Who we are
Greetings everyone, my name is Fred, welcome to my homestead.
I live on 17 acres of rolling and wooded countryside that I purchased in 1977. I have been heavily influenced by Mother Earth News and the “Back to the Land” movement of the seventies. I have tried various sustainability projects over the years including biodiesel and ethanol distillation. I heat with a wood fired gasification boiler using firewood harvested from my sustainably managed lot.
There are chickens here for eggs and a 1/2 acre garden area which is fenced in to keep the deer from eating the fruits and vegetables.
I’m looking for like-minded individuals who want to live on my land and build a community where we can share resources, support one another, and create a sustainable and connected way of life together.
For most of my working life I ran a woodshop here using lumber cut from our own woodlot and sawn on our own sawmill. In 2016 I installed a 2,000 watt off grid, solar array that charges batteries. I use it to pump water and emergency lighting.
Vision and Values
I am not religious in the traditional sense. My core belief is that the planet is a living and breathing organism with a spirit all its own. Humans are a part of this planet, not dominate over it. I follow the teachings of Gaianism. (gaianism.org) I also have followed the musings of Micheal Dowd (postdoom.com) another follower of Gaianism. Gaianism does not rely on Mystery or Mysticism or the concept of God. Gaianism is science based on biology and the Biosphere.
Some of the books that I have read over the years
athat have shaped my thinking:
“Overshoot” by William Canton, about 1982
“Bright Green Lies” by Derrick Jensen
“Limits To Growth” by Donella Meadows, 1972 era
“The Creature from Jekyll Island” by G. Edward Griffin.
“When the Trucks Stop Running” by Alice Freedeman
I also follow the blogs of:
Gail Tverberg “OurFiniteWorld.com”
Nate Haggens “TheGreatSimplification.com”
Richard Heinberg at The Post Carbon Institute “PostCarbon.org”
Chris Martenson “PeakProsperity.com”
Art Berman “ArtBerman.com”
I see my role on this property as that of “Steward”of the land. One of my goals here is to be radically sustainable, whatever that means in this day and age. If I offer you a membership here it is because you want to join me in that endeavor. What does it mean to live in right relationship to the planet? I have come to the conclusion from all my research, that we are at the end of the Oil Age. This will become painfully obvious in the Next 5 Years. (thegreatsimplification.com)-frankly#71. Can we as a community work together to become prepared and resilient? It might be important for you to know that we have no debt here. No one will use our deed as financial collateral on a loan. No bankster will take our land because of default. No member can co-sign for a loan by another member. As a group, I hope we can find ways through a Land Trust or some other legal entity to further protect our property. Personally, I am A-political. Instead of the divisiveness politics causes, I am more interested in creating a cooperative culture. I am not telling anyone what to think or believe. What I asking is that we come together in a harmonious way to build a sustainable lifestyle.
I hope this sums up for you our (my) core values. Any questions, you can ask? One more thought. I am perfectly aware of what is called “Founders Syndrome” which is me giving up control here after all these years. My response is this. If you were a homeowner, does someone give you that responsibility or do you take that responsibility? So does someone give you ownership or do you take ownership? So look, I’m almost 70 yrs old, if all else fails you’ll just have to pry the deed out of my cold dead hands.
(oh come on, that’s funny)