Wendy Robers

I consciously try to cultivate a hedonistic attitude, in line with the 'simple pleasures' link that Flora shared.  We worked so hard to acquire this land and build the house and plant the plants.  But we did it exactly so that we could live a hedonist life; pursuing the pleasures of eating berries off the bushes, watching chicks, playing with the dogs, observing the wildlife, admiring wildflowers, harvesting fresh veggies, reading, crafting.  Life is short (getting very short at our ages) and I believe that it is ethically correct to remember to enjoy it.  I try hard not to enjoy it at the expense of others, through exploitation of people or poisoning the land, destruction of resources.  Perhaps there is a conflation of hedonism and consumerism.

Hi, David
I like your ideas about including medical support in the intentional community, as well as the value of the contributios the elders can make.

You are right,  I had forgotten about building restrictions.  Even if we had our property rezoned, it percs in only one spot.

We are on 20 acres, 17 of which are woods.  Our fruit/nut/berry guilds are beginning to mature.  Kitchen and market gardens are in full swing.  Small passive solar strawbale house, two PV arrays, one of which is battery backup.  Woodove, emergency backup hand pump on the well.  We built this place with the intention of growing old and dying here.  However, in reality the wildlife is harvesting most of the perennial crops.  As a vigorous 61 year old watching the issues my 85 year old mother is facing,  I am coming to appreciate that having lots of food growing around you is not enough for advanced old age.  What do you do once your eyesight is too poor to drive, your arthritis makes chopping wood difficult, and you no longer have the stamina to keep the paths through your food forest cleared wide enough for your walker?  

People who were 'way smarter than I had children who will care for them, and/or they amassed a small fortune to buy into one of those ugly assisted living facilities.  But even so, what is going to happen in those facilities when climate change and economic disruption intensifies?  And surely there are a number of others in my situation.

Is there a way to apply a permaculture approach for a solution?  I keep coming back to the mixed-age co-housing model.  As you said, membership fees could cover paying a nurse to live on site to monitor health. A community-owned van could take residents to appointments.  Those who can't do things like chop wood could, as you said, weed, or repair equipment, or preserve food. And teach.

It sounds straight forward, but judging by how many co-housing start-ups I find on the internet seem to never happen, it must be difficult to achieve.  It

We are planning to put some sort of tiny-ish house (AKA 'Auxillary Housing Unit') on our property for my mom who is in her mid-80's and currently living independently 1000 miles away from us.  She is in reasonable health, just unable to manage property/house upkeep on her own anymore.  We designed our house and property with the idea of aging in place, with lots of focus on developing out zone 1.  However, making plans for my mom has made me realize that we have not taken into account all exigencies, specifically the possibility of deteriorating health/debilitation.  We are childless (another lack of foresight?)  One of my grandmothers died with advanced Alzheimer's; my parents tried to take care of her for years until it got to be too much. I fully expect to be institutionalized myself if I develop that condition.

Co-housing is looking more appealing, particularly something along the lines of Elderberry:  http://www.elderberrycohousing.com/  My research is showing lots of people planning rural co-housing communities, but not many achieving it.  So it looks as though we would need to start now, in our early 60's, to find kindred souls of all ages who would be interested in setting up a permaculture-based co-housing community.  My concern with moving into a city co-housing community with access to medical care, etc. (husband's preference) is that I really believe there is going to be some sort of social upheaval around unaddressed climate change 10 -15 years from now and suspect the ability to grow one's own food will be increasingly important.  

Alternatively, we could move into the structure we build for my mom when the time comes, and rent our house out to a younger couple who would willing to take us into town to dr.'s appointments from time to time, help harvest firewood, etc.  If we could get around the septic requirements, we could set up a small co-housing community here on our land, which would be ideal.  

So much to think about!  Never thought I'd get old enough to worry about this stuff.

I work in hot, humid Virginia and have found long-sleeved, moisture-wicking, SPF 50 Tshirts ('dive' or 'scuba' shirts) are life-savers.  It seems counter-intuitive to use long sleeves, but not having the sun beating directly on my skin helps a lot.  These shirts wear like iron, however they stain super easily, so I bought some fabric crayons to turn the stains into 'art'.   Secondly, I discovered nurses' scrubs at the thrift store.  These have drawstring waistbands, important because a) like many of you I can't buy anything that will fit my waist and hips, and b) cinch them up tight to keep ticks and stinging ants out.  They have wonderful deep pockets including cargo pockets,  so I don't have to wear a tool belt for smaller stuff like work gloves, pruners, screwdrivers, etc.  (having a drawstring waistband is also helpful if you load up your pockets with pounds of stuff.)  The fabric is medium-weight, so it is easy to stuff the legs into my socks (against ticks, stinging ants, chiggers, etc.) I've only been using the scrubs for about a year now, so cannot attest to longevity, but man are they comfortable!

very, very excited about having a PDC here in VA!!  It is hard to find permaculture info about this bioregion. I'm across the river from Williamsburg. However, my boss will only let me take vacation late April to early August. Or December. Awkward times to host a PDC, I know.
Have you posted this to the Blue Ridge Permaculture Network?

For what it is worth, I've had good success with Trombocino squash,butternut squash, and Seminole pumpkin here in the eastern part of Virginia; should be very similar to the NC Piedmont. All 3 of them resist both squashbugs and vine borers here. I no longer attempt any kind of summer squash.
As an aside for those in this Piedmont region: I have noticed that Japanese beetles actually prefer a tall variety of smartweed that grows wild here,"lady's thumb", a polygonum. The beetles prefer it to anything else growing nearby. I cannot tell whether the beetles are avoiding the lady's thumb growing near the chickens' normal ranges, or if the chickens are harvesting all they can reach.  Anyway, as decoy plants, it is easy to knock the Japanese beetles into a jar to feed the chickens. Bonus, the plant is beautiful in the early fall!