I in-vision creating a vegan permaculture site in Northern Calif.

I have 60 acres in Northern California just northeast of Redding, CA. I in-vision this place to be a vegan permaculture site. A plentiful spring supplies the buildings. Solar panels supply 3/4 of our electrical needs. I in-vision having people here who are vegan, smoke/drug and alcohol free, who help to transform this place. The first person is a collaborator. This person helps to put the vision into practical tasks and goals. This person helps to coordinate other positions. This person loves to organize things and people and is detail oriented. Another person(s) is housekeeper and chef who will prepare gourmet raw vegan food for everyone. Another is a caretaker who is experienced in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and logging. Another is a gardener who will coordinate the permaculture projects. Then there will be many other helpers who will be support people for these tasks. I in-vision everyone will know exactly what their contribution is and exactly what they are given in return, therefore, this will help us all to have our needs met and be able to create something sustaining and beautiful. Are you out there? Lets go!

Surprised that there have not been replies or inquiries to your post yet. Interested in more details but apparently I am not at a level to use the "purple mooseages" thing currently. I have a lifetime(seemingly!)of building, plumbing and electrical knowledge along with serious mechanical repair including heavy equipment for the past 30 years. Did some logging off and on while living in Washington state so not a stranger to that side of things. Also an experienced beekeeper. I am at kilnhucker@zoho.com if there is any interest.

Just want to say hi and best wishes from the Humboldt coast.
We just bought land out here so I'm not looking to join your team, perse. Plus, I'd violate most of your requirements but... I still think its great that another 60 acres will be slowing and soaking water and becoming more biodiverse and productive for people and life.

The wife and I are vegans looking to become a homesteader with permaculture.

What are you looking for in people?

Here are some details on the things I in vision happening on this 60 acre place. I have now organized it into 4 development phases totaling 14 years:

Harmony Springs Permaculture Ecovillage

Phase 1: It will be 5 years. First I am in the process of adding shelving, two workbenches and a large table saw table in the barn turning it into the Woodwork Shop. Next I am organizing all tools and supplies. (Some previous tenants have left this place in a mess, now that its my turn, there will be a place for everything and everything in its place.) Then we(help) will learn how to plan out workshops for people to attend who are interested in having hands-on experiences and learning how to do permaculture projects. We may also develop a internship program. Then we will advertise the 7 RV rental spaces on various permaculture websites, so that people who are traveling around can come and stay and just relax and hang out down at the pond or participate in the workshops. Next the tractor will be repaired. The rubber bits for the hydraulics need to be replaced. Then the swales are to be dug. Lots of them all over the property. Currently there is an electric pump at the spring. We will build and install a RAM pump, which runs 24/7 and needs no electricity. Then trees and other plantings are to be planted along the swales once the water flow from the spring has put enough water in the swales or the winter rains have come, which ever comes first. Then there are two areas (one, called the Wellness Garden, is at the future Wellness Center site, the other is the Community Garden, which is at the future Community Center site,) which are designated as production gardens. These areas will be fenced off and planted with all the plants that we eat and sell. Next we will build a 14 X 20 green house next to the garden shed out of old windows I have been collecting. Then we will flatten out and gravel an area near the road which we will call the parking lot. Then we will create a "Market Stand" at the parking lot site, to sell the produce we have grown. There are also plans to build a large Labyrinth. The money raised from the workshops, rentals and market stand will be saved (after expenses) until there is enough to pay for a permit and re-zoning issue that has recently come to my attention. This may take 5 years.

Phase 2: 4 years. Re-zone the property and permit what needs to be permitted. Build a Garden Center, a Country Market and a Bookstore Cafe at the parking lot site. These building projects will all be alternative buildings. There will also be a Metal Shop, a Building Supply Warehouse, and a Electric Recycling Shop, all near the existing Woodwork Shop. We will continue to plant more trees and other plants all over the place. There will also be a beach put in at one end of the pond and a small cabin will be built there which we will call the Beach House. We will complete the unfinished apartment in the Woodwork Shop. We will also build a small cabin at the top corner of the property. These will be for rentals or people who wish to stay and work. There will need to be people to run the market, cafe, and garden center. And people to garden, and on and on.

Phase 3: 3 years. By this time the goal is to have enough funds to pay off the mortgage of this place and then to build a grand Wellness Center at the other corner at the top of the property. Then we will develop and implement the programs and services and outdoor garden area .

Phase 4: 2 years. Renovate the main house (The house I now live in with my paralyzed father [I moved here from Victoria, BC, in 2003 to be his caregiver after he became paralyzed in an auto accident]) and turn it into a Community Center. The Community Center programs will include helping youth and others who need help to grow and become better people.

Whew! Lots of plans. I have a detailed plan as to how this will all play out. I in vision that this will be a place which will show that one can live in a supportive community and be independent, resilient, and be off grid and off fossil fuels.

Hey all,

Long-time permaculture dilettante, first-time poster here. Jen's the name. I am graduating from an accredited naturopathic school in June of this year and my long-term vision is to have a farm-based practice similar to Ethos over in New Jersey (http://www.myethoshealth.com/). I'm really interested in the farming side of things as well, but realizing I might not have the time to be both a great doctor and a great farmer. I'm vegan, and very interested in living in close community with others of like-mind. I am engaged to another dilettante who is part teacher, part writer, part poker player. We have a border collie who is in herding lessons (this is the most unvegan thing I do).

So, just putting some feelers out there, hoping to make some friends Currently living in San Diego, but from the greater Philly area. Hello!

Hi Veronica,

Thank you for pointing me to this site. Exactly what I needed to know about! So thankful to become a part of the growing permaculture community here in the beautiful North Valley of California.

I have a question about your community vision. First prefacing my question in the context of my own interests: I am a healthy omnivore and love my hens, all that they provide for my well being… also think that animals like goats/sheep are well suited to our ecosystem here in Northern California. So now the question: why Vegan only and why raw food only for the community you envision? I would enjoy being the cook and a gardener, and a furniture builder for the community, but am not interested in limiting myself to the vegan lifestyle. I can cook vegan/vegetarian dishes, and I can do plenty of raw foods too, but I also love to bake wholesome breads (using grains from the local miller) and a wood fired pizza oven would be a lot of fun and enjoyment for the community… Just asking what is most important to your vision? Will you find enough vegans who share your same vision? If not would you compromise to include healthy omnivores and their hens?

I could easily join your experiment and put my shoulder to the wheel with you, instead of my own little petri dish here just down the road.

Hope all is well up at your place. Another beautiful gift of a day to enjoy,
Robin

Veronica Sherriff wrote:I have 60 acres in Northern California just northeast of Redding, CA. I in-vision this place to be a vegan permaculture site. A plentiful spring supplies the buildings. Solar panels supply 3/4 of our electrical needs. I in-vision having people here who are vegan, smoke/drug and alcohol free, who help to transform this place. The first person is a collaborator. This person helps to put the vision into practical tasks and goals. This person helps to coordinate other positions. This person loves to organize things and people and is detail oriented. Another person(s) is housekeeper and chef who will prepare gourmet raw vegan food for everyone. Another is a caretaker who is experienced in carpentry, electrical, plumbing, and logging. Another is a gardener who will coordinate the permaculture projects. Then there will be many other helpers who will be support people for these tasks. I in-vision everyone will know exactly what their contribution is and exactly what they are given in return, therefore, this will help us all to have our needs met and be able to create something sustaining and beautiful. Are you out there? Lets go!

This sounds like a wonderful sanctuary! My better half and I are both vegan and are heading back to college this fall. I am going for horticulture and she is going for early childhood development. Once we are more educated we would love to find something as wonderful as this!

OH WOW!

We Would love to be a part of this!
How is the project going?

I would live that way anyway, I do not use animal products anymore, and I try avoiding processed foods. I would grow all the vegetation I see needed, if I can, to do this, using natural farming methods I learned, and the only thing that might be missing, when I have various fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds, for eating, growing, is vitamin B12, which comes from the right soil bacteria, which produce that, so I would try getting the vitamin B12 the same way animals naturally get that, I can rinse fruits and vegetables without cleaning them entirely. Cooking will not destroy the vitamin.

If you would want to communicate with me privately I can be reached at vegrox@aol.com.

im curious how veronica's project on 60 acres is going, hopefully no where near the fires and all are safe. that is a very beautiful part of the country.

hi if anyone with a natural, holistic, veganic off grid place needs help please reach out, or if anyone is interested in finding something together. i'm in the northeast but willing to travel wherever and share ride.
my email is un_nomz@protonmail.ch.  Straight, spiritual family only please or others like this.

thanks much!

Jen Winter wrote:Hey all,

Long-time permaculture dilettante, first-time poster here. Jen's the name. I am graduating from an accredited naturopathic school in June of this year and my long-term vision is to have a farm-based practice similar to Ethos over in New Jersey (http://www.myethoshealth.com/). I'm really interested in the farming side of things as well, but realizing I might not have the time to be both a great doctor and a great farmer. I'm vegan, and very interested in living in close community with others of like-mind. I am engaged to another dilettante who is part teacher, part writer, part poker player. We have a border collie who is in herding lessons (this is the most unvegan thing I do).

So, just putting some feelers out there, hoping to make some friends Currently living in San Diego, but from the greater Philly area. Hello!

Hi, Jen.
Are you still living in San Diego? Thats where I am. Would.libe to make new permie friends. I'm Vegan, wiccan, herbal meds lover, mother of two and lots of fur babies. Love to live in harmony with the land. Own a half acre in Spring Valley.  We should talk, looking to move and buy more land with water to start a community or find one ideal to join.   opal.althoff@gmail.com  look forward to speaking with you please email me.

Along with vegan living I will seek being offgrid, with the way I live being natural, in the ways I can have it. I do not drink or have dependence on drugs, I will seek for whatever treatment is needed from plants that can be growing where I would be, that I learn about. I would use natural farming methods of Masanobu Fukuoka, for the variety of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and seeds I want available to use, along with any others who would be involved with me and into that. Instead of monocrops of any certain vegetation I would have all the vegetation I have growing be mixed, among other vegetation that will be compatible, and it would be among natural vegetation. I would leave surrounding environments alone as much as possible. I would seek a sustainable way that can be a worthy model, that is desirable. I would also say I am spiritual in inclination.
vegrox@aol.com

Hi, are there any veganic permies here near Madison or Chicago?