written by Arjuna da Silva

Learning to live together also means learning from one anothers’ mistakes. Learning to build with low budgets, limited time, and few professionals has been another learning curve. Still, quite a few successes in design and construction remain praiseworthy. Last issue we focused on tiny houses; this issue we look at larger projects that are standing the test of time

Walking down the old, sturdy stairs from the upper apartments in the Bellavia building, I admire the work, however rough and minimal, that was put into the structure all those years ago and modestly improved upon in the ensuing years. I’ve seen the development of this useful, sustainable living and work space that has remained a viable anchor for folks to co-own or rent. Twenty years of intensive use has yielded home and comfort for several families and expansion of the building’s housing is currently underway.

Building at Earthaven has run the gamut from houses like mine (Leela), the Stones’, Julie & Andy’s, VT, the Love House, and (next door at Full Circle) the Broadheads’—all high end for this end of the state road—and salvage-and-mud huts too tiny for two suitcases. I worry about the ones that need better ventilation; anyone can put on another blanket or another log, but the moisture  building materials can absorb is something we all need to pay attention to. There’s a lot to know about healthy bodies and healthy buildings, two streams of sufficiency we began traveling together 24 years ago.

As new folks transition into Full Membership and join pods, the next wave of building will occur for residential  neighborhoods and the commons. Skill, materials, and time will be precious categories. What will allow folks with limited funds, whose savings might be only enough to cover move-in expenses and buy-in costs, to create healthy living space?

VT—a good example

Good things are usually the result of good timing, luck, and some bold creativity. The timing of who had reason to be involved with whom certainly played a key role in the outcome of this vibrant, successful  housing experiment. With two of the three proposed buildings completed, a duplex and a set of apartments, there is room in this pod for expansion! What are the factors most residents base their positive assessments on?

When I think about how short our community lineages have become, I feel the push to help insure that knowledge, know-how, good strategies and ideas, as well as their results are passed along in ways that are usable, not just admired.

Earthaven is a community coming into a new self-awareness with lots of room for aligned individuals, and families to connect. Culture’s Edge is a conduit for projects, programs and practices we value for building mutual support and collective strength.

The post Building Sanity appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

above: Spillway at the new micro-hydro installation.

 At long last, the second micro-hydro station at Earthaven is up and running, serving the delighted residents of Medicine Wheel and Bellavia Gardens neighborhoods.

Through an ingenious design by neighbor Leon Birstein, each neighborhood is served differently so that their residents’ not-quite-adequate solar arrays are boosted and bolstered by the steady flow of creek water through the landscape.

Suiting the different ways our neighborhoods are set up—one with a large common house and the other with several separate homes—Medicine Wheel’s micro-hydropower is constant, while neighbors’ batteries at Bellavia Gardens are boosted at intervals during the day and night with modest but adequate backup charges.

The dream of a second micro-hydro station has been alive since Earthaven’s first micro-hydro was built in the Village Center in ’96. The first station serves the Village Center and Hickory Knob, home of the White Owl, and has been known to offer backup power to several nearby homesites.

right: Travis Robb treads carefully beside the trench that will direct more power into his Bellavia Gardens neighborhood. 

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Some Earthaven neighborhoods are balancing collective and personal ownership issues by forming housing cooperatives. While used in other parts of the country, housing co-ops are new in our region and could be a reasonable model for other ecovillages, especially in rural areas.

One of the last neighborhood “pods” to get involved in the land-ownership revision, folks at Bellavia Gardens finally took a look at the details and dimensions of this “restructuring” process, which Council has been working on for several years. Here’s what we learned.

Entrance to Bellavia Circle in the lush heart of summer.

After restructuring, our Homeowners Association (HOA), of which our neighborhood “pods” will all be members, will continue to own most of our land for us, meaning the forest all around, the Commons, and much of the agricultural areas. But instead of bearing the burdens of caring for residential parcels, the HOA will pass the baton of “ownership” and responsibility to residential pods incorporated in a couple of formats.

Two neighborhoods have decided to pursue becoming religious societies, finding those more aligned than housing co-ops with their values and needs. Bellavia Gardens will have just enough Full Earthaven Members (five) to comply with the requirements for cooperative associations in North Carolina. Other neighborhoods with fewer members are joining together to start their co-ops and may branch off in the future.

left: Medicine Wheel Collective will become a religious society.

Not everyone has been excited about these changes (putting our NVC education into intensive practice!). In addition to slowpokes like the Bellavians, other challenges to accomplishing restructuring included determining which agreements would have to be amended and which can remain the same. Our commitments and understandings regarding residing on, sharing and co-owning Earthaven land have had a searchlight review and updating in preparation for becoming a federation of neighborhoods.

Earthaven Association comprehensive site map before restructuring

Much intensive and dedicated work was accomplished by Council’s Strategic Transition Group (STG), which Kimchi Rylander organized and nurtured these last few years, and which has guided the process to its maturity. Hats off also to Patricia Allison, Bob Lienhart, Debbie Lienhart, Martha Harris, Sue and Geoff Stone, Alice Henry, Norm Self, Carmen Lescher, and with a great bow to Dimitrios Magiasis, who kept interpreting for the rest of us what was happening in conversations between legal counsel and the STG team!

All in all, what has been a laborious and sometimes bewildering process has created a new way of organizing ourselves that we think will be more appropriate and supportive of our similar but also distinct neighborhood personalities.

      Visitors Map showing some Earthaven neighborhoods.

Stay tuned for updated information here and on our website about ways to continue to connect with us, including visiting and tours, work exchange and other short-term residency options, educational and economic opportunities, and membership exploration. To twist the African Ubuntu saying just a little bit: “we are because YOU are!

Arjuna da Silva helped found Earthaven in 1994 and is a member of Bellavia Gardens Neighborhood. 

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NikiAnne was out touring when Mana’s mom Dorien came strolling by and they posed for the camera. Happy Spring, y’all!

Gardeners have begun their outdoor planting—some by the moon and some not! Most seeds and starts can go right in, but others will remain safe inside until around the 10th of May.

Plant starts are now available on Tuesday mornings.  Coffee & Trade is about to move outdoors again; these might be the last pictures of the winter location inside Council Hall.

Outside in the fields, another lambing season has proceeded under Caroline’s care.

Below, she leads the flock in Gateway field.

Up in Bellavia, mushroom logs have been inoculated and lay about waiting for stacking. Life is pulsing through every farmer and gardener’s fingers. Birdwatchers (and listeners) are delighted once again.

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A couple of days ago I had a most pleasant visit with Gaspar. We sipped hot herbal tea, munched on pecans and exchanged some wonderful stories at his cozy space in the Bellavia Gardens neighborhood. Gaspar came to Earthaven in the summer of 2003 and became a member soon after. He is a wonderful force of positivity, healing, and beautiful energy that he shares with members and visitors continuously.

Gaspar has over forty years’ experience as a practitioner of chiropractic healing arts. He’s often known to give out flower essences to those in need of personal healing, and to everyone during difficult community meetings to bring ease to all involved.

He teaches “Magical Passages” twice weekly for energy enhancement, shares “Brain Gym” techniques, offers a variety of other healing modalities, and hosts collage picture-making parties.

Gaspar with Earthaven friends, NikiAnne and Mana.

Gaspar is passionate about the local Earthaven currency (known as Leaps), which is earned by community service work and often traded for goods and services. He has instigated several barter fairs and has been instrumental in extending the Leap system beyond Earthaven to include neighbors. He also established the “Free Store,” where folks can drop off items no longer wanted and, perhaps, pick up something that is needed.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg about one member who gives and receives in this wonderful and amazing community!

 Rae Jean has always lived on the edge one way or another. For the last seven years it has been at Earthaven. Along with raising heritage chickens, ducks, veggies and herbs, she designs and creates knitting patterns.

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Hillside above Bellavia Neighborhood.

Misty morning after 10″ of rain.

Local Mountains.

Creeks amble through the landscape.

Punch-hole cloud.

Cold frame in the early-morning light.

Troy Swift, a self-portrait by the photographer.

The post The Land Where we Live appeared first on Earthaven Ecovillage.

Over 30 people participated in a work party in the Bellavia Gardens Neighborhood on Saturday, February 26.

Earthaven members, guests and work exchangers pulled together on beautiful sunny morning to clean up after the construction of “Leela,” the naturally built home of Arjuna da Silva.

Volunteers ranged in age from 5 to 79.

Leela has been a favorite attraction for Earthaven visitors for more than five years. Numerous natural building workshops have been given using Leela as a demonstration site.  Friends came out to put their love into action also by cleaning up and preparing the neighborhood commons for fruit trees and shrubs.

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