Continuation

The cross country community scouring is over for now, but the posts are not, still need to update on the Farm in Tennessee, and update the posts on spillcorn, wildroots, and earthaven.

I will get back on this after I take the GRE on Friday! Wish me luck!

lov
thom

Islands in the Mist

Spillcorn....

[[ A follow up to Wildroots and Earthaven, worlds unto the themselves. ]]

Friends of friends, I spent a lovely coupla days at SpillCorn, NC in Madison Co (early sept 2009). Bordering TN and the National Forest (and the Appalachian Trail)-- This misty southern climate is the wandering primordial membrane of fertility.
There are a fluxing number of folks there, 3 or so original members, on 40 Acres of rapidly recovering fertile hillside. This part of the Appalachians is one of the few geographies in the US that wasn't covered in icesheets during the huge last ice age. This means that there are an incredible variety of species native to the area (yet markedly vacant of evergreens).

The inhabitants of Spillcorn take full advantage of this diversity with their wild gardens and passive foraging approach to permaculture. They are a tribe of herbalists, brewers, and builders.

Their houses also embody their dedication to simplicity and local economy. They carefully constructed their artistic houses slowly using slipstraw (light straw clay), round pole timber framing, clay plasters, bottles, and hardwood floors gleaned from a local sympathetic dumpster.
Although at first I was a little surprised the houses were still standing, as they appear perched on narrow stilts on their steep geography with few few right angles, I quickly was sucked into the well thought and crafted intimacy.


to be continued....

continued:

Room to dream.

The intentional community movement is really full of endless variations. People move out to the sticks for lots of reasons.


I could go on for a long time about what a good and enlightening few days I had sharing with Dave, Janet, Dan and other folks, but i think what has really stuck with me was how they embodied both their commitment to the radical intellectual debate found in the cities and the independent spirit that lets their dreams and souls fly unrestrained from useless fears. At least this is how it seemed to me.
This makes a lot of sense considering that these folks lived many a year in New Orleans, and I experience a similar release from etheric hegemony in that lovely city.