Stephanie Sager

Any of your ants want to make extra $$$ doing childcare? Do any of them have children?  Clearly you need me there to start your local forest school.  How far are you from the city any how?

Ok.. that was all sort of stream of consciousness garble.. I have two kids, you know. .

If, perhaps, the workshop being taught utilized manual labor to make improvements on the land, such as a work party, would there perhaps be a reduced cost (free exchange of labor for education/housing/food AKA WWOOF).

I suppose a very large difference between what you're proposing and WWOOFing, is that the reciprocity is more in earned badges, and coins, and, eventual land... Just wrapping my head around it.

I've been reading your forum and ideas for the last few days and been generally intrigued, introducing you to several others.

I'm trying to find a way to make this happen, to visit, with the kids, learn a thing or two, consider returning after I've completed my carpentry class, Master's Gardener class, ecopsychology cert, possible master's in education here in California, and sold my house to seek sort of an eco-village community.  Would you say your vision is heading in that direction?

At this point, I'm quite  curious.  The problem is, with flight and car rental, and not being able to bring all my camping gear on a plane, thus needing a bed, it's a bit cost preventative for me.. unless, I'm missing an option?

I see. Thank you for responding. I tbought I'd read that the PEP program was somewhat like WWOOFing, with particular skills being taught as needed by the land/people living there.  If it is a pay per workshop deal, and possibly pay for food, and for camping, that wouldn't work for me right now.  Though, I would like to visit, perhaps as a WWOOFer?  Would you accept a WWOOFer with kids, adjusting for the decrease in labor due to the demands of little people?  I know you can't presuppose how much work I'll be able to accomplish, and perhaps adjusting food/housing rations after arrival is far too complicated.  

Let me ask this, perhaps, when you say, "workshop", are we making improvements to the land? Or, just watching a teacher create something?  Is it more hands on?  I suppose in the case of knitting or mallets, we might take home our creations.  I'm most interested in buildings and stoves.  Perhaps you can let me know specifically when that workshop will happen (though, I believe I read October, and I'm starting another class at that time, unfortunately).

I could come as a guest and rent one of your fancy Chambers and pay $20 an hour to be taught by one of the locals may be my only other choice?

Hello,

I would be coming as a single mom with two young kids, two year old and a four year old.  So, of course the amount of labor/ learning I could do would be reduced to their needs.  But I think I could still do a lot, as I do have a background in gardening as a wwoofer, and I've also taken about a year's worth of survival skills including wild foraging.


A question then is, could we come as guests with the opportunity to learn as much as possible, whatever may be taught at the time that we are there.  I'd love to earn some PEP badges.

I'm especially interested in building as I will be taking the carpentry class in 6 months.

What could be my best option for a living arrangement?

I can come for a week or more in September.


Stephanie