Resources

Bioregion-specific resources for Permaculture practitioners

Ag Extension

Beekeeping

Community Gardening & Supported Agriculture

  • American Community Gardening Association – has a nice locator for finding community gardens in Canada and North America.
  • CSAfarms.org – a site to help Michiganders find local Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms.
  • Eatwild – a resource for finding local grass-fed meat, eggs, and dairy products in the US.  Including a map of Michigan grass-fed producers.
  • Lansing Urban Farm Project  – a nonprofit, sustainable urban community farm in the Eastside neighborhood of Lansing, Michigan.
  • Michigan Urban Farming Initiative – a 501(c)(3) nonprofit working to promote community based sustainable agriculture
  • Victory Garden Initiative – a Milwaukee, WI effort to promote community gardening for community building and food security.

Fruit Growing

  • North American Fruit Explorers – NAFEX a grass-roots organization of tree and small fruit growers who focus on unusual and rare species.  Highly recommended.

Gardening

  • American Horticulture Society (AHS) listing of Master Gardener programs by state. These programs are designed to provide intensive horticultural training and volunteer experience to gardeners. This is an excellent program for learning about plants and get community volunteering experience.
  • AHS listing of garden societies, clubs, and organizations – listing of regional and national garden groups.
  • National Gardening Association – a non-profit organization dedicated to education, health & wellness, environmental stewardship, community development, and home gardening.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

  • Great Lakes IPM – a source for IPM tools and biocontrol agents in Vestaburg, MI.
  • Michigan State University IPM Program – an access point for MSU’s information on pest management.
  • North Central IPM Center – one of four USDA centers established to strengthen USDA’s connection with agriculture, research, and extension in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.

Livestock and Plants

Native Plants

Organic & Sustainable Farming

  • Beginning Farmers – online resource for those interested in farming, including livestock raising and urban farming.  Includes good information and links to a tremendous amount of information.
  • Michigan Small Farms Council – a new statewide group focused on protecting and enhancing the opportunity to farm. They also have a forum area available.
  • MSU Student Organic Farm – a ten acre, certified organic teaching and production farm with year-round production.
  • Michigan Organic Farm and Food Alliance (MOFFA) – a 501(c)3 nonprofit which promotes organic farming
  • Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE) Learning Center – a great resource with lots of downloadable information on alternative and sustainable farming and crop production.  SARE also has a grant program.

Permaculture in the Bioregion

  • Chiwara Permaculture – Michigan based research, education, design and incubation firm. Offers Permaculture education from K-12 to professional levels.
  • Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute – Alpine, NY.  Offers  workshops, study groups, apprentice programs, and the Permaculture Design Certification Course.
  • Great Lakes Permaculture dot com – An Ohio site using the .com address, not affiliated with this site, but with good info.
  • ISLAND (Institute for Sustainable Living, Art, & Natural Design) – a northern Michigan non-profit arts and ecology center dedicated to connecting people with nature, art and community.
  • Kinstone Academy of Applied Permaculture – in Fountain City, WI is a Permaculture education center offering the Permaculture Design Certificate (PDC), other core Permaculture courses, and Advanced Programs.
  • Little Artshram – a NW Michigan organization also helping with the first annual Michigan Permaculture Convergence.
  • Michigan Permaculture – specializes in the design and creation of edible forest gardens.
  • Oakland County Permaculture – a network for those interested in Permaculture design and sustainability in and around Oakland county, Michigan.   Holds monthly meetings and seed swaps.
  • Permculature Research Institute Cold Climate – A Minnesota group focusing on cold climate Permaculture.
  • Southeastern Michigan Permaculture Guild – a SE Michigan group for Permaculture practitioners.  They recently outgrew their old site at ning.org and are now living on Facebook.
  • Trybal Revival Gardens – A community garden in east Kalamazoo focusing on building community and sustainable gardening.
  • Two Fish Farmer – blog for Two Fish Farms, a 40 acre off-grid project in Bear Lake, Michigan.  I am consulting on this project.
  • University of Michigan Sustainable Food Program – working to promote a sustainable food culture in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Plant Propagation

Pollinator Friendly Gardening

  • Gardening for Pollinators and Beneficial Insects (514k .pdf) – handouts from a talk at the 2017 Wisconsin Garden Expo. Covers the basics of creating habitat for beneficial insects, plants for pollinator habitat, and beneficial insect-friendly pest control.

Recycling

Season Extension

  • The MSU Hoophouse Website is a blog for those interested in all-season production or season extension with hoophouse technology, from high tunnels, to passive solar greenhouses,  to low tunnels.

Tree & Nut Crops

Weather Data and Tools

  • Michigan State University’s Eniroweather System has  a number of useful tools for weather monitoring and degree day analysis.  Weather stations are located all across the state.  Highly recommended.