That concludes this chapter of a multi-phase plan to promote intentional communities, specifically Eco-villages, as a most reasonable and effective response to the many extremely dangerous situations confronting human civilization in the 21st century. Apart from the issues of sustainability, I have also tried to highlight the numerous true benefits of this mode of living simply from a 'quality-of-life' viewpoint. I want to express sincere appreciation for all of you who hosted us, gifted us with resources of all types, and encouraged us to continue with this work. Over the two years, I documented around 100 different projects, met so many incredible people doing so many incredible things, travelled over 50000 kms (half of which was accomplished with used fryer vegetable oil as fuel), compiled over 5000 photographs, and accumulated countless stories and experiences which can transform our collective future. The next phase will be to synthesize all of the information from these trips with my many years of prior study, and fashion a travelling slide-show presentation for Ontario. I intend to soon find out if public consciousness is ready for turning our cultural path around...

Stay tuned, as I may provide updates on this work... as I seek now to form a viable and useful collaboration among some Ontario non-profits... including my friends at Wholevillage... for the purposes of getting the roadshow formed, funding confirmed, and the venues established.

In keeping with earlier entries to this Eco-tour Blog, when I expressed many thanks for the much appreciated help and companionship gifted to me from my previous trip partners, Bruce and Maria, I want to now openly state my deep sense of gratitude and pure admiration for your effort on this third trip... Melissa. A self-professed city girl who was experiencing some degree of employment synergy coming together for you in Toronto, you courageously left that comfortable world behind, jumped at this opportunity, and showed an immensely impressive level of resiliency and determination when faced with the hardships of the research tour! With a certain sense of pride, I will always remember how you met the challenge... You are like the wild beautiful daisies in the field ---pretty, adorable, persistent. Thank you! *big hug* As our special friendship continues, I sincerely wish for you great meaning and joy as you examine the many future rewards and new possibilities stemming from your dedication to this ecovillage research, and the incredible education you now own!

This image (captured inside Greenhaven) is perhaps the best one to close out this two-year Eco-tour. Melissa and I participated in a WV 'workbee,' which are get-togethers wherein all supporters are invited to the farm to help with various jobs and be treated to a delicious potluck. These events have created a real tradition at WV, and on this day I was again reminded of the energy that exists in this atmosphere... as we always ate lunch and dinner together as a community. WV members still take turns cooking and share supper each night. The friendships and relationships fostered through these community meals and workbees provide a powerful demonstration of the nearly limitless potential of Ecovillages...

The Whole Village project is also intended to be a solution for two difficult problems: the steady loss of farmland to urbanization and the devastating effects of low commodity prices on farmers and the rural communities that they belong to. Through a comprehensive conservation easement, most of the land is preserved for 999 years as farmland, managed forest, or natural areas. When considering these goals, the WV community-run farm co-op is an extremely important pioneering effort for rural Ontario...

Wholevillage members were excited this year to see the huge century-old barn on the property actually become a home for animals! Aerron and Amanda have facilitated the first animal husbandry program for cattle, and they are considering sheep. The barn is now full of hay upstairs, and home to free-range chickens and ducks downstairs. Animals complete the cycle, in the biodynamic vision of farming... which is one of the founding goals of WV.

With about 2 acres under production, and help from two hoop-houses, the WV Farm CSA has continually expanded operations over the last several years to now include weekly baskets of produce over the season that can contain anything ready for harvest--- lettuce, spinach, chard, kale, herbs and green onions, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, squash, beets, onions, parsnips, potatoes and corn... plus even cut flowers. All this, without the use of any chemicals, artificial fertilizers or GMO’s. The CSA uses human labour whenever possible, to reduce dependence on fossil fuel, and grows heirloom varieties of vegetables to preserve plant genetic diversity.

Another founding member, Jeff, showed Melissa and me around the property... showing us some recent changes. This small building, which served as a tool shed and car garage before, has now been transformed into the CSA pickup location. A plethora of gardening tools fill the attached lean-to. This year, the CSA fared very well, selling about 40 shares to WV members, local food establishment, and folks who live in the surrounding vicinity.

This year, while Melissa and I were on the road, members of the community initiated a major overhaul of the surrounding landscape... planting gardens, such as a kitchen garden, edible landscapes and ornamentals, and evolving the installed permaculture components, such as walkways, composters, clothes lines, and windbreaks. Brenda reported that the scenery around the building this summer was extremely gratifying. Elsewhere on the farm, WV members attempt to protect and enhance the natural habitat through a system of land stewardship embracing the unique geographical, historical, cultural, and biological attributes of the land.

The large 200 acre property was previously an historic farmstead, and it is split into two separate lots. All of the farm buildings existed on one lot, so Greenhaven was built on the other. In 2004-05, as a member of the construction crew on Greenhaven, I had the fantastic opportunity to experience a real ecovillage setting... where life revolved around the updated farmhouse (pictured). I learned a great deal about formal meetings, consensus decision making, interpersonal issues within intentional communities, and better forms of communication. There are now about 5 people living in this building, including renting members and the the farm couple-- Aerron and Amanda-- who operate the CSA. This farmhouse holds many incredible memories for me...

Again, our visit in November featured poor weather for outdoor photography, so I am indebted to the creator of this beautiful picture of the massive 15000 square foot Greenhaven building. The photo is lifted from WVs improved website at http://www.wholevillage.org/index.html (I encourage you to check out the new features and photographs). Greenhaven has 11 private suites and 6300 square feet of common space. The suites are currently full, although two of them are for sale. There are about 20 people residing here now. The living situation resembles co-housing, and the membership pledges to operate a biodynamic farm as an integral part of the community and to achieve these goals consistent with principles of sustainable land stewardship. For an indepth treatment of the many various 'green' aspects of the home, please click on 'Greenhaven Technical Information' on the WV website...

Now having traveled over 25000 kms on this leg of the Eco-tour, we rolled into the ecovillage that gave me my start in this work. After completing an internet course in 'eco- psychology,' I discovered ecovillages on-line in 2003 and immediately planned my life around the building project at Wholevillage (WV), scheduled for a 2004 start. When Greenhaven, the new community common-house residence, was mostly complete... I planned the Eco-tour. It was just over two years ago that I left WV, as I began this research trip adventure. Melissa became an Associate Member of WV, while living in Toronto last year, and that is how we met in January. She listens to founding member, Brenda, a good friend of ours at WV, as she speaks about the new strawberry field (background) planted this year...

Another stock photo here shows a summertime picture of the HomeAlive! project, on the Everdale Farm. The strawbale house features hundreds of ideas for a changed style of ecological living... from permaculture landscaping and PV power, to a composting toilet and solar hot water. I helped install a few of the components of this house back in 2004. To learn more about the Everdale facility, and all of the wonderful programs being offered here next year, please check out http://www.everdale.org/

Lynn showed us into another newly constructed building on the farm, which will serve as the base for the EverPURE Biodiesel Co-op. She explained the process by which they hope to make the biodiesel co-op more integrated with local systems. The idea is to grow biofuel crops and press the oil locally. The oil then can be used by local restaurants for frying. After it is used for cooking, the vegetable oil can be recovered and brought back to this facility. Here, biodiesel is made with the used oil as one of the main components. The biodiesel can be then used in farm equipment and vehicles, as well as in the modern oil-injection furnace for the new large barn-facility. If they can make this circular-system co-op work out, Everdale will have established a viable demonstration model of how future systems can be localized.

The CSA incorporates a really neat system for people to get the local veggies that they desire. The Farm Store at Everdale has recently expanded. In this unique program, Melissa and I learned that CSA shoppers come to the store and are awarded a certain number of points. There are four levels of membership, corresponding to four incremental prices and point-endowments. The member-customers can then pick items from the store based on their point total. Non-member shoppers can pay normal dollars, as in a regular store. Everdale is now also supplementing locally produced food with shipped organics that cannot be feasibly grown here. These are wonderful and important experiments in relocalizing food distribution and economics...

It would probably be fair to say that Everdale would not even exist if it were not for hundreds of supporters... key people who have donated to the project over the years. Lynn, and her co-founders, have struggled at times to keep the programs going... and have done a brilliant job. Everdale gets a lot of support from volunteers, and folks donating used items too. I've always appreciated their reuse of materials, examples of which are plentiful around the farm and witnessed here in turning old bathtubs into vegetable washing stations. Lynn reports that everyone loves the room and convenience provided by the new facility.

Back in the lower part of the new building, Lynn shows us the huge room now committed to vegetable washing, sorting and preparation. The 6-8 farm interns that enroll in Everdale's program each year get an intense training experience from spring until fall, as they provide the backbone to one of the largest and most successful CSA (community supported agriculture) programs I've seen... currently sitting at 200+ members!... integrating 150 acres of certified organic land, including 15 acres of vegetables and 20 acres of grain, raised poultry and pigs and sheep, and bees. They also grow certified organic seeds in partnership with Seeds of Diversity Canada.

The recently improved interior decor of the educational building has posted displays revealing the breadth and depth of Everdale's programs. Lynn informed us that Everdale has now shifted its focus more towards farming... and therefore some of the learning programs that I completed in 2004 are no longer available. The new streamlined agenda is understandably the proper response to a portfolio that had become too diversified and hard to financially manage. Everdale will now put an even stronger emphasis on programs related to 'Future Farmers' and farm-related ecological issues...

This stock photo, that a friend took in 2003, shows some of the first projects completed by workshop participants and supporting members. In the foreground, for the purposes of providing showers for the interns, solar water heating panels were installed below an outdoor water tank and work through thermo-siphoning. In the background, to the right, an outdoor toilet facility was constructed... which has now been updated to be a composting system...

Across the yard, this multi-use building was immediately renovated after the Everdale facility was injected with new life. Like much of the infrastructure, it was in serious disrepair, but the folks instrumental in the process formed the necessary organizational components and rolled up their sleeves to get the program underway. Eight years later, hundreds of students have attended workshops in this building, or elsewhere on-site, learning about everything from solar power to permaculture. Not only has Everdale hosted dozens of ecological workshops, it became one of the premiere training sites in Canada for future farmers. In all my travels, I have yet to encounter a program that educates young organic farmers with the same energy and success. Many year-long interns have gone on to start their own farms...

The new building on-site (still being finished up) represents a continuum of activity at Everdale dating all the way back to the mid-60s, when a 'free school' was created. Over the years, Everdale has gone through many phases, culminating with the birth of the Environmental Learning Center in 1998 (with the aforementioned four founders resurrecting the facility). Yet, the foundational goal of exploring more ecological and egalitarian modes for human existence has remained constant. Finally, during our visit here, the snow suddenly came (reminding us in no uncertain terms that we were 'home'), reducing my options for outdoor photography. This multi-use strawbale 'barn' will serve many functions... housing offices, upstairs sleeping quarters, and a lower space for vegetable washing and cooling.

On Thursday, Nov. 8, Melissa and I visited a place that was extremely influential for my initiation into sustainable living ideas and organic farming. We met with Lynn at Everdale Farm and Environmental Learning Center. Back in 2004, I completed about a dozen of the summertime workshops offered at the learning center, which is just 13kms down the road from Wholevillage. Lynn sits at her desk situated in the newly constructed offices at Everdale. She is one of just four founding members of this project, and therefore is highly responsible for the success of the programs here...

Immediately after leaving the Potter's place, on November 7th, Melissa and I headed further south and a couple hours of driving brought us to Lee Davies' house in Uxbridge. Lee is the current president of the Ecovillage Network of Canada (ENC), and has served as co-president for the Ecovillage Network of the Americas (ENA). For years now, he has been involved with the ecovillage movement in this part of the world, also traveling many times to projects in other countries. These two organizations are actually regional chapters of a massive Global Ecovillage Network (GEN = http://gen.ecovillage.org/index.html) which links together 100s of ecovillage projects from all corners of the earth! I encourage people to explore the websites and discover the many exciting communities being formed! You will then sense the source of my original motivation and energy for these Ecotours. I will be most likely working closely with Lee as I move forward, as we work together with other nonprofits and communities to see if Ontarians are ready to shift their lifestyles...

Earlier this year (see archives, April '07), I had recorded a visit to Chuck and Pat Potter's earthship near Bancroft, ON. Melissa was eager to satisfy her desire to see the unique home that I had frequently talked about throughout our shared trip. Luckily, we travelled right past the Potter's front gate! A quick tour was in order. Melissa was able to see the greens that Pat had just transplanted indoors from the outside garden... and otherwise get a chance to learn more about what earthship living was like. This active couple, always game for energetic discussions about the state of the world, have increased local interest through earthship building workshops and report that 8 new tire homes will break ground next spring. Great work you two!

The Anderman family were abundantly kind and extremely helpful to us, as we were winding down the last week of our exhausting 6 month adventure. We immediately felt welcomed like family... and they extended many gifts, for which we are deeply grateful. We wish them all the best in their struggle to maintain a viable market for 'Cool Hemp'... also peace and meaning and joy in the continuing journey of the homesteader! The chances seem good that we will cross paths again in the near future, since these folks are so close to 'home'... yes, geographically, but we also felt 'home' was close by, a feeling that touched us with the warm glow emanating from the old-fashioned kitchen... To check out the Cool Hemp website, click on http://www.coolhemp.com/en_home.htm

We enjoyed our time conversing with Robbie and Christina, as we worked in the gardens, completing some jobs before the snow arrived. We prepared some beds for next spring... weeding some, then layering in compost before mulching others. It is estimated that Morninglory land trust community grows somewhere between a quarter and a half of all its food on the property. This year, the population comprised about 15 members, including children, plus about 8 non-member residents. This would suggest that the gardens, and orchards, are quite productive!... no doubt due to daily communal labour contributions...

Here is a unique idea! While enumerating all of the possible uses for mothballed vehicles, I'll bet that not many people have thought about converting a van into a house for honey bees! So this setup accomplishes the same basic task, documented earlier on the ecotour, seen at the Lofstedt Farm. As in B.C., bears can cause a great deal of disturbance, if they are hungry enough to topple unprotected honey 'supers.' Suspecting that the 'Beware of Bees' sign on the front windshield will not help with less-educated bears, the creators of this safe haven have secured the slightly-ajar sliding door with a rope. The bees can access their combs inside, through that crack...

Robbie has learned the art of grafting, through reading, trial and error, and lots of experience. The photo displays what looks like a successful graft, where he has taken a desirable shoot (darker in colour) and integrated it into a different young tree, which is clipped. We could clearly see that Robbie's acquired knowledge and experience in this artform has served the resident members at Morninglory very well, by providing increasingly delicious and hardy fruit... and I would feel quite certain in stating that just about every other community project would do well to have such a master on the land. This is just one type of knowledge that we simply cannot afford to let slip into oblivion! This is one of the powers of community... the facilitation of self-sufficiency.

The community has a wonderful fruit tree orchard, which Robbie was eager to share with us. Many nurtured trees gift the residents with multiple varieties of apples and pears... and lots of them! Robbie informed us that just one amazing pear tree this year provided 80 bushels!! (please confirm or correct me, Robbie, if I misunderstood you)... This number seems to defy logic! At any rate, so many people over the last few years have asked me what the best possible use for 'humanure' might be... and in my opinion, in this photo, you are looking at it. The safely composted human poop is spread around the fruit tree (notice the ring of light coloured mulch), and worked into the ground slightly, exactly where the lead roots are looking for useful nutrients.

A tour of the land showcased for Melissa and me the simple-living strategies that allow these folks to keep a small ecological footprint. We got to peek inside this recently updated root cellar, which could obviously hold hundreds of pounds of food... causing the happy linkage of this theme back to Manitoba's 'Prairies Edge,' where we had just visited.

Alongside Wholevillage, Morninglory Farm is recognized as one of the two most influential intentional communities/ ecovillages in Ontario, and may have the longest established history of any similar type of project in all of Canada. Without a doubt, a good portion of Morninglory's notoriety stems from the 'Cool Hemp' products that Robbie and Christina began making about 10 years ago. Robbie told us that hemp is a miracle product, which can be used for manufacturing everything from clothing and rope, to a hard plastic replacement, to fuel oil, to edible products... like their ice cream substitute (pictured). Perhaps some readers of this Blog have tasted this delicious product? With great interest, we listened as Christina explained how they got started in this successful Morninglory cottage industry... but also learned the sad news that corporate shenanigans are threatening to push them out of the business (a story all-too-familiar for me, having myself a previous 20 year history in food retail).

I was delighted when Robbie showed me into his workshop, where he tinkers, creates, repairs and invents. Every wall of the room was loaded with handtools, some of them antique or extremely unique (all in good working order), reminding me very vividly of another workshop I had photographed in New York... belonging to Ed at 'Ness Community' (see my pics Nov. '06). The connections just kept adding up, as Robbie informed us that they have maintained friendly (and influential) contact with Ed... and they have exchanged a few visits over the years. In the center of this shot, you will notice that Robbie also skillfully crafts his own dulcimers... a musical instrument that gained popular awareness in the 60s...

As the woodstove warmed our bodies after a day in the gardens, Robbie demonstrated the use of a musical invention that he designed and handcrafted. The flute is an instrument usually played while it is held at an awkward 90 degree angle away from the musician's face, and Robbie found it a challenge. He fashioned the wooden extension and mouthpiece shown in this photo, swinging the angle around to a more comfortable position... the grip similar now to that of a clarinet. Not surprisingly, Robbie and others at Morninglory have established friendly relations with Asoma Music, with several recordings now having been completed, and you will find a photo of Robbie on their website with this new invention.

For fun, the community gets together regularly for swimming in the pond, trampolining, tobogganing, snowshoeing, full-moon drumming, new moon women's circles, music jams and pot lucks. They all share a love of nature and music making. Members of Morninglory Farm have also been significantly involved with the surrounding and supportive rural community in varying degrees.

So in this 'village' of separate households scattered over 100 hilly wooded acres, single people and families have come together throughout the years to become good neighbours, homestead in varying degrees, use only off-grid electricity, homeschool and raise children, and grow organically most of their fruits and veggies. Robbie and Christina's home is a model for DIY (Do-It-Yourself) and simplicity. They have a few solar panels, a small wind generator, and a solar hot water heating system. Like the other dozen (or so) people on the land, wood is the main source for winter heating and cooking.

Melissa and I were taken for a stroll down memory lane when Robbie pulled out the several newspaper clippings that displayed the articles featuring their community over all those years. The media has loved to embellish the "hippie" theme in their reports... but I sensed that the Andermans expected that, and they show few signs of concern. After all, along with many others I've visited on these eco-tours, they remain living proof that some of the core ideals of the 60s endure today...

Just a short drive down the road from Asoma Music Studio, we arrived at our next scheduled tour destination-- Morninglory Farm Community. Members of the Anderman family, Christina, Robbie and Ethan (left to right) welcomed us into their home and regular routine for a couple of days. This intentional community, birthed the same year that I came into the world ('69), may represent the most outstanding Canadian example of a cultural legacy stretching back to the American 'back-to-the-land' movement (which accompanied civil rights, war protests, and 'flower power').

Just before the conclusion of our tour, as the sun was setting in the west, Errol took us up onto the earthship roof where we saw the clerestory windows for the second floor, the enormous square footage that they hope to utilize for rainwater catchment, and the first phases of a solar PV installation (they are off-grid). They are looking into the possibility of adding wind power generation. Errol's interest in sustainability is highly influential, since he is an acclaimed professional singer/songwriter and engineer/producer: a Juno Award winner, recipient of the Socan Song Writer of the Year award, Q107 Toronto Music Award winner and Canadian Black Music Award winner. It was a pleasure meeting these fine earthship builders, and we wish them great success as they continue to inspire others to seek alternative lifestyle methods. For several more photos, many of them far better than mine(!), check out Asoma Music online & click 'Earthship Tour'... http://www.asomamusic.com/home_page.shtml

Lisa and Melissa stand in what will be the shower, when the washroom is complete. The deep bathtub, which promises to be quite beautifully positioned right under a southern window, is in the bottom left of the photo. Again, these are cement structures with pop can walls... with the odd bottle pattern thrown in for decoration. Amazingly, we were told how the main building was constructed in basically just one summer, as they recruited many local highschool football players eager to burn off some testosterone! Hundreds of tires were pounded full of dirt, as the walls of this mammoth earthship started to go up. Errol states on the website that "This structure is a recycling dream, built mainly with discarded tires and thousands of pop cans."

Some of the wood, too, is used in the kitchen cookstove, for preparing meals. Errol and Lisa admit that the unique design of their earthship may actually hurt the overall performance of the heating systems. We know from the earthship architectural website, that people are becoming quite creative with designs. This picture shows the stairs ascending to one of the two upper levels designed into this earthship, so obviously heat will rise and their passive solar gain will be diminished. I sensed that the couple do not regret incorporating a second floor, but they do speak frankly about issues that other would-be builders should consider...

The living room in this photo has a small wood stove for heat. Our hosts informed us that they burn a little over 20 cords of wood a year, which sounds like a lot of wood, and it is, but nonetheless represents a comparatively small amount considering the sheer size of this place, the fact that the south windows are not yet insulated, and the severity of the winter temperatures. In fact, Errol mentioned that many times they have had no fire, and yet must wear tee-shirts on sunny days in January. (notice the multiple bulges forming a pattern in the walls, revealing the outlines of the tires underneath)

Did you spot and identify the neat discoveries? Lisa is checking the health of their banana tree! That's right folks. Bananas at 45 degrees Latitude! Lisa reported that they had a crop of 80 small bananas this year. And what about the spiky plants out front? They are pineapples, and Lisa recently was rewarded with their first harvest! She says the delicious results are orders of magnitude above anything shipped to our stores. The implications stemming from earth-integrated greenhouses, sunspaces and homes could not be more plainly stated. Many people make the mistake of thinking that southern vegetation, especially tropicals, require intense heat and sunshine... but the fact is that a great deal of these plants simply need protection from frost. Lisa hopes to try a wide variety of food bearing plants, including a fig tree and perhaps kiwi fruit.

Midway down that long bank of windows, Errol and Lisa have installed a large planter... which is constructed like a concrete swimming pool, only filled with earth. Although hard to imagine at first, Lisa said they dug down 12 feet for the pouring of this concrete liner! That depth will enable them to plant an indoor tree, if they desire. Water filtering down through the soil to the bottom can be removed with the blue pump (in the foreground). If you scan the photo, you will perhaps observe one of the most delightful surprises we experienced on the Eco-tour!

Lisa kindly gave us the tour of their unfinished home. Many people unfamiliar with earthships become concerned with the perception that underground houses will be "too dark," like "a cave." Melissa even expressed this same concern, since she struggles with lack of sunlight in the winter months. Of course, with most earthships, the natural light pouring in from large banks of southern exposure windows provides an overwhelming response to these concerns. The front hallway, stretching out for what seemed like an impossible distance, was lined with huge windows and materials for inground planters.

This photograph shows an incomplete corner, detailing what the pop can walls look like before they receive coats of plaster. The purpose of the cans is to displace volume, thereby saving on the amount of concrete used. This back wall of the music studio abuts the back tire wall of the earthship (notice the unplastered tires up high), which is slightly sloped outwards near the top to act as a stronger retaining wall (since the building is earth-integrated = it is buried under a berm of earth).

The music studio (pictured) actually only takes up one section of the earthship, with most of the interior being the home of Errol, Lisa (on the left), and their family. They told us the story of how they happened to discover the 'earthship' concept and immediately decided it was right for them! The interior, not quite finished, reveals creative bottle work in the walls, which are mostly made out of pop cans encased in concrete.

I felt an irresistible attraction to learn about the story and experiences surrounding the building of this structure... the home of Asoma Music is the largest earthship I had seen in person, and the fact that it was in my own home province, where we have severe winters, made the visit even more exciting! This immense earthship, with two levels, has 7000 square feet of interior space! I was eager to find out how the building performs in our northerly climate extremes.

We did secure a few stops as we travelled east, so after three full days of driving in Ontario (I am always amazed by the size of this province!!), we arrived at Asoma Music Studio, near the hamlet of Killaloe, which is just east of Algonquin Park. Once there, we met with the friendly owner/operator of the music studio, Errol. He is sitting in the recording room. One might reasonably question why we included a northern rural music studio in the Tour... well...

There was a certain feeling that came over me, as we found ourselves travelling along the northeastern shores of Lake Superior, quite indescribable actually, but no doubt a partial result of knowing that the beginnings of our journey had produced so many memorable interactions with this same body of water six months ago... in Michigan, Wisconsin and Minnesota. And therefore, in a sense then, it suddenly seemed like we were 'home'... and that the incredibly challenging, but rewarding, 'eco-tour' was finally coming to a close... deepening the reflective moments just before sundown.

On November 1st, Melissa and I said good-bye to the members at Prairies Edge... and also bid farewell to the prairies themselves... as we safely re-entered our home province of Ontario and made the loooooong drive to Thunder Bay, passing ample scenery dominated by the exposed rock of the Shield. Surprisingly, we had yet to see any snow in the air... but knew that we needed to keep truckin' to prolong these fortunate circumstances...

We want to express deep gratitude to our hosts at Prairies Edge Ecovillage, for allowing us the chance to document their wonderful work and vision, as they 'strive to learn and teach the skills necessary for small-scale organic agriculture, ecological building techniques, alternative healing arts, and appropriate technology systems.' It is an absolute pleasure for me to share the things we learned here... To see other pictures, and read more, please click on their website link ---> http://www.prairiesedge.tk/

A common criticism of intentional communities and ecovillages is that the people involved (like Daniel) are "just a bunch of idealists." But I wonder how valid that criticism is, when the ideals become realities, and when those realities stand to reason? At Prairies Edge, the people pursued the ideal of a simple lifestyle that is worth much more to them than what the current society can offer. And because the land was purchased so cheaply together, the houses and infrastructure were built with mere thousands of dollars, the taxes are negligible, and the project is 'unplugged' from centralized power, water or septic systems, this gang has achieved that higher-value lifestyle for a fraction of the comparable cost! We also see that 'idealists' prioritize things like hiking, canoeing, swimming, skating on the pond, and taking hot baths in an open air woodfired bathtub... (the latter item I am attempting to be the model for).

The nightime temperatures during our visit dipped down to a frosty minus 8! Daniel was warm in his solar energy home. The passive energy had poured into the huge reclaimed skyscraper windows, warming the interior during the daylight hours. The straw walls helped retain that free heat. But the most unique part of his heating system requires more elaboration. This photo shows a solar heating array for air, likely built in the 70's, which was also reclaimed off of a city building. When a thermostat is activated, a fan pulls heated air from the unit and pushes it through a cement block raceway under his floor, itself embedded in 8 inches of rubble, gravel and stone, before it returns. That underfloor mass continues to radiate the stored heat all through the night, meaning that the tiny cookstove fire he had burned for dinner was all he needed for the evening. Last winter Daniel burned less than ONE FULL CORD of wood to heat this space... which is even more astonishing when one remembers what the climate zone is and that he has not insulated his windows yet!

Melissa plays in a hanging hammock chair, up high, while Daniel checks something in his open kitchen below. Daniel moved to Prairies Edge Eco-village and helped form this community project after a life of traveling and searching. He had earlier questioned some of the very strongest and most basic assumptions in our society, eventually giving up his job and a more conventional lifestyle in a co-housing arrangement in Winnipeg... then choosing to exist without much money during his travels. He was surprised to learn that he actually could live outside of the normal conventions, and now is modeling a life largely free from slavery to the narrow confines of the predominant financial culture. The ecovillage helped him realize these freedoms.

On many occasions, I have met people on the Eco-tour whose stories are so incredible that it is essentially impossible to resist sharing the details and the resulting inspiration. Meet Daniel. He stands in front of the large sunny windows in his self-made, three storey, passive solar, post-and-beam strawbale home. He informed Melissa that he created such a tall space, with upper level lofts for sleeping and an office, because of his love of heights and an interest in the trapeze. The windows were amazingly acquired at no cost, discarded from a wasteful (cosmetic) exchange program for skyscrapers in the city. Because he used mostly reclaimed materials, although it is not quite completed, thus far Daniel was able to build this home for only $3000 invested!!

Prairies Edge is near the eastern edge of the Whiteshell Provincial Park, near the geological remnants of an ancient mountain range now consisting of lakes, rivers, granite rock ridges and boreal forests. The numerous creeks that flow through the property filter through the wetlands of this wilderness region, providing clean pure water. The land is shared with pheasants, cranes, geese, owls, deer, bears, wolves and (occasionally) moose. Appropriate measures have been taken to safeguard the small flock of laying hens from predators, in this neat little set-up.

Despite having seen dozens of solar food cookers on these eco-trips, I'm not sure if I was exactly prepared for the pleasant shock of discovering what is whimsically advertised as the largest one in the world! This colossal unit pivots on a back supporting shaft and rotates with the help of two car wheels mounted out front. The operator manually pulls the cooker around to follow the sun as it tracks through the sky. With the huge area of reflectors, the temperatures in the two-tiered cooking chamber, which is large enough to sit inside(!), can exceed 400 degrees! Remarkably, due to some weird solar phenomenon, Linsea informed us of the curious fact that it is almost impossible to actually burn anything. They use this cooker extensively in the summer. Just imagine the fun community events baking bread or large meals for dinner!

Melissa checks the stacked trays inside the large solar dehydrator. In keeping with the important element of preserving and preparing wholesome, delicious food, Prairies Edge members have constructed this fine example of a non-electric food dryer, wherein air that is heated by the sun (opposite side with reflector) rises up through the trays and out the top.

Continuing with the theme of simplicity and low-tech (or 'appropriate tech') design... Linsea took us back to the workshop, complete with wind turbine electrical power and a crow's nest platform arrangement very similar to that of Northern Sun, used for maintenance. Passive Solar design is featured in many buildings. However, wood burning is presently an important heating strategy... so wood is harvested from the 40 acres of bush on site, and an electric chainsaw can be plugged into this wind power. Additionally, the farm layout is oriented towards bicycles, pedestrians and handcarts. Many buildings are accessible only by footpaths.

The 6-8 people working on this ecovillage project have amassed an impressive variety of ingenious low-tech infrastructure... at times revealing a strong influence from Northern Sun Co-op, where friends have been very supportive. We inspected a summer kitchen, that becomes the focal point of community energy at that time of year. This photo shows the tool shed, with a tiny PV system that pumps water from the stream up to the giant tanks for garden irrigation. The members here have become skilled at sourcing used equipment and building materials for these projects.

The harvest is stored in a straw bale root cellar, which prevents food from freezing in winter and doubles as a cold room in summer. Melissa climbs some stairs that provide access to the railroad tie terraced gardens on the southern elevation of the structure. This was an extremely unique design, using strawbales to form the walls and then creating an earthberm all around... except for the entry (seen at the right).

Aside from the 1 acre garden, the community also utilizes the extended season provided by this funky looking greenhouse... which is a load-bearing strawbale design. Passive solar gain will also permit the starting of plants earlier in the springtime. This building actually served another resident member as his home for a number of years. When one thinks about it, there really shouldn't be many design features separating a house from a greenhouse design anyway. Now we know they are interchangeable!

One of the beautiful aspects of ecovillages is the empirical demonstration that so-called 'marginal' land can be transformed into more sustainable land with permaculture or simple soil building techniques. After all, it is really only corporate, industrial agriculture that attaches such labels to most of these properties, since they cannot be developed economically. This is a grand opportunity for the folks at Prairies Edge to prove just how much food can be grown, on this land, and in this climate zone. From what we saw, they are off to a great start!

First off, Linsea showed us the new much-larger house that is being constructed for her family. Jeremy was inside blowing in some insulation... hoping that they could move in before the winter settles in. The buildings at Prairies Edge are all off-grid electrically. This strawbale home already has some solar PV panels installed on the roof.

Linsea, a member of Prairies Edge Ecovillage, greeted Melissa and me before taking us on a walkabout. She stands at the entry of the small building that she shares with her partner, Jeremy, and their young child. Before the arrival of the baby, the couple teamed up to construct the modest home with little prior construction experience! They used a large amount of reclaimed building materials. Pioneers of the 21st century! The members at Prairies Edge choose to live simply and cooperatively, fostering a consensus-based community culture which encourages positive relationships and personal health in mind, body and spirit.

Less than an hour drive northeast of Winnipeg, a group of people (some previously involved at Northern Sun Farm Co-op) came together at the end of the millennium to begin the formation of another community project... now called Prairies Edge Ecovillage. We soon learned that the land is considered to be 'marginal,' right on the boundary that separates the Prairies from the Canadian Shield. This characteristic, plus the fact that they are so far north, resulted in the purchase price being just $150 per acre! The people here are 'inventing a village of food and energy self-reliance in harmony with the natural world.'

Northern Sun Farm Co-op provides for Canadians a model of simple, affordable living that features a smaller ecological footprint. The Co-op movement can be readily seen to be gaining ground in many sectors... and they invariably strengthen communities. The members here have rejected cultural 'norms' in favour of a more sane existence. It has now become a regular fact of life for these folks that they problem-solve together, grow food together, eat together, work together and make music together. One might notice, from this description, some evident similarities to a slower mode of lifestyle embraced by many of our ancestors. I believe several of those 'old-fashioned' modalities will be chosen as the new 'norms,' not far into our future... as our basic needs as humans are re-evaluated. We send a warm note of appreciation to our friendly hosts at NSFC... our neighbours in Manitoba illuminating a different path!

There seemed to be no puzzle at Northern Sun Farm Co-op that was too daunting for its membership to solve. It is well understood that one of the problematic characteristics of wind power is the continuous need for maintenance, especially because the more useful devices are elevated to such challenging heights! Instead of lowering the turbine to the ground, or climbing precariously up the pole, Gerhardt and NSFC members devised a methodology that is far more manageable. The tower and crow's nest, pictured, are the result. Gerhardt explained that the ladder affords easy access to the platform and, once there, the maintenance person simply lowers the turbine's support-shaft, sliding it down through a hole in the floor of the platform (supported by a pulley apparatus). The turbine can then be repaired at chest height, while enjoying the safety and comfort of the platform.

A closer look at Gerhardt's heating appliance, for the canning project, reveals that the fire box under the cooking pot is actually a customized stainless steel vessel with holes cut into it. The access doors are for inserting the wood fuel and allowing airflow. They can be closed with neat little doors that he has fashioned and riveted to the sides of the pot. Not only do the small circular holes allow air into the fire, they provide access for a tiny 'blower' (pictured at the left) that Gerhardt has constructed out of a computer fan. The fan excites the fire tremendously, easily getting the food up to temperature.

Still in the summer kitchen, on perhaps the last decent day of the fall, Gerhardt was cooking and canning food for the winter. One of the cattle beasts had been slaughtered, so he intended to can some beef. To become a member at NSFC, one needs only to buy a certain numbers of shares in the co-op (recently as low as $2000!), live on the land and abide by the community agreements. Labour contributions, to run the project, are expected as part of membership, which is normal. Generally, the farm has integrated programs for animal husbandry (i.e. cattle, sheep, chickens and pigs). The resident members attempt to grow most of their food on the land, hence the value of a kitchen set-up like this one...

Gerhardt has designed other mechanical systems with small 12V motors in mind (here, the windshield wiper motor again). This particular invention was such a novelty, Melissa and I had heard rumors about it in Oregon! In Gerhardt's summer kitchen, he has fashioned an extremely unique refrigerator. This time, when the small motor is activated, cords wind up on a spool and pull a storage vessel up from its position, which is sunken 6 feet underground. As highlighted many times on this Blog, the ambient temperature at that depth is constant and appropriate for food storage (i.e. root cellars). When the vessel reaches the upper level stop-position, it trips a switch that relays the electricity to a 12volt light ("so you can see your beer", Gerhardt jokes).

This photo includes a broader view of the water pump, the shaft just featured now shown to be extended up high and itself fastened to the lever that drives the pump up and down. Luckily, one characteristic of the land here is a relatively high water table... so the well is not deep. A simple garden hose transfers the water to where it is needed, at a rate of perhaps a half gallon per minute. This doesn't sound like much water, until one considers that the pump is constantly operating whenever the solar panels energizing it are receiving sunshine (see in background). Built to be durable, an attribute rarely assigned to other vehicle components these days, one such windshield-wiper motor that Gerhardt had converted into a water pump lasted for more than 14 years!

We soon learned that Gerhardt had employed his mechanical ingenuity all around the Northern Sun property... performing magic with salvaged 12Volt auto parts. The contraption in this photo is mainly comprised of a reclaimed automotive windshield-wiper motor, accessorized with bicycle parts. One might wonder, what useful task can be accomplished with a car wiper motor? Gerhardt's answer: Pump water! In the picture you will notice the shaft connected to an arm of the rotary apparatus. The wheel is turned by the 12V motor. The shaft moves up and down as the wheel rotates, which in turn drives the pump.

Gerhardt demonstrates for Melissa and me how he rigged up a small 12V motor to run the mechanical system that opens and closes some baffles, which in turn are designed to allow air flow from the sunroom into the main house. On sunny days, this small room heats up nicely. With the press of a button, the baffles open up and Gerhardt's set-up begins to circulate warm air through convection currents. Obviously, the baffles are closed when the sun goes down.

We especially enjoyed the conversations we had with Gerhardt, and soon learned that he was a multi-skilled inventor and builder. His home (pictured) was built by his own hands. Over the years, he has learned by experience... how to wear the hats of 'electrician,' 'plumber,' 'carpenter' and 'farmer.' To help with winter heating, he has included a sunroom on the south wall.

This is the recently completed sauna, with a woodstove hidden inside and a separate screened-in front porch. The only electricity needed for the building runs three LED bulbs... so the battery is simply trickle charged with a tiny 2W solar panel (visible on upper right hand exterior wall, mounted vertically). The simple-living theme was evident throughout.

Our tour guide at NSFC was Gerhardt, a longtime resident here. He took us to the new community building, the outer shell of which had been erected this year. He explained that the idea of this structure arose from the lack of summertime common space for the community... for gatherings, meals, etc. They needed more room. I was intrigued to learn about the material used as shingles on the roof. Gerhardt informed us that the community had learned about these aluminum metal sheets used locally in the shipping of bundles of newsprint. They are generally recycled, but NSFC was able to acquire enough to complete the job... for a fraction of the cost of anything else.

Many of you will know that I have often documented how communities have unplugged from the centralized electrical powergrid (i.e. are "off-grid"). For the very same reasons, communities have also attempted to unplug from other centralized systems... including water and septic (sewage). Sewage treatment in our society will, like other systems, require major reformation. If you've followed this Blog, you will be quite aware of how many alternative ideas for toilets I have photographed. Janine's set-up may perhaps be the most unique yet! In her washroom, one wall is made up of shelving units holding perhaps 20 green plastic containers. Each bin contains a certain amount of soil and a population of earthworms! Each time a 'contribution' needs to made, a container is pulled off the shelf and slipped under the potty... with the lid removed. The containers are rotated each time. The worms are kept fed. The room was odorless.

Earlier in the day, we had checked in with Mitch and Tim, who were working on some exterior modifications to Janine's place. The focus of Northern Sun is a combination of alternative energy, appropriate technology, simple lifestyles, and self-reliance. The residents, therefore, do most of their own handiwork... on an infrastructure that is completely off-grid. Here, the guys were just finishing up some siding, aesthetically concealing the curious fact that one portion of Janine's habitat is an old reclaimed train car!

An incredible amount of driving finally brought us to Northern Sun Farm Co-operative (NSFC), not far from the town of Steinbach, Manitoba. There were only two days left in October when we arrived... the days were warm as 'Indian Summer' gave us one final gift of fine weather. The people at NSFC also greeted us warmly. We shared a yummy candlelit potluck in Janine's home (she is front left)... and later all joined together to make music in the living room. There were some talented musicians in the house!

The mountainous terrain faded away... and quickly yielded to country that became flatter and flatter, as we moved along. This was no shock of course. We knew where the prairies began. Yet, there was a surprise in store. Before the sun set behind us, as the truck sped along, Melissa snapped a shot of one of the several massive wind-turbine fields that we observed. We were in Alberta; a province known for tar sands and oil, much more than this alternative type of electrical generation.

After heating up some veggie oil with a small fire, filtering it, and filling my fuel tank, at Lofstedt, we were ready to shoot over Crowsnest Pass. The temperatures were dropping and it was time to head home. We had met a man at Harmony Village (in Colorado), who had shared with us his opinion that the Canadian Rockies, being less elevated than the American mountains, were nevertheless much more dramatic and visually stimulating. As Melissa and I passed through the rugged white peaks, we had our own chance to compare... and found agreement with what he had said. Soon, the mountains were in the rear view mirror.

The variety and complexity of the education we were getting on the tour had just surprised me again. Lofstedt Farm Community afforded me other photographic opportunities, including a custom-built greenhouse, a water-heating wood stove, the playful goats, an outdoor cob/firebrick oven, etc., but I feel the most important learning element to our stop here revolved around community structure. It seems that LFC will now be no more... Bridget and George had looked for a small number of families to take out a share in the land ownership, help manage the farm and CSA garden, and build their own homes. Unfortunately, that process did not create the intended result. What can we truly take forward from their story, if it isn't the importance of investing a good amount of discussion and organization into ensuring that these vital projects can be passed on to the others coming behind us? I will ensure this story lives on. The website might be up much longer... in the meantime, there are more details at http://mypage.direct.ca/l/lofstedtfarm/

Back at the community house, I paused for a reflective moment in what was usually the central hub of energy and activity---the kitchen and dining area. We came to learn that the traditional routine for the farm group was to gather around the large table for shared meals at breakfast and lunch... with story telling and laughter, with the wood cookstove pushing its warmth across the room. If you look long enough at this photo, perhaps you will see the fleeting images of all the people who once enlivened the space... with life, movement and sound. Although Melissa and I did share in a few communal meals with the young people still living here, the mood is quite understandably changed with the sad news this year. They miss George at the table.

Paul guided us into another similarly sized building that was dedicated to the equipment included as part of a home fashioned bio-diesel making operation. They had been using this homebrew fuel at the LFC. He explained to us how the process works, what he used as the main ingredients, and a rough idea of what it costs to make the fuel (materials and labour). I am pretty sure he quoted his investment at 35cents per gallon! Of course, there are differing opinions on how we should figure the true costs of such fuel... but this set-up would always be sharply favourable, compared to petroleum-based products, since the bulk of the fuel is comprised of free wastestream veggie oil from local restaurants. Now that the farm is sold, and since he did invest so much time and energy into it, Paul hopes to take this equipment with him to the next place that he calls home...

On our tour with Paul, we were shown an interesting array of built infrastructure on the land. This building is another style of bee-house. The hives are inside, protected from the harsher elements and destructive incursions from bears. The insects enter and leave their comfortable human-made environment through the (coloured) slots seen at the bottom of the southern wall. Bees are moving up in style! And why not? Humans have acted rather violently towards bees and their habitats, as 'pesticide spraying' has recently been identified as one major reason for the alarming drop in the populations of pollinators.

For many years, Lofstedt took on younger trainees who were eager to learn and to help with hay-making, grain growing, gardening and greenhouse work, washing produce and marketing it, building, animal husbandry, bee-keeping, working with tractors and draft horses, logging and surveying, dairying, food processing, and old-fashioned crafts. No doubt, the changes LFC produced in the people who visited here over that time will live on... and ripple out into an ever expanding circle of influence. Pictured is the root vegetable washing room, attached to the house, and a prominently displayed item of interest. It is a vegetable washing machine! I guess that's what I'd call it. Simply, it is a former concrete mixer with a new role in life. Apparently it works well!

A couple of older Toyota vans are utilized for town errands or deliveries and on-site transport from the gardens. Melissa and Paul, the LCF garden manager and our community host, are shown unpacking some of our full load of carrots. The root cellar under the house may have contained the most vegetables I've ever seen in storage on these trips! Bins, like these, were stacked to the ceilings... and huge covered piles of boxed produce lined the walls. Clearly upset about the loss of George, and the resulting farm sale, Paul was gracious and helpful in accommodating us, answering our queries and showing us around.

Still in the scenic Kootenay Mountains region, Melissa and I headed out to the field to help a gang of young people harvest the last carrots of the season. In our conversations, we learned about the three main businesses that have kept residents busy over a span of 20 years--- the Farm, the Lofstedt Gardens CSA, and the Lofstedt Farm Forestry Society (LFFS). The latter is a community program for managing a 1500 acre government-owned woodlot in the local watershed. A great number of volunteers have participated with an Internship Program for training in the practice of ecological, sustainable organic farming and Biodynamics.

In 1985, Bridget and George Baumann purchased this 60-acre farm. It had been called the 'Turnip Farm' for a number of years. They renamed it 'Lofstedt Farm Community' (LFC), after its first settler, the Norwegian August Lofstedt, who had cleared its land at the turn of the century. At Next Step, we had just witnessed the re-birthing of a project, after a major transition period. Melissa and I were saddened to learn that the situation at LFC was yet another form of transition... as it seemed the project will be discontinued. George passed away earlier this year, and the circumstances have caused the sale of the farm, and likely the permanent break-up of the community here. Our sympathies are with Bridget, and all other residents. I knew there would be learning opportunities in this visit, and I wanted to preserve the valuable work that these people accomplished, by recording and sharing their story.

One cannot mention too many times the natural beauty we encountered during this leg of the tour! Within the southeast Slocan/Kootenay lake region, the roads wound through valleys and crested hilltops... affording us spectacular views of colourful fall forests (bright yellow Aspens and Tamaracks), glittering bodies of fresh water, fast flowing streams, and of course the snow-capped jagged peaks of The Rockies in the distance. The journey from Slocan to Kaslo was particularly exhilarating. In this photo, I am standing on the shore of Slocan Lake, in the lovely little town of New Denver.

The main emphases of Next Step Integral are: personal and global transformation, research, education, collective intelligence and networking. It will be both worthwhile and interesting to see what this dawning project will create in the hillside forest. And the faculty here are looking to expand programs into a Nelson, BC learning facility. Miriam, Stephan's partner and vice-president of NSI, is working on programs to develop a context for evolutionary parenting. Stephan is working on what he is calling 'Integral Ecology' and forestry. The folks involved with this community are making waves in the local area... and we wish them all the best as they move forward. To learn more about the community (NSI) http://www.nextstepintegral.org, the education center (Integral Life Institute) http://www.integralLife.org, or the Integral Parenting http://www.integralparenting.ca or Forestry http://integralecology.ca programs... follow the links to their respective sites.

Many times on the eco-tour, I have documented various approaches to the system-design of heating water while the wood stove is operating. Stephan introduced us to yet another idea within this same context, with a set-up in the lower level of his home. A heating chamber enclosing a loop of copper pipe, and separated from the fire with an interior plate, pushes water up and out the upper outlet (inlet and outlet to back chamber of stove are visible on lower right). Gravity does the work, as the heated water moves upstairs to the hot water tank, where it gives off its energy and falls back down to the lower inlet. The heat energy given up by the circulating water heats the water in the tank.

How about furniture that isn't made with wood, materials and labour that are sourced from half way around the world? Can this degree of localization happen again? Members of former Morningstar Community have left us another legacy that is instructive for these questions. There were many of these home-made chairs.... waiting quietly in the forest--- waiting for occupants, waiting to be photographed, and waiting for their potent inherent message to be shared with the outside world. I am sure the craftsperson responsible for this item deeply sensed the true value and personal benefits of what they had created... something simple, useful, local, low energy, and artistically pleasing.

The outdoor sauna at NSI, located beside Stephan and Miriam's home, included an element that was something new for us. The sauna itself is nicely built, but the unique design feature is actually the cold water dipping pool positioned off the deck (notice it on the left). Many people report the benefits of a quick and shocking splash in cool water after time spent in hot springs, sweat lodges, or saunas. The cool pool intrigued me because it is a simple plank-constructed cistern... with no lining inside. As fresh water from the mountain trickles through it, the soaked planks bloat and close in together, sealing the cracks between them. Stephan informed us that it has worked fine for many years, and that the leaks are negligible--- so an old time concept endures into the 21st century!!

The people of NSI are part of an international body of individuals joining together in service to the work of consciousness evolution. As they describe it, they "place a primary focus on actually applying our discoveries to our lives... aware of a real need for integral examples of life to find expression here and now on earth... to respond wholeheartedly, seriously and joyously to the predicament of our times." The reader will notice a sharp contrast in this language from that of some doom-and-gloom commentators. I am acquainted with this outlook from my previous introduction to the work of Brian Swimme. Similarly here, the vision of NSI "arises from the knowledge that a quantum leap in consciousness is possible and necessary -- one that will balance our awakened authentic individual self with the communion that is inherently possible between humans." The photo above shows the fall gardens...

Examples of simplistic living could be identified as we walked along. This was no surprise after learning that the community project existing here beforehand, called Morning Star, was the former home of Jim Merkel. I am quite sure that NSI's continuing development will carry many deep-rooted influences from Merkel... whose work in 'radical simplicity' is well known at the Global Living Project in New Hampshire (check him out on Wikipedia =http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Merkel). This composting-style outhouse, and the welcoming path leading to it, reminded me of his work on Earth Footprinting...

The fresh water streams flowing down the mountainside, on the 80 acres of NSI land, are pristine. On the tour of the property, Stephan performed some maintenance on the water collection system that he has invented. At the same time, he explained how the system works. Water is collected into a pipe from further up the stream and travels down to this container... where it enters and begins to fill it. The water level inside rises, since the incoming flow is greater than the output directed downhill towards the buildings. Heavier particulate matter is filtered out by gravity (necessitating this occasional cleaning activity) and excess water is just dumped back into the stream bed. Obviously, the scenery AND the water here are exceptional... representing gifts that many of us can only envy.

Stephan and Miriam are working on renovating sections of this large three story community house, which features a deck with the view I just shared with you. The couple have a three year old daughter. Next Step Integral (NSI) is a 're-forming' intentional community. This commonly understood terminology generally describes a situation wherein a former community project disbands, or goes through a period of transition, and then something new blossoms forth in the same place. It was good to include various examples of this phenomenon on the eco-tour, to see what could be learned from the process. Nevertheless, NSI has ambitious plans, and a solid philosophical center, which also attracted us to visit...

How might personal psychology be affected, if a person lived in such a place that allowed him/her to simply look out the window of their shelter, several times a day, and instantly engage a visual connection similar to this photograph? I do not know the answer to this question, but I have some ideas about it... and we would soon learn more as we spoke to our next community host, Stephan, at a project named Next Step Integral. Melissa and I had driven through some of the most beautiful natural scenery on the entire eco-tour, just before arriving here... in the Slocan Valley.

The solution: Instead of burning propane in the day, or wearing coats at lunchtime, I just needed to open up a channel for air to flow from the Ford cabin to the camper interior. They both have windows that sit adjacent to one another (by design). The pillow that I altered was therefore shoved in between the two windows to form a malleable 'duct' and I installed the 12V fan (bottom center of photo). Now, as we drove along, heat produced from the big truck engine also warmed our living quarters, often raising the temp. to a comfortable 65 degrees in a couple of hours. This would work wonders on our long trek home!

It was pouring rain outside. Inside, I was enthusiastically telling the puppy dog about the odd looking creation that I was working on. The puppy seemed bored. With some junk metal and wire (I have a box of 'trinkets' on the truck at all times) and a baby pillow scored at a local thrift store, it was my intention to rectify a heating problem in the camper. We were starting to notice that the camper was quite chilly during the days now, when the propane furnace wasn't running.

Carolyn moved out to BC to accept a teaching position that had opened up at a Waldorf School here. She kindly offered us a little tour of the school. From the North American website---> "Developed by Rudolf Steiner in 1919, Waldorf education is based on a developmental approach that addresses the needs of the growing child and maturing adolescent. Waldorf teachers strive to transform education into an art that educates the whole child—the heart and the hands, as well as the head." The idea of the 'whole' child, not co-incidentally, is echoed in the name of the eco-village where I got my start, Wholevillage (WV). Several founders of WV were directly involved with Waldorf education and/or Steiner's philosophy on agriculture. Linking education with Nature is a key element (Carolyn poses beside the children's vermi-composting experiment -worms- and the door to her classroom, where each desk is displaying its own cared-for potted plant). Interested in learning more? ... go to http://www.awsna.org/index.html

Back in the truck, and back on the road, we pushed north through the city of Vancouver and on to the town of Squamish, BC. The scenery was breathtaking at times. The weather was not... (lots of rain again). Our mission this time was a visit to another of Melissa's friends. Carolyn used to live in the Stratford area (Melissa's home town), back in Ontario. I had met her briefly once, at the Everdale Environmental Education Center (we will be including a stop there later on this trip). Carolyn, and her partner Thomas, very hospitably invited us up to stay the night. Here, I capture the gals having fun in the kitchen making granola.

Sadly, we were not able to spend too much time exploring Vancouver Island. I had to consider my dwindling financial resources and the fact that the weather was not going to become any friendlier for driving, as we started to plan forward for the trip back east. We said goodbye to Gillie and boarded the big boat for a short cruise back to the mainland.

I had long thought about the importance of including the artist's imagination, when attempting to define the possibilities of what we could co-create as an alternative society. To complete our documentation of O.U.R. Ecovillage, I have simply posted one such provocative rendition commissioned by the group... an inspiring image of what this residential community may look like, huddled around the lake, sometime in the not-too-distant future. This is one of the few times that I've been able to include a tangible example of the visioning process. The painting is therefore invaluable! Those who can articulate the real dream, in contrast with the suburbia-nightmare, need to step forward now to shine a light of hope... This community project is on that path. Thanks for the wonderful afternoon Brandy! The website, again, is http://www.ourecovillage.org/

Located on an extraordinary and gorgeous 25 acres, populated with abundant wildlife and a small lake, O.U.R. land provides the perfect setting for more than just ecovillage creation, appropriate/green/natural building, and permaculture gardens. They are also committed to studies in deep-ecology, social-justice, and community relationships. One could hardly imagine a more beautiful spot for the development of an intercultural, interfaith, and intergenerational community hoping to grow within these disciplines.

I think it would be safe to say that O.U.R ecovillage, having imported some successful cob building techniques from the American northwest (places where Melissa and I had just visited), is Canada's current capital for this artform. In many aspects, cob does have appropriate applications for our country, although it does need rain-cover (especially on the BC coast), so these folks are spreading that message with their work here. Beautifully done!

The inspiring results of past workshops were encountered on our tour. As part of our O.U.R. programs, The Sustainable Living Institute offers certificates and skillbuilding classes in Permaculture, Natural Building and Wellness Education. This was an outstanding example of a cob oven/bench combination, safely sheltered under a protective roof, providing for fun times in the summer I'm sure.

Although the ecovillage is just underway in the forming phase, there are things on the property that are taking shape. A deer fence protects a portion of land in the Agriculture sector. The chickens have a home. Fresh buildings are popping up, including a cob art studio which will likely be finished next year. Work is being done to renovate the barn. Another really neat concept at O.U.R ecovillage is the type of co-operative they have designed. Because it is multi-tiered, it creates room for all sorts of people from the surrounding community to be involved. Buildings and land can be rented or shared in various co-op arrangements (for teaching or industry or services)... greatly increasing the potential relationships that can be fostered...

A curious co-incidence happened while Brandy walked us through the greenhouse. On the ferry ride to Vancouver Island, I had read a short article by Rodale, appearing in a tiny organic gardening manual, about building effective 'double greenhouses' (a greenhouse within a greenhouse). These come in handy for starting seeds early, since a heating element can be introduced from below, and warmth can be contained for the young plants in a smaller air space. Voila! Just like magic one appears, with a surprisingly similar structural design to that of Rodale's.... Brandy pulls a cord to lift the lids up for access.

The result of those drawn-out, but extremely worthwhile, negotiations is perhaps one of the most important developments that has ever occurred for the ecovillage movement in Canada! This project was actually awarded ECOVILLAGE ZONING! We believe that this is a first for all of North America, and therefore, the work accomplished here sets an incredibly important precedent for planning departments and would-be ecovillagers in the future. Looking closely on the zoning map will reveal four distinct areas, one zoning sector each for: Agricultural, Woodlands/Wetlands Conservation, Ecological Education Infrastructure, and Residential. The entire property will, in effect, become an environmental community 'classroom.' And because O.U.R is supportive of other forming projects, Brandy says that the planning procedures can be made available to them. This is great news!

Some of the resident members in the off-season use this house for habitation and gatherings. During the busy six months, O.U.R. ecovillage runs a variety of programs which balloon the numbers to about 40 persons on-site, many of whom tent. The project is just now poised to begin building residences on the land for members, after a very lengthy investment of time and energy in negotiations with bureaucrats.

One design feature that seemed especially unique to me, relative to what I've previously documented on this Blog, was the rainwater collection system... with a decidedly more artistic approach to the concept. The rain flowing from the roof descends on these chain-ladders of ornamental vessels (I did photograph them in New Mexico last year), and is directed into containers that have been sunken into the ground. Those embedded containers are linked by an underground system of gravity feed lines... and they in turn are joined to transport the water towards a larger cistern. Certainly a creative idea! Notice the organic exterior plaster and the rubble-style foundation below.

While touring us through the interior of the Climate Change Demo Building, Brandy explained that O.U.R. ecovillage is a sustainable land- stewardship community that endeavors to foster the interconnectedness between all things... i.e. support of individual, family, intentional community, and wider community... (also the Earth!). The building showcases too many features to list... including earthen floors, central cob stove, natural lighting, whole tree construction, and loads of aesthetic appeal.

These days, Brandy juggles the duties of motherhood with public tours of the eco-village. Luckily for us, she is one of the founding resident members... and many would agree that she has been a dominant force in the development of this project, which began in 1999. We had the right person for answering our many questions! The inside of the Demonstration Building, as you can see, was stunning. I'd like to direct you immediately to the O.U.R webpage, since a full photographic documentation of the construction is there (design drawings too). That gallery makes anything I contribute here seem totally redundant... http://www.ourecovillage.org/photo_gallery/healing_sanctuary/index.htm

The eco-tour stop we had scheduled for the island is undoubtedly one of Canada's most prominent Eco-village projects. Gillie was extremely generous in loaning us her car for the day, as we travelled north to the Shawnigan Lake area and pulled into the lane belonging to O.U.R Eco-village (O.U.R stands for One United Resource). The nearly complete structure behind Melissa is the Climate Change Demonstration Building and Healing Sanctuary. This large strawbale/cob building will provide on-site educational and program options for the ecovillage.

Once on the island, a one hour bus ride delivered us to Victoria... where Melissa was able to reunite with a very close friend, Gillie. She and Melissa met in Toronto many years ago, while the two of them attended university. Gillie and her partner, Jason, live right in the city of Victoria... and they kindly hosted us for two nights. The conversations were stimulating and the accommodations were luxurious. Thanks for everything you two! Here, the girls pose together with the sea, separating BC from Washington, providing a scenic backdrop.

Time for a twist. For the first time on these eco-tours, we left the big rig parked and used other means of transport to get to our next destination. A couple days of preparation and planning, after crossing into our country near Abbotsford, BC, and we were then ready to head out on the ferry across to Vancouver Island. The fees for the RV were going to be prohibitively expensive, and so we boarded on foot.