We had a great visit with our new friends the Burtons, meeting some of their church community and learning about the work they are doing, and plan to do.

From their website: "Our vision is to live in unity with God and His creation and steward the abundance in order to break systemic cycles of spiritual and economic poverty."

A demonstration site to learn new sustainable farming practices throughout the various tropical climates and terrain. We were able to join a tour and really appreciated all they have going on. Check out their site for more! 

A beautiful place full of life, tucked away in the woods, completely off-grid. We had a lovely time cooking over the fire, wandering the wood paths along the stream, and seeing their creative buildings and food forest gardens in the trees. 

What an amazing legacy of justice and community! Koinonia started back in the 40s, which makes it one of the oldest intentional communities in the United States. It began as a place to live out racial reconciliation, paying workers in the fields the same amount whatever their skin color, and all eating together for meals - breaking the strict segregation laws and practices of the deep south at the time. Over the years they faced many trying times, and through it all they have grown and continue to reshape their community as a place of faith, justice, peace and hospitality, and lots of Pecans! They are looking for new community members! 

We loved our time at Jubilee Partners! Christian community, growing much of their own food, serving refugees, and being a witness for peace and justice this this dark world. 

We love our friends at Nomad's Land! A place of rest, community, fellowship and prayer. Nomad's Land has a large garden, fruit and nut trees, chickens, a hobbit house and lots of busses converted into beautiful dwellings! If you are passing through during hostel season, plan to stop by! 

We spent a few days visiting this Hippie commune of the 70s turned echo village community. Very interesting to learn about the transition this community has been through, and the various joys and challenges of sharing land on such a large scale. We were excited to learn about caring for fruit and nut trees as we helped prune trees in their new food forest. 

We had a great visit with Jared's old friend John, leader of this farm, serving Veterans. 

From their website:  "We exist to serve our nation's veterans by growing and donating high-quality fruits, vegetables, and flower bouquets to veterans and their caregivers free of charge. Additionally, we support veterans by offering workshops on innovative gardening techniques and foster a thriving micro-community of veterans and civilians who build deep friendships and cultivate emotional, physical, and spiritual health."

Our friends Arthur and Briana have a homestead in the mountains near Asheville NC. We spent one night there, and in the morning a new calf had been born!! Always something exciting going on for homesteaders! :) 

They have a YouTube channel with great videos documenting their adventures. Check it out here! 

Joel Salatin is one of the leading voices in Permaculture and regenerative agriculture. He has written many books, and travels the world giving presentations. Definitely check out his work, especially if you are interested in raising animals incorporating permaculture principles. 

We arrived on a cold windy December day and walked the property with a big white furry doggy tour guide. 

We were a few days too late to see the Swale barge live, before it was taken away for the winter, but we visited the community garden in the Concrete Plant Park where it docks in summer, and talked to some locals fishing off the dock about how cool it was to have fresh veggies and "spices" available for the community to come and pick.

Check out the website - this floating food forest is so awesome! 

Freedom Farm is a permaculture community, bringing together regenerative gardening, and youth from the inner city of NYC. We had a great visit, helping plant garlic and getting beds ready for winter. 

We had a beautiful few days with our friends at the Bruderhof Community nestled in the Catskills of NY. We were privileged to celebrate the first Sunday of Advent together with them, and will not soon forget the experience. The Bruderhof have a long history of radical intentional community and it was wonderful to be able to join in for a few days of work, fun and delicious food. Take a few minutes to check out their website, and if you ever get a chance to visit one of the their communities, they would be more than thrilled to have you! 

Near the shores of Lake Champlain, Essex Farm started with a vision of having a horse powered, whole diet, year-round CSA (community supported agriculture). Kristin and Mark had an adventurous beginning, beautifully captured in Kristin's book "The Dirty Life". Definitely worth a read! Today Essex Farm is still a year-round CSA, offering all the major food groups (except grains, which they partner with area farms to provide for their CSA members), often using horses and sometimes tractors, on well over 200 acres of land. Mark and Kristin are committed to regenerative, sustainable practices, paying their team fair wages, and cooking up delicious food! We really enjoyed our visit, getting to work alongside the farm crew for a day and see the farm in action.  

We spent 5 weeks working here on this lovely organic farm community, helping to close out the season. We learned so much during out time here! 

It was a privilege to have a tour of this lovely farm recovery community, by the director.

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Our Vision: To enfold homeless people back into community by giving them the support and the tools needed to reclaim their self-worth

Our Mission: To provide the encouragement, method and practical skills to help them realize meaningful and productive lives

Our Values: Accomplishment, Honesty, Respect, Love, Compassion, Integrity, Loyalty, Honour, Dignity, Support, and Celebration

Our Imperatives: A hand up, not a hand-out; Respect to each individual; Acceptance, Empathy, and Understanding

We showed up here for a self-guided tour, on the recommendation of folks we met out in New Hampshire back in July, and as we were getting ready to leave several community members came back from picking plums and invited us to stay and volunteer, so we said sure!! We had a lovely two days and two nights, helping in the garden, helping make plum fruit leather and canned relish. This place has the most amazing earth buildings we have seen yet! Just beautiful! We felt right at home here! 

We had a delightful time building a "cozy cob corner" for Jenny's new home and community space at Tryon Life Community Farm over Labor Day weekend. Check out their website for more information on the great work they are doing, and lovely space they have created in Portland near Tryon Creek State Park. 

We truly enjoyed our time here with Randy and Edith Woodley. They are wonderfully hospitable and have a lovely piece of land they are cultivating into a food forest and large bio-diverse garden. They host community events, and many WOOFers have come through to help throughout the growing season.

Their website reads, "Eloheh Farm seeks to be a model of regenerative systems that support human needs while improving the earth and all creation inhabiting the web of life. The people at Eloheh desire to live in harmony with the land, using North American Indigenous wisdom and practices as a guiding model, primarily utilizing permaculture, Biomimicry and Traditional Indigenous Knowledge." 

Check out their website for more information on their story and work. 

Nestled between ordinary residential blocks in downtown Eugene OR, is a beautiful eco village with earth buildings, water catchment systems, composting, a large bio-diverse garden, and about 30 residents at any given time! We stopped by on the recommendation of a friend and were welcomed in by the "owner" who very graciously showed us around. 

This lovely spot filled with quirky, creative, beautiful buildings was once a nudist hippy commune, then everyone came to know Jesus in the 70s... there are years of history between then and now, which brings us to its current season of being a YWAM base. The buildings are still creative and quirky, the garden is blooming and deer wander through the property like it is their own as worship and prayer services go on in the "ball room" and missionaries are trained up and sent out all over the world. 

Rooms and houses are available for rent throughout the year to individuals or whole groups - so if you are looking for a cool place to go, check it out! 

We just googled this place, since we wanted to check out Bolinas as we were driving north from San Francisco. It was their day off, so no one answered the phone, but we drove up to the gate and it looked like an amazing spot. Perhaps we can connect another time. 

John and Regina have been developing a beautiful homestead, in the tradition of the Catholic Worker, near La Plata MO. We spent a night there, helped move some of their stuff around, and got a tour of the "Village" including the Possibility Alliance. It was fun to see a family really living off grid. They didn't even have solar power. Just passive solar ovens, and a water catchment system, and rocket stoves for the kitchen. They do have a landline phone, that they share with neighbors. :) It was really special spending time with this lovely family. 

The Plant is a non-profit in Chicago, part of a large renovated Meat Smoking factory building project that our friend Mike has been working on.

They say on their website:  "We're working to make our cities healthier and more efficient by developing and sharing the most innovative methods for sustainable food production, energy conservation and material reuse."

They have some permaculture gardens (With key hole beds) and chickens outside, some aquaponics inside, and they are working on a huge composting/ waste management system to create a completely closed loop system. Pretty sweet, urban farming, sustainable set up. 

How to describe Terra Perma... It is a large parcel of land, owned by a foundation to protect the forrest, with a vision to support people seeking to live sustainably, develop earth buildings (including an earthship!) and permaculture gardens. There are several earth buildings available to rent for Eco Tourism, there are trails for hiking, a lovely lake for swimming and boating. Jonah lives in a greenhouse and has a permaculture design, landscaping and nursery business  and is developing a food forrest on the land. (btw He did his first PDC with Keith Morris! small world)  They are just finishing up a wellness center (we helped with this project while we were there) and there are several plots of land for sale if people are interested in living in the forrest, connected into this diverse beautiful community. Oh and they have a food truck, selling fries to the public on the weekends! :) Yup, it is a unique and wonderful place. 

We met Jackie at her store "Nutty Steph's" where she makes and sells granola, chocolates and chocolate covered granola! She was curious about what we were doing, and when she heard we were looking for work-trade and permaculture, she invited us to come camp for free where she lives, and help her out in her permaculture gardens around the campground, sending us away with some cash. :) She is awesome! And the campground is lovely! We had a wonderful time there, planting some trees and a rose bush, watering the gardens and swimming in the river that flows right by the campsites. Definitely check it out if you are ever in the Montpelier VT area! 

Ben Falk has been designing, teaching and consulting on permaculture design, homesteads, and sustainable living for many years. We got a quick tour of his homestead space in VT. He is working on developing another property now though, to perhaps create a larger community. Keith and his PDCs from Prospect Rock Permaculture helped to build out some of the elements at Whole System Design. 

We heard about Keith Morris and his awesome work with Prospect Rock Permaculture from Josh Troute when we were at D Acres. You can tell right away Keith is passionate about what he does, and he loves teaching others. He has taught many many Permaculture Design Courses (PDCs) and has a beautiful piece of land along a river between Johnson and Jeffersonville VT. Keith and his family live in town, but host PDCs and other gatherings on the farm. Keith has a nursery business and his partner is a well known herbalist / Apothecary. We learned so much sitting in on some of the tours the PDC had, learning about grafting trees and more incredible uses for all kinds of plants, many we would have considered weeds. We hope to be back! 

Permaculture community farm and hostel in New Hampshire. This was our first stop on our official permaculture tour. Really awesome community, doing some creative stuff. I especially like their creative uses of greenhouses, to help keep buildings warm, including the chickens :)

We have visited this Ecumenical community in central MA  a few times over the last few years. This is a community of wonderful people seeking peace and social justice. They built a beautiful hay bale house, and they also have a small one room hermitage for solo retreats up in the woods. They have a large garden that feeds the community in the summer months. 

A Christian recovery program and farm in central NH