Story by Jayson Spaulding        Continued ...

One day I used Google.com to search for "Permaculture, Michigan" This search yielded my first introduction to a farm called Ndibendaagwaz (if you can't pronounce it, read as "Eco-Learning Center"). I made a phone call to Jayne Leatherman-Walker (President, Director, Educator and Resident) to see if she could give me a tour of the farm. Inspired by small farms I had seen in Central America - family farms, community gardens, organic and permaculture methods - I was looking for an example of this in a climate a little closer to home. I was encouraged that she was willing to give me a tour; we agreed on a time and day.

I got out of my car on a late-summer afternoon to the sight of...well, not much. An absence of obnoxious or imposing architecture was refreshing to my eyes. In a brief field surrounded by old, young, and younger trees, there was another vehicle or two off to the side, a fire pit that stimulated the kind of stare reserved for late night coal-gazing (though no fire was burning), two grape orchards filled with vines all trellised up and no place to go.

A cozy looking yurt sat geodesically off to the side, accompanied by a few small buildings (storage and toilet, I assumed) and a creation that is the northern counterpart to the tropical bamboo structures I discovered a fascination for - a straw bale greenhouse. Between the greenhouse and me were a picnic table and the gear for an outdoor kitchen.

Beyond the field and past the grapes and around the trees, the sun glinted off the sweeping inland sea that defines northwest Michigan's pinky. I remember the water was as blue as the untapped wisdom boiling in the stare of an eight year old. Needless to say, Jayne wasn't around; she had suggested morning for me to visit. I, unfortunately, started the day with migraine tension to work through and it was past noon before I could comfortably sit up or stand on my feet.By then, Jayne was off to her afternoon errands. Fortunately for me, her summer intern Mike was there to greet me.

He offered food: veggies and rice wrapped in kale. After chatting briefly he gave a quick tour of the area I have just described and then we got to the important part of that season. We walked to the edge of the tree-line, down the path through the corridor of woods, and out into the garden. Mike walked me around, pointing out plants and crops while describing his adventure of vegetable gardening. By the time Jayne returned I was sweating in the sunshine, helping root out crab grass from a future garden bed.

"Ha- ha," she laughed triumphantly, "Some tour!" Though I had missed our earlier appointment, Jayne generously budgeted out some of her afternoon to share and exchange some ideas.

Continued...