Any tours or gardens to visit?

[Taz Mahal]

Are there any gardens out there that are open to visitors this year?

[PJ Chmiel]

Hi Taz,

I will make my 3+ acre edible forest garden in Lawton available for several tours this season—haven't set dates yet, but thanks for the reminder to do that! My site isn't all that "mature," since it was a barren lot in 2010 when I started, but I keep planting all the time and every year it's looking less and less like a featureless wasteland as things start to grow up, multiply and fill out.

I'm sure that a few others in the group will have their gardens available to tour—anyone want to set some dates? Mike, are you going to have a couple of public tours for Lillie House? Tomme and Dale, how about Trybal Revival? The Gibbs House gardens (WMU) are also young but nice and I think you could arrange a tour of those. Norm and Rita usually offer at least one tour per season of their Stone Circle homestead in Lawton, and there are many other excellent gardens and properties represented in this group. Steve? Josh? Amy? We don't have much on the calendar (this is a very informal group), but we should, so garden owners, please suggest dates and times and we'll put them on the website and get the word out. I'd love to tour more gardens myself.

Taz, what kind of gardens are you most interested in seeing?

PJ

On Fri, May 6, 2016 at 8:25 AM, Taz Mahal <sky...@gmail.com> wrote:

Are there any gardens out there that are open to visitors this year?

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[Joshua Shultz]

The Gibbs House is always open to the public for a visit if anyone is interested.  The gibbs has gardens, hoop houses, hugelkultures, a second year food forest, mushroom cultivation, living fence, and more!  Just contact me and arrange it ahead of time and I will give the grand walkabout!  

My farm out in Delton is also open to anyone who wants to see what we are up to.  My father raises grass fed cattle and I have an alleycropping system, orchard, and aquaponics out here.  

Joshua

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Joshua Shultz

Cedar Creek Permaculture Farm, LLC - Owner

https://ccpermaculture.wordpress.com/about

WMU Gibbs House - Permaculture Program Coordinator

http://wmich.edu/sustainability/projects/gibbs

2105 Pifer Rd.

Delton, MI 49046

269.331.0461

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."
— Mahatma Gandhi

[Taz Mahal]

I am interested in urban farming, aquaponics and food forests among other things.

[tomme...@gmail.com]

Hello Van Kal,

Trybal Revival is reevaluating and rebuilding this year as we have realized that it is time to do some down-sizing.  We are in the process of building new beds in our community garden because some of the old beds are disintegrating with age.  Our Vermicomposting operation has proven to be too labor intensive for a nearly 70 year old to maintain alone, so I will be discontinuing our produce pickups at our neighborhood grocery.  Some composting will continue. The orchard is looking good and we are hoping for good production this year.  We will continue our "free farm stand" at Peace House one day a week and the WMU community garden will contribute as well.

In the big picture, we are realizing that it is unrealistic to expect an aging couple to maintain such a large project.  We would like the property to remain a community resource and we are open to ideas.  With the nut trees, fruit trees, berry bushes, grapes and vegetable gardens all in place and producing, the site provides a great opportunity for a community group or younger couple to assume responsibility.  The site also boasts water and power installations and is adjacent to the Common Ground garden resource shed.  The property is owned by the Land Bank and is available for adoption.

If Van Kal would like to include our site on your tour schedule, it would be with the understanding that this project is ripe for a community group or enterprising couple to take over.

Tomme

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