Group of people in a garden with flowers and trees at Acorn Community Farm.

Acorn Community Farm

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Established
  • Social
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 1993

What we do

Acorn Community Farm is an intentional community located in the rolling farmlands and woods of Central Virginia. We are an egalitarian, income-sharing, secular, anarchist, feminist, and consensus-based commune. The community was founded in 1993 and has since co-owned and -operated a successful bioregional seed cooperative that is the primary source of our shared income. Membership in the community usually fluctuates between twenty and thirty individuals.
Full members of the community receive an equal share in the land and its assets, and in return are expected to work 42-hours per week in the community. This is inclusive of our cooperative, but also includes garden work, domestic work, volunteer work, carpentry and maintenance work, and other diverse labor options.
Acorn has many shared amenities that our members enjoy open access to, such as a music room, art room, hot tub, libraries, and a gym. We also have 72 acres of land that we use for various building projects, organic and permaculture gardening, and animal husbandry. Each member is entitled to their own room, and full members have access to shared vehicles. Members tend to take up personal projects in the community, such as earth building a sauna, creating parking infrastructure, installing solar panels, and other self-directed, community-approved initiatives.
We are currently working on community-building, which includes hiking trips, volunteering in Richmond, developing workshops, and other coordinated events. Everyday we share lunch and dinner, and each week there are two community meetings. People tend to congregate informally everyday to organize get togethers, dance parties, game nights, and more.
Acorn is currently seeking candidates for full membership! We especially encourage women and non-binary folks to consider joining us for a visitor period. Our community is looking for people who share our values while also being self-driven, passionate, and ready to live communally. The membership process includes a month-long visitor period, and a year-long provisional membership status before acceptance as full members. Please feel free to inquire about our openings, the membership process, or anything else!

Our Mission

Secular, Egalitarian, Anarchist, Autonomous, Sustainable, Cooperative, Non-Violent, Feminist, Intentional Community

  • Purpose
  • Social
  • Community type
  • Commune
  • Sustainability practices
  • Renewable energy systems
  • Permaculture design
  • Activities
  • Farming
  • Experiences
  • Services Business

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 1993
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 1993
  • Started living together
  • 14 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
27

Basic expectations or agreements for members

All visitors must be approved in advance. Please see our website for the information we need from you to consider your request for a visit or internship. We prefer email, though if your internet access is limited we could also gather this information by mail.

Primary decision-making authority

  • All Community Members Together

The whole membership decides collectively.

Decision-making process

  • Modified Consensus

Generally seek agreement, but have backup methods when consensus isn’t reached.

Governance structure

  • Collaborative/Horizontal

Power and responsibility are shared relatively equally among members.

Economic model

  • Complete Income-Sharing

All member income goes into common pool for community use.

Economic scenarios for this community

  • Members need to pay fees, dues, or similar to live there on a per month or per year basis
  • There is a labor obligation

Additional economic information

Regular fees: $0
Labor: Yes (42 hrs/week)
Members with pre-existing debt: allowed
All members are expected to contribute 42 hours per week, with one month of vacation time per year. Over-quota work can be turned into vacation time, or monetary support for forming FEC communities. While residing at Acorn, members are expected maintain an egalitarian setting by not using personal outside resources (savings, vehicles, etc.).

Vehicle accessibility

  • There are car sharing opportunities in your community

Shared resources and amenities that are accessible to everyone in the community

Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Vehicle Share, Library, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Swimming pond or pool, Hot tub or hot springs, Outdoor Kitchen, Large Scale Kitchen, Tractor & Farm Equipment, Stage or Auditorium, Fire pit, Swingsets & play areas, Gym or sports area, Internet

Frequency of communal meals

  • Approximately all meals

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Locally sourced
  • Livestock / Animal Husbandry

Community activities and engagement

  • Volunteer, Internship, or Apprenticeship, or WWOOF’ing
  • Ethical Business, Investment Group, or Alternative Currency
  • WWOOF'ing, Guest Farming

Substance use culture

  • Substance use is frequent and public in the community

Gender composition

  • Roughly balanced (no group over 60%)

Age demographics

  • Multi-generational (all ages well represented)

Property status

  • Privately owned

Property owner

  • By a Land Trust, Home Owners Association, or corporation

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Community type

  • Commune

    Communal living with shared resources, property, and often income or work responsibilities

Sustainability approach

  • Renewable energy systems
  • Permaculture design

Land practices in our community

  • The community practices permaculture

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Self-produced food

  • Up to 33%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • 33 - 66%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Greenhouse / aquaponics
  • Shared kitchen or food co-op
  • Land area size
    72 acres

Guest Book

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Location

  • Virginia, United States

Acorn Community Farm

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

  • Promoted
  • Events
5 days ago

Healing Love Healing Money: Trust As The Foundation For A New Culture

Money, love and power are among the hardest things any community works with, and many of us carry the same fears into both: not having enough, losing what we have, and the sense that if someone else gets money or love, we won’t. Healing Love, Healing Money: Trust as the Foundation for a New Culture is taught by two intentional communities. Karen McAllister and Duncan Cryle are from Clear Sky Meditation and Retreat Center, a Buddhist-lineage community in the BC Rockies. Monika Alleweldt and Benjamin von Mendelssohn from Tamera Healing Biotope, a community of about 160 people in southern Portugal that has spent decades studying love, trust and relationship. Clear Sky has spent years working on its relationship with money, and our two communities found surprising parallels in the fears beneath both. Over four sessions we explore the roots of fear around money and belonging, love, possession and power, trust as infrastructure (community as a container for healing), and ethical livelihood. We use short meditations, body-based practices, reflection and small-group conversation. You do not need to be in a romantic relationship or live in community. When: October 27, Nov 3, 10, 17. All four sessions: 12–2pm Vancouver, 1–3pm Alberta, 7–9pm UK and Portugal, 8–10pm Central Europe. Note: US and some Canadian provinces change clocks on November 1, so the US west coast is 12–2pm on October 27, then 11am–1pm for the remaining sessions, and Eastern is 3–5pm on October 27, then 2–4pm for the rest. Cost: sliding scale Details and registration: https://www.clearskycenter.org/event/healing-love-healing-money-online/  
October 27, 2026 13:00 – November 17, 2026 15:00
  • Promoted
Need
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Real Estate For Sale
4 weeks ago

Beautiful 3+ Bed, 2.5 Bath Townhome in Established West Emerald CoHousing, Seattle

A rare home is available at West Emerald Cohousing, an established all-ages intentional community in West Seattle. For those considering a move to the Pacific Northwest—or hoping to join a mature community rather than one still in the forming stages—West Emerald offers decades of community life, beautiful gardens, shared resources and a peaceful setting within the city in a convenient location since 1999. This unit has a unique floor plan that is ideal for co-buying, co-living, or for one household. The home itself offers a flexible 3+ bedroom, 2.5 bath layout: Garden-level room with a separate exterior entrance and half bath—ideal for a home office, studio, guest space or client-facing business Main-level bedroom and full bath, laundry, making one-level living possible Open great room with large windows overlooking gardens filled with birdsong Well-designed kitchen with generous storage and pantry Two additional light-filled spacious bedrooms and a full bath upstairs Thoughtfully maintained and updated Located at the end of a common pathway for added privacy and garden views, Just feet from parking, which is out of view West Emerald community amenities include: Common House with gathering and activity spaces Community meals and events Mature gardens and shared outdoor spaces Workshop/maker spaces and bike barn Exercise room EV charging opportunity Excellent Metro access to Downtown Seattle just minutes away Nestled into a dell, it’s Seattle’s best-kept secret South Seattle College and lifelong learning, NW Wine Academy, the Seattle Chinese Garden are nearby, with easy access to Alki Beach, Lincoln Park, magnet schools, ferries, and the shops and restaurants of the West Seattle Junction. 6000 17th Ave SW, Seattle, WA Is a wonderful opportunity to have your own comfortable, private home while becoming part of a vibrant and well-established Seattle all-ages cohousing community. For more information contact the friendly Realtor at 206-579-9066, or at ki**********@**********te.com who will be happy to meet you there or do a facetime tour.
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Communities with Openings
4 months ago

Do you feel called to help co-create a small, newly forming eco-spiritual community?

Old structures are crumbling. New ways of living are calling. We are answering that call. Wild Grace is an eco-spiritual community located in the Sierra foothills 30 minutes from Grass Valley, California. We recently completed new homes for those who feel called to our vision. Currently there are four of us living on this sacred 80 acres of land although we are a hub for an expanded neighborhood community. Many join us weekly for potlucks, expressive dance, Qi Gong, monthly musical gatherings, and seasonal celebrations in our temple, as well as tending to our orchard. We are excited to welcome others to join us on the land who are dedicating their lives to spiritual growth and ready to live in a more focused and intimate heart-centered lifestyle. Might that be you or someone you know? The fundamentals are simple. Spirit. We listen personally and collectively together most mornings, usually starting with a musical offering, a prayer, or a short reading, followed by about 40 minutes of what we call “sacred silence.” Heart Circles. About once a week we gather to share and listen. We are informed by authentic and compassionate communication practices. Nature. The land itself—an 80-acre oasis of field and forest perched above the wild and scenic South Yuba River—calls for our stewardship in the gardens, orchard, greenhouses, and general care. In turn, nature feeds us abundantly, both literally and spiritually. Interbeing. We join with others to share inspiration and connection as we host monthly gatherings of song, story and prayer that draws from the larger community in addition to other events we share with our closer neighbors. As we attend to these fundamentals, Grace flows to and through us—often in “Wild” or unexpected ways. Grace catalyzes through us, but is not something we possess. Because we all are connected, we feel that Grace actively transforms n
Offer
  • Communities with Openings
4 weeks ago

Build Your Future in Rural Portugal — Business Partnerships & Sustainable Living

Mellow Cogumelo is seeking 2–4 motivated individuals or couples interested in helping develop two food businesses and a small, cooperative rural community on 30 hectares of off-grid land in southwest Portugal.We’re looking for long-term partners, not short-term volunteers or visitors interested only in learning mushroom cultivation. This is an opportunity to help shape a project with substantial facilities and equipment already in place. TWO BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES Artisan Neapolitan PizzaOur mobile pizza operation includes an equipped professional kitchen, pizza trailer, and wood-fired oven. We’re particularly interested in someone with pizza-making experience who would enjoy developing and eventually managing this business.Specialty Gourmet MushroomsOur mushroom facility includes a dedicated laboratory, production equipment, and controlled growing environments. Mushroom cultivation or farming experience is welcome, but initiative, practical skills, attention to detail, and a willingness to learn are just as valuable. MORE THAN A BUSINESS Our wider vision is a small rural community built on independence, cooperation, mutual respect, and care for the land.Future projects include vegetable gardens, orchards, regenerative agriculture, and further improvements to our off-grid infrastructure.This is rural living, with its rewards and challenges. The property is reached by approximately 2 km of dirt road. We generate our own electricity and manage our water systems.We maintain a non-smoking, drug-free environment. Reliable transportation, or a realistic plan for it, is important. HOW IT COULD WORK We hope to meet people who want to create lasting livelihoods by gradually taking greater responsibility for developing and operating the businesses.We envision operating partnerships with increasing profit participation, based on mutually agreed responsibilities, milestones, and business performance.These are developing commercial opportunities; immediate income cannot be guaranteed. Financial and working arrangements would be discussed individually and established through appropriate agreements.On-site accommodation may be possible as part of an agreed arrangement. WHO WE HOPE TO MEET Practical, dependable, independent-minded people who like hands-on work and want to contribute to something for the long term.Experience in food service, cultivation, agriculture, construction, mechanics, or business development is welcome. Shared values and commitment are most important.If this speaks to you, please tell us about your background, skills, and what you’re hoping to build over the next few years.Learn more on our Join Our Team page at mellowcogumelo.com.
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