Why I Garden

Many (but not all) of us find our way to Cobb Hill with a desire to interact with the land in some way. In addition to the fact that we have a farm here (Cedar Mountain Farm, owned and run by the Leslie-Gawalt dynamic duo) that provides many nourishing products, some of us are drawn to the autonomy of gardening - providing some of our own sustenance, like veggies, fruit, flowers, and medicine. It’s not a prerequisite to have a green thumb, but many of us enjoy having our hands in the soil, whether right around our house, or in a larger plot down the hill set aside for garden space, where the soil is best. We don’t individually own the garden space, but rather tend and steward it until we no longer wish to. When asked to answer, “why do you garden?” here is what a few folks shared:

I grow vegetables and fruits because I get a lot of joy out of growing some of my own food and eating food fresh from the garden. It tastes SO yummy and fresh and provides food for putting up in various ways (canning, root cellar, freezing, drying) so I can enjoy it all year long. I put my canning jars on the kitchen wall, like a backsplash, to enjoy the visual beauty of the colors and textures from the garden...visitors love seeing them in our kitchen and it is great to share the beauty in this way. But the biggest reason I garden is because it makes me feel closer to the earth, the seasons, the insects, and the soil. Gardening takes my busy mind away from its daily rumination and focuses my thoughts onto the sensory pleasures of digging, pulling, planting, watering, picking, smelling, tasting, and just being. – LL

I garden because it is magical! Tiny seeds grow into plants abundant with food or flowers! And it challenges my attunement to my environment, my skills at building soil, my patience and perseverance. Perhaps more than all of this I derive a huge amount of satisfaction in harvesting, preparing, and eating what I have grown, knowing that this food and these flowers were produced on our land, without chemical inputs or pesticides. And how awesome is it to be surrounded by other gardeners/farmers who one can share skills, successes, and failures with? The learning never stops, nor the beauty of gardens. – SG

I garden because it connects me to the land. Working the soil helps to ground me (no pun intended!), draining away any stress and/or negative energy that I've accumulated over the course of my day. My garden brings me peace, a place of sanctuary from the realities of everyday life, as I continue the process of nourishing myself with fresh organic vegetables (& free exercise!). And all the while, my senses are stimulated: I feel the sun on my back, the wind in my face, the soil between my fingers. I hear the birds chirping, I smell the soil and plant aromas, and I see the various shades of multiple earth colors all around me. My gardening is one way for me to honor (& preserve) this gift of fertile land that I have been blessed with. – BE

It grounds me, brings me joy and solace. There’s nothing better than eating organic veggies from our garden. Flower gardening is my passion and livelihood. – KS

I garden because of the taste of fresh food, a more tangible way to participate in sustainability than the writing and analysis of my "day job" and to get exercise, feel sunshine, and work together with others. – BS

I find gardening short of a miracle. These little seeds germinate into incredible plants whether it be vegetables, flowers, or herbs that feed us and give us joy. It’s a haven for me. My own space. Even weeding gives me a sense of satisfaction when completed. – HP

I garden because tending my plants is often the only reasonable excuse I can come up with to leave my comfortable inside world. I garden because I adore the parade of surprises, delightful and horrifying, that await in the myriad textures of soil, under the sun-warmed stones, in the aromas that hang in humid summer air, or hide on the underside of the rough, hairy leaves. I garden because I’m compelled to believe, against all odds and evidence, that this will be the season I manage to succeed at keeping back the oppressive forces and somehow accomplish the paradise garden of my dreams. I garden because I have a poor memory. I garden because of that lonely hour at dusk, dizzy with petrichor, on hands and knees, when the moonrise manages to take my breath away once again, and I don’t feel so alone. – AG

What’s it Like to Live With a Bunch of People?

Well, have you ever had roommates, housemates, been in a romantic relationship, or in a band? Do you remember squabbling over chores, different cleanliness tolerances, finances, did you have miscommunications, did people get hurt feelings?

This is that times fifty!

We balance all of these dynamics in our own households PLUS community-wide. That’s co-housing. 

Does it take a lot of self-awareness, humility, self-growth, communication skills, engagement, willingness, hard work, and so so so so many emails and meetings? You betcha.

We’re a bunch of humans who are trying to live together in a communal way, yet don’t know how because we grew up in the modern American individualistic society that surrounds us. We are people with our own pasts, baggage, triggers, emotions, opinions, traumas, healthy/unhealthy coping skills…and it gets messy. We get some things right and some things wrong. 

Sometimes, people get mad and don’t speak to each other. Maybe they successfully resolve the conflict and maybe it gets ignored and festers until it’s a dark cloud over the whole community, maybe someone moves out because it’s untenable. Guilt, resentment, and shame are common emotions that are discussed in relation to running this place together. We get frustrated when we spend hours and several meetings to make one small decision about our shared home. Sometimes it can seem that there are grievances, criticisms, and limits at every turn. Some people are sad when tensions and anxieties rise. Some people retreat from community life when things get hard and others rise up to help lead us through. Hopefully we can apologize when we mess up. Ideally we call each other “in” not “out” for wrongdoings.

What is it like when it’s working well? I’d say we’re breaking bread together regularly, it seems like everyone is pulling their weight, we have productive and heartfelt meetings, joyful events are planned and attended, folks are using good conscious communication skills and thinking about the impact of their words, our egos don’t get in the way, we feel like we understand each other, we feel a strong sense of trust and relationship, we are empathetic and supportive, people step up to fill roles and problem solve, and people generally have space in their life for community care.

When it’s working well our differences become a source of strength, and we feel that our decisions are wiser because of the many perspectives they encompass.

When it’s working well we feel connected and as though our neighbors know us well, embracing us despite our foibles and idiosyncrasies. We’ve taken the time to build trust and a community of care. There is gratitude for the depth of friendships that can emerge, sharing cups of tea, hikes, skiing, encouraging each other in biking and pickleball, going to shows together, supporting each other in times of need, and children run from house to house with immense levels of safety and joy. Our relationships can sometimes feel like a combination of being neighbors, family, friends, and co-workers – all at the same time.  

The social, emotional, interpersonal aspects of co-housing are not easy. Embarking on this way of living is quite the endeavor, but when you do it whole-heartedly, it can be beautiful.

Happy Earth Day

The Laws of the Earth and the Laws of Economics

By Donella Meadows

–December 12, 1996–

The first commandment of economics is: grow. Grow forever. Companies must get bigger.  National economies need to swell by a certain percent each year. People should want more, make more, earn more, spend more, ever more.

The first commandment of the Earth is: enough. Just so much and no more. Just so much soil. Just so much water. Just so much sunshine. Everything born of the earth grows to its appropriate size and then stops. The planet does not get bigger, it gets better. Its creatures learn, mature, diversify, evolve, create amazing beauty and novelty and complexity, but live within absolute limits.

Now, when there’s an inconsistency between human economics and the laws of planet Earth, which do you think is going to win?

Economics says: compete. Only by pitting yourself against a worthy opponent will you perform efficiently. The reward for successful competition will be growth. You will eat up your opponents, one by one, and as you do, you will gain the resources to do it some more.

The Earth says: compete, yes, but keep your competition in bounds. Don’t annihilate. Take only what you need. Leave your competitor enough to live. Wherever possible, don’t compete, cooperate. Pollinate each other, create shelter for each other, build firm structures that lift smaller species up to the light. Pass around the nutrients, share the territory. Some kinds of excellence rise out of competition; other kinds rise out of cooperation. You’re not in a war, you’re in a community.

Which of those mandates makes a world worth living in?

Economics says: use it up fast. Don’t bother with repair; the sooner something wears out, the sooner you’ll buy another. That makes the gross national product go round. Throw things out when you get tired of them. Throw them to a place where they become useless. Grab materials and energy to make more. Shave the forests every 30 years. Get the oil out of the ground and burn it now. Make jobs so people can earn money, so they can buy more stuff and throw it out.

The Earth says what’s the hurry? Take your time building soils, forests, coral reefs, mountains. Take centuries or millennia. When any part wears out, don’t discard it, turn it into food for something else. If it takes hundreds of years to grow a forest, millions of years to compress oil, maybe that’s the rate at which they ought to be used.

Economics discounts the future. Two dollars ten years from now is worth only one dollar now, because you could invest that dollar at seven percent and double it in ten years. So a resource ten years from now is worth only half of what it’s worth now. Take it now. Turn it into dollars.

The Earth says: nonsense. Those invested dollars grow in value only if something worth buying grows too. The earth and its treasures will not double in ten years. What will you spend your doubled dollars on, if there is less soil, less oil, dirtier water, fewer creatures, less beauty? The earth’s rule is: give to the future. Lay up a fraction of an inch of topsoil each year. Give your all to nurture the young. Never take more in your generation than you give back to the next.

The economic rule is: do whatever makes sense in money terms.

The Earth says money measures nothing more than the relative power of some humans over other humans, and that power is puny, compared with the powers of the climate, the oceans, the uncounted multitudes of one-celled organisms that created the atmosphere, that recycle the waste, that have lasted for three billion years. The fact that the economy, which has lasted for maybe 200 years, puts zero value on these things means only that the economy knows nothing about value — or about lasting.

Economics says: worry, struggle, be dissatisfied. The permanent condition of humankind is scarcity. The only way out of scarcity is to accumulate and hoard, though that means, regrettably, that others will have less. Too bad, but there is not enough to go around.

The Earth says: rejoice! You have been born into a world of self-maintaining abundance and incredible beauty. Feel it, taste it, be amazed by it. If you stop your struggle and lift your eyes long enough to see Earth’s wonders, to play and dance with the glories around you, you will discover what you really need. It isn’t that much. There is enough. As long as you control your numbers, there will be enough for everyone and for as long as you can imagine.

We don’t get to choose which laws, those of the economy or those of the Earth, will ultimately prevail. We can choose which ones we will personally live under — and whether to make our economic laws consistent with planetary ones or to find out what happens if we don’t.

Youth Climate Corps Plants Pollinator Hedgerow

Adapted from a press release

Regeneration Corps, a youth service-learning program in agriculture and climate resilience, will work with close to 40 Woodstock students to plant a pollinator hedgerow at Cedar Mountain Farm.

Regeneration Corps is a learning collaboration between high school-aged students in Vermont and leading organizations that aims to empower youth in responding to climate change while building community resilience and strengthening local food systems. Partners in the Corps include Vital Communities, Building a Local Economy (BALE), Farm to Plate Network, Rural Vermont, and Change the World Kids.

The students in this project are part of the CRAFT (Community and Climate Resilience through Agriculture, Forestry, and Technology) program at Woodstock Union High School and Middle School.

The project will be done at Cedar Mountain Farm in Hartland and is funded by a grant from the Conservation Stewardship Program of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service. The grant calls for implementing agroforestry practices on a Vermont diversified dairy farm. The Conservation Stewardship Program is a great program that is underutilized in Vermont, Regeneration Corps states. The planting will involve plants from a list of 12 hedgerow species recommended for the site.

FAQs

Thank you for your interest in Cobb Hill Cohousing. Please read through our website, especially the links at the bottom of the “On the Hill” page. Otherwise, see below for some FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS.

What housing is available?

We list any available homes on our website, “Available Houses.” We have three types of units on-site: shared housing in the common house (3 large rooms), duplexes, and standalone homes. 

How often do homes become available?

It has varied throughout the years, but turnover can be about one household every 1-2 years. Beyond what is listed on the website (if anything), we do not know when someone might announce they are moving and something more suited to your needs will pop up.

Do you have rental units?

The community owns one apartment in the common house (large room in a shared house) that we generally rent out to long term renters. Otherwise, occasionally current residents will rent out their home or a space in their home, but this is not common.

Can more houses be built on the property?

No. We are 23 households and are not growing. The size of our community was intentional and we are small compared to some others. We are also bound by Vermont’s land use and development law, Act 250.

Do you have a waitlist?

By reaching out via our website, you would be on our “interested people” list. We notify this list if a unit becomes available. Often folks have moved on to other opportunities by the time we reach back out, as it seems to be all about timing and patience, but sometimes people’s timing is flexible and they are willing to wait, forming long term relationships with us and really exploring what it means to live here prior to being able to purchase a unit.

What is the process when a unit is available?

Sales at Cobb Hill have two parts. 1) Our "exploration process" where we aim to facilitate you exploring and learning as much as possible to make an informed decision about whether this is what you're looking for as the next life adventure, whether you will thrive here -- you meet as many people as possible and have deep conversations. We all get to know each other and assess whether it seems like a good match! 2) If things are progressing positively with the community, the potential member/buyer/renter works on the transaction piece with the unit's owner.

If I move there, would I work on the farm?

We are a community with a farm, not a community farm. One family runs the farm onsite, Cedar Mountain Farm, as their business and sole income. Sometimes there are volunteer opportunities with them, or if you are looking for farm employment, please reach out to them directly. Having a working farm here is one of our core values and many neighbors purchase veggies, meat, and raw milk from them. We also collectively own and care for the various out-buildings (barns, shed, shop).

Many of us are drawn here because of the land, have our own gardens, and get involved with other forestry and land-based projects or much smaller enterprises not related to the farm business. We have 270 acres to co-manage, after all! So, while you likely wouldn’t work on the farm itself, you could opt to tap maple trees, care for the shared chickens or bees, paint a barn, pull invasive plants in the forest, weed the flower beds, grow your own veggies, and generally homestead to a large extent.

How many hours do residents need to devote to community work?

We intentionally do not have a number to answer this question. We've had many conversations about shared work! Above all, we look for folks who want to engage in life here, to learn with us, and commit to making time in their lives for community building, property maintenance, and other community-centered tasks, in addition to their own careers, households, and hobbies.

The time a neighbor spends doing the community accounting is just as important as the time another neighbor spends maintaining our septic or heating system, for example. We all take on tasks and roles according to our skills & passions (attend or facilitate all-community meetings & smaller committee meetings, shovel snow, mow grass, clean the common house, attend monthly work days, stack wood, cook a meal etc.). There is plenty to do and often a few who have more spaciousness in their lives put in much more time working on behalf of the community than others; the ensuing resentment and guilt are ongoing topics of conversation. We understand that life is full for many, especially families with young kids. We seek people who are willing and able to add Cobb Hill into the balancing act of busy lives.

Are there physical challenges to living here?

This is a very physical place to live, as we are on a large, rural acreage and are very much on a hill with many (icy) steps and (snowy) pathways. We heat with wood, so there is considerable wood moving & stacking, year-round. We park away from our homes and do not have garages, thus need to clear snow from our cars during the many months of winter. The buildings are three stories. While not everyone needs to have the same physical abilities, this is a very hands-on, active place by design.

I’m looking for a second home in VT or I wouldn't live there as my primary residence – is that possible at Cobb Hill?

Because of the nature of what we are trying to build here (trust, relationships), maintain and steward (land, buildings, etc.), and winter in VT (wood heat, shared shoveling), community members live here full time.

How has your community handled the pandemic?

We’ve been respectful of each other and had hard conversations. We have discovered vastly different risk tolerances. We adopted the VT state health guidelines because we could not agree on our own rules about shared spaces and such. Our meetings shifted to Zoom from the cozy spaces in the common house (and largely remained online until summer 2023). We suspended community meals and it took some time for folks to feel comfortable dining together. While we do not have a policy around vaccination, several people felt very strongly that everyone should be vaccinated, specifically those who live in the common house (a space we all share). Some neighbors made a concerted effort to socialize one-on-one or in groups, such as sledding parties, online cooking, Halloween parades, and outdoor bonfires. We continue to reinstate more community-building activities as the time goes on.

How can I learn more about Cobb Hill?

If you remain interested, please feel free to email us with more info about yourself, how your values align with our core principles, and your burning questions. We sometimes offer Zoom chats to make introductions, give basic info, and answer questions, but note that we prioritize folks interested in units currently available. It is also possible to arrange a visit with us after we’ve learned more about your goals. The best time to visit is on our monthly work day; you’ll meet the most folks, have conversations while you work, and we’ll schedule a tour. Visits and tours outside of a work day are possible as our busy schedules allow and we ask for a $25 donation.

Where can I learn more about community living in general?

There are hundreds (or more) of communities in all shapes and sizes across the globe (intentional communities, cohousing, eco-villages, religious communities, kibbutzes). See the links and resources at the bottom of our blog post, “Is Community Living Right for You.” Communities are complex places with lots of history, personalities, systems, policies, processes, conflicts, joys, and more. We encourage you to explore the many informative articles, especially if you’re at the beginning of your community exploration.

Edited 9/23

Cobb Hill Connections

For the opening of our last community meeting, Helen had the idea to do an adaptation of a classic kids’ TV show theme song. Here is the video…fun to hear the different voices and feel the love come through.

Helen, Jesse, Bonnie, Lauren

March Snow (and then comes mud!)

We got a couple inches of sparkly snow a few days ago and three more inches yesterday! Those of us who weren't ready for winter to be over can revel in a little more skiing and those who are ready to be done clearing snow and ice off our cars, spring is on its way. Many (most?) of us embrace winter and all of its associated activities. Lots of us take advantage of the groomed cross country ski trails and snowshoe in our forest.

It's been a minute since we've done a blog post. We are here. We are navigating life just like the rest of you. We are busy with careers, starting new jobs, new organizations, writing books, and so much more. We are raising kids through yet another disrupted school year with classroom quarantines and shifting protocols. We have our evening and weekend community meetings via Zoom and we haven't had an indoor community meal in two years. We are in the midst of spending several months re-evaluating our community values, twenty years into this huge experiment, while being heartbroken by the state of our world. We have welcomed new neighbors and are getting to know each other much slower than we would in the now non-existent "normal" times. Some of us find ways to be social together and others have pulled way back from community life the last two years. We continue to receive lots of outside interest in our community and correspond with folks the best we are able. Onward, with the ups and downs and messy mud of March and community life!

Snow on the Hill

First sticking snow for the winter: November 26th. Here are some wintry shots around the Hill, forest, meditation hut, first sledding of the season:

We Celebrate 20 Years!

While planning for our cohousing community started in the late nineties, folks moved into the finished homes in 2001, so we chose to celebrate 20 years this fall. It was a sweet afternoon affair, a more subdued event than we might have had were we not still in a pandemic, but a momentous marker all the same.

The festivities kicked off the night before with an online trivia game. Fun competition ensued as we tested our historical and modern day knowledge of this place we’ve built and call home: How many households have lived at Cobb Hill over the years? (45-55); What was the name of the first barn cat? (Tinkerbell); Other proposed names for our community (Earth Rise). Several past community members joined us the next afternoon to share stories, poems, reflections, and celebratory toasts to 20 years.

We gathered to plant a Linden tree (Dana Meadows’ favorite), extending roots to the past and branches to the future! As we each shoveled some dirt to tuck in the new tree, we named hopes and wishes for the next 20 years, like laughter, community meals, more solar power & storage, and more.

Next, we headed up the hill, each person stopping to grab a piece or two of wood, which we ceremoniously carried to the Garn (our shared heating system). Wood is an important part of life and shared work here, providing warmth several times over in both the summer and winter (stacking, moving, stacking, feeding the Garn)!

The outdoor wood-fired oven was our next stop, with homemade breadsticks and marinara to nibble on while we shared remembrances, funny work day anecdotes, and poems.

Many former Cobb Hill children (now young adults living near and far) contributed to a VIDEO (view on YouTube) marking the occasion. They spoke about what spending part of their childhood in the community meant to them and shared some memorable moments.

Under a beautiful banner we ended with cake, bubbly, toasts, a group photo, and games on the common house porch -- we felt celebratory, indeed.

Cheers to the next 20 years!!

Late Summer Photos

A Poem: Mushroom Thanks

As Cobb Hill Mushrooms looks forward to this year’s season, we share a poem we received from a CSA member at the end of 2020’s season.

from Judith, Sept 2020

Mushroom Thanks

On summer Thursdays, right at noon
My mind must turn to fine mushrooms
And even if this rhyme's quite lame
I'm full of thoughts whence they came.

Small parasols with curving stems
Bode well for meals that start or end
With soup, duxelles, an omelette.
Shrooms grilled, chopped, or a tartelette.

You've worked so hard to bring them forth:
Log lugging, soaking, spores - take time;
And emails so we'll not forget
To claim our share and cook a treat.

We thank you for delivering
Shiitakes from the end of Spring
To almost Fall, when weather cools
And mushrooms lapse while winter rules.

Hope you can now relax a bit
As we take pickups off our list.

Where Are They Now?

Cobb Hill is 20 years old this year and one of the things that means is that a whole generation of kids grew up here! Where are they now? I recently got in touch with three of them that just happen to take spectacular photos and chronicle what they’re up to on Instagram.

Instapics from former Hillers:

Gretta graduated from UVM, moved to Montana, helps her boyfriend with The Ugly Onion wood-fired pizza, and tutors kids with dyslexia. She is loving the mountains, sun, and huge fields with lots of cows.

Paul lives and works in Massachusetts as a software engineer and enjoys backpacking and photography.

Jenna has settled nearby in Vermont. She is building a homestead, creative marketing business, and writes, plays, and records music.