Where are communities of homesteaders?

Where in the US are there thriving communities of homesteaders? I'm not talking about the basic rural nuclear family that has a garden and a "Live Laugh Love" poster in the kitchen; those people are everywhere. I'm talking about groups of friends who share land or visit each other's neighboring land frequently. Folks who will come over and help harvest that new variety of dent corn you grew this year and take turns grinding it into masa for a tamale making party. People who understand the importance of community in food traditions, who think it's more fun to make jam with friends than alone. Even though I put this in the intentional community subforum, I'm not talking about an intentional community or ecovillage - usually those end up being kinda cultish and have all kinds of other weird baggage. Just talking about areas where there's a critical mass of community-minded homesteaders who don't live like hermits or nuclear family units.

Charlie, welcome to the forum.

"Folks who will come over and help harvest that new variety of dent corn you grew this year and take turns grinding it into masa for a tamale making party."

I wish I knew where you can find these kinds of folks except here on the forum.

We all might be able to have a virtual party of sharing ideas and methods.

Charlie said, "Just talking about areas where there's a critical mass of community-minded homesteaders

This forum!

Tell us more about what your interest are.  Homesteading covers a broad area.

Do you have animals? A garden?

Do you like to grow mushrooms?

Those communities exist everywhere. You just gotta plug yourself into them. "Producer only" farmer's markets are a great place to start.

I'm talking about groups of friends who share land or visit each other's neighboring land frequently. People who understand the importance of community in food traditions, who think it's more fun to make jam with friends than alone. Just talking about areas where there's a critical mass of community-minded homesteaders who don't live like hermits or nuclear family units.

Without going all.. "wax on.. wax off" on you..
BE the change.
Homesteading is a mindset.
It's just community with a sweat band.

A story.  
In my 20's as a young mom I had a neighbour Anne.
She had Macular Degeneration and a 60' hedge along her fence of the most huge, luscious glorious Raspberries I had ever seen.
She struggled silently but I finally saw her out there in the heat one day.
Realized what a chore it was for her.. and we made picking dates.
I showed up early.. to have it almost done.
The kids had gotten me up at 4 am.. might as well get started.. right?

The next year.. if I put them on her drainboard, picked really clean.. she could handle them from there.
She had been a schoolteacher in the community, devout church attender..  
I was.. in the arrogance of youth.. pretty disgusted about the parade of people that walked right by me picking and took their buckets of berries.
One day.. a woman stopped and thanked me..
On her way to work. She was going to make jam...
So I suggested she take another bucket and make extra jam for her workmates.
Got a grin and she scampered back to get another bucket..

And I did some thinking..
I loved picking, couldn't stand to see the waste of watching them drop.
Feeling the morning sun come up on my shoulders, the sound of pollen drunk bees, the Raspberry smelled dew.  

So instead of resenting the people who took without picking..
I would talk to them.. tell them the pre-picked tax was to continue the old ladies legacy.
Pass on to others, share, teach.
To let them know that it wasn't free, that a bucket came with obligation, a privilege of service to others. Sharing the glory of a gift from the creator.
A few years on.. the small community of her friends were co-operative bees at Raspberry time.
Ann got the enjoyment of the steady stream of visitors, I got the mental health break of picking, others chose thier own service.
That wasn't my debt to concern myself with.

I dug up the suckers out of the lawn and passed out the canes to whomever would take them.

We have both long moved away, Anne has passed.. Many of her friends have also passed.
I drove through that town this summer.
Smiled at the Raspberry canes sprawling drunkenly on a section of almost every fence on the Downtown blocks.

As life lessons go.. that was a pivitol one.
Like I said. Community starts with YOU.
And the question is never.. What can I get?
It's always.. What can I give? How can I help?
What can I do?
Search out those opportunities wherever you are, whatever you do.
Homesteading isn't a place.. it's a mindset.
The more you give, the more is given to you to pass along.
To share your skills and abundance, however that looks,  is at the core of Homesteading... Community and humanity.

What you are seeking sounds like how the Amish live.  They do everything together.  Travel through Ohio sometime and see their lovely homesteads.

That was a wonderful story and message, Nola, thank you. Coincidentally, the same day I posted this, I later saw that the bookstore a few blocks away from me hosted a "food club", a book club where people read a book about food and then have a potluck inspired by the book. I will definitely be participating in that next time!

kay fox wrote:What you are seeking sounds like how the Amish live.  They do everything together.  Travel through Ohio sometime and see their lovely homesteads.

I really like Kay's suggestion about the Amish.  There are Amish and Mennonite communities located all over the USA.

We saw some when we were in Indiana.  We differently have Mennonite communities here in Texas.

Why not google locations where you live to see if there are some near you?

I google Amish and Mennonite community stores and found that one in Branson, Mo sells bulk items.

I even found this video:



Now I want to go find one.

There are many more homesteaders and people working together than you are able to find just searching the web. Many folks dont have an instagram or whathaveyou. They just do. To find those people you are just gonna have to search em out the old fashioned way.

Nola Marth wrote:

I'm talking about groups of friends who share land or visit each other's neighboring land frequently. People who understand the importance of community in food traditions, who think it's more fun to make jam with friends than alone. Just talking about areas where there's a critical mass of community-minded homesteaders who don't live like hermits or nuclear family units.

Without going all.. "wax on.. wax off" on you..
BE the change.
Homesteading is a mindset.
It's just community with a sweat band.

A story.  
In my 20's as a young mom I had a neighbour Anne.
She had Macular Degeneration and a 60' hedge along her fence of the most huge, luscious glorious Raspberries I had ever seen.
She struggled silently but I finally saw her out there in the heat one day.
Realized what a chore it was for her.. and we made picking dates.
I showed up early.. to have it almost done.
The kids had gotten me up at 4 am.. might as well get started.. right?

The next year.. if I put them on her drainboard, picked really clean.. she could handle them from there.
She had been a schoolteacher in the community, devout church attender..  
I was.. in the arrogance of youth.. pretty disgusted about the parade of people that walked right by me picking and took their buckets of berries.
One day.. a woman stopped and thanked me..
On her way to work. She was going to make jam...
So I suggested she take another bucket and make extra jam for her workmates.
Got a grin and she scampered back to get another bucket..

And I did some thinking..
I loved picking, couldn't stand to see the waste of watching them drop.
Feeling the morning sun come up on my shoulders, the sound of pollen drunk bees, the Raspberry smelled dew.  

So instead of resenting the people who took without picking..
I would talk to them.. tell them the pre-picked tax was to continue the old ladies legacy.
Pass on to others, share, teach.
To let them know that it wasn't free, that a bucket came with obligation, a privilege of service to others. Sharing the glory of a gift from the creator.
A few years on.. the small community of her friends were co-operative bees at Raspberry time.
Ann got the enjoyment of the steady stream of visitors, I got the mental health break of picking, others chose thier own service.
That wasn't my debt to concern myself with.

I dug up the suckers out of the lawn and passed out the canes to whomever would take them.

We have both long moved away, Anne has passed.. Many of her friends have also passed.
I drove through that town this summer.
Smiled at the Raspberry canes sprawling drunkenly on a section of almost every fence on the Downtown blocks.

As life lessons go.. that was a pivitol one.
Like I said. Community starts with YOU.
And the question is never.. What can I get?
It's always.. What can I give? How can I help?
What can I do?
Search out those opportunities wherever you are, whatever you do.
Homesteading isn't a place.. it's a mindset.
The more you give, the more is given to you to pass along.
To share your skills and abundance, however that looks,  is at the core of Homesteading... Community and humanity.



That was very well said. People today are not normally inclined to think that way, even though it's something I think we all definitely need. And I think people lack a lot of social skills and creative ideas to just dive into community. Many times churches, and similar groups tend to have built in community groups that all they need is someone to have an idea and they'll go do it.
But without being already involved, it can be hard to start.
Meetup website has opportunities to start events, which can lead eventually to community. Sounds like you stumbled upon a group yourself.

1) Online resources for finding such groups:
The "Regional" category on this very forum!
freesteading.com - great for finding people!
Possibly find farms doing woofing (eg woofusa.org)
Possibly freedomcells.org communities(?)

2) Mostly, as somebody above mentioned, rubbing shoulders/in-person networking.  This past year I went to get some cherries from a craigslist ad, found that the couple had a passive solar greenhouse and the whole nine yards!  Turns out a lot of people are not online because they are too busy out doing things!  (Also, that's the best way to court the wisdom of your Ol' Otis farmers who tend to be less computer-oriented.)

3) Similar to #2, on a recent video, Perma Pastures Billy talked about wearing permaculture t-shirts as an "admission ticket".  You know, if somebody sees you walking around with a great big Lawton quote across your chest, that's going to get responses like:
a) "what is that?" in which case, you can gush about the lifestyle and spread the bug
b) "heyyyy!" in which case you just found a friend

Though I lived very much in the city, my neighbourhood growing up in the '90s was great, parties, all of us kids running around on our block until dark, etc.  Its harder to find those things these days, and that's why my husband and I are seeking intentional community.  Maybe in some places neighbourhood community still exists organically without intent, but not around the Portland metro area anymore, at least not to the degree I seek.  My stepsister has had good success in her neighbourhood in the city, but its such a crapshoot.  That's why I'm seeking intention so I can plug in and further whatever is already going on there and hopefully combine with it and maybe bring something to the proverbial table.

Thanks for the story Nola, brought me beautiful chills and a smile.

Nola Marth wrote:

I'm talking about groups of friends who share land or visit each other's neighboring land frequently. People who understand the importance of community in food traditions, who think it's more fun to make jam with friends than alone. Just talking about areas where there's a critical mass of community-minded homesteaders who don't live like hermits or nuclear family units.

Without going all.. "wax on.. wax off" on you..
BE the change.
Homesteading is a mindset.
It's just community with a sweat band.

A story.  
In my 20's as a young mom I had a neighbour Anne.
She had Macular Degeneration and a 60' hedge along her fence of the most huge, luscious glorious Raspberries I had ever seen.
She struggled silently but I finally saw her out there in the heat one day.
Realized what a chore it was for her.. and we made picking dates.
I showed up early.. to have it almost done.
The kids had gotten me up at 4 am.. might as well get started.. right?

The next year.. if I put them on her drainboard, picked really clean.. she could handle them from there.
She had been a schoolteacher in the community, devout church attender..  
I was.. in the arrogance of youth.. pretty disgusted about the parade of people that walked right by me picking and took their buckets of berries.
One day.. a woman stopped and thanked me..
On her way to work. She was going to make jam...
So I suggested she take another bucket and make extra jam for her workmates.
Got a grin and she scampered back to get another bucket..

And I did some thinking..
I loved picking, couldn't stand to see the waste of watching them drop.
Feeling the morning sun come up on my shoulders, the sound of pollen drunk bees, the Raspberry smelled dew.  

So instead of resenting the people who took without picking..
I would talk to them.. tell them the pre-picked tax was to continue the old ladies legacy.
Pass on to others, share, teach.
To let them know that it wasn't free, that a bucket came with obligation, a privilege of service to others. Sharing the glory of a gift from the creator.
A few years on.. the small community of her friends were co-operative bees at Raspberry time.
Ann got the enjoyment of the steady stream of visitors, I got the mental health break of picking, others chose thier own service.
That wasn't my debt to concern myself with.

I dug up the suckers out of the lawn and passed out the canes to whomever would take them.

We have both long moved away, Anne has passed.. Many of her friends have also passed.
I drove through that town this summer.
Smiled at the Raspberry canes sprawling drunkenly on a section of almost every fence on the Downtown blocks.

As life lessons go.. that was a pivitol one.
Like I said. Community starts with YOU.
And the question is never.. What can I get?
It's always.. What can I give? How can I help?
What can I do?
Search out those opportunities wherever you are, whatever you do.
Homesteading isn't a place.. it's a mindset.
The more you give, the more is given to you to pass along.
To share your skills and abundance, however that looks,  is at the core of Homesteading... Community and humanity.

Thomas Rubino.....What do you think of the wonderful story Nola shared? <3

Opal-Lia Palmer wrote:Thanks for the story Nola, brought me beautiful chills and a smile.

Nola Marth wrote:

I'm talking about groups of friends who share land or visit each other's neighboring land frequently. People who understand the importance of community in food traditions, who think it's more fun to make jam with friends than alone. Just talking about areas where there's a critical mass of community-minded homesteaders who don't live like hermits or nuclear family units.

Without going all.. "wax on.. wax off" on you..
BE the change.
Homesteading is a mindset.
It's just community with a sweat band.

A story.  
In my 20's as a young mom I had a neighbour Anne.
She had Macular Degeneration and a 60' hedge along her fence of the most huge, luscious glorious Raspberries I had ever seen.
She struggled silently but I finally saw her out there in the heat one day.
Realized what a chore it was for her.. and we made picking dates.
I showed up early.. to have it almost done.
The kids had gotten me up at 4 am.. might as well get started.. right?

The next year.. if I put them on her drainboard, picked really clean.. she could handle them from there.
She had been a schoolteacher in the community, devout church attender..  
I was.. in the arrogance of youth.. pretty disgusted about the parade of people that walked right by me picking and took their buckets of berries.
One day.. a woman stopped and thanked me..
On her way to work. She was going to make jam...
So I suggested she take another bucket and make extra jam for her workmates.
Got a grin and she scampered back to get another bucket..

And I did some thinking..
I loved picking, couldn't stand to see the waste of watching them drop.
Feeling the morning sun come up on my shoulders, the sound of pollen drunk bees, the Raspberry smelled dew.  

So instead of resenting the people who took without picking..
I would talk to them.. tell them the pre-picked tax was to continue the old ladies legacy.
Pass on to others, share, teach.
To let them know that it wasn't free, that a bucket came with obligation, a privilege of service to others. Sharing the glory of a gift from the creator.
A few years on.. the small community of her friends were co-operative bees at Raspberry time.
Ann got the enjoyment of the steady stream of visitors, I got the mental health break of picking, others chose thier own service.
That wasn't my debt to concern myself with.

I dug up the suckers out of the lawn and passed out the canes to whomever would take them.

We have both long moved away, Anne has passed.. Many of her friends have also passed.
I drove through that town this summer.
Smiled at the Raspberry canes sprawling drunkenly on a section of almost every fence on the Downtown blocks.

As life lessons go.. that was a pivitol one.
Like I said. Community starts with YOU.
And the question is never.. What can I get?
It's always.. What can I give? How can I help?
What can I do?
Search out those opportunities wherever you are, whatever you do.
Homesteading isn't a place.. it's a mindset.
The more you give, the more is given to you to pass along.
To share your skills and abundance, however that looks,  is at the core of Homesteading... Community and humanity.

Thanks for all the helpful info. I love all the links :-) Man I love finding new places to find others like me.

K Eilander wrote:
1) Online resources for finding such groups:
The "Regional" category on this very forum!
freesteading.com - great for finding people!
Possibly find farms doing woofing (eg woofusa.org)
Possibly freedomcells.org communities(?)

2) Mostly, as somebody above mentioned, rubbing shoulders/in-person networking.  This past year I went to get some cherries from a craigslist ad, found that the couple had a passive solar greenhouse and the whole nine yards!  Turns out a lot of people are not online because they are too busy out doing things!  (Also, that's the best way to court the wisdom of your Ol' Otis farmers who tend to be less computer-oriented.)

3) Similar to #2, on a recent video, Perma Pastures Billy talked about wearing permaculture t-shirts as an "admission ticket".  You know, if somebody sees you walking around with a great big Lawton quote across your chest, that's going to get responses like:
a) "what is that?" in which case, you can gush about the lifestyle and spread the bug
b) "heyyyy!" in which case you just found a friend

I think these kinds of communities are built in combination organically and intentionally.

You have to have the skill set and the resources, but you have to develop the relationships with people sincerely over time. I don't think this is one of those "transplant across the country and just drop into it and everyone welcomes you with open arms" kind of situations. It takes a lot of trust and hard work.

If you want to build it, step one is finding a "location". More than just the plot you own, but the town you want to become a community with, or maybe just around a few people you already know. And then like other posters have said, start making connections.

Lots of really thoughtful answers already!
I think starting to look at villages around where you are now is a good start. You can see signs that there’s a communal spirit by hearing about small family farms selling seasonal produce all around, very small places that still have a primary school, lots of activities organized by volunteers. Look for things that make you think you’d want to be part of it.  

I know I’m guilty of being way too precise about the community I want to live in and that might have hurt my chances of finding one before. I think now I’m going to focus more on where I want to be and try to get along with my neighbors to start, then the producers (I have a plan to offer them perfectly composted humus in exchange for produce) and then get more involved and see what happens. I feel like community is everyone you let into your life, whether you know them a little or a lot, and it is a challenge for me because I tend to judge (there, I said it) people when they have different values than mine but I want to be more inclusive to feel more included.

When I was living in NOVA (northern Virginia) a few years ago, doing research on intentional communities, I found several what you might call "intentional homesteads" where once you were vetted, you could move into an existing structure or build on the land. There were agreements to sign, etc., since these were long-term endeavors and even after proper vetting, sometimes people still end up not getting along. But it wasn't co-living...families had their own structures. There were shared tasks, etc.

I never knew these existed. Local governments hate them because they're not SFH's, etc. But I guess attorneys know how to get these things pushed through. They do exist out there.

Permies has lots of info on intentional communities.

j

Charlie Colquhoun wrote:Where in the US are there thriving communities of homesteaders? I'm not talking about the basic rural nuclear family that has a garden and a "Live Laugh Love" poster in the kitchen; those people are everywhere. I'm talking about groups of friends who share land or visit each other's neighboring land frequently. Folks who will come over and help harvest that new variety of dent corn you grew this year and take turns grinding it into masa for a tamale making party. People who understand the importance of community in food traditions, who think it's more fun to make jam with friends than alone. Even though I put this in the intentional community subforum, I'm not talking about an intentional community or ecovillage - usually those end up being kinda cultish and have all kinds of other weird baggage. Just talking about areas where there's a critical mass of community-minded homesteaders who don't live like hermits or nuclear family units.

I am on the same Journey. Now more than ever it seems beyond important to be self sufficient yet, Better Together with like minded souls. Growing  healthy food to trade... Help and share personal knowledge to Build... I have supplies, much to give... Ready to work, Connect... I've been living in Ecuador where food is growing, Everywhere! Unfortunately we have be so divided I realized, I was a Forever Gringo.  Yes! where do people Know, we are Better Together!? Great Community is where it's at. Learning and (Growing) in All ways. Healthy, Thriving...
Where!? Let's Find it Together.
Ready to Contribute, Create...
Thank you for reading. Love to share ideas.
Michele❣
himichele3@gmail.com