Looking for possible friends on our slice of paradise

Updates!  Autumn is creeping into the air up here, and it's exhilarating!  We've had an AWESOME strawberry and huckleberry season- though to interject, my afternoon agenda was to pick a couple gallons of hucks, but there's now a sheet of torrential pea-sized hail crashing down on the mountain, so... R.I.P huckleberries.  Alas...  Anyway the wild berries have had an awesome year.  We're starting to pick our first ripe tomatoes and harvesting seeds from the early crops.  Potatoes are ever closer to harvest and my meager early corn experiments are coming along nicely, with the first patch sporting lots of promising ears!  The 19 fruit trees we planted this spring are all looking fabulous and strong as well!

Our piggy herd has grown quite a bit and we're hoping to have butcher hogs ready before winter sets in too deeply.  The chickens are multiplying happily and will provide plenty of meat come winter as well, if all goes well (as in, the cougars don't get to them first).  Life on the farm is good.  

We are behind on our barn building project, but it'll still get done before the snow flies.  We helped our neighbors build their house, so they're gonna help us build our barn.  That should speed things up!  We wanted to add about 1,000sq ft onto our best greenhouse before winter as well, but who knows if we'll have time at this rate, with this weather.  We shall see!

But the biggest update yet; our first new resident has been here for about 2 weeks.  Woohoo!  We helped him frame and tarp in a 16'x20' living structure that he is finishing on his own with lumber from the forest.  We've been able to hook him up with most basic needs so he can get settled in before winter.  Part of that has been fortunate coincidence with coming into a free wood burning stove, misc. furniture, and a few other neat treasures unexpectedly!  He has been helping thin the forest and prep a new pasture for the pigs and goats.  In the next week or two we'll all be gathering firewood together for winter and sharing that duty.  He'll need another week or three to finish setting up "home base", but I expect we'll all be well prepared by the time the snow starts to fall!  

Hi,
Might you have a update?  Thanks and best wishes

Winter is setting in and we're finally winding down a bit.  I've been dead to Permies for a couple months in the chaos!

Our first newcomer spent 4 months here.  His situation up here turned out to not be a good fit and he decided to throw in the towel.  We had fun with our first 'member' experience and we learned a lot!  We have stronger and clearer ideas of what it is we're looking for- and also what it's going to take for someone to live up here.  We are in USDA zone 3, it's not a cake walk in the winter.  Isolation is a reality without reliable transportation, and without a love for peace, silence, and the outdoors (or a Southern home to fly to), cabin fever might show itself.  So this is something we're going to discuss more thoroughly with folks inquiring.

We've had a blast this fall harvesting the gardens and prepping the new barn for winter.  We've butchered and sold 6 pigs and still have 5 more to go, along with scores of chickens and rabbits.  There will be no shortage of meaty foodstuff this winter!  The snow is flying and the season of wood chopping and big bundled coats has arrived.  We've also welcomed several new residents on the mountain; parcels that have sold and folks moving in full-time.  Our next community meal will be this week.  It's always a vibrant atmosphere!

When I have more time I can post a longer update.  But in short, we're still open to growing our numbers here on the property.  There is currently just the two of us (and dozens of 4 legged friends).  I'll be more prompt about checking Permies and responding to messages this winter

Sounds good, thanks for update, living the dream on a mountain. The pictures were enjoyable. What heritage piggies are those? The vegetables look happy enough. The soil on a Montana mountain can use more improvement I imagine. I’m spoiled currently staying on a friends farm with Skagit peat bogs and best soil I’ve ever seen by far. Black Gold. I should be gardening more. Spend most my time getting vehicles ready and doing solar.
You mentioned a big walk in dehydrator. I’m curious more about that. I’d be interested in learning and helping with dehydrating meat for my semi Nomadic lifestyle. Is it a smoker also? My friend here has a mini ranch with heritage cows but doesn’t seem interested in drying meat. He is into his freezers and frozen meat. I can’t do that as semi Nomadic weight and energy are concerns. And it’s so tame here. I’m interested in places closer to the huckleberries. At least I think I am. Please educate me lol. My previous girlfriend used to tell me stories of Montana and her youth hiding out lol.
No thanks to the Winters. I’m clear on that. I grew up in East Africa and liked it. Though I have a curiosity what a real Winter with dry snow is like. I do miss snow shoeing. After we moved to Oregon from Africa I used to trudge around in the mucky wet Oregon snow. Even went winter camping a few times. It’s beautiful, just not my cup of tea, but I’d do it if I had the pride of ownership and and animals or family to care for.
It seems to me the perfect fit fo you would be someone who has some money for land there but needs a place to stay and work while looking for land. I would steer clear of folks who are running from something and steer towards folks who share the dream and passion and are motivated self starters. With my life it’s similar. I choose to live in a vehicle. I read about some people who do it but don’t like it after a while. I keep coming back to it because I miss it. It does seem like the world is getting more filled with vehicles and complex. So sometimes a cabin on a mountain sounds great. But then again a vehicle is a moving cabin.
 Happy seed sorting and firewood gathering.

Here's a few photos.  Will add more and write more when I have an hour to spend doing so.  Busy day today!

We have mangalitsa sows that were bred to a hampshire boar this year.  We butchered the boar when he hit like 1,000lbs and could barely get around to eat anymore.  He actually got stuck on his back a week before we butchered him; we found him by following the excited ravens that were moving in on him.  They knew he was a doomed piggy!  Took us a bit, we had to dig a trench out behind him and flip him over on the downhill side.  Thank goodness he got stuck on a hill, otherwise he would've been toast...  Anyway, the Mangalitsa girls are now bred back to our KuneKune boar.  Our KuneKune sows are also due this winter/spring for purebred kunekune piglets.  All very exciting.

The barn isn't finished but it's serviceable for the animals right now.  We've put a big wood stove in it for them for when the cold snap sets in.

Anyway, that's my blip for the moment, will add more soon, and respond to your post, Jeremy :)

Jeremy Baker wrote:Sounds good, thanks for update, living the dream on a mountain. The pictures were enjoyable. What heritage piggies are those? The vegetables look happy enough. The soil on a Montana mountain can use more improvement I imagine. I’m spoiled currently staying on a friends farm with Skagit peat bogs and best soil I’ve ever seen by far. Black Gold. I should be gardening more. Spend most my time getting vehicles ready and doing solar.
You mentioned a big walk in dehydrator. I’m curious more about that. I’d be interested in learning and helping with dehydrating meat for my semi Nomadic lifestyle. Is it a smoker also? My friend here has a mini ranch with heritage cows but doesn’t seem interested in drying meat. He is into his freezers and frozen meat. I can’t do that as semi Nomadic weight and energy are concerns. And it’s so tame here. I’m interested in places closer to the huckleberries. At least I think I am. Please educate me lol. My previous girlfriend used to tell me stories of Montana and her youth hiding out lol.
No thanks to the Winters. I’m clear on that. I grew up in East Africa and liked it. Though I have a curiosity what a real Winter with dry snow is like. I do miss snow shoeing. After we moved to Oregon from Africa I used to trudge around in the mucky wet Oregon snow. Even went winter camping a few times. It’s beautiful, just not my cup of tea, but I’d do it if I had the pride of ownership and and animals or family to care for.
It seems to me the perfect fit fo you would be someone who has some money for land there but needs a place to stay and work while looking for land. I would steer clear of folks who are running from something and steer towards folks who share the dream and passion and are motivated self starters. With my life it’s similar. I choose to live in a vehicle. I read about some people who do it but don’t like it after a while. I keep coming back to it because I miss it. It does seem like the world is getting more filled with vehicles and complex. So sometimes a cabin on a mountain sounds great. But then again a vehicle is a moving cabin.
 Happy seed sorting and firewood gathering.

The 'soil' here on the mountain is primarily rotten granite gravel.  The pigs help immensely with soil building.  They eat rock and substrate as a main part of their diet, they turn tough patches of stubborn earth into fine-sifted powder.  Their poop is hot and composts very well- and they make lots of it!  We compost heavily, using all the spent spoiled bedding and poop from the critters.  We've introduced red worms up here and they've exploded in population in our compost heaps.    I also made some compost teas for my potted plants this year.  Every year I amend my grow areas with several inches of soiled animal bedding and compost.  There's much to learn yet, and ample room for experimentation!  

I posted a photo above of the dehydrator/oven.  It's basically an oven, and if you want smoke, you just put your smoking wood on top of the stove and let it puff away.  We can safely get it up to about 300ºf and maintain it there, even today we are smoking and it's am extremely windy, snowy day below freezing, and the oven holds its temp with very little fuss.  This summer we dried about 200lbs of pork jerky and organs in a day in the oven.  We hope to try drying/smoking whole quarters of larger animals so we can more easily put up dog food long-term.  For now we rely heavily on freezers.  We could get rid of all but 1 freezer if we had the time for more projects.  1 freezer is mostly full of hides I need to salt, for example.  They're just sitting in there waiting for me...!

We have huckleberries instead of grass.  Huckleberries in the open areas, strawberries along the roads, and thimbleberries in the creeks.  It was a stellar year for berries this year.  The wild strawberries boomed and we spent hours crawling around on all 4's, nibbling up the red sugar nuggets from the ground.  We picked a few gallons of hucks and of course ate nearly all of them as fast as we could pick them.  It was a great saskatoon year, too!  We have loads of june berries above us at the top of the mountain, I picked about 8lbs this year in one outing.  Darn near everything growing up here is either edible or medicinal.  About the only useless thing growing is the false hellebore.  I'm evicting that from the property, rather spitefully.  It nearly killed one of my goats last year.  The dummy still nibbles on it when he finds it, too!  Gr!

Huckleberries and other blue berry varieties are cold-climate lovers.  Glacier National Park, North of us, is famous for huckleberry pickin', too.  But Montana law is no more than 1 quart per person per day of wild edible forage from the parks.

I didn't think I wanted long snowy winters either.  I grew up in the sage-filled Idaho desert.  Our temps here are pretty much the same as Southern Idaho in the winter, but we get way more sun, and the snow makes winter so much more enjoyable.  I've always known soggy, muddy, gross winters, and having clean white snow, sledding and snow shoeing, and enjoying just the visual of the white blankets topping the ever-greens is very fulfilling.  To a very real extent, the snow keeps us entertained and busy in the winter.  The exercise of clearing roofs, shoveling trails, etc. is something you end up looking forward to.

I hear you on looking for folks with a natural passion.  I know from experience that you can't run from anything; you have to grow through it.  A sudden change of pace and a new environment isn't going to change anyone.  But a safe, secure place to live while you work on YOURSELF is a great vessel for positive change.   We have to want to change ourselves if we want to see change in our lives.  
Also, someone who likes nice, new, fancy things is not going to do well at saving money here; when you're in transition and trying to save, it will become expensive and resource heavy trying to maintain a high living standard if you're starting from the ground up.  So even someone with a passion for change and natural living, there has to be an understanding of what the progression and lifestyle is going to look like.  To live in a wall tent, tarp structure, or other make-shift home- or a car or trailer, even- means sacrificing many luxuries.  And those attached to modern comforts will probably find the transition a little bit difficult, if possible at all.    You have to LIKE dirt, sweat, physical activity, and hard work.  Even if someone's work-trade here wasn't based on manual labor, or even if someone wanted to pay cash rent and do no work trade; these challenges are going to come with the territory of remote off-grid living in terrain like this.

We hoped to leave 'power structures' out of our dynamic up here, but we've learned that to a degree it's unavoidable when you have the reality of land ownership, and a property and its systems that had tens of thousands of dollars invested in them over the last 15 years.  There comes an unavoidable priority and order with that.  We do not have the ability to provide a welfare system, there is no long-time established community up here.  So what we've come up with for the time being is simply a fair-trade system.  For example, on the one hand, we're happy to accept work-trade hours, valued at a fair living wage, for "rent" and in exchange for other materials or provisions from the farm and property.  On the other hand, if there is a need for using materials that we paid out of pocket for (fasteners, tarps, plastic, tools, equipment, etc), we would need to sell those items for the same price we paid; we can't accept work trade on something that takes money to replace.  For use of 'systems' here in our cabin (pressurized hot and cold water, hot bath or shower, washing machine, internet, electricity, etc- all of which would be voluntary use, and non-vital to someone living up here), we learned that even just 1 extra person using these systems puts a lot of extra wear and tear on the systems.  So we're discussing what a fair approach to that would be; say $x per month for full access to these systems.  That money isn't a paycheck for us; it's contribution towards the inevitable replacement of failed equipment and parts.  If our water pump goes out, no one has access to that pressurized system until we fork out another $300 for a pump.  If the washer goes out, no one has access to a washing machine until we fork out another $150-$200 for a replacement washer.  So on and so forth.  Pipes break, connections wear, motors die, electronics fry.  Basically we're just searching for ways to keep everything fair, without costing ourselves undue money in the long run.

That said, there is ample running mountain spring water all over the property.  Our cabin is not the only source of water by any means.  It must be caught and tamed, but it's here.  So we're not asking a fee for access to basic needs.  These systems simply provide "ease and convenience"- for a price.  It cost us to implement it, and it costs us to maintain it.   Hope that makes sense.  We're not doing this to make money off anyone, that is in no way our goal.

Anyway.  You know, I aspired to live nomadic for a long time.  I had a van I travelled tens of thousands of miles in.  I liked having a 'home base' with the freedom to roam.  My van was replaced with a trailer, my 'turtle shell', a little home that came with me.  I loved every moment of living in the trailer!  My desire to roam has tamed intensely living here in a place that's 'wild'.  I don't need to go find wild places, I live in one.  And my love for growing and farming has helped me root in one spot (though I had plans for awhile to have a mobile farm, have no doubt!).  Now I don't know if I'd be as satisfied being nomadic, having learned to enjoy these things and having a space to farm in.  I do get the travel itch now and again though...
To each their own, of course!  We're all on a unique journey :D   There's no best path.  But as long as we're making efforts to help one another, we're at least on a right path, IMO!

here are some photos of the barn building this year...
it's got an upstairs apartment, a hay deck (not a loft as it's only a few feet off the ground!), an 'underground' animal area, and the old structure it was built off of  (the original living shack built 10+ years ago) will be turned into a  greenhouse next year.

So I wanted to add a little more, in regards to our observations and thoughts about expectations and a "good fit" up here:

Age: your age does not matter to us in the slightest.  It's just a number that gives no indication to character or capacity.  Just want to put that out there.

Health: my main boundaries with physical and mental health is that we cannot be expected to physically or financially take care of someone.  In an ideal community folks would indeed care for one another, and in times of need it's only reasonable and practical to help others.  But neither of us are in a place of capacity to care for another person on an in-depth level.  We just can't do it right now.  Mental health; anxiety, depression, spectrum, ptsd, bi-polar, other disabilities or challenges- it's not taboo and shouldn't be a point of shame.  I deal with my fair portion.  But whether your challenges are physical, emotional, or mental, you need to be in a place where you can provide for yourself and keep on your feet.  Before coming to a place like this, which is more remote and isolated than many people are familiar with, ask yourself "am I self contained, self reliant, and ready for this".  Even if you're in perfect health, it's something to think about.   Whatever is missing, broken, 'disordered', or otherwise atypical is not important, as long as you have the strength and security to pursue a passion for wild and rustic living.  If you're looking for a place to heal, that's great and we fully support you!  As long as you're ready to do the work of healing- because a radical change of pace will not induce healing.  Healing must come from within, and be facilitated by a safe, loving environment.  

Work Trade:  the majority of folks who we've talked to are interested in a work trade.  We are NOT asking for 40 hour work weeks!!!  We think 40 hours/week is inhumane, honestly.  We value most work at $20/hour; more if it's really dangerous or really unpleasant, less if it's extremely easy, mundane, or requires large amount of instruction or guidance due to lack of experience or knowledge.  There are some things here that we would not consider trading for; things we do on our own and do not need or desire help with, like feeding livestock or tending gardens.  Unless we're going out of town and need to 'hire help' with very simple daily tasks, they're generally not on our radar for work-trade options.   Right now work trade potentials include thinning the forest, piling and burning slash, land sculpting (we'd like to get some more ponds put in eventually), fencing work, future orchard site prep, and building and maintaining structures.  Much of which requires experience and knowledge.  I'm sure there's much more on the list that's not coming to me at the moment, but it's winter and we're going into hibernation mode, so it's hard to think about work :P  I want to reiterate that we don't "NEED" help, but the help is welcome.  We're not relying on someone coming here to do things for us, we can do it all ourselves... eventually... haha.

Other Trade: Labor isn't the only trade of value.  We're open to cash and also resource trade.  If you have sustenance, trade skills, or other things to offer, we're open!  We have 5 vehicles and only ever have 3/4 of a working one at any point in time, so hey, if you're mechanically handy you'll have plenty to do.  Haha!  Honestly though the vehicles are a consequence of not having the time or finances to pour into them.  We learn to do most things ourselves, but there's usually room for help.  Or maybe you harvest an elk, deer, bear, etc; we'd probably trade meat for rent, or offer to trade pork, poultry, eggs, or whatever else we may have if you want to share or trade.  We love trading!  If you like long drives and have a stout truck, we'd also trade a month or two (or whatever works our fair) rent if you wanted to do a grain run in Idaho, where feed prices are almost half what they are here!  We tend to go to Idaho once a year and bring home whatever load we can; one ton of grain more than pays for the gas money in what we save, so it's usually worthwhile.  Anyway, there's lots of obscure stuff like that!

Paid work:  For the most part we have no ability to pay anyone a cash wage.  I do run an online business, specializing in sustainably wildcrafted goods.  There is some opportunity for making money here, HOWEVER this is my own business and anyone I bring into it must be a good fit.  I will not guarantee employment or opportunity, but it is a potential for the right person with the right interest, dependability, ethics, and passion for the work I do.

Accommodations and personal space:  It is RUSTIC here.   Emphasis on that. Our last arrangement worked pretty nicely.  Our guest picked a site on the property (which is 20 steep acres) that is about 1/4 mile up a private road from our cabin, on an opposing ridge.  It's a 5-10 minute walk away.  We tentatively allotted 1/2 acre (100'x100') for personal use and private space.  We threw up a pole structure in a day or two and roofed it in tarps as the initial summer accommodation.  On his own he finished wrapping it in tarps and greenhouse plastic, put a counter in, hooked up a propane cookstove and fridge (which are community resources), reinforced the roof a bit for winter, bought a wood stove and installed it, etc etc.  It looks like a cozy little nook, though it will need some work down the road.  So this structure is an option for future guests/community members/passers-through, and I'm sure it will morph and transform over time.  We also have a cozy camping/RV area near this structure that would work for a parked vehicle.  This area gets a lot of sun, it might be the second best grow spot on the property.  But it's DRY.  Water needs to be hauled or caught from several hundred feet away.  Throughout the land there are many nooks and crannies, private places, creeks and draws and ridges.  Each has pro's and con's.   We're content with keeping the 1/2 acre private space for now, but some of it depends on the site chosen.  More space (say you pick a spot with good sun and want a huge garden and want to put up a little fence for chickens and a milk goat or something in your own space) would likely just equate to more work hours.

Supplies and Materials:  We have A LOT of resources available in regards to tools and conveniences.  We have spare stoves, propane appliances, propane cans, cots & mats, and other things relative to the 'glamping' nature.  We are happy to lend these where needed, they are considered community property and have been supplied here as a result of the community effort that made this land possible.  However as the stewards of this property, we do have to exercise our best discretion and set boundaries if the needs arise.  I mean, it would have to be a pretty crazy situation if we had to set boundaries on borrowing community wares, like someone hypothetically just utterly destroyed ANOTHER propane can or blew up their cook stove or something or caused a fire incident; and if it got to that point we might simply be asking someone to leave, but hey.  Who knows what the future may bring!   Basically we have a lot of assets that can help get someone started out here.  Community property remains community property, it cannot be bought or earned as personal property by any of us.  And our stuff isn't "nice", but it works.  Haha.  In regards to materials, such as piping and irrigation supplies, fasteners, plastics, milled lumber, etc., as I stated in a previous post, anything that is not going to be readily salvageable (like screws in a structure, or covering material that gets damaged, or lumber that gets filled with holes) we have to charge replacement value on.  We cannot accept work trade for things that cost us money.  We live on a few hundred dollars a month and don't have much to spare; and when we do we spend it on building stuff :P  

Personal Property: We tend to be pretty relaxed about lending personal property, but we also like the motto of "if you're not prepared to lose it, don't lend it".  So lending anything of our own (tools, power tools, books, traps, clothing, appliances, etc etc etc whatev') is our own sole discretion.  We do not expect to be allowed to borrow anything that belongs to anyone else living up here

Personal Accountability and Responsibility: We are rounding out our rental/terms of stay contract right now.  It's lengthy, but in short it mostly says "You are solely responsible for your own choices and actions up here".  Living here is not fool-proof.  It's easy to get hurt or to damage things.  Our biggest fear of course would be a fire that starts the whole mountain ablaze :s  So there are clauses regarding 'permission to start fires'; until we know someone is TOTALLY competent with something like burning slash or even being smart about their camp fire, that risk is too huge to go unchecked.  Anything we've worked into this document in regards to personal limitations and permissions are from a point of safety and practicality.  And hey, s***t happens, of course.  But we need to cover our grounds, and ensure that anyone coming up here knows the full extent of their personal liabilities and the boundaries and responsibilities of living up here.  We do, on personal principle, also uphold a "you break it, you buy it" code.  It's no different than when we borrow the neighbor's mechanicing tools to work on our cars and break a punch, wreck a socket extension on a seized bolt, or any number of things we've twisted, busted, or otherwise trashed; without demand we buy a replacement for him next time we're in town.  It's just plain ol' responsibility, decency, and respect for others.  If you borrow resources like gas or propane, you replace them.  Common sense stuff.  And along with that comes the self moderation of knowing "Hm, I can't afford to replace, I shouldn't borrow it then".  That's important too :)

Chemicals: This is an important one we reflected on this summer.  Sometimes we forget how far removed we are from the way the average American lives.  We make our own soaps and use no chemical fragrances or cleaners.  It is important to us that excess or undue chemicals are not being deposited into the environment.  So we would request use of only unscented and all-natural products in all facets of living.  This might be the only thing that we insist upon that imposes on personal living choices.  We don't want bleach in our streams, toxic soils, and honestly we don't enjoy being around strong chemical perfumes/scents, so using them will make us not want to be around you as much.  Haha!


Transportation:  We tried to explore vehicle sharing but in the end it's not legally feasible to do so.  So anyone up here should really have a mode of transportation available to them.  We agree that all community members should be open to running errands for one another if they're going to town (we even do this for each other as neighbors up here), but it can be a point of conflict at times if someone has to rely solely on others for this.  June through October you generally don't need 4WD, but in the snow months 4WD, AWD, or chains are needed in many areas.  We no longer plan to plow out the property due to the fuel expense, so arranging with parking a vehicle with one of the neighbors lower on the mountain is the best way to stay mobile.  You could then hike/snowshoe to your vehicle, or use a snowmobile.  We cannot afford to lend our snowmobile, it's off limits.  It's our only way out in the winter and if anyone's gonna break it, it needs to be us...

Community Atmosphere: We don't intend to demand community participation.  With our last guest, we saw him every couple days, sometimes once a week or less.  That was cool with us.  However, I think the better we get along and the more we enjoy one another's company, the better suited we will be to co-existing up here.  We're totally open to folks showing up on the porch and hanging out, popping in for dinner (especially if they want to contribute, haha), or coming with us on recreational adventures in the wild.  But we are a bit hermit-y and respect others' right to privacy as well.  As someone who shopped around for 'intentional communities', I didn't like the expectation of X hours per day of community presence.  Who knows, maybe those things exist for a reason and we have yet to learn it.  But for now we're not demanding anything like that!  We'd love to establish some loose traditions like community meals every so often or whatever, but it'll just depend on the chemistry up here.   As far as community with neighbors; there are just shy of 10 residences up here, and for the most part we get along and help one another where we can.  We're all very far apart and don't often see one another, but we do occasional get togethers or meals, especially for the holidays.  With the folks who have moved up here in 2019, I expect we might get to establish even more of a community bond, as a few younger people and families will be up here who are craving community.  We shall see what the future brings.

Opportunities for Farming:  We are not restricting access to the farm or gardens (unless someone constantly forgets to close gates and doors, haha).  We're endeavoring to balance how the farm bounty is shared if someone were to become involved with it.  We try to look at it from the perspectives of "how much time and work was shared" and "how much expense was shared".  For example, if someone comes in the spring and helps rear and feed piggies, they can't expect to get a big cut of piglet sales.  We have almost 2 years and $5,000 into our pig stock; we had to buy quality piglets and raise them to adulthood, then raise their babies, so on and so forth.  We're not in the black yet (hopefully we will be this next season).  So it's not cut-and-dry.  But things like greenhouse and garden work are a little more straight forward.  Whatever share of labor someone puts into a garden should be the share they reap.  This includes pre-season soil building and post-season cleanup, alongside the actual growing and weeding and harvesting.  However, if they want meat or eggs or food from the farm without contributing, we'd probably ask monetary replacement value (unless we had huge abundance, but we don't yet).  Anyway.  It all has a lot of room to be worked out and refined.  But we're not against incorporating new livestock, nor sharing the greenhouses, nor even throwing up new greenhouses, gardens, and pastures.  As long as we're not put in the position of paying for and taking care of someone else's critters, and they're not negatively impacting our livestock, we're pretty chill.  And as long as those critters aren't being destructive (or if they are, the damage is accounted for and/or repaired... thinking about goats right now...  naughty destructive goats... gr....)

I need to take a break from typing, but I may add more when I have time.  Again, these are some of the reflections we've had this year.  We've got a better idea of expectations and possibilities than we did when we first started looking.

Just wanted to post an update.  We're talking with a couple that will be visiting us this upcoming summer.  If we all jive well and are a good fit, this may be the beginning of community here on the mountain!

This summer we are looking forward to new greenhouses, our first root cellar, and an ambitious goal to grow 80% or more of our own food.  Grains are our hardest-to-grow crop.  Once the farm is better established and we have more time on our hands I hope to be doing seasonal expeditions for rice and other wild grain crops!  Last year I put up over 50 gallons of wild foraged fruit and garden-grown veggies and tomatoes.  We've eaten most of it already, but it was a good indicator of how much we'll need in a single year!

The pigs are happily multiplying, and all the other critters will be soon to follow, no doubt.  We raised about 75 hen-hatched chicks to adulthood last season and only got about 15 roosters in the bunch!  Talk about luck!  I've got a few more to butcher before the spring melt, and we've been loving fresh fried chicken and chicken soup.  We'll be swimming in eggs this spring, and with any luck, broodies to hatch out even more chickies.  We've now got coturnix quail alongside our pigeons in the aviary and I hope to inspire some broody quail this year with a natural, rich, abundant, lush habitat of a corn/legume/squash garden + fodder graining grasses like millet in the aviary.  

With the land, we hope to log out a few more acres this summer, removing the sick and dying trees and storing them for lumber before they begin to rot where they stand.  We have 2 forested pastures we're cultivating into a richer foraging ground.  Our second orchard needs to be put in and we'll be on the lookout for cold hardy grapes, berries, and other fruiting flora.  

When spring kicks into full gear, we'll find out what survived the winter this season; our 19 new fruit trees, a mess of rooted grape cuttings, a heap of wild currant cuttings, the horseradish, comfrey, and sunchokes I put in last summer, as well as the potted and established currants and blueberries that proliferate further each season (hopefully those will go in the ground in a greenhouse this year and finally have a proper home!).  We're eager to continue to learn what can thrive up here, and under what conditions!

Hi Jen Fan,
I'm Alma Maria. I just finished read ALL your posts in one session! That's how much your info captivated me. I especially appreciate your belief (which I share but had not found anyone else expressing, until today!) about 40 hours/week of work being "inhumane." I'm totally up for doing 30 hours per week, and then adding on a few more as needed, because my work pace is usually a bit slower than that of other folks. I balance that by being very conscientious. I complete tasks fully and thoroughly. And when I'm learning a new system (of feeding livestock or of garden work, etc.), I write down all the steps so I don't forget any necessary steps, and I follow my notes until the day comes when I've fully learned all the steps.

So, I'm sixty-three & am currently volunteering 2 days a week on an organic vegetable farm. I did 46 years of (mostly full-time) wage work, and am now retired and receiving a small monthly pension. I spent an autumn, winter & spring in Montana (2006-07) and loved it! I wasn't out in the wilds, I was in Helena, but still . . . I grew up in the country, doing weekly outdoor work for my dad (mowing; pruning; raking; weeding), and shoveling snow in the winters. I'm used to sweat, insects and physical work. I love animals, and I'd love to learn how to care for pigs, goats and chickens. I'd be up for milking does, too, on the regular, once they come to trust me.

I have health insurance and my pension income, so I'm self-sufficient in that way. I'm  out of the country for a few months right now. But I'm interested in returning to the u.s. in Spring 2021. I have use of a 4WD (it belongs to a close family member, who has lent it to me). I plan to drive the vehicle from northern CA to the East Coast next spring, and would like to come for a week or so at your homestead, to see if I might be compatible with y'all, and vice versa. And if, during that week, we mutually feel like it might work for me to stay on for a month or more, I could notify my relative and push back my arrival at their home. I'd especially like to learn-by-doing, wildcrafting berries, mushrooms & medicinal plants. I grew up harvesting wild cherries & blackberries, but they were right there on my dad's 4 acres, easy to reach, up by the road. I also want to learn-by-doing, making  applesauce, canning & preserving other fruits & veggies, and preparing meats. I cleaned some wild game for my family when I was a kid. I can pluck feathers, remove entrails, scrape hides, and am willing to learn more that's involved in those processes. And I'm down with living in rustic conditions. I'm actively seeking to gain more experience at living in such surroundings, to better hone my own skills at "roughing it." And I love the Earth deeply. My long-term plan is to live full-time, self-sufficiently on the land somewhere, for the remainder of my life. I'm all in on the no-bleach, no-chemicals situation. I have African hair, and the best shampoo & conditioner I've found does have aromatic essential oils in it, and also has shea butter & coconut oil. I'm willing to NOT use those products while I'm at your homestead, if they aren't acceptable to you. I love using Dr. Bronner's soaps, but would also be very interested in trying out the natural soaps you make!

I have a small amount of knowledge of medicinal plants and herbs, and participated in tending & harvesting medicinal herbal plants & making tinctures during a 9-week stay at an organic commercial medicinal plant farm/processing company, where the growers were attempting to cultivate goldenseal. They grew a lot of other medicinal plants as well. I've completed the 80 Hour Permaculture Design Course, and have worked full-time on 4 organic farms, in addition to the one I'm at now. I really like your honesty about how we all have our dysfunctions, quirks, oddities, etc. And about how we're each responsible for attending to our own healing. I've done a lot of that over the years, and I'm so glad I put in the time & effort! It was so worth it! Ultimately, it's about how well we each flow in relation to others with whom we want to share community. I hope you'll email me. My email is mariadelnorte2619 @ gmail dot com. Oh, fyi, I'm willing to continue doing the recommended practices, in terms of the current virus. I've been taking helpful supplements since February 2020 (Zinc, copper & quercetin), and I've been feeling fine all year. While I'm personally not deeply concerned about whether or not I might contract the virus, I definitely do all I can, to not be/become an unwitting carrier & then spread it to others.