Tentatively called “Mountain Gardens Community”, will be a multi-generational community with an emphasis on self-reliant living for4-10 families. Not religious but spiritual. Homeschool. Organic gardening. Survival preparedness (whether economic collapse, tornadoes, or etc.) We are looking for members to join our group when we purchase the property within 45-60 minutes drive of south Denver, Colorado. We plan to live as “off the grid” as possible, raising our own meat, grains, veggies, fruit, fabric, and more.
This first family have or are working to acquire these skills: baking, wine-making, candle-making, fiber-harvesting/carding/spinning, paper-making, soap-making from plants, dehydrating to preserve harvests, using gourds to make utensils/pots/etc, yogurt-making, intensive gardening, basket-making, dart-gun and sling-shot, and Reiki. We also have LOTS of books, have started a fiber-rabbit herd, dehydrate garden produce, and work online for additional income. We have gluten-intolerance and other food problems so we don't plan to grow wheat.
Crops:
- corn
- amaranth
- oats
- rice
- quinoa
- flax
- sesame
- wheat (grown in alternate years as some other crops to avoid cross-contamination for gluten-free grain)
- potatoes
- sweet potatoes
- gourds (for crafts like baskets, dippers, etc.)
- luffa/dishcloth gourd (edible but also for cleaning supplies)
- apples (human and livestock food, applesauce, cider, vinegar)
- willows (for crafts like baskets, living teepees, etc.)
- nut and fruit trees and bushes
- elderberry bushes (for privacy fencing and elderberry wine/syrup)
- cotton
- bayberry bushes (fruit makes candle-wax)
- herbs, fruits, sugar beets, stevia, veggies and more and more and more!
Animals:
- sheep (wool, milk, fertilizer)
- goat (fiber, brush clearance, milk, fertilizer)
- rabbit (fibert, fertilizer)
- chickens (meat, eggs, pest control, fertilizer, feathers)
- quail (meat, eggs, fertilizer, feathers)
- fish (meat, fertilizer)
- worm (fertilizer)
- bees (honey, wax, pollination)
- possibly horses or donkeys to pull plows and other farm work
Suggested skills needed: pottery, glass-blowing, leather tanning and making, leather-worker (shoes, belts, coats, saddles, bags), cartwright, wheel-wright, blacksmith, foundry for smelting recyclable metals, bartering, furniture-making, wool-shearing, fiber-weaving, seamstress/tailor, soap-making from lye, canning, brewer, cheese-making, smoking meats, sausage-making, gardening/farming, animal husbandry, cider-making, baking, health care/wilderness medicine, midwife, dentistry, herbology, education (for our homeschooled kids), basket-making, bee-keeping, straw-bale/underground home/yurt construction, butchering, ham radio, hydroponics, vermicomposting, greenhouses/sunrooms, fish farming, permaculture, gray water systems, water-catchment-systems, mead-making, wild food foraging, growing mushrooms, mountain plants and foods, planting by signs, weather reading, making musical instruments, butter churn making, and much more "living green with this Earth".
Thoughts:
- We're not all about the chores and work! Games, dances, "sports", music, ice cream socials, celebrations, cottage crafts, rituals, and more.
- Off the grid, power by wind/solar/water, water-catchment. Hope to be self-sustaining by the end of 2011.
- Families can elect to invest in the property and building, or can rent.
- Land owned by few, some or all.
- Percentage of food grown: 90% (goal!).
- Share community meals: evening meals, taking turns in the preparation, and all help plan menu.
- Dietary choice/restrictions: we eat what we grow. Mostly organic, and as healthy as possible. Omnivorous. Some gluten-free and lactose-free. Diabetic. Picky eaters and people with food intolerances or allergies are welcome! If you don't know about cross-contaminating food for people with allergies, we'll teach you!
- Alcohol: occasionally - mostly what we make. Tobacco use: prohibited indoors. Illegal drugs: prohibited.
- Spiritual practices: Not christian, but spiritual. Wiccan or Earth-Based preferred.
- Prepare for civil unrest, economic disaster, severe weather, etc. without going gun-crazy but willing to defend what's ours as necessary.
- Education: homeschooled or unschooled.
- Money: All members have independent income, whether by job or possibly sell extra produce or cottage crafts (soap, candles, baskets, etc.) at farmers markets or flea market.
- Labor: All members contribute a certain number of hours to garden, animals, and other "chores". We all work our individual strengths and specialties too.
- Join Fee: possibly - TBD. Regular Fees: possibly - for property taxes, etc - TBD.
- Decision making: create our own government, but mostly by consensus. Leadership core group.
- Families to make this community will value their privacy, enjoy life, embrace preparing for the worst while hoping for the best, are willing to contribute to the welfare of the community, and believe that the state of the world prohibits living the lives we want to live within an urban setting.
- Intend to create a private grove for special celebrations.
- We hope to have all families on board by March 2010, so we can figure out how much money we have, find our property and design our housing.
If you're interesting in learning how to become a part of this community, please e-mail: kriyacreate at yahoo dot com and we'll answer as soon as we can. Serious people only.
