Pleased to meet you!

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Pleased to meet you!

Postby Lollykoko » Mon Jan 09, 2012 4:52 am

Today we are all new here, so perhaps some introduction is in order.

I'm Lolly, and interested in living a more sustainable lifestyle than what has been sold to us over the years. It has been six years since I was able to acquire some land that will eventually become home to an extended family situation. Various things have held up construction in the past. This is the year that it will happen, or I'll be out in the cold come fall! There may be a contract buyer for my "in town" home and I'm ready to spend time living the country life I've looked forward to for my adult life.

I live in Indiana, sort of north / central portion of the state. My future permastead is in an area of living water and rolling hills; good soil full of organics that hasn't been tilled in 25 years, with a high water table. So far we have been able to camp each summer and the last few years have seen a few vegetable plants go in the ground for the deer to enjoy. The land is about half in trees, both mixed forest and black walnut plantation. Most of the trees are on the hill, since former owners had kept the flatter ground cleared for mono crops.

I'm retired from manufacturing. I parented two grown sons who now have families that include plenty of grandkids, some of whom are married already. I mentor a bunch of other folks, related by blood or love, or some other glue. I talk too much about the interesting stuff I read or videos I watch that give more depth to the dream we are attempting to build.

Eventually I'm sure I'll create a thread where I can go on (and on and on and on) about what we are doing in my little corner of the world.
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Re: Pleased to meet you!

Postby matt walker » Mon Jan 09, 2012 5:26 am

Great intro Lolly! Your land sounds to be a wonderful spot to build your 'stead. I'll be looking forward to hearing you go on and on and on, personally!
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Re: Pleased to meet you!

Postby eeldip » Tue Jan 10, 2012 4:05 am

black walnut plantation sounds super cool. PICS PLEASE.

when you build your house, seems like it would be cool to cut a few down and make your floor/cabinets/etc out of the lumber.
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Re: Pleased to meet you!

Postby dave brenneman » Tue Jan 10, 2012 4:13 pm

Water, hills and trees? sounds great. Also interested in hearing more about your projects, welcome!
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Re: Pleased to meet you!

Postby Lollykoko » Sat Jan 14, 2012 12:16 am

When we build there may be some black walnut that goes into the construction. But the future home site is dotted with white oak (most is lightening struck which ought to give some interesting coloration), hickory, wild cherry, sycamore, black maple and a half dozen other varieties I don't know well enough to name. We are hoping to use trees from the site for flooring and trim work, at least.

Looking for good photos to start a thread about the upcoming homestead...
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Re: Pleased to meet you!

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Mon Jan 23, 2012 9:58 pm

I guess Lolly had a good idea to introduce ourselves to the group and give a bit of back ground info. So here goes, I live in South west Pa about an hour east of Pittsburgh. I am just west of the Chestnut Ridge that runs from Maine to Ga I think. I always figure zone 5 here because of the effect of the ridge. It is the last thing big enough to be called a Mountain here in the east. So from what I can see from my house on the 1st foot hill to Denver Co there isn't anything big enough to be called a Mountain. We get good rain fall here and my 35 acres is mostly wooded and mostly steep. I have about 4 level acres on top that is right off the road, the back side is north facing and steep, but it keeps the neighbors away. I can mow about 3 acres, one acre of yard, one acre with the garden, apple trees blueberrys, and cane crops and butterfly garden in it. And one acre that is mowed 2 or 3 times a year just to keep it open. I have planted some english walnuts and have some native black walnuts growing around the place. I have cut paths through the woods and mow them to keep them open, and I put in a very small shallow pond some years ago down near the bottom of my hill where the springs come out. It is about 20" X 40" and maybe 3" deep in the middle. I had the house built in 1978 and moved here that Dec. I worked in a family business for 35 years and was forced to retire for health reasons. I had a stroke and 3 heart att. I am living everyday now, and give thanks for every day The Good Lord gives me here. I have heated with wood, don't anymore. We have canned alot of the garden produce for the winter, don't anymore. I am not trying to live off the land anymore, just trying to enjoy life here on the place , it is a beautiful spot. I have done alot of " Improvements " to the land over the years, and I have enjoyed seeing how things turn out. We raised 3 boys here, it was a great place for them to grow up and I am very proud of all of them. I have 5 Grand Kids and Pap Pap loves to have them come and visit. My wife has no interest in the garden or flowers or the improvements I have made over the years. She likes to play in the pool in the summer, not work in the garden. So we have a definate division of labor here, I do the yard work and garden work etc, and she does the picking. We both seem happy with that. I logged off the back woods 2 years ago. Cut some selected trees, left the best trees. Should be good for the woods and it helped me live about a year off the procedes. Now I am getting alot more light down to the floor of the woods, not sure what to do with it. So I found permaculture and I am interested in learning. I have been organically gardening for over 30 years now, but permaculture is much different. I love to work the soil and see things grow. I plan on continuing to double dig my garden soil and add improvements to the soil. I would like to plant some chestnut trees and maybe some goose berrys this year and put in an asperagus patch. I have been working on an old mine opening behind the house and want to make a shade garden there with some paths, steps and a bench or two. Food from the garden is Great, Permaculture is great, but enjoying life is my main plan here at the place. My goal is to be happy. That is kind of where my head is at and what I am thinking at this stage in my life.
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
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Re: Pleased to meet you!

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:13 am

I forgot to mention that I used to be a Good Deed Doer, and have been involved with Community Affairs in the past. I am a member of the local Rotary Club, I have been active in my Church, On the board of the Chamber of Commerce for 9 years, Member of the local Business Distric Authority Board for 20 years. Board member of a Non Profit called Pa Cleanways that picks up illegaly dumped litter and garbage along rural roadways, water ways, pathways etc. for 20 years. Chaired the commity that built a local park on an old industrial site. Chaired the tree planting project on Main Street. I used to be involved with my Community, but I don't do much now, when I retired, I totally retired. Turns out retirement suits me. :lol:
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
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Re: Pleased to meet you!

Postby Lollykoko » Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:23 am

Friendly Guy, it sounds like you are keeping somewhat active and interested. Both of those are important things, IMO.
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Re: Pleased to meet you!

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:42 am

I try to stay active, it is good for my heart. I work out side as much as possible, when I get tired or winded I sit down and rest a bit. I try not to be stupid. I truely enjoy working in the garden. I truely enjoy working in the woods. I truely enjoy walking along the paths. Its great to be living here in the country. I am still interested in Communit issues, but my finger is no longer on the pulse, I have lost touch with what is going on. Now I try to plant seeds and see what grows. I suggested last year that the town start a Community Garden on some vacant land they own. There are several good spots in town for this idea that are close to rental apartments. After driving around town with a councilmember and looking at sites with him the council picked a spot in an area of town with no rental propertys and put an add in the paper very late in the planting season for spots to garden. If you own your home and want a garden you have one, people who rent are the ones who need the community gardens. The people in charge of the Borough did not want to have any more work for them to do, so they delayed for a number of months befor doing anything. Then when no one applied for a garden spot because it was too late to get a garden ready and plant it, they could say, see it didn't work, no one in town wants to garden. They had asked me to spearhead the project then I suggested it last fall but I said no. I did give them ideas about the size of garden that would work, about some rules they could use for the project, and how to reduce the work by haveing the gardeners police themselves and set their own rules. If I had spearheaded the project maybe it would have been different, but my get up and go, got up and left. Now I just plant the seeds and if they grow good, but if they don't sprout, Oh well.
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
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Re: Pleased to meet you!

Postby Jostein » Fri Feb 10, 2012 11:08 am

I guess this is a suitable place to make my introduction as well.. wall of text incoming!

Hey everyone, I've been lurking/reading on these forums the past few weeks, and figured I might as well go ahead and register myself. =P
Im a 25 old guy from Norway, from a city with aprox 25k people. Me, my wife and son plan to take over the familyfarm as soon as my dad get his new house built (might take 3-5 years for all I know, bureaucracy is like in so many other places very inefficient here - atleast when it comes to buildingpermits :?).

The farm is aprox 160 acres (if my conversion from the metric system is correct heh). It is located on a northfacing slope, starting at the bottom is a river at about 75m (246ft) above sealevel, and the topmost point on farmland further up is about 160m (525ft) above sealevel. The property goes much higher up, but there's only forest as of know further up (fir/spruce? and pine mostly, some areas with birch/leaftrees ++).

Nevertheless.. i've been talking with my dad a lot throughout the winter, and come spring I will start with some various projects (hugelkultur++) on the farm to see what can be considered viable with the soiltype, location and landscape of the farm.
As it is now, most of the cultivated area of the farm have been "rented" out to some other farmers in the area, they are using it to grow grass/hay/food for animals the conventional way.
I'll make a thread in "members' 'steads" at a later time with more info about the project(s), with pictures etc. =)

I've always enjoyed the nature, fruit, veggies, animals and the scenery when I was growing up on that farm, its the only place I really consider home. My dad used to take us fishing trout, pike and perch quite often throughout my entire childhood. Plus hunting (moose and deer) and generally doing stuff in the forest are mostly the stuff I remember as good things from back then, but somehow along the way I started focusing more and more on computer stuff and sitting indoors all year long :p I've tried a lot of various jobs (started working the summer I turned 14) as an assistant with some forest research throughout Norway, on the local golf course, in the local alpine center, package delivery business, then turned over to the gaming industry (PC games) for a short while and finally my last job (the one I currently have) is as a computer consultant in a big firm in my city/town. Though I have not a single doubt in my mind that what I currently do isnt what I exactly consider useful for neither myself or the humanity, and I guess i've changed a lot the two last years after my son was born (plus i've been sick the last 2 years and got a ton of food intolerances). It gaveme a wake up call and I started reading a lot, I stumbled upon "permaculture" and after that I havent had a doubt in my mind what I want to do with my life! I dont want my son to eat all the veggies and other food with leftover herbicides/pesticides etc in them. I want clean, fresh and locally grown food, so might as well do it myself =P

I got tons to learn, probably the hard way. So far Sepp Holzer is the person with an area in a climate that resemble my own that I've found, I seem to find more material from warmer climates. Here in Norway I dont find much information at all, not on the internet in any case. The hard part about finding info are all the english names on plants/guilds (they might not even be viable in my area, or found at all in Norway), the difference in climates and very few use the metric system when describing whatever they talk about.. weirdly enough =P hah

Tried to keep it short, but well I write a lot sometimes :lol:
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