Forming Permaculture Village seeking helpers and renters in Oregon

Greetings Permies
I am in the process of obtaining a 30+ acre woodland farm in southern oregon and wanted to put out the possibility to quality people.
The good energy and positive high vibes is what I wish to convey.

The land is beautiful,wild and sacred. Over 30 acres with deeded creek bordering, on the end of the road over a bridge. It backs up to hundreds of wild BLM land. A 10 acre meadow with a majestic Maple tree hundreds of years old, lots of old growth douglas fir , pine and oak trees abound. a natural spring, creek with swimming hole. Truly a multiple family community village, with areas private and numerous.

A bit about myself I am a Holistic Health Practitioner and Builder. I have skills in community and homesteading and primitive skills as well as permaculture.
I have helped facilitate and create festivals and workshops. I love to travel, have had the blessing to stay at findhorn in the UK. I love to cook, but I have been a raw foodist and vegan, currently mostly plant based diet. I love to create music, I play djembe, didgeridoo, native flute and sing.
I also have experience in video production and will be doing a video series and filming events and workshops.

I am looking for skilled help with social media/web for events and builders for projects and gardens, both skilled and unskilled. There will be great opportunities for learning and growing in this dynamic environment.

We can have brainstorming sessions to grow and develop projects (I liked a previous post by bill) "It's like let's create a homestead that serves our health and also acts as an entrepreneurial brainstorming hotspot.  I vision a highly organized and productive team capable of putting plans into action.  The goal is to learn about and succeed at accumulating wealth and then be able to apply our permacultural values to much larger endeavors than we would otherwise be able to fund.  I think it will be a slow journey but kept enjoyable by maintaining a healthy homestead and lifestyle, and being part of a strong community."
let me explain briefly, we will be doing events to raise awareness for sustainable living and income producing projects for future growth and development.

The property was previously (10 yrs ago) a community and has 1 2bd 1 ba house , 1 large studio guest house, 2 1bd 1 ba up and down apartments with wrap around porch and a large cob studio house.
These have electricity, working bathrooms and laundry facilities.
These are available to rent for those seeking more amenities and needs. We can also work out a fair exchange for rent but a minimum of real monthly rent is needed to pay mortgage on property.
This property also has 2 cob ovens outdoors.

Creation of this community is based on love, togetherness, leaving behind old neurotic patterns, and gradually awakening to the wonderful and fun possibilities that are all around us.
This is a place where people can unfold in community with others and begin to explore new potentials in themselves and in reality.
It's a place to be creative on many levels.
We value spontaneity and allowing "The Great Spirit" to guide what we do and essentially to help solve problems. The quality of the consciousness here is such that the emphasis of forward looking creative energy gathers momentum and "problems" are worked out spontaneously and naturally as part of the entire progression.(borrowing the great vision)

This would be a no cigarette or vapeing tobacco free village.   No hard drugs.  Please No psychotic episodes, prefer no pharmaceutical ingestion or need.

there are composting toilets and an outdoor kitchen for all volunteers and helpers right next to a lovely creek.

plenty of camping spots and we will be putting in an outdoor shower with hot an cold water.

We will also be building other structures, cob, tree-houses and aircrete, and are offering people the opportunity to camp for affordable rent while learning sustainable practices and skills.
($200 per month basic rate, and somewhat negotiable based on work exchange) but it is best if everyone can contribute

Vision to embrace Native philosophies, while looking toward a brighter future.

We will implement hydroelectric power, tiny dwellings, solar and wind energy and well as explore new and exciting ways to live more harmoniously with the Earth.

Welcoming Permaculturists, Artists, Builders and Visionaries to work together, blend the beauty of your soul and spirit to awaken your heart song!

This is truly a place to explore positive change and growth.

if this calls to you to help paint the beautiful picture on a open canvas, if you would like to participate in creating positive change on this wonderful planet then please respond
let me know what skills you bring and we can help embrace the vision together.
Blessings
Spirit

Hello! Welcome to permies! Thank you for sharing this wonderful opportunity with us and letting more people know about it!

How are you thinking the exchange might work for the skilled help? You mentioned that a minimum of enough to cover rent so that mortgage can be paid will be necessary.

Would you be able to share some pictures of the site and the current work going on?

off the top of my head
Yes the camping intern/volunteers would hopefully contribute $200 a month
The 1100 sft 2b 1ba house $500/650 per bedroom for 1 or 2
400 sft guest house studio $750/$900 a month for 1 or 2
cob house is currently rented at $750
2 apartments $650 each

I will be doing a solar /wind project soon that hopefully takes care of electric needs
we can decide on phone needs as cell service is sparse
internet is by satellite

so for social media/web and builders depending on skill level will determine exchange
listed is the housing value and could do up to half for exchange value

I tried to post pictures but I guess i am not as skilled on the internet

Can you give more details on where it's located? I wouldn't be interested in relocating, but I'm often down near Ashland visiting friends (I used to live there) and might stop by and contribute if you're interested.

Here's a tutorial on how to post pictures at permies.

I'm also curious where in Oregon this is located.  I'd be willing to help out on the front end.  I've designed and built passive solar homes,  operate a learning center, and lived at Lost Valley (Dexter) for a couple years.
Thanks

Hello, this is beautifully serendipitous timing to see your post! I just moved to the area with my husband and nine year old son so we could be closer to my grandparents who live in northern California. We are looking for a place near Medford/Ashland and are extremely interested in meeting with you and seeing the land and available rentals. We have been practicing permaculture since 2012 and have implemented and cared for permaculture farms/food forests on four sites in Maine, Connecticut, and New  Hampshire. I'm currently finishing up the final design for my online PDC taught by Dr. Alan Enzo through the Permaculture Education Center and have completed all of the course work for the PDC. I worked in my uncle's commercial greenhouses and plant nurseries when I was growing up and I have had gardens since childhood, taking care of plants and animals is what I have always loved to do. I am an extremely creative person that thrives in spirit when I nurture living beings, and I am passionate about developing and growing sustainable community resilience. I have been involved in sustainability projects in New Hampshire and Florida and hope to share my skills in our new community once we find our new home. For income I work as a nanny, a nature based teacher, a writer, a musician, and as a fiber artist that upcycles almost everything I create. I have also had private clients as a gardener. I do have some web design experience and am relatively tech saavy. My most recent job outside of being self employed was working as the Executive Director of a 501c3 non-profit in Florida that focused on environmental justice and education. Prior to that I worked for a cloud based electronic medical records company as an analyst. My husband is a sous chef with around twenty years of experience and he is also a certified motorcycle mechanic. He has extensive experience helping me build gardens and caring for the animals we have had when we operated our farm animal sanctuary (with chickens, ducks, and rabbits). He also has experience taking care of horses. We homeschool and wildcraft and believe in living in attunement with nature. Our spirituality is earth centered and we have deep reverence for the earth, water, plants, and animals, we have indigenous ancestry and honor our relatives and ancestors. I have studied holistic healing, soapmaking, wildlife rehabilitation, and herbalism and we maintain wellness using these methods. We currently have a dog, a guinea pig, and three indoor cats. Would you be open to considering pets? Our Australian Shepherd/Corgi mix dog has spent the majority of her life on permaculture farms with animals and is a great farm dog. Her best friend was a duck we had named Ginger and she has always been gentle but also knows how to protect the flock by letting us know when predators are around.  Our cats are all fixed and older so they just sleep and cuddle most of the time. I hope to connect with you soon, this sounds like a wonderful community you are forming! I can be reached at 727-534-8330. Thank you

Hello! Very interesting depending on location!!

Hello, my family and I may potentially be interested.

We are a young couple with children (toddler/1 on the way) + a tiny chihuahua. We eat mostly vegan. No experience yet, but I have great interest in market gardening, healthy building and learning how to thrive providing a sustainable and healthy life for my family.

I would be very interested in seeing some pictures and knowing the location, thanks for sharing this opportunity!

Hi I am very interested in this. You can check out my profile to see where I’m coming from but in short I am new to permaculture but long held it’s values and have been working on the healing, thriving community side of things for many years. My ultimate goal is to join or create a permaculture community that puts as much care, thought and experiential expertise into the human systems in the permaculture community (learning to recognize unnecessary and unhealthy dynamics inside ourselves and our community and change them via consciousness and individual and community practices...like with nature, background knowledge helps but what works in any particular situation will be found by collaboration, attunement and innovation. That’s my end goal. But right now my main interest is to become a part of a permaculture community, work and experience and learn about those, so I do not need a community that has the same interests as me though that would be awesome!  I’m an artist, philosopher, psychotherapist, psychotherapy client, practices of mutual healing relationships, inventor and entrepreneur who is seeking the same thinktank situation to make money with ethical business that itself brings good to the world and also supplies funding for activities to create a thriving permaculture community and then share the knowledge and inspiration and healing with others. Please contact me, anyone who shares this interest...right now I’d really love to hear more about this forming village and talk with spirit I am about it...but also others because if this doesn’t work out may look for partners to create one also in this region. Thanks, trcglmr.perm@gmail.com

Blessings to All
I had a contract with the owner but
I was unable to obtain the funding for the property in time. It was very devastating to see such a perfect property slip by...4 houses a cob structure with separate area by creek with outdoor kitchen and cob ovens. All on 38 acres in Oregon with hundreds of BLM land surrounding. I look forward to finding such another gem and having the resources available to create the space.
looking forward

Hello Douglas, did this land sell then? I hear the heartbreak in your words.

Yes Tricia the property sold

There are others I have come across..lately a 25 acre organic orchard...was talking with the owner two days ago and was told yesterday someone came in with an offer they took.

I have a pre-approval for finance now but it seems  many have loads of cash to scoop up good places.

perhaps a wonderful place will open up soon that will be perfect..

If we have many people interested there are some large places...we can pool resources and do a co-operative land purchase

It is true that many properties here in Oregon are being purchased with cash. That is how we got into our place. There were multiple offers, but we were the only one with cash. The property market in Oregon, at least southern Oregon is very hot right now. Good luck with finding something.

I’d encourage any permies interested in Southern Oregon to check out Del Norte County just across the CA border. The town of Crescent City is not as cool as Ashland or Brookings, but it’s close enough to them via beautiful drives, and in my opinion the scenery is even nicer here.  The weather is similarly varied as you go from coastal rainforest to Mediterranean as you go inland. Choose your own weather in the summer between 55 and 100f. The Smith is the best swimming river in the west in my opinion, and I’ve hiked all over. The land is generally cheaper than in southern Oregon as well, and many great off grid spots that were overpaid for in the green rush have come back down to earth (We got our place on 25acres for less than 2/3 the peak asking price). Again though, these will have to be bought cash due to lack of bank financing options off grid. Rogue Credit Union is trying to help finance such places in this region, but if permits aren’t all perfect, they can’t help, and fully square permitting is rare in this area. Good luck to you!

Ben - I think that's a great idea. Sometimes we get so locked into an area that we overlook other possibilities. That being said, in southern Oregon, prices get better the further away from Ashland you get. I love Ashland, but it is pricey. I don't need to live there, visiting is fine. Our property would probably have costed 50% more than what we paid for it if it was in Ashland.

Zoning, or building unapproved structures in southern Oregon is difficult, unless you already have approved structures. If you have permitted housing, additional structures (unless obviously from satellite major development) are investigated only upon complaint. So if you are isolated and don't piss off your neighbors, you are likely to be fine. If you want to buy in southern Oregon, I recommend something with at least one approved residence. We are planning on adding a detached bedroom community with an outdoor kitchen. In our county, if it doesn't have a kitchen, it isn't a house.

If you would like to talk further, feel free to PM me.

Yes thanks Ben...I have been broadening the search area...coastal is great..love the ocean! Traveled up and down in my camper van with my pups, looking to create a space for the future now.

and Stacy, yes permitted structures is a challenging for appraisal and inspections that come with financing. Found a great place with 2 houses on 10 acres..but neither was permitted so the could not finance.
so will continue the search...I will message you perhaps you have some inside tips.
Thanks

Currently in the region and interested in this. Selling some property now and hope to then invest in a project like yours.

Hey just read the news... I'm sorry to here it. Blessings.

C Douglas, I am interested in participating in a cooperative type community. My husband and I have just sold our house in Salem, OR and staying in Gold Beach area for a couple of months before heading to Arizona for the winter. Plan to be back in Oregon in the spring. We love the southern part of the state and are interested in finding a more affordable way to acreage. Would be interested in participating in land purchase and community building.

I know of a 1600acre property for sale (for $13mil) near the mouth of the smith river just south of the Oregon border. It is a former Lilly bulb farm, which brings severe soil and water contamination concerns, but it is also one of the most beautiful and naturally verdant places on Earth that could be a big restoration/regenerative agriculture win, and would help protect the river that is the last best chance for salmon in CA. I’d encourage anybody interested in this or other collective land permification endeavors in the NW CA/SW OR area to contact me and/or the Wild Rivers Permaculture Guild.

I will try again, as this looks interesting enough for what I look for, for being in communication for inclusion. I want to grow things using simple horticulture for a very sustainable way having enough for subsistence, and living in simplicity. And I want there to be encouragement to others for that. More coming to this can really help in this world. As I would use the most simplicity not needing things more, settling with camping at a site would be fine with me. If there can be discussion of building a simple structure for living in, I would like that still. I guess I can leave here that I can be contacted by email too, being addressed to vegrox at aol.com.

Hi! My good friend & I  are amazed by your offer here! This sounds like what we are talking about tonight...our kids are established on their own,and we are looking for a positive change,and  living environment. Extremely interested in Learning !! Please text us. We are serious , and won't let you down!  (....we also have a steady , fixed income!)
Sue 541-543-1617
Mary 541-517-7514

Greetings!
I currently reside in Seattle and need to leave my apartment ASAP for it to be returned to original use for buildings caretaker. I am looking to leave this area, to be more in nature without the city neighborhoods. I’m interested in exploring off grid, or alternative organic healthfulness living, with other freedom lovers. I do not give any credence to the current c*vid narrative of fear and tyranny. I seek a location with others that take responsibility for their own health, and can support others to do the same, naturally.  My background is various creative ventures, wild plant, berry, and mushroom harvesting. Essential oil blends. Still learning tincture and salve making. I love incorporating wild edibles into meals. I am creative, and resourceful in many areas. I am open to various possible locations. 🌞🌳🐿

Hello!  
My partner and I are looking for a permaculture community.  We have years of experience with farming, permaculture, animal husbandry, construction and mechanics.  Our number is (541) 991-9272.  
Thanks!
Diane and Stephen

Yes thanks everyone for your interest. This is truly a time to come together with like minded people to be sustainable.
I am currently a backup offer on a place close to the coast of Oregon.
will let everyone know how things flow.
If you have good ideas to be sustainable on 5 acres, let me know
I thought maybe some sweet treehouses ,if city allows more dwellings...at least 1 for Ocean viewing :)
the property is 3 acres of woods...small greenhouses...2 bed house...open workshop
blessings

I do want to hear how this is yet going. I have ideas for growing things, too. What do you think of natural farming as it was discussed by Masanobu Fukuoka? I have the interest to grow things and to eat as far as I might in the sustainable way possible. And being on the west coast also, Oregon sounds like an attractive place for working for this.

Most impressive!

I am currently A PDC near Graduate and practicing quality living techniques!

I live in Brookings Oregon and will visit your farm!

Please do email me that we may do all the things the permies do!

oceanaerialcourse@gmail.com

More to come!
“AAA” amanda W!

Hi, Your posting aligns with my own goals tidily: no drugs, no vaping or other drugs, vegetarian. I've been trying to blend in with US culture all my life -- doesn't work and I'm exhausted. Am interested in renting one of your apartments and helping with natural building and gardening projects. I'm a scholar and have been tutoring and homeschooling for a decade now; need wifi connection for online teaching. I'm a lifelong cyclist and ideally would like to be within safe cycling range of a town or grocery store. Chickens, yes. Am not into free-range dogs: noise, hygiene, yuck. I'd be interested in your feedback. Also, I might purchase a nearby  property.

-- Lynne

Good morning
I’m very interested in finding out more about.  I’m a seamstress and artist in
Idaho
Sewauntiesandy@yahoo.com

Good morning
I posted earlier and was so excited then I was able to sign in and read further I would so love to be involved in this
A little about me
I’m a seamstress and attest in idaho my dream however is to live in a comunity of like minded people I have a lot to offer a comunity just need to find one
Please contact me in where your at in this I’d live to discuss some of my ideas also thank you
Sandy

Greetings!
I'm looking to relocate from Seattle to a homestead situation. Are there any opportunities still here? I'm new to permaculture, but avid wild harvester of plants, mushrooms, and berries, enjoying making tinctures, salves, and using in food adventures. I just had my first WWOOF experience in Crescent City, CA, and love this general area. My background has mainly been various creative art and crafty expressions and ventures.
Looking only for freedom loving community. Thanks! 🌞 🌳