Catskills ecovillage/farm/community

Hey good people,

I and my partner Christine are reaching out to see if there are other folks looking to do something in the general Catskills region of NY. I have a lot of experience in community, farming, PC design, and all the rest, and we are looking hard now at land in the region. We have enough money for a decent homestead/farm, hopefully big enough to share, but we want to reach out in case there are like minded folks at the same stage of their journey and ready to do something relatively soon. There are a couple of larger farms in the 150+ac size, with houses and infrastructure, for around $800k and we have over half of that. ( It is a pricey area in general compared to o0ther spots in the country, but anyone else looking here will know that. Damn NYC!)

Here is something we have up on the IC.org forums. Maybe that is the best way to connect. we will set up a zoom call in the next week or so.

https://forum.ic.org/t/seeking-others-to-build-an-ecovillage-in-the-catskills/730

'We are in the early stages of organizing, and are reaching out to discover how many others are seeking to start an ecological community in the Southern Catskills area.

The type of vision that inspires us is one that is truly diverse, ecological, affordable, multi-generational—and of course grounded in kindness and compassion.

Our ideal is a sharing community for all ages living in real partnership. It is important to us that this is a place with economic opportunities for young people to live an ecologically sane life of purpose now. It’s also important to have a home for elders to live with the joys and security of a supportive community and the satisfaction of giving back to the next generations, and for all of us in-between the opportunity for becoming good ancestors if we can!

So, we are searching for a good-sized property that can provide room for more than just co-housing; there will be room for organic farming and other land-based enterprises which might include farm stays, education, small eco-manufacturing, and more.

We have years of experience living in communities and are excited to start one in the Southern Catskills. If this resonates with you, we’d love to hear from you.

Christine and Kevin"

Just out of curiosity--what do you and Christine do for a living, that you have years of experience living in intentional communities but still have half a million dollars in savings? I've been working full time since high school, keeping my costs down, but would be hard pressed to contribute more than a couple thousand.

Hey Lia,  

I sort of agree how people get their money is important, but what is most important is what people do with it in this time, and how they build sharing relationships with it now. Designing for a post-capitalist future is a central part of our collective work imo.  I also hold the prejudice, rightly or wrongly developed but developed thru experience nonetheless, that the more money  people have, the less willing they are to invest in truly sharing relationships. I agree it is something to be cautious about.

FYI I got what savings I have from farming, working in the trades, and managing other peoples farms. Christine is still working in publishing for her income.  As for intentional community, I have lived in quite a few, and happy to share experiences.  peas

I am interested to know how far you’ve hotten since your last post.  We are elders who started our own food forest about seven years ago and we are interested now in joining an eco village.  We live in the catskills now and would like to stay in this area.

Looking forward to your reply.

Thanks,
heidi

Hola, We're interested in collaborating in somewhat of an "eco-share" community in southern Catskills: I have significant seasonal forestry/ orchard/ nursery ops in Forestburgh, which can right now only increment gradually; & a high desert horticulture homestead house-share with a half-dozen orchard-shares in central New Mexico; my wife has a coastal sub-tropics horticulture homestead we're incrementally transitioning into a house-share in San Diego.  I'll be around up to six weeks late autumn perhaps again early spring each year; I love to prune & graft, propagate & plant, besides decades of experience in hardscrabble drylands horticulture.  Ciao, Patrik

Hi y’all!

This is my first post/reply so I am not sure if I’m doing this right or not.

My partner and I purchased a small (11 acres) organic farm last summer just outside of Hudson, NY and we are seeking a solid inner circle of land share-seeking couples or individuals who are interested in co-creating an intentional community with us here. Part-time and full time welcome. Investment capital and trade skills both considered as we don’t wish to turn someone away that doesn’t have a massive savings but is ready for this lifestyle. Ideally, we get rid of the mortgage and create our own structure and “tenets” for coexisting and cooperating. Primary goals are to restore the old vineyard, the orchard and have a vibrant mix living as well as other functional structures for food production, wellness, hobbies, education, joy and income generation. We have 2 wells and a spring fed pond and we are South-West oriented- we have incredible sun exposure. Full privacy, Mountain Views, sun/moon rise and sets, tens of thousands of fireflies all summer in the evening. No chemicals sprayed here historically and a decade of neglect has allowed for a LOT of overgrowth of certain invasives where controlled land meets the edge of the forest. The land is 70/30 forest/open land and the forest really needs our help and will feed us a lot of maple sap and pine tea in return. We have 3 greenhouses currently operating and a climate controlled mushroom operation in the basement of the main house adjacent to our pantry and apothecary.
Our income comes mostly from running our online apothecary and traveling workshops the past 8 years. We are ex commercial cannabis growers and just grow what we need now. Really hoping to host a skill-share retreat here this fall for people seeking permie community.

Projects we have invested in and completed to date in the past 12 months:

Installed solar panels that generate enough power for multiple homes.
250 gal propane system with underground piping.
Back up generator for the 3 existing buildings.
6-stage filtration on well water.
Roughed in new driveway off existing driveway that leads to first build site.
Build site is complete with a 70’ x 30’ engineered pad, underground propane, water via whole house filter, septic and 50Amp power. Ready for a Skoolie, RV, tiny home or modular/pre-fab home.


Planned projects:

Building a dock for the pond
Woodfired hot tub
Woodfired sauna
Building and installing the 2 indoor infrared saunas we already own
Installing a shipping container to expand our functional mushroom cultivation
Infrastructure for a sustainable population of animals that help us build soil
Building Platforms and domes for seasonal workshop campers
Converting large workshop/garage into 50/50 complete living quarters and communal workshop
Build farm stand by the road for income/ CSA purposes
Engineer a tier system on the big southwest facing hill for residential/commercial income producing food and medicine


I’m for sure not including everything but happy to answer any questions and again I hope this is relevant here!

~Kat