It’s a rare moment for Paul and me: sitting on the back deck in the afternoon calm, gazing at the tall oaks and fluffy pines just beyond the backyard fence. Serenaded by the quiver of fading autumn leaves brushed by the breeze, the ever-present insect drone, bird calls and chirps. All is quiet and calm; a welcome respite after two months of nearly constant motion as we all settle into this house with a big footprint and mission to match.
Since moving in on July 25th, we have welcomed two residents interested in establishing a blueprint for shared housing for Hart’s Mill. Marilyn Grubbs is a psychotherapist, Non-Violent Communication teacher, and singer. Tain Collins brings a passion for permaculture and is helping Hart’s Mill to get the farm in shape. He’s a singer/songwriter and master juggler as well!
We’ve also welcomed many visitors, housed overnight guests, and had meetings large and small. The October 1 blog post below describes the major architecture meeting that took place here, with 23 folks comfortably situated for the whole day.
Earlier i
n September, we greeted a steady stream of visitors for the Hart’s Nest Open House (or “Hart-warming”). Guests enjoyed tours of the land, good food and drink, and a spirited performance by Jewelsong, a women’s vocal quartet which includes Marilyn as a member. They filled the Nest with sweet harmony.
The most recent inhabitants of Hart’s Nest are…CHICKENS! Randy donated a chicken tractor and we recently collected 6 young hens and a rooster that were outgrowing their coop from our friend, LaTarndra. Tain and Paul worked to get the tractor ready and secured. With just 2-3 months of growth under their wings, it will take awhile before there are any eggs to collect. But in the meantime, this clutch gives verisimilitude to our name—truly a nest to incubate our fledging community in a myriad of ways! And our resident old-soul dog, Eya, is intrigued…
Finally, our Third Thursday Potluck and Talent Show was a sheer delight. We inaugurated our dining room table with 8 guests, enjoying live conversation punctuated with a “house concert” by the Hart’s Nest residents: a rousing rendition of Bright Morning Star Arising, followed by a little stargazing in the crisp, clear autumn evening.
P.S. Back in June, I wrote a blog post on Hart’s Nest that I neglected to publish. For those of you not familiar with our mission here, read on…
Hart’s Nest—Community Right Now!
A gracious place to incubate and nurture our fledging community…Our neighbors to the south, Ruth and Daniel Steenwyk, had the inspiration to offer to sell their large home on 7.5 acres of adjacent land to the Hart’s Mill Ecovillage. Ruth and Daniel are Exploratory Members of Hart’s Mill and have been very supportive of our venture in many ways. While they were looking forward to having us as neighbors, their life circumstances are calling them away. Hart’s Nest will be available to our community in mid-August, 2017. (To read a Hope’s blog post for the story behind the name, Hart’s Nest, click here.)
Here are the main features of the property:
- Size: approx. 4900 square feet, 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, large living/dining spaces, very large garage
- Sustainability features: solar panels installed on the roof in 2015, pure well water, septic system
- Land: 7.5 acres including a fenced-in yard and a kitchen garden which has been soil-amended and organically farmed
- Distance: a very short walk to the trail along our northern border, just to the east of the pond
- Location: at the end of Ben Jones Rd., a private road shared by two households
This “nest” will enable us to nurture and grow several of our community goals:
- A beachhead next to the land which makes us look and feel “real” to all who are involved and interested in Hart’s Mill
- Plenty of space to host community gatherings, meetings, trainings, and retreats
- Varied living/working space to pilot our shared home concept for the village
- Accelerate the farming initiatives by housing people interested in working on the farm as well as providing adjunct space for equipment and food storage/production
- A place to greet and offer on-site hospitality to members, visitors and guests
- Additional land to increase our watershed and ecological diversity
- A potential additional entrance/exit off the land at some point
Who will live at Hart’s Nest (HN)?
- Paul and Hope intend to live there
- Others have expressed strong interest, and the vision is to invite people to occupy private bedrooms with shared common space
- An expectation is that some who live at HN will work on the farm/land to some degree
Hart’s Nest offers a space for community living, gathering, building, and growing right now!
Please contact Hope and Paul ASAP—let us know what excites you about this and how you might want to be involved.
Hope Horton: hope@hartsmill.net; Paul Voss: voss@hawkweed.net
