From 21st December, 2018, to 1st April, 2019, we will be using locally milled timber, bush poles, cob, strawbale and mudbrick as we continue work on the main home. Simultaneously, we will work on the permaculture inspired organic garden and set up spaces for the goats, rabbits and chickens. As a backdrop to these activities, we hope to explore deeply what it means to live and work together.
We welcome families as well as couples and singles. If you are planning to come with children, we can work out an arrangement to cover their food ($10-$20 per day depending on their age or a bit of extra help). There is no cost for adults who are able to help (see below).
We have a dedicated team of local builders focusing on the carpentry. We also have two experienced and passionate earth builders from France, who are managing the earth-building project.
We are seeking five more individuals who would like to experience off-grid living. We are also looking for individuals who are interested in staying for a long period in order to fully appreciate the richness of this lifestyle, and to develop deeper relationships with us, the other guests and local community members. After an initial trial of three days, we request that you commit to a minimum stay of one month. We expect to be building until the end of March. We welcome families with children, by prior arrangement.
Day to day arrangements
Accommodation
You will need to bring your own tent or van.
Bathing/facilities
As the weather gets warmer, we tend to swim and wash in a local freshwater lake. However, there is a basic outdoor shower and bath running off the hot-water system. We a have a simple (and picturesque!) bucket composting toilet system.
Cooking and food
There is a small, warm enclosed building with wood stove to be shared by the group for cooking. We intend to take turns cooking and cleaning. We will provide all the staple foods. Where at all possible, food will be organic, locally sourced and minimally packaged. This includes a local organic market garden, Kindred Organics for grains and other delicious Tasmanian produce. Vegans and vegetarians welcome, and some local ethically sourced meat may be available for the omnivores!
Work times and tasks
Volunteers are requested to help with building/gardening/animals for 25 hours/week. We work from Monday to Friday and start at 9am on these days – averaging 5 hours/working day.
We hope that this leaves lots of other times for leisure, crafts, skill-shares, music, daily tasks (the bulk of cooking/cleaning etc).
We are seeking two people who are keen to learn about, and to do, all things earth building. Earth building skills are helpful but not necessary.
We are seeking two people who are passionate about gardening, and whose primary focus will be on establishing and maintaining our edible garden that we are at the very initial stages of developing. Tasks will also include firewood collection and animal husbandry. We anticipate there will be opportunities to assist with the earth building at various stages.
Finally, we are seeking one person who will be dedicated to helping with cooking and home maintenance duties for our family during this busy building period. This person would experience what it is like to live in an off-grid home – cooking on a wood stove, creative meal planning based on seasonal/local availability, limited refrigeration and preserving. Tasks will include: cooking for our family, and doing general household duties such as washing and cleaning in the home. We anticipate that there will still be opportunities for this person to help out with building and gardening projects, particularly during periods when our family will be away.
What to bring
You will need to bring your own tent, warm sleeping bag, sleeping mat, etc and warm clothes (even in Summer, the nights and days can be chilly); a pair of sturdy work shoes, long sleeve shirt and hat for sun protection are also essential!
The vibe
(ie. something we aspire to – but to be worked out collaboratively with the group)
Consciously creating a mindful living and working space: mobile phones, computers and recorded music to be enjoyed by individuals in their own personal space.
– living in a way which embodies low use of fossil fuels and electricity. Car use to be minimal.
– have a campfire music/singing/story-telling gathering after dinner.
– invite individuls to share their skills, passions, artistic inspiration with the group
– weekly group meeting to do gentle meditation, share an inspirational quote and share thoughts/plans for the week’s activities.
– to create conditions conducive for mindfulness and peace, a policy of no drugs, smoking, and moderate occasional use of alcohol
As time has gone by, we have tried to more clearly express some of our ideas. Below are ome of our thoughts put another way…!
Our vision for the future is to be surrounded by a group of people who support each other to develop their own individual and collective gifts whilst meeting as many of our own basic needs as possible (as a wider community) – and to have a heap of fun doing this! From our experience living in community and visiting other communities we feel that some sort of “glue” is required to work closely with a group of people. Otherwise, conflict and the management of individual’s issues can impede the growth of the group. Thus, we hope to be surrounded by folk who are interested in exploring their inner landscape and discovering what it is that they bring to the group dynamic. Importantly, we hope that we can support each other as we do this – forming a Sangha (as it is called in Buddhism). Currently, we are inspired by the writings of Thich Nhat Hahn as he eloquently delineates a practice of Engaged Buddhism and applies it to community life. We feel that he is able to translate this ancient wisdom into a language that makes sense to our generation. Certainly, the question of how to live harmoniously in community is not unique to our place nor time!
So, you may ask, what does this mean for the next phase of our building? We hope that each time we re-group, we are walking together further along the path to our vision; hopefully, a vision that resonates with anyone who wants to join in the walk, so to speak. As part of the process of meeting our own needs, we will need to build shelters, grow food, farm animals, regenerate our local and wider ecosystems, look after each other and sing and dance a lot. We believe that in a healthy community its members look after each other as they do themselves – that we, the people and the nature that surrounds us, are all inextricably linked. A great analogy is to think how ridiculous it would be for a person with serious liver disease to say how healthy they are except for their liver. Similarly, when someone (or something e.g. a river/forest) in our community is unwell, we too are not well. It is the mother taking her sick child to the doctor and saying, “our family is sick.”
In keeping with this vision, we hope to share this journey with anyone wishing to join us. A beautiful space to share and co-habit certainly helps build community, but we are wary of the project becoming about building the house, rather than building the vision. The tail wagging the dog, if you like! Before the house, must come the people and the connections. There’s no fun to be had in an empty palace! Indeed, it is exciting to think of the physical house we are building mirroring the connections we are forming with each other and the natural world.
When we began this building project, we were excited by the possibility that it was something we could undertake, learning as we go. This would enable us to support others in our community in the future. So, practically speaking, we hope to apply the following principles to the next phase of the building project:
- to discover the limits of our knowledge and abilities around the building process and receive guidance when they are reached – thus we hope to understand the thought processes that govern all stages of the building and learn as many of the skills as is practical
- to prioritise working with people that may have a longer term connection with our community – sharing knowledge and working closely with other builders from our local area
- to further reduce our waste and the environmental and social risks of buying food from distant markets. i.e local as possible fruit and veg, supplemented by other Tasmanian Produce if required, with an emphasis on organic. Avoiding fresh fruit and veg from outside of Tassie. Bulk staple foods from within Australia. Avoiding canned and packaged foods. Australian organic seeds and nuts; will have rice, buckwheat, quinoa, chickpeas, mung beans, green split peas available. Local, ethical dairy, egg, and meat dish (two times per week). Acknowledging the special needs of people who are joining us during this transitional and early development phase, we will also include the following: coconut oil, tahini, ethical coffee and cocoa, and spices. We can discuss further if someone feels this does not meet their food needs, etc.
- to progressively detach ourselves from the monetary system, favoring our local currency and working to build a community of trust and mutual obligation that doesn’t require any intermediary of exchange
- that in the spirit of delving deeper into what it means to live and work mindfully, and to enhance the interpersonal connections of all in the communal space, mobile phones and computers will be contained in a separate ‘IT’ box or designated area’ and only used there. Recorded music will generally not be played in the communal and workspaces – however, there may be times when the group feels like music and we are open to this too!