of that they have to be movable "just in case". I am creative so there is a way, and that is the way I'll do it. I'm learning to trust myself to know what is the right forward step, even if I don't see it until my foot is in the air.

Not everything is Permaculture, but it is growing things, and talking about permaculture. If I end up keeping my urban home I will apply Permaculture here and hopefully spread it to my neighbors. If I have to move, one of my options is moving to my brothers property in Missouri, he will insist I get a regular job (not that I haven't been trying here for the last 2 + years) but I can apply permaculture to his property in small ways until he sees how it works. If I end up with some money out of the house I'll have other options, either to buy a small portion of his property, or find a place that I want to work with, which may turn out to be the most satisfying for me. Urban or in the country, what ever calls to me at the time, I have ideas for both. Where ever I finally land will be the right place for me to be.

At present my job is selling Roses to couples in the bars on Friday and Saturday nights, it's not easy, nor is it profitable in any real sense, but it is work, I really enjoy putting small arrangements together, and I enjoy the happiness I see when someone receives the gift. It forces me to get out of the house and mingle with people. A friend suggested this to me about 3 weeks ago, he didn't expect me to do it. At first I saw every reason not to do it, all valid, then the "what if's" started in a good way, "what if it works?" Well it does work, and it's satisfying. I don't know if I can sustain myself on this, yet, but I am better off than I was. Only time will tell.

People seem to get that image of Liza, in "My Fair Lady" before she was schooled in the finery of the upper class. I had that image too and was a little embarrassed that I had to stoop to that level. Well I have a new respect for that Liza. She may have come off as a street urchin but I have to say it takes gut's to go around selling Roses, and they aren't cheap, plus many places won't let you in to sell your Roses. So the driving is long distance between stops, therefore time is limited. But where I can get in to sell my Roses I am the Rose Lady now, and I like that.

So today Roses, tomorrow Rose bushes, among other plants and things. I'm going to make myself an herb spiral in the front yard maybe someone will hire me to make one for them. I am growing the extra herbs for that opportunity. I have a long way to go just to get to that, but I will probably sooner than I expect.

It is hard to go forward on a foundation of uncertainty, but knowing what my purpose is, "Saving My Trees and Earths Soil" makes a pretty good stabilizer.

I really don't mean to go into long stories at the outset of a post, but you wouldn't believe the amount of stuff I didn't say, my head is so full of potential stories. Sometimes I can even write one that might make a good blog post, usually it's rambling like this one though.

Thank's for reading.
Evelyn

just want to say Hi from the Keweenaw Evelyn
was reading your post and understand your situation
it helps to vent [re leaves the stress]
we were in se mi and understand the economy [another reason we moved north]

I hope everything works out well for you

Mike

Mike,

Thank you, things are beginning too. I was thinking South for more sunshine.

Why did you choose North? I am really curious because I know other people who have chosen to go north too and am wondering what might be the draw. I love Michigan too, I think it's beautiful, so I am wondering if maybe something up there might work out for me too.

I am open until I'm not. Options are meant to be explored

Evelyn

oldest son going to Michigan Tech. started it and we fell in love with the area
worked for the DOI like your family did down south
ended up getting injured and retired because of it
lots of snow [not the wet stuff like down state] lake effect in every direction except SW
if things do fall apart most are going to head south
we grow food year round and there is a lot of wild foraging available [and clean drinking water]
6'' of snow is an average afternoon shopping trip to town on your car parked
can sit and rest in our back yard and watch eagles flying over the swamp
night time star's are awesome over the big lake and up on brockway mountain
and the big one for me is Its quiet all the time and helps my nerve issue [spinal damage]can relax
good people here too as long as the down state attitude stays south of the big mack
and there is a lot more

Mike

forgot to add we can always go south for a few weeks in the winter if needed [only 30 miles of north left till we hit water lol]

Mike,

Very good point. A boat ride South does sound like a good idea, especially right now. I'm close to the Detroit River and Lake Erie is about 30 minutes away I don't know if you go through that way or not but if you do let me know I'll pack a bag. --Lol.

Your talking about the stars made me remember when we had that big blackout that spanned several states sometime around 2004 I think, I know it was hot, the stars looked like I remembered them from childhood even the milky way was visible. I really miss the stars and the quiet. All this noise, (Grrr) and I live in a fairly quiet neighborhood, people are always commenting on how quiet my yard is. All I can say is that they must have never heard quiet before. I think what I liked as much as the stars and quiet during the blackout was the people outside their houses getting together, connecting without phones, games, and not watching TV. I did feel for those who relied on life support and other issues of true personal safety. That must have been a very troubling time for them and their families.

I wrote a poem about the blackout that went over real well at my poetry group. It had a recurring line that referred to how beautiful the stars were that night. Thinking back on it I don't think it lasted more than one night, but it spanned two days.

I still look up though to see what I can.

Evelyn