community in SW Oregon

Hello,

I wanted to duplicate this post from the Classified section since i think it has enough overlap. Mods please remove if desired/necessary.

My family and I are interested in relocating to southwest Oregon to establish a homestead. We are currently living in North Carolina. We would very much like to connect up with one or more families - either joining in with an established community or working to establish one from scratch. To that end, let me describe our family and interests to get things started.

I am 38 and my wife is 36 and we have been married for 13 years. We have three boys who are 10, 5 and 2 years old. I grew up in Michigan, and have lived in Colorado, Oregon and Illinois before ending up currently in North Carolina. I tend to be active, but not in a sport sense. My time outside of keeping the family functional and work is usually spent on things such as: raising fruits/nuts/vegetables, brewing, beekeeping, raising rabbits, martial arts, landscaping projects and reading. My educational background is in the scientific disciplines – Microbiology, Neuroscience, Molecular Biology and Pharmacology. My wife grew up in Oregon and has lived in New Mexico, Colorado and Illinois before North Carolina. She also has a science background as well as a strong artistic/creative skill set. Her other interests include: photography, graphic illustration, biking, painting and reading. We all enjoy hiking and generally spending time outdoors.

We are homeschooling 3 boys - ages 10, 5 and 2. We've been on an independent path that pulls together the ideals of John Holt's "unschooling" along with the respect and self-responsibility articulated by Maria Montessori. We homeschool with a group called FIAR, which is a literature based group that organizes learning around a shared book list and schedules field trips throughout the state. It is a lively group that provides for good socializing and exposure to new places and ideas.

The basic premise of all of this is that we believe children learn best by following their innate curiosities and asking questions. Each child is on his own path - and family teamwork allows for the boys to see the power of cooperation and benefit of each others strengths in the reality of day to day living.

This style of learning allows for infinite paths... Our oldest is very structured and enjoys games involving math, sci-fantasy, and chemistry. He needs music - whether piano, cello, or just humming. Our 5 year old needs nature - especially insects. He spends most of his time capturing, reading about, or playing insect or animal related games. He learns best visually and is a motivated self learner but does not want anybody to "teach" him. Finally my 2 year old is very organized and verbal. He can speak at length and is presently fascinated with self-teaching the alphabet.

This summer - we put on an 8 part nature class that invited kids from our neighborhood to join us in exploring our acreage. The older boys each were responsible for contributing to the success from compost critters to monarch butterflies, and we split the modest $ earnings from the camp as well.

I treasure that we live in a neighborhood that is bustling with children and homeschool families. Doors are open, yards entwine and playmates have become extended family. We have fun parties, learn a lot, and are very open to new friends. Creating that in a new setting will be difficult, and I would like so much to have a village of self reliant people who can also ask for help, offer a meal, share a responsibility and offer guidance as well. Setting festivals to coincide with harvests and seasons - from blueberries to salsa - to pumpkin fests. Letting the children be themselves - with great respect for others - and the self esteem that comes with self responsibility and grounded passionate interests.

We are looking to build to the next level on what we have created here in our home in NC since moving here in 2001. Our property is a bit less than an acre and about half of it is in mature hardwoods. We have built up a large portion of the shaded area as a kids place to play and own. The immediate neighborhood has about a dozen kids who are homeschooled, so there is almost always a group for them to play with once the chores and school time is done. The other portion of the property is built up almost completely as an orchard for fruit and nut trees and berry bushes and large areas of raised beds for annual vegetables. I have tried to incorporate as many permaculture concepts as possible, but I still consider myself a novice in this area. We have a large diversity of types of producing plants ranging over 80 different types of edibles not including the annual crops. I am a member of NAFEX (North American fruit explorers) and Seed Savers Exchange (an organization dedicated to maintaining and exchanging open-pollinated seeds). We grow ~95% organically. This has been to experiment and not only see what will grow well here, but to see what our family likes.

Ideally our next place in SW Oregon would be substantially larger, at least 5 acres. Having additional room for more orchard and vegetables and grains is very important to us. The soil in our area in NC has been a real challenge (red, acidic clay) so we are looking forward to fertile well drained soil. In addition to flat land for growing crops, a woodlot (flat or hillside) would be great to have to provide additional nutrient capture, diversity and construction material/heating options. I think we will continue to raise rabbits both for their fertility enhancing manure and high quality meat. Chickens and dairy goats would be welcome additions to the homestead, if there are enough other folks working together to allow this to be feasible. The honey bees have been very enjoyable to work with and I look forward to establishing a new set of hives. A water feature is another area that we would like to have present on the property. We currently have a small pond that is part of a swale/rain-catch system and the diversity of aquatic and insect life it has enabled has been fantastic. If a stream/creek is not an option a pond in the new location would be a must.

Our thoughts on the timing for the move is in the early to mid part of 2010. I am still wrapping up some pieces at work which will allow me to continue to work with the small pharmaceutical company that I have been with since moving to NC. I think having me work (remotely) will allow for the family to just have one income and open up options for locations for the homestead.

Having one or more families with kids similar in age on the same property (separate houses) would allow us to all enjoy homesteading life more fully – through a tight knit community and better access to a wider set of skills than just one family can provide. If something can’t be worked out on the same property, perhaps adjoining parcels could be purchased by each family to allow for a more “traditional” setup, but still allow many of the perks of an intentional community.

Eventually I would enjoy seeing a good sized village grow out of this with 100+ acres and ten or more families involved. In this way we could provide a near sustainable setting with minimal transportation requirements to obtain other essential items or skills/services (health care, technical trades, etc… could all be represented in the community). However, I am realistic enough to see this is a very unlikely near term possibility. Starting with one or two families working together – and the networks they bring along with them, may make the difference in facing the challenges of the coming years.

We are very interested in “alternative” construction options and are open to either retrofitting an existing structure or building from scratch to create a home(s) that are independent of utility tie-ins and comfortable, peaceful places to live.

Please contact me either by PM or posting in this thread if you are interested in talking or have any questions regarding further information.

Thank you!
Kurt