anyone in NW Pa or NE Ohio?

I drive right through Pumxsutawney on my way to Camp Justin. I think its a lovely town, I know a Preacher there in one of your local churches. The Park in the center of town is lovely, but I miss the Old Hardware store that used to be on the corner where 119 turns off, it had a lot of great stuff in it that you can't get at Wal Mart.

Hello everyone. New member here. We are located in NE Ohio about 20 minutes east of Canton.

Welcome Mike, Glad to have you with us. Hope you enjoy the conversation.

Hey newbies

scott mack wrote:Isaac, we will be outside of Steubenville, but in the woods. It looks like 20 - 25 miles or so from you.

i'm only about an hour from ya.

Mike Russo wrote:Hello everyone. New member here. We are located in NE Ohio about 20 minutes east of Canton.

i'm about 2hr from ya.

glad to see so many ohio people! we should have a permies get together for us all round here!

I am in Meadville, PA. Anyone reasonably local that could give me a primer on grafting? I am getting some root stock and scions and will wing-it if I have no other options, but a quick learning session would probably yield better results.

If you don't find anyone local, then I would suggest youtube. EVERYTHING is on youtube.

x2 on that. i even started my own youtube channel. youtube is a great way of learning things.

I will be giving a "talk" about pawpaws and permaculture on Earthday April 20
at Ewing Park in Ellwood City, Pa
stop by and say hi
free pawpaw seedlings and sample frozen pawpaw fruit

one of my posters looks coincidently like the cover of David Jacke Forest Garden book

Duane - just checking to be sure you will still be doing your presentation on Saturday, even if the weather is not overly accomodating. What time is your "talk" going to be?

hi Jen

neither rain, nor wind, nor snow nor,,,
I'll be under cover in a picnic shelter
the "talk" is a continuous loop from 10 til 2

the seedling are free, except you have to listen to my spiel to get them

Just moved to Ashtabula county after an entire life in an inner ring suburb... I now have chickens, 14.5 acres, a pond with fish and a river...

After living in the city for my entire life I realize that I have no idea what I'm doing out here.... loving every single second of it though!

Chickens are living on my front porch since I don't have a coop..

I think that is step one.

Any regional resources for permaculture or a PDC coming up, I could use a few lessons

Welcome Ima, Wow, 14.5 acres and a river. Nice. I've dreamt of having running water on my property. River + Hydro generator = Low Cost Energy! So, Is the land wooded or is it pasture, meadow? After building the chicken coop, what will be your next project? Plan on planting anything in the ground this year? Again, welcome to permies and if you ever need some support, just give a holler. Good Luck

I really did get lucky with the property. I have a south facing slope. The house is built into the slope so I am very slightly underground. The front acreage is all pasture, we told our Amish neighbors to go ahead and take it for hay this year as we are completely clueless as to what to do with it. The pond is at the bottom of the slope. The slope and all around the pond is woods so I have a large pasture up front, woods all on the hills and a pond at the bottom. Behind the pond is the river.

Coop this year, I want to start rabbits too, but honestly the one thing we have in mass abundance here is complete ignorance...

I ate my first eggs this year that didn't come from a grocery store and the first real chicken in my life...

I have watched a lot of videos, bought some books, bought a DVD on soil, but I am way out of my league.

I don't need support so much as a starting point.

I missed the PDC last year in Cleveland which I am still kicking myself for, but hey what can you do.

Any words of wisdom at all would be welcome

Welcome! I do not spend much time here anymore, but saw that you are close by. We are just outside of Meadville PA towards the Oh line. I would be glad to talk to you or have you visit. we bought an old run down property 2 years ago and are making improvements a step at a time. I do not completely line up with some of the idealology here and we have taken some paths that fit us better. Thus far we have created a large garden and can 3-400 jars each year, raise pasture beef, pork and chicken broilers, along with a folk of laying hens. I also keep bees. After 2 years we are now seeing greater direction in what we want to do with the property. It was real easy to get overwhelmed with projects at first and discouraged, but we knew that this was a long term dream and goal. If you would like to talk or visit PM me.
Kent

would love to come out and see the animals and bees - I definitely want to learn more about both. your garden - is it hugelkulture?

no....we are starting this concept www.backtoedenfilm.com and we are using a scaled down version of these pasture management concepts www.polyfacefarm.com and I have followed John Seymour's self sufficiency books from my first exposure back in the 70's. I think that you have to try different ideas that fit your land and life style. We have tried some of what we see here and some things we see else where. we are not experts, but we keep learning and trying. part of our ideals involves preparedness and living simply.
kent

I'm in Slippery Rock, but I grew up in Edinboro, PA. I'm one of the few people who could honestly say when I came here I appreciated how much warmer and drier it was than I was used to. (In Edinboro they measure the snow in feet!)

I am just outside of Meadville too and I understand what you mean about the Edinboro weather! I work a little north of Meadville, about half way between it and Edinboro and sometimes the snowbelt "drifts" a little further south and we get whalloped.

I am just getting started on my blank canvas. I am working on a design for my property through and online PDC course and I think I finally have a somewhat concrete idea of where I am headed. That is subject to change, but it seems to have pretty good bones on which to build on.

Online PDC?

Ima i have rabbit experience and could give ya some info and tons of links (:

Rabbits are project #2, right after the hubby builds the chicken coop we are starting on the rabbits, so your offer is very well timed.

Please send info - I suspect they won't be quite as easy as the chickens to get started... that was go to tractor supply, purchase and figure it out.

If those birds aren't off my porch in a few weeks though there will be a culling...

With the rabbits we want to be more intelligent, pick a good breed... set up a habitat for them... This one is going to be more of my project than the hubby's so the more information I have the better decisions I will make (right?)

Thanks Kadence!

Hello all-

I don't know how I missed this topic, as I've been reading here since late summer-2012. Glad to find it and y'all!

I'm in Northeast Ohio -- in an eastern suburb of Cleveland.

I have a small suburban plot, and am learning as much as I can about Permaculture, and changing how I view and manage our property (slowly).

I have been folloiwng Paul's lawn care guidelines for about 2 years, and we stopped using anything on the lawn at least 5 years ago.

Right now, it being late spring, I'm learning from and about my weeds.
- what can they tell me about what's going on in my little environments
The front yard is still in lawn. (south-facing sun)
But the back is a test bed, where I'm allowing it to grow grass where it wants to, moss where it wants to, and invited some native ground cover (Virginia creeper) in one spot to try out in another spot.
(The big100 year old oak dominates). A lot of my time is spent just trying to figure out what is going on back there!
And what permaculture opportunities I can identify there.
(For my latest wonderings, see my post today on Canadian Horseweed, here: https://permies.com/forums/posts/list/40/4124 )

And I've changed my ideas of this year's approach to the garden 3 times over the last year.
Now, I've decided to use a deep mulch, using the large amounts of oak leaves.

Best wishes,
Mariamne

Welcome Mariamne. It is good to hear from another "neighbor".

John Wheeler wrote: (In Edinboro they measure the snow in feet!)

This made me laugh out loud. So true!

I would like to hear what the rest of you are doing right now as far as the garden goes. I have been setting the plants out during the days. I plan on a full planting Memorial Day.

I have started the long process of transforming my lot into my Permaculture paradise. I have planted a few blueberry plants with quite a few to go, but there is a shed that is my parents that has to be torn down and moved for me to finish in the one area. For the other area, I have to finish laying out my lot lines.

I have enough surveyors stakes that I can see that I can run a string along to get my lot layed out. I ran out of string yesterday and so I will get more tomorrow on my way home from work. I had to laugh yesterday when I was laying some of them out, the one neighbor came out and mowed right over the string, but luckily it didn't get sucked up into his mower. He has a tree right on the line further up in his yard, so I am not sure what his point was, but he will not sway me. I will have to keep things polite, but stand my ground if challenged. We have always gotten along, so I don't think that it will be a big deal.

I also started to lay out some underground fencing for the dogs. Right now I spend more time untangling them than actually getting them done. Lot lines will help me know where to put the wire and also where to locate certain plants that I have that need to go in.

Yesterday I also planted a blackberry, a raspberry, two red nanking cherries, a red mulberry and a serviceberry tree. The neighbor boy (I think he is 9) noticed that I planted some stuff so he was over investigating and asking what I had planted and if I would be planting more. I am sure that during one of my planting days he and his sister will be over to "help". Help slow me down...haha...but give me a chance to teach them a little, too.

This upcoming weekend is our local Master Gardener sales. Friday is seeds and plants for the veggies and Saturday morning is the other group where you will find anything from a few veggies to fruit to flowers to trees. I have not been good about starting veggies this year, so I hope to score some things on Friday and for the Saturday event, I need to hit up the one Master Gardener for a partial list of what will be there so that I can make a game plan. Both sales offer things at reasonable prices, so I am hoping to fill in some blank spots.

The biggest thing for me is managing my time and energy. I have fibromyalgia and was quite frustrated yesterday that I tired so quickly and had to lay down to rest. I guess I have a stubborn mind that thinks that I can conquer the world and a body that brings me back to reality. I will keep plugging away as time and energy allow.

Sounds like a great start, Jen! If you don't mind, I would love to know what you pick up from the Master Gardener's sale. I like to know what will and won't work well in this region. I picked up Hillbilly and Sunny Goliath tomatoes from a small Amish farm. I am excited to see how they turn out. I am throwing caution to the wind and starting to plant tonight.

Rion - You asked me to post my stash from the local Master Gardener's plant sale. Our group is basically split into two so they have sales on two days so I will list what I got each day.

DAY 1 - VEGETABLES AND EXPERIMENTALS GROUP - $8.00 FLAT FEE FOR (1) OF AS MANY DIFFERENT PLANT PACKS AND SEED PACKETS AS YOU WANT

SEEDS
Garnet Stem Chicory
Palla Rossa Chicory
Brown Mustard Seed
Tah Tsai Mustard
Vulcan Lettuce

PLANTS
Charger Tomato (never had but I thought that I would try)
Variety pack of tomatos that had Beefsteak, Sun-Sugar and Aunt Ruby in it
Californa Wonder Sweet Pepper
Red Bull Pepper
Jalapeno Pepper
Spicy Globe Basil
Aton Basil
Lemon-Lime Basil
Brussel Sprouts
Evening Primrose
Loveage
Rosemary
Spearmint
Sage
Bronze Fennel
Black Beauty Eggplant

DAY 2 - PERENNIALS, A FEW VEGGIES, FLOWERS AND SOME TREES - THESE ITEMS ARE PRICED INDIVIDUALLY SO I SPENT A TOTAL OF $34.50
White Lilac (for my parents)
Fall Crocus
Applemint
Butterfly Bush
Toad Lily (just because I really like lillies and I think these look really cool)
Echinacia
Cilantro
Golden Alexander
Comfrey
Catmint (must have grabbed this by accident because I don't need to encourage cats - have dogs that will think it is great fun to chase cats)
Tansy
Butternut Tree (I was also eyeballing a Black Walnut, but my yard is smallish and I don't have anywhere I can fit an alotropic tree like that)
Elderberry
St. John's Wort
Varigated Artemesia
Parsley
Small Milkweed
Artemesia
Thyme
Lavender

I am super stoked about what I got. For less than $43 bucks, I got quite a lot. There was a lot more at both sales that I could have gotten, but I have more than enough to keep me busy this weekend now.

In fact, at the sale the first day, the lady was surprised that I left with only 1 box of stuff. I don't need to be a plant and seed hoarder, if I am not going to get around to using them. I also don't have a conventional garden this year and just plan on planting things here and there and I also have some stuff started in my greenhouse, so I bought some stuff to fill in here and there for what I did not start.

I was really excited this year to see the DAY 2 sale contain much more that I could use in the building of my food forest/permaculture site. Last year there wasn't as much variety in edible or alternate use plants as there was this year. They just had a group go through the Master Gardener training last fall, so I am sure that accounts for the increase in diversity.

How do you think that I did?

I think you did pretty dang good! I hope you didn't start planting. I had to cover up my plants this weekend because of the frost warnings. I am interested to see how these new plants do. I haven't heard of the Charger tomato either!

I have a Sun Gold out and it is doing surprisingly well in the cold. I have flowers. The Sun Golds are as good as their rep so far.

Maybe some day we can all meet up. That would be really cool - If I don't chicken out!

I looked at a few things that I planted last week. The mulberry tree looks sort of iffy at this point after last nights light frost. I am wondering if, by looking at it's leaves, if it might be a little too wet, too after the recent rain. The blueberries, raspberries and blackberries I planted all look fine. Juneberry too. The Nanking cherries and Adams Needle Yucca will be something that I have to watch. They are still hanging in there with the cold, but I will have to wait to see until after this weekend.

I have soooo much I hoped to plant this weekend, but am holding off on due to the weather. Monday might have to be a major planting day because we will be beyond the cold weather at that point. I did plant up a few container things for out front and have to remember to bring in two of them tonight because they have some frost sensitive things in them.

I stopped at a yard sale today on my way home from the plant sale and was able to find a bird feeder base that I have dismantled to use as a base for a bird bath. Maybe since it is so cold I will work on those type of projects so that I am at least being productive and it will let my creative juices flow. The way the top of the bird feeder is designed, I thought that I might be able to make it into a mason bee hive for next year.

Where are you located at Rion? Why would you possibly not come to a meeting of local people if we were to have one? I think that it would be a lot of fun to meet other local people and trade ideas and talk about our projects. It would be nice to be connected to a local permaculture "community".

Berries do great in this area so you should be fine with those.

A bee hive. There are some great threads on here about that very topic.

I'm in NWPA. Close to you. I tend to travel a lot on the warmer weekends so we probably know some of the same places. I tend to psych myself out about meeting up with people online. Seems like there are some cool people from our area here.

Jen - if you do a local get together I would love to attend.

I am overwhelmed at where to start to the point of inaction and I think seeing somebodies works might be the little kick in the tushie I need to get started in the right direction

I am in Ashtabula county... right in the middle of you and Rion...

I am just getting started as well and my "conquer the world" plans will take a long time to implement. I wonder if, since he has been so friendly and has already started things several years ago, if we could encourage Kent and his wife to possibly host a meet and greet? I would hate to host something at my place and have people be disappointed because I am just starting. Or, is there an off site place that maybe we could meet?

Hi everyone. I'm new here as well. I am in Lima Ohio, in a suburb. My husband is grouch and unsupportive but my kids seem to think its a good idea. I have 18774sqft with a creek in back yard. I have woodsy area by creek and several areas of mangled "stuff" on a corner lot. Not big but it's a nice piece of land, a little country in the city. I really want to make it more so. How do people make all those beautiful plans, yesterday I read Gaius garden, but it's on my kindle, hard to remember things and flip back and forth. Is there an app or website to help planning?i did purchase the edible garden volume 2 today. I'm so anxious to start before hubby get the rototill out I need a solid plan and action!!

Hi Jenny and welcome to permies! Congratulations on your land purchase. A creek! It's nice to have running water on the property.
Wow, you sound stoked to get started! Awesome. It seems like you're off to a good start with Gia's and Edible Garden. Permies is by far the best site to learn and get help planning your projects. All the information you'll need is right here. There are some super talented, highly experienced and generous people here at permies. Just read through the forums and start asking questions.

There has been talk here at permies about apps and such for planning / designing. I'll see if I can find them and post it for you. Again, welcome and good luck!

Is anyone going to the Mother Earth News Fair this September?

I am going, Rion. I bought my ticket in January.

Well, if Kent doesn't show back up again, then maybe we could meet there.

I am sure we will come up with something. If people are intersted in meeting some time, PM me your locations and what is good and not good for you and I will see if there is somewhere central we can meet and maybe even tag it onto an event if there is one.

what is the Mother Earth News Fair?

I am new to this area... actually was a west sider...

wow, why did I wait so long to move to the country?