I received a bunch of questions via email today and I thought I would try to
answer them here in case other people have the same question later.
1. What entails being a resident at Permies?
we have:
- the deep roots program where people pseudo-buy an acre of land.
- the shallow roots program where people rent a piece of land for three years.
- the ant village program where people rent a piece of land for one year and can qualify for the ant village challenge.
- the sepper program where people can experience "permaculture pampering" and can rent one of our structures for a few days, few weeks or a few months. You would probably need to be here at least three months to be thought of as "a resident."
- the gapper program where people come for a few hours, weeks, months or years. They pay $100 for the processing to get them here, give them a tour, set them up with a place to pitch a tent in the warm months, and a bunk in the colder months (first come, first serve). Within a couple of days they are expected to contribute to some project somewhere. Usually the find an ant that they like and help the ant - and the ant will, hopefully, provide strong guidance. You would probably need to be here at least three months to be thought of as "a resident." I think there are two gappers here now that are thought of as residents.
We do have some other folks that come through that are attending or teaching a
workshop, or directly involved in a bigger project. Sometimes there are friends of residents who stick around long
enough to be thought of as residents.
For certain folks, I can see making an arrangement of filling a role, or doing a big job includes one of our
shelters. But that would take some convincing.
I also think there has been a role here that I think would be great to be filled one day. A very lovely person that has natural domestic superpowers. We have learned that when we have such a person here, nearly all of the projects have a jet-pack. With such a person I think any workshops would be better, and we would be able to have more potlucks and feast nights. Everything would just be better. There is a lot I would be willing to do to have such a person here.
2. What is expected of me? I understand that there is a no drugs and minimal alcohol consumption policy and I believe no make-up. Surely, I would be expected to contribute in some way.
I expect that a resident would have listened to at least 200 of my podcasts. It seems that people that choose to pass through that gauntlet have a good understanding of my flavor of
permaculture and will choose a path that fits within my comfort zone. I also have a theory that conflict comes from difference of knowledge set - by listening to the podcasts we dramatically reduce potential conflict.
No tobacco. No pot (or other illegal drugs). Minimal alcohol (aka drama fuel). The no make-up thing is news to me, but it does seem that the women that come here don't care for it (which makes sense to me).
If you are doing
deep roots, shallow
roots or ant village, there are no expectations, but you are on bare land. You create your own utopia.
For the
sepper program, your contribution is monies.
For the
gapper program, your contribution is your labor and your shelter is arranged with your favorite host (probably one of the
ants - possibly me).
Is there wifi for my computer?
At basecamp. Some people are able to get their 4G stuff to work at the lab.
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