Common Ground Ecovillage

Fruitful February 2024 Almanac

Dear Friends,

Spring is coming.  Though it’s yet mid-winter, Earth is waking from her winter somnolence and quickening the ever-ready forces of Nature.  Daylight, which bottomed out just six weeks ago at the Winter Solstice, is rising with the returning sun, like a glowing magnet high in the sky that pulls all of creation up along with her.  Whatever else is happening in the human world, we cannot fetter this great and fierce force that will soon animate all that appears dead to us, but is really simply resting under hushed brown and grey veils.   

Common Ground has been planting seeds of vision, creativity, and endeavor for many years now.  We cannot know for certain what will come of all we have sown.  But we know for sure that we will keep tending this dream and keep responding to what we’re learning.  This Almanac is an invitation to you to join us in this beautiful experiment.  

Spring is coming, revealing wonders, surprises and delights every day.  Let’s go through this gateway together. 

See you at Common Ground.

January 2024 Almanac, Year in Review

Keep some room in your heart for the Unimaginable  —Mary Oliver

Dear friends, It’s winter, and night outpaces the day.  Winter is a season of stillness, dormancy, and hibernation, the life force retreating within and below, holding its breath in the space between death and life while spinning the invisible threads that weave Spring’s emergent pattern in ways that we may attempt to influence yet cannot predict or control.  Winter is a time to dream; to loosen our grasp on our certainties and open a space to host seeds of new life that are as yet unknown and unseen.    

As this Almanac reveals, Common Ground continues to become itself through the creativity, initiative, love, and longings of its members. The farm team and friends have outdone themselves this past year, cultivating ever more life-giving food and vibrant educational offerings.  We have recently discovered a new way of proceeding with our village development that may well fulfill our dream of living on the land.  Our long-held intention to conserve large portions of our waterways and forests may come to fruition through a grant process shepherded by the Eno River Association.   And CGEV is at the hub of the new Triangle Prescribed Burn Association which will enable us to bring the restorative power of fire to our forests and fields. 

Though it feels discouraging to not yet be living together on the land, it’s vital to celebrate all that we have, all we’ve done, and all that we aspire to become.  We’ve got a big vision and continue to lean into wants to happen next.   We hope you’ll feel moved to contribute in some way to the emergence of this life-giving project. 

See you at Common Ground

Dreaming December Almanac

It isn’t more light we need.  It’s putting into practice what light we already have.  When we do that, wonderful things will happen within our lives and within our world.  –Peace Pilgrim

Dear friends,

The Winter Solstice is nearly upon us and Earth is taking her final tilt away from the Sun.  Though the days will again lengthen and warm the ground, we are now approaching the eye of Winter with its deep mysteries, veiled truths, and hushed rhymes.  Winter drives us down into our bones, into to the marrow of things unseen, and into the essence of what is yet to become.  It is a time to reflect and give thanks for what has come to pass and dream into what’s next. 

Common Ground Ecovillage is the product of the vision, resources, and actions of countless people over many years.  We are on the cusp of discerning a new direction that is a result of so much collective learning, growing, and discerning about what wants to happen here and what’s possible to achieve.  As this Almanac reflects, we continue to be inspired by all that’s embodied in the land and the longings that we each hold in our hearts.  

Though the path ahead is not yet clear, it is illuminated by all who have shown up and offered their time, creativity, passion, skills and money to keep this dream alive.  Thank you to everyone who is a part of this journey—past, present, and future.   

See you at Common Ground

Nurturing November Almanac

The true life of the bowl began the moment it was dropped. 
–Ancient Kintsugi quote

We’re halfway to the Winter Solstice and all is going to ground, temperatures sinking, darkness pressing, daylight draining as the sun’s stipend of shine creeps south.  The remains of summer’s riches are descending into winter’s underground vault—but not without a final spectral extravagance of fall hues and root crops.  On the farm, it’s time to dig out the sweet potatoes that burgeon below ground, each one a surprise package filled with golden sustenance for the scarcity ahead.  

In cultures the world over, this is a time of the year to honor the dead, remember our ancestors, grieve our losses and mend our spirits through sweet memory and tender togetherness.  Katsuigi’s phrase above reminds us that brokenness is an essential element of life.  Things don’t last or work out the way we might hope.  Expectations are foiled.  Dreams fade.  So how can this be the beginning, not the end?  The start of something yet more beautiful that beckons new energy and finds unforeseen forms?  

We’re asking ourselves these questions at Common Ground.  After years of ardent effort, a viable path forward to living on the land still seems out of reach.  It’s very hard to be in this place of unknowing, month after month, year after year.  And it’s all too easy to judge harshly, become weary of the whole thing, and lose heart.  Yet, as this Almanac reveals, we persist because this precious land and community call us to continue. 

It can help to dip into deep time and remember that we are not even a blip on the cosmic screen.  We’re living wildly improbable human lives, each a walking miracle, born of the fathomless and inscrutable creativity of the universe.  So let’s live into that reality and dare to keep dreaming, together.

See you at Common Ground

Opportune October Almanac

It’s as if we’re always preparing
for something.  The endless roll of the earth
ripening us.
            From Late August, by Mary Chivers

We are entering October—a time of harvest which brings the last year’s cycle to a close.  Daylight is waning and the forces of Nature draw downward, fold inward, as a prelude to Winter’s dreamtime.  The Harvest Moon marks a natural new year, a time to celebrate and give thanks for all the bounty and sustenance which the Earth has bestowed upon us for yet another spin around the Sun. 

At Common Ground, our motivation to become an agrarian ecovillage is strong.  This Almanac is full of news and many ways to engage with each other and the land.  We hope you’ll come to the Fall Celebration and Education Weekend on October 21-22, which will offer a gateway into what life together on this land can be like from learning and working to playing and feasting.  

We’re making it up as we go along, working with the currents and flows of What Is as we strive towards What Can Be.  Endeavoring to find the sweet spot that strikes a balance among the many factors in play that will illumine, like today’s Harvest Supermoon, a beautiful and synergistic pathway forward. 

See you at Common Ground.

September Almanac

All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now. ― Rick Rubin, The Creative Act: A Way of Being

It’s coming up to the Autumnal Equinox, and a cycle that was set in motion last fall is coming to completion now.  Flowers and fruits of bygone seasons have yielded to brittle pods, splitting open and delivering messages to the future in their own particular ways, some seeds drifting on the breeze like milkweed wisps and others dropping straight to the ground like acorns.  We’ve hit the Solstice highs and lows, and this Equinox invites us to shift into to neutral for a spell, calmly regarding all that the year has wrought and how that may influence what wants to happen next.

Last fall, we were headed towards developing a housing coop with a blanket mortgage.  This year, the picture that’s coming into focus looks different.  Yet we continue to engage in what we love, connecting with each other and the land with faithfulness, inspiration, and care, realizing our collective vision through every-day opportunities. 

September’s Almanac abounds with such daily chances to exercise your body, mind, and heart however you are drawn to do so.  From harvesting corn, to dancing with NVC, to crafting a database, to having a conversation at a potluck–all of it counts and contributes to the ever-evolution of this visionary agrarian community. We humans operate on human time, and while the dust of stars and the elements of eons may be in our bones and blood, our hearts revolve in rhythms far more immediate and measurable.   You are invited do things great and small, right now, together.

See you at Common Ground,

Hope, for Governance & Training

 Ardent August Almanac

Love is still the only revenge. It grows each time the earth is set on fire.
     –Ayisha Siddiqua, excerpt from “ON ANOTHER PANEL ABOUT CLIMATE, THEY ASK ME TO SELL THE FUTURE AND ALL I’VE GOT IS A LOVE POEM”*

Dear Friends,

At the July Community in the Round meeting, participants were asked to name a favorite summer fruit or vegetable.  Mouth-watering descriptions amidst smiles and laughter ensued.  Farmer Doug listed the many benefits that farm and forest endeavors bring to the community, and he wowed us with so many exciting projects—some ongoing, some imagined—that are manifesting here.  People shared stories in small groups about what farming and being connected to land meant to them.  No one wanted to stop when it was time for a break. 

The meeting continued on a more solemn note.  Katy and Anthony from Planning & Development offered the latest way they are trying to slice the development pie into realistic and workable segments.  A look at the current financial picture revealed that (as with so much else in the world) “business as usual” won’t get us where we want to go.  But persist we must, because this vision is too precious, too alive, too rich to NOT become true.  Oh, and then we had a potluck liberally laced with foods from the farm to enjoy together. 

A volunteer videographer, Random Gott, is giving members an opportunity to tell their stories about what brought them to Common Ground.  When it was my turn, I surprised myself by saying that grief for the state of the world brought me here.  But it’s love for the land; for this forming agrarian community, and for Earth herself that keeps me going through the obstacles.  

We all are called to protect and sustain what we love.  Common Ground needs your courage and contributions (including cash) to further unfold.  The Almanac is your guide to many ways to engage.  We hope you’ll come and put your heart into it.

See you at Common Ground,

Hope, for the Governance & Training Circle

Judicious July Almanac

I know so many people desperate to make a difference now, to turn things around NOW.  It’s hard to say, but it’s possible we’re part of a bucket brigade here; you got the bucket from somebody else and you are going to hand it on.  Maybe we’ll only know the middle…  With any luck, with any legacy, we make it possible for the next generation to go on with some kind of hope/confidence/courage/willingness.   (Barbara Brown Taylor, in an Interview with Krista Tippet, On Being, ep. 1,100)

Dear Friends,

We’ve got issues at Common Ground that have defied resolution for many years despite steady labor towards, and investment in, this vision of an agrarian ecovillage.  It’s as though we’re mirroring the Earth’s eliptical orbit around the Sun.  Sometimes we’re so close!  Other times seemingly so very far away from realizing a viable way to build a village; sustain a farm; grow a connected community of humans; engage with the land in a life-giving way.  Well, we’ve bitten off a hefty piece of culture-shifting pie and worked for many years on multiple fronts.  We are in the middle of…something compelling…and it remains to be seen what’s next; what’s possible; what an outworking that attracts sufficient people/energy/money to manifest might look like.  How long it might take, and at what cost? 

So we persist because this is worth doing and because it feeds us on so many levels, even if we don’t know…can’t predict…what’s going to happen in the end; what an outcome might be that is within our grasp, our lifetimes, our ability to be patient and tolerant; to be in a place of uncertainty among all the other uncertainties of life. 

The honeybee speeds to the flower because she wants nectar and pollen to raise new bees and to put aside honey to ensure the survival of the hive.  Does she know that in so doing, she makes it possible for the flower to fruit, and then to seed, and then to grow again?  That the results of her efforts go far beyond anything she could possibly realize in one hungry moment?  May it be so for Common Ground Ecovillage.  But may our endeavors bear fruit that we may see and taste before too long and that we pass along as a legacy to future generations who will transform this creation beyond what we might imagine or dream is possible right now.

In the meantime…it’s SUMMER!  Come to an event.  Get to know another member and enrich each other’s lives.  Join a Circle.  Learn a useful skill.  Make a contribution.  Make a donation.  This is all possible RIGHT NOW.  It’s all laid out in the Almanac.

Don’t be a stranger.  See you at Common Ground,

Hope, for the Governance & Training Circle

Genial June Almanac

Dear friends, 

June marks the transition from Spring to Summer.   The Sun, the source and substance of life itself, is high overhead, beckoning us to expand, to engage with life’s abundance, and above all, to keep going.  The Sun never goes backwards in the sky.  She burns just as fully and fiercely every single day with no thought of return, freely flinging her fiery substance into the vast darkness and magnetizing heavenly bodies eons away to join in her stellar dance. 

At Common Ground, we continue to blaze trails in our quest to fully establish an agrarian ecovillage.  In this Almanac, you’ll find ways to deepen your relationships with each other and the land while marveling at all that is going on here.  The Farm is expanding, providing fresh and nourishing food to a growing customer base.*  We’ve fully pivoted to a new strategy (CGEV 2.0) to create a residential village.  New frontiers in land management are emerging as we explore conservation opportunities for our woods and waterways.

It’s a very dynamic time, full of possibilities.  But they won’t happen without dedicated members who are committed to doing the work—inner and outer and in-between—with fierceness and compassion, imagination and practicality, love and expectation that we can birth a more beautiful world together. 

We beings are solar powered and we’re made to shine, burning brightly so that our destiny may find and form around us, just as the planets circle the Sun. 

Come join the dance at Common Ground.


*Visit https://www.fulltablecsa.com/ to join this fantastic CSA

Mighty May Almanac

Dear friends,

We’re halfway to the Summer Solstice and everything, everywhere is exploding with fertility, new growth, and sparkling aliveness in North Carolina.  We have gotten 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. 

And invent we are, at Common Ground.  A new direction is arising as a prior one  fades, channeling similar forces of vision and cooperation, land-based living and sustainability. Curious?  Read what we know so far in the Almanac.  And if this abiding commitment to growing an agrarian ecovillage resonates with you, take in the many ways to engage.  Better yet, step forward and join the dance.     

The energy and astounding fertility of May offers an invitation to slip onto the flowing stream and trust that the intelligence of life itself will carry us to create, nourish, and hatch the dreams that have materialized out of the Mystery and fallen into our hands to actualize.  

See you at Common Ground