Open

We are looking to build a resilient farm, art collective, wildlife sanctuary, and event venue.

We are in search of proactive and tolerant people to participate in evolving a sustainable and resilient community that is rooted in ethics, embracing of diversity, centered in modernity.  A few examples of what we want to work on: holistic energy systems, community ethics and conflict resolution, wildlife conservation, expansive construction design and prototyping, theater and ecopoetics, and mechanical systems to enhance and assist all of the above.

Some examples of such things include: a modular cob studio, a 4-story vertical garden, liveworkplay cohousing, apothecary, pottery, metal shop, at least four new artist houses, orchestrate happenings, schedule and plan events on-site, establishing a stable, profitable organic farm, and husbandry and training for horses, sheep, and poultry as well as veterinary and education services for and about native species such as raccoons deer coyotes snakes skunks groundhogs, oppossums, etc.. folklorist,…; you get the idea.  We are open to ideas that promote protect and enhance life as we know it.  We are open to rental, work trade, commission, and traditional wage-style employment arrangements.

The community as it is designed allows for different cultures to coexist.  To that end, in the economy of our business, an individual who wishes to explore different skillsets but is willing to work may like an arrangement of 20hrs/week of primary work for room & board (10/10 each if you wish to choose one or the other) and therein take time to learn other skill sets (e.g., mostly working in the field or childcare and housework, but also learning cob construction or machines or being able to participate in meetings for events or art pieces)) so we have made work-trade and intern positions available.  Meanwhile another person may want to earn some money doing a specific trade, or refine their skills, or work with others to develop better techniques or complete a project, in which case a paid full- or part-time position or a studio rental may be preferable..

 

We currently need people with skills or interest in and a knack for

carpentry – repairs and enhancements this winter on floors, walls, and roofs in our farmhouse, garage, equipment shop, and community kitchen.  Construction of a unique cob barn studio will also be done as weather permits

mechanical work-tractors, bikes, trucks, eventually we’d like to build from scratch in our cnc shop, retrofitting vehicles large and small, install various mechanisms for irrigation, theater, and cultivation, and of course design new machines for science and pleasure and comfort. For example an improved version of the aerotrim; a tour bus with stage built in.

animal training/education-both domestic critters for public interaction and wild animals.

gardening-we have about an acre done of a four-acre designated polyculture farm/garden.  This will be the homecamp for our landscaping projects as well, so it will stay busy.

Secretarial/Marketing/Event Organizing-As we grow we are definitely going to need PR, HR, and secretarial skills on hand

In addition members who live onsite will be expected to do their own laundry and prepare two meals/week (dinner and lunch the next day) and a small handful of chores.  And the kitchen will have scheduled times for processing harvested produce, which may draw on people from different positions.

In exchange we offer affordable housing (for up to 4 people this winter, ultimately we plan to add four more housing structures for a total of 12-15 people), affordable farm-grown food, springwater, and access (as time and resources permit) to a workshop with woodworking equipment, electricity and internet, a library, and minds to bounce ideas around.

Beating oneself to a pulp

As a society, we have reached a point in which we have more power than ever, more abundance than need, to a point where we waste much of it.  This wouldn’t be a problem if it were  stored for days of drought or invested in future expeditions, or even left to be reassimilated in the wildlands, but we instead actively flush it into the rivers via poor soil management techniques, hardtop hardscaping and culverts, instead of wetland management programs, toward the ocean where it is difficult to reclaim and causes floods in some areas and exacerbates the effects of drought, or intermingling it with toxic wastes like mercury, lead, and a variety of heavy metals and chemical compounds in landfills.  Meanwhile many people in fact still suffer due to lack of access to this material.  So this leaves some clear questions to be answered, and what seem to be simple answers, become complicated due to a combination of law, economics, and personal proclivity.

I am grateful for the high productivity of industry and capitalism.  The pioneer and puritan spirit of the country brought us beyond the previous reaches of enlightenment.  The average worker has better health care, food, and vacation than nobles of yore.  And while many other grateful people are taking the opportunity to explore ways of being, I think part of our task is to make a conscious decision to do it right.  We have the power, but now we need to practice easing up on the throttle and instead making sure we don’t wreck this ship.  It makes me think of the guys on a sports team.  One guy might be agressive. Most of the guys are content to do what is necessary to do what is asked of them, but this guy makes them look back.  He keeps pushing, and flaunting.  Soon he is made team captain.  But he plays dirty, he thinks of nothing else, he abuses his girlfriend, he is hurting his body.  But the other guys can’t help it.  He is captain, and soon his methods become standard.  Other teams see how well this team is doing, and emulate him.  Some savvy teams drop out of the game and start a league of their own, but pray that these schools don’t get so big they knock them out of the roster for acceptance to the schools built and populated by their ancestors.  Fortunately, in this situation, governments, doctors, and other authorities will intervene and say, these drugs are destroying your body, the girlfriends and parents say, you are neglecting your other duties, and they will be banned.  We can do a lot, let’s not be too ruthless just to get what we want faster, or for peace of mind that we are alone.  IF this resonates with you, then you would be a welcome addition to mystic valley.

 

 

March into foggy April

Hey friends! So it’s early April now and while the ground has been steadily greening since early March, we have been busy since January, with building several roofs, getting the equipment to go up a magnitude of order, fabricating tools, scheduling plantings and events, and helping friends recover from bad weather.

We’ve planted a pound of peas and companion carrots, three hundred foot rows of kale, six of radish, broccoli, and a greenhouse full of tomato, summer squash, cukes, pepper and more exotic contributions– we missed the window for onions and garlic way back in fall and early winter, because we were preoccupied with planting trees and rehabbing two houses.

Our buddy Braxton contributed willow, restorative and decorative (and medicinal!) to the creekbank restoration project! So in sum, we planted 65 trees and shrubs along the creek, reintroducing 7 species to our ecosystem–shumard oak, bald cypress, elderberry, pawpaw, three kinds of willow, plus pin oak. Fifty of those trees were planted within three hours of each other, short of our intended one hour goal, on March 14th, as we participated in a world record test run with volunteers across Tennessee.

We are still accepting members! Sign up if you are wanting some of our crop this year, please fill out the member form and write a check for at least half of your subscription. Otherwise, we’ll have to sell to some high end restaurant where you’ll pay triple our asking price to try our grub. If we do not have more members soon, we will have to set up a market stand or go with a distributor. As much as we love the saturday crowd, help us avoid a market stand fee, or distributor fees, and get to spend more time with our fellow grovers! We’ve already paid CSA and processor license fees. We need a dedicated farm truck. We could produce 10 times what we produced last year, which amounted to seed stock–10 bushels of kale, 4 bushels of tomato, 2 bushel of pepper and a bushel of okra, with a smattering of carrots, radish, sunflower and wheatgrass sprouts and a year in roots of asparagus, berries, and a few trees. Very meager for a crew wanting to produce for 30-60 members, but we also didn’t have hardly any inputs. Almost 20 bushels, but we expect to produce 250 bushels this year, which will serve 10 members.

By next year, with all equipment in order, we could very well do 2000 bushel. This will be due to a combination of 1) all the seed necessary, 2) full-time farmer 3)tractor and all implements for discing, cultivating; 4)horses for hauling, 5)worm composting of kitchen waste from 6 venues producing a half ton/week of wonderful juice pulp, breads, coffee and tea waste, and veggies; 6) 4 bee hives, 7)automated greenhouse irrigation, 8)chicken tractor 9) dehydrator and processing (wash/bag/cook) facility. all of which except the truck we have now, but it takes time for their benefits to take effect. All we need is a truck! We could purchase that with 2000 dollars, plus 500 for fuel, allowin us to do delivery as well as bring inputs we can’t ask our friends to deliver–which amount to five people subscribing for a season of produce and paying up front. So welcome! buy a share and become a member (and we mean member–member-owner of a consumer co-op) We would also consider a loan. We do have a budget, so if you’d like to know exactly what your share is going toward, then head on over and check it out under the CSA page or email us at mysticvalleycsa@gmail.com. And because we don’t have a guarantee that we will produce food this year, I, Lance, personally pledge that if we do not produce the variety and abundance of crops we would like to this year, I will pay you back in the fall or put your share forward to next year, whichever you prefer.

The second big setback was a snowstorm that put us out of commish for a week, then tore in our greenhouse roof (which was only meant to be temporary anyway!). I took the time to practice guitar and conserve energy, and to calendar (can I use calendar as a verb? well I just did.).

I ended up building five roofs since January, three of which I designed myself, in just a couple months. One of those is a living roof, and all of them will be used for harvesting light, water, gravity energy, and possibly a couple more for carbon and other materials from the air. It’s just one of the things that goes with being a farmer, a villager, infinitely human. There’s little time to celebrate now, however, as the sun is up and it’s time to cultivate, connect, and grow on!

More news and pictures to come!

Eternally grateful,
Lance

PS: we have a couple events coming up. We will have an oven and kitchen build soon (deets on facebook & front page), and everyone is invited every wednesday and sunday morning (8am-11 + lunch) for a work play day. These are structured to create a communal work opportunity to do some labor that might be tedious if we do it ourselves, or grueling, but is made light by many hands, and fun by many voices. They are always followed by lunch and the opportunity to walk the land, and go home with some produce.

Long and lasting spring!

Our first year is being very good to us.  It’s early June and the temperature is under 80 most days, plus the rain comes in like a laughing friend what seems every 6 hours and a sweet breeze to carry hit through, We’re feeling quite lush and peppy.  Take care of the earth and she will take care of you… Do God’s work and God will take care of you.  Our work is done and we are starting to have more time to chat and dream and connect with friends; and anyway, our few key obligations give us an excuse to go to town and make new friends, to share our passion and excite others, and discover how we relate.  It’s given me lots of interesting ideas for art.  We went to Serendipity a couple weekends ago, which is a regional offshoot of the Burning Man experience.  Out front was a great meadow, but then most of the camping was back in the woods–and as soon as you cross the creek bridge, a great pirate ship hailed with masts all the way to the canopy!  Further in was