Common Ground Ecovillage

Notable November 2025 Almanac 

An Autumn Night—
don’t think your life
didn’t matter
—Bashō

Dear Friends, 

We’re at the mid-point between Fall and Winter.  Temperatures are falling and sunlight is becoming sparser by the minute.  At a time when it would feel nourishing to slow down and go within, there is a lot to do at Common Ground.  Farmers are working at full tilt, getting ready to launch the Cold Season CSA (there are just a handful of slots left).  Contractors are working to complete the erosion control portion of the village infrastructure.  Community members are coming together regularly to move into this new reality in a way that honors each other, our values, and our land.  And it’s both wondrous and complicated on a number of levels and dimensions.

In this Almanac, you’ll get a flavor of how we are moving into this new phase of our evolving Community.  For example, this weekend (Nov. 1 & 2), we’re offering a panoply of events that meet the moment—harvesting, celebrating this Threshold season, connecting heart-to-heart, playing volleyball, and honoring the trees and land beings who are making way for our village to be built.  We hope you’ll join us as you are able, moved, and inspired not just tomorrow, but throughout the month to come…

…because each of us is a part of something greater, a member of a cosmos and lineage that stretches behind and before us, a single breath in the body of time.  Yet our feelings, beliefs, and actions matter immensely. They send out ripples that are felt throughout the field of all creation. Every one of us adds ingredients to this cosmic soup, and it will take every one of us to improve its flavor.  Let’s see what wonders we can imagine and create, together. 

See you Common Ground

Optimistic October Almanac

Dear friends, 

We are a community of mere mortals attempting to craft a way to co-create an agrarian ecovillage while honoring the needs of each other and the rights of the land that supports and sustains us–all within the confines of capitalism and County and State rules and regulations.  Our years-long careful and collaborative work has brought us to the brink of beginning infrastructure construction.  The excavators are on the land and the contractors are waiting for the green light from us.  And it’s complicated!  Are we ready to take this irrevocable step?  Do we have the human cohesion and the financial ability to sustain this community?  Is it possible to build a village, even a small one, while working with the land in a good way?  Can we create a culture of gratitude that honors all the blessings we’ve been given and the gifts each one of us brings to the whole?  

Our dream to live in justice and harmony with each other and the land seems so close. It feels like the only sane way to live in an age of global disruption, greed and individualism.  And yet, will we really be able to balance all these factors, coming through what seems like the eye of a needle, with our multi-dimensional relationships thriving?  

We’ve chosen the path of most persistence.  We’ve come a long way.  This work is difficult and we’re wrestling with how we can bring ourselves with all our diversity and preferences together and find Common Ground.  Maybe this song by Alexa Sunshine Rose that Caleb brought to our Community on the Ground meeting last Saturday will bring us strength?  It’s a 3-part round called, Weaving our Lives. Click here to listen and read the lyrics below.* 

We are each a thread in the tapestry of life.  Let’s embrace the beauty we can weave from our hearts, together.

See you at Common Ground

Prepared by Hope Horton, Karen Miller, and Janey Meadows

*We are weaving our lives

We are weaving our hearts and our minds

We are weaving the bright and dark threads

Of our journeys through

We are weaving our lives

We are weaving a blanket of light

We are weaving a basket to hold

All that’s true

The Autumnal Equinox, the tipping point between Summer and Winter, is nearly upon us.  It’s fitting that Common Ground, too, is at a tipping point in our long history of growing Intentional Community.  We’re headed towards breaking ground in the near future which is both exciting and challenging; creative and destructive, and we’re mindful that the time is now to move ahead in resonance with our vision to live in justice and harmony with each other and the land. 

In this Almanac, we’re sending out a call for partners in our dance to prepare for the big changes along the way.  You’ll find a wealth of opportunities to help shepherd trees, wildflowers, wildlife, soils, and neighbors through a disruptive process leading towards creating a more vibrant, diverse, adaptable and resilient landscape for the long haul. 

If you resonate with what we’re doing every day and further hope to achieve at Common Ground, then open this Almanac with its banquet of information and opportunities and choose to get involved. We hope you will.

See you at Common Ground.

Abundant August Almanac

Dear friends,

Throughout Summer’s heat, humidity, and record rainfall, Common Ground is going strong.  In these page you will see visionary yet practical initiatives to bring about a community culture that respects and honors each other and the land.  It’s slow going and sometimes discouraging, but it’s what we can do to create the change we want to see in the world.

If you resonate with what you see in this Almanac, if your mind and heart are stirred by what we are aiming to become, then we hope you’ll show up and explore all the possible ways to get involved.  You will be very welcome. 

See you at Common Ground

P.S. We’re putting together a team to publish this monthly Almanac.  Karyn Miller and Kathleen Biernat made this issue possible.  Want to pitch in?  Please contact Hope: hopematrix@fastmail.com

Jumbo June & July Almanac

Courage is the measure of our heartfelt participation with life, with another, with a community, a work; a future. To be courageous is not necessarily to go anywhere or do anything except to make conscious those things we already feel deeply and then to live through the unending vulnerabilities of those consequences.

—David Whyte

Dear friends,

We are nearing the Summer Solstice when the sun is as glorious as she’s going to get; her influence the most powerful; her enlargement of our days the greatest.  Summer swells in her wake.  The landscape greens before our eyes, morphing from something shy and manageable to rampant and out of control, yet we thrive and dive as we ride her shimmering golden waves onto Autumn’s shores. 

This Almanac offers a taste of what’s in play at Common Ground over the June and July.  All that we can promise is published here.  And there will be more as celebrations take shape timed around the Summer Solstice, the veggie miracles flourishing on the farm, and irresistible ideas for learning, connection, and fun  spring up as the weeks go by.  We’ll tell you all about them when the time comes.  

In the meantime, take care.  May you fill your cup with beauty, nourishment, rest, friendship, love, and all that enlivens you. 

See you at Common Ground

With Heartfelt gratitude to Karyn Miller for stepping up and helping mightily to construct this Almanac!  We’re putting together a team to produce this in the future.  Interested?  Contact Hope 

Marvelous May 2025 Almanac

Dear friends, 

By the time the calendar page turns to May in North Carolina, the natural world has gone through the eye of Spring’s needle.  The specter of withering night-time freezes has faded.  The trees have leafed out, grasses are climbing high, and sunlight and rain are catalyzing Summer’s chemistry of abundant invention.  Beauty abounds and we are designed to fall under its spell.  The alchemy of soil, seed, air, and sun blends a batter that rises and transforms into stems and leaves, flowers and fruits, vegetables and grains to nourish yet another cycle of life as the latest word in the universe’s ever-expanding epic poem.

There is much to celebrate at Common Ground.  While our government is steering the world into dangerous territory, we are leaning into deeper relationship and connection with each other and the land.  This Almanac tells stories of beauty and, yes, struggle as we continue to grow a community infused with aliveness both within and without our borders.  We hope you feel inspired to tune in and show up where there’s resonance for you.

See you at Common Ground.

Ardent April 2025 Almanac

Dear Friends,

Spring is in full swing with new life emerging at every moment; so tiny and tender, yet containing the power and strength to burgeon and thrive through circumstances both kind and cruel.  It’s in the nature–the very essence–of every creature, plant, microbe, and mushroom to grow and thrive–and that includes us.   But we don’t do it alone.   

At Common Ground, we are ardent about growing community.  While so much is in flux in the world around us, we are finding balance, nourishment, and healing increasingly through our connections with each other and the land.  And yes, there are skads of challenges that we don’t yet know how to meet, much less overcome.  And there’s plenty of uncertainty about methods and means to achieve our goals while honoring our aspirations.  But as you’ll see in this Almanac, we persist.  

There’s so much goodness within and around us that we hope to share with you.  So take a close look at the News, Meetings, and Events in this Almanac.  There’s never been a better time to join together and support each other to co-create the more vibrant and life-giving world that we know in our hearts is possible.

See you at Common Ground.

Mighty March Almanac

You are made, fundamentally, from the good.
With this knowledge, you never march alone.

You are the breaking news of the century.
You are the good who has come forward…

…we can make a house called tomorrow.
What we bring, finally, into the new day, every day,

Is ourselves.  And that’s all we need
To start.  That’s everything we require to keep going. 

Excerpted from A House Called Tomorrow, by Alberto Rios*

What is mightier than Spring, when all manner of flowers, foods, and creatures seemingly emerge out of nowhere?   Suddenly, redbud blossoms pop, tender chickweed grows and greens, and frog song soars over the wetlands.  Change can happen so fast, so beautiful and strong, and nothing stops it from coming.  Winter’s last lashing winds and freezing cold may slow the surge, but Spring is powered by life itself and a determination to live, grow, evolve, and express its vital and nourishing gifts. 

At Common Ground, we recently carried out a prescribed burn on our largest field.  Six acres of broomsedge and briers sparked into furious flame, leaving little but barren ground and charred remains.  On the surface, it looks devastated.  But beneath the blackened chaff, roots and seeds of new growth are warming and readying to erupt. 

This is a dangerous time in our country.  But while the foundations of our democracy and ways of life are under siege, our hearts can ignite with love, and strength, and purpose, fueled by the energy of Spring that will never be crushed for long. 

Such is the reason that Common Ground Ecovillage exists—to join forces with each other and the land and rise up together with the beauty, wisdom, and resilience of life itself.  In this Almanac, you’ll find many ways to feed your body, nourish your spirit, and contribute to the forces of creativity and meaning that are igniting here—and spreading with every spark we strike with love.

See you at Common Ground

*Shared by Jessica Craven in a Chop Wood, Carry Water Substack post. 

Fearless February Almanac 2025

February may be cold and still, but beneath the surface and behind the scenes, momentum is building. The Farm Team is transforming the farm business into a cooperatively held enterprise, Planning & Development is navigating permits and finances, and new members are deepening their roots in the community. Even in winter’s quiet, big things are in motion, as this Almanac reveals.

Meanwhile, the world feels more chaotic than ever. The news cycle spins, politics shake, and uncertainty seems to be the only sure thing. But at Common Ground, something different is happening. Foundations are being built—literally and figuratively—for a better way to live. A place of resilience, connection, and care. We remember that there is another way.

And so, we keep moving fearlessly, joyfully forward. Joy is a practice, a steady light, a quiet kind of courage. In uncertain times, it grounds us, connects us, and reminds us why we build, why we care, why we keep going.

Joyful January Almanac 2025

I’m January
by Annette Wynne
I’m January bringing you
A year of days—all brand, brand new;
I step upon the frosty ground,
When chimes and sleighbells ring around;
You welcome me and children sing,
And joy comes into everything.
I bring you love and lots of cheer,
And work and friends for all the year.

As we turn the page to a new year, let’s take a moment to reflect on the incredible progress we’ve made in 2024. For Common Ground, this was a year of determination, vision, and teamwork. The dream of living on the Land feels closer than ever, thanks to countless hours of meeting and planning, digging deep into our relationships, and navigating complexities.

This special year-in-review Almanac celebrates the milestones, challenges, and triumphs that have brought us to this threshold. Here’s to the rewards of resilience and the joy of shared purpose!