Water Birch Co-op

Camphill Academy offers practice-integrated postsecondary programs in Inclusive Social Development, with concentrations in Curative Education, Social Therapy, and Social Agriculture & Biodynamics. As a Camphill Academy student, you pay no tuition to begin earning college credit to transfer to a bachelor’s degree program at one of our partner universities. Enrollment is open for programs starting in the Fall of 2026! Visit www.camphill.edu for more information and to apply.

I’m writing this in May of 2026. This year we bought 3 Mediterranean Dairy Water Buffalo to improve milk production and presently have 17 that we manage on about 50 acres. Over the years we’ve been using HRM (Holistic Resource Management) animal grazing teachings and our pastures continue to look better. Water Buffalo are a major part of our Permaculture Farm near Tampa Florida. Our market garden this season got off to a slow start because of record freezes and then diseases, but finally have a fairly good-looking garden. We did 3 batches of sugar cane last winter and our cane mill worked great. We lost most of the tropical orchard trees because of the freezes, and citrus greening is still a big problem here. We installed an 11 KW stand-alone hybrid solar system with a 20 KW battery, which will be our largest single system. Still have our small edible plant nursery, but may be down-sizing it. Last year we bought a nice used backhoe, another tractor and had our biggest barn tented for termites. At the beginning of this year one of our members started going to NA meetings, which he needed. There he met a girlfriend and a couple of months ago left our group to live with her. He still helps a little here but ended up getting another job. Then 2 of the remaining folks here got married, without any notice, and ended up leaving last week. Presently It’s just Debbie and I, but we do have some local help and a support group of friends. Please check out our web site. Thanks!

The Sahale Learning Center, part of the Goodenough Community, on the Puget Sound in Washington state, is hosting it’s next Sahale Care Weekend, September 23 – 27. Our first Sahale Care Weekend after the summer guest season will focus on taking down the big event! We’ll need lots of hands! Depending on how many people we’ve got and how it goes, there will be plenty of other projects and land tending as we start to wind down for the year. We’ll also make time to connect with each other, have fun, and enjoy the land. This will be a great opportunity for new people to get to know the community and experience Sahale. Come for as much or as little of the time as you’re able. Arrive as early as Wed. Meals and work will begin Thursday morning.

Ellis Street Community House is seeking kind, present, and engaged new housemates with experience in community living. We are currently 3 adults, one baby, and two cats living in a 6 bedroom, 3 bath house on ¼ acre of land near Powell Butte nature park and the Springwater Corridor bike trail. We expect to be joined by a shy and sweet 2 year old in the next few months. For us, living in community is a collaborative process, one that helps improve our quality of life. We’re able to eat great food, keep the place clean, maintain a garden, and hold a space large enough to host guests and events by working together. We have an extensive community library and art/craft material collection, as well as a great tea selection, stocked pantry, and functional kitchens ready for feast-making, canning, and fermentation dreams. We make kombucha, ginger beer, sauerkraut, bone broth, natto, and apple/pear butter on a rotating basis. With two fridges and two deep freezers we can save blueberries and blackberries we harvested from close by and get meat directly from farmers. We hold potlucks and other events like bonfires and game nights about once a month, and make a house dinner together weekly. We maintain a home free from artificial fragrances and voice-activated technology. The larger downstairs room is available for $740 per month. The smaller downstairs room will be available for $600 per month starting on September 1rst. The main kitchen is on the second floor. We also have private outdoor space for someone sleeping in their home on wheels available for $200-500 per month depending on the size of the vehicle. This would include membership in the community and use of the common spaces. Guest space is available for friends and relatives of residents – upstairs there is an office/guest room for longer visits, and the couches/pads in the common areas are available for shorter stays. The home has heating and cooling through an efficient heat pump, and we ju