Rah Rah Village

We are a growing ecovillage and intentional community called Rah Rah Village, located on 23 acres in beautiful southern Vermont since 2001.
For us, living as stewards in Nature, it is important to be respecting one another, and animals and all life, being respectful to the land and environment that sustains us, living with no oppressive debt, and being honest and credible – not being hypocrites, being of service to others, being empathetic to others’ lived experiences. We value work ethic, but we don’t expect an unreasonable amount of labor – just honest effort and showing up when it’s time. Our values are respect for nature and each other.
We believe, there are 5 simple requirements of living and thriving. They are, in this order:
1. Air. We need air to live. Fresh air is best, healthy and full of oxygen. It regenerates and heals the body.
2. Water. We are mostly made up of this stuff. It is vital that we have clean, pure water to drink.
3. Food. It should be healthy and as organic as possible with the vitamins and minerals that support our body’s requirements.
4. Shelter. We all need a roof over our heads. It does not need to be a “Mc Mansion” but ought to be secure and spacious enough for comfort and keeping personal possessions. It ought to allow privacy and offer peace and quiet for sleep and restoration.
5. Love. A Sense of belonging and sense of purpose. A need to be needed. Call it Family, friends, Community or tribe, but it is increasingly understood that interconnectedness with others is an important basic need of life. Our Human connections are the most important kind of therapy.
​Here is what we at Rah Rah Community have worked out so far:
As far as #1, Air, is concerned, we live in a healthy tree filled environment.
For #2, Water, we have a deep well with a electric pump to drive it up to storage. The water has been tested and is clean and pure. It is health giving with minerals and no chlorine or fluoride, and filtered through porous sandstone and soapstone.
#3, Food. We have a vegetable garden, a greenhouse and enough acres that we should be able to feed 18 people year round if we decided to develop that as a project goal. We also do gleaning and utilize our local food shelf at times. Plans also call for the development of small poultry production and other food husbandry. The economics of having food, water, and utilities at the scale we envision are incredibly attractive. The health benefits of eating “off the land” are also desirable. Foraging for berries and other wild foods such as mushrooms, fiddleheads, various roots and edible flowers make for an interesting opportunity to find natural health benefits. The potential for hunting deer and turkeys and taking a direct approach for procuring one’s sustenance is an increasingly ethical option to just buying drug laced products from “factory farms”.
#4, Shelter:
• We own our property as an association. We work together to keep maintenance costs low, and strive to have a natural, pleasant community. We share common areas like pond sites and workshop and greenhouse, but honor privacy.
• A trailer, yurt or temporary dwelling is allowed while a member or members are planning on building their permanent home.
• We suggest the use of cordwood and native stones on the property to be the lowest cost and lowest impact materials for energy efficient and cost effective building. These cordwood homes would use our native “Cabbage Pines”, poplar and other woods we have in abundance, and could “grow up” vertically in the forest on the land as the needs of the family would desire.
Beyond these 5 basics there are a few more “essentials” that can help us enjoy our lives, like time with Nature, & animals, healthcare & medicine, leisure time, exercise, travel, art, music and education. Also we desire satisfying work to do that we feel makes a difference for the effort. Desirable too, are power and energy and tools for doing work, and communications for connecting with others. These are desirable for a well rounded and satisfying life. These make life worth living beyond just the basic necessities listed above.
These are just a few of the points of discussion that are hopefully of interest to others of “like mind”. We certainly cannot claim to have solved all of the problems of living, but we are looking to have a clear discourse with folks who may just get where we are coming from.
If the ideas presented here appeal to you and you would like to know more or ask further questions we would truly welcome the opportunity for more dialogue.
We are welcoming new members at this time, especially young people and families with children.