Four Reasons to live in an Intentional
Community
1. To achieve a rural lifestyle with an active social life
It is no accident that most intentional communities are located in a rural
area. An intentional community’s ability to survive and endure is enhanced when
it is able to maintain some degree of isolation.
Urban-based communities are
constantly pitted against unlimited distractions, which can cause their members
to become less focused on the community and the relationships within.
Many people are drawn to intentional community, in part, because they desire a
closer connection to nature. A lifestyle surrounded by nature puts one in
better touch with the seasons and natural cycles of life. The peace and
tranquility nature provides is absorbed, relieving and in many ways eliminating
the primary sources of stress that take over the lives of so many people.
At the same time, human beings desire and need social interaction. The isolated
homesteader on their rural farm can grow hungry for the activities that give
life its flavor, things such as music, art, theater and the simple joys we find
in basic human contact.
Intentional communities can deliver both, a lifestyle immersed in nature combined
with daily social interaction. Embedded in their fabric, intentional
communities facilitate the development of deep friendships and healthy
relationships.
2. As a tool providing greater leverage
for living your ideals and nurturing
your spiritual values
In spite of the fact that most city dwellers find themselves surrounded by
thousands, if not millions of people, the urban lifestyle can be one of
isolation and a sense of powerlessness. In the dog eat dog, every man for
himself, daily struggle to survive, our sense of self can become lost and
relegated to the daily grind as a small cog in the big machine.
Intentional communities are steeped in the reality that you are part of
something larger, that the energy of everyone working together creates a whole that
is greater than the sum of its parts, what futurist Buckminster Fuller called
“synergy.”
Living true to your ideals, finding personal satisfaction through work that
you love, surrounded by people who care about you and you about them...for most of us this is
a big
step in the right direction, one that allows you to find true spiritual fulfillment.
3. As
a way to recreate the extended family
One of the primary shortcomings of modern life is the fragmentation of
the family. Fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, often find themselves scattered
across the nation, even the entire globe.
The built-in support system that has
enabled families to endure for thousands of years has all but disappeared.
Intentional communities are a return to our tribal nature, a framework that
nurtures the human spirit, as old as humanity itself.
4. To facilitate passing your ideals on to the
next generation
Sustainability is about much more than building energy-efficient homes, living
off the grid or learning how to grow your own food. It is about passing on your
values to the next generation, that they may be able to carry forward the
greater goal of making the world a better place.
It is about giving our
children and grandchildren the tools they will need, not just to survive, but
prosper in abundance, both physically and spiritually.
Intentional community can be the core element that empowers this transmission,
allowing you to be directly involved in both formal, and perhaps even more
critical, the informal education of teaching by example.
Everything we create manifests when we set an intention. Community happens
when the broader expression of our personal vision is aligned with others who
share similar goals.
I can tell you from personal experience…it’s a good life! |
Creek walk during the Summer Family Retreat
Craft time at the Swimming Hole during the Summer Family Retreat.
The Unity Center
has two apartments, plus a community kitchen and shower house,
a base to support new arrivals who wish to try out living on The Farm to see if life in community is a good fit for them.
Black beans
ready to harvest.
This year I followed the Native American "Three Sisters" method, planting the beans directly in my rows of corn.
This allowed the beans to climb up the corn stalk, using them as a natural trellis to support the vines.
Winter squash is planted adjacent and its vines wind their way through the corn as well.
|
Growing Black Beans - Sustainable Protein!
Four years ago I began experimenting with the idea of growing my own protein on a small scale.
I started by thinking about what types of foods people in the South ate before mass transportation made it possible to ship food from all over the world, something that will become less and less affordable in the decades to come.
I also thought about what foods Native Americans relied on to feed themselves from this land, and the answer became obvious: beans and corn.
During my time in Guatemala, my family grew to love black beans, the staple food of the Mayan people, along with corn.
This year I concentrated my efforts on growing only black beans, and in many ways this was my most productive crop to date. It has been a wet summer with plenty of rain, so I never needed to do any additional watering.
The weather turned dry towards the end of July, allowing the pods to mature and dry on the vine. The dry, brittle pods were very easy to shell by hand.
As a final step, I spread all the beans out
in the trays of my dehydrator and run them through this overnight to remove any extra moisture. This insures that none of the beans mold or go rancid in storage.
As an added measure, I keep all of the dried beans inside a freezer for my long-term storage, eliminating the possibility of a moth infestation.
When all was said and done, I harvested about 5 pounds of dried beans from rows totaling
approximately 50 to 60 feet, again, mixed in with my corn. It is definitely enough to provide all the black beans we will need for the coming year.
When I think about the amount of land it takes to raise a protein source like cattle, space for the pasture, acres for hay to feed them in winter, still more acres for the corn and beans that make up their feed, it seems clear to me that it takes a lot less land to grow the corn and beans
for ourselves.
When we think about what it will take to be sustainable, not just on our own homestead, but on our planet, we have to consider the amount of resources it will take to support all life. Beans, are believed to be one of the oldest, cultivated plants and are definitely a truly sustainable source of protein!
Thanks as always for your time and attention! Douglas@thefarmcommunity.com
|
The shelled black beans are placed overnight in a dehydrator to remove any residual moisture.
|
|
