Hello from NE Ohio (Medina County)

Hi everyone,

While I've been a member of the permies.com community since December of 2013, I never wrote an Introduction.

This winter, I'm getting around to doing some of the "Someday/Maybe" tasks on my project lists - and this is one of them.

Recently, I wrote an introduction in a Facebook group titled "How Permaculture is Changing My Life" - so it seemed appropriate.

(And here's a link to the group if interested:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/102848366879745/ )

I first heard the word “permaculture” in July 2012.

It sounded interesting to me…but initially, I didn’t pay any attention to it on account of other “life stuff” going on at that time.

I was living in Southern California and was in the process of breaking up with my girlfriend in Orange County and moving to San Diego to get closer to my job.

After settling in San Diego, I began exploring Permaculture more and realizing the impact that it could have on my life and the life of my family, I immediately began forming an exit strategy to get back to my home state of Ohio and help my parents further develop a 20-acre parcel of undeveloped land that they had recently purchased.

The beginning of 2013 involved developing an exit strategy…and by June – I had negotiated a final project to manage that involved relocation to Austin, Texas for approximately a year. I was traveling quite a bit and voraciously devouring podcasts. Any and all material related to permaculture, I devoured – especially the Permaculture Voices podcast.

As soon as tickets were released, I immediately purchased one for the Permaculture Voices Conference (PV1) in San Diego (to be held in March of 2014). During this time, I also was planning a backcountry hiking and camping trip to Capitol Reef National Park in Utah in September 2013. This trip changed my life and led to Permaculture changing my life.

At the end of this trip, I ended up in the Neurological Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at a hospital outside Denver, Colorado. I’ve had epilepsy since I was 13. For a number of reasons, I ended up having a series of severe seizures, and ended up in status epilepticus. The only way out was a medically induced coma, which left me on a ventilator for several days.

Upon recovering, I was forced to return home early – not the intended exit strategy. With possessions in three states, no job that I could return to, no ability to drive a car, and sustained brain damage, the only thing I had going for me was a ticket to the first annual Permaculture Voices Conference, dreams and aspirations. Permaculture showed me the way.

Needless to say, the conference helped me gain the network and resources to begin making healthy, positive, and beneficial changes in my life. Within 6 months of PV1, I had taken and completed a PDC with Geoff Lawton, started a business and landed a side job doing ecological landscape design based on permaculture principles for a customer in my local community.

In the interim, I managed to land a job at one of the largest wholesale nurseries and tree farms in Northeast Ohio in order to further my career in the green industry, while learning how to more effectively implement Permaculture into the industry and into my life. This is just one of the many ways How Permaculture is Changing My Life.

The gratitude I have to be able to share this story with you is immense. Through Permaculture, I am able to more effectively participate in being the change I wish to see in the world. Together, we are working toward living a more healthy, positive, and beneficial life through the solutions-oriented approach that Permaculture is and continues to be.

Thank you very much and I look forward to hearing all of your stories and connecting more with the community here at permies.com

Rob

Hi Rob, welcome back to Permies 😀  Glad to hear your health improved!  Look forward to working with you is some permaculture endeavors in 2017.

Just popping in to say hello and thanks for sharing your story; you've been through quite a lot on your way back to NE Ohio!

Such an amazing story! Are you doing anything now on that 20 ac land? Is it near Cleveland?

Steve Taylor wrote:Hi Rob, welcome back to Permies 😀  Glad to hear your health improved!  Look forward to working with you is some permaculture endeavors in 2017.

Thanks Steve!  Yes, health has definitely improved.  Still looking to improve overall health and wellness (through permaculture and beyond)

Nick Watkins wrote:Just popping in to say hello and thanks for sharing your story; you've been through quite a lot on your way back to NE Ohio!

It sure was an interesting journey a few years ago.  Things took off upon arrival here and I have been actively scaling back on projects to work on building the homestead.  Look forward to connecting with other permies here.  Facebook is nice, but quite awful on many other levels.  

Chris Meador wrote:Such an amazing story! Are you doing anything now on that 20 ac land? Is it near Cleveland?

Thanks Chris!  It's my parents land, actually.  For a while I was leasing land from them with hopes of starting a business, but that wasn't as successful as I'd hoped it would be and I wasn't able to devote as much time into it as I would have liked as well (currently working full time at a wholesale tree farm and nursery).  So business is on hold, and I'm continuing to work with my family to develop the land.  Part of my PDC was developing a comprehensive farm plan for the land which we are slowly implementing as time goes on.

Rob Kaiser wrote:

Chris Meador wrote:Such an amazing story! Are you doing anything now on that 20 ac land? Is it near Cleveland?

Thanks Chris!  It's my parents land, actually.  For a while I was leasing land from them with hopes of starting a business, but that wasn't as successful as I'd hoped it would be and I wasn't able to devote as much time into it as I would have liked as well (currently working full time at a wholesale tree farm and nursery).  So business is on hold, and I'm continuing to work with my family to develop the land.  Part of my PDC was developing a comprehensive farm plan for the land which we are slowly implementing as time goes on.

And yes...Medina County is about 45-60 minutes South / Southwest of Cleveland.  

Very cool. I actually did my PDC project on my parents land as well, they have 80 acres in the back county of San Diego County. I am turning the land into a permaculture education and demonstration site. Currently building a cob cabin, food forest, etc and doing lots of soil building on the property. Also setting up tons of rainwater harvesting systems, passive and active.

I asked about Cleveland because one of my best friends lives there and he went to school for permaculture but doesn't really do anything with it now. He wishes he did but is too lazy to get back into it. Sad

Chris Meador wrote:Very cool. I actually did my PDC project on my parents land as well, they have 80 acres in the back county of San Diego County. I am turning the land into a permaculture education and demonstration site. Currently building a cob cabin, food forest, etc and doing lots of soil building on the property. Also setting up tons of rainwater harvesting systems, passive and active.

I asked about Cleveland because one of my best friends lives there and he went to school for permaculture but doesn't really do anything with it now. He wishes he did but is too lazy to get back into it. Sad

Right on, Chris!  I lived in San Marcos for a while...and moved right before I got turned on to permaculture.  We plan on doing much of the same in terms of education and demonstration sites.  Is your friend named Jason by any chance?  

Haha, no, it's Chris.

Hey Rob! I lived in Geauga/Ashtabula counties for a lot of years, but spent quite a bit of time in Medina and LaGrange when my best friend lived there. I actually went to the WEST side. Ugh. I escaped the lake effect a couple of years ago.

Welcome!