Maggie Elliott

Intentional community of ~8 individuals in the Santa Cruz mountains of California seeks to add a member or two who is specifically gifted or eager and self motivated to learn how to “fix and maintain electrical, plumbing, trucks, tractors, chain saws, water pumps, general kitchen appliances”

About us: we live in a mature food forest within the redwoods (avocados, figs, citrus, mulberries, raspberries, apricots, hardy kiwi etc) with a (rustic) community kitchen, high tunnel, annual garden space, wood shop, welding space, tractor, lumber mill, every tool imaginable… we run on solar and recently updated our battery system to allow for greater use of power.

We do not sell our foodstuffs (except for some occasional things like mulberries and nursery trees) but strive to can and ferment the abundance. Our main source of income is rent from non-community members living in several cabins on the land.

If you have the skill, you would be welcome to build your own small cabin to live in. Otherwise, sleeping in a tent is available for the time being. If you don’t have the skill to build your own cabin but you are fulfilling a more mechanically inclined role here, we would certainly work to build you a small cabin.

We generally request 25 hours of “work” a week to live here. That grants you access to bulk food items in the kitchen (eggs, beans, rice, coffee, flour etc) and whatever is available to eat from the food forest and annual garden (currently LOTS of mulberries, raspberries and some citrus and greens… tomatoes and Cukes on the way). Frequently someone cooks lunch and dinner and food is shared. You are also welcome to purchase personal items and label them to store in the kitchen. We do all eat meat… sometimes we find a fresh roadkill deer or shoot one. We also buy some beef from the store.

The climate here is pretty sweet, generally between 65 and 75 in the summer, though climate change has us experiencing some heat waves of 80+ degree weather. We do have a fish pond in the community kitchen full of cool water that is pleasant to dunk in!

We accept WWOOF and work away volunteers, so there are frequently new, shorter term people around… though sometimes those people turn into long term members if the fit is right!

If you think you sound like a good fit and we could mutually benefit each other, please reach out to Maggie at 315-854-2605. Text first please.

Hey, thanks for reading my post. My name is Maggie, and I have several years of experience homesteading in Central Coastal California (including goat milking/cheese making, fermentation, gardening and tree care), have spent 3 seasons working for a small organic veg farm in northern NY, and offer seasonal fruit tree pruning (and boast amateur arborist skills with climbing gear).

The last several years I put my "real life" on hold to obtain my biology degree back in my hometown on the Eastcoast... with one more semester to go, I am looking forward to hitting the road, heading back west, and seeing what awesome people I can connect with.

I prefer to sleep outside in my tent, have high energy, like to eat real food, enjoy challenging my brain and am always eager to learn new skills.

I adore ecstatic dance, playing with barbells, swimming in ponds and rivers, hiking through the woods, cold water, saunas, botany, critters, and being silly.

If you have a patch of land you'd like to share for a day or a month in exchange for good company &/or help with some work, I would love to hear from you.

We are a small (five) community based in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Our home site is on 20 acres in the redwoods and includes a fully established food forest (more like jungle!) of avocados, figs, mulberries, citrus, sapotes, pineapple guavas as well as smaller trees of apples and stone fruits. We have a terraced garden on the south facing slope, a greenhouse, and a flock of chickens. We are 100% off grid and solar powered. We have a wood mill and professional woodworking equipment. There are medicinal and herbal plants growing all around.

There is no end to the abundance around us... which is why we are seeking partners, homesteaders, and entrepreneurs who have some sort of inspired vision of creating products from our land and helping the community support itself.

There is a nice communal sleeping space for new people (which is presently empty) and the opportunity to build your own cabin/home if you choose to settle here. There is also a community kitchen, laundry, and hot shower. No internet but a hot spot is possible from your phone.

We are only interested in Sober (occasional light drinking is okay), mindful, self-motivated, and inspired individuals with some sort of skill (from art to carpentry to gardening to cooking and cleaning... just please have some sort of skill you can contribute). A minimum of 25 hours of "work" a week would be expected of you, but we are not going to hold your hand or crack a whip at you, so if you cannot motivate yourself to do your inspired works then this is not the place for you.

If interested please email Maggie at Magnoliaphoto44@gmail.com