g's journal          

5.8.10

first post from the outpost

In case not everyone makes it to the bottom of this page, I will begin as I will end: with an invitation to all to come for a visit.  The accommodations are what travel brochures refer to as rustic.  It will be a camping experience, and I offer my cabin to my guests and am happy to stay in the hammock or tent for a couple of nights for those who prefer an enclosed space to open sky.  This is truly a place to get-away-from-it-all, with free lodging.

That said, here's the scoop on my new locale.  I am living on a nature sanctuary in southeast Michigan (about 1½ hours north of Detroit).  The land is 110 contiguous acres including a home site, large produce garden, wetlands, woods, fields, and two small lakes.

The owner is Clark Tibbits, who named the sanctuary after his parents, Hilton and Marjorie. Clark founded the center and had the land protected by the American Farmland Trust so that it will not be developed in the future and remain a conservancy.  The mission of the LSC is to educate people in the art and science of living sustainably and in balance with the natural world.  Workshops and retreats are held annually to demonstrate organic agriculture, sustainable design+build, and other permaculture techniques.

Leroy Staley is the caretaker and lives in the main house.  Star is a seasonal resident who lives in a small mobile home that is parked under a tree near the lake.  Star knows no winter... in the summer she is in Michigan; in the other summer, she is in New Zealand.  Together we grow our own food; design, build & maintain various buildings and structures; care for the land; and teach others to do the same.

All the plants we grow are organic.  A lot of people have asked me what that means, so here it is in a nutshell: the seeds are natural (not genetically modified); the soil is enriched using compost and other natural supplements; manual labor is used over machinery (with some exceptions as you will see), reducing energy use; companion and strategic planting are used to increase productivity, attract beneficial insects, and fend off disease and attack; no chemical fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides are applied.  In effect, the produce is much as you would find it growing in nature (aside from the millennia of intentional cross-breeding to produce new varieties with desired traits).

future plans

We are discussing options for future projects (some of which will hopefully involve income).  Agricultural possibilities include fruit trees, berries, herbs, vegetables, ornamental grasses and flowers.  A design/build enterprise is also in the cards as Leroy and I both have a lot of experience in construction as well as alternative building systems... truly sustainable, affordable housing is one of my passions that I hope to bring to fruition; it is much needed here in Michigan and elsewhere. We also have great interest in small-scale energy production.  As fossil fuels continue to deplete and prices continue to rise, this is becoming more critical by the day.

That is the bulk of the text for this post.  The rest is primarily photos of the gardens, plants, and wildlife...

new life

room with a view

monday evening after a light rain shower, i looked out of the cabin to see this beautiful array hitting the pond and land beyond (my photography skills don't do the scene justice... it was stunning).

a closer look:

the strip of light and low shadows were caused by the sun being funneled through this channel in the woods on the opposite side of the lake:

gorgeous colors reflecting from all directions

"lucky" decided to be part of the scene

margie's garden.  this area was fenced in to keep deer and other local foragers from the produce.

a few of our co-inhabitants: resident trumpeter swans and a muskrat doin' their things.  clark brought the swans in to reintroduce this indigenous bird to the area.

lucky... our goose with a broken wing who also makes this land and water his year 'round home.  the pond bubbler for the swans allows him to stay through the winter, and his mate migrates back to be with him every spring.  hence the name.

pals

fruit soon

strawberry plants in flower

flowering trees

stairway to heaven

bleeding hearts

main garden

leroy is hard at work... for once (just kiddin', big fella) 

leroy only stops working in the gardens to go

raise a barn or replace a transmission

home

this is a "before" shot of the cabin where i will spend the season.  one of my projects will be to refurbish this structure: a new coat of wood oil, design & build an entry portico, minor repairs, and landscaping.  the cabin is constructed entirely of cedar with a yellow pine floor.  the structural and siding lumber also comprise the interior and exterior finishes, producing a very efficient design with no waste or redundant materials.  the windows are screened but have no glazing, but fortunately, the door does lock.  there is no power or other services: lighting is by candle and lantern, the stove fires on propane, "the facilities" are about a hundred feet away in the woods.  this crib is 100% off-the-grid.

i am not posting overall interior shots as it is much better to see the space in person and don't want to spoil the experience for my real-world visitors (that means you, dear reader)... but here are a couple of previews:

kitchen shelves

cubby

guest quarters

this hammock is located just outside the cabin (the local ash trees are unfortunately being attacked by boring beetles).  i will be landscaping this area soon and perhaps building a small pond.

5.5.10

tilling

leroy is clearing these overgrown beds

to make room for new crops

peas and lettuce

we dug trenches about one inch deep, placed seed, and covered with rich soil. 

the trellis was then put back in place

clark planting potatoes

two rows dug deep, composted, planted, and covered over

nature's landscaping

greenhouse

i started a few seeds today.  The greenhouse was added on to the main house a few years ago.  the drums are painted flat black to absorb maximum sunlight.  they are filled with water which acts as thermal mass.  this design makes an ideal passive solar collector to store and pass heat to adjacent living space...  more on the green features of the house and gardens to come in a future post.

outdoor kitchen

i enjoy cooking on an open fire, and this is a bit more spacious than the cabin kitchen.  leroy mentioned that he had a cooking tripod in the basement.  i jumped on the offer.

dinner

potatoes, green onions, mushrooms, zuc, blended spices; sautéed in olive oil then topped with lemon juice and butter

chow time

i forgot that asparagus and garlic were ready in the garden and added them to the mix

lights out

later that evening when i was nearly asleep, i heard a fox make a kill about 20 feet from my cabin.  i couldn't identify the prey by its sounds... definitely not a rabbit.  wildlife is abundant here.

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Thanks for reading my first post, and please do stay in touch. 

I wish you all my best and hope to see you soon.

~Gregg

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more info on the tibbits land stewardship center is at

tibbitsstewardshipcenter.com

i've redesigned my website which has info on related subjects

and a link to updates of this journal:

ehrlum.com