Adam Poch

Thank you all for the responses!  Sorry it's taken so long to get back to permies, I honestly lost track with all that's gone on this year.  We didn't find any acres yet, and we're shifting our focus a bit more south (probably around Kalamazoo) for a better grow season, "less" winter (my girlfriend is not keen on all the snow around Traverse City haha).  I got my PDC this year under the tutelage of Peter Bane, Keith Johnson, and Rhonda Baird down in White Hall, MI.  It was a great experience, and I have been thinking about starting my own business, so lots of ideas have been mulled over I've met a couple other permies up in the TC area, but it's a pretty loose association from what I can tell.  

@ Ryan - I drove through Kaleva quite a bit working this summer, it'd be cool to come by and check out your place!  I don't have Kik messenger is, but I'll send you a PM in here with my number.

@ Joshua - Awesome!  I'd love to come by and check out what you've got going on.

Hello all!

My girlfriend and I are looking for opportunities in NW Michigan (greater Grand Traverse region) for the better part of the 2019 year.  My background is in ecosystem restoration, outreach coordination, park maintenance/services; and my girlfriend is a graphic designer who also does fine art, so there are a lot of realms we could help out on!  We are looking to relocate to that area so I can look for my own property to establish a permaculture farm with greenhouse operation as primary income, and so that she can pursue selling her art in nearby communities.  I am focusing my search between Traverse City, Muskegon, and Cadillac, so if you're in or around that area and have some work or WWOOF opportunities, please let us know!  We would prefer to both have paying jobs, but I am willing to do a work exchange for food/housing if there isn't enough paid work available.  Mainly we just want to be able to subsist (and she would like to pay off her student loans), help with projects around the property, learn skills related to greenhouses, small-scale farming, wild harvesting, carpentry, and re-purposing material as much as possible.

A little about us; we have three cats and a dog, my hobbies are pc gaming, guitar/piano, reading, exploring natural areas, baking, and physical training.  She likes to paint, read, explore natural areas, do crafty things with scavenged materials, and cook.  We both have our own permaculture pursuits; she is interested in apothecary/herbalism for healing and general well-being, so she is currently learning about foraging for plants to be used in salves, tinctures, oils, teas, etc.  I am more interested in self-sufficiency in food and energy systems, so my focus is more in taking raw materials and refining them, like the process of growing cereals, milling it, and turning it into bread.  I like the idea of being in control of most, if not all, my food needs, but most of my experience is with integrated pest management (mostly for invasive plant species).

If you need any help around your property, or have farm/food production positions opening up in the next few months for this area, please let us know!  We are excited to delve more deeply into all things permaculture, meet awesome people along the way, and build relationships that work for everyone involved.  If you would like a copy of our resume's, send me a personal message with your email.

Thank you for reading and we look forward to hearing from you!

Adam

Thank you for the replies so far, good information to help me refine the search!  

@ John - Interesting thoughts on Rochester.  We were of the mind Rochester would probably be the most marketable for what we want to do, so it's nice to have some more depth to that area.  I appreciate the insight into potential river systems to look into!

@ Mike - Yeah I thought Madison would be the best choice for this region but after living here and talking to quite a few landscape architects, urban farmers, ecological gardeners, etc. it's put me off from the idea of doing it around here.  For the sake of others into why that is, it's mostly due to property value, property tax in Dane county, large scale industrial farming in the surrounding area (and the environmental degradation that goes along with it), and the surrounding natural areas being largely oak savanna and prairie.  I'm leaning towards more of a temperate broadleaf and mixed forest ecosystem largely because of how/where I grew up and my affinity for expansive forest systems.  

@ Mary - Have you started planting pioneer/succession plants to help with the clay?  I'm curious what your first steps will be with that other than observing it in different seasons.

Hello all,

First poster here.  I'm looking for some information on midwest permaculture communities.  My girlfriend and I are looking to move to an area to start a permaculture/greenhouse farm and want to find somewhere in the midwest (mostly looking at Minnesota, Wisconsin, or Michigan) that has a permaculture presence or at the very least an acceptance of that lifestyle in the area.  I am ideally looking to be tied to the local community via educational resources, farmer's markets, sustainability events, etc. and be just outside of an urban area.  We currently live in Madison, WI and there is a permaculture guild based out of here, but we are looking to move to a smaller city/town (anywhere from 10k-250k metro pop).  Some of the places we've investigated so far are: Duluth, MN; Eau Claire, WI; La Crosse, WI; Rochester, MN; Muskegon, MI; Cadillac, MI; Petoskey/Mackinaw City, MI.  

Duluth seems to be the only one that has self-proclaimed permaculture farms in the area that we've found thus far.  Everywhere else has some organic operations but it seems the awareness of permaculture is absent in a lot of the Midwest, which is one of the reasons I want to move there to increase exposure to the ideas it promotes.  I plan on obtaining a PDC (Permaculture Design Certificate), so access to teachers for that would be preferred.  

Any guidance is appreciated, we are ready to get out of the city and start moving on implementing these principles as soon as possible.  And we will be attending the Wisconsin Permaculture Convergence Sept. 14-16th if anyone else plans on attending, we should meet up!  

Thanks,

Adam