Tracy Taylor

Hi,

I read both your posts and I hear you. I noticed you grew up on St. Joe's. We currently live on 320 acres near Thessalon. We are having trouble making it. We have the land but work is scarce and I have to travel to the Sault for work. Which, of course, means I am not with my family (my husband and our two boys - 9 and 5) and I am exhausted driving and watching the bank account go into the red every month from gas etc. This is not the life we dreamed of. We severed off 100 acres and we are trying to sell some of the farm to pay off the mortgage which would then free us up to build a small house off the grid and be more self-sufficient. It has been seven years since we moved up here and we love the land but there are not too many like-minded families. My children are in school because I want them to have other kids and not many are brave enough to homeschool around here. Where is the land you found? Northern Ontario? I am not sure if we can be any help but it would be great to chat. My husband also wants to live alone in the bush and he is wary of sharing land and forming a community. But, I think with the right fit...maybe. Your daughter sounds like my son. I just had a teacher meeting this morning that was very unsatisfactory. Really wishing I could pull him back out of school but I want him to have other kids. What do you think about Thessalon area? We are located in Dayton right between Iron Bridge and Thessalon, about 8 km off hwy17 and near Bright Lake, Lake Huron. Our land is mixed, maple syrup bush, cedar, some pasture land. We were a part of the farmers' market in the Sault but we find it too far to travel, especially after driving there all week for work. We are waiting to hear what part of our land is selling...either the farmhouse and barn or the 100 parcel. We are hoping to free ourselves and open some doors to a different kind of life where we are home to raise our family and use our skills. We were both high school teachers in another life but we would rather be gardeners, woodworkers and great parents and friends.

Hang in there.

Tracy.

Just wondering where you are in Northern Ontario? We are on the North Shore an hour East of Sault Ste. Marie and we also have 300 plus acres. Maybe we should talk.

Be True Farm

is located in Thessalon, Ontario (1 hour east of Sault Ste Marie). We are a couple of blue collar seventies kids trying to raise our kids to be conscious, contributing and generally happy people. In the meantime we struggle to survive financially and dream of living and working on the land every day. The plus side is that when we are home (usually one of us is home) we have 320 acres to explore and dream within. We hope to one day share some of this land and we are looking for people with the same kind ideals and work ethics who are struggling to find land and community.

I just found this forum and I am not sure we would be considered hardcore "permies" but I think our ideas align somewhat. I am learning a lot about permaculture and I appreciate the dialogues. I will try to contribute when I have something useful to share. Thanks for reading.

Does it absolutely have to be South Western Ontario? We have 320 acres in Thessalon, Ontario (1 hour east of Sault Ste. Marie). We are looking to share land and farming with another family. We have an ad on www.ic.org - Land and Community. Please check it out if you are interested. Thanks.