The FEC is a union of egalitarian communities which have joined together in our common struggle to create a lifestyle based on equality, cooperation, and harmony with the earth.

Learn more about our member communities or start your own egalitarian commune! Review all of our communities past and present bylaws & policies in our Systems & Structures area

We want to hear from you! Contact our secretary at secretary@thefec.org

Roanoke College

Submitted by Paxus on Sat, 06/21/2008 - 16:25

"How many people think climate change is a serious problem?" i ask the class of Roanoke College students. Perhaps 2/3rds of the students lazily raise their hands.

"So what are we going to do about climate change? If it is a serious problem how are we going to stop it?" i challenge and start taking down their answers on the board.


"Wind power", "Solar", "Conservation", "Nuclear power", "Saving energy", "Geothermal power", "Tidal energy", "Increased efficiency" - They shouted out with increasing enthusiasm.

"So this is great. Basically we are talking two general types of solutions. Clean power generation and saving energy or using it more efficiently. I do a bunch of work on energy - best guesses are these two approaches will net perhaps 20% reductions each. So we are talking carbon levels by 40%. Except the UN commission on climate change says we have to reduce emissions by 80% by 2050. So where it is going to come from? is humanity doomed ?"

An uncomfortable silence fills the room.

"Well there is a very powerful technique which could save us. It is a concept we learned in kindergarden. It's called ..." pause for dramatic effect. "Sharing".

Strange look in students eyes, "what is he talking about?"

And i launch into my rap about sharing system at Twin Oaks. How we share cars and thus consumer over 80% less fuel than our mainstream counter parts. Now some kids are waking up. The professor is clealry in love with us.

Small Fruit Season

Submitted by sorghumco on Fri, 06/20/2008 - 11:53

We all love fruit, eh? For those of us who like to eat what we grow and/or eat local food, fruit is often in short supply. When you want to eat more vegetables or grains, you plant more and you get more within the same growing season, but since fruit is from perennials, it takes longer to get results. The small fruits generally take less time to begin bearing and do so earlier in the season.

By spring, we are hankering for fresh juicy fruit. We may still have some frozen - from last year (pretty good) or canned as preserves, jam, etc. But it pales in comparison with fresh - so beautiful, tasty, zesty! For about two weeks now, we have been in small fruit heaven. The photo tells all:

starting with strawberries on the left and going clockwise: mulberries, sour cherries, saskatoons (service berries), gooseberries, and black currants in the center. They are on a rhubarb leaf. Last night we had rhubarb-cherry pies - to die for! It doesn’t get much better….

dirty hippies / twin oaks 41st anniversary!

Submitted by Tikvah on Tue, 06/17/2008 - 10:30

here's a group picture taken recently (i'm in the front, waving my hands retardedly for some reason). twin oaks just had its 41st anniversary, which we celebrated by making a billion delicious flavors of homemade ice cream, building a giant fort, making musics, body painting, dancing, feasting, and being jolly in general. here are some pictures of the festivities (including this hilarious guy that keeps coming here to visit his sister, but then pretends to be Borat the entire time, and even dresses up in suits with american flag ties)... i took some videos too, of people putting on musical performances, but i'll put them up later...

something else that happened on anniversary: while we were all in the main dining hall, enjoying a glorious anniversary feast, one of our work buildings (Oz) on the other side of the property, caught on fire and burned to the ground!! there was a big thunderstorm at the time, so we suspect lightning. that particular building was where we varnished wood for the hammocks we make, so i guess it was pretty flammable. luckily, we didn't have a lot of merchandise or supplies being stored in there so it wasn't a devastating loss.

Dimensions of Community: Party of One

Submitted by Laird on Sat, 06/07/2008 - 11:31

For the next stretch of blog entries, I'll be presenting a series on the Dimensions of Community. It was inspired by an animated plenary conversation on Creating Cmty Where You Are during the last day of the FIC organizational mtgs—just concluded at Hummingbird Cmty in the rarified air of northern NM. (If I'm any good at channeling the ideas and excitement of that conversation, perhaps, at least this once, you won't have had to have been there.)

• • •

For this series, I will not be using "community" as shorthand for "intentional cmty." Instead, I'll be purposefully exploring and defining cmty in its fullest and broadest sense. So think expansively (I am). As part of my FIC elevator speech, I tell people that, "We're in the cmty business." This series is meant as a journey of discovery about all that that can mean.

In essence, cmty is about association. It's about connection and affiliation. While it implies consciousness and reciprocity, I will assume neither.

• • •

This first offering will focus on community and the individual: Party of One

For a connection to occur, two (or more) things need to be linked. One end of that is yourself, and today I'll confine my remarks to just that single terminus. What does it take to be available for cmty?

Happy 34th!

Submitted by Laird on Sun, 05/11/2008 - 23:41

Yesterday, Sandhill celebrated it's 34th anniversary.

We had an all-day party, which included a gigantic potluck dinner, a Treasure Hunt for the young (or young at heart, and spry of foot), sweat lodge, barn dance, and may pole—all interlarded with lots of conversation and laughter. The rain almost held off until we were done. Some of the neighbors were caught by the late precipitation, and stayed the night, extending our party into this morning. It was a lovely time.

This year the revelers had a distinctively younger cast. In addition to Sandhill's under-40 additions of Apple, Thea & Jacob, Kevin & Ann, and freshly arrived intern Sarah, there have been four babies born at neighboring Dancing Rabbit and Red Earth Farms (two each) since our party last year. The wheel is turning.

The way I understand it, the Greeks considered 34 to be the perfect age—the point where youth and vigor were just balanced by age and experience. So what's not to like about the cmty being 34? Who can resist the lure of claiming to be the "perfect age"? Who knows, maybe we'll have the perfect growing season. (Though for that to occur, it'll need to warm up and dry off licketty split, and I'm not holding my breath.)

After years of a lower population (down to five adults) we're now on the rise again. While it would be a stretch to call life here perfect, morale is high, the sun is shining on our faces, and the wind is at our back. And that's worth celebrating at any age.

East Wind Nut House Expansion!

Submitted by Lion on Sun, 04/06/2008 - 09:43
in

As some of you may know East wind is expanding! For those who have been to East Wind throughout the years we have watched this little nut butter business grow.

At this point we are expanding our building for a third line that will be a production line for our jars and 5# tubs. The reason we are expanding has to do with the equipment we use: lidder-capers, labelers, jar bander's. These pieces of equipment hate being moved - and we move them a lot! The third line will all but eliminate the need to move these heavy boehemouths that ain't supposed to move around.

hold on a sec let me step back in time for a minute. When I moved to E-dub in 93 Nut butters was not the most popular job but for some reason (maybe not as social as hammocks or to noisy or oh yea its a factory job) but I always liked it so I became a roaster helper and worked at least once a week making some butter

The Facebook Vortex

Submitted by amy on Tue, 04/01/2008 - 22:30

Facebook is amazing. It has allowed me to reconnect with so many friends from over the years. It has also provided a forum for Dancing Rabbit supporters. If you are already a member of Facebook, here are some handy links:

Dancing Rabbit Ecolytes: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=20514413464
In this Facebook group, I post the weekly Memphis Democrat column, have links to DRTV, our tour information, and am (trying to!) get people talking about sustainability. Come on over and join us!

Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage Causes: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/76013?recruiter_id=14381483
In this Facebook Cause, you can show your support for Dancing Rabbit, recruit others and make a make a secure, tax-deductible donation to our non-profit. I am also going to keep this page up to date with our big events. Help spread the word about what great work we're doing here!

I highly recommend joining Facebook if you haven't already. Just be careful or you'll end up spending entirely too much time playing!

What is the maple syrup process?

Submitted by sorghumco on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 15:16

How we make Maple Syrup at Sandhill Farm

Tapping. Note: we tap soft (silver) maple trees – since that is what we have on our land; most of the commercial maple syrup on the market comes from hard maple trees in Canada and northern US. We have planted hard maple trees – but they are very slow growing; our 20 year old trees will probably take another 10 years before we can tap them.
How do you find maple trees? One way is to look up at the canopy – the maple trees have swollen reddish buds – after awhile, the eye picks them out readily (by now, I know where all the trees on our land are). Then you inspect the trunk of the tree to find the scars from previous years’ tapping – new taps should be about 4” away from old ones; also, we prefer to tap the south sides of trees because when the sun shines, it warms that side of the tree and makes it flow more. We have been tapping some of our trees for 20 years so they are pockmarked by grown over old holes and it is a challenge to find the right spot. When we do, we drill a 5/16” hole 2-3” deep with an electric cordless drill (we used to use a brace & bit – but the cordless is faster/easier). Another person hammers in a plastic tap (we buy them from maple sugaring supply places. Then attach a plastic tube to the tap and the other end into a bucket on the ground.

How many taps? The rule of thumb is that a tree needs to be at least 12” in diameter (at chest height) to be tapped. A tree that is more than 20” can have 2 taps and over 28”, 3 taps. We run the tubes from one tree into the same bucket – usually, a 5 gal bucket. We do not put more than 3 taps in a tree.


Renay sucking maple sap from a tree.

Emma Goldman's Finishing School in YES Mag

Submitted by Administrator on Wed, 02/20/2008 - 10:49
in

Check out this article in YES Magazine:
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=2098

A Taste of Freedom at Home

by Adam & Kibby MacKinnon

“I want freedom, the right to self-expression, everybody's right to beautiful, radiant things.”

Emma Goldman (1869-1940)
WRITER AND ACTIVIST

Let's say you're a typical wage-slave: you work a 40-hour week—at least 160 hours a month—on top of which you've got a nasty, desensitizing commute. What little time you have left you spend feeding yourself, and then collapse in front of a DVD.

News of the Oaks

Submitted by Administrator on Tue, 02/19/2008 - 18:30

News of the Oaks

Jun 07 – Jan 08

By Ezra with assistance from Mala and Gordon

Well, it's been a while since the last News of the Oaks came out, right around the time of our 40th anniversary, and we're pleased to report that the intervening eight months have been (generally speaking), a time of relative peace, stability, and prosperity.

Despite a relatively high turn-over rate, and the departure of several long-term members, population has remained in the eighties. Among the old-timers to strike out on their own this fall were Alder, Amy, Jack, Inge, and Indigo. Jake, who we all hoped might come rushing home, is still living in Savannah with George, and writes that he doesn't even miss Twin Oaks anymore.

On the other hand, this fall has seen the return of the oldest old-timer of them all-- Kat Kinkade! At the end of 2007 Kat returned as a full-time member, after 7 years of living in Mineral, and moved back into Nashoba (see interview with Kat in this issue).

While our adult population remains stable, our child population has continued to fall, and is now at its lowest point in many years: 7 full-time kids, two half-time kids, and one kid on sabbatical. Although the child population has been shrinking, our young folks themselves have continued to grow, and thanks in part to a new child labor policy, are becoming more integrated into the community than in the past. Rowan, now 11, has thrown himself into his duties as chef, and has been helping with meals in ZK kitchen every week. Kids have also been tutoring at Reading Window, helping with road maintenance, and primarying younger kids.

(read more by clicking on title of this article)

News From Sandhill

Submitted by sorghumco on Tue, 02/19/2008 - 18:23

SANDHILL NEWS – 2007
By Stan. Jan 5, 2008.

I usually enjoy annual newsletters sent to us by friends. Here is my first attempt. For more info, see our website: www.sandhillfarm.org

Current members: Renay, Apple, Gigi, Michael, Laird, Kathe, Stan

Community abbreviations: dr – dancing rabbit; ref – red earth farms; to – twin oaks; ew – east wind

DECEMBER ‘06

* we purchase a small coffee roaster (size of a kitchen food processor) to spice up our coffee enjoyment: fresh roasted beans, green beans are cheaper, etc. this is one of my dreams come true – BUT in 1st year of operation, we send it back to factory (warranty) FOUR times to be fixed. But it’s roasting now…
* we have our first homegrown lemon (Meyer potted lemon tree).
* Gigi & Renay go to grand canyon over Renay’s xmas break from school. They also visit Gigi’s old friend and her family in Flagstaff. They bring back photos & stories
* Otto, Stan, & Sue put up a large shed roof for sorghum firewood
* Geoph Kozeny celebrates his birthday with us (Dec 28). (We have no idea it will be the last – he dies oct 22)

JANUARY

* Laird, Maikwe, & Jibran are forced to vacation (two days, including new year’s eve – whoopee!) in motel in Amarillo TX on their way to Albuquerque due to a blizzard shutting down I-40

*stan goes to Seattle by train for fec (federation of egalitarian communities) meetings at emma goldman community. He stays with Jon & Shawn (former jolly ranchers) and visits friends: Brad in Seattle, Nancy & Julie in Olympia and Bekka, formerly at Sandhill, now in Port Townsend. The long train ride is magical (no train/computer – a time between the worlds): I am moved to write a travelog, which leads to others, and now THIS!

*we celebrate Kathe’s 60th birthday: a yummy meal & scrumptious cake

Blog Post: The Pitfalls of Proposals from Meetings People Miss - by Laird

Submitted by Administrator on Tue, 02/19/2008 - 17:53

Laird has written in his blog about the upcoming FEC Assembly and the PEACH discussion that is scheduled to take place.

PEACH is one of the benefits of FEC membership. It is a program of self-insurance to cover catastrophic health care costs.

While this operates under the auspices of the Federation, the governing bodies for FEC and PEACH are distinct. The Federation is governed by delegates from each member community, and PEACH is governed by a body comprised of one representative of each participating community. This person is called a MELBA (Member Expected to Look after Basic Affairs). Any correlation between delegates and MELBAs is coincidental, and delegates have no authority over PEACH.

Here is a link to the article:
http://communityandconsensus.blogspot.com/2008/02/pitfalls-of-proposals-...

Willow Catches a fish

Submitted by Paxus on Thu, 01/31/2008 - 09:21


i have a cool kid. Kids are an amazing crap shot, you dont know what kind you will get and you don't necessarily have that much control over how they come out (parents love to think that they do, but the other factors often overwhelm their efforts). i got lucky.

Willow has some wonderful primaries (people who regularly spend a couple hours a week with him, getting labor credits for this work in my communities elaborate work system). Yesterday, Trout took Willow to the pond with a fishing rod and some of our vegetarian sausage. They were going fishin'.

Our pond is tiny. Since it is principally for swimming, it was designed with upstream filters and catchment pools so it would not have fish in it. But life only being secondarily concerned with the will of man (sic), other things happened.

As Willow tells it, they put a small piece of soysage on to the hook, Trout did the casting and Willow pulled it in slowly. The did this a dozen times with no effect. Willow convinced Trout to pull the hook and afix a larger piece of soysage to the hook and within moments a fairly good size fished, probably a trout (no relations) was snagged. Willow pulled it in with great joy and mild trepidation.

fun with kimya dawson

Submitted by Tikvah on Fri, 01/25/2008 - 15:04

so last night kimya dawson (whose musics appear all over the soundtrack for that movie "Juno") came to visit us and give us a private show... in exchange for a hammock!

it was pretty awesome. her songs always make me happy in the way that a good poem makes me happy, or a walk in the woods. but the best part was that her little 1-year-old daughter, named "Panda", was playing and making cute kid noises with the other little kids here throughout the whole show.

the kids kept randomly playing with a tambourine and kimya laughed and commented on it, acting as if it was part of the songs. later, Panda was autographing people's cds with squiggley lines and she randomly drew some pictures on my arm.

the entire show was adorable, including the backdrop behind the "stage" (AKA our dining room), which was a bedsheet with little shapes of various pastel colors sewn together.

oh, and "Purl", one of the resident artistic geniuses here (who makes deranged carved wooden things and paints them) put on a puppet show as the opening act to kimya. here's a picture of his puppet show from a while ago, so you can get an idea of the awesomeness-- he has a little strap-on puppet stage with a rotating paper scroll for the background, and little cardboard puppets drawn with marker who have moving parts (not to mention, stories about kids who are part whale and people who get stuck in their carpet and become half-human half-carpet).... anyway, i thought it was pretty amazing that kimya dawson came here to visit us for a day and play musics for us, since i guess i thought of her as one of those far-away famous type folks, except that she's a normal human like the rest of us. a bunch of her songs are in that movie "Juno", but she was talking about it and saying that she doesn't want to sell out or get all trapped by mainstream success. she's pretty awesome and today at lunch i gave her a hug and wished her luck in her adventures....


Transgender in Community

Submitted by Administrator on Fri, 11/23/2007 - 14:11

The following article was written by Calliope, a new member at Twin Oaks Community.

 

Trans in Community
by Calliope Kurtz

As a feminist culture, at Twin Oaks we tend to disregard traditional gender roles and behavior. Women and men choose their roles in the community based on their interests, strengths, and passions, not on anyone else's preconceived notions. Women and men operate chainsaws and drive tractors, and men and women cook and care for children. We all wear clothing we find comfortable - pants for working in, skirts for coolness or festivity, heedless of mainstream ideas of "acceptable" fashion choices. Our commitment to fostering a supportive and joyful environment for all people - women, men, lesbians, gays, and children - is an integral part of Twin Oaks Community.

Those were the words, more than any others on the Twin Oaks website, that offered me hope.

 

 

How To Visit an Intentional Community

Submitted by Administrator on Fri, 11/09/2007 - 19:48

How To Visit an Intentional Community

by Kat Kinkade

Kat Kinkade of Twin Oaks gives a communitarian's perspective on visitors. She discusses visiting etiquette, gives practical advice on how to get the most out of one's visit, and offers valuable insights about how prospective members may be viewed by existing community members.

 


The mechanics of visiting a community aren't very difficult. One writes a letter, waits for a response, follows directions, and that's that. But assuring oneself of a fruitful and satisfying visit is another matter. Most communities spend considerable time and energy talking about and worrying about optimizing visitors' experiences. Yet there are still shortcomings and miscommunication from time to time. Visitors can help by doing some thinking ahead of time to set themselves up for a good visit. This article is full of advice to the prospective visitor. Read it with your own plans in mind. Maybe it will give you some ideas.

It is useful to consider the question: Why is this particular community open to visitors at all? What do they want or need from them? I think it's safe to say that most communities that advertise in a directory are keeping an eye out for people who might join them. They may be openly seeking members, or they may be only selectively open, watching for someone with a high degree of compatibility.

Dancing Rabbit TV is here!

Submitted by amy on Fri, 07/27/2007 - 13:29

The Dancing Rabbit video blog (or Dancing Rabbit TV) is now ready, and the first video is up:

http://drtv.dancingrabbit.org/

Please be sure to pass the link on!

Hope you all enjoy and keep your eye out for future episodes.

Many thanks to Brian for his hard work on creating DRTV!

Retreat!

Submitted by amy on Thu, 02/15/2007 - 20:16

Sooo, now that the excitement of the ceremony is all over and the big traveling is all over, things are finally starting to settle down for me. [insert usual promise of keeping this blog more up to date] Dancing Rabbit is in the middle of its yearly retreat -- which is always a treat. We meet and talk all about what the upcoming year is going to look like and get ourselves all organized. One of the highlights for me is the YIP (Year In Preview) where we all get a chance to get on (or off) of committees and responsibilities. Looking at the big chart of names and tasks really helps me think about where I want to put my energy in the coming year.

One thing that I'm really excited about is all of the new folks that are coming this spring! We have almost 10 new people who have been approved for residency and I'd like to help them feel welcome and get settled down. I've always been an advocate for growth here and getting new folks to stay is part of that.

As usual, I'm still helping out with Outreach and the Visitor Team and a few other committees and tasks, but I'm trying not to spread myself too thin. Gardening season is almost upon us and I have to start thinking about that. There are so many things here that I want to do, but I never have enough time for everything!

Skyhouse is looking for new members, so maybe having a few extra hands around the house will help spread the responsibilities out a bit. That will free me up for making cupcakes! (Thanks Isa!) Oh obsessions, how can I ever sate thee! :)

The Big 3-0

Submitted by amy on Fri, 07/21/2006 - 22:07

Happy birthday to me! Another fun birthday in community. I don't update this journal very often, so if you scroll down, you can see my birthday entry from last year. *tee hee!* In any case, this year was rather low key. The weather was so hot, I was trying not to exert myself too much. Melting on my birthday would not have been my first wish. :)

My day started with a fantastic breakfast made by my sweetie and one of my community mates (the other was out of town). Fresh blackberry pancakes and hash browns. Then, a few of the usual Sunday meetings and ice cream sundaes. We got a big tub of Temptations chocolate chip cookie dough (made by the Chicago Soydairy) with chocolate syrup, sprinkles and the piece de resistance -- Soyatoo Soy Whipped Topping! All we needed was a jar of maraschino cherries. Sooo yummy. The afternoon was spenk hanging out and relaxing. Then it was time for makeup, nail polish and dressing up for my special sweet birthday dinner.

My love organized the whole thing. I dressed up in my fancy flapper costume (complete with cigarette holder and fake eyelashes) and arrived at the Common House. Inside, the tables were covered with tablecloths and each place was already set. Music played in the background as the "servers" all came around and served us dish after dish of sweet food! There was cabbage and beet salad, baked beans, berry scones, homemade chips with spicy peach salsa, cake, applesauce, cookies, chocolate chip waffles, and more! In the end, we were all stuffed and raving about the wonderful things people prepared.

After the sugar crash, we all sat on the front porch of Skyhouse and talked about whatever came to mind. As the night started winding down, Cecil played me a special birthday song that he had written years ago for a different friend who turned 30. All in all the day was really special. I felt loved and happy to be growing alongside people I care about in such an amazing community.

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