 Laura reporting:
On Monday September 29, TTJ hosted a lively panel discussion on Intentional Communities (ICs) in Jericho and Underhill. The meeting attracted about 25 people and was held at a unique ilocation for TTJ, the Mt. Mansfield Unitarian Fellowship, a cozy ambient space, centrally located for both towns. TTJ’s Adam Wechsler organized and hosted the meeting, starting with a definition of ICs as a group of people who have chosen to be together and share resources on the basis of common values. Adam explained that in the 1970s, communes were the main manifestations of ICs. In the 1990s and beyond, ecovillages and cohousing became more typical models. Panelists were John Hunt of Retribe, Maeve McBride of Skunk Hollow Commons and Jake Kornfield of The Farm Upstream. Stories and slides of the ICs were shared the audience. All three panelists described events taking place on their lands, inviting people to share in the bounty of food, camaraderie, and community. Maeve spoke of hosting monthly women’s gatherings, workdays on the goat farm and community dinners. John described workdays followed by a meal, bonfire and singing. Jake said The Farm Upstream’s recent gathering of 50 people helped them not only harvest their squash crop, but also develop a growing community of friends and neighbors. The first question Adam posed to the panel was around how ICs enhance the resiliency of our towns. Jake envisions the possibility of accessing large parcels of lands, breaking them up, and making them more affordable to build resiliency. Maeve said IC models may help us provide for an unknown future, offering the potential of feeding more people. John mentioned positive mental health aspects of a shared community, how children and elders come together as one example. He added that stewarding the land, bringing back food, medicine and resources of the past, increases our resiliency as well. The second question was around towns and individuals better supporting our ICs; everyone agreed that current zoning laws are not visionary enough, and people looking to form ICs often seek out neighboring counties where laws aren’t as strict. John described how his town of Underhill saw the advantage of supporting the formation of Retribe at Maple Leaf; the latter was in dire financial straits, and Retribe needed a place to locate. The third question had the panelists describe what they’re most excited about, now and going into the future. John reminded us that for most of human evolution, we lived in close communities; that we’re currently in a blip away from that norm. As for the future of Retribe, he expressed hope for a better balance of personal space versus community space. They’re currently increasing soil fertility & growing nut trees to better prepare for the future. Maeve says she sees their project as a hopeful way to get through the trials of our times, with this particular year providing a big push toward their goals. Jake wants to build on the excitement of recently bringing so many people to their farm; helping to build trusting relationships among people in the process of laboring together. Future dreams for him include The Farm Upstream having the capacity to house farm laborers. Questions from audience members were largely around starting ICs. The advice shared centered around having a plan, a structure and building trust with fellow members. Maeve recommended attending workshops provided by the Foundation for ICs and starting an IC before having children. Jake recommended “starting small” and having an anchor to build upon. When the question came up of how towns can better support alternative models, audience member Bill Butler spoke about his ongoing co-housing project, Wisdom House. When he presented the idea to the Planning Commission, they said they’d be open to changing zoning laws to incorporate his plan. Wow! Though it may seem a long road ahead, we know it can happen! To view the entire meeting, check out the video generously provided by MMCTV: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXOTzZCXEq0 After completing the spring garden deliveries, the Transition Town team—Dave, and Laura—set out to reconnect with the young gardeners to see how their gardens had fared. They were eager to learn about the children’s gardening experiences, including what they grew, how their plants thrived, and whether they enjoyed managing their own gardens. We successfully followed up with 6 of the 12 contest winners, discovering a rich tapestry of gardening stories filled with both triumphs and challenges. These reflections echoed the common ups and downs of gardening that we all experience.
A follow-up discussions covered important seasonal preparations. The team offered advice on how to "put their garden to bed" for the winter, helping the young gardeners plan for the off-season and ensure their gardens are well-prepared for the next growing year. This proactive approach will set the stage for a successful and vibrant gardening season when May arrives in 2026. Elizabeth Had a good summer in the garden. Her garden had a lot of bees this year. She wanted to grow a lot of flowers. The garden was overrun with the delicata squash and found a good size carrots in amongst the squash leaves. She loves to eat the carrots and put them in her salad. Had to put a fence around the garden to keep out the rabbits. There are a lot of flowers on the cucumber patch and talked about the male and female flowers. The fruit under the flower indicate the “girl” flowers. Talked about the cucumber beetles and how they can infect the flowers on the cucumbers. Looked at the delicata squash and determined that many of them are ready to eat. Mom makes a “squasage” for dinner which is not Elizabeth’s favorite. Had some corn that was undeveloped for this late in the year, so won’t produce much. Next summer will pay attention to spacing and not grow things so closely. Eila- The garden got a slow start this year. The starts did well, but the seeds did not germinate very well. Eila grew edible flowers, cherry tomatoes, basil, ground cherries, carrots, and chard Planning on using the basal to make pesto. Nesturcians, Merigolds, but some of the animals helped themselves to the foliage The ground cherries are small, and be sure to take the “wrapper” off and eat the cherry inside Next year she will not plant chard and may try zucchini. Isaac Had good summer that flew by. He and his Grandpa worked together on the project. Carrots were still growing and have yet to pick them. The animals got to the radishes early on and ate them. The garden overall got a slow start. The beets were growing well. Summer squash did also did well. Isaac liked the project and spent once a week in the garden during the summer. Did not like the fact that he had to weed. He would do growing next year and do pretty much the same thing as this year Dominique and Adriana Got most of the planting done in May soon after the garden delivery. The peppers were small for the length of time in the soil. Also planted green beans, basil, carrots and melons. There was some mildew blight on the melon leaves, and talked about how you can prune the infected leaves and keep the mildew at bay. Talked about garlic for next season and that planting time will be in the late fall. Adriana also planted Zinnias for cut flowers. Also grew some sunflowers that the bees really liked. Talked about the sunflower seed and using them for eating or seeds for growing next year. Oscar and Wallace Oscar planted Cherry tomatoes in the garden this year. Also had carrot and basil which was very big. Also grew beans and Marigolds. The tomatoes looked very healthy as they were spaced out and branches were thinned to allow for good air flow and keeping the leaves dry. Had a very slow start to the growing season, so plants were on the small side. Was challenged by the lack of rain and being away a lot for the summer. Lesson learned to space out the carrots and thin them when they got bigger. Will want to add more soil to the garden for next season. |
