Community farm with planting beds and a person working in the soil under a blue sky.

Graham Downs Community Farm

  • Communities

About the Communities

  • Forming
  • Ecological
  • Rural

Founding year

  • 2025

What we do

At the Graham Downs Community Farm…
We are a deeply cooperative and highly integrated, land-rooted community.
Our daily lives are woven into the land we steward—growing food, raising children, and bringing the long-neglected farm and its buildings back into productive health and vitality through environmentally-conscious and holistically healthy practices that inspire broader change.
We steward this land and its projects through inclusive, collaborative decision-making that honours each voice and deepens our capacity to work well together.
With courage, care, and generosity, we are co-creating a regenerative culture of shared responsibility, abundance, and mutual support that can endure beyond industrial systems.
We live this vision through practice, reflection, and collaboration.
Governance: egalitarian and deeply participatory, ensuring power is shared and decision-making is transparent, inclusive, and effective.
Daily Life: cooperative work, shared meals, mutual care and support, and rhythms balancing productivity and play; nurturing and supporting children
Land Stewardship: regenerative farming methods, permaculture and human scale management, clearing the overgrown and producing healthy food from the land along with medicine, fuel and materials for crafting and building.
Learning & Culture: ongoing training in communication, authentic relating, and conflict transformation
Infrastructure: appropriate-tech approaches and resilient systems that we can manage ourselves or with local resources, reducing dependency on fossil fuels and materials from across the globe; prioritising natural and recycled materials
Economy: self-provisioning as much as feasible in food, materials, labour, and culture-creation; extensive sharing of time, tools, and resources beyond transactional exchange, fostering a mindset of abundance and interdependence

Our Mission

We are here to create a cooperative way of life that interweaves people with land and one another!

  • Purpose
  • Ecological
  • Community type
  • Coliving
  • Ecovillage
  • Commune
  • Sustainability practices
  • Regenerative agriculture or permaculture
  • Permaculture design
  • Activities
  • Farming
  • Services Business
  • Others

Commemorative dates

  • January 1, 2025
  • Started planning
  • January 1, 2025
  • Started living together
  • 2 Total members
  • Open to new members
  • Open to visitors
Total
9

How to join

We are currently seeking Provisional Members who may go on to become Long-term or Core Founding members once compatibility and commitment to vision and values has become evident.
Our process:

  1. Expression of Interest and Request for Information
  2. Submission of Application
  3. Zoom call with resident members and Trustees
  4. Reflection period
  5. Invitation to visit farm
  6. Reflection period
  7. Invitation to become Provisional Member
  8. Regular reflection and feedback sessions during Membership period
  9. Consensus process to extend, revise, end, or elevate Membership

Provisional Membership is an invitation to step into the early, real work of forming an intentional community.
It is a way of living on the land while participating in shared rhythms, relationships, and responsibilities, and discovering — through lived experience — whether a deeper or longer-term path in community feels right over time.
Provisional Members are important culture creators and carriers. How you show up — in communication, reliability, care, and contribution — helps establish what life here actually feels like, both for the current group and for future arrivals.
Provisional Membership is grounded in a shared vision and set of values that guide how we relate to one another, the land, and the wider world. Anyone wishing to move forward in the process is asked to read our Vision and Values document before completing the next step.
Provisional Membership may be offered for up to one year, with a process that includes reflection and assessment built into that time frame. Longer-term membership and a co-founding role is certainly possible, but depends on how things unfold and is not guaranteed.

Basic expectations or agreements for members

Visitors are welcome by prior arrangement! Please just email us to sort out a good time to visit.

Primary decision-making authority

  • All Community Members Together

The whole membership decides collectively.

Decision-making process

  • Consent-Based (Sociocracy)

Decisions proceed unless someone has a reasoned objection.

Governance structure

  • Sociocratic/Circle-Based

Organized in circles or domains with distributed authority.

Conflict resolution approach

We have engaged in sociocracy training through the Sociocracy for All organization as well as with Diana Leafe Christian and have found the structures to be especially productive for meetings and getting things done!

Economic model

  • Partial Income-Sharing

Members contribute a percentage of income to community funds.

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: $600
Labor: Yes (10 hrs/week)
As we are in a re-forming stage, the internal economic system is still a work in progress. Our transitional system is one of regular community contributions that go towards basic maintenance and upkeep of the farm and its infrastructure, but does not meaningfully contribute towards the massive development expenses we expect for expanded housing in particular.
We hope to develop on-site businesses in time, including revival of a campground, and potentially developing an on-site milling operation from the massive stand of mature trees. Other options include running workshops and operating a value-added horticultural operation depending on the passions and capacities of future membership. In the meantime, all income is derived from off-site and we need to balance that reality against the needs of the land.
Land-based labour contributions include farm maintenance, animal husbandry, massive weed management efforts, orcharding, food preservation, communal gardening, roading, housing maintenance and development. Meetings, communication practices, and meals are all independent on this labor expectation.

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

Common House, Garden(s), Greenhouse(s), Vehicle Share, Workshop, Outbuilding(s), Tractor & Farm Equipment, Fire pit, Waterfront access

Frequency of communal meals

  • 2-5 times per week

Significant food acquisition practices

  • Livestock / Animal Husbandry

Community activities and engagement

  • Transition Town (post-petroleum and off-grid communities.)
  • Ethical Business, Investment Group, or Alternative Currency
  • WWOOF'ing, Guest Farming

Substance use culture

  • Substance use appears in public spaces but no pressure
  • Substance use is prohibited 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 Community Land Trust or some other kind of nonprofit

Setting

  • Rural

Countryside locations with significant distance from urban centers.

Community type

  • Coliving

    Shared living spaces with private bedrooms/bathrooms and communal
    kitchens, dining, and social areas.

  • Ecovillage

    Integrated communities designed around ecological principles with sustainable living practices.

  • Commune

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

  • Intentional Neighborhoods

    Geographically close groups of independently-owned homes whose residents actively cultivate community relationships and shared values.

Sustainability approach

  • Regenerative agriculture or permaculture
  • Permaculture design

Land practices in our community

  • The community practices permaculture

Self-produced energy

  • Up to 33%

Energy sources used

  • Photovoltaic Solar
  • Biomass (from wood or other organic materials)

Self-produced food

  • 33 - 66%

Local, organic, or fair trade food

  • 33 - 66%

Food systems

  • Community garden
  • Greenhouse / aquaponics
  • Livestock / poultry
  • Land area size
    60 acres

Guest Book

Written reviews are available for plus members. Click here to upgrade.

Location

  • Tasman, New Zealand

Graham Downs Community Farm

Needs and Offers

Connecting people and communities through an intentional online marketplace

  • Promoted
Need
  • Promoted
Offer
  • Promoted
  • Events
3 weeks 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
Need
  • Communities with Openings
1 week ago

Needs: Quiet nature focused community with work exchange

About Me Hello, I’m Nanu. I’m 46 years old in need of a peaceful, nature-centered community where I can contribute, maintain my independence, and potentially establish a long-term home. I’m autistic and sometimes experience periods when I’m nonverbal. I appreciate direct communication, clear expectations, and people who respect different communication styles without making assumptions. I’m independent, value personal boundaries, and do best in environments where people can coexist comfortably without constant social interaction. The Environment I’m Seeking I’m looking for a wooded, green setting with mature trees, grass, and access to nature. Forests, trails, gardens, and peaceful outdoor spaces are important to me. I’d prefer a region with relatively mild winters, avoiding both desert landscapes and areas with harsh, snowy winters. Privacy is essential. I’m interested in a residential community where people respect one another’s space and participation in social activities is optional. I’m not looking for a retreat center, event venue, or community that regularly hosts outside groups, workshops, classes, or large gatherings on the residential property. Occasional visitors are understandable, but I prefer a quiet environment where residents can enjoy their homes without a constant flow of people coming and going. Work Exchange and Housing I’m interested in exchanging practical work for housing. Possible contributions include community gardening, planting, watering, harvesting, kitchen assistance, meal preparation, property upkeep, and other mutually agreed-upon tasks. I’d like the responsibilities, schedule, and expectations clearly established in advance. A trial stay or introductory period would be ideal so both sides can determine whether the arrangement is a good fit. Potential for Long-Term Ownership My longer-term goal is to explore purchasing a small home, a defined parcel of land, or a legally documented ownership interest in an established cooperative community. I have limited savings available for a potential investment and want to use those funds carefully toward lasting housing stability. I’m not interested in vague promises of future ownership or arrangements that depend entirely on one person’s continued involvement. I’d want clear documentation of ownership rights, decision-making, ongoing expenses, and what happens if a resident leaves or the community dissolves. I’m also not interested in traditional HOA-style arrangements or unpredictable fees. Reasonable, transparent shared expenses are open for discussion. Community Culture I’m looking for people who value mutual respect, personal autonomy, honest communication, and practical cooperation. I appreciate companionship but also need quiet and solitude. I don’t expect everyone to share my interests, only to respect one another’s boundaries. What I’d Like to Know If your community offers work exchange, a private and peaceful living environment, wooded surroundings, and a realistic possibility of long-term housing or ownership, I’d love to hear from you. Please share information about your location, climate, current residents, available housing, work-exchange expectations, visitor policies, ongoing costs, and potential ownership arrangements. I’d like to visit and get acquainted before making any commitments. My goal is to find a genuine mutual fit. Thank you for reading!

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