Intro from a Michigander

Just thought I'd introduce myself. I just joined a little bit ago. I live on 2.24 acres in West Michigan. I have sand. I think permaculture is the answer to food self sufficiency for my family. I have 51 fruit trees, asparagus, 40 blueberry plants with dreams of more.Raspberries grapes etc though most in infancy. This year, now that I have gotten into the idea of permaculture i am going to stick even more fruit bushes in my yard! my poor husband! and work on ground cover and work to reduce my need to water the garden. I have over 1/2 acre in food... it should be closer to 3/4ths of an acre though now. Now that I know permaculture, my poor husband better watch out or else I will take up every space that doesn't involve the garage/house/driveway! muwhahahah! Anyways, I will post pics of my progress but for now this is my blog.... you can see my orchard/trees/berries but as you can see, they need permaculture applied yet!

My Blog

Hey Amanda, glad to hear of more permaculturally-minded folks in west Michigan, sounds like you're doing some great things!

I'm located in southwest MI, Van Buren county, a bit west of Kalamazoo. We have a permaculture group for the SW region called Van-Kal Permaculture (find us on Facebook or join our e-mail listserve via the link in my profile). If you're farther north, there are lot of PC types around Traverse City; if you're somewhere in between, I'm not as familiar with what's going on in that area. A woman named Brenda Groth lives in the northern lower peninsula and has contributed all kinds of wonderful posts to this site, I'm sure you'll hear from her if you haven't already. Last fall there was a MI Permaculture Convergence that brought people together from around the state, that was a lot of fun and I'm really looking forward to this year's event in the fall.

I've got a 3-acre forest garden in the works, going into the fourth year of the project, though it's been a slow start on account of poor, dry, sandy soils and pest pressure from moles, rabbits and deer. The link to your blog didn't work for me, but I'd love to see what you're up to and invite you to join in our e-mail group discussions if you're so inclined.
-PJ

Welcome Amanda! Understand your enthusiasm. Don't forget nuts, too!! Some of the bush types would start to produce in your lifetime and would be a good compliment to all you have going on. I must say that I would be in absolute heaven with all those blueberries. My blueberry babies just got started last year and in a much smaller quantity. Making my mouth water just thinking about them. Sounds like you have REALLY good bones to continue to build on. Can't wait to see the updates!

Hi Amanda,
I'm a few months late to this post, but I wanted to pop in and say "hi!" I'm in west Michigan too, Mason county- I know what you mean about the sand! But we (my husband is also a reluctant accomplice) are working on an urban homestead...although it feels funny to call it urban because the size of the town is so small .
We've been planting blueberries, asparagus, and fruit trees..I also went a bit wild with strawberries on the base of my hugelkulture.
I would be excited to hear how your progress is going!