Anyone in Minnesota?

Just wondering if there are any Minnesotans in here! I don't know anyone who is into this kind of stuff, and as a single female I'm finding it hard to even figure out where to start in implementing this in my life. I grow my own herbs/vegetables but I've only been doing that for 2 years and I haven't had a whole lot of luck either. I am currently living with my mom (as I can't get anything better than a minimum wage job right now), but someday I would like to live in an ecofriendly house, using solar or wind energy, recycling rainwater, cooking entirely organic from my own garden, and possibly even living in an RV like this guy: http://tynan.com/living-in-a-small-rv-introduction

So I'm just looking around for like-minded neighbors!  

I am also from Minnesota.

Sorry to hear about your job woes. it is a hard market out there. I gave up looking and am starting a produce farm.

We are starting off with conventional methods, (minus the chemical and manufactured fertilizer) and will transition into a more permaculture styled system. On Paul's sliding scale of permiculture my goal at the moment is a 5 or 6. (currently at a 1 or a 2.)  We will see how it goes from there. I have a long way to go and funds are as always short.

And then there is the task of building our sustainable zone zero.

Where about in Minnesota are you? My wife and i are living along 169 halfway between Mankato and the Twin Cities.

mngardener wrote:
I am also from Minnesota.

Sorry to hear about your job woes. it is a hard market out there. I gave up looking and am starting a produce farm.

We are starting off with conventional methods, (minus the chemical and manufactured fertilizer) and will transition into a more permaculture styled system. On Paul's sliding scale of permiculture my goal at the moment is a 5 or 6. (currently at a 1 or a 2.)  We will see how it goes from there. I have a long way to go and funds are as always short.

And then there is the task of building our sustainable zone zero.

I am not familiar with Paul's scale but will read up on it eventually! I'm not anywhere near a point yet where I can do anything anyway, I'm pretty much just in the learning phase right now. That's awesome what you are doing...I'm sure it's hard without much of an income. I can't even afford an apartment 

Where about in Minnesota are you? My wife and i are living along 169 halfway between Mankato and the Twin Cities.

I'm in Hastings, so I'm thinking maybe an hour or two from you?

Paul had an idea that i liked, instead of using labels such as organically grown , sustainably grown, or things like that. he thought there should be some type of sliding scale so on a range of 0 - 10. (0 being the typical monoculture chemical farming and 10 being sep holzer style permaculture). So instead of some one going from one label to another, they just slowly ratchet up their scale till they are where they want to be.  Much easier going from a 0 to a 1, then it is going from a conventional farm to organic.

This venture is interesting and exciting. it is so much different growing at a large scale then it is out of a garden, even a large one.  Thing change rapidly when you are planning for 500 to 1000 plants (epically tomatoes) then it is for 20. 

I have been though Hastings a few times it is a pleasant town. I hope your financial woes change for you and you are able to do some of the stuff you are learning about. I love it when i can visualize and complete a project, particularly then it actually works. 

I figured it was something like that! Sounds very cool!

Yeah Hastings is pleasant, that is a good word for it! There is still a lot I don't like about it but it's all i've ever known so it's hard to leave. At least we have a co-op store here that sells mostly organic locally grown food!

Thanks for the well wishes, I hope my situation improves too. Well if nothing else at least I am growing some of my own herbs & veggies! 

Am I late for the party? Doesn't sound like there are too many Many-Snow-tans on here.  =P

Hope things improve soon.. for all of us!

Hi Blackbird! Yeah, not too many of us, indeed! Nice to meet you!

Hi all,

I'm newly arrived here in southwest MN, working on a small CSA fruit and vegetable operation with my parents following 6 years of voluntary service in Bolivia. It's good to see that there are others on here from this part of the world. I would really enjoy getting in touch with more people in this region working on issues related to sustainable living, since it can feel pretty lonely here at times.

Good luck to all in preparing for winter!

njh383 wrote:
Hi all,

I'm newly arrived here in southwest MN, working on a small CSA fruit and vegetable operation with my parents following 6 years of voluntary service in Bolivia. It's good to see that there are others on here from this part of the world. I would really enjoy getting in touch with more people in this region working on issues related to sustainable living, since it can feel pretty lonely here at times.

Good luck to all in preparing for winter!

I would like to try something like that, but I don't want to quit my job and then have nothing to come back to. I wish I was just 18 and fresh out of high school with nothing to lose.

There are a few of us in MN. I finished my PDC back in 2007. I am in Cottage Grove. You can volunteer over at Sam Kedem's farm in Hastings in exchange for free produce!! I haven't done it yet, I volunteer at Natura Farms. I might have to try out Sam's sometime too. I have only been there once to buy some fruit trees from him. But he has fruits and vegetables and chickens. So volunteering will likely get you doing some cool things and some free food to boot.
Many who know permaculture here live in MPLS. And quite a lot in Wisconsin. I havent met anyone on this side of the cities who was into permaculture.

Hello from the Twin Cities! Urban foraging, growing food and raising livestock is very possible here ~ my sweetie and I have raised chickens and ducks for meat and we plan to keep raising chickens for this purpose. I am also interested in raising rabbits as well. Having a goat is allowed in St. Paul and other areas might also someday allow them. We don't have a car and get along very happily without one. I do my laundry without machines, I have made a DIY composting toilet, and we've already been doing the greywater thing for a long time.

Wonder if anyone else here is from Minneapolis/St. Paul or surrounding areas.

There are a few of us. I am 8 miles from downtown St Paul.

thaddeus owen wrote:There are a few of us. I am 8 miles from downtown St Paul.

Party on. Whereabouts are you? I'm also about 8 miles from that downtown in the old St. Paul village of Lauderdale that borders both cities...

Cottage Grove

I everyone!! My name is Ryan and I live in stockholm, Wi (20 mins south of Red Wing on the WI side, 1 mile from the river up on the bluffs!). A couple years ago after getting in to raw milk and raw animal foods I became involved with a traditional foods list serve (TFMN- yahoo group, any trad foodies here?) and that led me to organic, then grass fed, then finally permaculture. It's been an amazing, life changing experience and that motivated me to move here to my mom's farm in WI where we currently raise grass fed heritage dairy cows and free range chickens, along with various other animals. This year she finally got on board with permaculture principles and we just ordered 10 lbs of heirloom seed, and soon to order 2000 strawberry plants, along with 10-25 lbs of wildflower seed. Our goals for this year are to ....

- Start a strawberry u-pick, but with a permaculture slant (that's where the wildflowers and veggies come in!)
- Permascape our garden area, again veggies and wildflowers
- Create more water catches, rain gardens, aquaculture
- Begin raising beef cows, all grass fed, on land of ours that was previously conventional monoculture
- Permahab our small apple orchard with wildflowers, companion plants.
- Add pigs to our menagerie and incorporate them in to the growing process.
- Add ducks
- Use the farm as a teaching platform and inspiration for others in the area.

Would love to have you all out some time this spring/summer for a potluck or get together. The area is beautiful and the drive down is gorgeous.

I work and stay in the cities, where I'm from, Apple Valley, during the winter, except when work is slow, so if you wanted to catch a ride out with me that would be cool too.

I'd like to get to know other like minded individuals in the area and support one another in our permaculture goals. It's a lot easier, even just to have the moral support, rather than feeling like you're totally alone. Last year I did a test run with a low maintenance garden, basically just planted and let it go. Didn't really do anything to it all season and was pleased with the return. For a couple of hours worth of planting, we got back loads of zucchini, eggplant, some tomatoes, cucumber and beans, beets and lettuce. This year we're going to do greater variety and quantity, and make a better effort with design. This season we basically chopped and dropped everything where it was to feed the soil. Can't wait for this time around!

Also can't wait to get to know ya'lls!

Cheers and happy planning/implementing!

Hi Ryan
Send me an email thaddeusowen at gmail

I think I saw some posts of yours on the TFMN list.. maybe it was a different Ryan..

Would be interested in checking out your farm. We used to raise scottish highlanders when we lived in MI... now we live in the suburbs.. so no cows or chickens these days.

Hi all I just came across this site while searching for info on urban foraging and thought i'd join! You guys seem like an awesome group. I am pretty much new to all of this..after an 8 year wasteful consumerist marriage with nightly dreams of living in a sustainable commune i thought i needed a change.. Its been baby steps... literally... i started with nursing my new wee un, and cloth diapering, and now I will be starting my first container garden on my tiny balcony in St. Paul... I have no idea how to continue from here but would love to get to know and befriend some Eco-conscious like minded people

Hi Shay! I'm new here too! Welcome. That is so cool you're not wasting the winter for growing! I'm just today starting some of our veggies here with a fluorescent light. We also have a few professional grow lights that I may implement to give us a headstart on tomatoes and such. Today I'm planning to start some cold tolerant plants like onions, leek, broccoli, lettuce, kale.. etc

Have you heard of the traditional foods yahoo group here in MN? It's a group of consumers and farmers who practice Weston A. Price principles (sustainable farming). It's a great place to get to know like minded folks here in our area because it's specific to MN/WI. They have food swaps, potlucks, activist activities and also a list of great local producers who are doing things right. Here is the link.....

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/trad-foods-MN/messages?o=1

I think you have to have a yahoo email address to join, but both the email account and the group are free and it is sooo worth, I can think of no faster way to plug in to a local community of people who are on the right track (no faux health foods here like tofu, farmed fish, agave nectar, etc) just people who think traditional, nutrient dense, sustainable foods are where it's at, and who shun modern industrial foods.

Cheers!

Hey everyone,

I'm new here and from Saint Paul, I'm looking forward to learning and being a part of the community. I'm in the beginning stages of learning and educating myself about permaculture, homesteading, and the like. I'm curious if anyone here knows about Egg|Plant, it's an urban farming store here in St. Paul that I've found and really like. They have some supplies and also offer classes. I'm signed up for an urban chicken class this March.

Ryan Quinn wrote:
Would love to have you all out some time this spring/summer for a potluck or get together. The area is beautiful and the drive down is gorgeous.

I work and stay in the cities, where I'm from, Apple Valley, during the winter, except when work is slow, so if you wanted to catch a ride out with me that would be cool too.

I'd like to get to know other like minded individuals in the area and support one another in our permaculture goals. It's a lot easier, even just to have the moral support, rather than feeling like you're totally alone.

Ryan, I like what you're doing and applaud you for it. I love the idea of a get together, it'd be great to meet some local permies and further solidify the community.

Cheers,
Kirk

Hi Minnesota people!

I live in south-central MN and might be the only one attempting to practice permaculture in Faribault Co. (though it would be a wonderful surprise if there are others). I'm a corn and soybean farmer by day, or make that spring and fall, and do whatever I can to make my own small 10 acre farm better and more self-reliant the rest of the time. Right now we have some chickens and ducks and I've planted dozens of useful perennials in the past 4 years. Right now it's maple syrup season! We're also building a passive solar house with whole-trees and salvaged cement blocks.

Good to know that there are many others in the state!

Just wanted to stop in and say Hello to all the Minnesoootans. I moved to MN from WI last year. I have been cruising the forums checking stuff out, oh also I am listening to piles of Paul's podcasts. This is my first year doing a garden, iv'e got 300 onions in the ground, and a 100 more waiting to go in. Haha yes people laugh at me, when they hear how many onions I planted. I have big big garden plans, they include wheat, oats, buckwheat, corn, squash, pumpkins, watermelons, tomatoes, peppers, beans, peas etc.

I am glad to see fellow Minnesotans with a permaculture mindset, when I first started reading about permaculture it was all about places on the west coast, which is difficult to translate to this climate.

Hey y'all!
I'm living in northern MN (Grand Rapids area) and I'm hoping to find some land and start homesteading soon. I'm also taking the PDC course in Bayfield, WI in a few weeks. Anyone else?
Anyone know any permies in the northland? I'm especially interested in artisan cheesemaking, beekeeping, and natural building- particularly cordwood. If anyone knows anyone involved in those endeavors, or needing an extra hand please let me know!

Thanks!

Lissa

Uff da i am from minnesota too,lol i live in Owatonna due south of da cities on 35 there doncha know lol,wife and our son rent a house but growing a garden is tough with all the trees in the back yard to much shade and the city won't let us have a veggie garden in the front yard where all the sun is, but i found out we got a bee hive in our poarch above the front steps got a couple of bee keepers helping me out and i get to keep the honey and the wax one mor way to stick it to the man lol welcome to minnesota uff da and all that good stuff rember it's not casserole it's Hotdish lol

hollering at y'all from Minneapolis

btw I recently got my PDC and am interested in an educator/teacher training. Does any one know of any upcoming ones between Oct 2012 and April2013? I'm willing to travel!


Also watch for the 1st Gathering of The Guilds permaculture camping weekend announcement soon. Sep 14-16 in Geneva MN

Thanks

3 days of Permaculture Skill-shares, Workshops and Networking.

Sep 14-16 at Harmony Park, in Geneva, MN


Gates open at Noon on Friday - Come early to set up your camp and help us create the event.

This is a COMMUNITY CREATED EVENT.

We will provide the infrastructure and logistical planning-YOU provide the knowledge. ALL SKILL LEVELS ENCOURAGED. This gathering will offer local permaculturists, farmers, gardeners, activists, and others a chance to spend a weekend sharing skills, making connections, and learning.

WE NEED YOU to facilitate a workshop or share a skill. Some ideas include:

Sheet Mulching

Animals in Permaculture

Hugelkulture

Composting

Urban Permaculture

Bees and Pollinators

Mushroom Cultivation

Vermiculture (Worms eat my garbage)

Seed Saving

Freezing, Canning and Drying

Fruit Tree Grafting

Humanure

Wild Edibles Walk

Grey Water Systems

Rainwater Catchment, Storage and Use

Seed and Plant Swap (Bring you extras and bring home some new additions)

This is a family friendly drug and alcohol free event. There is onsite tent and RV camping, a Community Kitchen to provide 6 meals (bring your garden surplus to contribute), a kids space with ongoing activities.
We request a $20 donation to cover toilets, kitchen staples, and site rental.

NO DOGS!

NO OUTSIDE FIREWOOD!

Yep you bech ya... From the west side of twin cities near the edge of civilization. When I was growing up in this area it was farm country. We still have a few corn and soy bean fields around yet. I have a place in McLeod county. Garden stuff includes water melon (sweet baby), Strawberry's, Raspberries, Highbush Blueberries ( a few years away from production) and aprox. 100 grapes ( Marquette, Frontenac, Frontenac Gris, La Crescent, Western Concord), apple trees and mulberry trees. I have two parcels out here, one 21.5 acres tillable and hay and 18.5 acres prairie wet land 3 miles away from spot one.

I have been watching permies dot com for about three years now and only very recently joined. Currently looking for work but my property with all my projects keep me quite busy. Will be doing my own posting soon on Pole Barn project... completing a stone wall around the structure three sides, then onto building vestibules on either end of the front of the building (cordwood) , then the roof over the stone wall creating a cellar around my pole barn. Also in the works are a refrigerator within the structure (cordwood) for storing grapes harvested.

I am into wild flowers out here too. A relative has 29 acres of CRP which I'm continuing to spread seeds out onto. I also take plugs of materials from my wet land over to the CRP and insert them in it for further additional plantings. I have been also planting trees of various kinds to enhance wildlife aspects of both properties. The wet land sits next to a small mud lake 1/8 mile wide 3/8 miles long and has an interior cattail swamp in the wet land area. I know of a secret place where I can get my hands on 4 to 5 pounds of wild garlic seed, though it is late in this season already for that. Would like to create a butterfly sanctuary on the CRP. Distributing lots of butterfly weed seeds and blazing star seed, among other stuff too. I coin this obsession, Artistic Wildlife Landscape Architecture. And you guys from Minnesota have no idea how deep this goes... I will do guerilla forestry by going out to other parts of the state for tree material!!! No Lie...

That thing in Geneva MN sounds interesting. Maybe if some of my watermelons are still ripe will bring along.

So there!!! 12 in AM. Shows you guys what a late night nut I am, right...

Gathering of the Guilds Permaculture Weekend is One Month Away!

The GOTG is only a month away, and we have some updates and reminders for folks.

The Gathering of The Guilds takes Place Sep 14-16 at Harmony Park Music Garden (79503 298th St., Clarks Grove, MN 56016) http://bit.ly/NpDr4B


Gates open at Noon on Friday Sep 14– Come early to set up your camp and help us create the event.
Remember-This is a COMMUNITY CREATED EVENT. We will provide the infrastructure and logistical planning-YOU provide the knowledge. ALL SKILL LEVELS ENCOURAGED. This gathering will offer local permaculturists, farmers, gardeners, activists, and others a chance to spend a weekend sharing skills, making connections, and learning. We are asking a $20 donation to cover food, toilets, and site rental.

If you plan to attend PLEASE RSVP to gotg2012@centerfordeepecology.org and let us know you're coming so we can plan for food, etc. You can also find us on Facebook at Facebook.com/centerfordeepecolgy.

If you plan to facilitate a workshop or skillshare, please let us know what you want to talk about and how much time you need. Also let us know if you need anything like power, projector, etc. We plan to have workshops all day Saturday and half of Sunday.

A schedule will be posted to our FB and website the first week of September. We will also email to anyone on our mailing list at the Center For Deep Ecology website. Tentatively it looks like this-
Friday Site opens at Noon-food available at 5pm-Films in the evening.
Saturday Breakfast 8am Morning Sessions 9-1pm--lunch 1-2—Afternoon sessions 2-6pm--dinner 6-7
Sunday Morning sessions 9-11—Brunch 11-12—Afternoon Sessions 12-3pm—Park closes at 5pm

Food- We will provide 5 vegan/vegetarian meals (with meat options) from Friday evening through Sunday. Folks with food issues need to come prepared in case our menu can't accommodate you. We are also asking folks to bring items from their gardens for the kitchen. We will be asking for volunteers to help with meal cleanups and prep. Signup will be available at the Kitchen

Camping- The site has RV accommodations (please RSVP) and tent sites spread throughout. Bring a tent(duh!), clothes for the weather, and anything you need for the weekend. We also ask you to bring a chair (for sitting!) and your own cup. Please don't bring your dog!

Skillshares- This is a Community Created Event! We are all experts at something, right? Bring your love of obscure composting techniques, cutting edge rotation methods, or other Permaculture concept and share it with all of us! So far, we have some mushroom workshops, seed saving discussions, plant walks, site tours, and hands on canning demonstrations planned. More as you reply

If you have any questions,to RSVP, etc please email us at gotg2012@centerfordeepecology.org
Find us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/centerfordeepecology
http://www.centerfordeepecology.org

Hello Minnesotans!

I'm up here in Duluth and wanted to invite anyone interested to a Sepp Holzer-style PDC.

Half full, here's the poster.

Best of luck with all your ventures.

Hey Chad, I got your info on the upcoming event at Spirit Mountain. Would like to attend. I think I have seen something about this gentleman somewhere here in Permies.com. Unable to determine at this time whether I would be able to attend all days, but a couple over the weekend sounds good. See you in Duluth... , used to live up on the hill N 7th ave. east. And throughly un-enjoyed a ride down all bumpy streets to St. Lukes when my appendix ruptured some years ago. Still have to take revenge on an old landlord now living in Superior WI for that. See you in October.

Sounds great Daniel!

I'd love to talk to you about timber framing. We're hoping to get started on that this winter.

Have a good day,
Chad

Just joined permies! I'm currently living in Minneapolis near the EP Mall, if you know where that is. I'm in a nice townhouse but I can't do anything outside as we have this silly HOA that doesn't allow gardens, pots or anything outside their 'approved' design for the neighborhood. I've tried growing my own food inside, but I want to keep the carpets looking nice as I'd like to get out of there as soon as I can! I can't sell the place now because I'm underwater about 40K, so I'm stuck there until the economy improves.

Otherwise, I'm on meetup.com and I've gone to a few permaculture events, mostly down in Prior Lake.

I don't have a lot of money saved up either... I only have 9,000 dollars in the bank! I'd like to buy CHEAP land, and build a home CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!!! I don't have land, nor does my family, so I can't just 'get out there', until I can legally dig my toes into the ground. But the SHTF when I buy the land, start building, and an inspector comes and says i have to tear down what I have and build a 100K home instead!!! (which means a high salary job for 30 years!)

I've just recently replaced my broken washing machine with a bucket, plunger, and a salad spinner! so... small steps... small steps...

Welcome Joel! I hear you about the financial limitations, but have you noticed all the unused space around? Keep your eye out and I'm sure you'll see a lot of permaculture potentials... empty lots, un-manicured fringes, all sorts of things. Even lots of city parks and public lands have abundant resources for cultivating or sometimes even harvesting (ie. apple or other 'ornamental' trees and shrubs). Also, I found that when I wasn't able to actually 'dig my toes in the ground' it was a great time to read up and make plans for 'someday soon.' A PDC is a fabulous way to get inspired. And as you said, small steps... because they're still steps! Best of luck!

Lissa

hey everyone Im up in Alexandria...2 acres with a dome greenhouse - got persimmons and figs, plus kiwis and goumis inside. In year 5 now. Things have really opened up for us as variety...I think doing it up north correctly can be quite the joy. Big advice - russian comfrey, black locust...nanking cherry+black currants (the deer don't even touch these two), white clover, and sea buckthorn...then plug in some bigger stuff you can find locally. The russian comfrey and sunchokes are just a instant hit in the garden. My spot is pretty unsupervised for most of the year - so Im trying to establish more ways to keep the deer out...its hard without a dog. My garden can be found on my site. Good luck this winter!

Hi all, my name is Daniel I'm a 36 year old guy who grew up on a farm an hour west of Minneapolis but moved to tasmania in 2001 where I met all kinds of permie folks and became a strawbale home builder, renewable energy installer, composting toilet builder and joined the permaculture guild of tasmania.
I came back to the farm 6 months ago to help my parents transition from farming and build the infrastructure needed to make the farm more attractive to csa / permie farmers. I love this land and its an amazing opportunity to be given a farm but as someone who is extremely unconventional, I'm finding the dominant culture here to be suffocating and am considering going back to tasmania where I may not have a beautiful farm but I have a community of critical thinking, like minded folks that pull me in the direction I want to go.
I am really glad to hear all you people exist in MN, thank you for being salmon swimming upstream in a very strong current. I personally need close community around me to be happy and was wondering if there were any other people on here that dont buy into the cultural norm of one nuclear family on one farm. I think I could stay here if I could find a small group of people who want to live a simple, honest life, creating and growing thing of quality and beauty, sharing land and infrastructure, tools etc. people who want to live with intention. Right now I feel like most people that have a similar mindset leave MN and go to the west coast or elsewhere and the few holdouts are dotted around the state like the handful of organic farms in the sea of corn and soybeans. It's nice to know they exist in theory but it doesn't make me feel less alone and isolated here. Are there any folks out there who like the idea of living closer together? Thanks for reading my long rant:-) Daniel

I know that it can be tough in the sea of soy and corn...those poor farmers are wasting more land than the suburban developers FOR SURE. I think though in the near future it will be optimal because the price of heating may become to expensive for others to deal with...the cold winters could push more people out leaving the harder folks that can care for themselves cheaply and easily...people dont really mess with you here - but MN can be a dumb state with taxes and regulations. If you have a nice spot with core people I would surely stay, but as an overall scene its definitely not worth talking about too much...one definitely has to create the party themselves if you know what i mean. I honestly started my place in MN because my 55 year old parents live there. But it has its benefits and honestly in 20 years it could be PERFECT. They arent going to be growing corn and soy like that for much longer It will just be too damn expensive to keep up the insanity. Suburban developments covered in food forests will be the best replacement. CHeers!

daniel zetah wrote:Hi all, my name is Daniel I'm a 36 year old guy who grew up on a farm an hour west of Minneapolis but moved to tasmania in 2001 where I met all kinds of permie folks and became a strawbale home builder, renewable energy installer, composting toilet builder and joined the permaculture guild of tasmania.
I came back to the farm 6 months ago to help my parents transition from farming and build the infrastructure needed to make the farm more attractive to csa / permie farmers. I love this land and its an amazing opportunity to be given a farm but as someone who is extremely unconventional, I'm finding the dominant culture here to be suffocating and am considering going back to tasmania where I may not have a beautiful farm but I have a community of critical thinking, like minded folks that pull me in the direction I want to go.
I am really glad to hear all you people exist in MN, thank you for being salmon swimming upstream in a very strong current. I personally need close community around me to be happy and was wondering if there were any other people on here that dont buy into the cultural norm of one nuclear family on one farm. I think I could stay here if I could find a small group of people who want to live a simple, honest life, creating and growing thing of quality and beauty, sharing land and infrastructure, tools etc. people who want to live with intention. Right now I feel like most people that have a similar mindset leave MN and go to the west coast or elsewhere and the few holdouts are dotted around the state like the handful of organic farms in the sea of corn and soybeans. It's nice to know they exist in theory but it doesn't make me feel less alone and isolated here. Are there any folks out there who like the idea of living closer together? Thanks for reading my long rant:-) Daniel

Daniel, welcome back to Minnesota! Sounds like you have some amazing skills, we could definitely use them here in Minnesota. It'd be sad to see you leave, I'd love to see you stay and help us make Minnesota great! I'd love to see a great Minnesota Permie culture built and sustained. There is even a Permaculture Research Institute here in the Twin Cities. Maybe we should have some meet-ups here in Minnesota? I've recently started a Minnesota focused Permaculture site, PermaMN. I'm hoping PermaMN can help create a more sustainable Minnesota using Permaculture.

kirk is right...its people like the permies that show a better way for the people stuck in the past - who cares about the neighbors anyways? Its all about your core-tribe, and if you come at people with an open-heart and not preachy, they will think youre a nice guy (albeit a bit strange lol)

When they see your results they may even start doing something similar - we need it here. Im up in Alexandria and this is a pretty red area - people arent thinking about nature and um..being healthy(?) too much...but hey - more woodchips, dumpster dived goodies, and farm scraps for those who know...stick around bro.

anyways - do a seasonal thing (april to october) in MN, then do something else...your parents could use the permaculture principles on their property and think about how good you can make it - people nearby will see and perhaps you can turn the local community (without even trying very hard) into a community forest garden. All it takes is a few convincing people and some money.

Im doing this up in Alexandria (northwest of st cloud on 94) but in the winter Im traveling - permaculture really makes this all possible for a person now.

It seems like we could definitely use some Minnesota Permies community strengthening Would anyone be interested in a community meetup?

Hey all! I just want to say its great that you folks are here and communicating about this... this lack of permaculture community in MN. I just moved back to the state as well, after a decade or so of traveling and living in very progressive areas. I too was discouraged by the challenges of living in a very 'red' area and came very close to relocating again to a town full of people just like me. Then it dawned on me.... this place is the perfect blank canvas for permaculture. So many folks here are proud of doing things by themselves, and whether they label themselves rednecks, jack pine savages, hicks, hippies or permies, we all have a lot in common. None of us like people telling us what to do, or following convention! Since I made this realization and starting approaching people with this common ground, I've found there are even more similarities than I first thought. Sure some of us will always disagree, but I encourage everyone to take a second look and reach for a common thread... be it wild rice, old ways of plowing fields, hunting, canning, beer (everyone likes beer, right?!) or even sewing. People are rich with knowledge and if you ask the right questions, most are more than willing to engage. And those of us with unique skills are potentially very valuable to those who don't yet have them. If we all knew everything, there'd be no reason to converse right? But if we keep inquiring, sharing and learning, who knows, before long we might just turn ourselves into that community we were missing.

And yes, I'd be interested in a meet-up too, although logistics may be challenging in this far reaching state of ours. None the less, lets give it a whirl!

Cheers,

Lissa