Aaron Martz

Hi all, hoping to pick the brains of yurt experts on here. I am looking at a Kyrgyz Yurt on Ebay, and am intrigued by the higher roof structure (I'm 6'6"), but have questions about the outer felt covering and it's suitability for the rain and snow in Northern Michigan year round. I have read that Kyrgyzstan is much wetter than Mongolia, and so I'm inclined to think that these would be fairly suitable, with the caveat of taking humidity control measures seriously.

Any thoughts?

That sounds very cool. What is your mom looking for in land?

What is your vision for a large-scale eco-village? I also have a dream of a project of that caliber, but it is very daunting to think about a project of that scope. Very daunting to me. Is there an organizational framework or example eco-village that you are drawn to right now?

I haven't done much with shiitakes, mainly because it is also daunting to try to find a source of wood. If I was to go into it, I would probably want to start with 100+ logs since they take so long to fruit. I'm also excited about the relationships with fungi and vegetation. Coming from a vegetable background, it is extremely interesting to read about how tilled soils are predominantly bacteria driven, while undisturbed soils are predominantly fungi driven. There is a lot of evidence pushing towards a no-till approach to gardening. Just the fact that weeds don't grow is enough to convince many people.

I will keep a look out for interesting plants. I'm going to slowly start growing some things on a small nursery scale and see how I am at that project. There is bound to be experiments with cool plants!

Awesome, thank you for all of that info. I've been a bit reluctant to buy shrubs and trees through a mail order nursery because they are all $20-$30 each... So that is awesome that all of those plants are $4-6 each.
Where are you looking to buy land? What do you do for income?

I've also been growing mushrooms. Starting out with blue oysters on straw, but will be trying out golden oysters and maitake very soon. Hard to do inside in the winter, but I had good success last summer with oysters in my garage. What kinds are you growing? What methods do you typically use? I am trying oysters on straw in 5 gallon buckets.

Hi Wendy,
Did you ever find anyone interested? I would suggest getting in contact with Deanne Bednar at the Strawbale Studio in Oxford. She teaches natural building classes and does thatching. Here is her website: https://strawbalestudio.org/

Hey Erik!
Thanks for the message. That would be awesome to meet up. I've decided that I am going to try to build a round wood framed wood storage hut by our firepit, so if you are into building I would love help!
I have heard of the Strawbale Studio, my partner and I are both friends with Deanne. She is awesome. I still haven't taken a full class with her but I did try to go to her thatching class in January.
I'll be buying fruit trees soon and possibly starting a small nursery if you are interested in those things too.
What are you doing up in Grand Blanc?

Any updates on the sale progress?

Hey all! I'm looking for some new friends in the SE Michigan area. I know there is the Smitten for the Mitten thread https://permies.com/t/13349/Smitten-Mitten, but it is pretty old and I'm not sure who is still active.
Where are you all living these days? I'm just outside of Ortonville, so if you are in the Clarkston, Flint, Holly areas (maybe even in Detroit) I'd love to see if we can meet up.

I'm in a rental with about a 3/4 acre yard. I've been given permission to do mostly anything back here, so I'm planning on lots of fruit trees, tractored chickens, and mainly other woody/perennial plants. Girlfriend manages a demonstration farm, so we are pretty well set on annual vegetables. Can't see myself putting too much money into infrastructure since this isn't a permanent situation for us, but there may be some things I will spring for.

Let's get this rolling!

Aaron

I don't consider having a farmer take fertility from your already stretched out fields a good idea at all. From the economic standpoint, sure, but as we all know the economics of large scale farming don't actually make ecological sense. I would reiterate some of the other suggestions: Does anyone around you have a tractor that you can borrow and rent a seeder to use? By not plowing, you could cut down the work time by a lot. The soil will thank you. Also, is it completely not feasible to have animals on your land this year? Even if they are someone else's grazers, having any animals on there full time will benefit the land greatly.

Ok gotcha. And of course one way of "making" money is by trading for things you need. Thanks for your post again, you have got me thinking of the ways I can use Seaberry in my own future mid-Michigan farm

Thank you for the great suggestions! I know there are enough species of cold tolerant bamboos to keep me occupied