My husband and I have a half-acre lot in the small western Michigan town of Grant, and I want to turn it into a tiny little slice of permaculture paradise. It's been less than a year since I first heard of hugelkultur, which led me to Paul Wheaton's site. I still have pretty much no clue what I'm doing, but I'm trying to learn as much as possible so that I can put at least a little bit of it into practice this spring.

I grew up on a dairy farm, and my parents raised rabbits, chickens, pigs, and a whole lot more, so I'm no stranger to hard work, but trying to establish a homestead in a town where livestock is prohibited is a new challenge. I'd love to buy some land outside of town, but I just don't have the funds.

I'm a freelance writer who loves crafts and gardening. I have four kids, two little ones and two that are all grown up. My hubby is a Southern boy who grew up in Arkansas but lived in Mississippi for many years. He hates our Michigan winters and is very much in favor of moving to a warmer climate again someday.