Great Lakes - Ecovillage Now

A NEW OPPORTUNITIY - large acreage of mixed forest, tree farms, meadows now free and clear. Need partners for development. Ideal for a cooperative, ecological community, home and enterprise
A clean, safe environment. Heavenly for children, artists, retirees.

Resources include: Tree plantations with 18.000 cabin-log size trees, clean and abundant water, hardwood stands capable of supporting thousands of syrup taps and mushroom logs. The region is FULL of small farmers and ag-entrepreneurs in fruit and wine country. CLEAR, clean lakes.

PRESENT PRODUCTION:
- includes building logs, posts, rails and ornamental wood
-mushrooms, wild and cultivated
-apprx 75 tons of compost annually and acres of mulch
- vast Hugelkultur resources
-wildcrafted and cultivated herbs (speciialzing in wildcraft raspberry teas.
-nursery stock for a perennial polyculture and a low-input sustainable culture.
-camps, cabins, studios, small-homes, office/workshop, holiday lets, etc. All log, all sustainable mixed small shelters, assembled and kit.

SEVERAL OPPORTUNITIES: Live, grow, work and play all in the same environment. Host retreats and foster learning communities. Build agroforestry businesses.
This is the heart of resort life and the site of a highly sophisticated and able food culture. One hour south of the Mackinaw Bridge.

Build your own camp and shelter, or we can build it for you.

Ready to go? Landing sites are all prepared. All questions welcomed.

AN UPDATE:

Three families are engaged on-site.  Six more families are making plans to visit and/or take up a lease holding.

One house underway is timber frame and strawbale.  Other sites are prepped and ready for use.

Enterprises forming on site include
-Mushroom cultivation on maple, beech, and ironwood logs
-Sawmill will convert round cabin logs to dimensional timbers.  Need to thin some 7,000 trees as scheduled service on a stand of some 18,000 trees.  Sixty feet tall and 12-14" dbh.
-Nursery establishment underway.  "Edible Landscape" theme for a perennial polyculture.
-Maple syrup.  Sap house underway.
-Organic herb cultivation and forage.  Wild Raspberry Tea in bulk.
-Learning community offers retreats, guided camps and associates degree in agroforestry.
-Custom forestry services
-Custom building services
-Artist community
-Food production for trade and sale.

This seems like an amazing project, I'd love more information on what kind of people you are looking for, and what your vision is for this ecovillage. I'd love to get involved in your project, although I am not quite local. Any info would be much appreciated, and I look forward to talking to you in the future.

Matt,

What kind of people?  I'm not sure I can answer that one very well.

Folks who are keen to grow good food and swap good food with good neighbors?   I'm old now.  They say the tastebuds are the last to go.

Seriously ... gardeners and wanna be gardeners ... people with enough sincere interest in an immediate and lush environment to generate their own very steep learning curve ... and then perhaps be willing someday to share their knowledge with others?

People who probably want to build their own camp/cabin/homestead.  Creative people with lots of common sense too.

People without drama and who do not suck the air out of a room or conversation.  Good listeners and story tellers are always valued.  

Honest folk who can think and talk straight.

People with kids ... people with great grandkids.  Retired teachers, and those just getting ready to teach.  Single folk, retired folk ... maybe even a musician or two.  

How about someone who knows what the word Chautauqua means and who may have an itch to recreate a similar camp experience.

Artists

Herbalists

Entrepreneurs

Academics might be tolerated, but accepted only after they produce their own garden or build their own treehouse.

But mostly gardeners.  Havng food and health in village common is a powerful unifying factor.  I don't care about the political, religious, or philosophical views of my nearest neighbor.  I care what he thinks about the soil he walks on and tends and what kind of eggplant she might be growing.

VISION?  It is a big space surrounded by big space here.  Room for lots of vision.  
My own?  A learning community.  A place for tending human potential and cradle to grave learning.
A healthy place.  A fair and honest place, and a resilient place when the chips are down.
A retreat and a haven.
A laboratory for an organic, Earth connected life.


Matt, I told you I would not be good at the answer to such a huge question.

What would you most like to know?

Is there room?  Plenty.  Come camp and look around.  Risk free.  It speaks to a lot of people who visit this big lake country for the first time.  Maybe it will have a whisper for you!

Vision?  A place where there is room for the genius ... the Light, in everyone.  A place to learn and grow.  A laboratory for Life.