Reclaiming the commons

Over the past eight years of hosting volunteers here at our farm, we have heard countless stories and witnessed first-hand the disconnect between people and their food, themselves, nature, community, and a deep longing to re-member ways of living in sacred harmony with life and all that sustains us.  The grief felt for these broken threads is truly palpable. 

Yet there is hope.  And there is no greater power than hope in action.

Our Vision for this land is that she be given the opportunity to continue returning to a completely mature and healthy forest once again, remaining intact so that she will serve as a refuge, a sanctuary, a pocket of cultural and ecological re-membering.  To achieve this, we believe that there must be ways that we learn, share knowledge and interact with our food and the wild community (nature).  

Through educational and inspirational experiences, we are inviting people here to learn about:

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• Off-grid living

• Permaculture-inspired living

• Sustainability

• Homesteading

• Holistic health

• Traditional skills

• Nature-based connection

• Environmental education

• Climate action initiatives

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This way of sharing and collaborating requires a community of people.  We have always trusted in the ways people can come together, and since the inception of this little project in the woods, others have found their way here to volunteer, study, learn, and participate.  Community has given us the opportunity and privilege to unravel this dream.

We truly believe in the power of community.

This is why we have decided to create a social enterprise initiative to move this vision forward.

What we mean by a social enterprise is that a community of support (both locally and globally) can collaborate to manifest and sustain this vision as everything that is learned, created, and developed here is done so by a collective of people, which in turn, will help to support the protection of this land for the future. 

Over the last couple of months, we have been pouring our energy into creating a crowdfunding campaign to help us realize the next steps in this project.  

Our reasoning behind this approach is that we are looking for alternative ways to fund this project.  We could seek investors, or secure loans; however, we are making a conscious effort to move away from a for-profit business model to a social enterprise initiative.  We also do not want to burden the land with debt, as our long term goal is to create a continuance plan that will see a non-profit continue this work and protect this land well beyond our lifetimes, and debt is not what we want to pass on.

This is where you, our local and global community, can get involved and support this unfolding.

We will be launching our crowdfunding campaign over the next few weeks, as we continue to build the content for the campaign.  The crowdfunding platform allows us to present the project, inviting backers to monetarily support this vision.  In exchange for backing our project, you will receive different incentives based on your pledge level.  These incentives are designed to be something that we are able to offer once our campaign is successful by reaching our funding target.  Basically, a pay it forward concept with the pledge that you make going towards a future service or product that will become available through a successful campaign.  Similar to signing up for a farm CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) where the farmers are supported at the front end of the growing season to set up and grow a successful garden, and then you the subscriber, are able to enjoy the benefits of your early contribution by feasting on delicious veggies throughout the season.