Georgia Greetings

Hello to all!

I am not, strictly speaking, a Georgian, but I am building in Clemson, SC, so I can drive to Georgia in little more than half an hour.  Does that count?

As many here have lamented, we permies are indeed a rare breed here in the South, and I would relish opportunities to network with like-minded folk in my area.  So please, anyone with advise to give or take, knowledge of local events and resources, or anything else for that matter, aim a post at me and let's start a conversation.  I've also listed my personal email address below, so feel free to drop a line.  I'm a noob to permaculture, as well as to the area, so will gladly receive any wisdom and experience that anyone would like to share.

@MarkAllen200 - what is BSFL composting?

@LivingWind - Where near Greenville to do you live?  What type of property do you have there?  I would love to visit briefly some day, or to receive a visit here, since we live so close.

@Kodou - Thanks for posting the pics of your little hugelkulture beds!  Good luck with those.  I too am building small scale hugel beds, similar to yours or even a tad smaller, although I will likely let them sit and decompose a little through this winter and plant them next spring.  Most people like to build their hugelkulture tall and wide, but I made mine small since I am in a wheelchair, so reaching into them from the edges I need to maintain a small footprint of the bed if I'm going to reach the center.  I will try to post photos sometime soon.  I also have an area where I plan to attempt "sunken hugelkulture," i.e. I will dig a ditch and fill it with branches, then cover back with earth and mulch, rather than building the bed up.  Has anyone else tried/heard of that before?  ...probably a question for a different forum than this.

Peace!

~ Matthew N., southern transplant
elessarrex@hotmail.com

I'm planning on doing the sunken hugelkultur method as well at my new place. No pics yet, still in the planning stages.

I'm one of those North Georgia people. I am in the upper corner near the SC and NC state lines.
I only just heard about permaculture in the last year, but I have been gardening since I was knee high to a grasshopper.

@CrispyCritter - Cool!  What type of gardening endeavors have you been up to recently?  What type of property do you have in your little corner of GA?  Sounds like we are half-way close.  From a fellow permaculture noob: welcome to the fold! : )  Have you and your veggies been located here since your knee-high-to-insects age?  I am a competent conventional gardener - though not nearly as experienced as you; I started when I was more like knee-high to a giraffe - but a first-timer in the South.  The local rhythms and pests and such are a bit strange to me, and I am wondering what to expect.

I am very curious to learn how another newcomer chooses to first implement permaculture.  What first steps are you undertaking to get a permaculture system going?

~ Matthew N., Southern transplant

Issaqueena Oasis wrote:
@CrispyCritter - Cool!  What type of gardening endeavors have you been up to recently?  What type of property do you have in your little corner of GA?  Sounds like we are half-way close.  From a fellow permaculture noob: welcome to the fold! : )  Have you and your veggies been located here since your knee-high-to-insects age?  I am a competent conventional gardener - though not nearly as experienced as you; I started when I was more like knee-high to a giraffe - but a first-timer in the South.  The local rhythms and pests and such are a bit strange to me, and I am wondering what to expect.

I am very curious to learn how another newcomer chooses to first implement permaculture.  What first steps are you undertaking to get a permaculture system going?

~ Matthew N., Southern transplant

Howdy!
I've lived in North Georgia for the last 20 years or so, but I've lived all over the Southern USA, mostly in Texas (I went from black clay to red clay!). I have two acres of land here in the mountains, its about half wooded.
Up until last year I did the typical row gardening, though I have always resisted any chemical pesticides or fertilizers.

Actually my garden this year was the WORST I've had in many years, this was because I tried to do everything in brand new hugleculture beds. I think I had the idea in my head that just employing permaculture techniques would make my garden magically fertile, when in reality, permaculture builds fertility slower than the instant fix methods of chemicals and monoculture farming. 

My first steps (besides the hugleculture beds) have been basically to let my property go wild more or less. I stopped mowing 80% of the open spaces so that they could go to weeds and young trees.
My problem is that there is little top soil or organic material in the open areas on my property and so I am trying to use nature to build up material.

I have also planted around 50 trees in the last few years. Mostly fruit trees. I grew most of them from seeds.
One of the more "unconventional" things I am doing is growing citrus trees.
I have some delicious mandarins in my front yard right now
(take that you floridiots! ;0)

Sounds like a great setup. Are mandarin oranges frost tolerant? If so, how do you handle that?

The letting 80% of your unused space go wild will probably work, but it'll most likely take years for the succession to proceed to decent sized trees. You may want to consider planting trees now that you will want in the future and helping them get established. In the mean-time you can focus on your zone 1 and 2 stuff.

@CrispyCritter - Mandarins?  Really?!  How fascinating.  Please tell more.  I wouldn't have thought you could get citrus to thrive and fruit here, except perhaps in containers.

~ Matthew N., Southern transplant

Issaqueena Oasis wrote:
@CrispyCritter - Mandarins?  Really?!  How fascinating.  Please tell more.  I wouldn't have thought you could get citrus to thrive and fruit here, except perhaps in containers.

~ Matthew N., Southern transplant

Yeah, I'm a wild and crazy guy lol

But yes, I planted two Satsuma mandarin trees in my front yard a few years ago. They are still small, but covered with fruit right now.

I've protected them with a small cold frame type structure in the previous winters, but I am building a greenhouse over them right now.
I also have a citrangequat tree which is supposed to be quite a bit more cold hardy than the satsumas.

I do have other varieties in pots, but I want citrus TREES not bonsai!

Greetings y'all! 
I just joined permies.com, been perming it up for a lot longer though.
Happy to be here! This is a good thread, my kinda peoples!
I too hail from Georgia, Lilburn to be exact. I'd love to explore to possibility of connecting with you fellow locals! Cheers

@ Eartheart - Welcome new permie friend!  I am curious to know what kind of setup you have going at your place: how big, how old, what is the emphasis you place on your design (food? materials? medicines? commercial? homescale?).  Would you be willing to receive a visitor someday, since you don't live too far?  Etc...

~ Matthew N., Southern transplant

Yep, there's a bunch of us. We're just not super organized into one Voltron-like formation. Some of us aren't on this forum, for instance. I assume you've met Duane Marcus? If not you should; he's in Stone Mountain too, over by Pine Lake. Anyway, I'll add my welcome to the chorus, and look forward to working together in the future.

Hello fellow Georgians!

I live in N. Ga. I am in the process of starting a 7 acre Permaculture Farm outside of Dawsonville. We have designed out the farm and are in the early stages of building a straw bale house. We have lots of other projects going on as well and would love to get other permies involved. We have a FB group named "Rejuvenation Farm" that you can join and we are working on getting a website and blog underway so we can better communicate with our community. I hope to meet many of you in the years to come.

Om ~ Jeff

@Jeff - Excellent! I have sent add requests to Rejuvenation Farm and to you personally on FB. I am also building with straw bales and starting up a permaculture operation about 2 hours away from you. My permaculture ambitions are much more modest than yours, on the order of a suburban-scale homestead, not a farm. My home is about 75% (?) complete. I would love to visit your site, and vice versa, and compare notes! I can definitely provide a few hot tips on things NOT to do when building a bale house, LOL! For that matter, I could tell you about things NOT to do when implementing permaculture, too... hmmm, beginning to see a pattern here.

You can see some photos on my FB page, but they're nearly two years out-of-date now. I would love to come and help out some day, though I don't know how much help I could be. We will see when the time comes. In the meanwhile, best of luck!

: )

another georgian here. currently living in europe but my home is in thomaston. will be looking to get connected with something like a csa locally when we return. also thinking about buying land and moving further north into the north georgia mountains.

Madden Elout wrote:I'm in Stone Mountain, so just outside the metro area.

Have you looked up The Funny Farm? They are in Stone Mountain.

Duane is into permaculture and natural building. Our permaculture class with Shades of Green, Inc. in Decatur helped him build a cob oven. I don't think the oven did very well but I think he is planning on redoing it and he will need some help.

Zachary Crawford wrote:another georgian here. currently living in europe but my home is in thomaston. will be looking to get connected with something like a csa locally when we return. also thinking about buying land and moving further north into the north georgia mountains.

Check out Carlton Farm and Bray Farm for CSA's.
Mark

Mark Allen200 wrote:
Have you looked up The Funny Farm? They are in Stone Mountain.

Duane is into permaculture and natural building. Our permaculture class with Shades of Green, Inc. in Decatur helped him build a cob oven. I don't think the oven did very well but I think he is planning on redoing it and he will need some help.

Are you kidding? I head over to Duane's a handful of times any season I can. (last summer was the most recent)
I literally just replied to him before seeing your post.
If he needs help with the oven I'll gladly lend a hand.

If anyone is building their own beehives here, shoot me a PM.

Hello,

I live in Atlanta and just started setting up two hugelkultur beds at my parents' house. I don't have much truly applicable knowledge yet, but I am very interested in any upcoming opportunities for hands on learning! Does anyone know of anything? I only have a bike for transportation, so if anyone knows about anything ITP that would be great!

Thanks

Hi all,

I hope everyone's coping the spring getting a jump on us.
It has dashed my swarm catching hopes for this season, but otherwise it's great.
I'm building the largest hugelkultur bed I've ever done - a neighbor had some BIG wood cut down - and just enjoying the weather before it turns unbearable.

I'm looking for a local blacksmith who can make hand tools, Stone Mountain/Decatur area if possible.
Nothing special just pitchforks and the like
Any recommendations?

@Madden - "swarm catching" ...?

it's a beekeeping thing.
I'd rather catch a swarm from a healthy hive than buy one online.

even more than this, I'd love for the the bees to choose me on their own but that takes careful planting, planning, and just plain luck.

And for my next request...

comfrey.

Does anyone know of a local seller? Or a backyard gardener willing to share?

@Madden - Well, if you are willing to make the drive (about 2 hours), I have several comfrey that I am planning to dig up in the near future, all of which have managed to get themselves in the way of somewhere I need to be working. I'm quite sure I'll end up with more root chunks than I'll need for my own propagating desires. Mine are Russian Comfrey, Symphytum x uplandicum hybrid 'Bocking 14' cultivar, not true comfrey. So they are sterile, which is a definite plus for most uses, given how true comfrey can so quickly get out of hand... just about anything other than starting a whole pasture full of comfrey they will be great for. Have done great for me. Let me know if you are interested - send me a PM with your email address or phone # and I will let you know just as soon as the plants are dug.

thanks for the offer.

Lemme think on it a bit, see if I can plan a trip up that way.
I'll PM you for sure.

sent!

and by the way, I found a blacksmith.
haven't met the man nor seen his shop though yet, so I can't say much about him.

Tim Moss of Moss Blacksmith Shop

If anyone has had experience with 'em, do share here or in a pm.

Hello, I just joined this site a few days ago. I am on several other sites. This is a great site to get wonderful information. I am in Plainville Ga., that is near Rome in NWGA.

Thanks
Deborah

Hey Everybody,
I just joined today, and found this forum right off. Haven't had a chance to look around too much yet. I took a permaculture course at Oakhurst with Isabel a while back, and have been dreaming about my starting my own place ever since. I live in Atlanta in a townhome, and don't have a lot of space. Right now, I'm working in a couple of community gardens and learning as much as I can.

Shelby

Just a quick shout out to all my fellow Georgians. My name is Jon McBrayer. I was born and raised in Forsyth County north of Atlanta. I post every now and then at http://www.jonmcbrayer.com/blog/category/permaculture/ about permaculture, technology, and random things.

Another Georgian here...Cumming GA, just north of Atlanta. Found Permies a few months ago and been reading lots ever since. Have a garden and really interested in home-steading and building a cob/timber/straw bale house in a few years on property that will allow that, once I find some. Try to recycle and be self-sufficient as much as possible. Looking forward to sharing ideas and thoughts with others on this site. Also interested in learning more about Cob and other natural structures. If there is a workshop or labor needed, would like to see if I could help. This last weekend started building a cob oven, got the mix off and it fell apart. Sad sad. but better to learn on a small scale than on a house. Heading to Athens to view the GA Botanical Gardens and get inspired. Love the outdoors, perhaps do some hiking as well. Contact me via GA_seagull@yahoo.com if you worked with GA clay building cob structures. Interested in plans and how you worked with local building codes. Regards, Rich.

Hey Steve Lansing or Rich, Cedar Hill Enrichment Center is having a cob oven workshop this summer which Jeff Steigerwald who posted above is teaching.

Awesome. That place is just minutes from me. Thanks for posting that. Glad to see something that is not on the west coast for a change.

Hi Everyone! I just joined this week and decided I should say hi to all the other Georgians. If you are interested in bald cypress trees, see my other post here.

Hello everyone! My name is Holly. A few years ago my interest in sustainability expanded to sustainable agriculture which led me to first hear about the word "permaculture". While I've heard bits and pieces about permaculture over the past two years, it became clear to me this year that it is now time for me to go more in depth with it and expand my knowledge.

Back in February I began volunteering at Cedar Hill Enrichment Center, a sustainable living center located on 17 acres of property on Highway 53 between Dawsonville and Gainesville. At that time, I had no idea just how involved with Cedar Hill I would become and it has been a joy to be there. I've had the opportunity of meeting weekly with both Kat Stratton and Jeff Steigerwald as we continue to develop a PDC course with both go at your own pace and hands on workshop elements which will launch later this year. I also got to meet [url =https://permies.com/forums/user/profile/157112]Jon McBrayer[/url] when he braved the rain to stop by during our open house last Sunday.

It has been such a joy being able to meet local like-minded and passionate people. In fact, I've been enjoying it so much that yesterday I launched the North Georgia Permaculture Guild on meetup.com. I hope those of you interested in getting together with other local permies will join the group. Right now I am looking for suggestions on days/times to hold our first meetup - a potluck and meet & greet - hopefully the week of June 3rd. I really look forward to meeting new permies and better getting to know those I've already met. I hope to see you soon!

Hi, I'm down in Savannah. Getting situated.

First off, just wanted to say I've always thought "Bert McDert" one of the funniest names ever.
I can't even say it to myself without smiling. I remember seeing it on FB long ago, and then one day the name changed to something else.
I am glad to see it is still in use here on permies.

I'm wondering if anyone would like to do a rideshare for things going on outside of Atlanta. For instance: Jeff's build up at Rejuvenation Farm.
I was trying to get over there last year but never made it.

If you're looking to split travel costs and be in the company of someone like-minded, do please contact me.

Hello
I am camping on my 5 acres in metro atlanta. I have only been here for a few days so I dont have much going on yet. I am interested in helping with any neighboring projects as well as receiving help. I am in the more lenient fulton county part of atlanta. I only go on this website when I have enough juice on my phone. If you want to collaborate on anything drop me a line at rdaybell@gmail.com.
Peace
R

Just moved to Atlanta, Ga. Looking to network with all the permies because I've been here for only 1 day!! My email is squeooinpermaculture@gmail.com Please email me friends!

Mid-GA here but moving to Pooler/Savannah area in October. Would love to connect and get started in the right direction as soon as I can.

Josh Little wrote:Mid-GA here but moving to Pooler/Savannah area in October. Would love to connect and get started in the right direction as soon as I can.

Welcome, Josh! If you're ever near Augusta, chat me up.