Violet Heart

We are a 4 person family with a sweet homestead in the sierra foothills 25 minutes outside of chico california. on our 40 acres weve installed the essential infrastructure to be able to grow our food and build natural homes. We are currently seeking a like hearted, skilled family with young children akin to ours to join our great adventure. You may be 2 or more adults and 1 or more young children, aged 1-7. Real homesteading skills a must! You know you like good honest hard work, lots of time outdoors, have at least some of the following: permaculture experience, animal husbandry, gardening, orcharding, food processing/preservation, living off grid, simple healthy habits, natural building skills, round pole construction, carpentry, alternative energy systems, wild food gathering and cooperative living experience. In addition an appreciation of a combination of waldorf, homeschooling and nature connection for the youngins. Maturity and a warm attitude are a must. Financial resources to build a simple home and start a land based income source a must.

Why we are looking for like hearted, skilled family to play with? Because we have 2 children who would love playmates and farming, natural building and animal husbandry is hard work and so much more fun shared! We are able to dedicate ourselves full time to our permaculture homestead and resilient living. There are possibilities for income from farm projects 1-3 years out. We envision a farm share scenario such as this example: We start a goat dairy herd together and each family does 50% of the labor and start up costs and we share the income in an appropriate proportion as well. Or perhaps you would start your own small scale land based project: you pay all start up for growing shitake mushrooms and give us a percentage back for the use of the land. Something like that. Or you could have a greater ownership if you had the finances up front.

the elevation is 2200'-2500'. the property is a remarkable place with the best swimming holes, waterfalls in the area. we have been stewarding and developing basic infrastructure for the past 7 years continuously. we have cleared around 5 acres of usable land.

My partner and I have 7 years each living in intentional communities. We are kind, warm, simple hearted folks. Our children aged 5 years and 22 months. Please email with info about yourself!

I use cloth as well. I found that cotton receiving blankets cut in squares are perfect. Soft and easy to wash. My little on is still in cloth diapers, so it seems to go well with washing diapers so often. If sundrying, I just lay them out on the grass to dry, or dry in the dryer in winter/wet weather. I have thought about intentionally growing comfrey/mullein especially for tp uses. But I haven't arrived at this yet, so now for reusable cloth. BTW, I don't use cloth for poops.

Aloha! Open to the possibilities!!!

We are a vibrant, wise family of 4, with youngins aged almost 5 and 20 months. We are skilled and learning the many arts of homesteading. We enjoy a Weston Price Diet, with all local, sustainable meats, raw dairy, and grains/nuts, produce. Homeschooling, unschooling, waldorf education. Animal husbandry. Permaculture!! Of course. We are artists and communitarians at heart. My husband and I have both lived in intentional communities for many years in our young adulthood. At this point we are not looking for an intentional community per se, but rather an organic form of community and sharing, where we also have our autonomy and our own kitchen and small home. Yet share the joys of caretaking a piece of land together and celebrating the rhythms of life together.

We are actively searching to connect to other folks, particularly families with children of all ages to join together to homestead together. Perhaps owning land together or adjacent or within walking distance. We are looking for families that are in a financial position to own their own property and have start up income for homesteading/farming/homebuilding. We are most interested in property near to Nevada City/Grass Valley. Relocating to Nevada County would allow us to build a naturally built home, off-grid, with composting toilets, greywater systems and so on legally.

If anyone is interested! Has land they want to share, subdivide or look for property together or just connect please respond here or send a message. In Abundance, Dove

Our grange in chico, ca has had a resurgence in the past some years and is fairly regularly used for gatherings of farmers and organic gardeners for class series, meetings, action forums and more. Definitely bringing your local grange back to life is a terrific idea! We also have african dance classes at the grange and music events.

Its awesome to hear of folks experiences with this. I live in a place with very mild winters, so it is easy to have things growing all year round. I know it is doable to grow/forage all my chickens food. I just need to think balance, and to do it without too much work for myself. I've processed acorns for myself and it can be a lot of work. Hmmm... I'll have to think about that one. We have lots of fruits that don't get eaten that I can gleen, persimmons and loquats are usually abundant every year. Has anyone used those?

I would be hesitant to feed chickens food I think is toxic though: mainly leftover baked goods, if they are of the mainstream, wonderbread category. I used to pick up food from a food bank in Austin, TX for a children's program I ran for homeless kids. All the baked goods were free, and after a while, I realized that lots of them never go bad, scary, as they are so full of preservatives, and have no nutrients whatsoever. I don't think I would give that stuff to a chicken! But maybe some old sourdough bread.

My question is have you grown/gathered your own forage/fodder for your chickens, thus not buying them any grain? I am planning on trying a small flock (4-6) next spring and would like to explore growing all of their feed. As yet I don't know anyone personally who is doing this. I live in a suburban area, and would like to try this out, then move onto a full size flock in the future on rural property that my family is developing. I already have lots of clover growing and myriad other things. I have heard the idea of growing barley grass in flats (takes 7 days) and feeding bottom half to chickens, while using top half for juicing. We also have abundant acorns in the Autumn. I would love to hear how you are doing it. Thanks.

http://solargest.net/Solar_Water_Heater/Thermosyphon_Tubular_Solar_Water_Heater-colour_steel.htm

has anyone used one of these. it seems there are not any usa made hot water heaters. these are made in china, and used in many places in the world, but not in the usa. im searching for something for an off grid camping cabin situation. all the usa made systems i find are designed to be on a roof and have a large storage tank separate from the heating tubes.

any experience or suggestions for a better idea for a non-gas hot water supply

check out the attra website for lots of internship opportunities to work on a farm. if you are enthusiastic and willing to learn and to do physical work you will find an opportunity just right for yourself. !

Biodynamics as I have experienced is akin to homeopathy for the earth. I still don't truly understand homeopathy but it is effective as medicine for myself and especially for my young children, in certain instances. Biodynamic preparations uses a similar principal. It does appeal most to those who have a spiritual sensibility, and affinity with subtle energies and substances.

Update: we have found some good help! And we still have availability for a single or couple through June, and starting again mid-August through November. If you are interested please email with a letter of interest and we can take it from there. I am really appreciating this site and having a means of connecting with quality folks. Peace.