My partner Genevieve and I are very happy to have found steemit through the very wise and wonderful 
Genevieve and I are entrepreneurs, we own and operate a small gardening business in Saskatoon, SK. This summer (2018) will be our third season of planning and planting ornamental, native and food producing gardens for our clients.
However..we didn't start out as successful as we are now. About five years ago we caught the "back to the land" bug and started dreaming of living in the countryside with animals to raise and gardens to tend to. We dove in head first and didn't always make the most sound decisions. Our first move was out to my Dad's acreage where we built a garage package with no permit. The house was built by myself, my dad(s) and some of our close friends. We had a wood burning stove, passive solar design and a compost toilet. Unfortunately the Rural Municipality caught on before a full year had passed and they were quick to order us out of the house, and off the land (unless we were willing to install mandatory infrastructures like a fire road).
We abandoned our first country home with heavy hearts but after a friend showed us the documentary UNGRIP we quickly regained our drive and vowed to make the next move to our forever home.
After a year of working in the city (9-5) we could feel we needed a change. We invested in Tai Lopez and his 67 steps to success which reintroduced us to Joel Salatin and his miraculous farming methods..We could see our dreams piecing themselves together..how we would raise animals, and live off the grid. The important piece we were missing was how we would economically manage it. Lucky for us Tai Lopez had one very important message to tell us. FIND A MENTOR he said! Now the universe must have heard us because it answered about a week later under the most random circumstances ever. Our mentors Janet and Ken stepped into our lives and immediately began grooming us in horticulture, design and small business management.
By the end of summer 2015 we had a business up and running with clients, support, direction and plan for our future. We began actively looking for land and checked out many potential sites around Saskatoon. Over the winter Genevieve studied landscape design under Janet. We also re branded our business (www.localprairiedesigns.ca), built a website and signed ourselves up for all the legal necessities a business needs. While Gen worked on the business I worked hard to build us a tiny house in my MIL's backyard. I had friends help along the way and was very happy with the small relaxing space that we gained!
The summer of 2016 was one hell of a ride! We designed and installed our first gardens, revamped Gen's Mom's front and backyard. We journeyed to Ness Creek Music Festival in the northern Boreal forest. It was here that we worked in a cold climate forest garden and began building our own tribe of like-minded people. We met our realtor Jordan Bird (remax saskatoon) who helped us locate and secure our quarter section. We spent the fall exploring our chunk of Aspen Parkland with our newly born mini pig Theodore...and we began researching alternative building techniques (praise the local library), which led us to Rob Roy and his Cordwood Masonry Technique.
That winter we took on a large design project: a 10 year master plan for a sustainable northern homestead. We spent the winter researching many of the techniques we will be utilising on our own homestead. We looked to Ben Falk, Sepp Holzer, Verge Permaculture, Joel Salatin, Gabe Brown, Sara Williams, Paul Wheaton and numerous other teachers to build our knowledge base on ecosystem management and homestead resiliency.
Last year(2017), we hit the ground running, clearing and preparing our cabin site, taking on a large commercial contract and numerous garden installations. We played out the summer week by week, gardening during the week days and then hightailing it out to the land to work on the cabin for the weekend.
Time has gone by fast the last couple years, its crazy how much fun being busy can be! We look forward to the future and the many opportunities it may bring. Hopefully this time next year I will be writing blog posts in our cabin next to the wood burning stove! for now I will spend my winter studying about permacultre, homesteading and rewilding! When the snow starts to melt we will once again be ready to hit the ground running!
I hope to document and blog about our adventures and projects, I want to show you that normal people like us can really take control over their lives and live the good life
Thanks for reading!
Cass & Gen
