Hello from Chicago!

Hello, I am currently Chicago, but currently looking to buy land in southwest Michigan. My partner and I would like to plant a u-pick orchard rooted in permaculture. In the meantime I am learning all I can and will soon have an opportunity to plant some guilds, and perhaps do some minor earthworks, for some friends south of the city.

If anybody here is practicing permaculture outside Chicago or in the Michiana area, I would love to chat with you and potentially come tour your space! Though I am always happy to talk to anyone about permaculture!

Welcome to Permies!

There are people from all over the globe on this site, hopefully somebody will be from around your area

Welcome to the site. I'm basically at the mid-point between where you live and where you want to buy land (roughly by the Bass Pro Shop on 94). About a year ago I finally got a decent amount of land and have been working on planting a pawpaw orchard.

If you are going to plant a you-pick orchard, that implies something a bit larger than a homestead orchard. Something you might consider is checking out wwoof and seeing if there are any larger orchards requiring help. It can be a complicated business, with a great deal to learn and know. And because of the delay time between planting and produce is a good deal greater than with other crops, it doesn't lend itself to trial and error. Save time and do it right the first time because you already have some learning.

Hi John, nice to meet you. We are definitely looking to include pawpaw in our orchard eventually. What were the condition of your soil and site when you started? Most of what we've looked at is sandy savanna/forest edge sites. Good to know we're unlikely to have drainage issues, but I assume we'll spend some serious time working on build fungal populations in the soil.


Jim, nice to meet you too. Thanks for the advice! I am definitely an education first kind of person and there are a few wwoof opportunities nearby that I'm hoping I can make the most of; there are some beekeepers and people with fruit tree guilds in the area. Unfortunately I'm not in a position to leave for an extended period and there doesn't seem to be anything on wwoof in the area like what we want to do. Which does present us with a great opportunity, but I'll have to make do with books and lectures and establishing guilds in our current location in the meantime.

Welcome to the forum!

Best wishes for your land search.

I am looking forward to any questions you might have.

Dan O'Brien wrote:Hi John, nice to meet you. We are definitely looking to include pawpaw in our orchard eventually. What were the condition of your soil and site when you started? Most of what we've looked at is sandy savanna/forest edge sites. Good to know we're unlikely to have drainage issues, but I assume we'll spend some serious time working on build fungal populations in the soil.

The soil at my property is pretty rough. In the 1950s the property was a hog farm and for at least twenty plus years the property was  basically abandoned. What remains of the soil has a really high clay content such that there's standing water a week after it rains. Once the brush gets cleared out the plan is to start getting load after load of wood chips delivered to start building up the soil.  

At my house 5-miles to the north, things are completely different and a foot down it's near 100% sand.