Our story…
Cliff Davis
Ever since I was born I have been living close to the land. Growing up in Southern Illinois my family would camp 6 months out of the year at Crab Orchard Lake. Hunting, fishing, gardening, cutting firewood was part of our life. Living near large tracts of woodlands I experienced the Sacred taking walks, building forts and climbing trees. I have fond memories of those days. After college I set out on a sacred journey to find the meaning of life. What I found was a way of life that mimicked nature, embraced innovative technologies, respected indigenous knowledge and created positive solutions to the world’s problems. I found permaculture or permaculture found me.
Jennifer Albanese
I grew up in the suburbs of the city, but ever since I was young, I remember seeking out the small, wild places. Whether it be a small woods surrounded by apartment buildings, a swath of undeveloped land in a neighborhood or a stretch of isolated beach. These are the places I would go to, where my imagination would run wild, or I would find some peace from whatever problem I was facing. In high school I took two youth group trips to hike part of the Appalachian trail. That was a turning point for me. I loved being in the wilderness and couldn’t stop dreaming of a life that would help me retain the connection I felt when I was in those mountains. In college, I began to grow plants, seek out natural areas and became drawn to the farming lifestyle, without ever having set foot on a farm!
Our journey together
We met, fell in love (that’s another story) and weeks later found ourselves being mentored by an organic farmer. This experience ignited our passion further. For years we traveled, gardening in backyards in Illinois, apprenticing on an organic flower farm in the Midwest, living on a permaculture site in Costa Rica, homestead farming in Florida, and instructing at the Ecovillage Training Center in Tennesse. During that time we developed skills in a number of areas.
(for complete resumes, click here).
Our homestead…
is a 6.7 acre site located in the Cumberland-Green bio-region of middle Tennessee. The site was clear cut in December 2007 causing major damage to the soil, wildlife habitat, and the watershed. We acquired the land in April 2009 with the intent to restore the landscape using permaculture and restoration ecology.
The design of the property started with careful observation of the site and articulating our goals. We then started the site analysis and assessment phase of our design process. Our research started with following the scale of permanence. Our design is ever evolving as we move forward.
Our design is starting to take shape with the implementation of earthworks ( swales, earth contour dam, ponds and on contour driveway), a small cabin on the top of the hill with rainwater for gravity fed irrigation that also serves as a shelter for now and education center later, a 20×48 hoophouse, fencing for chickens and gardens, small duck ponds for our ducks, earthbag retaining walls for our new workshed, a cleared pad for our house, a young food forest, bamboo agroforestry, savanah gardens and animal systems. This all is powered by solar that we designed and installed ourselves.
We are currently designing our house, restoring our spring for future water use, clearing land using animals for future gardens, starting an edible plant nursery and adding to our skills.